---

Chapter Three: Reluctant Heroes

---

The Banshee's wings were long, wide and thick enough to fit crew quarters in their center areas, and the uppermost wings generally housed officers with a rank of captain or above. Compartment 247 had no nameplate, so Rei tapped the door chime and waited.

"Who's there?" a familiar voice called out.

"Jack, it's Rei. Can I come in?"

"I was wondering when you'd show up. Just a sec." The hatch slid open, revealing Jack, clad in a pair of khakis and a red button-down shirt. He looked almost as Rei remembered him from their tour of duty on Fairy, except for the much longer hair and somewhat scruffier-looking beard.

"You look good, Jack."

"Yeah, well, thanks," Jack said sourly. Looking in, Rei noticed Sarah lying on the bunk, Lynn sitting on a chair further in. "So, they managed to pull you back in, huh?"

"It's … complicated," Jack muttered.

"I thought you were retired."

"I was, until Wright basically told me I was the human race's best hope for survival."

Rei winced. "Well, that's a real recruitment pitch. I thought that was why they were so quick to take me back. So they're pressuring you to join this new unit?"

"I wouldn't say pressuring, exactly. More like making me choose between what I want to be doing—" Jack glanced back at his family, a look of longing in his eyes, then turned back to meet Rei's gaze. "—and what we know I should be doing."

Looking into his friend's eyes, Rei saw more there. They're bringing him in because of me. "Look, Jack, you don't have to come back into the military just to babysit me. I'm here because I want to stay with Yukikaze, and I'll fly with whoever I have to, under whatever commander I have to, to make that work. Don't feel like you've got to join up to keep me out of trouble."

"Don't I? And just what would you do if you got stuck with a brown-noser like Takamoto? Or with some by-the-book tight-ass who doesn't understand you or Yukikaze? You're telling me you'd be just fine with that?"

Rei almost answered yes, but stopped himself short.

He never had been able to lie to Jack.

Jack just nodded. "I thought not. Get some rest; the new recruits will be here tomorrow evening. I'll need you to help me put together a briefing."

Rei shuffled his feet anxiously, feeling at once guilty that he had pretty much pulled Jack into this mess, and relieved that his old friend would be his XO again. Then his eyes met those of Lynn, and realized that this whole arrangement wouldn't just affect him and Jack. "Uh," he started, trying to think of something appropriate to say.

"Hello," Lynn said quietly. "It's nice to finally see you again, Lieutenant Fukai."

"Uh, yeah, thanks," the young pilot murmured. "It's nice to see you too. Look, I'm really sorry abou—"

Lynn shook her head. "You don't have to be sorry about anything, Lieutenant. I was the one who talked Jack into joining this new JAM task force. You're both needed here. Sarah and I will be all right." Looking at Jack she added, "These ADF people were nice enough to let us stay aboard the airship for a few days. We'll get at least that much time together before your next shore leave."

Then the brown-haired girl on the cot sat up. "So, you're really going to be flying fighter planes? With Jack?"

Jack gave his stepdaughter a grin. "Oh, I won't be flying. I'll be helping Rei and the others coordinate what they're doing."

If anything, Sarah looked a little disappointed. Then she turned back to Rei and said, "Just promise you'll keep him safe, okay?"

Rei nodded, a little nervously; he never had been very good around kids. "Sure. Hell, usually it's Jack who saves my ass. But if I ever get the chance to return the favor, you can bet I'll pay him back."

The girl nodded, accepting the promise, and Rei was struck by how much she resembled Lynn. "All right. Thanks." Then, "That plane back on the carrier … that was Yukikaze, wasn't it?"

Rei felt the ghost of a smile on his lips, just thinking about his other half. "Yeah."

"Well, since Mom and I are here for the next couple of days … well, could you show it to me? I mean, up close?"

Rei was taken aback by the girl's directness, glancing uncertainly at Jack. The taller man just shrugged: Your call.

Rei glanced down at the brown-haired teen, whose eyes gazed calmly into his own. There was curiosity there, and a kind of excitement, but not in that annoying, clingy, juvenile way kids tended to have. Sarah Jackson was calm and mature.

"Sure," Rei replied with a nod. "I'll take you to meet her."

Sarah's face lit up with an enormous grin. "Yes!" She practically flew off the mattress, throwing her shoes on, ready to go in seconds. "Thank you!"

Rei couldn't help but smile at the kid's eagerness. "No problem. Any friend of Jack's is a friend of mine." He nodded toward Lynn, letting the older woman know that his words applied to her as well. Jack's wife smiled, nodding slightly in acknowledgement.

Stepping back out of the room, Rei motioned for Sarah to come with him. "Now, don't go wandering off. The corridors on these Banshees all tend to look the same, so it's easy to get lost."

The door closed, and the sounds of Rei and Sarah talking faded down the corridor. Leaning against the cot, Jack sighed, closing his eyes. When he opened them, Lynn was there beside him, holding his hand in hers.

"Well, at least one of us is gonna enjoy this," Jack murmured.

"Jack, you know what a smart girl Sarah is. She knows this is going to be her last chance to see you for a while. She's just chosen to put a bright face on things, instead of moping around. We need to do the same thing."

"I know. I'm just … I'm sorry for getting you involved."

Lynn smiled. "You two. 'I'm sorry for this,' 'I'm sorry for that'. I told you before: I know that this is what you're meant to be doing right now. I've made my peace with it, and I'm proud of you for taking on the responsibility. Now, you need to quit feeling guilty." She leaned in and gave her husband a kiss on the cheek. "Can you do that, Jack?"

"Yeah, I can. Hell, once I get back in the swing of things, I'll probably even begin to enjoy it. And that scares me."

"Why? You don't want to enjoy your work?"

"You are my life's work. You, and Sarah. I swore the day we married that you would always come first. I don't want to become…"

He sighed, shaking his head. "I don't want to become what Rei is."

"And what, exactly, is Rei?"

"Nothing. Nothing but his job, his mission, his plane. When he came back … when they told him he wouldn't fly again … it was like a hole had been ripped out of him. And the only thing that can fill it is Yukikaze. And someday, when this fight is over … God, Lynn. I live in fear of that day. Of what he'll do when they try and take Yukikaze away from him."

Lynn put a hand on his shoulder. "Well, that's something he'll have to come to terms with. But you, Jack … you can't let that kind of worrying consume you. It won't do either of you any good. Whatever happens to Rei … he'll deal with that when the time comes. All you can do is support him, and help keep him alive."

Jack nodded. "I know. I will. I just wish I didn't have to leave you and Sarah to do it."

Lynn shrugged. "We'll be fine. And I'll feel a lot better knowing that Lieutenant Colonel Bukhar is up here, keeping me and the rest of civilization safe."

Jack sighed, leaning into Lynn's embrace, letting her stroke his long, blonde hair. "And I'll feel better knowing Lynn Bukhar is safe on the ground, waiting for me when all this is over."

Lynn smiled. "That's the spirit. Just look at it this way: you'll be helping to do research my new book."

"What new book?"

Lynn brought her husband's eyes up to meet hers. "The last chapter in the Fairy War," she replied. "The Defender. And you'll be giving it its happy ending."

---