I jerk awake when the plane suddenly groans and lurches forward, scaring me.
"It's okay, she's been doing that for a while now. I don't think we're in the hangar anymore. Must've drifted somewhere and we're caught on something," Barney says, still keeping me close to his side. I'd accidentally fallen asleep on his shoulder, and it was a little embarrassing.
"I'm surprised I dozed off. I'm sorry," I mutter, going to move away. But he still had his arm around me in a protective manner. Each time the plane made a noise or moved, his grip tightened.
"I didn't mind," he shrugged.
"How long was I out?"
"Couple hours at most. I don't have any reference of time," he informs me.
"Do you think they're freaking out?" I ask, sighing. He frowns.
"Probably. Hopefully they would've known better than to go out and look," he says. I scoff and pull my hair back out of my face. Barney frowns and grabs my hand. "How long ago did that happen?"
My hand was covered in dry blood that accompanied a nasty looking cut.
"Oh. Probably from when I broke the car window to get those people out. It's fine. Doesn't hurt," I mumble, pulling my hand away. He gets up quickly and pulls down a first aid kit.
"Let me clean it up," he offers, taking my hand gently. He wets a cloth in alcohol and begins to wipe up the blood. His eyes catch something around my neck, and he reaches forward. He pulls the chain of his dog tags, pulling them out from under my thermal. He looks at me.
"I couldn't bring myself to hang them just yet. The team understood. I would've given them to Lee eventually," I explain. He shakes his head.
"They were for you, not them," he mumbles as he gently cleans my hand.
"And that money was for you, not me," I sigh. His head snaps up.
"Did you not finish setting up the account?" he asks, bewildered. I shake my head, frowning.
"Believe it or not, taking your money was the last thing on my mind when I thought… well, you know," my voice turns into a whisper and I swallow loudly. He releases the dog tag and pulls my chin up to look at him.
"I wasn't worth it, Brenna," he tells me. I shake my head.
"I can't believe that. You're not as dark as you think," I deny. He frowns and returns to cleaning my hand. I hiss when he gets to the cut. "Sorry… how're you and Thorn?"
I sigh. Probably not great. We had some things to talk about.
"Honestly? He's probably upset with me," I sigh. Barney looks up.
"Why's that?"
"Well… I kind of unofficially moved out and back in the garage," I sigh. Barney raises a brow.
"Um… why?"
"Long story," I mumble, not wanting to relive the pain and suffering of those days. Especially to the person responsible. Barney sighs.
"If this is about me-"
"It's not. I just… it's complicated. It started when Christmas took a job that kept everyone away for three weeks. My guess was he was trying to keep busy, the same way we all were. You know… try to keep everything pushed out of our heads. I was already working at Tools, and I was in no state to be alone. Mira and Reagan offered to let me stay with them. But I honestly felt more comfort at the garage. Especially with Tool around. Anyway, Thorn and I fought a few days before he left for yet another job. A bad fight, actually. After you died, or I guess I thought you'd died, I wanted him to leave all this behind more than ever. I couldn't lose both of you. But he said he couldn't while the pain of losing their leader was so fresh. It was a bad fight… we said things we didn't mean. He just wanted to be there… for the team. I understand that now. But it was still hard. And I'm sure he understands why as well. But he stormed out, and I didn't see him until a few hours before he was supposed to leave. He cancelled going on the job and stayed with me. But then he left the following week and I just moved out. I hated being alone, and I hated watching him go. It was easier to be at the garage," I explain. Barney swallows, bandaging my hand now.
"I'm sorry you were in so much pain," he says quietly. The plane groans and tilts heavily to the left. I brace myself on the bench, looking around. The plane kept twisting and Barney helped me up.
"Stand with your feet braces apart, to keep your balance," he holds onto the grate above our heads, and I do the same. I close my eyes tightly, wishing more than anything that this was over soon. The plane eventually levels back out and I take a large exhale of relief.
"It's probably just storm surge. The wind is winding down," Barney explains. We sit back down and he rests his leg.
"What about you? What happened to your leg?" I ask. He chuckles.
"I survived an explosion that knocked me back several hundred feet-"
"I knew it!" I beam up at him, and he raised his eyebrows. "I held onto the idea forever that you were knocked back from the explosion- and that you were alive. Lee was quick to shut that down," I comment, smirking because I was right.
"You need to fix things with Thorn. He's a good kid," he mutters suddenly. I smile fondly.
"Is that a father's blessing?" I tease. His eyes widen.
"You know about that?" he asks, bewildered. It was my turn for my jaw to drop.
"He asked you for a blessing?" I squeak, embarrassed. Barney's face goes red and he looks away from me.
"I didn't say a word," he mutters, equally embarrassed. I crack up, knowing how awful that must've been for Thorn. But that also meant I was expecting a proposal someday. Of course, it hasn't exactly been a good time for this recently.
"It's good to hear your laugh again, kid," Barney rests his head back on the plane wall, closing his eyes. I stay as silent as possible until I hear faint snores coming from him.
It was scarier being the only one awake during this storm. The plane shifted and swayed every once in a while, but Barney was right. The winds were dying down. Eventually, I was able to relax and dozed off again as well.
"Brenna. Brenna, wake up," someone was slightly shaking my shoulder. I groan. I didn't want to wake up and realize everything was a dream. Another nightmare, telling me he was alive.
"Go away," I mutter, and realize I'm on a cold, hard surface. I launch up, looking around at my surroundings. And then I remember. I take a staggering breath, pushing my wild hair from my face.
"You okay?" Barney asks.
"Yea. What's up?" I croak, dying for some water.
"You… you were having a nightmare. I just wanted to make sure you were alright," he says sheepishly.
"I wish I could remember them when I have them," I yawn, my muscles stiff.
"Well you were talking…" he says slowly. I sit up straighter, narrowing my eyes.
"Of what?" I swallow, scared of what I've said. He hesitates.
"You missed me," he accuses, joking around. But I can tell it made him happy deep in his eyes. I stand up, embarrassed. As soon as I do, the plane jerks forward heavily.
"Ah!" I yell. I'm knocked onto my ass instantly, and Barney has put his face in his hand. He was laughing at me. And doing a very bad job of hiding it. I glare at him but even I can't help but laugh. A few seconds of laughing later, there's knocking at the plane door. Barney launches up, approaching the door hesitantly. He waits until the knocking persists, and we know there's someone on the other side. He opens it up.
"What the fuck are you guys doing in here?" I hear Lee laugh. It was finally light outside, the wind was gusty but not even a fraction of what is was yesterday. The only rain that was left was a hazy mist. The storm surge however, was still high. But, it wasn't as high as Katrina. Which gave me hope for the levees, built to withstand stronger winds now.
"The hangar collapsed on the skis. Destroyed our ride back. Had no choice," Barney explains. Thorn suddenly appears, and sees me. The apprehension that was wrinkling around his eyes vanishes when he meets mine. He practically pushes Lee out of the way and embraces me tightly.
"I was so worried," he muttered. I grip him back.
"I'm okay," I murmur, nuzzling my face into his shoulder. I hadn't realized how much I missed these arms around me in the last two months.
"Come on, we have a rescue squad out on a dinghy down below," Lee says, helping Barney limp out. When Thorn helps me step out of the plane, I see that it's half submerged and it has drifted to the end of the runway. I gulp, glad we were finally leaving it.
Down below, the whole team was in a motorized dinghy, waiting for us. Including Tool, who grasps his best friend in a tight hug. I smile fondly at him as he looks over Barney's shoulder at me, narrowing his eyes. I forgot I ran away yesterday.
"You're a fucking lunatic," he says dryly when I board the boat. I laugh.
"You weren't innocent, don't even try to accuse me of being the only liar here," I tease.
"You still ran out into a fucking hurricane, Brenna," he says dryly. Barney frowns at me.
"Self-destructive as ever, I see," he mutters. I raise a brow at him.
"Coming from you, that's rich," I chide. Everyone laughs.
"How's the parlor?" I ask Tool. He sighs.
"It's seen better days. But the sand bags helped a lot. And pretty much everything was moved upstairs and off the floor. I think we'll be able to sweep it all out within a day or two, after the storm surge goes down," he informs me. I frown, thinking about how much work this was going to be.
"Where are we going now?"
"Well, most of us have to get home to see if we still have one."
"And some of us need to get home to their very pregnant girlfriends," Smilee says, anxious. Thorn puts an arm around me, pulling me close to his side on the boat as we drove off.
"We need to go home too, check on the apartment," he murmurs in my ear. I turn to him sharply.
"Is… is that okay?" I ask lowly. He frowns.
"Why wouldn't it be?" he asks. I don't comment and shrug, looking away. He sighs.
"You lost your father, Brenna. Anything actions you took that helped you, anything you did, was out of grief. And so you could protect yourself. We have some things to talk about… but it's less about that and more about my career."
His statement shocks me to silence, and I stare off into the distance.
I'm not sure I could ever handle losing anyone again. Not even a close call, like this one. I tuck my legs in and rest my chin between my knees. I close my eyes thoughtfully, trying not to let the paranoia and grief cage my heart once more. The duo had poked and prodded at it for months. And now I had to learn to let that pain go.