Disclaimer: I don't own Vandread.

A/N

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Chapter 5

"You can ignore anything I say, but you listen well to me now. Never, ever, fly in the same cockpit with someone braver than you. Usually ends up bad for the both of you." – Shamrock to Barnette.

Barnette snapped awake in a cold sweat, nearly jumping straight up and out of bed in the process. Her lungs burned. Her body was clammy and she could feel her heart beating faster than normal.

The nightmare had returned. The ball of fire. Her crash. The planet. It was never ending. It hurt more than the real thing did. And she could feel the pain in her abdomen acting like it was about to split wide open on her.

Collapsing back onto the bed, she shut her eyes and tried to steady her breathing. No sooner had she shut her eyes did she feel the fire again. The screaming sounded. She opened her eyes and rolled out of bed, checking the clock that rested on the nightstand as she did.

3:37

The green-haired pirate blinked tears and sweat from her eyes. It was that early? She'd thought she had actually slept longer. Felt longer.

Knowing that sleep was out of the question and her stomach already starting to make itself known, she fully jumped out of bed, reaching down and grabbing her knew pants and a shirt before leaving and heading for the bathroom.

The light was blinding, but she managed. She looked at herself in the mirror and shook her head. She was a wreck. Barnette actually laughed at her reflection. Her hair looked like she'd played with an electric socket. It was certainly funny and worth a few laughs at the moment.

Throwing her clothes on and stepping back out into the hallway, she marched to the kitchen to look for something to snack on. Pantries and fridge were empty, save for the food they had gotten last night on their way home. If it wasn't for the fact that she knew Trig lived alone and was hardly home as well, she might have wondered what the woman ate. Or if she ate at all.

Knowing that those two weren't going to be up anytime soon, she returned to her room to wait it out.

(-)

Sky Kid woke up with a start and groaned as he rolled over to avoid the sunlight that was peaking through the blinds. She hates sunlight but she has the blinds cracked to let it in. Never get used to her. He felt a pair of eyes on him and slowly, unwillingly, opened his own. Trig was smiling at him. "Nothing happened last night. I'd know. I feel my pants."

"Damn it!" Unhappy, she sat up and threw the sheets on top of his form.

Grumbling, the younger pilot rolled out of bed and started fishing for his shirt that was somewhere on the floor. He wasn't sure where he had sat it last night, and frankly, hadn't cared enough about the condition it was in. All the greasy food made him want to throw up, but only because there was too much grease.

Finally finding his shirt, he flung it over his shoulder and grabbed his pocket watch from the nightstand and made for the door. Trig was looking for clothes to wear in her closet when he left and came out to get coffee from the kitchen.

They hadn't set the thing up for coffee last night and he sighed as he fished out the grounds for it to start getting it ready. Once that was finished, he moved to her fridge to find something to eat and sighed once more. The reason they ate out twice in one day was because she didn't have food yet. Another store trip. Just what he didn't want to deal with.

Rather than wait for the coffee maker to finish it's brewing with him watching it, he moved into the living room, propped his feet up on the small coffee table, threw his head back, and closed his eyes.

"She doesn't have anything to cook with."

Whining to himself, he cracked open one eye and saw Barnette standing over him, her hands on her hips. She was wearing some of her new clothes. Purple yoga pants and a purple sleeveless shirt. She was also not looking at him directly, instead focusing on his feet.

Slowly, almost as though he were challenging her, he pulled them off the table and sat up straight, his back cracking as he did. "Stupid couch. Don't know why she keeps you," he grumbled at the object as he got to his feet. "She's busy getting dressed. Pretty sure she'll just have us go to town and get food and something to eat."

"Why make coffee?"

"I don't know why, but that one surprises me that you know about that stuff." Sky Kid walked back into the kitchen, figuring that two minutes was long enough for the thing to be done. It was not. It hadn't even gotten halfway full yet. "You cook?"

Brow arched, she nodded.

"Get your shoes on. It'll take her another twenty minutes to get around. We can get some stuff and deal with her gripping when we get back and you cook." He checked his watch to make sure of the time. It was six forty-five in the morning. They had time.

Barnette was ready quicker than he might have figured her to be, but that was his tired mind still coming back from a long day doing nothing and not being able to sleep until nearly eleven at night. They slipped out the door as Trig started the shower, never once knowing that they were leaving.

Sitting up front was different. The seat was a bit nicer and she was able to see all the buttons and everything else associate with the vehicle. It started whisper quiet and they were off, a mug of coffee in both their hands.

"What kind of breakfast do you want?" Barnette asked. She didn't have money, and he knew that, so it was her way of being kind to him.

He took a long pull from the burning liquid, smacking his lips as he did. "Bitter…" he remarked while putting it down on his knee as he drove. "Eggs and Bacon. Anything else is a bonus as far as I'm concerned."

"Over easy? Scrambled? Sunny side up?"

He laughed. "Yes."

"That's not an answer."

"Is to me." He took another pull from his mug and sat it back, licking the top lip where some of the liquid had stubbornly stuck to him. "Scrambled sounds nice."

"Sunny side up it is then."

"I am paying and driving you there."

"You also have male germs."

"Cooties."

Barnette rolled her eyes. Call it what you will, to her it would always be male germs and nothing more. She didn't feel clean on the Nirvana with the three men, even if her room was several decks above theirs and came was cleaned regularly. She still felt sick and always felt like their germs were near her. Just having Hibiki's machine in the hanger made her feel ill. And being this close to Sky Kid now made her feel it.

"Fine. Scrambled it is." She conceded.

Sky Kid gave her a sly smile. "Anything you want to make is fine. I'm sure whatever you make, Trig will eat most of it. She's not allowed at a few restaurants in town, anyways. Buffet nights are usually the time she really starts packing things away."

"You calling her fat?"

"No. She works out. Needs the energy. She can bench press Shamrock."

Barnette remembered him. He was a fairly tall person. Kind of like Gascogne, only male. He was probably just as tall as her. He had hardly spoken a word to her, leading her to believe he was quiet or afraid of her. She liked the latter better. Made her feel better in the end.

"Who's on your squad?"

Sky Kid laughed. "Our leader is Avalanche, Shamrock is second in command, and then you have Trig, Hound, Lightning, Thunder, Riptide, and myself. Lately, Lightning has been working with other teams. Lightning is married to another pilot. His callsign is Bolt. You'll know 'em if you see 'em."

"What about Thunder?"

He tightened his grip on the wheel as he took another drink from his mug, finishing off the coffee. Working it to his other hand, he put it in the seat between them as he kept his eyes on the road. "She got crippled a few months back saving my ass. I screwed up, did something stupid, and paid the price for it. She swears it's fine. I know her. I know she's not happy. Lost an arm. Funny that it takes you longer to get your arm replaced and calibrated than my eyes."

"What can't they replace on you?"

Mejarru technology was leaps ahead of theirs in terms of equipment, but to be able to attach cybernetic limbs was beyond them. This planet had seemingly mastered it, or at least it seemed that way. If they could replace his eyes, could they replace a lung? What about parts in the spinal cord where it was damaged. Nerves took years to heal and even though Mejarru had managed to lessen the time down a few years, it still took a great amount of time.

"They can't replace the human brain or heart. Those are out of the question. We still need blood flow, so those systems are out, along with major nerve reconstruction. They can do patch jobs on the nerves in your body, but they can't replace it. Think of it like splicing a damaged hose with another one. You cut off the dead stuff and put in a piece to bridge them together. That's about as far as it goes, but that length is small. Smaller than an inch."

Barnette got the idea for that. Nerves were too complicated, but the eyes weren't? Then again, human eyes were backwards to begin with. The wiring for your eyes were up front while the circuit board, as some might call it, was in the back of your eye. Nature might have been really messed up to do something like that, but it hadn't caused that many problems thus for with life, so why change it?

They pulled in to a small store and got out. Barnette stretched and smiled as she inhaled the scent of fresh bread. It was rather nice to wake up to that. Maybe she could make some if Sky Kid would spend a little extra money on it.

Sky kid lead the way, knowing what he was doing, and Barnette simply followed him as she grabbed a small cart. "Doubt this store is any different than what you have back home," he told her quietly. It looked the same as any other store. "I'll let you lead." He paused and looked down an aisle, his eyes narrowing. "On second thought. Go get what you need. I need to speak to someone."

Barnette shrugged and walked off, relieved that she wouldn't have him over her shoulder as she shopped for food. And if he were paying, she could get a few extra items.

She grabbed several things off the first few isles. Bread, flour, yeast, sugar, and a few other spices. She had made sure to look through Trig's setup when she woke up. Not of her own freewill either and it was still fresh on her mind.

The day she was shot down she felt something wash through her body. It was fear and she knew it. She'd been blown out of the sky before. Not her prettiest moments in life. She learned from her mistakes and climbed through the ranks, all thanks to Gascogne giving her a chance by vouching for her. That was a different time for her. A different life. She hadn't been friends with Jura. Had actually hated her and thought less of her. They were inseparable now. Some would even whisper lovers.

Jura was a friend. Nothing more. Nothing less. She wouldn't mind going further. She was a nice person, selfish, but nice. She had a charming side to her and was always willing to work hard for what she wanted. It was part of the reason why she was ranked as high as she was in their squad as a squad commander under Meia. Her talents made her useful, but that was something Barnette had never seen in her back then. Now she saw it. Some might even say idolized it.

The dreams – more like nightmares – were haunting her. She could still see it in her mind. Playing out right in front of her like a movie she'd seen a hundred times. Nothing was different. The same things happened. But it was the fact that it had happened that scared her.

Barnette knew she wasn't all powerful. She didn't have a unique machine that could combine with Hibiki's. Not that she wanted it. But it gave them an edge. And that was an edge that Jura could acquire. They'd already seen Dita and Meia's combination. Each was strong and capable of doing something no other machine could do. In some way, it was humiliating. All that power and they could save her? Did they even try? How was she not picked up by them?

Maybe these people had jammed the signal? That would be the only reasonable excuse for why they never found her. Did they have something to do with her capture? Did they want her for something?

Barnette stopped at the cold section and stared at her reflection in the window. Milk sat on the other side, but she could see herself and what she saw, she did not like. She'd grown thinner since her capture. She doubted she had her original strength anymore. Her hair had grown longer, reaching past her neck and almost between her shoulder blades. Her face sported a scar that ran under her right eye.

Last night she had looked at herself in the mirror while naked. She didn't like that either. Both legs had scars running down them from the thigh down to her ankle with her left leg having it run clear across her foot. Her chest had one that ran down from her left lung to her right hip, but halfway had broken off into three other scars that went straight down.

How she walked away from that, she didn't know. And if she were honest with herself, she wished she hadn't. Jura wouldn't want her back now. Not like this. The Barnette she had known was dead and gone, replaced with an ugly, beaten, woman who was only a shell of her former self.

She banished the thoughts of rebellion when they surfaced and grabbed a jug of milk before pushing ahead. She was done anyways and went to look for her current handler. He was easy to find. He was talking to someone, a male. The two looked like they were having fun.

Fifteen Minutes Earlier

Sky Kid left Barnette without a second thought and approached the male that was sitting at the table. He was holding a cup of coffee and looking outside. "Surprised to see you out right now, Shamrock."

Shamrock turned from the window and smiled in surprise to the sight of his friend. "Kid. What are you doing here?" He checked his watch and looked comically worried. "This early, too. Drive of shame?"

Sky Kid rolled his eyes and sat down on the other side.

Shamrock was a pretty boy that had aged well. He had messy brown hair that looked red to him when he had his normal eyes, tanned skin from too much time in the sun, and brown eyes. He wore green cargo pants with a matching buttoned up long-sleeved shirt tucked in, a gray vest with his callsign stenciled over the left breast pocket, and a leather belt with a buckle that read LUCKY in bold letters.

"Late night with Trig and her new friend."

"Oh." He laughed and took a sip of his coffee. "That little number. She hate you, too?"

"Not sure."

"Can't win them all. Especially with her. Mejarru women."

Sky Kid rolled his eyes. "Never heard of it until last night."

"To be fair about that, not many of us do. We only know about it because of Samuel. Said something once about a weird crew he made a deal with."

"There a bounty on his head still?"

"Probably. He hasn't shown his face in these parts in a while. Best I can figure; he got knocked down by someone not willing to take his crap."

Sky Kid never met that man, but rumor had it he was a one-eyed con artist. If he was and he pulled the wool over the government's eyes once, he was a dead man just waiting for the bullet to come his way. All it took was one. Doubtful they'd get the chance. Avalanche never let them out to do anything dangerous anymore. Not since his and Thunder's injury nearly a year ago.

The two fell into an uneasy silence for a few minutes as they turned and watched the planes fly overhead.

Shamrock and Sky Kid were the last two Attackers on their team. With Lightning now married and off with other teams to provide backup because of a promotion and Thunder out of commission for who knows how long, they were the last two. Shamrock was his superior and served as the levelheaded fighter of the group. When people said that all it took was one mistake and you were down, Shamrock was the living embodiment of that. He wouldn't toy with you or anything. He'd stay on you something fierce and when you finally slipped, he got you.

He'd never been shot down, but there was a first for everything. One day he wouldn't get a chance to remain untouchable, and it was truth he gave to Sky Kid personally on the day of his accident. No one was invincible. Everyone died. It was just a matter of when.

"You didn't come here to blow sunshine up my ass. So, what's up?"

"Came here with the girl." Shamrock winced. "She's strange. I mean, really strange. Like, we shouldn't let her near Hound, strange."

"That's a given. I wouldn't let him meet my sister."

"You don't have a sister."

"Then I guess I don't have anything to worry about."

Jokes aside, Shamrock knew what he was getting at. Hound would chase after her and make all kinds of trouble for them and everyone else. Trouble that they didn't need or want. Shamrock avoided it full out. Hated trouble. Didn't like the word. Bad omen. Trouble meant something bad. Something bad usually meant fighting. Fighting meant risking your life. He was a pilot and accepted it, but he didn't have to like it.

"Could be funny to watch though." Sky Kid rolled his eyes and Shamrock sat up straight. "How's your eyes."

"Good. Waiting on Avalanche to take me back."

"Pretty sure he wants you back. He's tired of me getting someone on my ass. He hates trying to keep up with me and I hate double-time."

Sky Kid nodded in understanding. With just one Attacker on your squad you were at a disadvantage. Attackers were faster than Hybrids and Sentinels. Way faster. The only thing that could catch an Attacker was another Attacker. They flew in pairs to cover each other. If they got ahead of the team, they had to watch each other until the others caught up. It was why OBS were usually dangerous for engagement operations.

Of course, that wasn't to say that it was a bad thing either. Raiders and Pirates that stole Attackers were usually just going to blow themselves by slamming into something. Never mind having an OBS attached. Anything going super sonic without a proper pilot and gear was going to hit something and tear the plane to shreds. But if they had a good one, then you had problems.

"How's Kat doing?"

Sky Kid bit his lower lip. "My cat is fine."

"Explain to me why you named your cat that?"

Sky Kid turned his head so he could look behind himself. He could see Barnette rounding the corner and heading their way. "Let's just say I'm bad at naming stuff." He rapped his knuckles against the table as he got up. "I'm sure Trig is gonna wanna do something soon. Bar?"

"Not tonight. Paperwork."

"This weekend? Get Lightning and Bolt?"

"Can't. They're out. Got grabbed up with Viper and his unit. Something off the record." He smiled to Barnette. "Nice to see you again. How you holding up?"

Barnette regarded the man cautiously before she put a name to the face. His vest made it easier though. "All right, I guess. Still feel like this is a dream."

Shamrock nodded in understanding as he got up, leaving some money on the table as he finished his coffee. "Worst things in life will pass if you let them. If not, you're in for a bumpy ride, sister. Sky Kid. Take care of yourself. Barnette, loosen that grip a bit. You'll fly better." He left before Barnette could ask what that meant and was left looking at an amused male pilot that was shaking his head.

"Always has to have the last word," he mumbled. He looked at the cart and then to her. "You got everything you need?"

"Yeah." She looked back out the door and saw Shamrock get on a motorcycle. He had thrown on a leather jacket and a helmet with a green plant that had four leaves painted on the side of it. "Teammate, right?"

"Yeah. Another Attacker. My superior, actually."

Barnette watched him leave, her eyes narrowing on his fleeing form. She barely remembered him from her time on the ship. He never really spoke to her. It was a good thing, but it was still an odd thing.

As one they moved to the checkout counter and an old lady rang them up, smiling once she finished and Sky Kid gave her a card to run. "Here you." As she handed the card back, she smiled at the both of them.

Sky Kid waved goodbye to the old lady while Barnette followed, pushing the cart that had five bags in it. He popped the trunk on his car and placed the bags in the back. As soon as Barnette pushed the cart to the rack and returned, they got back on the road.

It quiet for a few minutes before Barnette looked at the sky, seeing two fighters fly overhead. They were strange looking craft. They had two pairs of wings. One set was at the back which were larger and pointed forward for a reverse design while slightly propped up, while the next set was pointing backwards and much smaller. Two thrusters sat close together between another small fixture of wings that were most likely fins to help with maneuverability. The ones she was looking at were red.

"Attackers."

Barnette glanced at Sky Kid. He saw them too. "I thought they were for space only."

"No. They're designed for both. They're faster in space. Used to have RIO back in the day, but since they made improvements to the radar system. Used to be the RIO's job to monitor it, but that passed about fifteen years ago. There are some people who still fly in pairs like that, but it's pretty pointless now."

"RIO?"

"Radar Intercept Officer. They mostly watched the radar while the pilot did all the work. Back then our systems weren't that great. Hell, sometimes they can still be tricked. But with the new OSS there isn't much we can't do on our own."

Barnette pursed her lips in thought. That made the Attacker sound better than a Dread. Radar could still be fooled with their craft and they had to rely on their carrier crafts to sometimes get through sticky situations. Radar was great, but still easily foolable. Eyes worked better than machines.

"How'd it happen?" Sky Kid looked at the woman next to him with a furrowed brow. She rolled her eyes. "How'd you lose your eyes? I don't see any scars?"

He nodded in understanding and licked his lips as he thought back to it. Wasn't hard. He still had nightmares about it.

"We were running an operation against some Raiders. They had jacked some of our Attackers again. Not sure why they do it. Without a good body behind the stick and a mind for it, you will die. But, more to the point, I was taking point with Thunder. I was her wingman. When we got to the base, we knew something was up but we trusted Avalanche. He made the call for us to go in. Sure enough, they had jacked some of our Attackers, but they had also snagged a big prize as well: A Sentinel. Sentinels' are powerful. Strong enough to crack a battle cruiser in half with their ordnance. Imagine our surprise when we rounded the corner in our little crafts and saw a massive gun pointed our way. We both broke off, calling out what we saw. What was didn't see was an Attacker. He got behind me. I stayed with her, but it didn't matter. The crazy bastard floored it and rammed into me. He knocked off a wing and did damage to my thrusters. I lost control. Held on too tight. I hit Thunder, took her out of the game, and we both crashed."

He shuddered. He could still feel the heat washing over his face from the control panel exploding and the shrapnel splitting into his eyes. Sky Kid felt his heart begin to race and calmed his breathing.

"The panel blew up in my face. Not because he hit me, but because I hit her. Thunder was furious with me, but they didn't realize how bad I was until we got picked up two minutes later. The Sentinel got a bead on me. I couldn't move out of the way. She took the shot for me. Lost an arm and was put in the hospital. Still haven't replaced it yet."

Barnette looked him over and turned away, shaking her head. It was how she felt now. He was trembling from the memory. The waking nightmares from the crash haunted her. She wanted them to end.

Sky Kid gripped the wheel tighter. "They pulled my machine in, got me out, and found out I was blind because the panel blew up in my face. When they pulled Thunder out, she was barely alive. Too much blood loss and shock. I still don't know how they saved her. Happy they did. I screwed up."

"Sounds like you didn't."

Sky Kid shook his head. "I should have hit the brakes. Should have done other things, but that's in the past now."

"I'm sure that the things you wanted to do might seem reasonable, but I doubt they were possible."

"Doesn't matter. She's okay. Forgave me, too. Happy as hell she did. Love that woman. She's the nicest woman I know next to Trig, but neither of them ain't the one for me. My Queen of Hearts is the one I love."

"Queen of Hearts."

Sky Kid laughed and licked his lips. "I send her letters. I call her that. I may play for both teams, but one day I'll stop messing around and find someone serious. I love her. I think it's her. She came to visit me a lot while I was in the hospital. Good times."

Barnette rolled her eyes. Pet names were overrated.

"You got anyone back home?"

"No."

"Seriously? Someone as cute as you ain't got no one?"

"I'm stuck here now. This is home. So, no. I don't have anybody."

He sighed in frustration. "I meant back on your ship or your world. Not this place."

Rolling her eyes, she crossed her arms and looked away. He shrugged and gave up. Barnette scowled at herself. "I had someone special," she declared softly. "A goof, but a good person. She was kind and ruthless. Good pilot and good with a blade. Airhead sometimes as well."

Sky Kid chuckled. "Sounds you were smitten with her."

"I think the thing that always drove me away from active relationship back home was the curious thought of what I'd be. Would I be the Fama or the Ouma? I never thought about the idea having kids, but if I wanted to have one, which one would I be?"

"I'm going to be honest with you. I have no idea what that means."

"Fama is the one that carried the child while the Ouma gives her seed to the Fama so that they can have a kid." Barnette furrowed her brow in thought. If this was strange to him, then perhaps the shoe was truly on the other foot for her in more than a few ways. "How does it work here?"

Sky Kid gave a nervous chuckle as he scratched his head with his free hand. "You promise not hit me?" Confused, she complied with a nod. "Men impregnant females here by way of sex. What do you know about men? Let's clear that up first."

"You have male germs, you are aliens, and you are horrible being that turn women into slaves."

"I somehow get the feeling that some of that is propaganda, but I'm not going to argue against it. I'm sure whatever the men hear about women is just as crazy."

"If a man talks to a woman, his ears and vocal cords will blow up, and we seem to eat their livers." Sky Kid bit his lower lip to hid the grin and stop himself from laughing outright at that. "Not sure why they'd think that."

"Why do you think men are aliens?" She opened her mouth and then shut it, having no real evidence to support the idea that they were. "You're not giving me much to work with so that I can explain this. Do you know anything about our physiology?"

"You have an antenna between your legs."

"That…" He stopped and nodded, seeing how a woman who'd probably sooner shot a man than talk to him, might think that strange if she were rooting around corpses instead of living bodies. "So that's a penis. That part goes in your vagina or whatever the hell you call the thing between your legs, and with enough motion, we give you our seed, which then begins the process. Though, sadly, it's not that accurate. Couples can try for years, going through all these steps and never get pregnant, and then one night in a hotel room and then like magic they have a kid nine months later."

Barnette shivered. "The antenna…" She paused and looked down at her crouch in thought. It was small. Well, she was, but that wasn't the problem in her line of thinking. How did it even work? "So, you're thing goes into our thing, and then you just… what… fill us up with it? Like putting water in a cup?"

Tapping on his chin, he soon nodded. "Kinda like that. Not the best way of putting it, but I'm sure if you talk to Trig about it, she'll explain it to you. Or give you a toy to play with and you can work out the rest. And if you use one of her toys, don't worry, you don't have to worry about getting pregnant from it. That only happens if you're with a man."

Barnette nodded slowly, pretending like she understood before another strange thought popped into her head. "What toy?"

"Long story very short: Someone, probably a male doctor I think from way before the colonization era started, created a piece of a plastic that is shaped like a male penis that women can use to pleasure themselves. Thus, proving once and for all, with your world anyways, that men are replaceable. If you have a way for a woman to impregnant another woman, you have basically removed males from the picture."

"Well we have."

He sighed as he shook his head. "Your world sounds like heaven." He pulled in to the drive way and got out a moment later. Trig was already at the door, her hands on her hips and a scowl on her face. "We're making breakfast!" He told her, raising his voice just enough so that she could hear him as he popped the trunk. Barnette was there grabbing half of the bags. He grabbed the remaining bags and walked up the steps after her. "You enjoy your peace and quiet?"

Trig looked at Barnette and then back to Sky Kid. "Drop the stuff. We need to talk." She was serious. He nodded and walked instead, asking Barnette to put things away before coming back out. "Just got word from Avalanche. Something hit one of our cruisers. Knocked it out of the picture. Sunk. Whatever it did it was far out there. Viper is taking Lightning as backup."

"Which one got hit?"

"Two For Flinching."

Sky Kid's mouth opened and then promptly shut before he became serious. A scowl formed on his face. "You have to be kidding me. What about Cobalt's Team? Any word?" Trig shook her head. Sky Kid shut his eyes and growled. "You have to be fucking kidding me. Raiders? Pirates?"

"Unknown. Viper is linking up Captain Senna and Temptation to go check it out."

"How far out where they?"

"Three days."

He nodded. So, they'd have information in about a week. In one week, he'd be back in the air either way.

Barnette stepped outside and called for them, saying that food was ready. The duo acted like nothing happened as they walked inside and started to eat.