Danny's Story - What If?
Chapter 8: The Note

A/N: For concerned readers like Sara, still on that Josh high. Just saw the Faculty and I am going to see Halloween:H20, which I know I shouldn't watch because I'm not the biggest fan of blood. And I know the ending. At least what happens to Josh. Anyone notice that he is never happy in the end of his movies? Or he is dead. The only one that isn't like this would be The Faculty. Which is now my favorite movie. Who cares if he was a drug dealer? Key word there is was. See, told you I was still on that Josh high.

"I'm out of here," Danny said throwing the note back on the table where he found it.

"Danny wait!" Evelyn and Rafe both said at the same time.

They looked at each other. "You go," she said to Rafe.

"Right," he answered. She rolled over on the couch still in much pain. He ran out the door chasing his friend. "Danny wait, we need to talk."

"About what, Rafe? The note? The fact that my wife is in love with you? But that isn't the worst part, is it Rafe? You love the mother of my child back, correct? You've wanted her more ever since she's been with me. I'm not blind, asshole. I can see that," Danny said, his temper flaring.

Rafe just looked at him, stunned. He didn't have much of a comeback. So he tried something that always worked before, "Land of the free, Danny. Land of the free!"

"Rafe, you sonofabitch! How dare you say that! You know what, how 'bout I answer you. Just because it will be the last time I will ever do so. Home of the brave, Rafe. Happy?" Danny spat.

"Do you want me to leave?" Rafe asked.

"What? Yea, go home," Danny said. He meant home as being the apartment.

"No, I mean do you want me to leave. Leave New York. Because I will," Rafe said to his friend. They locked gazes for a moment.

"No, Rafe, don't do that," Danny said softly. He slid down the wall. "Betty needs to know her Uncle Rafe."

"Danny, this is hard. But I do love Evelyn. You were right. I can't deny those feelings. But I am trying to move on. I am trying to be the best God damn friend to you. It's just not too easy when I am in love with your wife," Rafe said sitting down next to Danny.

"Rafe, World War II just ended, shouldn't we give it some time before World War III breaks out?" Danny joked.

"I was supposed to be there for you," Rafe mumbled. "None of this would have happened."

"Rafe, we need to move past that. What if's aren't gonna help us too much here," Danny said. "We need to work this thing out, and come out of it alive and even better friends than when we started. Any ideas on how to do this?"

"None whatsoever. You were always the brains. You know that don't you, Danny. You were never the sidekick. You saved my ass more times than once. Just because I was the outspoken one, Danny, no one ever thought of you as the leader. Except for me. I always knew that. I wouldn't be a pilot if it weren't for you. You're my hero, Danny," Rafe said nervously. He wiped a stray tear from under his eye. "Damn it, you're not supposed to see me cry. No one is."

"Rafe, it's okay. We'll get through this, somehow," Danny said. He paused. "Did Evelyn tell you to come get me?"

"Yea, how'd you know?" Rafe asked.

"She told me to go get you back in Pearl Harbor that night. To find you so we could work things out," Danny said smiling. "Maybe we should just go get into a bar fight and then have a national crisis happen in New York. That might fix things."

The two men laughed. Then there was a still silence. Finally Rafe said something. "Do you love her?" he asked.

Danny looked at his friend, then turned his head straight again. "Yea, I do. Do you love her?"

"Not as much as you. I'll get over it. You're married and have a kid. That puts you one step ahead of me, man," Rafe answered.

"Rafe, don't turn this in to a competition. I always hated competing against you," Danny said.

"Because you always lost," Rafe smirked.

"Yea, I did. But even if I won, I would hate it. I never wanted to fight you for anything or about anything. Even when we were kids," Danny said to his friend.

"Holy shit, what time is it?" Rafe asked.

"Dunno," Danny answered. Rafe ran up the steps and into his apartment. He searched the room for the clock. The clock read 5:30 AM.

"Danny boy!" Rafe called. Danny always hated that nickname. "I reckon we go find us some planes to fly!"

Danny smiled as he remembered what day it was. The day they flew for the first time in over 3 months.

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He kissed Evelyn on the forehead. "You sure you'll be alright?" he asked again.

"I'll be fine. Go have fun. Cindy's here. She can keep me company," Evelyn assured him.

"Alright. Rafe, let's go," Danny called to Rafe. They put on their jackets and quickly exited the apartment building.

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The plane was much larger than any they had flown before. And no more barrel rolls. Or any tricks of any kind for that matter. But at least they would be flying. And that was worth all of the changes they would have to make.

The pilots they flew with were of varied backgrounds. Some had never flown before, some quit the Air Corps like themselves, and some were experienced passenger pilots.

Everyone could tell that Danny and Rafe's bond was somehing special. Even some of the guys who had known each other before this were nowhere near Rafe and Danny. You couldn't wish for a relationship that good.

And they were the best pilots in the group. At least, that's what the trainer told them.

The first time they went up was amazing. The two took to the controls naturally. All of the turmoil between them was settled. No games of chicken, but that was understood. Evelyn was a "ground worry." Mostly everything was a "ground worry." The only "air worry" was to keep the plane high and land smoothly. But that was so simple, neither Danny nor Rafe considered it much of a worry.

Danny would write in his journal every night. One entry said this-

Being in the air makes me feel so free and relaxed. I forget about how my best friend is in love with my wife. I forget that I despise Rafe. In the air, we are the best of friends. Jimmy, Sam, and some of the other guys are green with envy over our flying skills. We were in the war. That makes us heroes to them. But we aren't heroes. We are a couple of guys from Tennessee that got lucky when we tried to shoot a few planes down. But that's it.

But life wasn't perfect for Danny, Evelyn, Rafe, and little Betty. Far from it. They still had to deal with something that wouldn't go away. Rafe was in love with Evelyn, and Evelyn loved him back. But Evelyn was married, and she had to make those feelings go away.