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Missile! Missile!
Huxian popped her flares and rolled out of the way. Her plane creaked under the strain. It felt like they had been fighting for hours, but the sun hadn’t dipped any farther below the horizon. The sunset’s glare made it impossible to see, and the radar kept switching on and off. The radio wasn’t doing much better. It only worked in short bursts, just long enough to the panic coming from her teammates as they were picked off one by one. All by the fighter with orange wingtips.
He came out of nowhere, and took them down without hesitation or mercy. Now it was just her, Count and Trigger. Trigger chased after him, Count on their wing, but all Huxian could do was stay out of the way. This was a battle of monsters, all there to rip each other’s throats out. If she got too close she would get eaten alive, or even worse, one of her friends killed. She couldn’t do anything to save her squadron, just like she couldn’t save Wiseman or the rest of her family.
Trigger fought him one-on-one. They danced around each other, impossibly fast. Everytime she blinked they were in a whole new area, going around rocks, between buildings, and through tunnels. It would’ve been breathtaking, if she wasn’t so scared. Trigger kept firing, and Mr. X dodged every time. Huxian’s hopes were crushed just a little more every time there was smoke in the air.
He pulled a Cobra maneuver and Trigger, in all their typical recklessness, shot right past him. Mr. X fired one missile, and Trigger’s plane exploded, too fast to eject. Loud static ripped through her cockpit, but they didn’t scream. Just as silent in death as they were in life.
She moved to cover Count’s wing, but it felt like flying through molasses. Her plane was barely above the stall warning, but no matter how much force she put on the throttle, she couldn’t go any faster, and he was getting farther and farther away. Even if she could catch up, she wasn’t sure she wouldn’t just be in the way. All she could do was watch as the man she loved threw everything he had at the monster attacking them. She felt like a little kid again. Tiny and helpless, only surviving because she was beneath notice.
It got harder to focus. A missile came right at her, before a dark shape passed in front of her canopy. Count. It couldn’t have been anyone else. She screamed. She screamed until her voice gave out, but it didn’t change anything. An explosion, a pained yell, then nothing.
Mr. X gave her no time before he changed direction and came at her straight on. All of her instincts told her to dodge, to run away and never look back. Hide away, find somewhere she could just waste away in silence. Instead, she summoned all her courage and maintained course straight at him.
She fired, and fired, and he danced around them. Finally, her weapon systems rang as she got a solid lock. She pulled the trigger one more time, one last time. The missile flew forward, but it never hit. Just as it was about to connect, Mr. X morphed and stretched before splitting in two. Both halves were far too thin to be piloted by a human. A bright red light blinked from where the cockpit should have been. The drones split again and again and again, until the mass blotted out the sun.
They surrounded her on all sides. Red lights, the only light, looked like a sea of artificial stars. Huxian shifted slightly, and suddenly all the eyes locked on to her.
Someone shook her shoulder. Out of instinct, she grabbed their wrist and squeezed.
“Ow! Huxian!”
Her senses finally broke through the haze of the nightmare. She dropped the not-attacker’s arm and pried her eyes open. “Sorry Count, force of habit.”
Right. The two of them were flying, but just on a civilian flight to Oured. The two of them were invited to some fancy award ceremony for their service. The Lighthouse War was long over, and neither Mr. X nor the drones would ever touch the skies again. They were safe, at least until the next war broke out.
“Are you crying?” Count’s voice was uncharacteristically soft. “What happened?”
“I am not!” Her eyelashes were a little damp, but it wasn’t like she was crying.
She wrapped her arms around him as best as she could with the cramped airline seats and hugged him. Over the din of the plane, she could hear his heartbeat, could feel his chest rise and fall. Count was alive. His hand landed on her back and started rubbing circles into it.
“It must’ve been a really bad dream if you, of all people, are crying.”
“Shut up.” Despite her protests, Huxian didn’t move, except to bury herself further into his chest.
“...Do you want to talk about it?”
Her instinctual answer was hell no. In the back streets of her hometown, any emotional vulnerability was just a target on her back. Sure, there were people she worked with, but she didn't trust them not to betray her the second they got a better offer. It wasn't like she blamed them. She tried to operate with honor, but she couldn't operate at all if she starved to death. Eat or be eaten, and all that.
But a lot of things changed over the years. Wiseman took her under his wing, despite meeting her because he caught her stealing his wallet. She idolized him, which eventually led her to joining the military, and that led to meeting and joining the LRSSG. Now she had people that regularly held her life in their hands, and she would do anything to keep them safe. Trust was still something of an odd topic, and it might stay that way until the day she died, but if what she had wasn't enough, then she didn't care. It was good enough for her.
Besides, she was talking to Count. He was the last person who could judge her, she knew that he was the last person who would. They saw each other at their worst, definitely worse than bad dreams, and still stuck together.
Huxian took a deep breath and could smell the kind of laundry detergent he used. "We were fighting Mr. X and the drones again. They picked everyone else off, and there was nothing I could do but watch."
She wasn't sure if he heard her with how muffled she was, but she felt him hum. "Sounds rough."
"Tell me about it."
"Is there anything I can do to help?"
If she was with anyone else, if it was anyone besides Count, she would just brush them off. Let her pride tell them that she was fine and that she could handle it. But she knew that he meant it, and that he wasn't asking out of pity or judgment. So she thought about what would actually help. Well, there was one thing. She wasn't sure if it would help, but it would make her feel better.
"Can we just stay like this for a while?"
"Yeah, of course."
They stayed like that until a tinny ding rang over the intercom. The announcement stated that they would be arriving at the Oured International Airport in half an hour, and that it was time to put their seatbelts on. Huxian pecked Count on the lips before untangling herself from him and stretched. Despite how sore and tense her body was, her heart felt lighter than ever.