Retaliation
*January*
Buffy, Angel, Doyle, and all of their friends stood around Anya's casket. Buffy and the girls were crying and all anyone could do was hold them and comfort them. Through her tears, Buffy saw Dorrie Miller saluting his captain's casket. He saw her and nodded back. Angel excused himself and followed Doyle over to stand out of the way. A man approached them.
"Lieutenants Liam McCawley and Francis Walker?"
Angel and Doyle stood at attention and saluted. "Major."
"You're both going stateside. You fly out in two hours." The Major handed them each an envelope.
"What for sir?" Angel asked, looking at the paper.
"Ask Colonel Doolittle." With that, the Major walked off.
"Yes sir."
Doyle looked back and saw Buffy staring at them. He nodded and walked away. Angel turned and took Buffy's hand. "Come on."
"What's going on?" Buffy asked.
"We're leaving in two hours. Doyle and I."
"What? Why?"
"I don't know."
Buffy stared at Angel as they drove to his rented bungalow. He started to pack and Buffy decided to help him. When they were done, Angel sat down and read through the letter in the envelope. Buffy watched him.
"Orders." Angel said.
"What kind of orders?" Buffy asked.
"The top secret kind."
"The dangerous kind."
"We've been assigned to Doolittle."
"You're going?"
"I have to."
"Why? You know that if it's top secret, you might not be coming back. Why would you do this to me? Why would you go off and possibly die.. Again?"
"Orders, Buffy. You know exactly what that means."
"Yeah I do. But you have a choice, right? When you get there, you'll have a choice whether you take this mission or not."
"You know what I'll choose."
"So don't go."
"I have to." With that, Angel walked into the bathroom and shut the door.
Buffy hung her head and walked out into the sunshine. She sat down on the chair for about an hour, writing a letter. When she stood back up and went to leave, she almost ran right into Doyle.
"Hey." Doyle said.
"Hi Doyle."
"Everything ok?"
"No." She started to walk off, but Doyle stopped her.
"Hey, stop. Wait. Are you ok?"
"You're going too, aren't you?"
"I have to."
"Angel said the same thing."
"It's not just about this, though, is it? There's something else."
Buffy looked up into Doyle's eyes. "I'm pregnant."
"What?"
"With Angel's baby. Please don't tell him though."
"You haven't told him?"
"I just found out yesterday. Please don't tell him. All he needs to do is think about this mission and get back alive."
Doyle nodded and hugged Buffy. "You know, told me that you kept him alive. When he was in that water, he made a deal with God that he wouldn't ask for anything else just as long as he could see you one more time. He told me it was worth it."
"You won't tell him?" Buffy asked as she pulled away from Doyle.
"I'll leave that up to you."
"Hey Doyle, you ready to go?" Angel asked, walking out to the cab with his suitcases.
"Yeah, just saying bye to your old lady."
Buffy punched Doyle lightly. "I'm not old."
"I can tell."
"Hey, are you two gonna flirt all day, or can we just go?" Angel called. He was obviously dropping into a bad mood and Buffy didn't want to make it worse. She put on her best smile and walked to Angel. She took his hand and he gave her a small smile as they climbed into the cab.
The ride to the airfield was quiet. Either it was nerves from both Angel and Doyle, or it was the secret that Doyle and Buffy knew about that was causing the tension. When they reached the airfield, Buffy was the last out of the cab. She didn't want to send the man she loved on a top-secret mission, but what choice did she have? They weren't married. Doyle hugged Buffy goodbye and got onto the plane. Angel hung back with her. He took her hand and smiled down at her.
"I love you Angel." Buffy said.
"I'm coming back. I promise. I won't ever leave you again." Angel said.
"I know. Angel, I.. You're.. I'll write to you."
"Are you ok?"
"I'm fine. I just have a bad feeling about this."
"Hey," Angel cupped Buffy's chin and brought her face up to look at him. "I'm coming back."
Buffy stroked the side of Angel's face. "I know. You better go before I throw myself at your mercy and beg you not to."
Angel pulled her close to him and dipped his head down to kiss her. She clung tightly to his neck and kissed him back with everything she was. If this was to be their last kiss, they both wanted to make it one they'll remember forever. A final call was sounded and Angel let Buffy go. She watched him bored the plane. Before he got in, he stopped and looked back at her. Buffy gave a small wave and turned away, walking back towards the cab.
*Doolittle's Office*
Doyle and Angel walked down the hallway and headed towards Doolittle's office. They were both nervous about what this top-secret mission was all about, but they both knew that they would go no matter what it was. A man led them down through an airplane hanger.
"Follow me." He opened a door. "Colonel."
Angel and Doyle saluted. Angel stood straight and tall. "Congratulations on your promotion sir."
"I heard what you did." Doolittle said.
"Well, we can explain that sir."
"Explain what?"
"Whatever it is you heard about us sir." Doyle said.
"You mean the hula shirts you were flying in? Or the seven planes you shot down? You're both being awarded the Silver Star and promoted to captain."
"Is that the good news, sir. Or, uh.." Angel asked.
"You're just about the only pilots in the army with combat experience. I need you for a mission I've been ordered to put together. You know what top-secret is?"
"Yes sir. It's the kind of mission where you get medals, but they send em to your relatives."
"Top-secret means you train for something never before done in aviation history. And you go without knowing where you're going. You do it on that basis, or not at all."
"I'll go sir."
"I'll go too sir." Doyle said.
"By the way McCawley, the Brits sent this over." Doolittle handed Angel a box. "It's your personal effects."
"Thank you sir." Angel said.
"There's only one more thing I can tell you. Leave your God damn hula shirts at home."
Angel cracked a smile. "Thank you sir."
"Dismissed."
Angel and Doyle left. Angel headed out to the beach and sat down to read the letter that Buffy had slipped into his suitcase.
Dearest Angel,
When I found out you were alive, I was so happy. And now, I'm even happier. I wish you were here with me now so that I may tell you in person, but you're not. You're in the bathroom because I made you mad. I'm so sorry. I hate that I made you mad. You're the love of my life. And now I have two. Angel, I'd hope that you wouldn't find this until after the mission, but I know you all too well. You'll find it before you go on the mission, whatever it may be, and you'll read it and you'll probably still go on the mission, but carry with you this little bit of information: Angel, I'm pregnant. It is your child. That night we made love, the night before the attack, that was the night our child was conceived in love. Now you have to come back to me, to us. I love you my dearest Angel. The only thing I ever wanted for us was to have a home and be happy together. Please write me after you get this and tell me what you think. Be safe.
Forever yours,
Buffy
Angel folded the letter and stuck it back in his pocket. He was in shock. Why hadn't she told him before he left? He would never have gone on the mission if he had known. Of course, she knew that. She had sent him on this mission. Everything in her hadn't wanted him to go, but something in her made her allow him to go.
"I'm assuming that look of shock is because you just got Buffy's news." Doyle said, walking up and sitting on the log Angel was leaning on. "That's her handwriting, isn't it?"
"Yes. Wait, how do you know about Buffy's news?"
"She told me. Before we left, she told me. She wanted to tell you herself, and I guess she did. So what do you think?"
"I think I need to make it through this mission. Whatever this mission is."
"I think you do too."
"Doyle, if I don't.."
"Angel, man."
"No, please. Let me say this. If I don't make it through this, I want you to take care of her and my child. Please Doyle. Promise me."
"I promise man. It'll be all right. Nothing is going to happen to you. Not if I can help it."
*March 3, 1942*
Doolittle marched up to the troops that were lined up and waiting for him. "The mission I'm asking you to volunteer for is exceptionally dangerous. Take a look at the man beside you. It's a good bet that within the next six weeks, you or he will be dead. Everyone brave enough to accept this, step forward."
Angel looked at Doyle and as one, everyone there stepped forward. Doolittle nodded and turned to walk out of the hanger. The men followed close behind. He led them all out to a B-25 and turned back to face them.
"You're grandmother can take a B-25 off on a mile long runway, well, I'm gonna train you to do it in 467 feet. Because at 468 feet, you're dead. And once you get it up, you're going to learn how to fly it like a fighter 30 feet off the ground. I want you to say hello to Lieutenant Jack Richards in Navy Aviation. He's gonna help us lighten these fat ladies here."
Lieutenant Richards stepped forwards and commanded them to follow him. They did as they were told and he assigned them to certain spots on an airplane. He barked orders on what to take out of the plane to lighten her up.
"Dump that out damn it. See that long side? Get rid of it."
Angel sat in the copilot's seat and looked over at Doolittle. "Colonel, he's crazy!"
"This lady's fat!"
"Listen to him." Doolittle said.
"She's a fat lady. We want a skinny lady."
Three hours later, the first plane was on the runway and getting ready to take off. Angel was in the pilot's seat now. "Max power." Angel threw the gearshift into max power and shot off down the runway. The 400 mark approached fast. "Get up! Get up! Get up! Get up!" The plane rolled right past the mark. "God damn it!"
They went back to work on the plane. The next day, Doyle was in the pilot's seat and trying to take off down the runway. It rolled past the line again. Two days later, they were working on the plane even more.
"This armored plating's gotta go!" Lieutenant Richards said.
"Are you sure?" One guy asked.
"I'm sure I'm sure. Now let's go. Lose it like a skirt son."
Near the end of the month, Doyle was in the pilot's seat again. "Release breaks!" The plane started off down the runway. "COME ON! COME ON! COME ON!" The plane rolled right across. "God!"
Angel was standing next to Doolittle watching. Doolittle turned to him. "Put every man on the line, now!" Angel stared after Doolittle and then did as he was told. By sunset every man was standing on the side of the runway. Doolittle had taken the plane and strapped himself into the pilot's seat. The plane got going and then by the time it hit the 400 mark, the front of the plane was heading into the air. Everyone cheered.
Angel looked at Doyle. "Well, if he can do it."
At the end of the week, everyone had a lightened plane and was in the air before they hot the 400 mark. Doolittle stood with Angel watching the planes fly overhead. He started to laugh and Angel did too. They were finally going to get the mission under way.
*April 2, 1942 USS Hornet*
All the planes were lined up on an aircraft carrier and they were at sea. Doolittle stood before them. "Well gentlemen, now I can tell you that we're going to Tokyo.. And we're gonna bomb em." Everyone cheered and clapped. "It comes as a special request directly from President Roosevelt. The Navy is gonna sneak us about 400 miles off the Japanese coast and we'll launch from the carrier there."
"Has that ever even been done before?" Gooz asked. "Taken Amy bombers off of Navy carriers."
"No."
"Ok."
"Any other questions?"
Angel took off his sunglasses and looked at Doolittle. "Well, sir.. Is it even possible to land a B-25 on an aircraft carrier deck?"
"That won't matter. As soon as we're airborne, the carrier will head straight back for Hawaii."
"But if the carriers head home, where do we land?" Riley asked.
"I have a phrase I want you to memorize. 'Wa shawr yigo magori.' (I don't speak Chinese, so I don't know how to spell it either) It means I am an American.. In Chinese."
Later in the day, Angel and Doyle stood out on the farthest reaches of the deck. They stared at the runway for a minute and then out at the ocean.
"It ain't gonna be any easier. It's three feet shorter than our practice runway.." Angel said.
"Fellas." Doolittle said, walking up to them.
"Sir."
"The Secretary of the Navy gave me these." Doolittle said, holding out little medals.
"What are they?" Doyle asked.
"Friendship medals the Japanese gave us when they were pretending they wanted peace."
"What do you want us to do with them, sir?" Angel asked.
"We're gonna wire em to the bombs and give em back." The three men smiled and then Doolittle got down to business. "So what's goin' on?"
"Well sir, we only have 16 planes."
"So?"
"Well, when the Japs hit us, they had more than 300. How much difference are we really gonna make?"
"It's not that we're afraid sir, it's just that we might die doing this and we wanna know what it's for." Doyle said.
"You know, at Pearl they hit us with a sledgehammer. This raid, even if we make it through, it'll only be a pinprick, but it'll be straight through their hearts. Victory belongs to those who be believe in it the most and believe in it the longest. We're gonna believe." Doolittle started to walk away. "We're gonna make America believe too."
*Pearl Harbor Navy Base*
Buffy sat on the Major's Jeep waiting for him to come out. It had been three months since Angel had left and she had received the letter he had sent her telling her that he had found her letter. Her stomach didn't have the bulge to it yet, but it was starting to round out. A noise behind her made her stand and find the Major walking up to his Jeep.
"Excuse me, Major Jackson."
"Yes?" The man asked.
"Do you remember me?"
"Oh, sure I do. I'm sorry, I've been meaning to thank you." The Major showed her the scar on his neck. (Again with the ironic.)
"Well, maybe you can. When the news starts coming in about the men in the Doolittle outfit, I wanna be in the command post."
"I'm sorry. I don't know what you're talking about." The Major got into his Jeep. "How the hell do you know about this mission Lieutenant?"
"Let's call it an inadvertent disclosure."
"You mean some fly boy you're dating shot his mouth off."
"Actually it's about two pilots. I know they're going to great danger. I just wanna be there when the news comes in to tell us if they've lived or died."
"Most officers would have you thrown in the brig."
"Most nurses would have gone on to someone else instead of keeping their fingers plugged in your artery."
The Major started his Jeep and then looked at her. "I can't promise you anything." With that, he drove away.
Buffy stared after him, knowing that she was going to be there. She looked down at her stomach and put a protective hand over it. "Your father is going to come home, I just know it."
*USS Hornet*
Training didn't stop with learning to fly a lighter B-25. Everyday, they still had morning drills. Usually, Doyle and Angel were excluded from them because they were now captains. Like today. The two men walked the flight deck talking. When they looked over at the rising deck, they noticed men with a load of bombs. Right away, most of the men went over and started to paint phrases on the bombs. "This is for Betty." "Tokyo or Bust." Angel wrote on his "I'm going home to Buffy and you Japs can't stop me!" Doyle tied the medals onto the edges of the bombs and then they were loaded into the planes. When everything was done, they all gathered around to have a few root bears or cokes.
Gooz walked out with a box. "All right, in honor of our trip to Japan, I got us some, uh, victory cigars!" The men all laughed and some cheered. As the men all talked, Angel started to walk off.
Doyle caught up to him. "Hey, man. You ok?"
"Yeah. I just miss her." Angel said, looking out at the sea.
"Are you going to ask her to marry you when you get back?"
"Technically I've already asked her. Remember the ring I gave her back when we were all in New York?"
"Yeah."
"It was a claddagh. The Irish.."
"Like you're mom and dad."
"Yeah, like mom and dad. Anyway, the Irish gave those rings to the person they loved. It's a sign of friendship and devotion." He held his up. It was on his left ring finger. "The hands mean friendship, the crown means loyalty, and the heart means.. Well, you know. If you wear it on your left finger with the heart facing out, you're engaged. I put it on Buffy's finger that way."
"Does she know that?"
"Yes. She does. She still wears it like that."
Doyle smiled. "Come on man. We've got a debriefing to attend."
Angel nodded and they followed the other pilots to the debriefing room. Doolittle was already there and waiting for everyone to get settled.
"My friends in the war department don't want me to lead this raid." Doolittle said. "Cause they say I'm too valuable. They don't want me up in the air with the men that I've chosen. That I've chewed out, cussed out, pushed to the limit, and that I've come to respect. They want me to stand on the flight deck and wave you off. Well, I don't see it that way. So I'm going with you. We take off tomorrow afternoon. Drop our fire and head for China. Our mission is to hit military targets, aircraft, and tank factories." A man raised his hands. "Colonel, you've given us the homing beacons, but you've also told us China is overrun with Japanese troops. What do we do if the beacons are switched off?"
"You bring her down any way you can and do your best to avoid capture."
"What do we do if our planes are damaged and we have to bail out over Japan?" Owen asked.
"Well, in that situation I can't tell you what you should do."
"What would you do, Colonel?" Angel asked.
"I wasn't built to be a prisoner. So, I would have my crew bail out, I'd find the sweetest military target I could and drive my plane right smack into the middle of it and kill as many of those bastards as I possibly could. But that's just me." Doolittle stood straighter. "I'm 45 years old, I'm an old man. You guys have your whole lives ahead of you. So what you do is up to you." With that, the Colonel was gone.
Angel and Doyle stood and headed out of the room. Half way back up to the flight deck, Doolittle caught up with them. Angel nodded. "Colonel."
"Someone tells me that you're engaged and expecting a baby." Doolittle said.
"Who told you that Colonel?"
"A friend of yours. Is it true?"
Angel smiled. "Yes sir, it's true."
"I never thought I would see the day when Angel McCawley got engaged. So who's the lucky lady Captain?"
"Buffy Summers, sir."
"Colonel Giles' daughter."
"Yes sir. How did you know?"
"I knew her father before he lost his license. We were good friends, Rupert and I. Why did you take this mission Captain?"
"I wanted to make a difference, sir. Buffy knows that. She respects me for it."
"As well she should. She's become a beautiful woman. Did you know she came to live with us after her father killed himself?"
"She never told me sir."
"What happened to her mother?" Doyle asked.
"Joyce died of an aneurysm when Buffy was two." Angel said quietly. "She told me about her dad dying too. Just never who she stayed with."
"I love her like she's my own daughter. If you hurt her, I'll kill you." Doolittle said.
"Thank you, sir."
Doolittle walked into the command post and shut the door. Angel and Doyle headed to their bunks to try and get some sleep. Didn't happen though.
*April 18, 1942, Command Post*
Buffy followed Major Jackson down a hallway. He was explaining something to her about what to do. "The mission will launch in a couple of hours. You'll stay right in here." He led her into a hallway full of ladies typing. Buffy looked around at all the somber faced women. They didn't look at her. The Major sat her down in a chair. "Here. Stay here. Don't talk to them, they won't talk to you. Pretend to type whatever information we pass you. That's it." Buffy watched the Major walk away.
*USS Hornet*
Angel was sitting at a desk writing a letter to Buffy. He hadn't been able to sleep and Doyle was just lying in his bunk staring at the ceiling. Angel was almost done with the letter when drills started to go off. Men started running to get up on deck. Angel ran to the door with Doyle on his heels.
"This can't be good." Angel said.
"All hands, man your battle stations." The drill instructor announced.
Angel and Doyle went to get their uniforms and jackets on. As soon as they were almost dressed, the instructor announced for all pilots to man their planes. Angel looked at Doyle who just stared back. This was definitely not good.
Doyle looked out the porthole window. "They're shootin' at something!"
Angel grabbed his shirt and jacket and ran upstairs. "Move! Let's go! Move!" He finished dressing on the way up the stairs. As soon as he was out the door, he headed towards the plane that he had been assigned. "Start pre-flight! Let's go!" Angel climbed up into his plane. Not long after he had started to strap himself in the pilot's seat, Lieutenant Richards was yelling at one of Angel's crewmembers to start loading stuff off the plane. He even called for the tail gun to be taken out. Angel climbed out of the plane and went to find Doyle. His friend was walking up to him holding painted broomsticks.
"We've got broomsticks for tail guns!" Doyle said.
"Yeah, maybe it'll scare em." Angel said, taking one.
"You take care of yourself up there."
"Yeah, I will. Doyle, be careful. You hear me?"
"I will. I'll see ya Angel."
Gooz looked out at Angel. "Angel! We're the tip of the sword!"
Angel nodded and ran back to his plane. Everyone was situated and where they should be. Every plane had an extra 10 cans of fuel. Angel strapped into his communications and started his plane. "Turning on one!"
Xander, Angel's co-pilot, looked out his window. "Turning on two!"
"You ready Xander?"
"You know it."
Angel geared up and got ready to go. All they had to do was wait and see if Colonel Doolittle made it off the deck. Minutes ticked by as Doolittle geared up and started off down the runway. As soon as he was to the end, his plane took off. "Yes!"
"All right!"
Now it was Angel's turn. "All right, full power. Full power. Here we go!" Angel took off. "We're gonna make it!" He pulled up and the plane took off. Angel and Xander started to laugh triumphantly. Soon, all the planes were in the air, in formation, and headed to Japan.
*Command Post*
Buffy stared at the radio room and watched the frantic faces of the people inside. Apparently, the mission had to take off 12 hours before it was scheduled and the planes might not have enough fuel to make it to China. On the radio, the President was making a speech, but Buffy wasn't listening. She was too fixated on the radio room. Every slip of paper someone had handed her had gone unnoticed. Buffy had given up on trying to type as fast as the other women. All she could focus on was Angel. Everything inside her screamed that she shouldn't have let him go, but a part of her knew that there was no stopping him. Angel was a hero and he would do anything to defend his country. That was one of the many reasons Buffy loved him.
Buffy's fingers pecked at the keys as she stared at Major Jackson. He was listening to the whole thing through a headset and his expression was strained as he turned and looked at Buffy. She was so nervous and it was upsetting her sensitive stomach. The Major nodded at her to calm her nerves just a fraction and then turned away. Buffy's curiosity got the better of her and she got up to move the slips of paperwork onto a filing cabinet near the radio room door. Major Jackson looked at her again with that strained expression and her nervousness and concern deepened.
*Pacific Ocean near Japan*
"That's Japan right there fellas." Angel said. "Tighten up back there. Man your guns." Doolittle came over the headset. "We're in the enemy's backyard."
"All right, look alive back there. I see coastline." Doyle said on the headset.
"Heads up boys! Heads up!" They were now flying over the docks of Tokyo. "Open bomb bay doors!"
"Riley, you got our target in sight?" Angel asked.
"Target in sight." Spike yelled back.
"All right boys, let's knock their clocks off! Bombs away!"
As the bombs dropped, explosions happened right underneath the planes. Angel looked out for a second to see the fiery explosions. A small amount of satisfaction creeped into his mind as he watched the little Japanese figures scatter as their warehouses were exploding.
*Command Post*
Buffy still stood by the door. A man came out with an empty mug and left the door open. Buffy heard the cries over the radio.
"Caught em by surprise!"
"Bombs away! Bombs away!" Buffy heard Doyle yell.
"We blew up a factory!" Angel's voice said. Buffy's hopes almost soared. He was ok so far. He was ok.
*Tokyo*
Angel looked out at the smoke and debris flying through the air. That used to be Tokyo's military bases and plants. Everyone was cheering and celebrating, but they weren't out of the clear yet. Everyone knew this was true when explosions started happening everywhere around them. The Japs had recovered enough to start shooting back at them.
"Shit!" Angel yelled when a bullet flew right through the bottom of his plane. "We got flak everywhere!"
*Command Post*
The radio started to get static-y as the men started yelling. Buffy couldn't understand what some of it was saying, but she knew it wasn't good. Major Jackson barked orders for his men to clean it up. She looked at him frantically and he just stared back, trying to convey his hopes to her. The man with the now full mug came back and shut the door. Buffy watched helplessly as the men ran around in the room. With a small sigh, she looked away and tried to make herself breathe. When she looked back in, Major Jackson was shaking his head as he listened to whatever it was the men were saying. His face expressed the worst kind of sorrow and Buffy felt all hope drain away. She numbly walked back over to her desk and sat down, tears running down her face as she watched in shocked horror the faces of the distressed men in the radio room.
*Tokyo*
"God damn it!" Angel said as more flak exploded everywhere around him. He had lost sight of Doyle for a few minutes. Another explosion sounded in the planes. "Xander, go check it out." Xander nodded and left. "We gotta take it up, 800 feet." Angel pulled the plane's nose upwards and headed into the clouds. Explosions ricocheted in front of the plane and Angel growled in frustration. Spike yelled from the back that Theo was dead. Angel looked back and then yelled over the radio, "Get up in the clouds, Doyle. Get up in that soup." Angel looked over and saw Doyle's plane right nest to his. They both pulled up into the clouds together.
By sunset, the two men were flying their planes on empty tanks and the gasoline was running out fast. Angel kept fiddling with the homing beacon and the radio, but nothing came on. He looked at the sunset. "We're still not getting a signal." Angel sighed and looked back at Xander. "How many cans of fuel we got left?"
"Theses are all empty!" Spike yelled.
"Is this all you got?" Xander asked.
"It's all we got Xander."
"Angel, you better pray for land!"
Angel turned back to watch the sunset. He sighed and thought of Buffy. Her beautiful face and shining golden hair. She only got more radiant every time he saw her. Now she was pregnant with his baby and he might not even get to see it. A thousand different thoughts of what the future could hold swam through his mind. Doolittle's voice over the radio cut Angel out of his reverie.
"I'm sorry gentlemen. You're all brave souls. Some of the bravest I've had the privilege of flying with. But we're on our own."
"So it was a suicide mission." Angel said sadly. He felt like he had failed Buffy. He had promised that he would come home to her and now he probably wasn't going to. Reaching in his pocket, Angel took out the picture of Buffy that she had given him. She was standing next to his plane and the wind had caught her hair. It was the first time Angel had shown her his plane and it was the first time she had come to visit him in New Jersey. That was also the night that they had both known they were soulmates. Now Angel hated himself for leaving her to go on this stupid, selfish mission.
*Command Post*
Buffy had heard James Doolittle's speech to his men and realized that none of them would return home. It would take a miracle to bring them home safe and alive. She covered her mouth and started to cry. A million different memories of Angel and her together swam through her thoughts. Her favorite memory was the night they had first made love, the night their baby had been conceived. She had never felt more loved in her entire lifetime than she had that night lying in Angel's warm and safe arms. Now she would probably never get to feel those arms again.
*Tokyo*
"Engine one is fluctuated. We're gonna lose it any minute." Xander said. The engine stopped. "Angel, you gotta prime it!"
"I'm primin'! How bout now?" Angel asked, shifting a gearshift. The engine started again. Angel looked up and his heart almost stopped at what he saw. "I see the coast. I SEE THE COAST!" Exactly as he'd said, the coast of China laid dead ahead.
"Copy that Angel." Doyle said.
"Doyle, follow me now. We're gonna make this. I can see the coast right now. It's only a few miles out. Follow me."
"We're followin' you Angel. We gotta find a soft landing spot."
"Push up on two. Fellas, this is gonna be a hard landing. Hold on. I see rice patties right there. We'll bring it in right here." Angel started his decent just as engine one died completely.
"Oh God, engine one is dead." Xander said. "We're gonna lose engine two any second."
"We can make it in. Easy. Pull it back, we'll glide in. Go in on fumes." They flew over an encampment and saw the Japanese flag. Angel started to pull up. "Japs! We got Jap patrols all over the place! There's Japs everywhere Doyle! Land somewhere else. Stap yourselves in boys, we're goin in hard! We're a dead stick!"
"Get out of the nose!" Spike yelled.
"Hold on boys, we're goin down! Watch the trees!" The plane skimmed over the trees and flew straight for the ground. Angel braced himself and allowed Buffy's image to float through his mind just before the plane smashed into the ground. The glass exploded around him and he ducked as best he as he could while strapped to the seat. Dirt flew everywhere and explosions ricocheted through the plane. As soon as things were as calm as they were going to get, Angel turned to his crew. "Is everyone all right?"
"I'm ok." Spike said, looking around in amazement. "Where's Ripley?"
"He's dead." Angel said as they all started to climb out of the wreckage. "Watch for Japs!" Angel tried to stand up straight, but something had hit him hard in the stomach and it hurt to stand up straight. He toppled down the side of the plane's nose. Suddenly, the grass started to move and Angel climbed up on the wing. "Jap patrols!" He dived behind the wing with the remainder of his crew and started to load his pistol.
"Take cover!" Xander yelled.
The Japs started to shoot at them. Angel ducked and then turned around to shoot his gun at them. The bullets threw dirt in the air as the Japs kept missing them. Some pinged off the sides of the airplane. Angel's gun clicked and he ducked behind the wing again.
"Who's got extra magazines?" Angel asked.
"I got em!" Xander yelled. He tossed Angel a magazine cartridge and loaded one into his gun at the same time Angel did.
"We gotta get up into those hills and find the Chinese." Angel said before he turned back around and shot a couple of times at the patrols. They started firing and Angel ducked again. "They got us pinned down!"
Suddenly, bullets started to fly and tear into the Jap patrols. Angel looked up and saw Doyle's plane fly overhead, shooting their guns for all they were worth just before diving nose first into the ground. The plane exploded in fire and dirt.
"DOYLE!" Angel jumped up without thinking and took off towards the other downed plane.
"Angel! Angel no!" Xander yelled, running after him.
"Doyle!" Everywhere around him, Japs sprung up out of the high grass and started to fire. Angel shot them each down in turn as he ran towards Doyle's plane. He looked up at the mangled wreckage. "Oh God! Doyle! DOYLE! Come on! Ah, Jesus!" He ran around the side of the plane to the pilot's seat. "DOYLE!" He found Riley's body lying next to the plane. "Oh shit, Riley." Angel ran around to the other side of the plane and found Doyle sitting propped against the side. He ran over and crouched next to him. He had something sticking out of his neck. "Doyle. Easy, easy, easy."
"I've had better landings." Doyle said.
"You saved us back there."
"AH! I got something in my neck."
"Lemme try to pull this out for you."
"Where's Gooz?"
"He's fine. He's over with Xander." Angel tugged gently on the metal protruding from Doyle's neck. Suddenly, Doyle's attention was turned towards something and when Angel looked over his face was met with a gun butt to the side of the head. He went toppling end over end into the grass and away from Doyle. Japanese surrounded them and they started yelling at them.
"Angel!" Doyle cried.
Angel looked around, but his vision was a little fuzzy from the blow to his head. He looked over and saw that Doyle had a rifle pointed at his head. Angel's feet were being tied together by a couple of Japanese patrolmen. Angel growled in frustration and started to struggle a little. They pointed more guns at him and his friends. Angel looked up and saw the Japs haul Doyle to his feet and start strapping him to a stock. Their eyes met and Angel knew that Doyle was scared and in a lot of pain. Angel gritted his teeth and knew that he wasn't going to let his friend go down like that. He looked around for a weapon of any kind and saw a pistol lying on the ground not far away. As the Japs holding him started to drag him away, Angel twisted and grabbed the pistol. He shot the Japs dragging him and the Japs holding on to Doyle. He pointed at another patrolmen, but his gun clicked and the man pointed his rifle at Angel.
Angel knew in that moment that he was going to die. Everything flew through his mind at once. He saw him and Doyle as kids pretending to go after the Germans in their make-believe plane. Then he saw them all grown up and he saw himself happy with Buffy and Doyle and Cordelia right next to them on a dance floor in New York. He saw the night him and Buffy had first made love and then he saw Buffy staring back at him as he boarded the plane to leave her and come on this mission. The only emotion he felt was guilt. Guilt that he had left Buffy for the second time only to actually be killed. Guilt that he had let his friends down.
When Angel opened his eyes, Doyle slammed into the patrolman that had his rifle pointed at Angel. The man went down and all guns turned on Doyle. Angel watched in horror as bullets slammed into Doyle and he went down to his knees under the barrage. His friends went into action and started to beat back the patrolmen. Gooz threw a grenade and it exploded, sending patrolmen everywhere. Angel worked out of his bonds and looked over as Doyle fell to the ground.
"Doyle!" Angel ran over. "Doyle! Oh God!" Doyle was struggling for breath. He made gurgling sounds in his throat. Angel started to undo Doyle's bonds and get him out of the stock.
"Angel!" Doyle gasped.
"Hold on now. I got it. You're all right. You're all right." Angel cradled Doyle's head in his arms.
"I'm not.. I'm not gonna make it." Angel looked over the bullet wounds in Doyle's chest as Doyle let out a strangled cry.
"Oh yes you are. Yes you are. Doyle, look at me!"
"Angel.. I'm so cold. I'm so cold."
"You're all right." Angel started to cry as Doyle tried to move in to hug him. Angel pulled him to him gently.
"Angel.. Can you do me a favor?"
"What?"
"Can you have someone else write my name on the tombstone?" Doyle was crying along with Angel.
"You're not gonna die! Look at me! Listen!" Angel was getting mad, but his tears were still flowing. "You ain't gonna die. You hear me? Doyle?" Doyle let out gasping breaths as the light in his eyes started to dim. "Doyle, you can't die. You can't die. You know why? Cordelia needs you." Angel's tears fell harder as Doyle looked into his eyes. "Please."
Doyle grabbed on tightly to Angel's vest and closed his eyes tight against the pain. He looked up at Angel and with his last breath he said, "Take care of her." He grimaced and then went limp in Angel's grasp.
"Doyle? Doyle? Doyle, please! Please. Please. Please." Angel started to sob. "Please Doyle, no." He laid his head on Doyle's shoulder and cried. Everyone was gathered around the two best friends.
Angel held Doyle until the Chinese troops showed up to save them. They took Doyle away from him and carried him away on a stretcher.
*May*
Buffy stared at the plane as it landed. She was now four months along and starting to show. She stared at the men that unloaded, waiting to see if Angel was one of them. She hadn't received any letters from him since the day at the command post. Those couple of weeks had been the worst of her life. Cordy had helped her through it and the dark haired woman now stood by her side, waiting for Doyle.
Doolittle was the first off the plane. He walked up to Buffy and hugged her, congratulating her on her engagement and the baby. Cordy nodded at him as he walked away and the two women turned back to the plane. She saw Angel emerge from the plane and her face lighted up with happiness. The only injury Buffy saw was his bandaged hand. Cordy smiled too, knowing that Doyle should be with him. When Angel looked at Cordy with sad eyes, Buffy knew at the same moment Cordy did. Doyle had come back in a box. Their thoughts were proved true when Angel turned and helped carry out of the plane a large wooden coffin.
Buffy and Cordy approached slowly. Cordelia was grasping Buffy's hand tightly, but Buffy didn't even notice. She reached out and touched the leather jacket that had once been Doyle's. Angel and the others sat the coffin down and Angel scooped Buffy into his arms. She held him as tightly as her strength would allow. The medics took Doyle's coffin and Buffy hugged Cordy as she decided to go with them. Buffy and Angel watched and then she turned back to him.
"Angel, I'm so sorry."
"I love you Buffy. I'm sorry I went away. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Angel broke down and Buffy grasped him tightly to her.
"Shh." She stroked his hair. "You're here. You're safe."
"I'm sorry. I failed Doyle and I almost failed you."
"Shh. You didn't fail Doyle. You didn't fail anybody. Shh. Shh."
*Buffy Voiceover*
"When the action is over and we look back, we understand both more and less. This much is certain: before the Doolittle raid, America knew nothing but defeat. After it, nothing but victory. Japan realized for the first time that they could lose and began to pull back. America realized that she could win and surged forward. It was a war that changed America. Dorrie Miller was the first black American to be awarded the Navy Cross, but he would not be the last. He joined a brotherhood of heroes. World War II began for us at Pearl Harbor. And 1,177 men still lie entombed in the battleship Arizona. America suffered, but America grew stronger. It was not inevitable. The times tried our souls and through the trial, we overcame."
*1945*
Buffy and Angel watched their son play in the field. Doyle's headstone was near the barn where he and Angel had played pilots. After their wedding in Hawaii, Buffy and Angel had moved out to Illinois and into Angel's old home. Their son was now three years old and they had named him Connor Francis McCawley after Doyle. Buffy and Angel had both been awarded medals of honor. Buffy had been there holding their new born son as the President of the United States gave Angel his medal.
Angel walked up to Connor and squatted in front of him. "Hey Connor, how would you like to go flying?"
Buffy smiled and watched as Angel took their son over to their airplane, his father's old crop duster, and went flying.
THE END
*January*
Buffy, Angel, Doyle, and all of their friends stood around Anya's casket. Buffy and the girls were crying and all anyone could do was hold them and comfort them. Through her tears, Buffy saw Dorrie Miller saluting his captain's casket. He saw her and nodded back. Angel excused himself and followed Doyle over to stand out of the way. A man approached them.
"Lieutenants Liam McCawley and Francis Walker?"
Angel and Doyle stood at attention and saluted. "Major."
"You're both going stateside. You fly out in two hours." The Major handed them each an envelope.
"What for sir?" Angel asked, looking at the paper.
"Ask Colonel Doolittle." With that, the Major walked off.
"Yes sir."
Doyle looked back and saw Buffy staring at them. He nodded and walked away. Angel turned and took Buffy's hand. "Come on."
"What's going on?" Buffy asked.
"We're leaving in two hours. Doyle and I."
"What? Why?"
"I don't know."
Buffy stared at Angel as they drove to his rented bungalow. He started to pack and Buffy decided to help him. When they were done, Angel sat down and read through the letter in the envelope. Buffy watched him.
"Orders." Angel said.
"What kind of orders?" Buffy asked.
"The top secret kind."
"The dangerous kind."
"We've been assigned to Doolittle."
"You're going?"
"I have to."
"Why? You know that if it's top secret, you might not be coming back. Why would you do this to me? Why would you go off and possibly die.. Again?"
"Orders, Buffy. You know exactly what that means."
"Yeah I do. But you have a choice, right? When you get there, you'll have a choice whether you take this mission or not."
"You know what I'll choose."
"So don't go."
"I have to." With that, Angel walked into the bathroom and shut the door.
Buffy hung her head and walked out into the sunshine. She sat down on the chair for about an hour, writing a letter. When she stood back up and went to leave, she almost ran right into Doyle.
"Hey." Doyle said.
"Hi Doyle."
"Everything ok?"
"No." She started to walk off, but Doyle stopped her.
"Hey, stop. Wait. Are you ok?"
"You're going too, aren't you?"
"I have to."
"Angel said the same thing."
"It's not just about this, though, is it? There's something else."
Buffy looked up into Doyle's eyes. "I'm pregnant."
"What?"
"With Angel's baby. Please don't tell him though."
"You haven't told him?"
"I just found out yesterday. Please don't tell him. All he needs to do is think about this mission and get back alive."
Doyle nodded and hugged Buffy. "You know, told me that you kept him alive. When he was in that water, he made a deal with God that he wouldn't ask for anything else just as long as he could see you one more time. He told me it was worth it."
"You won't tell him?" Buffy asked as she pulled away from Doyle.
"I'll leave that up to you."
"Hey Doyle, you ready to go?" Angel asked, walking out to the cab with his suitcases.
"Yeah, just saying bye to your old lady."
Buffy punched Doyle lightly. "I'm not old."
"I can tell."
"Hey, are you two gonna flirt all day, or can we just go?" Angel called. He was obviously dropping into a bad mood and Buffy didn't want to make it worse. She put on her best smile and walked to Angel. She took his hand and he gave her a small smile as they climbed into the cab.
The ride to the airfield was quiet. Either it was nerves from both Angel and Doyle, or it was the secret that Doyle and Buffy knew about that was causing the tension. When they reached the airfield, Buffy was the last out of the cab. She didn't want to send the man she loved on a top-secret mission, but what choice did she have? They weren't married. Doyle hugged Buffy goodbye and got onto the plane. Angel hung back with her. He took her hand and smiled down at her.
"I love you Angel." Buffy said.
"I'm coming back. I promise. I won't ever leave you again." Angel said.
"I know. Angel, I.. You're.. I'll write to you."
"Are you ok?"
"I'm fine. I just have a bad feeling about this."
"Hey," Angel cupped Buffy's chin and brought her face up to look at him. "I'm coming back."
Buffy stroked the side of Angel's face. "I know. You better go before I throw myself at your mercy and beg you not to."
Angel pulled her close to him and dipped his head down to kiss her. She clung tightly to his neck and kissed him back with everything she was. If this was to be their last kiss, they both wanted to make it one they'll remember forever. A final call was sounded and Angel let Buffy go. She watched him bored the plane. Before he got in, he stopped and looked back at her. Buffy gave a small wave and turned away, walking back towards the cab.
*Doolittle's Office*
Doyle and Angel walked down the hallway and headed towards Doolittle's office. They were both nervous about what this top-secret mission was all about, but they both knew that they would go no matter what it was. A man led them down through an airplane hanger.
"Follow me." He opened a door. "Colonel."
Angel and Doyle saluted. Angel stood straight and tall. "Congratulations on your promotion sir."
"I heard what you did." Doolittle said.
"Well, we can explain that sir."
"Explain what?"
"Whatever it is you heard about us sir." Doyle said.
"You mean the hula shirts you were flying in? Or the seven planes you shot down? You're both being awarded the Silver Star and promoted to captain."
"Is that the good news, sir. Or, uh.." Angel asked.
"You're just about the only pilots in the army with combat experience. I need you for a mission I've been ordered to put together. You know what top-secret is?"
"Yes sir. It's the kind of mission where you get medals, but they send em to your relatives."
"Top-secret means you train for something never before done in aviation history. And you go without knowing where you're going. You do it on that basis, or not at all."
"I'll go sir."
"I'll go too sir." Doyle said.
"By the way McCawley, the Brits sent this over." Doolittle handed Angel a box. "It's your personal effects."
"Thank you sir." Angel said.
"There's only one more thing I can tell you. Leave your God damn hula shirts at home."
Angel cracked a smile. "Thank you sir."
"Dismissed."
Angel and Doyle left. Angel headed out to the beach and sat down to read the letter that Buffy had slipped into his suitcase.
Dearest Angel,
When I found out you were alive, I was so happy. And now, I'm even happier. I wish you were here with me now so that I may tell you in person, but you're not. You're in the bathroom because I made you mad. I'm so sorry. I hate that I made you mad. You're the love of my life. And now I have two. Angel, I'd hope that you wouldn't find this until after the mission, but I know you all too well. You'll find it before you go on the mission, whatever it may be, and you'll read it and you'll probably still go on the mission, but carry with you this little bit of information: Angel, I'm pregnant. It is your child. That night we made love, the night before the attack, that was the night our child was conceived in love. Now you have to come back to me, to us. I love you my dearest Angel. The only thing I ever wanted for us was to have a home and be happy together. Please write me after you get this and tell me what you think. Be safe.
Forever yours,
Buffy
Angel folded the letter and stuck it back in his pocket. He was in shock. Why hadn't she told him before he left? He would never have gone on the mission if he had known. Of course, she knew that. She had sent him on this mission. Everything in her hadn't wanted him to go, but something in her made her allow him to go.
"I'm assuming that look of shock is because you just got Buffy's news." Doyle said, walking up and sitting on the log Angel was leaning on. "That's her handwriting, isn't it?"
"Yes. Wait, how do you know about Buffy's news?"
"She told me. Before we left, she told me. She wanted to tell you herself, and I guess she did. So what do you think?"
"I think I need to make it through this mission. Whatever this mission is."
"I think you do too."
"Doyle, if I don't.."
"Angel, man."
"No, please. Let me say this. If I don't make it through this, I want you to take care of her and my child. Please Doyle. Promise me."
"I promise man. It'll be all right. Nothing is going to happen to you. Not if I can help it."
*March 3, 1942*
Doolittle marched up to the troops that were lined up and waiting for him. "The mission I'm asking you to volunteer for is exceptionally dangerous. Take a look at the man beside you. It's a good bet that within the next six weeks, you or he will be dead. Everyone brave enough to accept this, step forward."
Angel looked at Doyle and as one, everyone there stepped forward. Doolittle nodded and turned to walk out of the hanger. The men followed close behind. He led them all out to a B-25 and turned back to face them.
"You're grandmother can take a B-25 off on a mile long runway, well, I'm gonna train you to do it in 467 feet. Because at 468 feet, you're dead. And once you get it up, you're going to learn how to fly it like a fighter 30 feet off the ground. I want you to say hello to Lieutenant Jack Richards in Navy Aviation. He's gonna help us lighten these fat ladies here."
Lieutenant Richards stepped forwards and commanded them to follow him. They did as they were told and he assigned them to certain spots on an airplane. He barked orders on what to take out of the plane to lighten her up.
"Dump that out damn it. See that long side? Get rid of it."
Angel sat in the copilot's seat and looked over at Doolittle. "Colonel, he's crazy!"
"This lady's fat!"
"Listen to him." Doolittle said.
"She's a fat lady. We want a skinny lady."
Three hours later, the first plane was on the runway and getting ready to take off. Angel was in the pilot's seat now. "Max power." Angel threw the gearshift into max power and shot off down the runway. The 400 mark approached fast. "Get up! Get up! Get up! Get up!" The plane rolled right past the mark. "God damn it!"
They went back to work on the plane. The next day, Doyle was in the pilot's seat and trying to take off down the runway. It rolled past the line again. Two days later, they were working on the plane even more.
"This armored plating's gotta go!" Lieutenant Richards said.
"Are you sure?" One guy asked.
"I'm sure I'm sure. Now let's go. Lose it like a skirt son."
Near the end of the month, Doyle was in the pilot's seat again. "Release breaks!" The plane started off down the runway. "COME ON! COME ON! COME ON!" The plane rolled right across. "God!"
Angel was standing next to Doolittle watching. Doolittle turned to him. "Put every man on the line, now!" Angel stared after Doolittle and then did as he was told. By sunset every man was standing on the side of the runway. Doolittle had taken the plane and strapped himself into the pilot's seat. The plane got going and then by the time it hit the 400 mark, the front of the plane was heading into the air. Everyone cheered.
Angel looked at Doyle. "Well, if he can do it."
At the end of the week, everyone had a lightened plane and was in the air before they hot the 400 mark. Doolittle stood with Angel watching the planes fly overhead. He started to laugh and Angel did too. They were finally going to get the mission under way.
*April 2, 1942 USS Hornet*
All the planes were lined up on an aircraft carrier and they were at sea. Doolittle stood before them. "Well gentlemen, now I can tell you that we're going to Tokyo.. And we're gonna bomb em." Everyone cheered and clapped. "It comes as a special request directly from President Roosevelt. The Navy is gonna sneak us about 400 miles off the Japanese coast and we'll launch from the carrier there."
"Has that ever even been done before?" Gooz asked. "Taken Amy bombers off of Navy carriers."
"No."
"Ok."
"Any other questions?"
Angel took off his sunglasses and looked at Doolittle. "Well, sir.. Is it even possible to land a B-25 on an aircraft carrier deck?"
"That won't matter. As soon as we're airborne, the carrier will head straight back for Hawaii."
"But if the carriers head home, where do we land?" Riley asked.
"I have a phrase I want you to memorize. 'Wa shawr yigo magori.' (I don't speak Chinese, so I don't know how to spell it either) It means I am an American.. In Chinese."
Later in the day, Angel and Doyle stood out on the farthest reaches of the deck. They stared at the runway for a minute and then out at the ocean.
"It ain't gonna be any easier. It's three feet shorter than our practice runway.." Angel said.
"Fellas." Doolittle said, walking up to them.
"Sir."
"The Secretary of the Navy gave me these." Doolittle said, holding out little medals.
"What are they?" Doyle asked.
"Friendship medals the Japanese gave us when they were pretending they wanted peace."
"What do you want us to do with them, sir?" Angel asked.
"We're gonna wire em to the bombs and give em back." The three men smiled and then Doolittle got down to business. "So what's goin' on?"
"Well sir, we only have 16 planes."
"So?"
"Well, when the Japs hit us, they had more than 300. How much difference are we really gonna make?"
"It's not that we're afraid sir, it's just that we might die doing this and we wanna know what it's for." Doyle said.
"You know, at Pearl they hit us with a sledgehammer. This raid, even if we make it through, it'll only be a pinprick, but it'll be straight through their hearts. Victory belongs to those who be believe in it the most and believe in it the longest. We're gonna believe." Doolittle started to walk away. "We're gonna make America believe too."
*Pearl Harbor Navy Base*
Buffy sat on the Major's Jeep waiting for him to come out. It had been three months since Angel had left and she had received the letter he had sent her telling her that he had found her letter. Her stomach didn't have the bulge to it yet, but it was starting to round out. A noise behind her made her stand and find the Major walking up to his Jeep.
"Excuse me, Major Jackson."
"Yes?" The man asked.
"Do you remember me?"
"Oh, sure I do. I'm sorry, I've been meaning to thank you." The Major showed her the scar on his neck. (Again with the ironic.)
"Well, maybe you can. When the news starts coming in about the men in the Doolittle outfit, I wanna be in the command post."
"I'm sorry. I don't know what you're talking about." The Major got into his Jeep. "How the hell do you know about this mission Lieutenant?"
"Let's call it an inadvertent disclosure."
"You mean some fly boy you're dating shot his mouth off."
"Actually it's about two pilots. I know they're going to great danger. I just wanna be there when the news comes in to tell us if they've lived or died."
"Most officers would have you thrown in the brig."
"Most nurses would have gone on to someone else instead of keeping their fingers plugged in your artery."
The Major started his Jeep and then looked at her. "I can't promise you anything." With that, he drove away.
Buffy stared after him, knowing that she was going to be there. She looked down at her stomach and put a protective hand over it. "Your father is going to come home, I just know it."
*USS Hornet*
Training didn't stop with learning to fly a lighter B-25. Everyday, they still had morning drills. Usually, Doyle and Angel were excluded from them because they were now captains. Like today. The two men walked the flight deck talking. When they looked over at the rising deck, they noticed men with a load of bombs. Right away, most of the men went over and started to paint phrases on the bombs. "This is for Betty." "Tokyo or Bust." Angel wrote on his "I'm going home to Buffy and you Japs can't stop me!" Doyle tied the medals onto the edges of the bombs and then they were loaded into the planes. When everything was done, they all gathered around to have a few root bears or cokes.
Gooz walked out with a box. "All right, in honor of our trip to Japan, I got us some, uh, victory cigars!" The men all laughed and some cheered. As the men all talked, Angel started to walk off.
Doyle caught up to him. "Hey, man. You ok?"
"Yeah. I just miss her." Angel said, looking out at the sea.
"Are you going to ask her to marry you when you get back?"
"Technically I've already asked her. Remember the ring I gave her back when we were all in New York?"
"Yeah."
"It was a claddagh. The Irish.."
"Like you're mom and dad."
"Yeah, like mom and dad. Anyway, the Irish gave those rings to the person they loved. It's a sign of friendship and devotion." He held his up. It was on his left ring finger. "The hands mean friendship, the crown means loyalty, and the heart means.. Well, you know. If you wear it on your left finger with the heart facing out, you're engaged. I put it on Buffy's finger that way."
"Does she know that?"
"Yes. She does. She still wears it like that."
Doyle smiled. "Come on man. We've got a debriefing to attend."
Angel nodded and they followed the other pilots to the debriefing room. Doolittle was already there and waiting for everyone to get settled.
"My friends in the war department don't want me to lead this raid." Doolittle said. "Cause they say I'm too valuable. They don't want me up in the air with the men that I've chosen. That I've chewed out, cussed out, pushed to the limit, and that I've come to respect. They want me to stand on the flight deck and wave you off. Well, I don't see it that way. So I'm going with you. We take off tomorrow afternoon. Drop our fire and head for China. Our mission is to hit military targets, aircraft, and tank factories." A man raised his hands. "Colonel, you've given us the homing beacons, but you've also told us China is overrun with Japanese troops. What do we do if the beacons are switched off?"
"You bring her down any way you can and do your best to avoid capture."
"What do we do if our planes are damaged and we have to bail out over Japan?" Owen asked.
"Well, in that situation I can't tell you what you should do."
"What would you do, Colonel?" Angel asked.
"I wasn't built to be a prisoner. So, I would have my crew bail out, I'd find the sweetest military target I could and drive my plane right smack into the middle of it and kill as many of those bastards as I possibly could. But that's just me." Doolittle stood straighter. "I'm 45 years old, I'm an old man. You guys have your whole lives ahead of you. So what you do is up to you." With that, the Colonel was gone.
Angel and Doyle stood and headed out of the room. Half way back up to the flight deck, Doolittle caught up with them. Angel nodded. "Colonel."
"Someone tells me that you're engaged and expecting a baby." Doolittle said.
"Who told you that Colonel?"
"A friend of yours. Is it true?"
Angel smiled. "Yes sir, it's true."
"I never thought I would see the day when Angel McCawley got engaged. So who's the lucky lady Captain?"
"Buffy Summers, sir."
"Colonel Giles' daughter."
"Yes sir. How did you know?"
"I knew her father before he lost his license. We were good friends, Rupert and I. Why did you take this mission Captain?"
"I wanted to make a difference, sir. Buffy knows that. She respects me for it."
"As well she should. She's become a beautiful woman. Did you know she came to live with us after her father killed himself?"
"She never told me sir."
"What happened to her mother?" Doyle asked.
"Joyce died of an aneurysm when Buffy was two." Angel said quietly. "She told me about her dad dying too. Just never who she stayed with."
"I love her like she's my own daughter. If you hurt her, I'll kill you." Doolittle said.
"Thank you, sir."
Doolittle walked into the command post and shut the door. Angel and Doyle headed to their bunks to try and get some sleep. Didn't happen though.
*April 18, 1942, Command Post*
Buffy followed Major Jackson down a hallway. He was explaining something to her about what to do. "The mission will launch in a couple of hours. You'll stay right in here." He led her into a hallway full of ladies typing. Buffy looked around at all the somber faced women. They didn't look at her. The Major sat her down in a chair. "Here. Stay here. Don't talk to them, they won't talk to you. Pretend to type whatever information we pass you. That's it." Buffy watched the Major walk away.
*USS Hornet*
Angel was sitting at a desk writing a letter to Buffy. He hadn't been able to sleep and Doyle was just lying in his bunk staring at the ceiling. Angel was almost done with the letter when drills started to go off. Men started running to get up on deck. Angel ran to the door with Doyle on his heels.
"This can't be good." Angel said.
"All hands, man your battle stations." The drill instructor announced.
Angel and Doyle went to get their uniforms and jackets on. As soon as they were almost dressed, the instructor announced for all pilots to man their planes. Angel looked at Doyle who just stared back. This was definitely not good.
Doyle looked out the porthole window. "They're shootin' at something!"
Angel grabbed his shirt and jacket and ran upstairs. "Move! Let's go! Move!" He finished dressing on the way up the stairs. As soon as he was out the door, he headed towards the plane that he had been assigned. "Start pre-flight! Let's go!" Angel climbed up into his plane. Not long after he had started to strap himself in the pilot's seat, Lieutenant Richards was yelling at one of Angel's crewmembers to start loading stuff off the plane. He even called for the tail gun to be taken out. Angel climbed out of the plane and went to find Doyle. His friend was walking up to him holding painted broomsticks.
"We've got broomsticks for tail guns!" Doyle said.
"Yeah, maybe it'll scare em." Angel said, taking one.
"You take care of yourself up there."
"Yeah, I will. Doyle, be careful. You hear me?"
"I will. I'll see ya Angel."
Gooz looked out at Angel. "Angel! We're the tip of the sword!"
Angel nodded and ran back to his plane. Everyone was situated and where they should be. Every plane had an extra 10 cans of fuel. Angel strapped into his communications and started his plane. "Turning on one!"
Xander, Angel's co-pilot, looked out his window. "Turning on two!"
"You ready Xander?"
"You know it."
Angel geared up and got ready to go. All they had to do was wait and see if Colonel Doolittle made it off the deck. Minutes ticked by as Doolittle geared up and started off down the runway. As soon as he was to the end, his plane took off. "Yes!"
"All right!"
Now it was Angel's turn. "All right, full power. Full power. Here we go!" Angel took off. "We're gonna make it!" He pulled up and the plane took off. Angel and Xander started to laugh triumphantly. Soon, all the planes were in the air, in formation, and headed to Japan.
*Command Post*
Buffy stared at the radio room and watched the frantic faces of the people inside. Apparently, the mission had to take off 12 hours before it was scheduled and the planes might not have enough fuel to make it to China. On the radio, the President was making a speech, but Buffy wasn't listening. She was too fixated on the radio room. Every slip of paper someone had handed her had gone unnoticed. Buffy had given up on trying to type as fast as the other women. All she could focus on was Angel. Everything inside her screamed that she shouldn't have let him go, but a part of her knew that there was no stopping him. Angel was a hero and he would do anything to defend his country. That was one of the many reasons Buffy loved him.
Buffy's fingers pecked at the keys as she stared at Major Jackson. He was listening to the whole thing through a headset and his expression was strained as he turned and looked at Buffy. She was so nervous and it was upsetting her sensitive stomach. The Major nodded at her to calm her nerves just a fraction and then turned away. Buffy's curiosity got the better of her and she got up to move the slips of paperwork onto a filing cabinet near the radio room door. Major Jackson looked at her again with that strained expression and her nervousness and concern deepened.
*Pacific Ocean near Japan*
"That's Japan right there fellas." Angel said. "Tighten up back there. Man your guns." Doolittle came over the headset. "We're in the enemy's backyard."
"All right, look alive back there. I see coastline." Doyle said on the headset.
"Heads up boys! Heads up!" They were now flying over the docks of Tokyo. "Open bomb bay doors!"
"Riley, you got our target in sight?" Angel asked.
"Target in sight." Spike yelled back.
"All right boys, let's knock their clocks off! Bombs away!"
As the bombs dropped, explosions happened right underneath the planes. Angel looked out for a second to see the fiery explosions. A small amount of satisfaction creeped into his mind as he watched the little Japanese figures scatter as their warehouses were exploding.
*Command Post*
Buffy still stood by the door. A man came out with an empty mug and left the door open. Buffy heard the cries over the radio.
"Caught em by surprise!"
"Bombs away! Bombs away!" Buffy heard Doyle yell.
"We blew up a factory!" Angel's voice said. Buffy's hopes almost soared. He was ok so far. He was ok.
*Tokyo*
Angel looked out at the smoke and debris flying through the air. That used to be Tokyo's military bases and plants. Everyone was cheering and celebrating, but they weren't out of the clear yet. Everyone knew this was true when explosions started happening everywhere around them. The Japs had recovered enough to start shooting back at them.
"Shit!" Angel yelled when a bullet flew right through the bottom of his plane. "We got flak everywhere!"
*Command Post*
The radio started to get static-y as the men started yelling. Buffy couldn't understand what some of it was saying, but she knew it wasn't good. Major Jackson barked orders for his men to clean it up. She looked at him frantically and he just stared back, trying to convey his hopes to her. The man with the now full mug came back and shut the door. Buffy watched helplessly as the men ran around in the room. With a small sigh, she looked away and tried to make herself breathe. When she looked back in, Major Jackson was shaking his head as he listened to whatever it was the men were saying. His face expressed the worst kind of sorrow and Buffy felt all hope drain away. She numbly walked back over to her desk and sat down, tears running down her face as she watched in shocked horror the faces of the distressed men in the radio room.
*Tokyo*
"God damn it!" Angel said as more flak exploded everywhere around him. He had lost sight of Doyle for a few minutes. Another explosion sounded in the planes. "Xander, go check it out." Xander nodded and left. "We gotta take it up, 800 feet." Angel pulled the plane's nose upwards and headed into the clouds. Explosions ricocheted in front of the plane and Angel growled in frustration. Spike yelled from the back that Theo was dead. Angel looked back and then yelled over the radio, "Get up in the clouds, Doyle. Get up in that soup." Angel looked over and saw Doyle's plane right nest to his. They both pulled up into the clouds together.
By sunset, the two men were flying their planes on empty tanks and the gasoline was running out fast. Angel kept fiddling with the homing beacon and the radio, but nothing came on. He looked at the sunset. "We're still not getting a signal." Angel sighed and looked back at Xander. "How many cans of fuel we got left?"
"Theses are all empty!" Spike yelled.
"Is this all you got?" Xander asked.
"It's all we got Xander."
"Angel, you better pray for land!"
Angel turned back to watch the sunset. He sighed and thought of Buffy. Her beautiful face and shining golden hair. She only got more radiant every time he saw her. Now she was pregnant with his baby and he might not even get to see it. A thousand different thoughts of what the future could hold swam through his mind. Doolittle's voice over the radio cut Angel out of his reverie.
"I'm sorry gentlemen. You're all brave souls. Some of the bravest I've had the privilege of flying with. But we're on our own."
"So it was a suicide mission." Angel said sadly. He felt like he had failed Buffy. He had promised that he would come home to her and now he probably wasn't going to. Reaching in his pocket, Angel took out the picture of Buffy that she had given him. She was standing next to his plane and the wind had caught her hair. It was the first time Angel had shown her his plane and it was the first time she had come to visit him in New Jersey. That was also the night that they had both known they were soulmates. Now Angel hated himself for leaving her to go on this stupid, selfish mission.
*Command Post*
Buffy had heard James Doolittle's speech to his men and realized that none of them would return home. It would take a miracle to bring them home safe and alive. She covered her mouth and started to cry. A million different memories of Angel and her together swam through her thoughts. Her favorite memory was the night they had first made love, the night their baby had been conceived. She had never felt more loved in her entire lifetime than she had that night lying in Angel's warm and safe arms. Now she would probably never get to feel those arms again.
*Tokyo*
"Engine one is fluctuated. We're gonna lose it any minute." Xander said. The engine stopped. "Angel, you gotta prime it!"
"I'm primin'! How bout now?" Angel asked, shifting a gearshift. The engine started again. Angel looked up and his heart almost stopped at what he saw. "I see the coast. I SEE THE COAST!" Exactly as he'd said, the coast of China laid dead ahead.
"Copy that Angel." Doyle said.
"Doyle, follow me now. We're gonna make this. I can see the coast right now. It's only a few miles out. Follow me."
"We're followin' you Angel. We gotta find a soft landing spot."
"Push up on two. Fellas, this is gonna be a hard landing. Hold on. I see rice patties right there. We'll bring it in right here." Angel started his decent just as engine one died completely.
"Oh God, engine one is dead." Xander said. "We're gonna lose engine two any second."
"We can make it in. Easy. Pull it back, we'll glide in. Go in on fumes." They flew over an encampment and saw the Japanese flag. Angel started to pull up. "Japs! We got Jap patrols all over the place! There's Japs everywhere Doyle! Land somewhere else. Stap yourselves in boys, we're goin in hard! We're a dead stick!"
"Get out of the nose!" Spike yelled.
"Hold on boys, we're goin down! Watch the trees!" The plane skimmed over the trees and flew straight for the ground. Angel braced himself and allowed Buffy's image to float through his mind just before the plane smashed into the ground. The glass exploded around him and he ducked as best he as he could while strapped to the seat. Dirt flew everywhere and explosions ricocheted through the plane. As soon as things were as calm as they were going to get, Angel turned to his crew. "Is everyone all right?"
"I'm ok." Spike said, looking around in amazement. "Where's Ripley?"
"He's dead." Angel said as they all started to climb out of the wreckage. "Watch for Japs!" Angel tried to stand up straight, but something had hit him hard in the stomach and it hurt to stand up straight. He toppled down the side of the plane's nose. Suddenly, the grass started to move and Angel climbed up on the wing. "Jap patrols!" He dived behind the wing with the remainder of his crew and started to load his pistol.
"Take cover!" Xander yelled.
The Japs started to shoot at them. Angel ducked and then turned around to shoot his gun at them. The bullets threw dirt in the air as the Japs kept missing them. Some pinged off the sides of the airplane. Angel's gun clicked and he ducked behind the wing again.
"Who's got extra magazines?" Angel asked.
"I got em!" Xander yelled. He tossed Angel a magazine cartridge and loaded one into his gun at the same time Angel did.
"We gotta get up into those hills and find the Chinese." Angel said before he turned back around and shot a couple of times at the patrols. They started firing and Angel ducked again. "They got us pinned down!"
Suddenly, bullets started to fly and tear into the Jap patrols. Angel looked up and saw Doyle's plane fly overhead, shooting their guns for all they were worth just before diving nose first into the ground. The plane exploded in fire and dirt.
"DOYLE!" Angel jumped up without thinking and took off towards the other downed plane.
"Angel! Angel no!" Xander yelled, running after him.
"Doyle!" Everywhere around him, Japs sprung up out of the high grass and started to fire. Angel shot them each down in turn as he ran towards Doyle's plane. He looked up at the mangled wreckage. "Oh God! Doyle! DOYLE! Come on! Ah, Jesus!" He ran around the side of the plane to the pilot's seat. "DOYLE!" He found Riley's body lying next to the plane. "Oh shit, Riley." Angel ran around to the other side of the plane and found Doyle sitting propped against the side. He ran over and crouched next to him. He had something sticking out of his neck. "Doyle. Easy, easy, easy."
"I've had better landings." Doyle said.
"You saved us back there."
"AH! I got something in my neck."
"Lemme try to pull this out for you."
"Where's Gooz?"
"He's fine. He's over with Xander." Angel tugged gently on the metal protruding from Doyle's neck. Suddenly, Doyle's attention was turned towards something and when Angel looked over his face was met with a gun butt to the side of the head. He went toppling end over end into the grass and away from Doyle. Japanese surrounded them and they started yelling at them.
"Angel!" Doyle cried.
Angel looked around, but his vision was a little fuzzy from the blow to his head. He looked over and saw that Doyle had a rifle pointed at his head. Angel's feet were being tied together by a couple of Japanese patrolmen. Angel growled in frustration and started to struggle a little. They pointed more guns at him and his friends. Angel looked up and saw the Japs haul Doyle to his feet and start strapping him to a stock. Their eyes met and Angel knew that Doyle was scared and in a lot of pain. Angel gritted his teeth and knew that he wasn't going to let his friend go down like that. He looked around for a weapon of any kind and saw a pistol lying on the ground not far away. As the Japs holding him started to drag him away, Angel twisted and grabbed the pistol. He shot the Japs dragging him and the Japs holding on to Doyle. He pointed at another patrolmen, but his gun clicked and the man pointed his rifle at Angel.
Angel knew in that moment that he was going to die. Everything flew through his mind at once. He saw him and Doyle as kids pretending to go after the Germans in their make-believe plane. Then he saw them all grown up and he saw himself happy with Buffy and Doyle and Cordelia right next to them on a dance floor in New York. He saw the night him and Buffy had first made love and then he saw Buffy staring back at him as he boarded the plane to leave her and come on this mission. The only emotion he felt was guilt. Guilt that he had left Buffy for the second time only to actually be killed. Guilt that he had let his friends down.
When Angel opened his eyes, Doyle slammed into the patrolman that had his rifle pointed at Angel. The man went down and all guns turned on Doyle. Angel watched in horror as bullets slammed into Doyle and he went down to his knees under the barrage. His friends went into action and started to beat back the patrolmen. Gooz threw a grenade and it exploded, sending patrolmen everywhere. Angel worked out of his bonds and looked over as Doyle fell to the ground.
"Doyle!" Angel ran over. "Doyle! Oh God!" Doyle was struggling for breath. He made gurgling sounds in his throat. Angel started to undo Doyle's bonds and get him out of the stock.
"Angel!" Doyle gasped.
"Hold on now. I got it. You're all right. You're all right." Angel cradled Doyle's head in his arms.
"I'm not.. I'm not gonna make it." Angel looked over the bullet wounds in Doyle's chest as Doyle let out a strangled cry.
"Oh yes you are. Yes you are. Doyle, look at me!"
"Angel.. I'm so cold. I'm so cold."
"You're all right." Angel started to cry as Doyle tried to move in to hug him. Angel pulled him to him gently.
"Angel.. Can you do me a favor?"
"What?"
"Can you have someone else write my name on the tombstone?" Doyle was crying along with Angel.
"You're not gonna die! Look at me! Listen!" Angel was getting mad, but his tears were still flowing. "You ain't gonna die. You hear me? Doyle?" Doyle let out gasping breaths as the light in his eyes started to dim. "Doyle, you can't die. You can't die. You know why? Cordelia needs you." Angel's tears fell harder as Doyle looked into his eyes. "Please."
Doyle grabbed on tightly to Angel's vest and closed his eyes tight against the pain. He looked up at Angel and with his last breath he said, "Take care of her." He grimaced and then went limp in Angel's grasp.
"Doyle? Doyle? Doyle, please! Please. Please. Please." Angel started to sob. "Please Doyle, no." He laid his head on Doyle's shoulder and cried. Everyone was gathered around the two best friends.
Angel held Doyle until the Chinese troops showed up to save them. They took Doyle away from him and carried him away on a stretcher.
*May*
Buffy stared at the plane as it landed. She was now four months along and starting to show. She stared at the men that unloaded, waiting to see if Angel was one of them. She hadn't received any letters from him since the day at the command post. Those couple of weeks had been the worst of her life. Cordy had helped her through it and the dark haired woman now stood by her side, waiting for Doyle.
Doolittle was the first off the plane. He walked up to Buffy and hugged her, congratulating her on her engagement and the baby. Cordy nodded at him as he walked away and the two women turned back to the plane. She saw Angel emerge from the plane and her face lighted up with happiness. The only injury Buffy saw was his bandaged hand. Cordy smiled too, knowing that Doyle should be with him. When Angel looked at Cordy with sad eyes, Buffy knew at the same moment Cordy did. Doyle had come back in a box. Their thoughts were proved true when Angel turned and helped carry out of the plane a large wooden coffin.
Buffy and Cordy approached slowly. Cordelia was grasping Buffy's hand tightly, but Buffy didn't even notice. She reached out and touched the leather jacket that had once been Doyle's. Angel and the others sat the coffin down and Angel scooped Buffy into his arms. She held him as tightly as her strength would allow. The medics took Doyle's coffin and Buffy hugged Cordy as she decided to go with them. Buffy and Angel watched and then she turned back to him.
"Angel, I'm so sorry."
"I love you Buffy. I'm sorry I went away. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Angel broke down and Buffy grasped him tightly to her.
"Shh." She stroked his hair. "You're here. You're safe."
"I'm sorry. I failed Doyle and I almost failed you."
"Shh. You didn't fail Doyle. You didn't fail anybody. Shh. Shh."
*Buffy Voiceover*
"When the action is over and we look back, we understand both more and less. This much is certain: before the Doolittle raid, America knew nothing but defeat. After it, nothing but victory. Japan realized for the first time that they could lose and began to pull back. America realized that she could win and surged forward. It was a war that changed America. Dorrie Miller was the first black American to be awarded the Navy Cross, but he would not be the last. He joined a brotherhood of heroes. World War II began for us at Pearl Harbor. And 1,177 men still lie entombed in the battleship Arizona. America suffered, but America grew stronger. It was not inevitable. The times tried our souls and through the trial, we overcame."
*1945*
Buffy and Angel watched their son play in the field. Doyle's headstone was near the barn where he and Angel had played pilots. After their wedding in Hawaii, Buffy and Angel had moved out to Illinois and into Angel's old home. Their son was now three years old and they had named him Connor Francis McCawley after Doyle. Buffy and Angel had both been awarded medals of honor. Buffy had been there holding their new born son as the President of the United States gave Angel his medal.
Angel walked up to Connor and squatted in front of him. "Hey Connor, how would you like to go flying?"
Buffy smiled and watched as Angel took their son over to their airplane, his father's old crop duster, and went flying.
THE END
