"Highway to Hell"
Location: Atlantic Ocean, 400 miles south of Greenland
Date: August 18th, 2073
Time: 20:30
People often wax lyrical about watching the sun as it completes its daily, regular-as-clockwork descent past the dark horizon, but those opinions could largely be found on land. Therefore, the splash of amber colour would always be framed or interrupted by man-made constructions or naturally-occurring obstructions like titanic mountains or, though the population had diminished somewhat over the years of technological progression and devastating war, sprawling forests of myriad greens and soft browns.
In Jack's humble opinion there was nothing wrong with that, but if you really wanted to watch the sun set, if you really wanted to marvel at its beautiful splendour, then only two ways existed. One was while soaring through the sky, using wispy clouds that exude an almost fiery orange glow of their own as a fluffy carpet…
…and the other was sat on the edge of the Star's deck with his hands splayed out behind him to support his weight, and his legs dangling towards the calm sea. He smiled respectfully as the blazing orb of light painted the sky in a hue of scarlet reds, amber flames and soft purples, with the sea reflecting those colours along with a golden line of light that cut the gentle waves in two.
"Pretty, isn't it?"
Of course, the moment had to be broken because his departure was imminent, a thought heralded by the calm, soft voice of Kristoff as he sat down beside him, his legs mimicking Jack's while his hands chose to rest themselves on his knees. It wasn't long before he imitated the white-haired man's expression of appreciation, even as the last vestiges of light slipped down behind the horizon.
"There's nothing like it. I like to come out here and watch, you know, just in case I never see it again." he agreed, his voice heavy with contented resignation.
"Yeah, I know. It's always around this time that you disappear for half an hour."
"Am I that predictable?" Jack quietly chuckled, his eyes still on the spot that the sun once occupied.
"Hardly," Kristoff scoffed, leaning over to nudge him with his shoulder, "you're only ever punctual when a sunset is concerned. Oh, did you pack everything you needed?"
Jack, who found that his upper body had suddenly become horizontal with the 'restrained' nudge from his chief, pushed himself up from the deck with a heavy wince. Once he was safely upright again, he went through the mental checklist in his mind that he had checked, revised and forgotten countless times in the past three hours. In preparation he had already donned his civilian clothes – blue hooded sweatshirt and brown pants, along with a pair of worn sneakers that used to be white – but everything else bar the bracer that held his collapsed staff was safely and untidily packed in his black duffel bag.
"Think so. Few snacks, my stun-pistol, fake I.D. card, mask and goggles, change of clothes…" he reeled off what he could remember, counting off his fingers for each item.
"Who are you going to be?"
"Christopher Ryan. S'why I dyed my hair brown. I figured my amazing, gorgeous-"
"-egotistical-" Kristoff muttered under his breath.
"-white hair would be a bit of a giveaway. Chris Ryan's hair is a lovely shade of chocolate brown." Jack said with a thickly veiled edge of sarcasm to his voice.
"Cool. Did you pack your iPod?" Kristoff asked pointedly, his raised brow indicating the relative importance of the question. It was a long flight to the mainland coast, and as much as Jack loved flying, he loved doing it to music.
His treasured iPod was one thing he carried around nearly all the time, save for raids or missions where it could get damaged. A relic of the pre-Third World War era, he found it along with a pair of earphones inside a teacher's desk when the team explored an abandoned high school in what used to be called Maine, on a relatively peaceful goods run to collect anything that might be useful for education on the Star. Naturally, being somewhat of a history buff, Kozmotis instantly wanted the device and a small scuffle started between him and Jack, right there in one of the high school's classrooms. Had they continued, the fight probably would have become bloody had it not been for the banshee-like shrieking of a small swarm of Reapers that were wandering through the area, and Kozmotis wisely abandoned the pursuit of the precious item.
Of course, the ancient lithium batteries were all but phased out, so in exchange for two weeks' immunity to pranks, Hiccup kindly fashioned together a power throttling interface that connected to what they surmised to be the dock connector at the base of the iPod, so that a stun-pistol's power cell could be used to charge it. Of course, the energy output of the cell would probably cause it to spontaneously combust, hence the power throttle.
At first it took him a while to understand how to operate the music-playing device, especially as it was archaic technology by their standards – but once he got the hang of it, he used it for everything. Travelling, working out, assaulting punch bags, target practice…anything that didn't require interaction with other people. It had been in his possession for so long, he wondered how he ever got by without it.
"Oh yeah," he grinned, patting the pocket of his sweater, "never leave home without it."
"Cool. Guess you're ready then." Kristoff observed, attempting to appear unfazed. It didn't work, he was as nervous about this as Jack was. As far as he was concerned, he was sending one of his best men to one of the larger hubs within Unity-controlled America, alone, with only a stun pistol and orders to call in every evening at sundown with either new information, or simply to let them know he was still alive.
For a time, an awkward and pregnant silence existed between the two men like a thick fog of unsaid words, strangling them with sentences that they didn't dare speak in case they broke some form of heretofore unknown superstition known only to the dark night that swallowed the world around them. There was one question on Jack's mind, though, one that he asked Anna a few days ago much to her amusement and secret mild disappointment.
"When are you gonna pop the question?"
Even in the dark, he could almost feel Kristoff's spine stiffen with surprise at the blunt question, and could almost sense the large hand instinctively reach into the pocket of his military pants to check that something precious still existed in there. Not to mention the not-so-quiet hitching of breath.
"I…I…er…s-soon." he stammered, completely taken aback by the out-of-the-blue query.
"Hope so. She loves you, you know? Ever since she came on board, she had that funny look she reserved just for you. I mean, I don't really believe in love, and I'm probably not gonna find anyone before Unity puts a bullet in my head, but what you two have is special."
"I know. I love her too. So, so much. It's just…" Kristoff muttered with affection and fear in equal measure dancing on his words.
"What?"
"The worry that one of us might not come back from a mission, you know? If I propose to her…it makes that fear all the more real. Like, I don't know what I'd do if I lost her…" he trailed off, unwilling to entertain even the idea of thinking about the consequences.
"Well, as long as you're not intentionally keeping her out of harm's way to the point of compromising the mission, I'd say you're good." Jack shrugged. Given that it was so dark outside to the point that the two men were relying on their other senses for awareness of each other's presence, his gesture went unnoticed – as did the slumping of Kristoff's head at those words which sounded accusatory, yet weren't.
"Jack…"
"Dude, seriously. Get over your fears, get down on one knee, and get married. You two have something great going on, and in the world we live in, it's a rare thing. Besides, we're operationally grounded. No missions to risk our lives for." Jack groaned, taking solace in the knowledge that the accompanying roll of his eyes would go unnoticed by his chief and therefore wouldn't earn him another reprimanding head-whap.
"I guess you're right, I just-"
Jack heard Kristoff swiftly cut himself off as a lazily flickering light appeared in the corner of his eye, along with the strong yet feminine voice that could only be associated with one person.
"Hey, whatcha boys doing?" Anna queried as brightly as the small orb of flames that hovered over her open hand, held tentatively in front of her. Standing a few feet away from them, Jack wondered precisely how much she heard of their conversation, if anything. Under the soft, homely glow of her gift, he didn't miss how Kristoff's cheeks flushed, and how his mouth opened and closed as though caught in the act of something embarrassing. So, he decided to save him the trouble of coming up with a pitiful excuse.
"Hey, Anna. Nothing, I was just telling your boyfriend here that he needs to man up." he snickered, following it up with a yelp when Kristoff's hand connected for the umpteenth time with the back of his head.
"You know, if you keep goading him, he's going to literally knock your block off." Anna jokingly warned – something that her boyfriend agreed with judging by his emphatic nod and wide smirk.
"Yeah, well I'm making the most of it. In a few hours, my head will remain happily slap-free!" he snarked as he massaged the sore spot on his scalp. Chuckling, Kristoff awkwardly rose to his feet and ruffled Jack's newly brown locks, before planting a feather soft kiss on Anna's forehead as he passed.
"I'll be in the hangar, honey."
Anna snuck a quick return kiss on her boyfriend's cheek before he disappeared into the dark, and then turned her attention to her best friend as he reached up towards her. With a mischievous, suspicious twinkle in her eye, she grasped his forearm with her fire-free hand and firmly pulled him to his feet.
"What were you two really talking about?" she asked with a suspicious half smile, something that Jack dignified with a mere shrug as he bent down to pick up his bag.
"The meaning of life, universe and everything…which is forty-two, by the way." he answered breezily, the nonchalance easier to maintain with the relatively relaxed state that often came with her company.
"Fine, I'll get the answer from my boyfriend then." she groaned irritably as they began the walk towards the integrated island's doors that led to the lower decks, the soft orb of flame lighting their way.
"Probably better to get the question." Jack mused out loud, and then quietly cursed the slip of the tongue.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing…" he groaned, tired chuckles escaping his lips as she lightly pushed him in annoyed amusement.
"I will make you extra-crispy, you know." she threatened, a tone undone by the smirk on her freckled features.
"Then who will get you chocolate from the mainland?" Jack countered, his eyebrows rising in a 'checkmate' expression. Anna narrowed her eyes and jutted out her jaw, unwilling to concede even a jovial defeat.
"Fine," she sighed, exasperation slowly transitioning into a sweet and playful tone as she dissipated the flames in her hand, "you may live, for now. Besides, you still haven't told me how much you're going to miss me."
"Like Kozmotis misses his sense of humour, my dear friend." he replied with mocking elegance, bowing theatrically as with a heavy, rusty creaking he opened the island's door and gestured for her to enter first.
It occurred to him that, in her presence, he was doing the best he could to treat the pseudo-shore leave, the trip into the heart of the enemy with all the facetiousness he could muster. As far as he was trying to be concerned, it was merely a case of a quick jaunt to one of the safe houses in New Burgess, where he could keep his eyes and ears open for anything out of the ordinary that the Star should be aware of, along with checking the other supply caches they hid over the years. Maybe even the occasional social visit to one of the dive bars in the Lower City. Hell, if the mood took him and he felt he could control his powers – a cheeky one-night stand.
The only problem with all of that, however, was that he would be alone. In any other situation with a finite time frame, he knew he would be okay with that – but with the 'mission' essentially being indefinite, he wasn't so sure. He could be alone for a long time. He knew it, and Anna knew it – which was why his heart began to ache and judging by the expression of suppressed consternation on her face when he occasionally caught her eye, hers was too.
"Where will you be?" she asked, occasionally glancing at him as they began to climb down the first of three sets of ladders that would take them to the hangar deck.
"A safe house in New Burgess. One of our sympathisers has been keeping it stocked with credits and stuff, so I should be okay. Hopefully he left a deck of cards too, 'cause I figure I'm gonna get bored quickly."
"Actually," Anna winced, wondering if he would take it the wrong way, "Neve and I talked about that."
"Oh?" Jack said as he raised an eyebrow, attempting to sound noncommittal while he followed her descent down the second set of ladders, the effort proving to be oddly tiring as evidenced by the slight breathlessness in his voice.
"Eugene went to see her after your meeting, looking for something to do. With…with the loss of his team he...oh man. Neve thinks he has survivor's guilt, so he's been trying to make himself useful, but he hates being cooped up here."
Jack remained silent as he listened to every word she said, the context of which didn't surprise him. Since their return, Eugene had spent a lot of time alone, skilfully avoiding Kristoff in the interest of peace, and generally wandering aimlessly around the ship looking for something to do. He could only wonder how miserable the last scout was feeling inside.
"The thing is: I worry about you, Jack. Even if you tell me not to, I still do. You're still my best friend, and I don't know what I would do if I lost you. When Kristoff told me what you volunteered to do, I was scared because you would be so far away, and I wouldn't be there to have your back."
"Anna…" he began, but when both of her feet landed on the metal floor of the second corridor, the slightly dim light failing to hide her expression of deep concern as she stared at the floor and held up a hand to silence him. She was on a roll, and as he stepped off the ladder and stood in front and re-adjusted the bag strap on his shoulders to mitigate the irate grumbles of his stitched wound, he wasn't about to interrupt.
"Let me finish, Jack. Even though our powers are opposite to each other, you helped me learn to accept them, taught me how to use them to the best of my ability, and were patient with me no matter how many times I accidentally set fire to the practice room. Hell, you were the first guy on the ship to see me naked, which Kristoff is still envious of, by the way."
Jack internally snickered at the memory, fighting hard to hide the blush of embarrassment. It was the first training session; Jack was a big fan of encouraging people to accept their new abilities before moving forward with the lessons. Therefore, when Anna closed her eyes and let her powers flow freely it had the unintended side effect of igniting her entire body and incinerating the blue jumpsuit she was wearing at the time. Her skin and hair was undamaged by the flames, but the fabric was totally burned away, and despite his best efforts Jack did not avert his gaze in time.
His repeated stammers in answer to her question "how am I doing?" had prompted her to open her eyes, and with a confused look she followed his red-faced, wide-eyed stare of stunned embarrassment and found out precisely why her skin could feel the air around her. Gasping and blushing fiercely, she hastily covered her private spots with her arms and yelled at him to "make yourself useful and go get me some clothes! Holy shit, this is humiliating!"
Needless to say, the next session was incredibly awkward, until she managed to get revenge and snuck into his quarters to get a glimpse of him in the shower.
From that moment, their friendship was ignited and over the years, evolved into unbreakable companionship.
"Point is: I care about you, Jack. My place is on the ship, with Kristoff, playing teacher with all the guns and stuff, so I won't be there with you to back you up in case anything goes south…that's why Eugene is going with you. He needs the distraction, and you need someone to watch your six-"
She gesticulated at the general area of the stitches on his back to punctuate her point.
"-because you really suck at it."
Jack half smiled and muttered "c'mere, you" before pulling her into a friendly hug, rubbing her spine in reassurance. Anna was always the type to wear her heart on her sleeve, despite how fiercely she fought in combat, and it was probably for that reason he could feel the lightest of sobs into his shoulder.
"You could've just said that from the start, you know, saved yourself the speech." he muttered, squeezing her chest tightly.
"Yeah, well…shut up."
Jack chuckled as he pulled away from the embrace, giving himself the pleasure of flicking the right braid that had the streak of white hair entwined within. She sniffed and rolled her eyes at the playful gesture.
"Alright, I didn't want to say it because I'm supposed to be manly and all…but I am gonna miss you, firecracker." he muttered in defeat. It was true, however – of all the members of the Ghost team, it was Anna's absence that would notice most.
"Duh," she said, now with a bright lilt to her voice as she smirked, "of course you will. It's me!"
In a perfect trifecta, Jack rolled his eyes, shook his head in amused exasperation and gently pushed her right shoulder, and then moved around to the second ladder, Anna following suit.
"Come on. If we keep talking like this, I'm gonna start getting all emotional and write bad romance novels."
The journey down the final two ladders and the subsequent walk to the hangar deck went as slowly as it did before, but the fog of unsaid words and the pregnant silence had lifted. Now it was just a case of one friend accompanying the other before he went off on an impromptu trip. Along the way, Anna groaned several times about having to babysit people while they learned to use the stun-rifles to the best of their ability, and promised Jack that she would not let them anywhere near the archaic projectile rifles that they kept in the Ghosts' personal armoury, located just to the right of the pseudo-shooting range – which was basically six to eight crates upon which empty fuel cylinders were perched, situated at the furthest end of the ridiculously large hangar bay…the 'armoury' being a large, heavy black metal crate containing dozens of Third War rifles.
Just another case of making something sound better than it actually was.
When Jack re-adjusted the duffle bag over his shoulder for the fifth time and forced open the door to the hangar deck, he was greeted with the sight of six Hela-class drop-ships spaced irregularly around the cavernous bay, piles of empty crates here and there, and a circular black scorch mark in the dead centre of the room, created by Toothless whenever he settled down to sleep for the night. When Hiccup first joined the family, he tried futilely hard to clean off the charcoal stain whenever he could, but gave up after the first few days and put it into the one-of-those-things-category.
A third of the way along the hangar stood the remainder of the team, each passing the time differently. Kristoff was deep in conversation with a thoroughly bored-looking Kozmotis who was far more interested in his fingernails than anything his leader had to say, while Hiccup was busy play-fighting with Toothless – or rather, the chocolate-haired man was pinned under and suffering a relentless prodding courtesy of his scaly black friend, a wide gummy beam on the creature's face.
Toothless was the first to notice the arrival of Jack and Anna, and his face fell into an unimpressed glare as he relinquished his rider and stalked over to the now brown-haired man, his cat-like eyes narrowing with distrust. In turn, Jack's walk became an aggressive, confident swagger as his face cut a scowl, and all eyes watched the two supposed friends approach each other with growls and antagonism driving each step – even Kozmotis looked up from his fingernails in mild interest.
They stopped inches from each other, their eyes unwavering while Toothless sat on his hind legs, forcing Jack to crane his head up to meet the stern gaze. Uneasy silence gripped the hangar, glances darting between man and animal alike, and even Hiccup scrambled to his feet to try and dissuade the prospective fight that might occur. He disliked conflict, especially when it occurred between friends…except it never happened.
Quick as a flash, Toothless cracked a wide grin as his tongue shot out between his gums, and his head darted down to cover a squirming Jack with relentless, giddy licks. He tried his best to block the affectionate assault with his arms, groans and cackles escaping his pale lips as Toothless continued the attack.
"Oh, c'mon! You know that doesn't wash out!" Hiccup groaned loudly amid his own laughter, and that of his allies. The message received, Toothless ceased his assault and trotted back to his rider, who rested a friendly hand on his head. Chuckling, with his arms held out in front of him as one does when their clothes are soaked, Jack froze the saliva that drenched his entire upper body and shook off the resultant frost, creating the odd sight of a miniature instance of snowfall inside a hangar deck.
"Thanks for that." Jack muttered sarcastically, and then frowned in puzzlement as he noticed Hiccup's attire. "Why are you wearing your flight suit?"
"Toothless and I are gonna carry Eugene to the coast with you." Hiccup explained with a little condescension, as though the answer should be obvious. Jack merely shrugged off the tone.
"Awesome! Now I don't have to worry about flying with a guy in my arms for three hours!"
"I'm sure you're secretly disappointed. Eugene will probably be the closest you'll ever get to a woman in your arms." Kozmotis countered with his own inimitable brand of offensive snark and a teasing smirk, to boot.
"At least he'd have a pulse. With you, that sort of thing is negotiable." Jack retorted, earning "oh, snap!" from Hiccup and a guttural 'laugh' from Toothless.
"Ah, I shall miss our sessions of sarcasm." Kozmotis lamented, and for a second he actually looked dismayed.
"Don't worry; I'll save up all my best one-liners just for you. Anyway, where's my partner in crime?"
Metallic clanging from the door behind him provided the answer, and Jack turned to find Eugene walking purposefully and confidently towards them, clad in a black tunic, white smart shirt and black pants with combat boots – his arrival prompting Anna to instinctively move away from Jack and stand at her boyfriend's side.
"Well, if it isn't Captain Late-and-Effeminate." Kozmotis drawled, his attention returning to his nails.
"Oh, go sacrifice a virgin." Eugene retorted, to the tune of yet another "oh, snap!" and more deep, guttural chuckles. Kozmotis shot the scaly beast a glare, which was returned with a look of "try it, buddy, and I'll eat you".
"Okay, that's enough of the witty banter, ladies." Anna groaned while she subconsciously draped an arm around Kristoff's back.
"Yeah, we should probably get going." Jack said, his eyes cautiously observing Eugene as he moved towards the open aircraft door to his right, and then paused when his eyes noticed something missing. "Where's your stuff?"
"What stuff? It's not like I had time to pack before coming here."
Eugene's acid remark that teetered dangerously close to a snarl made Jack instantly regret asking the question, especially as the biting words came with a thinly veiled split-second glare at Kristoff. The strawberry-blonde that stood protectively by his side stiffened noticeably, and frowned at the scout.
"Eugene-" she began, but he mercilessly cut her off, holding a passive-aggressive hand to stop her in her tracks, his eyes firmly on the hangar floor.
"Anna, don't. Okay? Just don't. It's only been three days, and I just need to…dammit. Until I stop seeing their faces every time I close my eyes, I will never be okay with it. I don't hate you, or Jack or anyone else on your team, and for some strange, ridiculous reason I don't hate Kristoff. That doesn't mean I'm not royally fucking pissed at him that I'm here sitting pretty while they're probably getting tortured, okay? I just wanna get this over with and get back to the mainland."
His eyes involuntarily glanced up at Toothless, who wore what looked like an expression of worry and hurt, and his gaze and voice softened instantly.
"I especially don't hate you, you big overgrown bat. Fist-bump?"
Toothless grinned and offered a clenched 'paw', and gently bumped it against Eugene's offered fist.
"If you even utter the sound 'balalalala', I will end you right here, right now." Kozmotis deadpanned. The scout's playful smirk, along with the almost audible yet nervous exhalation of relief from the Ghost leader seemed to defuse the vast majority of the tension in the cavernous deck, but still drove home the sensation that it was time to leave.
Toothless caught Hiccup's eye and, with an inclination of his almost feline head, gave his rider the silent go-ahead to hop onto the saddle while Eugene clambered up and sat behind him, and Jack reached his left hand over to his trusty bracer and unclipped his collapsed staff, the metallic shink of its extension signalling his readiness.
"Hey Jack? Watch your six, okay? Stay frosty." Anna implored. Jack chuckled as one hand deftly unearthed his iPod from his hooded sweater pocket, and as he slid the earphones into his ears and skilfully navigated the myriad menus to find a specific song by a long dead group called AC/DC, he gave her a cheeky wink and a self-confident smirk as he returned the device to its previous home.
"Always do."
Without another word, he sprinted out of the open hangar bay door and leapt into the night sky; followed seconds later by a proud roar as Toothless and his riders joined him in the enveloping dark, his intimidating, black wings creating one hell of a draught as he took off.
The three remaining Ghosts watched until they could no longer see their squadmates, and without a word Kozmotis turned on his heel and swept out of the hangar bay, seeing no reason to remain. Anna let out a deep, heavy sigh and rested her head upon Kristoff's right shoulder, her right arm wrapping itself around his while her left arm squeezed his abdomen. In acknowledgement of her affection, he twisted his head around and placed a tender and comforting kiss in her strawberry-blonde tresses, smiling as he heard her mutter a sweet 'mmm' in appreciation.
"Think they'll be okay?" she asked, closing her eyes to enhance the sensations dwelling within the fond embrace.
"Jack's smart; I didn't make him my second for nothing. Eugene's a cunning bastard, they'll work well together. If they're quiet, and don't do something stupid like meet a Valkyrie in a bar or something, they'll be fine."
COUNTDOWN TO THE PURGE (MONTHS/DAYS/HOURS/MINS/SECS): 03:02:02:29:13
A/N: Guest reviews!
Maggietheawesome: Thank you! Your review means a lot especially considering I have no idea what my writing style is, haha!
kira: Heh, I can see the comparison. Hell, it's pretty transparent. A lot of things have inspired me for this story, and X-Men was one of them. There'll be no Wolverine though...thankfully. Yeah, I wanted to switch things up a bit - Pitch Black in a fanfic is like the Alan Rickman of movies, if he's in a fic you kind of KNOW he's going to be a villain. Thank you for your compliment!
heartonfire: Stahp, you're making me blush.
Swisspomme: When all hell breaks loose. *winks*
Thank you to each and every one of you that reviews, favourites and follows me or this fic - and thank you to those that simply read it. Seriously, I love you guys and gals.
For the Ghosts,
Furiyan