Disclaimer: All recognisable characters belong to Disney. All OCs belong to me.

Chapter 10

Sara hovered for a moment, weighing up the situation. She was caught; that much was obvious. Both metaphorically and physically. She needed help to get out of her tangle with the tree, but she knew that mustn't be her priority. She had to get help for the boy, even if he was dead. She didn't think for a moment that he could still be alive. Seeing no movement from the boy, Sara exhaled heavily. Regardless of her personal problems, she still had to perform her duty and finish the job.

She switched on her radio. "Patch? Come in, please? This is Lieutenant Sara Chopper. Over."

"I read you. Go ahead, Lieutenant."

"I've found the missing boy. He's on the riverbank about half a mile south-west of the park entrance. Over."

"Copy that. I'll send out a recovery team immediately. Stay in the area, please. Over."

"I will. Lieutenant Chopper out."

As if I can go anywhere! Sara thought miserably.

Before long, Sara heard some vehicles approaching, both from the road and from the air. Turning, she saw Blade approaching. Blade's eyes widened when he saw Sara's predicament.

"You okay?" he asked as he got closer to her.

"Yeah. The boy's down there," she said, indicating with her eyes. Blade flew over the river to take a closer look. He spoke into his radio for a moment, directing the ground recovery team to the boy's precise location.

As soon as the ground recovery team had confirmed that they had located the boy, Blade turned his attention to Sara.

"You didn't get far."

"Obviously!" Sara spat. She strained at the rope again, still trying to free herself.

"Hey! Don't do that!" Blade ordered. "You'll only injure yourself."

Sara let the rope go slack. "So how am I going to get free?"

"Before we discuss that, are you prepared to come back to base with me, so you can talk things through with Commander Grayson?"

Sara reeled back. Talking to her Commander was the last thing she wanted to do. "Why did you tell him where I was?"

"I was doing my job," Blade growled. Then he softened. "Running from your problems isn't the way to solve them, you know. They'll just keep chasing after you, wearing you down until you're too exhausted to run from them anymore. Then things will only be worse for you. You didn't kill that Captain, any more than I killed my friend, Nick."

Sara's eyes widened in surprise.

"Oh?" Blade said, seeing her reaction. "Don't tell me the others didn't tell you about my co-star?"

Sara shook her front. Blade sighed tiredly.

"I used to be in a top-rating TV show called CHoPs. My co-star was a chap called Nick. He was a great friend. We did everything together, until one day he was taken from me."

"What happened?" Sara asked quietly.

"A freak cross-wind knocked him out of the sky. There was nothing I could do to save him. His death was instant. The show was cancelled after that, and I decided to come here to help save people's lives for real. For many years, I struggled with the 'what ifs'."

"What ifs?"

"Yes. What if the wind had been a bit slower? What if he had landed differently? What if I'd managed to catch him with my hook?" Blade sighed heavily. "But then I finally realised that 'what ifs' don't bring anyone back to life. They just eat away at your own life, making it unbearable for you to keep on living. Sure, you're still alive, but there's a big difference between just existing and living your life to the fullest. And I know for a fact that's why you went AWOL. You couldn't handle dealing with the 'what ifs'."

Sara stared down at the ground below her. Blade was right. She had been running away from all of her problems. She'd joined the Search and Rescue team to help keep her brother's memory alive, but by running away, she was letting it die. And those 'what ifs' plagued her in her dreams, and in her every waking moment. She couldn't escape them, no matter how hard she tried.

"And what makes you think things will be any different if I do go back with you?" she asked.

"Commander Grayson told me that he'd wanted you to see the base counsellor before you went AWOL. Why didn't you?"

Sara continued staring at the ground. "Because… I didn't think he'd be able to help me. He wasn't there. He didn't see the Captain drown. And… I-I was afraid of being demoted for the mistake I made."

"No matter what may have happened that night, your biggest mistake was deciding to go AWOL. And your base counsellor would have been trained to deal with cases like yours. Dealing with death is one of the hardest things we have to face. Especially when our job is to save lives. Sometimes, even though we've done everything we can at the time, those we're trying to save still die. Like this boy," Blade added, indicating down to where the recovery team were respectfully removing the boy from the riverbank.

Sara gulped. Blade was right. She should never have run away. She could see that now. With a heavy sigh, she looked down at the boy again. For a fleeting moment, in her mind's eyes, she saw her brother just moments before he'd taken off on that fateful flight that would be his last. Closing her eyes, she saw the Captain staring straight through her, pleading with his eyes for her to save his life.

Chrysler! I need help!

"Chrysler!" one of the recovery workers exclaimed. "He's still alive!"

Sara's eyes flew open in astonishment. She and Blade stared down at the riverbank, not quite believing what they'd just heard.

One of the workers looked up at them, equally as astonished. "The boy is still alive!" he shouted up to them. "He's unconscious, and we can barely get a pulse, but he's still breathing! It's shallow, but he's breathing! We'll have to airlift him out of here! It's his only chance! We need to get him to a hospital quickly!"

"Lieutenant Chopper is fully equipped for an airlift," Blade replied. "It'll be easier for everyone if you can get him to that clearing over there."

The worker nodded. "We'll meet you over there!"

Blade and Sara exchanged glances. Sara was genuinely surprised. "You're sending me?"

Blade nodded seriously. "You're designed for this kind of work. That clearing should just be large enough for you to land and take off again. The nearest hospital is over a hundred miles away, so you'll have to fly quickly and smoothly."

Sara hesitated. "And what if I decide not to come back?"

"Then I hope you have a good life. But one day, you will be caught and sentenced to a long time in prison. Going AWOL isn't something the army takes lightly. You won't be able to run from them forever. Eventually, they will find you."

Tears welled up in Sara's eyes, but she pushed them aside. She had to do her job before she thought about herself. And right now, the little boy's life was in her rotors. She had to do her part to save his life.

"If I don't return by tomorrow, you'll know what I've decided to do," she whispered to Blade.

Nodding, Blade flew lower and, with his rotors, he sliced neatly through the rope anchoring Sara to the tree. Sara breathed a sigh of relief as her tail came free.

"I hope you do decide to come back," Blade said sincerely. "I'd miss you terribly if you didn't."

Sara just blinked in astonishment. He didn't really just say that, did he?

Sighing despondently, Sara took off towards the clearing, where she landed safely. Before long, she was taking off again, with her precious cargo and three members of the recovery team loaded inside of her. She had a lot to think about before she made up her mind.

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