A/N: No, the Diana-saurus has not gone extinct! I was really overwhelmed with emotions and things to do and a couple of scary and stressful things happened in December and IT WAS JUST A LOT TO DEAL WITH SO DON'T JUDGE ME! That's why it took so long to update.
Thank you for reviewing! :)
Reviews:
Lunan95- Minor character fangirl high-five! *high-fives you* I'll definitely continue with it. And sure! I'll want to read yours first, though, so mine isn't too similar. I've seen other one-shots about Leland and Finn and I don't want mine to end up being the same. And what do you mean, it was a short chapter?! I thought it was long. Oh well, this chapter is longer ;)
Jaell- Nice to see you have a name now. One of my friends has a friend with a name almost the same as yours, just one letter off :) Yeah, I picture Finn in his late forties, with Holley in her early or mid-twenties and Siddeley in his late twenties.
StacyMcMissile- YESSSS I ENJOYED IT GREATLY! You have no idea how much I trollfaced when I read your review. *laughing maniacally with thunder and lightning in the background*
Dark Magix- Aw, so you did beat me to writing an SxH story. I will want to read yours first so that I don't accidentally copy your ideas or anything. Mine will be here as soon as I can complete the plot. I laughed at the converting to lemonism thing XD
thepopstar27- Oh hi! I haven't seen you in this story since chapter four! I thought you gave up on it. Yesh, it'll be revealed :D at least, part of what I think it is will be. I'd like to know what his actual canon past is.
rhapsody-of-dreams- Yes, it's about time Finn felt sad because of Sid. Except it isn't in the jealous way Siddeley feels, but meh, close enough XD and no, the nightmare was representing everything that already happened in the story, so no hints. Or maybe there was a slight hint... nah, probably not.
Captain Jamie Tiberia Kirk- I know right?! At least in the nightmare, hitting the rock killed him, he didn't die through drowning. But I agree, a pilot should die in the sky! I would like to die in the sky, but not falling. Falling scares me 0_0
Queen99- Thank you! ^^ here's the next chapter!
Alright, here's the explanation for this chapter: it was originally supposed to be a Christmas chapter, but since I am a lazy, procrastinating idiot, I didn't update on Christmas like I wanted to. Plus, it turned out not really even focusing on Christmas all that much, so... that's good, I guess? Lol. But it's also mostly dialogue, which I fail at, so this chapter is probably absolutely terrible.
This is over 3,000 words long, so enjoyyyyy! :D
Chapter 11- Christmas Presents
With each day that passed, Siddeley seemed to be getting more cheerful. Not happy, he hadn't reached that point yet, but he noticed that he felt significantly less horrible. He was becoming more and more sure that he really did make the right choice with joining the Lemons (A/N: When referring to the lemons, should it be capitalized? I wasn't sure, so "Lemons" will be capitalized from now on.).
And then there was the thought he always had: the dreaded "what if." What if he shouldn't have joined? Siddeley could never shake the possibility that maybe, just maybe, he did something wrong. Was joining the Lemons the right choice? Of course it was, he fought back mentally. But why couldn't he get those nagging worries out of his brain?
Even I'm caught in the middle with this one. Interesting, the plot thickens!
Aaand, I've got a visitor. Fantastic. Get out of my head, Emotion. Now.
Aw Sid, don't make me leave! I wanted to talk to you and chill for a bit!
Why you exist within my mind, I'll never know.
Yes Emotion, do leave. It's difficult enough dealing with you constantly, and I would really appreciate it if you'd allow me to speak to Siddeley in peace.
Great, Logic's here. Hmph, you ruin all my fun, you cold-hearted robot!
Stop wasting your time with useless insults. They do not affect me.
Exactly why you're a cold-hearted robot. You never listen to me.
Who would want to?
Both of you, enough!
Oh. Sorry, bro.
Never mind. I really would like some help, though.
Right, here's my logical response. You have two ways to go here: one, you made the right choice because it made you happy, and two, you made the wrong choice because, as is completely obvious, THEY. ARE. THE ENEMY. Why would you join the enemy?
Oh wow. Heh, thanks Logic, that's actually what I was gonna say!
Well, I've gotten so far as to figure that much out. But how will I know whether I've made the right choice or not?
We can't help you with that, Siddeley. Just like with Annlet's proposal, this is something you must find out yourself.
Excitement flowed through Siddeley's veins as he slipped on a black jacket. It was the morning of Christmas, and even though he hadn't been among the Lemons for very long, Jana insisted she give Siddeley a present. Her idea was to take him to her hometown, Coburg.
Since the base was in Germany, Jana had taken it upon herself to teach Siddeley German, but they weren't making much progress. The Englishman couldn't remember anything except "ja" and "danke." Needless to say, he'd have to let Jana do the talking on today's trip.
Not like he didn't do that already. When Siddeley wasn't cooped up in his room, he was with Annlet or Jana. It wasn't that he didn't trust the other Lemons or anything like that, but he never was very good at being social. Siddeley didn't mind being with the same people, though. Annlet's charisma made him good company, and it was entertaining to listen to Jana go on and on about airplanes and her favorite actors and tv shows. Siddeley was becoming good friends with both.
"MERRY CHRISTMAAAAAS!" came a sudden familiar voice on the other side of the door, accompanied by knocking. Startled, Siddeley dropped the shoe he'd been putting on and jerked his head toward the source of the exclamation.
"Calm down, he's probably still sleeping!" Another familiar voice.
"Well then he should wake up! Wake up Siddeley, it's time to go to Coburg!"
"Ugh. What am I going to do with you?"
Siddeley smiled lightly to himself and opened the door, revealing the grinning face of Jana and the bored one of Annlet. "Morning, you two."
"Morning," Annlet replied. "Don't mind Jana, she put a bit too much sugar in her tea..."
"No I didn't! I'm just happy, that's all," Jana huffed indignantly. "Come on, time to go," she said, grabbing Siddeley's wrist and dragging him out of his room and down the hallway. Behind them, Annlet closed the door and hurried to catch up.
Jana glanced back at Siddeley. "You are ready, right?"
"Well I'm dressed and you told me not to bring anything, so I hope that's a yes?"
"Great!" said Jana. She quickened her pace. "Let's get going, then!"
Siddeley noticed that the fedora-wearing man was still walking with them. Oh, Annlet must be coming with us, he thought. The more, the merrier, I guess. A comfortable quietness fell over the three Lemons, and Siddeley realized what he felt.
Relaxation and excitement. Two wonderful things only the Lemons made him feel again.
The three kept walking down more long, tunnel-like hallways until finally reaching a large metal door. Jana stopped and reached for something in her pocket.
The hangar Siddeley and Jana's planes were in was basically a large warehouse. There were a few shelves and closets full of tools for the mechanics to use, but other than that, only the jets were inside. The hangar was currently empty of humans, but the metal beings seemed alive with their commanding presence. All was calm in the home of the flying machines.
The quiet click of a key broke the silence. A moment later, the door swung open and sent a ray of light into the dark hangar. A hand slid along the wall until it found a switch, and the gloved fingers flipped the rest of the lights on. Instantly, the beautiful airplanes became visible.
Jana noticed this and once slapping her forehead in regret, faced the English pilot.
"Oh yeah, um..." she started.
Siddeley examined the jet next to the Cessna. It was painted pure black with a few white highlights. It looked to be the exact same as his own CHROME jet, except for the different paint job. The familiar A113 wasn't even on its tail. Well that can't be mine, Siddeley decided. ...where is it?
"I assume we'll be taking your Cessna, then," said Siddeley. "Though I am curious as to where my jet is."
Behind the pilots, Annlet snickered quietly. Jana shot him a glare. "That's the thing, actually... it's right there," she said, pointing to the black and white airplane.
Siddeley stared at Jana, unspeaking, then slowly walked toward the unfamiliar plane. The other Lemons made no move to stop him. He ran a hand along the fuselage and pressed a hidden panel, a detail only a CHROME pilot would notice; a detail only a CHROME jet would have. The panel slid away and revealed a small missile.
Missile.
McMissile.
Finn.
A wave of emotion crashed over him. In a moment of rage, Siddeley slammed the panel shut. Immediately he brought his hand down and stepped away from the jet. His back still faced the Lemons; he didn't dare turn around, for they'd witnessed the sudden event. Siddeley held his breath and remained still in a feeble attempt to disappear.
The hangar was so silent, the quiet tick of a clock had become audible. Siddeley listened to it as it went on monotonously. With the tension in the air and the tick, tick, tick of the clock, it felt like a bomb was about to go off.
Or like one had just exploded.
Jana, expecting her voice to falter, confessed shakily, "Sorry for not telling you earlier, but your jet had to be repainted so it looked like ours. The weapons are still there... but you saw that already..."
"Ah, y-yes, that makes sense," Siddeley replied. He coughed awkwardly and turned around. "Just a bit startled, is all."
"More than a bit, I'd say," Annlet said quietly, and Jana elbowed him.
"Alright. Should we go, then?"
"Yes..." Siddeley said with a nod, although it was to reassure himself more than his companions. "Yes, we should leave now."
Jana hurriedly opened the door to her Cessna and let Annlet and Siddeley in. After checking the plane over, she too went inside and sat down in the cockpit. "Sid, come sit with me!"
"Here I am," Siddeley said a moment later, sitting in the co-pilot's chair. I hope she doesn't question me on that weird freak-out I had... Maybe I can pretend I suddenly lost my voice so I can't answer her.
Jana gestured around. "Great. Now look. We're in the hangar, right?"
"I want to say yes, but I know you're going to pull some weird Alice in Wonderland thing on me, sooo..."
"'Alice in Wonderland'?" Jana questioned with a laugh. "Think of this as the mechanical behind-the-scenes stuff that makes that magic happen." As she spoke, the plane began to rise. What?! She hasn't even done anything yet! Siddeley stared at his companion, looking for an explanation, but Jana simply smiled knowingly and tilted her head toward the window. Staring through it, Siddeley saw that the ground and light of the hangar seemed to have dropped away. The space around them faded to black.
Siddeley leaned forward and strained his eyes to see what was happening. He came to the conclusion that something was pushing them up, since he hadn't noticed any cables or anything attached to the Cessna when in the hangar. As he searched for other clues, a faint circle of light appeared below them. As it grew brighter, Siddeley could make out the silhouette of a plane. The light got stronger until suddenly, it was everywhere. It blinded him and Siddeley threw an arm over his eyes and fell back into his seat.
Jana was laughing. "Oh don't worry, once you get used to it, it's just like turning on a light in your house!"
"Right," Siddeley muttered, eyes tightly shut. "If your house is lit by the Sun."
"Welcome to Coburg!" Jana sang as the Lemons stepped out of the Cessna. It hadn't taken long to fly from the base's remote location, which Jana later identified as being within the Thuringian Forest.
"Wow," Siddeley said in awe, turning in circles to examine his new surroundings. "What airfield did we land at, again?"
Jana grinned. "Brandensteinsebene."
"Beautiful," Siddeley breathed.
Annlet wasn't all that impressed, having been there countless times. He adjusted his coat and turned his attention to Jana. "So now what?"
If it were possible for the female Lemon to get any more excited, her face definitely showed it. Eyes lighting up, she called Siddeley over and once he was there, said, "I thought we could go to the Veste Coburg!"
"Great. Another German thing I don't know," groaned Siddeley, crossing his arms.
"It's a castle," Jana explained. "And it's got museums, too!"
Annlet raised his hand. "Question! After we go there, can we get food? I'll be hungry by that time, since someone," he paused to glare at Jana, "didn't allow me to eat any more than a small doughnut before dragging me along to get Sid."
Smirking, Jana poked Annlet's stomach. "Pft, you should be glad I didn't let you eat any more! You're not the skinniest person ever, you know."
"I'm perfectly fine! It's this coat, it makes me look like I've gained weight!" Annlet replied heatedly.
"I think it's more than just the coat," Siddeley whispered into Jana's ear, and they laughed.
Annlet rolled his eyes. "You two are the most childish people I've ever met."
After regaining her composure, Jana started walking toward a small parking lot. "Alrighty, let's go! Annlet's car is over here."
"And now I'm finding out you've got a car just lying around," said Siddeley as he followed her. "Learn something new every day. Oh that reminds me, how did you get the Cessna out of the hangar if it was underground?"
"You mean when the sunlight blinded you?" Jana teased. After Annlet unlocked the car, she opened the passenger-side door. "It was parked on a special section of the floor. That part was what moved and pushed us up, then the metal on top slid away and just like that, we were on the surface! And like when I first brought you to the base, the door was covered in grass."
Siddeley nodded as he sat down. "Seems legit."
As the three were in the car, the ride was peacefully silent. That is, until Jana spoke up about ten minutes later. She'd been staring out the window and calmly voiced what she noticed. "Yellow car," she said.
Siddeley responded without looking at her. "What?"
"Nothing. Just... yellow car."
Annlet decided to ask, "Why did you say 'yellow car'?"
"There was a yellow car," Jana replied simply.
"But why did you say 'yellow car'?"
"You've got to say 'yellow car' when there's a yellow car."
"Why?"
"That's how you play Yellow Car."
"We're not playing Yellow Car," Annlet said, rolling his eyes.
Jana stared at him. "You're always playing Yellow Car," she said seriously.
"And how," Siddeley asked, "though I fear I can guess, does one play Yellow Car?"
Jana seemed more lively as she began explaining the game. "Right well, imagine you're driving along-"
"We are driving along," Annlet said, cutting her off.
The female pilot didn't care much about being interrupted, so she continued. "Oh yeah, okay, so now you look at the cars as they come along in the other direction, and they're all different colors. So uh, for instance now, uh... that one's white, that one's blue, that one's a sort of metally gray-"
"And when you see a yellow car, you say 'yellow car,'" Siddeley finished.
"How did you know?!"
"A wild stab in the dark."
Annlet looked at Jana. "And then what?"
"You start again!" she said excitedly.
"So how does it end, this game?" Siddeley asked, folding his arms over his chest.
"It never ends."
The English pilot shook his head. "That's very much what I feared."
"...I can honestly say I've never seen anything so colorful," said Siddeley, staring at the gigantic stained-glass window above him. The Lemons had finally made it to the Veste Coburg.
"Isn't it pretty?" Jana responded with pride evident in her voice.
"Very."
Annlet took a picture of the window on his phone. "You should see this place at night, Sid," he informed. "It's even more beautiful all lit up in the darkness."
"But we can't stay that late," Jana replied fretfully. Siddeley shrugged.
"Maybe I can see it if we come here again some other time, and we stay longer."
"Yes, that's a great idea! You can visit this place and the rest of Coburg again!"
Hearing this exchange, Annlet sighed. "Do I have to come along on that one too?"
"Yes, of course!" said Jana loudly. Her eyes widened as if the other Lemon had committed sacrilege.
Annlet facepalmed. "Great. Another field trip with one crazy pilot and another who doesn't know what he's doing. I have no life."
"Yeah, you don't." Once seeing Annlet glare at her, Jana checked her watch. "Well we've got a bit more time to get an early dinner, then we need to head back."
"Sounds like a plan. Let's go," Siddeley said, marching out the door. Suddenly he stopped. "...and I haven't got a clue where we're going."
Jana grabbed her friends' wrists and pulled them outside, exiting the beautiful castle. "Leave that to me."
The ghost of a smile appeared on Annlet's face when he noticed Siddeley sleeping in the chair next to him. It had been a long day, and he could understand the younger man's exhaustion. After eating, the three returned to Jana's Cessna and were currently flying back to the base. Taking advantage of Siddeley's unconsciousness, Annlet stood and entered the cockpit.
"Need some company?" he asked Jana, sliding into the co-pilot's seat next to her.
Nodding tiredly, she replied, "That would be nice. Thanks."
Annlet didn't respond. The silent companionship was comforting enough without words.
"How is Siddeley?" Jana inquired a few minutes later.
"Sleeping."
"I'm worried about him."
"You're worried about him because he's sleeping?" Annlet asked. "Well I can go check on him if you want."
"What? No! I'm worried about what he's feeling," Jana corrected.
"How so?"
Jana thought out her answer. "That weird thing he did because of his jet this morning is one thing. It looked like it made him angry, and I don't think simply repainting someone's airplane would be that big a deal. I just let it go so Sid wouldn't feel embarrassed, but I think he still did."
"That was strange," Annlet agreed.
"And sometimes he gets upset, too. It's as if certain things make him have something like..." she trailed off as she searched for the right word. "Like a flashback, almost. Things like that are happening less often now, but I noticed it."
"I bet he just misses CHROME," Annlet mused.
"...do you think he misses it enough to go back?" Jana asked. She turned to face Annlet then, and he could see her somber expression. Her gaze was challenging, but one could tell she was afraid to hear an answer.
Annlet stared into her eyes and with as much reassurance as he could muster, said calmly, "No. I doubt that."
"But what if you're wrong? What if he goes back to CHROME and leaves us?!" Jana's voice grew louder. "I really like him and I know you do too. He's our friend now, we can't just let him leave!"
"Jana, you're overreacting. Siddeley's given no indication of leaving," Annlet said, placing a hand on the woman's shoulder. Jana shrugged it off and faced forward again.
"But I know he isn't sure about being here either," Annlet went on. "So we have to give him every possible reason not to leave us."
Jana nodded. "Yes. Once we do that, Siddeley will never, ever return to CHROME." Her eyes narrowed.
"He's a Lemon now. And we'll make sure he always will be."
Siddeley sat on the couch farthest from the fireplace, quietly sipping tea. Once returning to the base, Annlet and Jana said goodnight and went to bed. Siddeley could feel his own eyelids growing heavier, but his mind kept him awake.
If he were at CHROME, he'd be doing the same thing. He, Finn, Leland, and Stephenson would have gathered in Finn's room, situated in a rough half-circle shape around the fireplace, drinking hot beverages while exchanging Christmas gifts. Talking, laughing, reliving old memories and creating new ones like the lifelong friends they were.
The group of friends they used to be.
But once Siddeley had that thought, he was reminded of Annlet and Jana. They weren't Finn, Leland, or Stephenson; they could never compare to those three, but the two German Lemons were his new friends. Christmas was a time to be with friends and family, and he was glad he'd spent it with them.
But maybe Siddeley could've at least tried to contact Finn, to tell him he was okay. Not where he was or what he was doing, but something to let the spy know he was taking care of himself just fine.
He could've given that to Finn as a Christmas present.
A/N: I wanted to focus more on Coburg, but even with the amount of research I did and help I got from Captain Jamie Tiberia Kirk, I was still really unsure and I don't know much about Germany so I ended up skipping a lot. And Jana's Cessna is kind of an odd size, because it's not a big plane, but I made it a little bigger than the average Cessna, but it can't be too big... GAHH I WAS HALF ASLEEP WHEN I WROTE MOST OF THIS CHAPTER JUST ACCEPT IT.
The "yellow car" scene is from a radio show called Cabin Pressure. It's hilarious and "brilliant," so please check it out!
Unrelated, but I needed to say this: I watched The Time of the Doctor and died of feels! I literally just lay on the floor muttering about Matt Smith and kidneys while getting judged by my family DX
Thanks for reading, and reviews are always greatly appreciated.