The Shadow Pilot

Chapter 25: Not How I Anticipated

~ Apologies for the long absence and lack of activity in the book. I'll explain at the end. This is going to be a normal chapter before I write the next one which will be a short all lemon one. Right then, enough delays, enough talk, let's get straight into it, please enjoy~
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~ Johnathan POV ~

The morning came with the sound of aircraft landing on the runway. I lazily woke up feeling a little dizzy still, resting from my mission and dogfight with the Beast Squadron. Finally having the energy to sit up, I laid forward yawning quietly. I turned my head over to the left to see Ripley sleeping quietly. I smiled and kissed her forehead unable to avoid blushing at how cute she was. When I was ready to get up and go make some breakfast, her arm suddenly grabbed my left hand, nearly making me yelp. I turned back to see her awake and now looking at me. "And where do you think your going"? she asked, somewhat disappointed. "Umm, to go make breakfast" I said. "What time is it"? she followed up. I looked over at my clock and saw it was 6:12 AM. "Um, 6:12"? I said confused. "You seriously want to get up at six"? she asked a little upset. "But I'm hungry" I protested. "One word, no" she declared. "One word, yes" I pushed back. But as I started to stirr to get up, she put half her weight on me pushing me back down. "I said no" she said. "But Ripley-" I tried to argue. Ripley let out a growl, bearing her teeth. "I. Said. No" she spoke. I gulped hard not wanting her to bite my face. "O-okay, okay I'm sorry, please don't bite me" I whimpered. Her expression went back to normal and she softened up. "I won't bite" she grinned. "Uh, good morning" I spoke. "Good morning" she cooed. Ripley tilted her head a little before leaning towards me for a kiss making little to no room for me to pull away, even the slightest. My heart began to flutter and beat faster as she continued. Her eyes were calm but sharp as she lapped my lips with hers. I soon put my left hand around her waist causing her to moan a little before she swung her left leg over me. As she sat on top of me, my right hand pulled her head closer to mine as our kiss only deepend. Moving my left hand to her back, I tightened my grip on her waist more causing a deeper moan from her. Then, we separated for air. "W-woah, th-that was, am-azing" she panted. "Better than our last time"? I asked. Ripley smiled and cuddled me deeper. "Mhm" she hummed. I smiled a little before melting into her arms. I guess it was too early to get up.

~ General Cortana POV ~

France was back again in full F.U.N control. Johnathan and our Mareseilla forces successfully rebelled the U.H.N forces. And with the U.S.E.A pulling back there forces, we can finally catch a break. *knock* *knock* "Come in" I said. A member of our radar division entered handing me a document. After being handed to me, I read over it. All while the radar informant waited patiently. After reading the entirety of the report, I handed it back to them. We received reports our radar facility has detected U.S.E.A Air-Force activity in the Scandinavian mountains. The U.S.E.A have additionally added more fleet presence to both the North and Baltic sea. The U.H.N European leadership due to their repeated losses over the last 2 months, have been determined to hold all key territories. The conflict will have to continue until then. Once being briefed, I waved the informant away. There I sat in thought, trying to decipher what the next step in turning this war around was. As I sat in thought, my military computer alarm suddenly sounded off. "The hell"? I said. I moved to the computer and activated it. There I saw a headline. My heart nearly stopped.

~ Johnathan POV ~

I sat down at the living room couch while Ripley was fixing up some breakfast in the kitchen. I began scrolling through the TV trying to find a good show. Unfortunately, nothing good was on so I just turned it off tossing the remote aside. With a heavy sign, I closed my eyes as I was still somewhat sleep deprived. A sudden grasp on my shoulder jolted me awake as Ripley's yellow eyes met mine. "Food's ready" she beamed. "Damm it, why didn't I just go back to sleep the first time" I mentally signed. "Okay, coming" I say. Her tail wagged as she led me over to the kitchen table. I looked at the food and honestly, it looked really nice. A sandwich with eggs, bacon, cheese, tomato, lettuce and some coffee. "L-looks good" I say. Ripley's tail wags even more by my compliment. "Th-thanks". "It's my mother's recipe" she said. "Coffee is just the better morning drink". "Hope you don't mind" she added. "Oh, it's okay". "Don't worry" I reassured her. Ripley and I both began to eat. I took a bite of the sandwich and it was like a match made in heaven. Ripley giggled at seeing my face bright up. "You like it"? she asked. "Y-yeah, thanks" I appreciated. "No worries, at least someone likes my food other than myself" she replied. My morning was already starting to turn around. I don't know what I'd ever do without her or the others. Finishing up the last bit of sandwich, I gulped down half a cup of coffee with didn't taste all to well. "Ugh, why does coffee taste like this"? I say. Ripley just giggled. "You get use to it after a while". "Trust me, it never tasted good for me when I was young". "That's why Mom always put extra sugar in mine" she said. "Hey, if you don't mind me asking, who was ur mom and what was she like"? I asked. Ripley looked me in the eye for a couple moments. She cleared her throat. "Well, my biological mother died hours after giving birth to me, so I was adopted by one  the hospital nurses who looked after me". "She was a human, but she loved me as if I was her own". "I remember wanting to be just like her". "Which is why I studied to become a nurse but I didn't get the chance to finish before the war" Ripley said a little sad. I felt really bad for Ripley. Her birth mom never got to experience being a mother, she never got a chance to finish her studies and above all, she was dragged into a war she had nothing to do with. "Umm, do you know what happened to her"? I asked both unsure of what to say. She looked me in the eyes again and the saddened look seemed to deepen further. "She died just as the war was starting in a car crash". "I was there, some drunk driver ran a red light and hit us". "I survived but I got deep glass cuts on my chest and back". "She-she.... Ripley stopped. Tears starting to flow. "She died on impact" Ripley whimpered. "And worse of all, that driver didn't show any remorse for the crash or serve a single day in jail". "He got off with 7 months probation". "People called my mother a traitor to her kind for adopting me". "They-they, they even made fun of her at school" Ripley cried. No words could describe the feeling of guilt, sadness and anger I had hearing this. I felt sick to my stomach hearing how Ripley was treated after her mother's death. Instinct took over in those moments I couldn't bare to see her in pain. I stood up and hugged her. "Shh, shhhh it's okay, it okay" I said trying to soothe her. Ripley whimpered into my neck. "It's okay, I'm here" I told her. Ripley slowly began to calm herself. But I refused to let her go. "I'm so sorry that happened to you". "You didn't deserve any of that". "I'm sure she would be proud of you". "She still loves you, I love you" I say. Ripley softly signed into my shoulder. "Thank you John" she whispered. "Of course" I whispered back. Before I could react, Ripley put her hand around my neck and pulled me into a deep kiss. The sudden act threw me off but I warmed up to it and embraced back. After a couple moments, our mouths separated with a pop. "Wow, you're good at this aren't you" she chuckled a little. A chuckle escaped me as well. "I guess" I shrugged. *Knock* *knock* *knock* *knock*. "Ugh, always at the wrong time" Ripley said. "I'll get it" I say as I went to the door. I opened it and was met by Amanda who stared at me brightly. "Oh hey" I said. "Hey, I figured you'd be here since I didn't see you at the canteen" she beamed. "Oh, you were expecting me"? I asked her. She shook her head. "Not really, it's just that your always either here, at the canteen, shooting range or at one of the squad's barracks" Amanda explained. "Ah, I see" I say. Amanda then looked up at Ripley who wore a upset grimace on her face. "Umm, did I interrupt something between you two"? Amanda asked. "Well, you kinda- " Ripley started. "No it's okay". "We were just talking about my recent mission and some gym exercises" I cut her off. Ripley glared at me for interrupting her. A cold sweat ran down my face as her yellow eyes pierced my soul. "Well, if it's okay, you want to spend some time at the cliff room today"? Amanda asked. I thought about it for a moment. I hadn't been cliff or rock climbing in a while since my 1st year of the war during training. And escaping Ripley's death glare was another priority as I knew she wouldn't forgive me for lying about what we were doing eariler. "Uh, sure I'll come". "Just a warning, I'm real sloppy at it" I cautioned. Amanda smiled. "Ha, don't worry I'll get you back in the flow" she beamed. I turned back to see Ripley still glaring at me. My expression dropped and without another second to lose, I sped walk out of the room.