Hi lovelies! This one shot you might have read in the spring is now going to be a full fic. Enjoy!
She had finally convinced her father to let her give it a try on her sixteenth birthday. From that day on, it had become her main unflinching obsession.
Skydiving was unlike anything else on Earth.
It allowed her to fly.
No. Really.
Fly.
Crashing through the sky alone was the only time that El Hopper was able to truly be herself, bending the molecules in the air around her to do anything she wanted. It afforded her a freedom she couldn't experience anywhere else in life. It was the one place where she could fully embrace her secret with the unbridled intensity she desired.
Life had fallen into place like a stack of dominos after that first jump, and almost ten years later she found herself at the helm, jumping almost every day with endless tandem newbies strapped to her chest. It wasn't a common profession for a slight woman of 5' 4". But, then again, El Hopper wasn't exactly a common girl.
And, like almost every Saturday morning, that's where El found herself off to on this early May morning.
El sighed as she honked her car horn for the fourth time, desperately hoping Max would finally respond. They were running very close to late. Finally, Max's red pony tailed whipped into view from behind her apartment door.
"I am so hungover, I hope I don't wretch on my tandem," Max groaned as she flung her body into the passenger seat of El's car. "Why do I keep drinking Jager?"
"Because you keep not listening to me," El quipped as she rolled her eyes. "Here, I got you breakfast."
She handed the beat up girl beside her a croissant sandwich and a cup of coffee.
Max sighed in contentment as she allowed herself to sink into El's passenger seat as El hit the road. "What would I do without you, Ellie?"
"At this point, I have no idea," El replied with a laugh as she pulled out of the driveway and took her regular route to the airfield.
"So, what kind of assholes are we jumping today?" Max asked, her mouth full of breakfast sandwich.
"I swear, I don't know how you got a job dealing with people," El teased.
"Honestly, me either. But then again, you hired me. So, I guess you're the one that will have to answer to that," Max replied sarcastically. "Oh, I hope it's cute boys. That always makes the day go by faster"
El snickered, "You always hope it's cute boys."
"Of course I do."
"Well, I took a look at the reservation this morning. It's four guys in their mid twenties so maybe you'll get lucky," El supplied, side eyeing her coworker with a smirk.
"Score, I hope they're girly screamers. That's my favorite."
El rolled her eyes. "You are such a sadist."
"Guilty as charged," Max said with a serious nod as she took a big bite of her breakfast sandwich and moaned almost indecently at the taste.
El pulled up to the gate about ten minutes later and flashed the guard her access pass, pulling them through to the prep area. Prep took a little extra time that morning, what with Max dragging ass, and they were only just ready to go as the car carrying their clients for the morning jump pulled up.
A handsome black man was in the driver's seat, next to a curly haired guy who was talking animatedly, his hands bouncing through the air as he explained something she couldn't hear. In the back were two more men, and El's eyes strayed to a brunette that she realized he was blind folded.
She groaned.
Surprised sky divers were the worst. She really needed to add a clause in the contract discouraging it. The last time she jumped with a surprised birthday girl she was pretty sure she ruined birthdays for the girl for the rest of her life. The girl had cried the entire time and run away the second she had been released her from the harness.
The men exited the car as she put on her most friendly professional face and waved in their direction. The curly haired man held his finger to his lips before he turned to the blindfolded one.
"Ok, Mike. Are you ready?" he chimed.
"I swear to God, this is so unnecessary. I hate surprises. You know I hate surprises," the tall guy she now knew as Mike grumbled behind his blindfold.
"You'll love this surprise," the man from the driver's seat encouraged. "Will, take off his blindfold."
In reply, Will reached up and took off Mike's blindfold as he encouragingly said, "No really, you're going to love it."
Mike's eyes opened, and fell directly on El.
...He didn't speak.
...And neither did she.
She wasn't sure she knew how.
Something about how his deep dark eyes had locked onto hers had rendered her voice utterly useless. It was instant, the goosebumps that shot straight down her body trapped in his gaze.
"Um..." he stuttered, his gaze unwavering from hers.
"Dude! She's not your surprise. Look around you," the curly haired one said as he shook his head and the boys all laughed directly at Mike.
Mike blinked, finally breaking the eye contact that she had just been lost in. He looked around him for the first time. And then, he blanched.
"No! No no no no no. I told you guys I didn't want to do this," he protested as he instantly tried to get back into car.
"Oh, no you don't!" The man from the driver's seat countered. "You've always wanted to do this. You said so last week, even."
The curly haired one then jumped to the task before Mike could protest any further. "Hi, I'm Dustin. It's Mike's 25th birthday. As you can see, he's difficult. You're in charge here?"
"Yeah, that's me," El said, highly embarrassed to find that her voice was struggling to work. She resolutely tried to keep her eyes on Dustin and did not let them drift behind him.
"Lucas," the man from the driver's seat said suddenly, making her jump as he walked up and held out his hand to introduce himself. "And this is Will, and our birthday boy, Mike."
El shook each of their hands, stopping on Mike last.
"Happy Birthday," she said as she neared him and held out her hand in greeting.
"Thank you," he replied, his grip firm and lingering.
"I can guarantee you it's not as scary as you think it is," she said, pushing herself to sound as professionally kind as she could muster. "Plus, you'll be strapped to me and I've jumped out of a plane hundreds of times without any incident."
"I'll be strapped to you?" He asked in surprise, his voice raising an octave in an instant.
"Unless you'd rather go tandem with Max," she said, pointing over her shoulder to the red head sorting equipment. "But she's not as nice as me."
"No, no. You're fine," Mike stuttered.
A peal of laughter echoed behind her from the boys, coupled with Dustin hiding his face in his hand and muttering, "Oh my god, Mike," under his breath, but still loud enough to hear her.
Keep is professional, Hopper.
"Okay," she said as she clapped her hands together and surveyed the group, pulling their attention. "Are we ready to get started?"
"Yes!"
"Yeah!"
"Let's go!"
"...yes?"
El turned on her heel and waved them to follow her. Max looked up as they approached and waved. "Hi, I'm Max. Everybody pick up a gear bag and meet me by that plane over there, then we'll handle paperwork and go over the basics," she said as she hoisted two into her arms and headed for small silver plane off to the left.
"Oh god, that plane has propellers," a shaky voice grimaced behind her. She turned around to find Mike, pale, as he looked at the tiny plane. El held up her hand for him to slow down while she let the others follow Max.
"Afraid of flying?" She asked.
Mike avoided her eyes, a blush rising to his cheeks. "I feel like a huge baby admitting this to a professional sky diver, but yes."
"Mike," she said, causing his eyes to dart directly to hers as she said his name. "I understand. It's okay. You don't have to do this, it's not for everybody. But I can guarantee you that if do decide to go ahead with this, the plane is safe and you're in good hands. Tandem is easy. Really, all you have to do is trust me and I'll do the rest. I promise."
Mike was quiet for a moment as he looked at her. The fear radiating in his eyes just a second earlier began to simmer and was replaced with the disarming gaze he had bestowed upon her when his blindfold had come off.
"You promise?" he said quietly.
"Yes. I promise," she replied with a nod.
"Okay," he said after a second. "I trust you."
"Smart man," El said with a smirk as she turned back around and led the way to the plane, happy for a moment to let the blush wear off of her cheeks.
What the hell kind of a thing to say was that? What she... flirting? What was happening?
She shook it off as they reached the plane. El scaled the steps and crawled into the hull.
She greeted her pilot and her other two tandem instructors as she straightened up and pointed for Mike to take a seat. He was tall enough that he had to hunch slightly to do so.
"Okay, everybody strap in and let's begin."
El quickly fell into her daily routine, walking the guys through her safety and procedure schpeel as the pilot began to start the plane. She was grateful for the rote procedure as it helped her mind recover from the unexpected sensations that kept assaulting her out of absolutely nowhere.
The mood was extra jovial as they went through the process, filled with jokes and banter, all unique to the group of friends that seemed to know each other insanely well.
Despite her attempts, her eyes kept gravitating back to Mike. He had calmed down considerably, and was even joining in with his friends on the jokes and light hearted banter.
God he has the best smile.
After walking them through the safety procedures and handling the final paperwork, she and the other trainers paired off with their tandems to strap everyone up and get the flight off of the ground.
"So, how does this work?" Mike asked as she held the vest open for him to slip it on.
"Basically, you wear this, and then I will hook onto these back here," she said, pulling on the apparatus. "So, I'll be strapped to your back and I'll be in charge of everything. Your only jobs are to let yourself fall and not accidentally punch me in the face."
"I think I can manage that," he replied with a smile as he turned back around and zipped up the vest. She checked each of his restraints, right up close to his body while she did so. A heady sensation came over her that made it hard for her to do her safety check properly.
"You've done hundreds of jumps?" He asked softly, his voice almost in her ear as she checked the harness tightness at his shoulder.
"Mhmm" El replied as she forced herself to keep her eyes on her work. "Passed about 900 a couple months ago. I've been jumping for almost 10 years."
"Oh wow, that's awesome," he said quietly.
El smiled in reply and snuck a glance up. "You think so?"
Mike shrugged in reply. "Yeah, I've never even so much as jumped from a rooftop, let alone a plane. So, this is a big leap for me..."
El giggled despite herself. "...No pun intended, I'm sure."
"No..." he said slowly, his voice went a bit quiet as he rolled his eyes at himself. "That pun was definitely intended..."
"Well, it was a good one," she lied reassuringly.
"Oh, thanks," Mike said with a bit of surprise. She looked up to find his face yet again slightly flushed as he looked away from her.
He was such a dork.
Like, a huge dork.
...why was it so adorable?
"Okay, take a seat and strap in, we'll take off in a minute," she said suddenly as she backed away from Mike and forced the subject change to get her brain back on track once again.
Mike nodded and did as she asked. She suited herself up quickly, testing her equipment in a practiced fashion before signaling to the pilot that everyone was ready to go.
As the plane took off, El let her eyes scan the hull of the plane. The rest of Mike's friends seemed immensely excited as they began their ascent. Max was sitting beside her tandem, Lucas, cracking jokes with him in way that seemed like they knew each other. The flight up was smooth and uneventful as she talked the group through what to expect, final considerations, and a brief pep talk, all the while distractingly aware of the raven haired man who's knee was touching hers in the cramped quarters.
And finally, much to her relief, they were there, in the sky, at altitude, ready to fly.
"Okay everyone, a quick flight up and then a quicker flight down!" She called.
The hull erupted in cheers, with the exception of one subtle groan to her right.
She looked over to find Mike once again looking pale.
"You still want to do this?" she asked.
Mike shut his eyes tight for a moment and breathed in a steadied way. After a moment his eyes reopened. He looked down on her and nodded.
"Yeah, I think I should do this," he said, almost to himself. He ventured a glance at her quickly before he looked away, something hiding in his eyes.
"Okay," she said hesitantly, somehow completely unbothered by his latest spike of tension. "If that's what you want. You're in safe hands. It'll be over before you know it."
"Thanks, El," he replied with a tight smile.
El felt her heart thump hard as he uttered her name, and she was immensely grateful as the other trainers became to move through the hull in order to prepare for the by one the boys fell from the plane until it was just El and Mike alone in the hull. With each drop of his friends she could feel his tension edging to a new plateau.
"Okay, you ready?" El asked softly into his ear as Will's exuberant scream could be heard leaving the hull. He jumped in surprise as his eyes shot in her direction and she fought back a gasp. They were desperately close.
"I'm as ready as you can make me" he said quietly; his voice hoarse.
El worked to handle the final restraints and positioned herself behind him, aware of his shaking as he seemed to accept his fate. El must have lost her mind, because at that moment she reached around and took his hand quickly, squeezing it as she brought them close to the open door. "Alright. It's our turn!" she called to him as the wind began to assault his shaggy hair, flinging it against her goggles. "If it gets to be too much just squeeze my hand and close your eyes, okay?!"
"Okay..."
El connected the final latch of their safety harnesses with surprisingly shaky fingers.
"Alright," she cried, almost laughing at their now obvious height difference as her job became cumbersome. "You okay?"
"Um..."
"I promised you you could trust me," she said, pulling herself up on her tiptoes and bringing her lips close to his ear to ensure he could hear her, "So trust me."
"I trust you. I don't really trust myself right now," he replied as she peered out of the open door, the wind lapping his hair dangerously.
"Well, luckily you don't have to," she said as she pulled him back against her, ready to jump. "I've got you."
"Oh...kay."
"Alright. Here we go."
He grabbed her hand instantly, making her flinch; the contact feeling so wholly intimate in a way no other dive ever had, and they hadn't even jumped yet. She tightened her hand around his on instinct.
"On three! 1 - 2 - Happy Birthday, Mike!"
She pushed them out of the hull.
She was pretty sure he broke her hand as he squeezed, their bodies together in a free fall through the sky.
"HOLY SHIT HOLY FUCK OH MY GOD"
"You're okay! It's almost over already, just relax!"
And shockingly, he listened.
What followed was one of the best jumps of her life. Over the course of 30 seconds he went from a terror to pure exhilaration.
"THIS IS AMAZING!"
"RIGHT?! I TOLD YOU!"
Despite the shift in his fear, as it melted from terror to exaltation, he did not let go of her hand. His fingers had interlaced with hers somewhere along the way, and they pressed down with a firmness that trapped her in his grasp. Yet, instead of fighting for her fingers back, she pulled his hand out away from them so he could fully feel the free fall through the air.
His hair whipped against her face, raven black strands chopping up the scenery of the sky in her view.
"YOU GOOD?"
"I'M AWESOME!" he replied, pumping her hand in reply.
Her heart swooped, completely without the assistance of the gravity pulling them down.
Gravity.
At that moment she was assaulted by sudden dangerous urge. One that came out of nowhere. One that had never once triggered on any of the hundreds of tandems she had jumped.
Don't do it.
Don't do it.
"Want to try something?" She yelled across his ear as her body took control over her mind completely against her will.
"Anything!" He called back.
She swallowed hard, her blood boiling in nervousness and instant regret... as she cut out the gravity.
"What the fuck?!" He yelled as they shot upward.
"I know right?! Just gotta know how to maneuver it!" She lied.
There's no way he would ever know, right?
She took Mike on a mini version of her solo flight.
She had never shared this sensation with another soul. She'd never even told anyone about it.
She had no idea how she'd lost her control and shared it with him.
Yet, she didn't think about it in that moment.
Because it was glorious.
And from the tone clear in his yelling voice, he absolutely loved it.
She cut it off quicker than she would have liked in order to avoid suspicion, and instead, pulled the parachute.
They buoyed in the air, and she felt him let out a breath he'd seemed to have been holding, his words a jumble of adrenalin.
"That was fucking amazing! This is fucking amazing! You're fucking amazing!" His voice screamed through the air.
El's breath caught at his final words as their fall took the air of the parachute, making them glide.
"So you like skydiving?!" She cried as she noticed her hand still pinned in his.
"This is the best Birthday of my life!"
El's vision landed on the back of his head, calling to her as their slow fall became more controlled with the parachute. She didn't know what the hell she was doing, and she felt like a major creep, but that didn't seem to stop her from dropping her forehead to lie down momentarily against the nape of his neck.
He leaned back into her.
"Okay," she said into his ear, no need to yell too loudly as her lips were almost touching his ear. "We're going to hit the ground soon. So lean back into me as we get close, and right as you're about to touch the ground, make like you're running and we'll have a smooth landing."
"You got it!" He cried back excitedly.
And while he did exactly as she asked , the landing was anything but smooth. His lanky frame plus their height differences made for a hard rolling land into the dirt.
El's laughter echoed through her ears as she splayed half on her back on the ground, the wind knocked out of her lungs, connected awkwardly to Mike who was pushing her deeper into the ground. She worked quickly to release him from the harness and attempted and failed to catch her breath as she laid back into the dirt.
"Holy shit that was amazing." He said, breathless and panting, as he rolled onto his stomach and placed his face to the ground.
"Good first jump?" She asked through heaving breaths as she worked her way up onto her elbow and leaned toward him.
He looked up at her, his body less than an inch away from hers, glee shooting through all of his features as he nodded vigorously.
And then she froze as Mike did the least expected thing she'd ever experienced in her life.
With a swiftness that made her miss his movements, he leaned in against her and searingly kissed her full on the mouth.
El melted without warning into the grass below, her body giving way to him on instinct as if something deep inside simply surrendered. His lips, dry from the wind, shot shocked sparks throughout every corner of her body as he leaned against her on the ground.
He pulled away after a moment, his eyes glazed two inches from her face. Deep pools of dark light boring into hers. He exhaled in an overwhelmed huff, rustling her hair against her cheek.
"Wha-" she breathed as she stared at him blankly in astonishment.
And with that, Mike blinked. And when his eyes reopened they were filled with an instant and real terror. He jarringly jumped to his feet.
"Oh my god I'm so sorry I'm so hopped up on adrenaline and you're so pretty and that was so amazing and, I mean, how did you do that in the air, how did we fly up?! Oh my god, I'm...I'm so sorry. Stuff like that has to happen all the time, right? Like, I'm not the first adrenaline addled person to kiss their trainer in thank you, am I? Oh my god." He buried his head in his hands.
"Um... You might be the first..." El said, breathless, her eyes wide, her body still on the ground, the feeling of his lips still coursing through her veins with more delicious intensity than she had felt during a jump through the sky.
"Fuck, I am so sorry," he grimaced as he turned away.
"It's okay...I... I liked it."
I liked it?!
What kind of crazy alternate reality El had taken over her fucking mouth?
"Oh..." was all Mike said in reply as he shifted back around quickly and looked at her in complete surprise.
El felt her face flush scarlet as she forced herself roughly to break eye contact and scrambled to her feet to collect the parachute. "Okay. Umm... let's get back to the others!' she stuttered quickly, not looking at him as she began to cross the field at full mortified speed.
Mike followed her wordlessly as they left the field and quickly joined the others in a pickup location.
"Dude that was awesome!" Will called to Mike as he arrived. "You survived!"
"I uh..." Mike stumbled over his words. "I better than survived. That was the best five minutes of my life."
"Yeah, man!" Dustin called from behind them, running to join them.
They waited for a long moment before a rustling occurred to their left and Lucas and Max came out from behind a large pile of brush. Lucas looked like his dog had died.
"I don't want to talk about this ever again," he barked as he joined the others. Max's smirk told El that she couldn't wait to tell her that story.
El went through the rest of the motions in a daze, so much so that Max ended up leading the trip back to the airfield and their car.
She couldn't get her mind off what had just happened. His eyes. His smile. The feeling of his fingers entwined tightly with hers. The fact that she still found him so engaging though he had started as a complete scaredy cat. Whatever had possessed her actually fly with him. That fucking kiss...
"Well, I hope you had a good time, guys. Especially you, Lucas," Max said with a tease as they reached the end point and began to say their goodbyes.
Lucas grimaced and nodded curtly in return as he bee lined for the car, making the other guys laugh out loud.
Mike crossed through the small crowd toward El as Will and Dustin spoke to their instructors.
"I know I was probably the weirdest tandem you've ever had," he said sheepishly, avoiding her eyes. "So thank you for dealing with me."
"You definitely were but... it was fun," she replied quietly, her professional voice completely checked out and nowhere to be found.
"Uh...okay. That's good, then," he said with a nervous laugh. After a second he seemed to chance a glance up and caught her eye, but he didn't say anything else.
"Um..." she stuttered with growing nervousness. "Happy Birthday. And if you uh... if ever want to jump again, you know where to find me."
Mike nodded, a glint in his eye. "I'll do that."
He looked at her one last time, and in that moment she attempted to send him a signal, any signal to keep him talking, to get him to stay, to... anything. It was a desperate calling that shot from somewhere within her that she couldn't explain. But instead, he simply waved goodbye, turned around, and crawled into the back seat of the car parked by the curb with this friends.
El let out a heavy breath, and her heart fell to a shocking degree as she watched the car start up and drive away.
"What. The fuck. Was that?" Max questioned, suddenly by her side, with a tone laced with her intent to dig for gossip.
El simply sighed. "He kissed me after we landed."
"Oh my GOD!" Max exclaimed. "That's a new one."
"I know."
"Did you like it?" she asked, leaning into their new secret.
El looked over to her friend, certain that her eyes would betray her if she tried to lie. So instead, she chose truth.
"I loved it," she admitted with a breathless blush.
"Ellie!" Max squealed. "Did you get his number?"
"...Nope. I left that up to him. It... didn't happen." she replied, trying to keep the dejection out of her voice.
"Oh," Max said with a hint of disappointment. She was silent for a moment before she changed the subject, for which El was eternally grateful. "That Lucas guy screamed like a little girl the whole way down. I thought he was going to give himself a heart attack."
El laughed. "So, you're favorite kind of jump, huh?"
"Oh, absolutely. It was fucking hilarious. I think I made it worse for him because I couldn't keep in my laughter."
"There goes our Yelp rating. Thanks, Max"
Max rolled her eyes, "Did you -"
But at that moment a car, one that she had just seen leave, reappeared around the bend, driving fast until it stopped abruptly at the curb.
Mike jumped out, his lanky body making hard work of the small back door.
El's heart jumped.
"Did you forget something?" She asked.
"Yeah," he stated breathlessly, his eyes nervous. "I forgot to get your number."
"Oh, Smooooooth..." Max breathed quietly beside El.
"That is..." he continued as he scratched the nape of his neck, "If you'd be willing to give -"
"Yes." El interjected immediately as she hurriedly fished for her card from her jacket pocket. She handed him her business card and pointed to the last number. "This is my cell. Use that."
"Okay," he said as he sucked on his bottom lip and looked at the card in his hand. "I'll um... I'll call you, uh... El Hopper, Head Skydiving Instructor."
"Okay," she replied without hesitation, a traitorous smile tugging against her lips.
Mike was silent for a moment before he looked back up, his deep dark eyes on hers one last time, completely rendering her speechless. For the slightest of moments, the nervousness that had flooded through him was completely gone, and in its place a genuine sincerity filled his eyes. It was one she had sensed all along, but now, in full view, it took her breath away.
"Thank you again for the best five minutes of my life."
"Right back at ya," she breathed in instant reply.
Mike blinked, obviously unsure what she meant by that.
Did she know what she meant by that?
She did.
Holy shit wow… She absolutely did know what she meant by that.
"Bye, El," he said slowly, not moving at all despite his words.
"Bye Mike," she replied shakily.
"Yeah... bye..." he said one last time, bewitched as he backed up the car and crawled back in. "I'll... I'll call you."
She let out a tiny wave as he slammed the door to the the car and it left the curb.
Max squealed through a boasting laugh as the car disappeared for a second time out of the parking lot. "Whoa. That is the most love at first sight shit I have ever seen. And I watch way too many romance movies."
"That is the most love at first sight shit I've ever felt." El replied without thought, her filter long since gone.
"Ooh Hopper, you are a goner."
"Yeah," she breathed, her head still swimming. "I think I am."
So, here we go! This is my first AU ever so I think this is going to be a fun time! I'd likely expect an 8 chapter fic from this, light and fun with a little bit of mystery and angst.