"Wait, I'm confused, why would Jimmy do that to Eddie?"

Just about the first thing to come out of Marty's mouth when we entered Hopper's hospital room was tell him about what just happened between me and Eddie. Well, his version of it, anyway.

"No idea, I told him not to, but he insisted!"

"You talked him into it, didn't you?" Hopper asked, looking dead serious.

"Absolutely, 100%. You should've seen his face, man, priceless."

"Nope, 'priceless' is what I'd use to describe lunch today, seeing as Marty's paying." Bucky quipped.

"Yeah…thanks for reminding me…" Marty was not amused.

"I mean, I'd love to join you guys, but these folks insist that I stay here. I've only been here one night and I'm already sick of hospital food."

"Your standards certainly seem high for someone who has to deal with military rations…" Marty stated matter-of-factly.

"Have you tried the food in this place? Trust me, you'll be begging for rations afterwards."

"If you say so, skip…"

"Anyway, what else is new? Anyone check on the bird yet?"

"Haven't had the time, really, but I plan on doing that soon." I joined the conversation, a bit late. "Maggie said she filmed our landing yesterday, so I'm gonna study that to see what I did wrong."

"Maggie?"

"Oh, yeah, Barkley hooked up with Andy's sister. Didn't I mention that?" Gee, thanks, Marty.

"Oh…that Maggie. I mean, that's a little weird, but to each their own, right?"

I had no response to that. They're just gonna tease me more if I deny it, right?

"Anyway, I'm glad you mentioned that landing. Fellas, you mind if I have a little chat with Jimmy? Alone."

As everyone else filed out of the room, I couldn't help but get a sinking feeling. I mean, I know my landing wasn't great. Hell, if I turned the yoke any more the wing would've hit the ground. In fact, there was a lot I should have done different. Hopper seemed to notice my anxiety:

"You okay over there? I get the feeling you're not really all here…"

"Sir, about my landing, I know that it wasn't the best but I promise I'll-"

"Don't worry about it."

"…What?"

"Look, there's two ways you can look at it: You can either say you made a few mistakes…"

"Or…?"

"Or you can say that you managed to stop the plane safely in spite of that. Kid, the way I see it, any landing you can walk away from is a good one. And, seeing as how we're both still alive, I'd say you've got that covered."

"That's uhm…Thanks, I guess?"

"You're quite welcome. Any plans for the day off?"

"The guys want to head into town, I think I might pass on that and just hang around the base a while."

"Don't."

"Sir?"

"Don't stay at the base."

"…why not?"

"Kid, what would you say is the job of a bomber pilot?" He can't be serious, can he?

"Uhm, fly the plane and bring it back in one piece?"

"Nope, that's only part of your job." Hopper, buddy, you're confusing the shit out of me.

"...What else is there?"

"You have to be a brother, a father, a friend, all at once. You have to take care of everyone on that plane. You need to be willing to take a bullet for any of them and they need to be willing to take a bullet for you.

"Look, you already got the ball rolling, you made a good first impression, but you have to keep that momentum going. They wanna take a jeep into town? Go with them. They wanna go to a bar and spend all night getting shitfaced? By god, get shitfaced with them. Take every single opportunity you can to bond with those guys and to just unwind. This is a war, Jimmy, you're gonna need some good memories to balance out the bad ones and trust me, there will be plenty of bad ones. I guess what I'm saying is: Go out there and spend some time with them, 'cause the truth is any of those guys could be dead tomorrow, and when they are, you'll regret not giving them the time of day."

I tried to speak but the words just don't come out…that was just…

"That got a bit dark at the end there, didn't it? Sorry. Look, just go into town with them and try to enjoy your day off, alright?"

"Yes, sir." I saluted.

"Atta boy! Dismissed." He said, returning the salute before laughing the whole thing off.

Hopper's words were… unnerving, to say the least, but I suppose he had a point. If I don't actually try to spend time with any of those guys, I doubt they'd try and spend some with me. And all I really had planned for today was drawing, which I can do later. Plane's not going anywhere. That and I've never actually been to Bunny Burrow. Closest I ever got was looking out the window when they first flew me in. And hey, who knows, maybe this'll be good for me. Besides, it's not like I'm missing out on anything by not staying here. I caught up with the guys just outside of the building that housed the squadron commander's office.

"So, Bunny Burrow?" I asked.

Marty turned towards me, looking completely devastated.

"Jimmy, I hate to be the one to tell you this but… I'M DRIVING!" He yelled at the top of his lungs, jiggling the keys in his paw. Can't believe I was actually worried.

"Like hell you are!" Bucky took charge, quickly taking the keys away from Marty. "Last time you almost had us wrapped around a lamppost!"

"The keyword there is almost. Besides, that was weeks ago!"

"That was three days ago! And I'd much rather be alive to claim my free lunch, thank you very much."

"Fine, but I call sh-"

"SHOTGUN!" Eddie yelled before Marty could.

"Goddammit! What the hell, Eddie?" Marty was visibly pissed.

"It's called payback, buddy!" Eddie smirked.

"Man, I never get to do anything!"