The SB2C Helldiver slowly descended towards the deck, flaps and gear extended, tailhook ready to catch on one of the arresting wires. There was a slight wobble as the wind over the deck, but it quickly smoothed itself back out, continuing its controlled descent. I watched with bated breath as it gracefully sank in the sky. Finally, its wheels kissed the deck, the tailhook caught one of the cables…and all hell broke loose.

The tailhook was violently wrenched free from its mounting on the aircraft, flung back as the arresting wire snapped back into position. Without anything else to slow the Helldiver, it barrelled forward into the crash barrier, the wheels catching on the upraised cabling and causing the dive bomber to flip onto its nose. It hung there for half a second before continuing forward and crashing down belly-up, crushing the cockpit. I grimaced as I watched the entire thing unfold, grateful that Yorktown's aircraft were unmanned.

"At least it was the last one," I offered, although I could already see that would be of no comfort to Yorktown.

"Seventeen," she sighed as she surveyed the wreckage on her flight deck. "Seventeen out of thirty-six total Helldivers. Maybe I'm not ready for this."

I wasn't having any of that. "If that were true, you'd have had just as many problems with the Hellcats and Avengers, but you didn't, did you?"

Yorktown slowly shook her head, the dark cloud swirling above her lightening somewhat. "No, I didn't. If anything, they handled much better than the Wildcats and Devastators I'm used to."

"So if you're two out of three on aircraft handling, that would seem to indicate it may be an issue with the plane, right?" She nodded, slowly, and I pushed the issue just a bit more. "When we get back home, how about I take up a Helldiver, do a few practice landings on the tarmac, get a feel for it, see if we can't figure things out?"

She looked over at me with a hopeful smile. "You wouldn't mind?"

"Hell, no!" I grinned. "Anything to help you out, and besides, it's been far too long since I've logged any serious flight hours."

Her smile quickly vanished, replaced by an upset look. "Max, have you been neglecting our SBD?"

"No!" I emphatically denied. "She's in mint condition, I promise. But…" I sighed softly and shrugged, "...without you, it just…it didn't feel the same. So I put in a few hours, just to keep the engine running and make sure I didn't forget the basics, but aside from that…haven't been in the air much."

"And now that I'm back?"

A slow grin spread across my face. "Feels like I'm flying already."

The SB2C was a beast of an aircraft. While not as large as the TBF Avenger, it was still much bigger than the old SBD. It looked like a truly impressive airplane as I did a pre-flight walk around.

"I really wish you'd let me come with you," Yorktown insisted as she walked with me, repeating her earlier concerns.

I stop my check and turn to face her with an empathetic smile. "I know, and I'd love to take to the air with you again, but right now I'd feel a hell of a lot better with you here, in the tower. Something goes wrong, you can do a lot more from up there than in the back seat." When that didn't convince her, I put my arms around her waist and pulled her close to me. "Hey, how about this: I do a few test landings, get a handle on whatever's going on with these planes, then take you up for a nice long flight over the island. Sound good?"

While still clearly nonplussed about the entire situation, it seemed a bit more palatable. "Alright," she finally conceded with a quick nod. "But don't forget Enterprise will be arriving this afternoon."

"I haven't forgotten," I chuckled as I gave her a quick kiss and returned to my pre-flight inspection. "She's going to be very surprised when she gets here."

Yorktown's blue eyes widened. "You haven't told her yet?"

"I feel like this is the kind of news you want to deliver in person," I quickly explained. "Telling her, 'Hey, come back, your sister's been not only miraculously cured but stronger than ever before' via a coded message seems wildly impersonal, and we're not risking our strategic positioning by recalling her anyway."

Her expression softened and she nodded. "That's fair, I guess. And this way, I'll be able to see the look on her face when she gets back. Now, are you ready to take this thing for a spin?"

I looked up at the monster of a dive bomber and let out a deep sigh. "As I'll ever be."

"Then pilot, man your plane," she quipped before she pulled me in close for a tender kiss. "For good luck."

"I'll take all the luck I can get," I grinned as I clambered up onto the wing. "See you soon!"

The first thing I noticed when I lowered myself into the cockpit was just how roomy it was compared to the SBD. While I doubt crew comfort was a major factor in the design of the aircraft, I nevertheless appreciated it. I quickly ran through the preflight checklist and warmed up the engine. While the sound was familiar, I did note that I didn't get blasted with exhaust smoke when I started it up like I did with the SBD. So far, all fairly positive traits. I hoped this continued as I taxied to the runway.

I took a deep breath and thumbed the radio. "Bombing Five to tower, requesting takeoff clearance."

Yorktown's gentle voice crackled in my ear. "You're cleared for takeoff on runway one-zero, Bombing Five. Godspeed."

"Bombing Five copies." I pulled the goggles over my eyes, placed my hand on the throttle, and slowly pushed forward. The Helldiver rumbled as I accelerated down the runway, feeling the aircraft beginning to level out, and then lift off as I had enough speed. I began to pull up and away as I slowly ascended into the sky. Very slowly. Even the Slow But Deadly didn't feel like she took as much time to get altitude.

Once I was at the pre-discussed height, I radioed Yorktown. "Bombing Five at angels three."

"Tower copies, Bombing Five," Yorktown replied. "How's it handling up there?"

I put the Helldiver through a few slow, gentle turns, trying to feel the aircraft out. In my mind, it seemed a bit sluggish, but it could have been due to my inexperience in this particular plane. "Feels a bit underpowered, to be honest," I replied. "You didn't have any problems with general flight characteristics, did you?"

"Negative."

"Probably just me, then." I sighed and took a look around, seeing the island splayed out around me. The sooner we got this landing thing sorted out, the sooner I'd be able to take Yorktown up here. "Alright, gonna go ahead and set up a landing pattern, go ahead and get the arresting cables ready, and give me the approach when you're ready."

"Tower copies." There was a brief pause. "You're cleared for landing on runway zero-one, approach from the west. Windspeed, zero-five miles per hour across the deck."

"Bombing Five copies. Sounds like a nice, easy run." Oh, boy, did that line come back to bite me in the aft end.

The long, slow descent down to my landing approach was relatively uneventful, and I easily lined up the SB2C with the runway. And that's when the problems began. As I dropped my speed, it became even more unwieldy and unresponsive. I wound up overcorrecting on multiple occasions before I finally managed to get things under control, and even then, it was still a struggle. I could feel the sweat beading on my forehead as I tried to maintain the glide slope, and it seemed I wasn't the only one who was getting nervous.

"Bombing Five, you look like you're having trouble," Yorktown's concerned voice cut in. "Do you need assistance?"

"Negative," I grunted as I continued to fight with the Helldiver. "I've got it. But damn, is she fighting me the whole way down. How's my approach?"

"Still a bit high. Ease back on the throttle."

"Negative," I repeated. "I ease back any further and I don't know if I can control her."

"Then wave off and come around, I'll have a new vector for you for a higher-speed landing."

"Copy that," I answered. It was at that point I made a nearly fatal mistake. In order to wave off, I gunned the engines, trying to get enough power to climb. In most other aircraft, what would happen is that the plane would begin to gently climb into the sky. The Helldiver didn't get that memo. Instead, the nose rapidly pitched up, nearly putting me into the vertical. At that speed, I would have immediately stalled and crashed. Only by jamming the control stick forward and fully opening the throttles did I manage to quickly level out the aircraft and avoid a stall. And even with those emergency measures, I still dropped a hundred feet, the ground now worryingly close as I got the SB2C's speed back up.

My sudden unexpected maneuvers had not gone unnoticed by Yorktown. Unsurprising, considering I was now at tower height when I flew past. "Max, Max, are you okay?!" Even through the crackle of the radio I could hear the concern in her voice.

"Yeah," I lied as I tried to get my nerves under control. "This thing is a death trap at slow speeds, that's all."

"Do you want to circle around and just do a regular landing? We don't have to do a carrier landing if you feel it's unsafe."

I thought about it for a long few moments, looking down at the runway as it grew smaller and smaller. "Give me the updated vector for carrier landings, and we'll do one pass. If I don't get it, we'll do just a regular approach. And have the emergency crews on standby, just in case."

"Tower copies. Good luck."

"Thanks."

My heart was hammering in my chest and wanted nothing more than to get out of this plane and onto the ground. But I also knew if we didn't at least try and figure out what was going on with this damned thing, I'd be back up here again. Since I would rather get this all over and done with now, I'd give it at least one shot.

Once more, I lined up on approach as Yorktown guided me in. And once more, as I dropped my speed, the Helldiver became less and less responsive. At least I was expecting it this time, and while I was using the stick, rudder, and throttles frantically, I managed to keep her on course.

The nose slowly pitched up as Yorktown continued to talk me down. "You're good on approach, Bombing Five. Glide slope looks good…good…cut power…now."

I cut power to the engine right as I felt the wheels hit the tarmac, and I let out a sigh of relief. That relief would be very short-lived. The tailhook caught one of the arresting cables a second later, and I felt the aircraft jerk forward as it was brought to a sudden stop. Or it should have been. Instead, the entire fuselage aft of the gunner's seat violently detached from the rest of the Helldiver, the tail assembly whipping back while the rest of the aircraft hurtled forward, with me still in it. Not realizing what had happened, I slammed on the brakes, but now perilously unbalanced and still carrying a lot of forward momentum, that was precisely the wrong thing to do. The SB2C pitched forward, the rotating propeller blades shattering against the tarmac as the nose touched the runway. I heard the engine roar and grind, and I quickly killed it, shutting off the fuel supply as well. The last thing I needed was a fire. To my right, I could see the emergency crew manjuus racing towards me, fire equipment at the ready, and I let out a sigh of relief as I quickly unbuckled myself from my seat.

Getting out was a bit more perilous, considering the Helldiver was on its nose, but I managed to slide down the wing and trotted away, giving myself some space in case any leaking fuel were to ignite. Once I was sure I was safe, I turned around to see what had happened. I was both shocked and horrified to see the Helldiver's tail nearly fifty feet from the rest of the airframe, tailhook still on the arresting wire.

"Max!" Yorktown called out to me, and I turned to see her running towards me, the worry visible on her face. "Max!"

"I'm fine!" I called out to her as I ran to meet her. We practically crashed into each other as we held each other in a fierce embrace. "It's okay," I soothed as I stroked her silvery hair. "I'm alright."

"Please tell me you're not going up there again," she whispered.

"Not in one of those things," I answered, glancing back over my shoulder at the wreckage. "Landing that thing was a menace and I do not want to do that again. In fact, I'd recommend we scrap all SB2Cs and send them back to the drawing board. Let Sara and her team work on them until she's got these issues ironed out."

Yorktown sighed and nodded. "I think that'd be for the best. Shall we use the SBDs in the meantime?"

"Yeah," I said after a moment's reflection. "Still a damn good aircraft and your rigging should push it even further. I'll pass the order on later today, but in the meantime, you can go ahead and swap whenever you're ready." I looked back at the manjuu working to clear the wreckage of the Helldiver. "Guess Hornet was right."

"Right about what?" Yorktown asked, giving me a perplexed look.

"She said she found an old nickname for the Helldiver from back during the war. Said they called it the Son of a Bitch, 2nd Class. Having flown one, I think that name's right on the money." I sighed as I realized something and felt a pang of regret. "I don't think they're gonna get the runway cleared in time for us to take up the SBD. I'm sorry."

To my surprise, Yorktown smiled and shook her head. "No need for apologies. I have an even better idea."

I found Enterprise waiting by the entrance to the hospital. While she was trying to keep a stoic expression on her face, I could see in her eyes that she was worried. "Commander, why have you recalled me?"

Right to the point as usual. I should have expected that. "It's about Yorktown, she-" I didn't even have time to finish before she took off into the hospital. "Wait, Enty! She's not-Enterprise!" I called out after her, but her stubborn streak had locked in and she would not be deterred by anything I had to say. I followed her up to where Yorktown's hospital room had been, catching her just in time for her to see that it was vacant. When she turned to face me, I gave her a soft smile and jerked my come back the way we'd come. "This way."

I led her back out of the hallway and down towards the air station where a single angelic figure waited by a tree. Enterprise looked quizzically at me, then over at the figure. "Go on," I smiled. "She's waiting for you."

She looked at me once more before nodding and walking towards the stranger. As she approached Yorktown, I turned to where Hornet and the others were hiding, silently gesturing them over. With big grins, Hornet and Northampton hurried over, followed by a less amused-looking Hammann and Langley.

"She figure it out yet?" Hornet whispered conspiratorially.

"I think she's about to," I whispered back as we crept a bit closer, straining to hear Yorktown's soft voice.

"...I've slept for far, far too long. Long enough to miss so, so many things...Long enough to make you carry the weight of the world by yourself for all this time…"

If she hadn't figured it out before, Enterprise's next word removed all doubt. "Yorktown…"

"Enterprise, I'm back."

"I…"

"Welp, good enough for me," Hornet suddenly announced before she rushed over to her sisters.

"Hornet!" I hissed not wanting her to ruin the tender moment between siblings, "Hornet, get back here!"

But by that point, it was too late. Hornet had already gotten next to both of them as she boisterously asked, "Enty! Did you come all the way from the front lines?!" Before she could even answer, Hornet showed off her new flight deck, striking several enthusiastic poses. "Look! Check out my new rigging!"

As the rest of us approached, Northampton let out a sigh that suggested this wasn't the first time she'd had to rein in her overenthusiastic girlfriend. "It looks like you're the dense one this time, Hornet. Even I know this isn't the right time to be barging in…"

Hornet fixed Northampton with a confused look, completely oblivious to her social faux pas. "...Huh?"

"Yeah, not the best look," Hammann chimed in, her hands on her hips. "You're such a blockhead, Hornet!"

At this point, Hornet was totally lost, looking around at everyone as she tried to understand her offense. "Wha?! What'd I do?"

"Now, now. It's okay," Yorktown chuckled as she pulled her siblings in for a tender hug. "Yorktown, the Fighting Lady, has returned to you once more. Bathed in the resplendent dawn of happiness born from the darkest night...I am here to fight alongside you all. And I've missed you so much, Enterprise."

Enterprise stared at Yorktown for another moment before she wrapped her arms around her tightly. "I missed you, too, Yorktown," she whispered. "I've missed you so much."

"And I, you, dear sister," Yorktown smiled as she stroked Enterprise's hair. "But I'm back now, and I have one more surprise for us…"

A/N-So, historically, when the USS Yorktown(CV-10) first got underway for her shakedown cruise in May of 1943, she had 36 brand new SB2C Helldivers aboard. They had problems almost immediately, and in dramatic fashion. For starters, they had real problems getting airborne. During the shakedown, one was lost immediately on takeoff. A film crew was aboard filming "The Fighting Lady" and "Wing and a Prayer". While this sort of thing did not befit a wartime propaganda piece like The Fighting Lady, it would be used in Wing and a Prayer(it's at the 53 minute mark if you wanna watch it on Youtube). Another problem the SB2C initially had was the nasty habit of going nose up during low-speed operations, causing a sudden stall. But by far, the worst problem the SB2C had with the Yorktown was landing. Of the 36 SB2C Helldivers, 17 suffered catastrophic tailhook failures and wound up plowing directly into the crash barrier and getting wrecked. While I can't find in the historical record if any from Yorktown had the same catastrophic failure as Max's here, that was a common enough occurrence with the airframe. The air maintenance officer, one Lieutenant Joe Tucker, brought his concerns to the CO, Captain Joseph "Jocko" Clark. Clark, sympathetic to Tucker's plight, asked, "If you were me, what would you do?" Tucker thought about it, and replied, "...I'd turn this ship right around and head back into Trinidad, and I'd put these SB2Cs ashore and leave 'em there!" After giving it some thought, Jocko calls in the navigator and tells him, "Set a course for Trinidad! Cease operations!" When she sailed for the Pacific, she left with 36 brand new Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bombers instead.