The song for Chapter 4 will be based around the opening of this fight: It Has to Be This Way, from the Metal Gear Rising OST

"IFF has confirmed it's Galm! The reinforcement team is Galm!"

- Unknown allied coalition pilot, 28 May, 1995.

Time started to flow again, and so did the blood in my veins, thawed by the immense danger the image of that plane had brought. It was behind me now, afterburners lit in my mirrors before disappearing out of their field of view. Alex was behind me, pressing her hands against either side of the cockpit, swiveling madly to try and get eyes on that infamous Eagle. The aircraft shuddered underneath me as Alex dumped all remaining bombs when she got the first chance, giving us just a little more maneuverability, a little more edge, a little more chance of survival.

"Above! 7 o'clock high!"

Her eyes would be invaluable here. I didn't answer, trying to come to terms with the fact that a Demon had come screaming out of the darkness of this squall. A person gone from the world ten years, more myth and legend than human at this point. Why had they thrown in with Erusea? Money? A secret lineage? Just for fun?

I had no idea, but thinking of it now would just get us killed.

Yanking back on the stick, I sent the Eagle into a screaming climb, trying to escape any type of lock that the Demon Lord of The Round Table might get. My odds were low in my mind. I worried that I might be caught, that I might slip up. I had gone in alone, and now I was up against the wire.

Two columns of flame shot out off to my left, passing below me, and I inverted and pulled back again, trying to maintain eyesight of the other jet before the plumes were gone, and I was in the dark again. Damn it!

I reached over quickly to turn my HMD brightness down, then hit one of the castle switches on my stick, sending the Strike Eagle's targeting system into a head track lock. Following where I expected it to go, I suddenly got a tone, and a bright green box surrounded the silhouette of a jet I could barely see. I had no night vision, I hadn't expected it to be needed, and it was a choice between nods and the HMD.

I went to select the short range missiles, and suddenly the box winked out. I had lost the target lock. Maybe this was a trick? Was it truly Cipher? Or was it some cheap imitation designed to terrify those that had seen it all. Cipher was a man, wasn't he?

"Who are you?" It had been broadcast on an open channel, and I recognized the voice of my wife. It wasn't fearful, despite what was happening and who she was talking to, but curious, as if the fight wasn't even happening.

"...Does it matter?" 'Cipher' responded with her own curiosity, as if she was surprised. "I've read all that's been said about me. Surely you've done the same."

I snap rolled as I saw the afterburner light again, on the opposite side of where I had been tracking before, and I gasped as I sent the jet into a roll to the left, but at this angle, we would be nearly head on. Alex continued her questioning, such short range combat leaving her as nothing more than an extra pair of eyes in the dark cockpit, lit only by the glow of the MFDs and the backlighting for the instruments and controls.

"We've- read it all. Recently, in fact. Problem is-, they're all just conjecture and- rumor outside of official- records." She was struggling through the Gs I was pulling, gasping and clenching in an attempt to keep the blood from pooling in her legs.

"They're true, I assure you." She sounded like she wasn't even in an intense dogfight, and I grimaced as I reversed the roll again to try and follow her through another circle. That alone gave some credence to her name, because I was starting to sweat, to feel the exhaustion after a long flight, a strike mission, and now the high G influence of a hard dogfight.

"Then why are you here? Why are you fighting for Erusea?"

This time, a laugh came through the net that was simultaneously amused and cold. "If you know my background, you already know why. Because they offered the most pay."

What? I spoke through gritted teeth as I yanked the stick back into my gut. "But you're- not listed- on any of the mercenary boards anymore!"

"I didn't have to be. It was an open contract. They closed it after I responded. It was on there for less than an hour. But… with the amount of zeroes they're paying, how could I resist?"

I cursed as, once again, the columns of flame that her afterburner generated appeared somewhere entirely different. This woman was playing with me, stringing me out as if I was still wet behind the ears. Immediately, I knew my skill was so far below hers that it was child's play. I had no way to attack her, only try to defend against her and hope that I survived.

Alex continued on, seemingly growing more and more frustrated. "Is that all war is to you? A paycheck?"

"I'm a mercenary. It's always been just a paycheck. Why would ten years make that any different?"

"Because it's been so long! Why did you leave if the money is so important?"

There was no answer this time, and I grimaced as I felt more than heard Cipher's aircraft passing by close enough that her slip stream shook our Eagle like it was a toy. It was taking everything I had to keep myself alive, and I glanced down quickly at the fuel gauge. A dogfight at full afterburner burned fuel far faster than any other type of flight. It was either win, and survive, or lose by being shot or running out of gas. She had come from a nearby airfield, most likely, and had plenty more gas than us. We needed to finish this fast.

I sucked in another lungful of air as I jerked the stick back as far as it could go, climbing into the sky faster and faster, piercing the cloud layer and coming out at 15,000 feet. My RWR was beeping loudly at me. Cipher was on us, her radar reaching out with ghostly fingers, trying to grab us and bring an end to us both.

At the apex, with the night sky clear above the cloud layer, I rolled over and leveled out, trying my damnedest to get some speed or distance, to try and spoof the radar lock.

In the back, Alex was back on our channel, with no more conversation from Cipher. "Kingmaker! It's Cipher, it's the Demon Lord! We're up to our necks in shit!"

"Kingmaker copies! Vectoring all forces to assist!"

"No!" I yelled it before I realized what I'd said, already spotting the clouds lighting up as Cipher punched through and ascended to our level, turning towards us. "Cipher'll chew them up and spit them out, or we'll crash into each other. Potential of friendly fire is too high! Send them home or we'll lose everything!"

Kingmaker cursed on the line, and he seemed to agree. "...Understood, Hellfire. All planes, turn cold and head for home. Heartbreaker is going to keep the Demon Lord busy."

I heard Hellfire Two respond. "Cannot comply! Heartbreaker's in there alone. If we leave, they're as good as dead!"

"Damn it, Karina! Get the fuck out of here! I'm not losing you or any of the others. All of you get fucking scarce or we'll lose a significant portion of our air power!" I had yelled it into the mic almost, my breathing hard as I cut throttle and threw out the air brake. Cipher passed close by, entering a corkscrew with her own throttle cut and the airbrake out on her jet. A scissors was forming, one that I knew would be worse than the storm below.

There was no response for a time, and Alex and I had our eyes on Cipher, struggling to stay abreast of it all as our Eagles both got slow, both of us reaching a near stall and trying not to overshoot the other and be turned into a target.

When her voice came back, Karina sounded like she was gritting her teeth. "...Hellfire, on me. We're RTB. Form on Four and let's get them home."

Another voice chimed in on the radio, this one new. "Kingmaker, Chronos EWAR, we're going in with our jammers on. Chronos Lead has agreed. Turning hot."

Kingmaker started to reply. "Negative Chronos! Do not enga-" He was cut off as someone activated their mic on the AWACS channel, the channel filling with dead noise as whoever activated it stayed silent, drowning out the denial from Kingmaker.

In the back, Alex had turned to her screens as I had my eyes on Cipher. "They're doing it! The crazy bastards are doing it!" She said. "Inbound from the northeast, it's one of the Hornets and the Growler!"

I dare not look away as I felt the aircraft shuddering against the attempt to not fall out of the sky. Cipher was right there next to me, and with the storm under us, the natural moonlight above lit us both up. I could see her in her canopy, staring at me still, as if she had no need of instruments. I pulled the stick back in towards her, and she responded almost perfectly, dropping below me as we passed each other. We were right there, on the edge of dropping like rocks, but with so much time behind the stick in the worst combat operations of the Belkan War, she was a master. Her bird was almost like an extension of her body at this point.

I could feel the frustration inside. It was excruciating, doing the best I could and just not being able to change the tide of it all, or to get behind her. It was enough to drive me almost to tears. I knew, behind that oxygen mask, she was smiling at me, as if amused at me trying to make it all work.

There was nothing I could do, and given the distance on my SA page, I knew that Chronos was still a minute away, and we were too close to launch missiles into the fight for fear of friendly fire. Then I felt it, an idea forming in my mind. I pushed the throttle all the way forward, dropping my speed brake back down into the fuselage before I jammed the right rudder pedal forward and started to slowly roll onto my side before I pulled the stick right and back.

I'd be passing right in front of her, and if I failed, I'd be dead before I knew it.

My finger sat on the countermeasures switch, and I hauled myself around to keep a view of her nose. When it was time, I started pushing the flare switch hard, repeatedly, sending out most of the flares I had on board, before I yanked the throttle back and reversed my turn, bleeding speed in an attempt at re-entering the scissors, hoping I had blinded her with the flares I kicked out.

They had fallen behind us almost immediately, but I saw Cipher had exited the scissors, diving back down toward the cloud layer. I inverted and followed, my heart threatening to beat itself out of my chest as I dropped and tried to get another lock.

Try as I might, though, she continued to drop into the clouds, immediately disappearing, and from there, I had no idea where she was. My radar was being jammed by Chronos' Growler, and I knew this was the only chance we had to get away. "Turn back! Turn back now!" I yelled into the mic, unsure of whether Chronos would hear us or not.

I pushed the throttle to max and pushed in the opposite direction, back towards where we had ingressed. I could see the formation lights on Chronos' birds, and I started flashing mine. Immediately, they started to turn back as well, the perpetrator of the mic hog being revealed as the pilot who had responded to our initial plea, the pilot of Chronos EWAR.

"Heartbreaker is flowing cold, Chronos is following."

I felt the lead ball in my gut sink deeper, and it felt like my lungs had stopped working. My hand was shaking on the stick, and I had to force myself to let go of it, to prevent us from wobbling across the sky. With the throttle locked forward, I could still press the comms buttons. "...Heartbreaker is disengaged, flowing cold. All planes, head home immediately."

Alex was still tuned to the open channel, and I could hear it as well. "...That was an awfully dirty trick," Cipher said over the net. "This isn't over though, Dragon. We'll meet again sometime, sooner or later. I'll be looking forward to it. Don't disappoint me."

If I hadn't known any better, I'd almost think she had some sort of… challenge in her voice. I had survived a fight against the Demon Lord, just barely, and I knew next time, I wouldn't be so lucky. Skill was the only thing that I could bring to the table, and a new worry cropped up in my gut. Would I be good enough next time to survive without tricks like that?

I had no idea.

The moonlight was our only company on the way back home. It had been an hour since the dogfight with the Demon Lord, and I still felt cold, shaky, nauseous. It hadn't truly hit me until we were out of the fire. My adrenaline rush during the fight had made me crash hard, and occasionally my hand would start shaking again. I'd have to clamp down on it quickly, or wobble across the sky and reveal to everyone I was still terrified.

Alex hadn't said anything, and neither had I. We were both still shocked at it all, most likely. We'd been standing on the doorstep to whatever waited for us in death. Cipher had made a reputation for herself during the war. Very few people that she had shot down had managed to get out in time, and her kill rate wasn't just aircraft, but their pilots as well. It was easier to determine the amount of people that had ejected than not.

I finally stopped bothering with holding the stick. The autothrottle and autopilot modes were both activated, and I put my hands in my lap, squeezing my thighs to try and stop that minor shaking, to expel the frustration in my mind. The feeling was almost painful in its own way.

Fortunately, nobody else had said anything to us since then. Even Kingmaker had been quiet, save for general comms every so often to give us an updated radar picture. It was the first time a flight had been this quiet in… ever, as far as I could remember.

But the silence was broken as soon as that thought was over, as if someone had read my mind. "...I didn't expect us to make it out of that one," Alex said from the rear seat. Her voice was quiet, nothing like her usual tone.

It took me a minute to realize that she had said it, and I hadn't just thought the words. "What?"

"I said that I didn't expect us to make it out of that fight. It was one sided all the way through."

I pursed my lips behind the oxygen mask. "I felt like prey, like I was running from someone, rather than fighting."

"At least you had some control. I felt… helpless, like I was just along for the ride." Her voice had dropped, nearly to a whisper in my ear, distorted slightly by the intercomm. "I didn't know what else to do but talk to her, to try and distract her or myself or… I don't know."

I glanced over my shoulder, but not enough to look at her. "It was shitty no matter how you slice it."

She hummed, sounding exhausted. I couldn't blame her. Even with my training and our time in the jet, I still felt like I had been twisted and stretched and ripped in half. My body was hurting a little, but I knew that tomorrow, I'd be sore as hell. If Cipher had been out of it that long, she didn't show it. Hell, she may have never left the cockpit, really.

A few moments passed, and I called out to her. "You alright back there?"

"Yeah… I'll live, but I'd be lying if I said that whole fight didn't scare the shit out of me. We'll have to fight her again sometime, too. There's no putting it off."

That got me thinking. "It didn't help that she came out of nowhere, nearly shot Four down, and came at us like…"

"Like a demon?" Alex finished it for me. She knew what I was thinking to some extent.
"Yeah, like a demon. Part of me wants to believe that next time we'll have allies to help us in the fight and it won't be in a dark storm… but another part of me knows that any of our pilots that tries to go head on against her will end up dead and she'll be no worse for wear."

Alex seemed to ponder it. "You saying that, no matter what happens, we'll be forced to take her on?"

"I am. If we can't deal with her, then she'll run rampant on the rest of them, and there'll be nobody to stop her from tearing us apart. If we lose… then the war is over."

That was an awfully negative – not to mention macabre – way of looking at it, but we both knew I wasn't wrong. We had become the figurehead, the tip of the spear, the muscle that our airpower relied on. If we were killed or shot down, then the rest of this house of cards would come tumbling down.

Behind me, I heard a laugh start to filter in through the intercomm, but it wasn't really amused, so much as dismayed in its own way. "You know… that whole comparison to Cipher?"

I knew where she was going with this. "Yeah?"

"I didn't expect us to actually have to fight Cipher. The shoe seemed like it fit, but… now we know it's too damn big for us to wear."

Despite myself, I felt a smile come to my face, a laugh of my own sounding. "We'll grow into it, right?" I asked, and I heard her start to laugh harder, more mirth coming into it despite the actual terrible odds. Is that what we needed? To turn to self-deprecation in an attempt at rationalizing it all?

"I think we will, but if we don't, we'll have blisters any time we try to wear them. Why didn't we just buy our size instead?"

A snort and I felt the humor starting to come to me, dealing with some of the anxiety and frustration. "Don't look at me, you and Bruce got the damn things. Least you two could have done is get me a proper size before you buy shit willy nilly."

Our laughter mixed over the intercomm, and it seemed to put us at ease slightly. The sky around us was dark, and as my laughter faded away, I felt myself drawn to look at it, to take it in now that we were out of that squall's influence. It was perfectly clear, and I could see everything from here. No light pollution at all.

Eventually my eyes were brought back to our flights. The Hornets were all fine, and the Tomcats as well. Out of all our forces, the only person to take a hit was Hellfire Four, our rookie pilot and most seasoned WSO.

They had shutdown their starboard side engine, and while the Strike Eagle could handle it, it sure as hell wasn't fun to fly on one engine. Hydraulics and other systems had backups, but they didn't always like to work, especially when your plane was filled with holes. Four's pilot had to be flying it purely on trim at this point. At least they weren't trailing smoke anymore.

"Four, status check," I said into my mic.

Bruce was the one to respond instead of the pilot, and I figured that probably wasn't good. "Still good to go, ma'am," he replied. "All critical systems are holding at least above minimum safe, we should make it back home as long as nothing else fails."

"And your fuel state?"

"Still sitting on 9k. Fuel page is saying that we should theoretically be able to make it there, but I don't trust it right now."

I sighed softly in what I thought was relief. "Roger, Longsword. Ride her as far as you can and see if you can make it closer to home. If she runs out of fuel or breaks down, punch out and activate your distress beacons."

"Yes, ma'am."

I clicked off of the mic and sighed again, settling back into the seat and letting my head fall back. I could close my eyes for a few seconds. The autopilot and autothrottle were on. There was nothing to worry about. I only got a moment of reprieve before my mind sent that image of Cipher's lit up Eagle into the forefront of my thoughts, and I gasped, my eyes shooting open.

I thought I had cut the intercomm as well, but it seems I hadn't. "You okay?"

Alex's voice was a reassuring sound, but part of me wished I hadn't been heard. "Yeah… yeah, I'm good."

"You don't usually gasp out of nowhere," she said. Damn her. It wasn't like I could just skip past the explanation like some could. She'd pick me apart anyway eventually.

"Closed my eyes for a second, saw Cipher again, from the start of the fight."

"You're not the only one," she responded, and I frowned.

"What do you mean? Are you seeing it too? The lightning lighting up her plane?"

"Yeah. She was looking at us and I couldn't see anything behind her visor. No skin, no eyes, nothing. Just that dark visor."

My frown deepened, and I sighed softly, wanting to close my eyes again but knowing it was a bad idea. Instead I just forced myself to look out at the rest of our force, hitting the channel for Chronos. It was better than Alex and I going back and forth and just making each other feel more like shit. "Chronos Lead, Heartbreaker."

It was a second or two, but he came through. "Go for Hourglass," he replied.

"You and your Growler really pulled us out of the fire back there," I started off.

"Could see some singe marks on your jet when we pulled out. Glad we could be of some help, Heartbreaker."

"You don't know the half of it. Your Growler listening in?"

Another voice chimed in this time. "Aye, ma'am. Micro and Black Hat are eavesdropping."

I had to laugh at their choice of words. "Couldn't have done it without you three. Hopefully we can pay you back some time."

Hourglass was quick to respond, a challenge in his voice. "You can buy the first shot when we get back. I think we've all earned it tonight."

"What is it with men and booze?" I asked, chuckling.

"Lets us all forget about the women we can't win," Hourglass came back.

"Don't you have women in your flight?"

"Aye, they like to forget sometimes too is all," he teased.

"Yeah, I'll bet," I said. "Thanks again, and I'll meet you all at the bar when we get back. That goes for all of you if you're interested. Consider it a sign of a successful mission."

"That mean we're making a tradition, boss?" Hellfire Three's Mirah asked over the radio.

I couldn't help but smile, shaking my head. "Ah hell…"

Laughter went up over the datalink for Hellfire, and while I could imagine the rest were laughing as well, they couldn't all be on the radio channel without drowning each other out.

Alex chimed in from the back this time. "Looks like you got everybody out of whatever moods they might have been in."

"And in doing so, I've put my wallet in a bad mood," I said back, huffing.

"Yeah, probably… but at least-"

I cut her off. "You're going halfsies on the drinks."

"Damn…"

That stopped her in her tracks and I hummed to myself. "What was it we said? For better or worse?"

"You can't turn that against me here, you're the one who offered!"

"Yeah, yeah, just open that wallet and help me pay for it all," I said.

All I got was a huff from her, and she didn't say anything else. Even if she was being pouty, at least I was feeling a little better, and I hoped she was too.

I hefted a large pack of beer in each hand, sighing as I pushed my way out of the small commissary on the base, putting one in Alex's arms as I came back out. "Here, you can carry one," I said. "No buts either."

She rolled her eyes. "C'mon, let's make this quick."

I looked over at her with a raised eyebrow. "So quick to lose your money?" I asked.

"No, just-"

"Don't try to make excuses," I teased. "We'll get there soon enough."

She just whined this time and kept her mouth shut. It wasn't too long a walk from here to the runway, where I knew many crews were working into the night to get critical maintenance done on their jets after long sorties.

Stepping into the dedicated hanger where Hellfire Four had been moved, I saw the crew chief. "Hey, chief!" I called out. He turned and walked over, eyeing the cases we had. "Got you and your boys something. Thanks for keeping Four in good enough condition to survive that hit. Probably wouldn't have done it without your work on it."

He licked his lips, and slowly nodded. "Just doing our job, ma'am. Can replace the machines any time, but not the people."

"Good work either way. Once you've finished your work tonight, take some time and pass these around. Got your work cut out for you with her, but I hope it shows my thanks."

"Yes ma'am," he said, taking both from us. "We'll enjoy these later, thank you."

I smiled and nodded at him. "I'd like nothing less. See you when you all get off or tomorrow, whatever you decide to do."

He grinned and nodded back at me. "I'll make sure they know it was from you."

I chuckled and turned on my heel, me and Alex starting to leave. That's when I saw Bruce walking up, two more cases in his hands. I shook my head, but couldn't help but keep smiling. "Damn, we're gonna turn your ground crew into alcoholics at this rate, Bruce."

He only smiled a little at it. "Yeah? I saw you two heading up here with yours and I thought it was a nice little coincidence. Far as I'm concerned, they've earned it."

"Damn right," I said. "Where's your pilot?"

Bruce frowned a little. "He went in to medical when I did. He was real shaken up, so they've taken him off flight duties from now until the end of next major sortie. I won't be able to join the rest of you next time, so I'll be stuck in a planning role until then."

"Damn…" Alex crossed her arms next to me. "You think he'll be alright?"

He shrugged. "Hell if I know. He didn't say a word all the way home. Wouldn't meet my eyes when I looked in the mirror. Wouldn't really respond either. Hell of a thing to nearly have your number come up. Don't think he's ready for it, really."

"What about you?" she asked.

"Nothing too bad. Got a headache from slamming my head into the side of the canopy when the missile hit, but otherwise I'm good."

"Tough old bastard," she said, but she smiled when she said it.

He returned it with a laugh. "You're not getting rid of me that easy, so don't plan on it."

"Wouldn't even think of it," I said, slapping him on the shoulder. "We're heading to the bar further into the city. You wanna join us, most of the package will be there."

"Nah, I think I'll pass. Gonna turn in early tonight, but thanks."

"Yeah, well, see you around, Bruce."

"You too," he said, and we started moving past each other. I looked back and saw him give the crew chief the cases he had, and it looked like Christmas had come to the crew chief. He looked over at us, and I had to shake my head.

Glasses clinked and joined the sound of the bar around them. It wasn't huge, but it was enough to fit all of us. Voices filled the room, the sounds of glasses touching each other or being put down on lacquer coated tables joined the cacophony, and the lights were far from bright.

By now, people were a few rounds deep, and command had signed off on this little celebration of ours, even if unofficially. It seemed like the strike package was keen on abusing that to the fullest. Sagittarius, Chronos, and Hellfire had scattered themselves, mixing into each other's groups to talk and tell stories from current or present flights. They were all relaxed and loose with the effects of their drinks.

But I didn't feel like mingling. Neither did my wife. We'd broken the rules and bought a bottle for ourselves, and it sat between us now. Wasn't chilled at all, but that didn't stop us from trying to unwind. Booze was booze when you didn't get many chances for it.

The bottle contacted my glass again as I poured a third, and Alex got hers a moment later. Setting the bottle back down, I hummed and capped it, reaching for my glass. "Here's to… something good," I said, raising it to her.

"To something good," she said, a shallow smile on her face as she tapped hers against mine. The liquid I had just refilled disappeared as we took our drinks and put the glasses back down, continuing our conversation.

"You call your parents yet?" I asked.

She frowned softly. "Not yet. Too much going on to really think about it. Last time I talked to them was… shit, a couple weeks ago. You?"

I shook my head. "Same. I think they're staying with my grandparents in Oured now."

"At least they're not here anymore."

"Small victories."

I felt a hand on mine beneath the table, and I gave her a look. "Sorry, I'm married."

She snorted. "You really earned that callsign, didn't you?"

"I like to think so. Broke all kinds of hearts before you showed up."

"And you were smitten immediately, I know," she teased, winking at me. "Now shut up and let me hold your hand."

"Yes, ma'am," I said, a smile on my face as our fingers intertwined out of sight.

Despite everything going on and the situation being as dire as it had been, I felt like the only thing keeping me going now was Alex. She knew what made me tick, what made me happy or sad, calm or mad. She'd learned to read me like a book over the years, and just as well, she knew how to bring me back to Earth.

I scooted my chair closer, pulling my hand from hers and putting my arm through hers before I reconnected us, and leaned my head against hers. "I miss when we could just relax properly. Sit at home, watch something stupid, waste our time together."

"We still waste our time together," she teased. Before I could say anything else, she hummed, turning her head slightly to put her lips against my head. "Kidding. You know what I miss?"

"What's that?"

"Getting to see you dress up all nice for date night," she said with a soft laugh. "You'd get so many stares, and I'd get to be all smug."

I raised an eyebrow and glanced up at her. "Lucky you," I deadpanned. "But I feel like that was a compliment."

"Oh, it was, rest assured."

I shook my head at that one. "You're so dumb."

"Guilty as charged."

She was awfully playful tonight, more than usual. I figured it had come from our fight earlier. Part of me knew I was right. She had been terrified, just as much as I had been, and given she was three shots into our bottle, she was definitely loosened up. Not enough to slur her words, but enough to be playful and loving at the same time.

"I'm starting to think you've had enough," I said. "We might wanna head back to our room because I'm feeling it."

"Feeling what, drunk?"

"Feeling exhausted."

She hummed and nodded. "Yeah, probably a good idea. C'mon, let's get out of here. Place is mostly a sausage fest," she said, giving me a smirk.

I simply shook my head again and stood, grabbing the bottle while she grabbed the two glasses to take them back to the barkeeper. Our hands untangled and we did what we had to before heading back to the dorm.

The wind coming in from over the ocean was nice and cool, and the sound of sea birds had me closing my eyes and sighing. It was relaxing, and the sky above was lit with stars. I felt like the war was some distant conflict that we would never partake in at that moment. She took my hand again and gave it a squeeze, but she didn't say anything.

We savored it until we stepped into the shadow of the dormitory building and I almost wanted to stay outside, but I wanted my bed more, and so away we went, back to our room.

It didn't take long for us to get out of the flight suits, and much as we wanted to just flop into bed, we needed showers. Booze and a multi-hour flight wasn't good for my natural smell. We took them separately, and when I got out, I saw she was lying in her bed already.

Not wanting to climb into my bed above her, I instead just crawled into hers. Her eyes shot open, and she glanced at me. "Hey buddy, bed's taken."

Yawning, I wrapped my arms around her. "Yeah, didn't ask," I tried to say through the yawn.

She chuckled before she wrapped her arms around me as well, putting her forehead to mine. "You never do, but I can let it slide this time."

"You always let it slide."

"...Don't tell anyone,"

I closed my eyes and hummed softly, the heat from the blanket and from her doing more than enough to keep me warm in the air conditioned dorm. I was comfortable, relaxed, and tired enough I'd be sleeping like the dead. The only thing that would make this better was being in my own bed at home.

But this would just have to do, and I'd be okay with that.