Chapter 2: Flying is a pain.

*Knock* *Knock*

"Lt. Freeman, I'm here to take you to the airport, the car is outside." A female's voice spoke from behind the door.

"Ok, be right down."

He grabbed his luggage and opened the door. His appearance had definitely changed; his trademark afro was gone, replaced by a short style, standard issue in the military. He stood in his dress uniform, making sure everything was clean and in order.

"Ok, I've got everything. I'll go ahead and load it into the…truck."

He stopped and gazed at the large SUV in front of him. Instead of a standard Jeep, he was standing before a Hummer with US Army insignia.

"Umm, what happened to the old Jeep?" Huey asked the young private, who just climbed into the driver's seat.

"We upgraded, Col. Said he wanted your journey home to be as comfortable as possible."

"Comfort's fine, but this is a little extra." He spoke as he finished loading his bags into the back.

"We'll be there in about, 30 minutes. Do you have your boarding pass and ticket, and ID card?" The young private spoke as if he was reading from a list.

"Yes, everything's in order."

"Alright, we're off sir."

After 30 minutes of driving, and about an hour of security checks and customs checkpoints, he was on the flight.

He sat in a business class cabin, relaxing in his seat before hearing the captain's communicator chime.

*Bing*

"Good morning folks, this is US Airlines Flight 765, bound for Woodcrest's Wuncler International Airport. Our expected flight time is…12 hours. Meals and refreshments will be served; your in-flight programs are located in the pocket of the seat directly in front of you. We should be in the air in about 25 minutes, so sit back, relax, and thank you for flying US Airlines." The captain spoke smoothly.

6 HOURS LATER.

The gentle sounds of the plane moving through the air relaxed many of the passengers and drifted them off to sleep. But, one Huey Freeman was wide awake, flipping through a magazine while he listened to his MP3 player.

"Excuse me, sir." A flight attendant tapped him on his shoulder, prompting him to pull off his headphones. "We're starting to serve meals, have you had time to look through the menu?" She was a rather…cheery looking person, sounding as if she was speaking to an old friend.

"Oh, I have. Could I place my order now?" He asked.

"Of course, what would you like?"

"The grilled chicken, with steamed vegetables and rice pilaf please."

"And to drink, sir?"

"Do you have green tea?"

"Yes we do, I'll be right back with your order."

"Thank you."

He watched her walk off as he continued to look through his magazine.

After she came back, he had started eating. After eating, he decided to rest for a bit, and sleep for the rest of the flight. If only things went right.

The sound of a woman screaming had woken him up after about an hour.

"Everyone, remain seated, this is a hijacking!" an average framed Caucasian man commanded as he pulled out a switchblade.

Huey sighed, he knew he could handle this guy, but knew this would attract unwanted attention upon landing. Still, he wouldn't be able to deal with himself if someone got hurt and he just sat there, and did nothing.

He rose from his seat, and gently peeked behind the curtain, seeing that there was only one man involved. "I can take this guy down without anyone getting hurt, but I'll have to be careful." He thought to himself.

He walked out of the curtain, stepping behind the man giving instructions to everyone. He gently tapped the man on the shoulder, catching his attention.

"Hey asshole, I told everyone to stay-

He was cut off by the uniformed man punching him in the face, following up with a knee to the stomach. He then broke the hijacker's hand, forcing him to drop his knife, and then struck him in the back of the head, knocking him unconscious.

"Is everyone ok, anyone hurt?" he asked before tying up the man with a spare belt from his carry-on.

No one spoke, they just stared at awe at the man who had saved them, and disarmed the hijacker, all within 2 minutes.

One man stood up and clapped, others followed suit.

"You're a hero!" a woman yelled as she stood up.

"I just didn't want anyone to get hurt; I'll head back to my seat."

Huey walked back to his seat, and slept through the rest of the flight.

After another 6 hours passed, the captain spoke. "To visitors and tourists, we hope you enjoy Woodcrest, to returning passengers, welcome home." He stood in the baggage claim, waiting for his suitcase to come around. "There it is." He said as he grabbed his bag.

It was just around 7PM after he had gotten everything in order. He had avoided the cameras and reporters waiting for the soldier turned hero. He had walked outside, whistling for a Taxi in the cold winter air. It pulled up as he grabbed his things and put them into the trunk. "Where you going to, sir?" An older man asked him as he got into the backseat.

"Timid Deer Lane, I'll tell you which house." Huey told him as he sat back.

The driver nodded, and pulled off.

Huey pulled out his cell phone and dialed his brother's number.

"Yo, this is Reezy, who dis?"

"Riley, it's me Huey. Listen, I'm coming home for a while, can you make sure the front door's open?" He asked as the cab moved down the highway.

"Yeah, I'll see you soon bro." Huey hung up his phone and put it back in his pocket.

The driver looked through his rearview mirror, so he could see Huey's face.

"I've been seeing a lot of military guys at the airports and train stations this month, you coming home for the holidays?" the driver asked, his voice not sounding tired, but as if he had already been through things in his lifetime.

"Yeah, something like that." Huey replied as he checked his watch.

"We're at Timid Deer; point out where you want me to stop."

"I'm right there, the house with the fountain in the front yard."

The car pulled up and stopped; Huey walked to the trunk and grabbed his bags, and walked up to the driver side window. The driver noticed Huey was going into his pocket to get his money out.

"No need kid; every soldier should be able to see his family. This one's on the house."

"Thanks, you sure you don't need me to pay?"

"It's the holiday season kid, I've got a lot of fares to get to, have a good night." The driver said before pulling off and honking the horn.

Huey walked up the path and to the front door, wondering if everything would be the same as it was 3 years ago.

Well, that's chapter 2, as always I hope you enjoyed. Don't forget to read and review, chappy number 3 will be here soon.