Two Bits
By PhantomChajo
(Feb 2839, after shave)
It was late Sunday evening when Will went in search of Star Wolf. He hadn't seen her since that Friday night. He wanted to apologize for the entire mess. He had made some quiet inquiries about her and found out a lot more then he had bargained for. If he had know then what he knew now, he would have done nothing that night except put her in bed and then left to find someone else to enjoy the evening with.
It seemed though that someone had heard about him making the inquiries and had decided to take matters into their own hands.
The corridor that Will was walking down was deserted. His footsteps echoed as he walked towards his destination. He knew where to look now and wanted to get it over with before someone came looking for him. This was something to keep between only the party members that were involved.
Someone stepped out of a side hallway and stood in Will's path. The fellow was easily matching in height, but had short cropped black hair and a dark complexion. He was dressed in a flight suit and had the rank insignia of a Lieutenant. The name tag read S. RunningHorse. "You won, she lost. Leave it at that and nothing will happen." He stated tossing something at Will.
Will caught it reflexively, looking down at what it was. It was a hank of hair. Med. Brown with lighter golden-brown strands mixed in. Over all it was nearly two feet in length and tied with a ponytail band at one end. "I wasn't there to win or lose anything." He said frowning at the hair in his hands then looking up at the man.
"Maybe, maybe not but that was the rules of the game. Stay away from her." The Lieutenant stated.
"But-"
"But nothing. She's one of us, and this is how we do thing."
Will got a strong sense of a very protective relative overlaid with an image if a wolf protecting it's pack mates. Before he could say anything else though the man turned and left. He knew it would not do any good tonight if he went chasing after the man so he turned around and headed back to his quarters. Modifications were scheduled for tomorrow afternoon and he needed to get some sleep.
The next morning at breakfast when the SilverHawk team entered, the trio spotted
the Wild Hunt at one of the tables. Emily managed not to snarl at the pair that
had gotten her. Will looked slightly guilt about something and Jay wasn't saying
a word. When they sat down and Jay removed his hat there were snickers aimed
at his new hair style but it was quickly followed by someone telling them to
cool it.
Will sat so that he could try and catch Wolf's eye, but it seemed that someone had planned on that. All he saw was the back of all the ladies of the Wild Hunt squadron. The men were sitting so that every time he looked up he got daggers in the looks that were sent his way.
It was quiet enough this morning in the Mess Hall that the various conversations could be heard.
"How many was that again, Wolfie?" someone from another table asked.
She just puts her head on the table with a soft groan, running a hand through her shorn locks.
"Chill," Coyote said over his mug, giving the speaker an icy glare.
"Sounds like Star Wolf lost." Snickered a second cadet.
Before anything else could be said, Star Wolf got up and left. She was followed by the other three Wild Hunt ladies.
Jon had heard that there was some type of bet the past weekend and he made the fast connection between Jay and Emily's hair cut and the comments from the Wild Hunt Squadron's table as well as the rest of the Mess Hall. "Well, Will, did she lose?"
"No comment." He said with a frown, sipping his coffee.
"He ain't the one at the wrong end of a razor," Jay snorted.
Over at the other table.
"Hey Coyote, too bad you wasn't her first time." MoonDoggie said.
"Listen here Doggie. She's my Neice, Get it." He said with a glare
"Yeah but the way that crush of hers is going, you should have been. To get it over and out of the way." He pointed out.
"And loose my balls to my brother and his wife? Thank you no. I like the kid, don't get me wrong, but it jut wouldn't be right." Coyote said with a snort.
"So who'd she bribe to get on the squad with you?" James 'Preyhunter' Lunder asked.
"No one, she got assigned by the General" Commented David 'Blackmoon' Wheaton, the commanding officer of the squad said.
"What is up with him, anyway? It's like grab-bag with the rules. Wolfie and the SilverHawk pilot broke the sim, and they get a night in the kitchen? They're both lucky not to have been dumped."
Suddenly General Landon himself appeared seemingly out of no where. "Morning, folks," waving them off before they can jump up.
A chorus of "Good Morning Sir" all around.
"Everyone here happy? Yes? Good. I like happy troops. They do good work."
A yelp of pain from Doggie as Blackmoon kicks him hard, under the table, before he can say anything that will cause trouble.
General Landon looked over at the SilverHawk group and blinked a couple of times. "Someone got up on the wrong side of the razor." He shrugged. "Keep up the good work."
A mumbled round of "Yes Sir" came as a reply
He then wandered off, leaving them to wonder what the hell that was all about.
"Listen here Nate. Do you want Zan to get transferred out? No? good Neither do I. She's one of the best pilots there is and the only other that is equal if not better is that SilverHawk pilot. Yes, as a squad we could take them out. But one on one, we'd be lucky to come out with just our tails getting kicked. Don't rock the boat."
Before much more could be said the intercom came to life. "Wild Hut Squadron, report to the Commander's Office. Wild Hunt Squadron, report to the Commander's Office"
There was audible growls, groans and curses as the members of the Wild Hunt got up and headed out.
After the team left the Mess hall they had to report to the Medical wing to
start preparations for the Modifications. Will hung back some to speak with
Jay about what had happened. "I went looking for the one called Star Wolf
to apologize about this weekend and this one fellow steps out of no where, tosses
me a long hank of hair and warns me away from her."
"Who was it?" Jay asked as he ran a hand over his new hair cut.
Will went into a description of Coyote.
"Oh man, that was her Uncle, If he's ticked I'd advise you to do as he says." Jay gave Will a serious look.
"Shhot. I'm lucky it was hair he handed me and not my-" he said a little louder then intended.
"Sergeant. Mixed company," Jon cut in looking back over his shoulder at the pair.
"Un-huh." Will just grunted softly then turned back to Jay, this time speaking a bit more softly so not to bring attention to the conversation at hand. "All I wanted to do is apologize. How was I suppose to know?"
By this time they had reached the medical wing and no more was to be said because as soon as they entered they got whisked away.
After the modifications had been completed, the SilverHawk team went through
a series of tests. Each was designed to get them use to the new armor and weaponry
that they had been modified with. Once everything was under way General Landon
left for Limbo to set everything up there for them. They were leaving within
a week.
The last day and the final test run, everything went smoothly for the SilverHawk
team. But for the Wild Hunt Squadron, all hell broke loose as that morning they
were informed that they would be leaving that night on assignment. Everyone
was scrambling to get last minute details cleared up.
All they had to do was wait for the area to be cleared. As the Squadron waited, they watched the SilverHawks in action. It was a pretty impressive site to say the least. The Twins were snickering between themselves about their coup over the one known as SteelHeart, and Sharptooth was grinning in remembrance of what she did to the Pilot, Bluegrass.
Star Wolf though was quiet. Even though she had won the side bet, she lost the main one. All she remembered was that while it had been a pleasurable night, she got nothing else from it expect a needed trip to the Hair stylist to 'fix' the problem. In fact all the gals went with her that day. They claimed it was because BlackMoon requested it. She knew that was bullshit. It was squadron pride that sent them with her. A case of Shame on one, Shame on All.
Coyote watched Wolf quietly. He never told her that her 'Date' of the evening had come looking for her to apologize about things. She had been upset enough about the loss of her hair. He never told her that he had been the one to cut it either. 'It was for the best' he thought, 'doubt we'll ever see them again so why let something start that will never be finished?'
It was early evening, the sun was setting and the sky darkening. Activities
on the Launch pad had increased to a frantic pace. The Wild Hunt Squadron was
preparing to launch and the SilverHawk team was watching from the observation
deck. Not many could say that a sunset launch was not beautiful in it's own
way. The fiery trails as the ships blasted off, lighting up the darkness around
them.
"I thought they were our back-up team..." Will said
"Plans changed," Jon said. "Problems someplace called Haven."
"Think we'll ever see any of that bunch again?" Jay asked.
"Who knows Cowboy." Emily replied.
'I never did get a chance to apologize....' Will sent to his sister as they all watched the launch
'So you'll tell her next time you see her...Make it up to her then.' Emily replied.
'If there is a next time. But I'll remember.'
'With any luck, so will she.'