Eight years later

"I can't believe we're going to see her, Danny," Rafe McCawley exclaimed, shaking his head at his best friend. He was practically vibrating with excitement as he looked around the Army clinic, too worked up by the thought of seeing his little sister again to even worry about the real reason they'd come—the physicals that were required of everyone before they could be accepted into the U.S. Army Air Corps. Needles and probing doctors were nothing compared to finally getting to see Alex again.

When she'd moved away with their mother following their parents' divorce, Rafe had never imagined that it would be years, not months, before they'd be able to meet up again. They'd planned a few trips since then, but something had always come up to keep them from happening, usually financial issues. The trip from Tennessee to Massachusetts wasn't exactly a quick or cheap one. Rafe had never been a fan of writing—letters messed him up sometimes, and getting a letter done probably took him three times as long as it took most people—but he'd written to Alex, since it was the only way they could keep in touch. Still, it was a far cry from a face-to-face meeting.

For God's sakes, when he'd last seen her, she'd been thirteen years old, and now she was a certified army nurse. The thought of it—of his little Alex all grown up—still came as a shock.

"It'll be nice to see Alex again," Danny Walker agreed as he led them toward the booth to pick up their papers. He'd known Alex well when they were kids, mostly because she was shy and liked to stick close to her brother, but they hadn't kept in touch when she moved away. Sometimes she would say hi to him through her letters to Rafe, and Danny would scrawl a quick hello back on the bottom of one of Rafe's letters to her.

"I hope I recognize her," Rafe muttered to himself as he grabbed his papers. God, what an idiot he would feel like if he couldn't even remember his own sister! "But she couldn't have changed that much, right? It's only been a couple years."

"I don't know, Rafe," Danny replied. "She was still growing when she left. She might've changed a lot since then. In any case, we'll find her. Or at least, she'll find us."

Rafe chuckled, silently agreeing. On the ground, she'd always been ten times more observant than him. It was something he'd been teased about often when they were little. But in the air… in the air, he had eyes like an eagle.

Still, even though he knew it would probably be futile, he started looking for her the minute they entered the military medical center. "Help me find her."

"You might as well just stand in one spot and wait 'til she finds you," Danny joked as his eyes searched the quickly filling room. Nurses in their white uniforms bustled back and forth as they did their jobs, and he tried to scan their faces as they passed by. He and Rafe weren't the only ones looking; all the army hopefuls seemed to be eyeing the nurses, throwing out smiles and compliments to see who would take the bait, but not Danny. It wasn't his style.

"I don't see her," Rafe mumbled, more to himself than to anyone else.

"Does that honestly surprise you?" a teasing female voice asked from behind Rafe. Both of the men turned to see a tall woman in uniform with long brown hair topped with a nurse's cap and bright emerald eyes smiling brightly at them. "Good to see you, Rafe," she said in a voice almost like a whisper.

"Alex!" His eyes wide with surprise, he reached out and hugged her so fiercely that it knocked the wind right out of her. "You look… different," he commented, pulling away to look at her.

"I grew up, Rafe, that's all," she laughed. She no longer looked like a skinny teenage girl; she looked like a young woman. Her hair shone, her eyes sparkled, and, most importantly, she looked truly happy—she was beautiful.

"I'm gonna have to beat away the guys running at you," Rafe realized, almost looking forward to it. He wanted to finally be able to take on the role of a big brother again. He'd grown up defending her, looking out for her, and when she'd suddenly disappeared from his life that had been something he'd missed. Threatening the few boys she mentioned to him through a letter was nowhere near as satisfying as he imagined doing it in person would be.

Alex's eyebrows rose. "I can take care of myself, thank you," she replied. Then she noticed that Rafe wasn't alone. Next to him stood the man who had unknowingly held her heart in his hands during her teenage years. "Danny Walker, is that you?" Her lips, as if of their own volition, curved upwards at the corner in happiness.

"Hello, Alex," Danny replied, returning the smile. "I have to agree with Rafe on this one—you look different."

"You don't," she teased, but it was true. Little did he know that she was glad he hadn't changed. She had always thought Danny was absolutely perfect, with his tall, strong and lean build, messy brown hair, and deep brown eyes. That wasn't even mentioning the dimples and squinty smiles. She'd dreamed about those smiles as a teenager.

"Alex, we need you to cover the shots at desk three. Amy needs a break," one of the other nurses, a woman with brown curls and eyes as dark as chocolate, told her as she hurried by with a stack of files in her hand.

"Thanks, Evelyn. I'll be right there," Alex assured her friend before turning back to her brother. "I have to get back, but I'll see you later? You won't leave before we get to talk more?"

"Of course not," Rafe told her. He'd been looking forward to their reunion for weeks. There was no way a quick hug and a hello was going to be it between them. "I'll find you when I'm done."

She smiled wryly at him, her eyes sparkling. "I think we'll both be here all night if that happens. I'll find you." The three laughed, then Rafe and Danny went off to get their check-ups and Alex went to do her duties.

It was about half an hour later that Danny found himself at Alex's table to get his shots. She finished up the beefy redhead she was sticking while gently declining his invitation to dinner, and called the next man in to see her. When she saw it was Danny, looking unsure of himself like usual, she smiled at him. His shyness had always been appealing to her. "Hello, Danny."

He smiled slightly at her. "Alex."

She noticed something seemed to be on his mind and, her tone friendly, started to prod. "Is everything all right, Danny? You're acting a little strange. You're not afraid of needles, are you?"

Danny smiled, the dimples that had started Alex's crush years before appearing in his cheeks. "No, needles don't bother me. It's just Rafe… your friend helped him out."

"My friend?" she repeated as she readied the needle, flicking and keeping one eye on it as she looked at Danny quizzically.

"The nurse from earlier—"

"Oh, you mean Evelyn. Evelyn Stewart," Alex filled in for him as she stepped closer with the needle in her hand. "What did she do to help Rafe?"

"He was having some trouble with his eye exam…"

"Oh! Of course, the letters," she murmured as understanding hit. All of the pilots needed to take an eye exam to be allowed to keep their wings, and Rafe had always had trouble with letters.

"Well, he explained it to her and she passed him," Danny revealed.

"That's great. Evelyn's a real sweetheart, so I'm not surprised, but I am glad. I know how much Rafe wants this," she said. Flying was like breathing to him—it came naturally, and he needed it to survive. Some of her best memories were of him flying them around in their father's old crop duster.

"He's been talking about it since we were kids," Danny agreed.

Alex grinned, about to reply, when she noticed that a line was starting to form at her station. The man in the front, heavily muscled and frowning, looked like he was getting impatient. "Oh, um, I'm going to need you to drop your pants, Danny." As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she found herself fighting back laughter. If she had known when she was thirteen that she would be saying those words to this man, she probably would have had a heart attack.

He looked a little uncomfortable but followed her directions, and she forced herself to be completely professional as she gave him the shot.

"All done here," she announced, putting the syringe into the bin to be washed. "You're lucky I like you, Danny."

He looked at her in confusion. "Excuse me?"

She just smiled as she stamped his papers to show that he'd been administered the shot. "Go out there and you'll see."

It didn't take long to find out what she meant. Three other nurses were giving the shot, and as he walked away from Alex's station, he caught glimpses of the process. It played out in a painful cycle: the men hit on the nurses, who then retaliated by stabbing the needles into their tender flesh. One of the women even looked like she kind of enjoyed it. Each thrust looked much more painful than Danny's had been, and he was grateful to Alex.

The day went by and after they were allowed to leave, Alex stayed with Danny and Rafe, getting to know them all over again. All of them had changed over the years, but the way they effortlessly fit together as a group was old and familiar.