Disclaimer: I don't own Planes. Disney does.
A/N: I wasn't sure what to title this chapter, so it's not the best.
A New Beginning
Blade sighed as he looked up at the cloudless sky from his perch on the ledge. Another uneventful night with no storms approaching. Oh well, at least he could watch his team without them noticing. For some reason he couldn't fathom, they were all entering the main hanger, usually in groups of two or three. Dipper and Dusty were the last to arrive at the hanger as they slowly rolled through the base, talking excitedly about something. As hard as he tried, they were too far away for Blade to hear what they were saying. As he watched Maru let them in, he reflected on the events of the past year.
One year ago, Dusty had showed up on base to become a firefighter. While Blade wasn't happy with his new trainee, figuring he was just a stuck-up punk who was looking for yet another way to attract females, Dipper was over the moon about his presence. Another reason to not want Dusty there. As if flying through a restricted airspace, not watching where he was going, flying low enough to blow embers everywhere, and getting himself covered in retardant wasn't enough, now Blade would have to worry about Dipper focusing on her job and not on the famous racer.
As time went on though, Blade noticed that the modest act Dusty'd put on when they'd first met wasn't an act at all. He really was modest, which made Blade start to wonder why the famous racer had given up racing to become a firefighter. Eventually, Dusty revealed that his engine was damaged and he couldn't race anymore. Seeing Dusty unable to admit to that fact, even to himself, Blade couldn't help but feel pity for the young plane. That plus the fact that Dusty had, up to that point, worked as hard as he could even with a damaged engine made the chopper rethink everything he'd thought about the SEAT.
When Dusty went down saving that old RV couple, it shook Blade to the core. Not only did Dustys' crash remind him of Nick, the young plane didn't deserve to go down hard like that. Thankfully, Maru was able to fully repair him, and he went on to continue his successful racing and firefighting careers. Blade was proud when he read about how Dusty and Mayday had saved Propwash Junction from an arsonist-started fire that threatened the entire town. Later the entire air attack team was watching the news leading up to the WATG rally, when the announcer said that Dusty announced he was retiring from racing after the rally, so he could focus on firefighting, shocking everyone at the air attack base. Needless to say, Dipper and the smokejumpers weren't the only ones who watched Dustys' last race.
Now, watching Maru close the hanger doors, Blade couldn't help but think that Dusty had made the right decision. With this years' fire season being unusually severe, the Piston Peak air attack fire chief was glad to have another aircraft to help out. Of course, luck had a part in Dusty being on base: the cousin of one of the residents of Propwash Junction, a newly certified fire truck who was looking for a job, was staying with his cousin and Mayday agreed to let him stay on for the fire season so Dusty could help out at Piston Peak.
After looking at the sky for awhile longer, Blade decided to go see what his team was up to. Granted, they all gathered in the main hanger almost every night, but this time he decided to let his curiosity about what went down in the hanger get the best of him. No one noticed him when he quietly opened the hanger doors and slipped in. They were too focused on whatever show they were watching. Great. They were watching Chops. Wonderful. And were they playing a drinking game every time he used his hoist on the show? Before he could say anything, the show ended and he heard Dynamite say something about how attractive he was! It was about that time Maru happened to look over and see Blade sitting there shocked speechless. Before Maru could utter a word of warning, Dipper stated that Dusty was even more attractive than Blade. This led to an argument between Dipper, Dynamite, and Pinecone about which aircraft was more attractive, while the guys wisely kept their mouths shut. Finally, after a few moments, Blade rolled closer, and said "so, you think I'm attractive?" The hanger instantly went dead quiet. Everyone slowly turned to stare in horror at their boss. The effect was so comical, it took every ounce of willpower Blade had not to laugh. After a few minutes of giving his entire team his trademark stare while they shifted uncomfortably, The air boss said "next time you guys gather to watch Chops, invite me. I want in." After getting a nod from everyone, he turned and left.
Needless to say, the party broke up after Blade left. As he headed for his hanger, Blade noticed out of the corner of his eye Dipper and Dusty rolling away slowly, one of Dippers' wings folded down over Dusty, while he seemed to be enjoying her affection. What the hey? Last year, Dipper'd been so clingy that Blade really thought she'd end up getting a restraining order served on her. After looking at them for a moment, Blade quietly followed them, wondering what they were up to. After all, he still had time before he had to show up for his own date.
The young couple rolled to the edge of the base and stopped, looking up at the stars. "It's so quiet at night," Dipper sighed. Dusty agreed. "So," Dipper continued, "how did your friends back home react when you announced your retirement from racing?" Dusty looked over at her and smiled. "Well, Dottie was quite happy, Skipper, sparky, and Mayday were supportive, Leadbottom was hopeful I'd return to dusting crops, and Chug... Well, Chug kinda went into orbit." Dusty had to bite his lower lip to keep from laughing at the memory of his best friends' reaction. "What do you mean by 'went into orbit?'", Dipper asked. "He freaked out and started blaming the other racers for teasing me so much, I was forced to quit racing," Dusty responded, "he went on for about ten minutes before I could even get a word in edgewise. Not only that, he also wanted to spike their fuel with his special high-grade." While it was true that some of the younger racers gave Dusty a hard time about racing a firefighting plane, their taunting stopped two races before the Wings Around the Globe rally. "I bet that fire you helped put out during that one race stopped the jabs," Dipper replied. "Oh, yeah," Dusty responded. After the race, which Dusty had won, one racer went to land, only to discover his landing gear had not fully deployed which resulted in him skidding down the runway, sparks from his fuselage igniting the dry grass near the spectators. As per his eager to help personality, Dusty helped extinguish the fire before rolling to the winner's circle.
Unbeknownst to Dusty and Dipper, Blade was parked nearby, listening to every word they were saying. 'Yep, that sounds like Dusty,' he thought, grinning to himself. A part of him wished he could keep Dusty as part of his team full-time. But, practical helicopter that he was, Blade knew that Propwash Junction needed two firefighters. He was lucky there was someone who could take Dustys' place for awhile. Blade would never admit it to anyone, but he would be all too happy to have the former racer on his team. Then, Dusty said something that caused Blade to get his hopes up.
"So, remember that exciting news I said I had earlier?," he asked. "How could I forget? I thought you'd never get around to telling me!," Dipper exclaimed. "Ok, so you know how I told you that Daves' cousin is staying with him while he looks for a firefighting job? Well, Skipper told me earlier today that the reason he's having a hard time finding a job is because he wants to work in a place where there's not a whole lot of action, so we discussed the possibility of him being hired on as Maydays' assistant and my staying here full time if Blade would have me."
Until that moment, Blade didn't believe that anyone on the base could be anywhere near as loud as Avalanche until he heard Dippers' response to Dusty. She squealed so loudly that Blade was shocked the rest of the base wasn't rushing over to see what was up. Or, maybe they were but the sound of their engines were drowned out by Dipper. As it was, Blade wondered if he'd suffered permanent hearing damage from his close proximity to Dippers' over-enthusiasm. After a few minutes, when Dipper had finally calmed down and the ringing in Blades' ears stopped, he rolled forward and said: "you can stay on here if you want. I'd be happy to have you as part of my team. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a date at the lodge." At that, Blade started his engine and flew towards the lodge.
Dusty and Dipper stared at each other for a few seconds after Blades' announcement. "A date?," Dipper asked, surprised. "Blade?," Dusty added, equally surprised. After a few moments, Dusty cleared his throat nervously, and said, "there's something I've been meaning to talk to you about. So, now that we'll be living on the base together, would, would you... marry me?"
For a few seconds, Dipper was too surprised to reply. After Dusty had finally woken up following his crash, they'd been secretly dating, seeing each other whenever circumstances would allow. Both of them had expressed regrets that they couldn't see each other as much as they would've liked, but now with Dusty joining the Piston Peak team full time, there was no reason to keep their relationship secret anymore. "YES! Of course!," Dipper screamed, loud enough to be heard by everyone on the base. Smiling, Dusty suggested that they go celebrate, stating that he had a few cans of Chugs' special high-grade stashed in the hanger he used while there. As they headed to get it, they failed to notice everyone still on base watching their every move.
Dynamite and Pinecone couldn't help but smile as they watched the lovebirds roll into Dippers' hanger with several cans of what Dynamite suspected was high-grade and shut the door. The two jumpers turned to their teammates and said in unison, "ok boys, time to pay up!" Drip, Avalanche, and Blackout groaned as they went to get their carefully hidden high-grade to give to the girls. Meanwhile, Maru was watching from his own hanger, laughing. Those three should've known not to bet against Pinecone and Dynamite when it came to whether or not Dusty and Dipper were dating. The three jumpers had somehow managed to hide their stash of high-grade from Blade, only to end up giving it to their boss and Pinecone. He couldn't wait to tell Blade about this.
Cabbie and Windlifter were watching the goings on from in front of Cabbies' hanger. Windlifter looked over at Cabbie and said, "your turn to pay up." Cabbie cringed and said, "couldn't we just call it an IOU?" Windlifter shook his head and said simply, "pay up." Cabbie groaned and backed into his hanger to get his own secret stash.
Meanwhile, Blade was rolling into the lodge, wondering how he let old Jammer talk him into this date. He said he was too busy, but the old superintendent insisted. A friend of one of the female employees at the lodge was vacationing at the park, and she thought her friend could use a real date, her first since her ex-boyfriend had left her for a Learjet. Blade noticed an AgustaWestland aw139 rolling towards him. "Blade Ranger?," she asked. His jaw nearly hit the floor. At that moment, he couldn't figure out what her ex had seen in the Learjet. She was green with black stripes running down the middle of her body. "Yeah, I'm Blade Ranger," he said. 'I'm gonna have to remember to thank Jammer for this,' he thought as they rolled towards the bar, while she introduced herself.