Vulture's Row

Vulture's Row – a viewing gallery on an aircraft carrier's tower where a person may watch the operations on the flight deck.

Four angels in flight – on an aircraft takes off and soars high, but ultimately falls and comes crashing down the runway. Pre-Turnabout Time Traveller. Selena/Pierce, Sorin/Ellen.

Fasten your seatbelts and prepare for take off on this flight! ;)

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended. This story is copyright © 2016 Turnabout Writer. All rights reserved.

1. Above Ground Level

Above Ground Level – the height measured with respect to the underlying ground surface.

Pierce and Selena

He can hear her shrieks – No, no, no! You can't do this – piercing through his mind and heart like is not sure if it's really her, or just a figment of his imagination embodying the words of his conscious. Since her death, he never really has been sure.

Pierce sighs to himself as he shuts the pocket watch close. The eager chatters around him begin to cease and he looks up to see the bride walking into the doorway of the reception hall.

His eyes flicker to Gloomsbury, who nods curtly at him.

It's time for the operation to begin.

Somewhere in the sky, he knows that Selena is crying in anguish.

.

"Excuse me, Miss," the man's voice calls out, as the she pushes the cart just a few feet past him.

She stops in her tracks, and turns her head around to face him, her azure eyes shining alight with humor as she smirks. "Yes, sir?" This is the 5th time in 3 hours that he has called for her – he already has a blanket and pillow, asked some water and snacks, and learned how to turn the air conditioning vent on and off from her. He is in Business Class right now, so surely he has nothing to complain about.

"Ah, um, you don't have to call me that." She waves at a flight attendant passing by, Maria, she recalls her name is, to take the cart away as he speaks. "I'm Pierce." He extends a hand out to her.

She frowns at him, but shakes his hand regardless. "Sir, I don't think it would be proper for me to – "

"Alright." He sighs. "Then call me Dr. Nichody. Surely that wouldn't be improper, no?"

Dr. Nichody? Hmmm . . . Her father has always told her to be wary of those arrogant enough to use their official title where unnecessary, as the future president of Sprocket Aviation.

This man could have introduced himself as Mr. Nichody, but chose to use Dr. Nichody. His use of his title bears no relevance to their current conversation, and it isn't as if he is trying to network with her, or try to point out to her that he is a doctor . . . unless, he recognizes her, and that is the reason why he keeps trying to initiate conversation.

"A doctor, huh?" she finds herself murmuring to herself. What good would it do a doctor to network with her, if he has made no move to identify who she truly is?

He scratches the back of his head awkwardly. "Um, yes . . . I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said it like that," he adds, smiling sheepishly at Selena, which makes her reevaluate her previous thought. He's humble enough to admit his error, it appears. "Force of habit – everyone calls me that now."

She nods in acknowledgement. "Apology accepted, Mr. Nichody." She tries to stop herself from smiling – he looks adorable when embarrassed. "Was there a specific reason why you called me over? Did you want tea, coffee . . . a drink?" she offers politely, knowing that Maria and the other flight attendants in the back are probably watching her and this man's interaction intently.

"No, thank you. I just wanted an excuse to talk to you," he answers honestly, a shy smile spreading across his face.

"You . . . wanted to talk to me?" She raises an eyebrow. "Well, then, make it worth my time, Mr. Nichody, or else I'll just have to leave," she threatens, a smirk playing on her lips.

He grins back haughtily – it throws her off a bit, and suddenly she isn't sure if she can determine Mr. Nichody's nature. "Then, I'll just call you back over."

"Mr. Nichody." She sighs. "I am a flight attendant, not a passenger traveling alongside you. I am working and there are others things I must attend to. Whatever you want to say to me, say it now, and make sure that it's important enough that a passing flight attendant won't think I'm standing here with a passenger who is only trying to flirt with me."

His eyes widen. "W-Well, I'm not exactly trying to flirt with you . . . I just want to get to know you."

"Mr. Nichody," she warns, beginning to take a step back from his seat and turn back the way she came from.

"Wait! Um . . ." He wracks his mind to come up with something, anything. "Oh! I've heard something about RAL Airlines not allowing for spreading of germs on their planes, and I believe that is simply not possible."

Her face twists humorously. "The aircrafts of RAL Airlines have installed an additional fan system that we call the Global Inset Director to minimize the spread of disease."

He raises an eyebrow. "An additional fan system?" he says incredulously. "I don't see how that helps keeps out the maligned germs that spread due to close contact or by breathing in the particles or droplets coughed or sneezed out fro – "

"Um, that's not a cause for concern with the fan-device, Mr. Nichody," she interrupts calmly, though she is tugging the bow tied around her neck uncomfortably – someone will overhear him and become concerned for their health, she is sure; and, frankly, she is starting to get a little disgusted. "And the avionics of this aircraft are top-notch, so I can assure you that system has been tested out and is effective."

"Hmm, I understand that you're bounded by your job to be biased – though it seems that the airline company has taught you quite a bit about the airplane, I'm still not convinced."

She shakes her head. "I sincerely can assure you that everything in this plan is the most advanced. I am one of the aviation engineers who helped design this plane three years ago." Granted, at the time, she was only interning for her father's company, but she was the one to come up with the idea of the fans. "These fans direct air into smaller spaces before reaching the filters, essentially redirecting any germ spread from other passengers."

Mr. Nichody is left speechless. Selena takes this moment to smirk arrogantly at him and turn on her heels to where the other flight attendants murmur and whisper to themselves.

.

When she walks out of the Gate with some of the flight attendants and the pilots, she sees him leaning against a nearby pillar, eyes burning into her.

She excuses herself from crew, and heads towards where he waits.

He hands her a scrunched up napkin – she recognizes the fancy RAL logo printed on it.

"What's this?"

"My number." He scratches the back of his neck sheepishly. "I don't have any business cards on me – I didn't think I'd be giving out contact information on a trip to and from visiting my mother. Regardless, bifurcating our conversation has done nothing to help me capture the inflaming enigma that is you. You've left me curious, Miss Avionics, and I want to know as much as I can about you."

Miss Avionics? Is he being snarky or just praising her? "I'm hardly any interesting," she argues, though she silently shoves the napkin into her pocket, hoping that he won't notice.

"Quite the contrary. For instance, what drives an aviation engineer like you to become a flight attendant? You've helped built the planes, and, now, you serve passengers in them; RAL Airlines and Sprocket Aviation must love you, I'd wager."

She wants to correct him on his words – RAL Airlines is under Sprocket Aviation, but she bites her tongue and gives him a wry smile. "I am licensed to fly their planes, too, if that counts."

His eyes brows shoot to his forehead. "Really? You are a pilot, too? Man, why not hire you full-time, then?"

She smirks. "Well, it's only a matter of time before I dedicate my life to Sprocket Aviation, full-time."

"Full-time, huh? Are you only working part-time now?"

"I was, until a year ago, when I decided that I must go through as many jobs as possible in the company before taking it over." She purses her lips in thought, recalling all of the surprised comments she received from her decision – except for Sorin, of course, since he was the only one who understood her. "How else am I to understand my employees if I've never been in their positions before?"

"T-Taking over the company?"

At his open-mouthed gape, she giggles. "Uh, yeah. I, er, should have probably introduced myself, but it was hardly the appropriate place to do so before. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Dr. Nichody. I am Selena Sprocket." She extends her hand out for him to shake and smiles sheepishly at him.

"Y-You're Selena Sprocket?"

She shrugs with a small smile. "Um, the one and only?"

She can tell he is impressed by her humility as he firmly grips her hand. "Ah, I'm so sorry."

She isn't exactly sure what he is apologizing for, and she doesn't have the time to linger around any longer, so she just nods. "I must take my leave. It was a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Nichody." She releases his hand and gives him a friendly smile.

He only gives her a nod back, and it slightly unnerves her – she is usually so good at reading people (since, as the future head of Sprocket Aviation, she has to), but he throws her off so much that she cannot determine what kind of person he is.

"Oh, Miss Avionics?"

She blinks, snapping back to reality. "Yes?"

His eyes never leave hers as he speaks. "I'll be waiting for you to call."

.

It's not a few days later until she remembers him again, when her father asks her family if they know of any good doctor.

"What's wrong with the family doctor?"

"He's retiring." His mouth twists sourly. "Tch, what a waste to retire so early."

"A waste?" Selena hears her mother shriek, as she begins to lose herself in thought. "He's almost 70, dear!"

She vaguely hears him argues back, almost defensively. She would counter that in some way, but right now, her thoughts are drifting to her most interesting passenger from last week . . .

"Yes, but I'd work till my deathbed! You retire when you're close to dying! The retirement age was set in this country at the age it is at because the life expectan – "

"Er, I know a doctor," Selena speaks up, but her eyes widen in surprise at her own words. Her parents turn to her startled, most likely since they had forgotten her presence.

She doesn't know where that came from. She wasn't even going to suggest anything about him. Hell, she was going to tell her father that she knew no doctors. Why did she bring him up them?

Her father nods curtly. "Good. Call him and let me know tonight."

.

"I'm flattered that I am the one who first came to mind, but I'm actually a surgeon, Miss Sprocket." He laughs from the other line, and Selena realizes that she likes the sound of it.

"Oh!" she exclaims in surprise, slapping a palm to her temple. "I should have realized that you could have been another kind of doctor. I'm sorry to have bothered you, Mr. Nichody!"

"It's no bother," he assures sweetly. "I've been waiting patiently for your call, anyway."

And that is how their love takes flight.