Sorry this chapter is late and it wasn't up when it was supposed to be, but I have a confession to make. My loving husband is my beta for this story. He was interested in what I have been working on all these years, so I roped him into reading my story, and he has been editing my story for grammar mainly issues. Gotta put that college degree to use..lol..However, he worked I think close to 60+hrs last week so editing this chapter was on his back burner. Thank you to everyone who continues to read and to everyone who commented on the last chapter. I hope you enjoy this chapter. I don't own Divergent, all military-related mistakes are mine, and the only thing I own is the plot. I did change some military-related things to make the story more interesting. Happy Reading!
Chapter 19: Airplanes
My palms are sweating. I stand before the multimillion-dollar fighter jet, which looks slightly different in design than Tobias's last fighter jet, in my green flight suit eyeing it like it is the most dangerous predator in the world. Tobias pushes a ladder to the jet, laughing, "This one might bite compared to my last baby girl, you better keep a close eye on her." He glances at me while I roll my eyes at him. He turns, walking to Sam at the new Coast Guard helicopter; leaning against the airframe, his fingers point to different controls. He finishes going over the airframe's details and motions for Sam to climb into the driver's seat. My palms begin to sweat and butterflies swarm in my stomach; my eyes dart nervously between Tobias, Sam, and the rotating helicopter blades. Tobias and Sam leave the ground, and my heart pounds rapidly in my chest with fear that Sam will crash the helicopter with both of them in it. In an attempt to calm myself, I repeat, "Sam is a great pilot. He has done amazing on his flight simulations all day." A smile falls onto my lips thinking about how great Sam and Tobias seem to be getting along. While Sam was training, I sat between him and Tobias while Tobias went over everything on the computer, but I felt awkward as hell sitting between them, feeling the energy bounce between us all. My memory from this morning is broken by the whirring of a helicopter engine. Sam gracefully lands, and they hop out near the hanger.
While they are walking toward me, Sam glances over at the fancy new fighter jet sitting on the runway. Motioning to the jet, Tobias grins and says, "You wanna take one for a spin?" Sam sighs, "I would love to, but I can't. We would get into so much trouble, but thanks for the offer anyway. I'm sure it would be much more fun than flying a helicopter." Tobias laughs, "You went to Navy flight school, didn't you?" Sam shrugs his shoulders, "Yeah, but-" Tobias interrupts playfully, "I won't tell anyone if you don't. I mean the thing is sitting here doing nothing and it's basically collecting dust. Just don't crash it!" Tobias quickly walks to a hanger retrieving another ladder. I laugh, asking while he walks by me, "Since when are you the rule breaker around here?" He grins, "You only live once, Mrs. Eaton."
Seeing Tobias exit the hanger with another large ladder, Sam rolls his eyes at me, asking, "Does he always get his way?" I giggle, "Not always." Slowly, Sam walks toward me, "Do you want to join me for a ride in this fancy jet?" He asks, pointing to it. I grin, "Maybe another time, if you don't crash and burn this time." He laughs, tilting his head and glancing at me, "I'll hold you to that." Tobias rolls the ladder to the other jet while Sam and I watch him. I ask curiously, "Are you ready for this?" Sam groans, "I'm not sure. How much trouble do you think this is going to land us in?" I shrug my shoulders while Tobias walks quickly back to us, standing near his jet.
Tobias motions to go up the ladder near his waiting jet, and I wave goodbye to Sam. Tobias follows me up the ladder, buckles the seatbelt across my lap and chest in the seat behind him, and sternly grins, "Don't touch a thing," before disappearing down the ladder. My eyes skate over all the levels, buttons, dials, controls, the all-glass cockpit, and the holographic instrument screen. At that moment, admiration fills my chest for Tobias, and several questions flood into my mind. How does he know how to fly this thing? What happened to his F-22?
I watch Sam eye the new Navy plane from my seat with curiosity. He grimaces, "Fine, but I'm going to need a crash course on how to fly this beauty. I haven't had to fly an actual plane since school." Tobias laughs, automatically jumping back into teacher mode, showing him everything there is about the jet Sam is going to fly, which is a slightly smaller model than the one he will be flying.
While Tobias is pointing out different instruments and buttons, my mind drifts back to high school. I used to have a crush on Sam McKenzie, but I never made a move. We never saw each other as more than friends. If my parents hadn't been killed and Peter had never found Caleb and I on the streets, "rescuing us," I don't know what would have happened or where I would be. I wouldn't have met Sam.
If I was a normal high school girl, who had a normal life and met Sam, I would have attempted to develop our friendship into something more. In school, I always believed Sam was the smartest guy in class. When I first entered high school, he offered to catch me up in all the classes we had together since I had started the school year late. Sam always made me laugh; he had a sense of humor that I found deeply attractive. We were close too. As close as Chris and I am, before Peter and I started dating. I would often follow him to swim practice under the pretense of keeping him company on the car ride. We would study, spend time together, talk, or speak about our future plans.
My eyes flit to Sam and Tobias once again. Sam sits in the cockpit as Tobias continues to motion to different controls. Sam doesn't look like he has aged since the last time I saw him in college when he was eighteen, if anything, he looks better. Glancing at them, another memory pops into my brain: high school graduation. Sam excitedly pulled me to his side and placed his arm around my shoulder as his baby blue eyes sparkled with mischief. He grinned and said, "Prior, we did it, finally!" He grasped my hand and spun me around in circles, down the hall from the auditorium while I giggled, "Sam!" He continued, pulled me against his chest and said, "You are way too good for that bastard, Peter. You deserve so much better than him, and he will only hurt you at the end of everything." As his lips pressed against my hand, Peter appeared before us with a hard look on his face, but Sam simply smirked and walked away to find his family.
Another memory clouds my mind: the memory of Sam and I becoming inseparable in college until something disastrous happened with Peter. After that day, I only saw Sam briefly in passing on our college campus; we avoided each other like the plague due to Peter's jealousy. Sam dropped out of the classes we had together after what happened with Peter. A grimace pulls at my lips and a tear wells in my eye recalling the scene unfolding in my mind. Sam used to walk me to the campus library daily. On our walks to the library, Sam and I would speak about the classes we were currently taking and discuss which of the general education classes we could take together for the next three years after Peter dropped out to become a "bartender" in the spring semester. Which, in hindsight, was merely Peter's cover for permanently joining the mob full-time. Sam planned to major in English Literature, and I planned to major in Nursing. That day, Sam and I were joking around, and I teetered along the bench while I walked and sang the obnoxiously popular song on the radio that everyone was singing along to and randomly would get stuck in your head. Sam's disapproving glance met mine while I balanced. He rolled his eyes at the song, but the main feature in his eyes was concern, "Prior, you are going to fall and die if you don't get down from there!" I pouted, "I am not!" as I jumped off the bench. I didn't want to hear another of his safety lectures today. My feet caught on the wet grass and slid out from underneath me. I began to fall to the ground and laughter fell from my lips, but Sam caught me in his arms. My fall knocked us both to the ground; our books fell to the ground around us, and our limbs became a jumbled mess. From afar, we probably looked like lovers while we messed around. "Oh my god, Sam! I'm so sorry!" I whispered and quickly rolled off him.
From the corner of my eye, I noticed a man standing across the green, his arms angrily crossed, his foot tapping. He yelled, "What the fuck is this! I leave school for a week, and you are already messing around behind my back with another guy! How long has this been happening? Were you fucking him throughout high school too? Is that why Christina and you would go to swim practice and every meet even though neither of you were on the team!" Peter's eyes dart between Sam and I while we lay on the ground in shock at his words. When Peter's words finally sunk in, I bolted up and jumped away from Sam like he was on fire. "Peter, this isn't what it looks like! I swear! I fell while I was jumping off the bench, and Sam caught me!" I plead with him to believe me. He narrowed his eyes, sneered and said, "Sure, he did. He should have let you fall if he knew what was good for him!" Sam shrugs his shoulders and snapped back, "It's the truth, that's what happened, believe it or not, I don't care. I was raised better than to let a woman fall, I'm not going to let Tris fall onto the wet ground."
Peter flipped, motioned to each person, then said, "Keep your mouth shut! This is between my girl and me!" Peter eyed Sam with distrust. Sam grabbed our fallen books from the grass, and Peter roughly grabbed my hand. I winced while he dragged me away from Sam, a few feet toward a concrete building. Sam worriedly following behind us, called "Let her go, you are hurting her!" When he reached for me, his fingertips touched my shoulder to pull me from Peter's grasp or wedge himself between Peter and I, but Peter would not allow it. When Sam attempted to hand my fallen books to me, Peter batted the books from his hands. Not tolerating the gesture, Peter screams, "Get out of my face before I do something I regret, McKenzie!" I yelled, "Stop, Peter!" Sam answered, "It's fine. I'm going to go, and I will see you later in the library at the usual time for our study session." The hint of a smile tugged at my lips as he handed me my books from the ground, but his hand gently touched mine. Peter quipped, "Is that code for sex or something?" The anger radiated off him, he hotly continued, "You won't be seeing her again!" Peter grabbed ahold of Sam harshly by the shirt collar, pushed him into the concrete wall, and punched Sam in the face three times. I screamed, "Stop!" As Sam slumped to the ground, I yelled, helpless while Peter hit Sam over and over again, I cried, "Peter, stop, please, I won't see him anymore if you leave him alone!" Peter dragged me away from Sam's bloody beaten body. I should have known after that day the type of monster Peter was, but he apologized. He blamed his jealousy on my friendship with Sam. I stupidly believed that my actions were the cause for his behavior, and, if I stayed away from Sam, Peter would treat me better.
Movement draws me from my thoughts, as Tobias slides into the front seat. My breath catches in my throat. He looks drop-dead gorgeous in his green flight suit, helmet, headset, and sunglasses. He looks like a Top Gun pilot. He twists in his seat, tugging at my seat belt, testing it, he smiles, "Got to make sure you aren't going anywhere." Rolling my eyes, I answer, "I'm not going anywhere. What happened, didn't you fly an F-22?" He laughs, handing me a pair of sunglasses from his pocket, "Good memory. This fighter jet is replacing the F-22; this one is an F-35. After Peter tampered with my last jet, I got an upgrade." He hands me a headset, I place it on my head, he flips a button on the console, tugs his seatbelt across his body, and begins to speak to the tower. He switches another button, and Sam's voice fills my ears. They speak in a lingo I don't understand. Tobias gives instructions for take-off. Mounting courage, I ask whispering, "What did Sam mean when he stated you had met before?" Tobias ignores my question, and the jet rumbles to life underneath my feet for a minute. He flips another switch, and, suddenly, the noise from the tower and Sam's voice are gone; the only voice left is his, whispering, "Your friend was one of the men who found Zeke and I when we were stranded after Peter messed with our plane at Travis. Sam sort of rescued me from that damned island and saved my life." Shock fills my chest at his words. The jet begins to move as Tobias salutes to someone on the ground. What's that for? My question long forgotten while the jet takes off at rapid speed. I wish I had Tobias's thighs to grab ahold of like last time while we leave the ground, but I don't this time, so I settle for my own. I squeal, laughing with excitement when I feel the wheels lift off the ground. Glancing around the glass cockpit, I ask, "Tobias, is that the White House?" Look over there!" I yell through the microphone. He laughs, "It is." I look around taking in the sights of Washington D.C. surrounding me.
Suddenly, the headset crackles to life with instructions from the tower. Tobias sharply turns the jet left, flying over the ocean. Tobias, Sam, and the tower speak for several moments, and I drift into my mind not listening to their conversation nor understanding it. Once the tower is silent, Sam and Tobias speak back and forth, my ears peak, picking up bits and pieces of their conversation. Tobias mentions control once again, and where they are located. From his reflection, Tobias looks to be in his element while flying. He catches my eyes in the glass reflection, and blows me an air kiss. A smile tugs at my lips. He fiddles with a switch, and his voice suddenly fills my ears, "You okay?" I answer, "Yes," nodding my head, my eyes going back to the window, glancing at the approaching base.
Suddenly, I hear Tobias command, "Now, I want you to outmaneuver me." My eyebrows shoot into my hairline at his words. Has he lost his mind! I attempt to send him nervous glances through the glass, but he isn't seeing me. "You got it, sir!" Before I can fully process my life ending, the ground is vertical, and Sam's plane is next to me while I look out of the bubble and scream, "Tobias!" Gripping the seatbelt for dear life while the jets are righted. Tobias laughs, "Good job, Sam! Now, let's try a defensive spiral." I brace myself, not knowing what the hell is coming next, but preparing for the worst with whatever a defensive spiral is. Tobias flies the jet higher into the sky, he meets Sam at a certain altitude, asking, "Are you ready?" Sam answers, "Yes, sir." Soon the nose of the plane is pointing toward the runway. I bite my tongue hard, to keep from screaming. "I'm going to die, I know it!" I scream while Tobias follows Sam's jet, hot on his tail toward the ground, "You're dead," Tobias laughs, "You're in my crosshairs!" Right before we hit the earth, Tobias pulls up, flying in the opposite direction of Sam, continuing, "Great job, Sam, I think that is all. On your right, there should be a gear which lets you flare when you land." Sam answers, "With all due respect, Lieutenant Eaton, I don't know how to flare. That isn't something that was taught in Navy flight school, and it isn't something you can do in a helicopter."
"Suit yourself, but you don't know what you are missing," Tobias teases. My eyes catch his in the glass, and I watch him sharply pull the joystick causing the jet to do a series of barrel rolls while I loudly scream through the headset. Sam asks seriously, "Are you okay up there?" Tobias answers, "She is fine. She hates when I do barrel rolls," as a smirk tugs at his lips. Playfully, I shoot him an angry look while he takes the jet back to the runway on the airfield.
Once the jet is safely on the ground, I rip my seatbelt off, tip Tobias's head back toward mine, he grins while I pull his headset and helmet off, whispering, "Thank you for the tour of Washington D.C. from the sky, but next time can you try not to kill me," brushing my lips against his. Cheekily he smiles, "I wasn't trying to kill you, I would never do such a thing, you were safe the entire time. You love flying with me and you know it, but you are more than welcome for the tour, baby. I love flying with you too."
Thoughts and opinions on this chapter? Review and let me know what you thought. The next chapter will probably be up at some point this weekend September 26 or next week sometime baring anything horrible happening in life.