Monarch walked down the corridor of Rowsdower Air Force Base in a hurry, his eyes scanning the area for his WSO, Prez. I should haven't left her behind when we went to Prospero, he cursed himself. But then again, you could not have known that this would happen. Dirty Fed bastards. To think that they would do something like this…
On Sicario's latest mission, to liberate the Prospero Trade Hub, the Federation, intentionally or through a powerful military coup, launched cruise missiles loaded with cordium at the city, possibly wiping out most of the Allied attack force, save for him, his wingmen Comic and Diplomat, and their AWACS partner Galaxy.
After they made it back to Rowsdowner to find it in a fiery hellscape, they dueled with the mercenary Frost and the Master Goose Squadron, successfully shooting them down, but not before Frost revealed Diplomat and Comic's real names: Peter Kennedy, and Evelyn London, which essentially could lead the entire bounty hunter's guild to them, endangering them all.
Now, they were here, stuck in whatever was left of the base as the remaining members moved to pack up whatever stuff was left into the one remaining aircraft of Circus Squadron and get airborne. He never wanted to see his Sk.37 again. He was going to give it to the next Cascadian Independence Force pilot fortunate to own a plane. But, Monarch had to find Prez first. And he had to find her fast. Whatever Stardust was planning to offer Sicario, he was surely in a hurry to share with them.
He finally reached the crew quarters and saw that the door to his was open. He tentatively pushed the door open.
Prez was sitting on the floor, her eyes on the floor of the base. Her stuff lay around, some in her travel duffel, some just lying around. She apparently had a fit, judging by the mess. She held a photo of them taken during their contract with the Creole Republic. Her eyes were hooded, suggesting she had been crying, but for how long, Monarch didn't know.
"P…Prez?" he asked, carefully as to not startle her. She slowly looked at him, revealing her red and swollen eyes. "Are you alright? I'm here now, it's okay."
"No, it's not," Prez whimpered, slowly standing up, holding the photo in her hand.
"W…why?" Monarch asked, feeling like he had swallowed a grenade.
"Look outside!" Prez shouted, throwing her arms at the mess that was the Calamity outside. "You know how close I came to losing you?!" Tears bubbled up in her eyes. "You know this could have been the last time that I could have seen you?!" She threw the photo at him, and Monarch caught it before it fell to the ground. He looked at it.
There he was, crew-cut brown hair, one arm around Prez, short black hair and a big smile on her face. They were in front of their F/D-14, their favorite and most commonly used plane. His expression softened. So that's why Prez had been crying. She feared that he had been shot down over Prospero or over Rowsdower during the knife fight with Frost and Master Goose.
"Prez…" he muttered. "I'm so…"
He didn't finish, as Prez walked forward and wrapped her arms around him and sobbed into his chest. Monarch didn't say a word, but he put his arms around her and let her cry her sadness out.
After a while, she emerged from his chest and smiled at him. He smiled back. Her smile, coupled with her brown eyes never failed to make Monarch smile.
"Feeling better?" he asked.
"Much," she said. "Next time, we're flying together. No more flying solo. We'll be together whenever we are in the air, you understand?"
"What if we get shot down?" Monarch asked, still unsure. Prez just smiled.
"At least we'll be together to the end," she said, her smile not fading. Monarch smiled and pressed a small kiss to her forehead. She giggled. After a while, they separated.
"C'mon," Monarch said, gesturing to the door. "Apparently Stardust wants to share something with us before we go."
"What is it?" Prez asked.
"I have no idea," Monarch said. "But if it is big enough to attract Kaiser himself."
Prez smiled. "At least someone's interested in listening to that guy yap." She took Monarch's right arm, and he led her down the corridor towards the hangar where Stardust was waiting for them.
No matter what, he thought, as he stared at the hustle and bustle of the crew, we'll always be together, Prez. I won't let anything bad happen to you.
I promise.
