Free Fall

Chapter 5 The Almost Wedding

Months later on April fool's day something bad was shown on the evening news broadcast that ripped more than one family apart. A news anchor who was on assignment in Pakistan was reporting on the crash of a n unknown member of the Alpha Squadron. J.J. and T.J. were in the hanger using Scarlet's tools to give T.J.'s truck a tune up, so they completely missed it and had no idea what was going on, and that someone from Scarlet's team or even Scarlet had been shot from the sky. They entered the kitchen after cleaning themselves up to find T.J, and Scarlet's father soothing his frazzled sobbing mother, and instantly got worried. Mr. Yates looked up at the worried expressions on his son and his future son-in-law and sighed before he spoke.


"Dad?" T.J. started to ask.
"A plane from Alpha Squadron was shot out of the sky. They don't know yet who the pilot was. There's no reason to think that it's Scarlet, so don't jump to conclusions." he said as the Air Force theme started to play inside of J.J.'s duffle making them all turn as he ran for it and almost ripped his bag removing the tablet and flipping it open.
Scarlet's exhausted tear stained face appeared when he answered and the Yates's all breathed a sigh of relief. "I can't talk long. I just wanted you all to know that I'm not hurt. It was Raider's jet that got shot down. We're working on recovering his body so he can be brought home and laid to rest, but I don't know when the fucked up government here will allow that to happen. At this point we'll be lucky if we are able to receive his Ashes." she said somberly as there was a knock at her door. The last thing that they heard before she disconnected the call was, her voice asking someone why the Hell they had talked her into reenlisting if this was the price that had to be paid for it.


It took them until May the fifth to manage to get Raider's body home, and it had been hell on earth to handle the back lash. The Yates family and the Watt family along with several of the team was enjoying the Holiday, and it was around four in the morning when Scarlet pushed her bike passed J.J.'s house and up the drive into her hanger feeling as if she just wanted to sleep for the rest of her life, that or die, whichever came first. At this point she wasn't picky about it. She was so exhausted that she neglected to shut the front garage door of the hanger and simply flopped down onto her bed fully dressed in her dress uniform wincing as she hit the bed face down and remained that way until the light of day when she felt someone gently rolling her onto her back and removing her uniform and shoes with gentle hands.


She blinked groggily only to wince as the pain from her right eye forced her to groan and close her eyes once more. "Careful with my ribs please, just leave everything unbuttoned and unfastened. I'd really rather not be pulled on at the moment." she said in a soft pained voice as J.J. unbuttoned everything and gasped at the sight of the bandages around her ribcage.
"Please tell me that you've been to a hospital and that they're not broken." he said as he placed a cold compress on her face.
"Yes, I've been to the hospital, and no my ribs aren't broken but they are cracked. The Doctor said that they'd heal in about a month and a half. Before you ask it, yes Raider's father has been arrested for it." she winced as she rolled over and attempted to get off of the bed.


As she struggled to sit up, J.J. helped her to remove her uniform and helped her dress in something loose and comfortable before making her lay back down and tucking her back into bed. "I'm fine, Justin. I won't break any further I promise." she laughed and then winced as the action caused her pain.
"Why didn't you call someone. We would have come and got you? How did you get home from the Hospital?" he asked in concern.
"I rode my bike of course. It was late by the time that I was released from the hospital and I didn't want to wake anyone at four in the morning. Don't baby me, Justin. I'll be fine, I just need some sleep and one of the pills in my right pocket of my uniform pants if you don't mind." Scarlet whispered as J.J. rooted through her pocket and opened the medicine handing her over one of the pills with a bottle of water from her mini fridge.


"Why the hell did he attack you, the reporter's didn't say?" J.J. asked as he kicked off his shoes and stretched out in the bed beside her as she relaxed on her pillow frowning at the black eye and swollen cheekbone.
"Grief, J.J. makes people react differently. Some drink, some cry, some are silent, and other's get violent. He was a father grieving over the loss of his son. His only son, J.J. He blames Raider's death on me, and in a way, I feel like he's right." Scarlet said in a soft voice as she wiped a tear from her eyes.


"No, this is not your fault. You couldn't have done anything to save him. His family should just be glad that you were able to recover his body and bring him home to them." J.J. said as he ran a hand over her hair.
"You're wrong, J.J. I was his commanding officer. Even if it was pilot error, even if I wasn't there and didn't see him fall from the sky, it's still my fault because he took his orders from me, and I took my orders from the General. Now I have one less brother watching my back in the air. Raider was like the little brother that I always wanted. I've known him since high school. I wish that I could resign from the Air Force, but with things going the way that they are, I'll be lucky to have my leave extended so that I can actually enjoy myself after being attacked. This so called war on terrorism is driving me mad. All it really is, is a global pissing contest where the countries all parade around with their pricks hanging out, basically saying, look at me. My dick is bigger than yours, my army is bigger than yours, and I can piss the farthest and can kill more of your men than you can get of mine. God, I'm so fucking tired of this. I love flying, but I'm ready to have my exit papers signed already. The only problem is that I've still got another three years of service before I can resign. Either that, or I either have to get myself a medical discharge, or a dishonorable discharge, that would earn me prison time. I don't like either of those options of escape so I'm stuck." she yawned as the medicine hit her .
"Don't worry about all of this right now Scarlet. Just rest, and when you wake up We can talk about happier things." J.J. smiled as he placed a tender kiss onto her hair.


---0---

For the month and a half that Scarlet was healing from her cracked ribs, her mother, and J.J.'s mother Connie Watt surrounded her with wedding magazines so that she could decide on a dress for her wedding to J.J. that they were scheduling to take place on her birthday in July. They had agreed that it would be a traditional Air Force wedding with an Air Force Chaplin preforming the union ceremony, and since her birthday fell on the fourth, the food was a bar-b-q surf and turf type of thing. J.J. was in charge of arranging the venue where they'd be married and to the three women's annoyance was remaining extremely tight lipped about it.


They had decided upon sky blue and white for their colors, and after being cleared and proclaimed fully healed by her doctor and the doctors that worked with the Air Force, Scarlet was now neck deep into shopping for her perfect dress. She managed to find a dress that was a white flowing medieval styled dress with a square neck line, ,belled sleeves, and a tight corseted waist that would be hell to get into, and very fun for J.J. to remove from her body because it was not only laced with sky blue ribbons in the back but she was also planning on wearing a sexy set of sky-blue corset with matching bra, panties, and garters and stockings beneath her dress. The dress was trimmed in sky blue and she had a pair of satin heals that matched the dress and under garments perfectly.


It was now the week before the wedding and J.J. finally decided to show Scarlet his surprise venue. He blind folded her and made her try to guess what he had arranged for her as he drove them into Galveston. He parked the truck in front of a large luxurious beach house, where he refused to allow her to take off the blind fold until he had gotten her where he wanted.. Once he had her standing directly in the spot where within a few days the wedding would take place at sun down, he kissed her tenderly as he pulled the blind fold off of her, making her blink.


"Well, what do you think about it? I've rented the entire beach for our wedding and I even rented a beach house with an awesome view for our wedding night. After that we can either remain here in Galveston, or I can Wisk you away to Hawaii." he said as Scarlet turned and gazed at the beach house.
"J.J. this is beautiful. I can hardly wait for our wedding day. We'll even have a free fireworks show to round it off. You're so romantic, I love you." she said as he lifted her into his arms and allowed her to kiss him passionately before he bolted with her in his arms straight into the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico making her scream as her white shirt suddenly went transparent showing the fact that she was wearing a soft pastel blue bra beneath it, and making her jeans stick to her.


She managed to get free from his grasp and splashed him as he chased her sending them both rolling back into the water and then back onto the beach just within the water's edge as he kissed her and then spat out sand that had gotten into his mouth in disgust. "They make it look so delightful in the movies. You've got sand all over you and I've got sand in my pants. Why don't we go and try out the shower and the washing machine in the beach house,?" he suggested as he got to his feet and pulled her up from the sand laughing.


As they reached the beach house, J.J. removed his soaked socks and shoes very thankful that they could go into the washer and dryer. Scarlet's leather shoes would need to be replaced now, but it didn't matter since he intended on carrying her around like a princess. After she had removed her boots and left them to dry out on the porch she was ripped off of her feet by J.J. who carried her into the laundry room and struggled not to kiss every inch of her revealed skin not wanting a mouth full of sand again, before he strutted through the house with her naked body tossed back over his shoulder as naked as the day that he was born.


Scarlet laughed as she pinched his firm backside making him growl. "Do you really want to do that, Scarlet? It could be dangerous, you know." he smiled as he reached into the large double shower and turned on the water just before she pinched his backside again and he stepped beneath the water making her scream as he pinched her back, and allowed her to slide down his body as he began to wash her body kissing and teasing her to a state of arousal before slapping her backside and pushing her out clean yet very aroused and confused.


She turned and glared at him as he cleaned the sand and salt from his body with a smirk on his face knowing exactly what he had done to her, before she snatched a towel from the rack wrapped it around herself and sidled up beside the toilet with narrowed blue eyes. "Does that water still feel good J.J.?" she asked as she placed her hand on the flush handle.
"Yup, it sure, Oh, fuck Scarlet that was cold." he screamed as she flushed the toilet and bolted from the room with him hot on her heels only to be tackled to the floor and made passionate love to, using nothing but his tongue and his hands until the night of the fourth. "Just wait until our wedding night. I'm going to give you every rock hard inch of me, and you're going to love the way that I make you feel." he smiled as he thrust his fingers into her and gently added another one making her arch her back off of the soft rug with his name on her lips.


---0---

The morning of the fourth of July dawned early and since dawn Scarlet had been up cleaning her classic convertible until it glistened and sparkled in the early morning sun. T.J. was sitting on an upturned bucket and was trying to convince her to allow him to decorate her car for the escape to the honey moon. Scarlet scowled as she got to her feet after shining up the last bit of chrome on the car to mirror perfection. "T.J. you are not decorating my car. We are spending our honeymoon in the beach house that J.J. rented along with the beach that the wedding is being held on. We both agreed that it would be easier that way just in case I get called back to active duty that way I don't have far to travel to reach my fighter jet." Scarlet said tossing a wet sponge at her brother hitting him in the face.


"Come on sis, can't I even put a just married sign on the car for you?" he begged.
"No. Absolutely not. Though since you're J.J.'s best man, you can easily put a just married sign on his back if you want to." Scarlet giggled.
"Oh that proves that you're my sister. You have a jokester side to you. Wait a minute, are you the nut job that's been putting tackle me, please kick my ass, and insert foot here signs on my back every time that I leave the house for practice?" T.J. asked as he thought back on how many times someone on his team had kicked him tackled him or completely embarrassed him by ripping his pants down around his ankles.
"Maybe, you shouldn't turn your back on me after you piss me off." Scarlet smirked as she started her car and drove it out of the hanger just as the other members of Alpha squad including the newly renamed Ace, and the newest untried and unproven member to the squad now known as Rookie arrived to act as her Brides maids or as she called them her Brides men. They were all dressed to the nines in their dress uniforms and smiled at her widely.


"Well Major are you ready for this?" Eagle asked with a smile on his face.
"Yes, I'm excited, I've never felt this way about anyone before, and J.J. will make a perfect husband for me don't you think?" Scarlet smiled as she allowed Eagle to slide into the driver's seat of her car so that she could finish polishing her nails and they'd have time to dry on the drive to the Beach House.
"He'd better be a perfect husband to you, or he'll have all of Alpha squad and your big brother up his ass and around the corner." T.J. laughed.
"We aren't going to have to help you get into your wedding dress are we, because I'd really not like to have J.J. Watt decide to kick my ass." Rookie asked in a worried tone.
"No boys, your just my escorts as I walk down the aisle. Connie Watt, and my mother are going to help me into my dress, so don't worry about My Handsome Sky Blue eyed devil harming any of you." she laughed as they rolled out of the drive with Gunner, Hawk, Falcon, and Rookie riding in a jeep behind the car and Eagle and Ace riding in the car with Scarlet.


Thirty minutes later found all of the guests and family and friends as well as several Air Force officers in attendance on the beach as J.J. stood at the makeshift altar just at the water's edge awaiting his bride with her big brother by his side. As the wedding march began to play about twelve uniformed men were called to attention and unsheathed sharp sabers in solute for the bride and her party to walk under. Since the members of Alpha squadron were like family they all sat with the Yate's family as her mother stood by her side and her father gave her away with a kiss on the forehead as he placed her hand into J.J.'s.


The Air Force Chaplin began to speak and just as the ceremony got to the part where they were saying there vows, they were interrupted by every pager, and every cell phone of every enlisted officer going off simultaneously. Scarlet turned and glared at them and heard a few curse and look around with shocked and unsure looks upon their faces. Eagle got to his feet along with the entire Alpha Squadron, and handed his phone over to Scarlet who pressed her lips together into an angry thin line, the further that she read. She then looked up at the other officers and frowned as she removed her hand from J.J.'s as he turned to look over the gathered officers.


"Someone please tell me that this is someone's idea of a practical joke. How many of you got this text?" she asked in an angry voice. Every officer in attendance slowly raised their hands into the air as answer, and Scarlet handed Eagle back his phone numbly before turning back to face, J.J. with a saddened expression. "I'm sorry about this, J.J. We'll have to postpone this until I come home. It's serious if they've sent the same message out to all of the Forces." she said as she leaned into him and tried not to cry over how close she had gotten to becoming J.J's Mrs. Watt.


"It's okay, my Angel. I'll be right here waiting for you when you get home. Just please be careful and come home to me." he said before he pulled her into his arms and kissed her lips.
"What the fuck are you all just standing there for? You have your orders! Move out!" she screamed as she abruptly turned, gathered up her skirt, and ran back down the aisle towards the beach house debating on if she should get out of her dress first or simply get to the Air Field and change into a uniform once there so that her Commanding officer would know exactly how pissed she was about the timing of being called in. The decision was made for her when J.J. suddenly ran up behind her and hoisted her over his shoulder and ran with her in his arms to his truck since her car was blocked in.


He tossed her into the passenger seat and then realizing that someone had parked way too close for him to get into the driver's seat handed her his keys and pushed her into the driver's seat before jumping in as she started the truck barely managing to shut the door as the truck tires squealed out onto the street followed closely by everyone in uniform. Her foot hit the floor making the large truck fly at its top speed down the highway, and J.J. cursed as blue and red lights flashed in the rear view and sirens blared as four motorcycle cops caught up to them.


Scarlet rolled down the window once she noticed that the officer on her right side was trying to get her attention while two of them pulled out in front of them clearing the traffic. "Are you the Leader of the Air Force Alpha Squadron?" the cop asked.
"Yes!" Scarlet said simply before being cut off.
"No worries, Major. We've been informed on what's going on, and asked to make sure that nobody gets in your way. Just follow us, and we'll get you all there fast." the cop said as he gave her a salute. Scarlet returned it and pushed the truck faster now that she knew that the way would be clear.


At Ellington Field the jets were all ready and duffels had been made up for all that they knew were coming from Major Yates wedding,. They even had a uniform waiting for her as she brought the truck to a screeching halt and was instantly surrounded by the men of her squadron who opened their dress coats surrounding her, while she stepped out of her shoes, and ripped her vail from her head, as she tried to free herself from the dress. J.J. was behind her in an instant working quickly to unlace the sky blue ribbon that held her dress onto her body, thinking that this was not the way that he had envisioned removing the dress, and he gasped when he saw her underwear, the matching corset, and silk stockings that she was wearing and held her dress at a level that would hide his very obvious erection from anyone as she pulled her camo on over the frilly under things without a thought before pulling on her boots and lacing them tightly within less than three minutes.


"Take care of that dress, J.J., I expect to have it back for our wedding and the next time that you remove it I'd like you to do it far slower. Oh, and don't let my brother drive my bike or my car while I'm gone. You're in charge of them." she said as she turned and placed a chased kiss on his lips before taking a folder from her commanding officer and glancing at it before running to her fighter jet followed closely by her Squadron, who had changed just as quickly into their camo. It was no wonder that Alpha Squadron was the best. They were fast, and efficient, and were the first of about twenty squadrons into the air. "Please be safe, and come home to me in one piece" J.J. thought as he watched Scarlet's Squadron until they were invisible specks in the air.