A/N: Hey guys, just a one-shot that came to me today. It's been days since we've seen the sun up here and it's gotten pretty depressing. Can anyone say summer?
Also, I have absolutely zero knowledge of planes, altitude, or anything like that, so please just bear with me ;)
Enjoy!
Lightning flashed across the sky.
A few seconds later, a loud rumbling could be heard in the distance.
"Aw man, are you freaking kidding me?" Face moaned. It had been raining for four days straight. The team had decided to rent a condo for the week, seeing as phone lines were down and the road was an absolute mess. Even B.A.'s expert driving didn't help any when his girl was up to her bumpers in water and muck.
"Oh stop your complaining, Lieutenant, it's not that bad," Came Hannibal's voice from the kitchen.
"Will you fools shut up? I'm trying to watch," B.A. sat forward in the large armchair; the pastel, flowery upholstery contrasting almost humorously with his gruff appearance. He listened intently to the news report which delivered only more promises of rain. Face walked into the kitchen to join Hannibal, who was at work making himself a sandwich. Face leaned on the corner, crossing his arms.
"Hannibal, I'm getting worried about Murdock. He hasn't said anything all day. That's weird for anyone, but for Murdock... it's just unnatural." Face glanced over the counter at the Captain who had not moved from his spot at the window since Face had gotten up this morning (well, it was more like afternoon). Murdock's eyes glistened as he watched the rain beat down and the lightning crack; almost as if he wished he could join the storm.
"Face, it's been days since he's been outside, it's been almost two weeks since he's flown; the poor man's probably going through withdrawal," Hannibal said with a chuckle. He put the finishing touches on his sandwich and went to join B.A. in front of the television. Face sighed, still not convinced as he went over and sat across from Murdock at the windowsill.
"Hey buddy," He said softly.
"Hey Faceyman, what's up?" Murdock's eyes did not move from the window.
"I don't know, you haven't said anything all day. You got me kind of freaked."
"Nothin' to say."
"Nothing? You?" Face stared at him in disbelief.
Murdock smirked softly, "Happens every once in a while."
Face waited but Murdock didn't say anything else. Face sighed again,
"It really is torture for you to be down here, isn't it?"
"It's better when it's raining out," was all Murdock said, a spark in his eye.
"What do you mean?" Face questioned, wondering how in the world it would be enjoyable to be flying in this sort of weather.
"Well, I mean, it's not better when you're in the storm, but once you hit that cloud belt... it's like none other." Murdock smiled in fond memory, before a different sort of smile crossed his face as he turned to the Lieutenant, a smile Face knew all too well.
"Facey, I got an idea," Murdock said excitedly before jumping up and running across the room to get his and Face's coats. Before Face could argue Murdock threw his coat at him and opened the door,
"Face and I are going out, we'll be back in a few hours!"
"Wait, Captain!" Hannibal called out, but had already Murdock slammed the door, making his way out to the rented car they had gotten. Face looked at Hannibal helplessly. Hannibal gave a 'take care of him' look before returning his attention to the television. Face groaned, then grudgingly pulled his coat on and stepped out into the pouring rain.
After a long and wet ride through the storm, the two finally pulled up to an old airport, the kind that only housed small, two-person planes. Murdock grinned and pulled up quickly, skidding a few feet before bringing the car to a stop. He threw open the door,
"Come on Facey!" Murdock shouted into the car before closing the door and running into the airport. Face opened his door carefully, looking around for anyone suspicious, especially police officers. Finding no one, he jogged into the hanger, getting thoroughly soaked along the way.
When he was done wringing out his jacket, he looked up into the small airplane hanger in hopes to find his pilot. When he was met by nothing but a few small planes, his heart rate spiked for a split second,
"Murdock?" He called.
"Yeah?" Came a voice from the back of the hanger; a moment later Murdock's face appeared above the tail of a small, white biplane, his shaggy hair almost covering his eyes.
"What are you doing?"
"Checking the gas, genius, you can't fly a plane without gas."
"Gas? What- You can't fly a plane in this weather!" Face stammered.
"Sure you can, you just need to watch the lightning strikes."
"Are you crazy?"
Murdock just gave Face a sly grin before jumping into the pilot's seat,
"Come on, Facey! It'll be worth it, I swear!" Murdock pleaded.
"We don't even know who owns this place!"
"Well, whoever did was dumb enough to leave the hanger unlocked. Ergo it serves them right to have one of their planes stolen! We're not even stealing it, we're just borrowing!"
"No! No freaking way!"
"Aw, please? Look, I'll even leave them some money for gas!" Murdock gave Face huge puppy eyes before Face finally heaved a sigh of defeat. He went over and jumped into the cockpit, earning a loud whoop from Murdock. He quickly hotwire the plane and the engine roared to life. Murdock brought the plane out of the hanger and the two were quickly bombarded by the rain that somehow seemed to have gotten heavier.
"Murdock, are you sure you can fly this?" Face yelled over the sound of the plane and the storm.
"Positive! I've flown in way worse before!" Murdock yelled from the front of the plane. He brought the aircraft to the wet runway.
"Alright, let's do this thing!" The pilot cried before taking off. As they got above halfway down the runway the back wheels of the plane began to skid, causing Face to yell out. Murdock just laughed as he continued to take off like nothing had happened. Pretty soon they were up in the sky, the wind and rain blowing them around like they were a toy plane tied to a fan.
"Oh shit!" Face cried as the plane did a barrel roll to the right, "Oh shit!"
"Stop bein' such a wuss, man!" Murdock shouted.
"Why the hell are we doing this?"
"It's worth it!" Came Murdock's only reply. Face continued to scream as they got closer and closer to the clouds.
"You might want to put on your oxygen mask, Facey!" Murdock yelled.
"What? Why?" Face asked as he scrambled to pull on a mask, wondering in his head why Murdock wasn't putting one on himself.
"Cause we're goin' in!" Murdock yelling before he let out a primal screech and dove into the looming cumulonimbus. All Face could do was scream like a little girl and cover his eyes as the plane was shrouded in darkness, tossed from side to side recklessly by the ever-changing updrafts and downdrafts. The rain felt like needles as they pierced the Lieutenant's cheek, cause him to bury himself deeper into the cockpit. Loud clunking noises from the side of the aircraft told Face that the rain had now turned to hail. All of the sudden Face heard a crack and Murdock swore loudly. This grabbed Face's attention immediately. He looked up to see what had happened.
As soon as Face looked up he wished he hadn't. Huge, enormous, unbelievable tall thunderclouds closed in on them from all sides, darkness nearly enveloping them. Face felt like he was in a nightmare as he looked in front of him, seeing the reason for Murdock's outburst. The windshield now sported a baseball-sized hole in it, most likely from a large piece of hail.
"Murdock, you okay?" Face called; his voice barely audible over the wind. Murdock looked back, and Face was startled by a trail of blood making its way down the side of Murdock's head.
"Just fine Faceyman, how you doin'?" Murdock screamed back with a smile before returning his attention to the sky. The pounding sound came back, louder this time and Murdock gripped the controls which threatened to leap out of his hands at any given time.
"Face! Get your head down! It's gonna get rough!"
'It wasn't rough already?' Face thought as he ducked his head. The wind howled at his ear and he swore the plane was going to be a dented lump of metal by the pounding and pounding on the side. Face heard Murdock let out another battle cry as he squeezed his eyes shut and waiting for the worst.
Then, it was gone.
There was no sound besides the hum of the engine and Face looked up. He found himself face-to-face with the most beautiful sight he had seen in days: the sun.
It was like the middle of June, the sun shone so bright it was almost blinding; the sky was a shade of light blue without a cloud in the sky. Face gaped, words deserting him as he just took in the wondrous and bizarre scene.
"You boys always wonder where I go in the middle of thunderstorms... well, here you have it." Murdock said, snapping Face out of his trance-like state. Face looked down, seeing the storm clouds below them and then looking back up.
"It's, it's..."
"Indescribable, I know," Murdock grinned and turn towards his friend. Face smiled back for a moment before something else caught his eye,
"Dude, you're bleeding!" Across Murdock's left temple was a long gash, gushing steadily.
"It's nothing, just got clipped by a hailstone, that's all." Murdock waved his hand dismissively. Face was about to protest when a loud grumble came from the engine,
"What the hell...?" Murdock flicked the dials on the plane a couple times before his eyes grew wide, "Oh no. Oh no, no, no, no, no. Damn it!"
Face stared at him in fright, "What?"
"Nothin', Facey! Just get ch'yer last glimpse of the sun 'fore we gotta land!" Murdock said, his Southern accent becoming more prominent. This made Face's pulse skyrocket, he knew that Murdock's accent only came out more when something was going wrong or when he was starting to lose it, neither of which Face wanted when they were ten thousand feet in the air.
"Murdock, what the hell is happening?" Face asked nervously as the engine gave another long growl,
"Well... it looks like we gonna crash," Murdock said, panic lacing the undertones of his voice.
Face's brain refused to accept this answer, "No, seriously."
The engine wheezed, a sound that would haunt Face to this day, and started to die out.
Murdock looked at a dial in front of the plane, "It looks like we gonna crash, and die."
The plane began to nosedive and Face screamed at the top of his lungs, they plummeted into the clouds and were immediately assaulted once more by wind and rain. Lightning flashed in front of them, causing Face to freeze in terror.
"FACE GET YER MASK ON NOW!" Murdock screamed and Face obliged, pulling the strap over his head as he felt the comfort of oxygen entering his lungs. He ducked his head between his knees as the negative Gs began to assault his stomach. The plane lurched and climbed weakly as they left the clouds, barreling towards the ground below. Face could hear Murdock growling through clenched teeth as he pulled on the controls, willing the plane with all his might to straighten out.
By some miracle, the plane's engine roared back to life and they became horizontal again, Murdock cutting speed as quickly as he could. Face heard Murdock yell something at him but didn't hear what before he felt the ground beneath them. The wheels of the plane couldn't take the sudden weight and they gave out, causing sparks to fly as the plane skidded along the runway before finally coming to a stop.
Face paused for a moment before he looked up, the whole world seemed silent except for the light tapping of rain against the ground. He ripped off his mask and jumped out of the plane.
"Holy crap, Murdock! You did it!" Face exhaled, laughing at the sheer fact that they both were still alive. He ran from the dreaded aircraft and looked up at the sky, the sight of the blinding sun still fresh in his mind as he smiled. After a moment, Face realized Murdock hadn't responded to him. Face turned around as he saw Murdock stumbling out of the plane, his legs wobbling. The smile vanished off of his face as he ran up to the pilot who leaned on the side of the aircraft.
"Murdock? Murdock!" Face yelled as he tried to make eye contact. Murdock looked up at him, blood escaping from his nose before his eyes rolled back in his head, collapsing into Face's arms.
"Shit, shit!" Face yelled, trying to hold up the sudden weight, "Murdock, wake up!" Dread filled his stomach as Face realized that Murdock had never put on as oxygen mask during their short decent. He didn't know altitude decline versus speed health rules, but he knew that that couldn't be good. Face half carried, half dragged Murdock to the rented car, throwing the pilot into the back seat as he quickly drove back to the condo.
Hannibal was just starting to wonder how long the boys would be gone when the door flew open, a lightning flash making it seem like some cheesy horror movie. It took the Colonel a moment before he realized that Face was carrying an unconscious Murdock in his arms as he jumped off of the couch,
"Face! What the hell?" He yelled as he took the pilot from him, noting the blood coming from his nose and head.
"He took me flying..." Was all Face could manage before B.A.'s voice came from the kitchen,
"Where the hell have you fools been? I was about to-" B.A. cut off as he stared at Murdock, his face falling, "What the hell happened to him?"
B.A. followed close behind as Hannibal carried Murdock into his bedroom, lying him down onto the bed before turning back to the Lieutenant, crossing his arms and looking very much like a father whose kid had arrived three hours past curfew.
"Start talking. Now." He growled.
Face looked away from the man's piercing glare, "Murdock wanted to take me on a plane ride. We went above the clouds so he could show me the sun, and then... well, then I'm not really sure what happened but the engine cut off." Hannibal's eyes narrowed, not from anger towards the Lieutenant but in protectiveness towards his Captain.
"Go on." He commanded.
"The plane did a nosedive towards the ground and Murdock yelled at me to put my oxygen mask on so I did, but... I don't think he did."
Hannibal's eyes rolled towards the ceiling as he ran a hand through his hair, "Damn it." He muttered under his breath.
"I'm sorry Hannibal, I'm really sorry. I didn't know he hadn't put a mask on, I didn't even know how high or low we were until I felt the ground."
"It's not your fault Lieutenant, I understand," Hannibal said much kindlier, putting a hand on Face's shoulder, "He'll be alright."
A soft moan from the bed confirmed the Colonel's words as Murdock began to stir. Face ran up to his as the pilot blinked a couple times before opening his eyes, "What- what happened?"
"You passed out, fool! That's what happened," B.A. grumbled from the opposite side of the room, silently grateful that Murdock had woken up so quickly.
"You landed us, Murdock, you did it! It was amazing," Face smiled encouragingly at him, "The sun, the sky, all of it. It was just..." Face trailed off as he tried to find the right adjective,
"Indescribable." Murdock rasped, smiling weakly.
"Exactly," Face smiled back.
A/N: Kind of a cheesy ending, I know, but I'm not very good at them. What did you think of it? It's been awhile since I've done a one shot...
PLEASE review! Every one counts! Thank you so so much for reading :) IYD24