Author's Note: Prompt suggested by Here'saHealth.
C is for Crash
No one was sure who the first smokejumper to crash a wedding was. It had happened so long in the past that the story was probably lost to history. But over the decades, the jumpers had honed the skills and passed on the knowledge required for wedding crashing until it was a fine art. Now the jumpers knew the types of weddings they should stay on the edges off and claim the extra catering from, and the types of weddings that they could successfully plant themselves at a table at. Their favorite weddings were of course the casual ones that they could successfully worm their way into the wedding photos and completely rock it on the dance floor.
Most of the time, the smokejumpers were so skilled at just seamlessly becoming part of the crowd the first time that anyone notices something out of the ordinary was when they looked over the wedding photos. But even the most skilled wedding crashers got caught every once in a while. Though on this particular day, it was another member of staff that tried to do the outing.
While this particular wedding had the guise of being a casual affair, it was for a pair of D-list celebrities from a popular Spanish language soap opera. Due to the complexity of the wedding, the smokejumpers had been worming their way onto the approved vehicle list for weeks by helping the vendors with a boatload of heavy lifting. Cad, on the other tire, had not done any of the groundwork, expecting his position within the park would be enough to let him breeze past the very tight security.
Cad of course made a fuss when the security guard wouldn't allow him to enter the event. The SUV was loud enough that Blackout and Avalanche actually slipped away from their tables to investigate the source of the noise. The moment that Cad spotted their Piston Peak's livery he started to protest his exclusion even harder.
"Why in the world did you let someone like him in, but not include me." Cad huffed towards Blackout.
"He is on the approved list." The security vehicle said flatly after glancing back at Blackout. He then turned a level eye on Cad. "You are not."
"Fine." Cad practically spat at Blackout. "I might be able to believe that you, managed to weasel yourself onto the guest list. But what about him." Cad motioned towards Avalanche with venom practically dripping from his voice.
Blackout simply shrugged, and without batting an eye he gave Avalanche a coy smile. "Sencillo, he is my plus one."
With that Cad spluttered. His eyes flicked between a grinning Avalanche, Blackout, and the vehicle maintaining security for the wedding. Finally, when the SUV realized that his words had completely failed him, he gave an exasperated hiss of frustration. He leveled his gaze on Blackout and practically growled. "This is not going to be the last time you hear about this."
With that Cad admitted defeat, reversed, and headed back to his office.
"I AM SO SORRY ABOUT THAT," Avalanche spoke quickly to make sure that Cad was still in earshot of his booming voice. "PISTON PEAKS IS NORMALLY KNOWN FOR HAVING VERY PROFESSIONAL STAFF."
That actually got a chuckle from the security vehicle. "And I thought some of the clientele I have worked for were nuts. I don't know how you all put up with that type of management."
"YOU DON'T KNOW THE HALF OF IT." Avalanche chuckled.
"Well." An amused security guard looked both the smokejumpers up and down. "If you ever get tired of putting up with vehicles like that and want to change careers, consider applying to Big Ricco's Security. If you give them a call, tell them little Ricco sent you."
"Padre?" Blackout raised an eyebrow.
"Uncle." The black car grinned back. "But I own a big stake in the company so I have a fair amount of say."
"WE WILL KEEP THAT IN MIND…" Avalanche replied politely before turning his attention to his 'date' "BUT WE BETTER BE ON OUR WAY. I HEAR THE MUSIC HAS STARTED UP AND WE WOULDN'T WANT TO MISS WATCHING DRIP HITTING THE DANCE FLOOR."
The smokejumpers ended up eating, drinking, and dancing late into the night and only rolled back onto base shortly before dawn. All of the jumpers dropped the load of leftovers they had pilfered from the party, then everyone but Blackout sacked out in the smokejumper hangar to get a few hours of sleep before tackling the day's work. Blackout remained in the kitchen just long enough to use some of the new foodstuffs to feed the base's other residents. The planes and ground crew arrived at their normal time, and Blackout slipped several plates of food on the table before heading to the hangar to get some well-deserved rest.
As all of the awake members of the base stuffed their faces with the rewards of the smokejumper's labor, the phone rang. For a few long moments, Blade considered ignoring it, but Maru was being responsible that morning and he brought the headset over. Blade answered and was promptly greeted by Cad Spinner giving some rant about the smokejumpers. The Chief listened, and listened, and listened, waiting for Cad to finally pause long enough for Blade to sneak in a word.
"I am sorry Superintendent." Blade said between mouthfuls of a wonderful lobster omelet that Blackout had whipped up that morning. "I have absolutely no clue what you are talking about." With is bit said, the helicopter promptly hung up so he could once again turn his full attention back to the food on his plate.
"What was that?" Cabbie asked as he scarfed down his own breakfast.
"Who knows?" Blade said with a shrug of his rotors. "Cad was going on about him trying to crash a wedding, but he couldn't manage to. And he was very upset because the smokejumpers managed to get into the party when he couldn't."
"Ah." Cabbie said, with a touch of bemusement. "I can see how that might bruise his ego a bit. But enough about that. What is the plan for today?"
And with that, the issue was closed, and the aircraft of the Piston Peak's Air Attack Team turned their attention to the work of keeping the National Park safe.
End Note: So, how would you feel if the smokejumpers crashed a wedding you were attending? Also, what are your ideas for the letter D?
