Fight and Flight (Lux/Jinx)

Chapter 8: Night Mission

Despite being full, the mess tent was eerily silent.

Wind howled outside. Canvas walls trembled around them, and the lamps hanging above them swayed, making the room's shadows quiver and bend.

Maybe it was the late hour that gave the setting its eerie flavor. The other pilots ought to have retired to their individual tents hours before – they didn't have any missions to attend to in the dead of night. They hadn't been given the Commander's permission to sleep in that morning, knowing that they'd need to be well-rested later.

That honor had been reserved for Lux, Jinx, and the bomber pilots.

Nevertheless, in spite of how tired they must have been, every pilot, mechanic, and other staff in the camp had chosen to linger in the mess, and the Commander was making no move to shoo them to bed. They bent over their tables with gaunt faces, some shuffling cards between their hands, a scant few having short, whispered conversations here and there. The card games a few tables hosted were played slowly and in silence, and the players all had distant looks in their eyes, as if they weren't really invested in the conclusion of each round.

To Lux's right, Ekko reached forward, placing one of his cards face-up onto the shallow stack at the center of their table. Lux forced herself to focus on her own cards long enough to find one that matched the suite of Ekko's card, then added it to the stack.

To Lux's left was a true novelty – Jinx holding her own hand of cards. Although Jinx had sat beside Lux during card games before, Lux couldn't remember her ever having joined one.

Perhaps Jinx had sorely needed a distraction tonight. Unfortunately, it seemed that the cards had failed to prevent Jinx from slipping deep into her thoughts, and Lux had to tap Jinx's shoulder three times to bring her back to the present. Jinx's mouth twitched as she glanced blearily between her hand and the stack of cards at the table's center, then she turned to Lux with a resigned look which suggested that she might not have been listening when Ekko had told her the rules of Crazy-Eights.

Indulgently, Lux leaned in to view Jinx's cards, then tapped a card which bore the same face-value as the one she'd just discarded. Trusting Lux's judgement, Jinx placed down the indicated card.

Jinx, Lux, and Lux's usual card group had been at their table since dinnertime, cycling through various games to pass the hours. Lux suspected that Ekko and the others had agreed beforehand to make sure she and Jinx wouldn't be alone with their thoughts on the night of their mission, and damn, did Lux feel lucky to have them.

The game made five more turns around the table, during which time Jinx's head had found its way to Lux's shoulder and one of Lux's hands had wrapped around her waist. No one at the table bothered pointing out that both players could easily see each other's cards – Lux highly doubted anyone gave a damn to who won.

What did catch everyone's attention was the scraping of the Commander's chair.

Lux turned to watch the Commander, her card-holding hand suddenly feeling numb. The Commander stared down at her watch as she stood, a solemn frown clouding her face. A long, low sigh slipped from her throat.

Then, in a voice loud enough for pilots at all corners of the large tent to hear, she said, "It's time."

It's time.

Lux's fingers bit tighter into Jinx's khaki-colored top.

It's time.

Against her shoulder, Lux could feel Jinx's jaw clench.

Holy shit, it's time.

Lux's stomach turned as she and Jinx both pushed backwards in their chairs and stood.