Chapter 18: The Flight

APOV

It's another Friday and I'm beat. I've been taking on more responsibility at work. Christian has a meeting today in Spokane with Ros. They're taking Charlie Tango, so I'm on my own for dinner. Maybe Kate and Jose want to get together. I'll text Kate to see if she's free.

*R U free 4 dinner?*

*Yes! Elliot is working late at a job. Where & time?*

*Blarney Stone at 5:30?*

*Sounds good. C U then!*

*C U. I'll text Jose.*

*K. Laters!*

*Laters*

*R U free 4 dinner & drinks 2night?*

*Anything for my Annie! Time & place?*

*Blarney Stone 5:30*

*I'll B there. C U*

Finally at 5:15 I head out of SIP and grab a taxi to the pub. I get there and Jose is already waiting for me. "Hey! Jose, it's good to see you. Where is Brady?"

"Hey, Annie babe. Brady is babysitting his nieces tonight. Lucky for me you invited me out to dinner so I got out of it." He kisses me on the cheek and makes me laugh.

"I'm glad I could be of service to you."

Kate comes in looking as good as ever. Jose gives her a wolf whistle, "Kate, you are smoking! The Seattle Times should put you on the front page. Come, I am starving!"

We order drinks and appetizers and Jose tells us about his photography exhibit at Urban Light Studios. He is so excited. He has another year of school yet but I think he's just finishing his degree to please his parents. Kate and I tell Jose that we'll be there for his opening. He is a very talented landscape photographer.

"Guys, you will never believe the news I have!" Kate is so excited she's practically dancing in her seat.

" .God! Katharine just tells us! We're not getting any younger here!" Kate gives Jose the stink eye. Patience isn't really a virtue that Jose possesses.

"I have been given an opportunity to write a regular column about the hottest places to be in Seattle!"

"Kate! That is so fantastic! I'm so happy for you!" I give her a little hug. I do miss this girl.

"Katie! Does that mean you'll be able to get us into all the best places?" The waitress comes up and asks if we would like dessert. We had so much fun talking that I didn't even realize we were finished with our entrees.

Just then Kate's phone rings. "Hey Sexy. Are you done with the job? You can always come out and meet us. What? I'm, OK. Hang on…" Kate has a look of worry on her face as she hands me the phone.

"Elliot?"

"Ana, Pipsqueak, I'm sorry but you need to come to Escala right away"

"Christian? Is he OK?" I feel like the air has been knocked out of me.

"We don't know yet. His helicopter went down and we haven't heard anything from him." I drop the phone. This isn't happening. This can't be happening.

"Elliot, what the hell happened? Oh, oh my God. We'll bring her over right away. We'll see you soon."

CPOV

The meeting in Spokane went really well. The owners of the company agreed to sell it to us at the price we offered so it will be pretty easy to handle. We took Charlie Tango so that way it's only an hour flight. On the way back, as a celebration, I take Ros over Mt. Rainier National Park. She's never been in Charlie Tango so I figured we may as well have some fun. Suddenly, all my dash lights go crazy. Shit. Something is wrong, very wrong.

"Christian, what's going on?" I can tell Ros is panicked. She isn't really comfortable flying in the first place. She actually wanted to drive and make it an overnight trip.

"Ros, I'm not going to sugar coat this. Both of the engines have failed." As I'm talking to her I'm trying to guide Charlie Tango to a clearing in the park.

"Christian, is that normal?" Now, Ros is starting to panic. I need to stay calm and keep control.

"No, it's not. I'm going to try and bring her down in a clearing here. Hold on." Lucky enough I am able to maneuver her to the clearing and aside from some major bumps we're good. I was able to land her.

I get out and help Ros out. "Are you OK?"

"Yeah, I think. Christian, what the hell was that? I thought you said this was safe?"

"It's a Eurocopter, it's the safest helicopter you can have." I take a look at the engines and they are both fried and there's smoke coming out of them. I go back into Charlie Tango to radio in and the entire panel is dead. Nothing works. We're stuck.

I check my phone and it says 'no service'. Shit. We're too far from a cell tower. I knew I should have gotten a satellite phone. "Ros, does your phone have any service?"

She takes out her phone and looks at it. "Shit. No. Now what? Are we stuck here?"

"Well, how opposed are you to taking a little hike? If we follow the sun we should be able to go West and then at some point meet up on I90."

"I'd rather not hike but it looks like I don't really have a choice, do I?" Ros isn't really into nature or exercise.

"Let's go before we lose daylight." And we start making our way west. We're making small chit-chat along the way just to keep ourselves occupied.

About an hour or so in, Ros says, "I sure am glad that gay marriage is legal in Washington state. At least if we would have bit it Gwen would be able to have everything without a problem."

"Didn't you put her in your will?" I know that usually the legal spouse would become executor of the will and stuff but since I am not married, I have no clue how these things worked. I never even considered marriage before.

"Of course I did. But even if I were to leave everything to Gwen since we aren't married or related it would be a huge mess for her. It was one of the main reasons we wanted to get married so we could protect each other. Lucky for you, your father is a lawyer so if you bit it he'd be able to work it out."

But, this has me thinking. If something were to happen to me I'm sure my father would carry out my will but what about Ana? She wouldn't be protected, not how I want her to be. If something happened to me I would want to make sure that Ana would never have to worry about anything again. And, this is selfish, but that would decrease the chances of her being with anyone else. She wouldn't need to be with anyone else. Being without Ana. The thought depresses me.

"Ros, what made you want to marry Gwen?" I normally never get this personal with my staff, including Ros.

"Gwen and I had an instant connection. Back then only a few states had legalized gay marriage so it wasn't as common as it is today. So I never really thought about it. But then we were together for about 10 years and I wanted to make the legal commitment to her. I knew I'd be with her forever but I wanted her to have everything she wanted. She always wanted to be a bride, even after she knew she was gay. So, when gay marriage was legalized in 2010, we went for it. Since it's just her and I we went to a little bed and breakfast in Leavenworth and had a simple ceremony with just the two of us."

"No family or friends?" I'm ashamed that I've worked with Ros for almost 7 years now and I don't know that much about her.

"Both of our parents stopped talking to us when we came out of the closet. It's actually one of the first things we bonded over. Anyway, we decided that the most important part of a wedding is the couple getting married and everything else was just extra. It really was a perfect day." Ros smiles as she thinks about her wedding day. "Why are you suddenly all interested in my personal life? Isn't it your motto to not get personal with staff?" Ros is joking but now I'm kind of ashamed of my past "policy".

"I don't know. I've just been doing a lot of thinking lately." A lot of thinking.

"Christian Trevelyan Grey, are you considering marriage?" Ros is laughing. Damn this woman. She can really read people. It's why she's so great at her job.

'Yes! OK? But don't tell anyone. I never thought I would even consider marriage and now all I can think about is marrying Anastasia."

"Christian, honestly, you're not as slick as you think you are. Everyone knows how head over heels you are for her. You stare at that picture of you and her on your desk lost in your own little world. So, what's stopping you?" Ros is usually my voice of reason with work but now I think she's my voice of reason in my personal life too.

"I don't know. I guess because it's too soon." I'm basically repeating what Flynn and Elliot said to me.

"So? Who cares? Why are you, of all people, letting societal norms rule what you do? If you did that you would have stayed at Harvard. You'd be successful, I'm sure, but maybe not as much as you are now. Do you love Ana?"

"Yes. I love her more than she knows." Actually more than I know, more than I thought was possible.

"Christian, then don't worry about what other people think is right. If you and Ana want to get married then do it. The length of time you date before you get married isn't an indicator of how your marriage will be. We both know that."

"Yeah, thanks. Let's just hurry up and get to the highway so we can get back home sooner rather than later." I'm done with all of the personal junk. "And you are not allowed to breathe a word about this conversation to anyone or I will tell everyone how you cry at Celine Dion songs."

Ros laughs. "Not like anyone would believe you but fine. You have a deal."

We finally make our way to the I90 and start walking along side of the road. "Christian, no one is going to pick us up hitchhiking. People will probably look at the two of us in suits, and your pretty face and think we're body snatchers straight out of Supernatural."

"We have to at least try. It'll take forever to walk back to Seattle." Just then a 70's Volkswagen camper with Grateful Dead stickers all over it stops.

A guy with long hair and a long beard who looks like he hasn't showered in a really long time rolls down his window. "You guys need a ride?"

"We need to go to Seattle. Can you help? We'll pay you." Money talks.

"Nah, man. We don't want your money. You get out of the universe what you put in."

We get into the camper and it reminds me of a college dorm room with tapestries hanging everywhere and the scent of patchouli suspended in the air.

"I'm Rez and this my wife, Angie. Where are you two headed?"

"I'm Christian and this is Ros. We need to get to Seattle."

"Well we're headed to Tacoma so that won't be a problem."

"That's great. We really appreciate it. Can we borrow your cell phone to make a couple of calls?"

"I would man, but we don't have any. We're not into all that technology stuff. It's how the government tracks your every move." I look over at Ros and she has a Iook of utter disbelief on her face.

She leans in and whispers to me, "Of course you own a telecom company and leave it to you to find someone who is anti-technology."

The drive is only about an hour and although I was very grateful I was ready to get out of that van. I hope Ana isn't upset that I'm late.

APOV

We've been at Escala for a couple of hours now, although I'm not really sure. I am just sitting here - I can't move or help. I'm shaking although I'm not cold. If I'm not crying I am on the verge. I just found Christian. I can't lose him now; it isn't fair. Jose and Kate have been keeping me company and whispering that he'll be OK. All the guys are making plans or calling people so we have the updates as they happen.

Grace is helping Gail in the kitchen to make some things to eat. I think she's just trying to stay busy. Mia has been going between the kitchen and being by her dad and Elliot.

Everyone is so nice to me but I feel like I don't belong here. I'm not his family and they hardly know me, well with the exception of Elliot.

"Ana, honey, have some tea. You should probably eat something but I know you said you aren't hungry so at least drink the tea, OK?" Gail looks at me with concern that a mother would have. Since I've been staying here I've gotten very fond of her.

"Annie, why don't you get into more comfortable?" Jose is rubbing my back to try and comfort me.

"I'm OK. I don't want to miss any news."

"Annie, you won't be missing anything, I promise. Come on…" Jose holds his hand out for me to take and leads me into the bedroom.

As I am walking out of the bedroom wearing yoga pants and one of Christian's t-shirts that smell like him, I see a whole bunch of activity by the foyer. Then I hear Grace yell, "Christian!" Could it be? Is he really here and OK?

After he greets Grace he comes around the corner and our eyes lock. I immediately start to cry. I'm not sure if it's relief or the tears I was trying to hold back. Christian throws his things on the floor and practically runs to me. He picks me up into the biggest hug. "It's OK, baby. I'm here. I'm OK. Please don't cry." Christian tries to soothe me and won't let me go. I hope he never lets me go.