Summary: The Crew defies the laws of physics and Jack considers a career in inspirational speaking.

Chapter 26

In years to come, Jack would find it hard to get the scene out of his head: Geoff diving for the controls, the explosion from the back of the plane, the heat, the blood, and the screaming.

Michael and Ray had been at the end of their group, closest to the blast but strapped in the Titan's side seats. Michael and Ray would escape crashing into the walls and ceilings, but they would not escape the flames. Michael ripped his burning jacket off and beat it out first and then turned to use it on Ray, who screamed-not yelled but screamed-as his pant leg caught fire.

Ryan was the poor man caught dead center of the plane, protected by nothing at all. As soon as the tail exploded, he was thrown forward and into Geoff. Jack too was flung forward, but his grip on the netting held. Still, he smashed face first into the side of the plane, pain streaking across his head as the vision in one of his eyes went literally red.

Jack groaned and picked himself up. He didn't have time for the pain. Thinking fast, faster than he ever had in his life, he knew they had to get off the plane before it crashed. Yes, cops waited below, but arrest was better than dying. Burnie and Matt could bail them out...or at least one of them. They weren't happy with them true, but there was one person they wouldn't leave to rot in jail, he hoped.

They had agreed beforehand: get Geoff out.

Jack leaped for the cockpit and wrenched Ryan off of Geoff, noting quickly that Gavin had been stabbed in the side by one of the controls and Ryan was unconscious. Jack couldn't worry about that. Geoff was their leader and the one who had been stupid enough to believe in all of them and they owed him for that. Jack was going to give him a chance first. He hauled Geoff up, leaving Ryan's limp form on the ground, protected for a moment by the cockpit's walls, and pulled Geoff roughly from the cockpit. Jack swung Geoff out of the cockpit and held him fast against the suction coming from the gaping hole in the back of the plane. He shook Geoff hard enough so that he focused on Jack for a split second.

"Pull your chute!" Jack shouted and then let go of his friend. Geoff streaked away from him, past Michael ad Ray, out of the back of the plane, and out of sight. Jack prayed he'd done the right thing. He stumbled back to Ryan and pulled the man upright.

In the cockpit, Gavin groaned and came awake. He pressed a hand to his aching side, feeling a lot of wetness at the contact. He struggled to his feet and fell over Ryan, landing in the co-pilot's seat. Jack reached in and hauled Ryan up as Gavin stood and tripped his way out into the main part of the plane. He was shocked to see that the once long body of the Titan ended abruptly in the middle, a jagged hole where the tail and engines had been. The suction from the atmosphere was threatening to rip them all into the sky but they were miraculously all still alive and hanging on tight to walls and each other.

"Everyone get ready to jump!" Jack yelled.

Gavin fumbled for his parachute in the seat beside him and had just grabbed it when there was a deafening crash to his left and the world spun weirdly on its axis. At first he thought he was passing out from the agony in his side, but then he realized it was the plane. It had started to spin, having hit the left wing against something. Gavin felt his feet start to slide across the floor before he gripped the cockpit door fiercely and crouched, trying to keep his feet on the floor.

Michael was not so lucky.

Michael was just trying to figure out where his own chute was, having just unstrapped himself and Ray, when he felt his feet leave the floor of the plane. "Fuck!" he shouted as the centrifugal force not only wrenched Ray out of his grip, but also yanked his feet completely out from under him. Ray made a frantic grab for Michael as he was sucked out of the plane, his hands closing around Michael's leg. Michael was sucked out as well but managed to garb the edge of the opening. He nearly lost his grip as Ray's weight dragged at him, but he hung on. The pair of them dangled. Michael's arms screamed in protest as he and Ray were buffeted by the wind outside of the broken plane and Ray clung to Michael's leg for dear life, nothing but sky around him as Michael hung halfway out of the plane and Ray dangled uselessly below.

"Michael, Ray, hang on!" Gavin shouted.

"Gavin there's nothing you can do!" Jack shouted when it appeared that Gavin was going to jump out at them without a parachute. "Get your parachute on!"

"Michael, hang on boy!" He'd get the parachute on and he'd help Michael. Neither he nor Ray had a chute. If Gavin could just get to them…

"Gavin!" Michael shouted, fighting to hold onto the plane and to Ray. Already his grip was failing.

"Hang on!" Jack yelled. "Gavin, make your way carefully toward Michael and Ray. Grab them and get out! Your chute may hold all three of you." It was unlikely but what else could be done?

Gavin nodded and took a step forward. Michael swore suddenly startling them all. Michael had one last fleeting look at Gavin, Jack, and the unconscious Ryan before his grip failed and he and Ray were hurled into the darkness.

Gavin and Jack both screamed and Gavin let go of the cockpit. He was sucked out of the back by the spinning plane, his flailing arms slamming into Jack and knocking him off balance. Jack cried out as he and Ryan both were wrenched out of the plane behind Gavin.

Gavin tucked his flailing limbs in tight to his body and tried to dive, tried to angle his body toward Michael and Ray, but they were too far away, falling too fast for Gavin to ever catch them.

"PULL YOUR CHUTE!"

Gavin automatically obeyed Michael's yell, heard even over the roar of the wind in his ears. He yanked the ripcord and his fall slowed. He watched in numb despair as Michael and Ray shrank away as they plummeted to the ground below.

Jack struggled to control his fall having been knocked askew by Gavin. He was spinning crazily, still hanging on to Ryan's parachute, barely, as the night sky and ground and wreckage blurred into one big swirl of color. He dragged his other hand against the force of the fall and grabbed Ryan's other parachute strap so they were facing each other. Jack seized the ripcord and pulled.

Ryan's chute fanned out behind him and yanked Ryan sharply upward and out of Jack's grip. Jack didn't wait and popped his own parachute, wincing as the drag pulled at him. He blinked a few times, shaking the dizziness of the fall away and looked around in vain for the others. He prayed Ryan either woke up or had a soft landing but Jack had done what he could.

During all of this Michael was falling through the air, Ray still holding his leg as they twisted, turned, and smashed into each other. Michael had no parachute, nothing to stop the dirt below from slamming into him and devouring him. Despite his promise to Lindsay, he wasn't going to make it home this time.

"Michael, grab my hand!" Ray shouted.

Michael looked at Ray who was level with him. Michael was facing upwards, his back on crash course with the ground and Ray still gripped his leg, falling face down. Their current position meant Ray could reach for Michael's hand with one of his own and Michael was able to grab for him firmly, though to what end he didn't know.

Ray let go of Michael's leg while still retaining a firm grip on Michael's wrist. One arm was free of his hoodie and he fumbled to free the other. They were falling so fast, they didn't have much time and Ray had stupidly thrown his hoodie on over his parachute after Ryan had strapped him into the seat. Struggling against gravity he finally managed to shrug free and the hoodie flew away into the night. Michael whooped triumphantly when he saw the parachute strapped to Ray's back.

Ray's grabbed for Michael's other hand and pulled. "Grab the straps!" Ray shouted. "Tuck your arms all the way in and hang on." Michael did as he was told, fighting the force of their fall and the fact that his heavier weight was dragging them down. They were so close now, if they didn't pull the chute soon, they would never make it.

"On three," Ray shouted. He wrapped one arm around Michael, promising himself to make a no homo joke if they survived this "One-!"

"JUST PULL IT!" Michael screamed.

Ray yanked the cord and the parachute exploded from his back. There was a huge wrench in his back and a faint snap and Ray saw a strip of fabric go spiraling past them on the air's current.

"It broke!" Michael shouted. "Fuck. Ray!"

"Hang on!" Ray yelled, fumbling for the emergency cord.

"Oh God damnit, do something Ray!"

"I'm trying," Ray said, cursing the idiot who put the emergency cord right between him and Michael.

"RAY!"

"Hang on!"

The back-up chute fanned out and mercifully held. Ray just managed to grab onto Michael before being yanked sharply upright as the parachute gloriously unfurled. Michael's weight against his grip nearly wrenched his arms from their sockets, and Michael cried out in pain as his arms protested at the sudden shift in speed, but they held on and so did the chute as they stabilized in mid-air and began to drift.

"Woohoohoohoo!" Michael yelled, grinning maniacally. "Ray, you son of a bitch, you saved our fucking lives!"

"Yeah well," Ray said with a relieved grin, despite the pain still creeping through his leg. "Just don't get any ideas about me holding you like this again. No homo."

All of the floating Achievement Hunters drifted on the air's current away from the wreckage of the Titan. Jack, Ray, Michael, and Gavin all stared at the burning metal husk of the plane as it streaked towards the ground. It wasn't long before the deafening boom of an explosion rang out again as it made landfall and fire erupted on the ground below them, unfurling and lighting up the sky.

But a soft breeze carried them away from the wreckage towards the very same neighborhood where Geoff had (unbeknownst to them) been grabbed about one minute before. They wouldn't burn in the fire ripping across the foothills of Mount Chiliad below, they would land safely away.

Although how safe they really were was anyone's guess. Had Geoff made it? Were the cops following their air antics? They had all fallen at different times and speeds and after their initial falls, they had no way of seeing each other. No doubt their parachutes made them prime targets and the police would soon be on them all, but the darkness may work in their favor. Police were below, but they seemed to be moving away. They all hoped so. If not, how would they ever escape on foot?

And more importantly was Burnie even now loading his gun and preparing to intercept them?

A crackle of static met Jack's ears. The earpieces, inoperable at the height they had been flying at were slowly coming back into range as they got closer to the ground. Jack scrambled for the mic, tugging it closer to his mouth. "Hello? Geoff, is that you?"

"Hello? Jack?" the male voice shouted.

"Oh thank God!" added a second voice, female. It was Kerry and Lindsay.

Jack was relieved for a brief second before he continued scanning the skies for any sign of his friends. He had no chance to see what had happened to Geoff, Gavin, Michael, or Ray. He knew the latter two did not have chutes but he didn't want to be the one to tell Lindsay that.

"Jack, what happened to the others?" Lindsay asked frantically. "I only see four parachutes."

"I'm here!" Gavin said mournfully. "But Michael…he—he…

"He and Ray decided to share a chute because we are such good friends!"

"Michael!" shouted Lindsay, Kerry, Jack, and Gavin in relief.

"We're ok," added Ray. "But your husband is heavy as fuck."

"Not my fault you have girl arms!"

"All right enough!" Jack shouted over them. There was still one voice he wasn't hearing and it filled him with dread. "I got Ryan out. He's out cold but safe until he has to land." Jack winced. "Is there any sign of Geoff?" There was a very pregnant pause, one that Jack hoped would be interrupted by Geoff's sarcastic bravado. "Geoff!" Nothing. "GEOFF!"

"Listen," Kerry said after a moment. "We were following you guys in the AH mobile once you lifted the tank. We were hoping to provide back up. You're floating away from the wreckage and the cops, which is good. I'll pick you up as you land, but we have to be quick. The cops will be all over us in a minute as soon as they get past the debris."

"We can't leave," Gavin said. "Not without Geoff!"

"Gav's right!" Michael said. "We know he got free, we saw Jack throw him out."

"I know he popped his chute," Jack added. "Wait…" he said dreadfully. "You said four chutes. One for me, one for Ryan, one for Gavin, and one for Michael and Ray. Was there a fifth?"

He heard Lindsay sigh heavily and Kerry made an uncertain "Uh…" sound.

"And?" Jack asked, fearing that he knew the answer.

The Crew was so low to the ground now that they could make out individual bushes and trees and house on the small hill they were landing on. Looking down, Michael and Ray could see a car below them and tried their best to angle their descent, avoiding trees and stop lights. Gavin whipped his head around, looking in vain for Geoff as the pavement floated up to meet him. Jack said nothing, waiting for Lindsay or Kerry to answer him.

"I tried to get to him, but I was too late," Kerry said finally. "He jumped a few fences and had almost made it to the street when the cops rushed him from the surrounding yards."

"They threw him on the ground and cuffed him before throwing him in the back of the squad car," Lindsay said. "They got him, guys."

Gavin landed with a thump and laid there processing the gravity of Lindsay's statement. Michael and Ray stumbled into a landing in the middle of the street, Ray's leg giving out so he sprawled painfully. A car pulled to a stop and they both looked up at a very pale Kerry and Lindsay through the windshield of the AH mobile. Jack felt sick to his stomach and Ryan-

Everyone snapped their heads up at a groan.

"What the-" Ryan's voice came out groggy over their head sets. "Where am I-OH GOD!"

Everyone winced as they heard a loud crash, followed by rustling, and multiple yelps and swearing from Ryan.

"WHO THE FUCK THREW ME INTO A TREE?!"

It was chaos in Michael's apartment. The smell of burning flesh and the tang of blood filled the air. Ryan's arm was covered in mostly blood free bandages where the metal had been embedded in his shoulder. He also sported two black eyes, a busted nose, and a variety of leaves and twigs in his hair and clothes. Jack blinked dried blood from his eyes, ignoring the stinging pain from his forehead cut and the matted congealed blood in his beard. Jack had bandaged his forehead after Kerry had stitched it together and managed to get Ryan to take some painkillers for his concussion. Now Jack and Ryan had Ray pinned on the ground as Kerry first sewed up his burnt leg and then smothered the blistered flesh in burn cream. Michael ignored the searing pain from his burns and he and Lindsay worked on closing up the gash in Gavin's side.

"They got Geoff," Gavin kept yelling from his position, stretched out on the dining room table, oblivious to the pain. "They got him. It's all our fault!"

"We know Gavin," Jack said through gritted teeth as Ray jerked wildly, his scream muffled by Ryan's hand on his mouth.

"Fantastic, you know. Now what the fuck are we gonna do?" Michael shouted, stepping away from Gavin and slamming his fist down on the counter. "Burnie and Matt have probably already painted a target on our backs, the cops will know exactly where to find us, and I'd bet the whole crappy amount of money we've stolen that Geoff will get whacked in prison."

"We don't know that yet," Gavin replied with a whimper.

"We don't have time to find out either," Ryan snapped. Kerry finished Ray's stitches and went to help Lindsay finish off Gavin.

"We gotta get out of here before we get got," Ray choked out as he sat up carefully, his leg throbbing.

"Ray's right," Ryan said, standing up and dragging his guns to him. "We split up our measly take and go our separate ways."

"What about Geoff?" Gavin asked, shoving Lindsay and Kerry away as he sat up. He winced and pressed a hand to his side and Kerry forcefully pushed his arms away and resumed stitching.

"Fuck Geoff," Ryan said after a pause. "He knew the risks. We all did."

It was lucky that Kerry had just finished with him because Gavin leaped furiously off the table and tried to stand only to fall back down. That did nothing to quell his fury as he surged upright again. "You're all a bunch of wankers, the lot of you! Geoff's in the brig and you're just going to leave him there? After we worked so damned hard trying to get him out?"

Ray and Ryan shifted uncomfortably. "Look I don't like it either-" Ryan began.

"Then why'd you suggest it?!" Michael asked.

"Because as we have proven time and time again, we are the worst fucking gang this town has ever seen!" Ryan shouted, throwing his hands up in the air. "All we do is blow shit up, crack jokes, fail our jobs, and try to off each other. How the fuck do you suggest we even think about rescuing Geoff when we can barely take care of ourselves?" Ryan slumped down in the nearest chair. "They're gonna kill him in there anyway."

"Nothing can kill us except for each other."

Everyone looked at Jack, who had remained silent throughout the whole exchange. He stood up now, wiping the dried blood from his face and looking around at the gang before stopping on Michael. "Didn't you say that during your heist?"

Michael shrugged. "Well yeah but-."

"Why?" Jack asked.

"He was betraying us," Ray said, not without some bitterness. "He thought it'd be funny."

"Well yeah," Michael said. "And it was pretty funny. But it was also true. The cops never could get us. The only times we ever came close to dying was when we messed up and almost took each other out."

"Exactly," Jack said with a grin.

"I don't get it," Ray said after a moment.

"We may be the worst gang ever," Jack admitted. "We may be a bunch of incompetent idiots. We may even be a bunch of wankers like Gavin said. Hell we may even be dead by the time I get this speech out because let's face it, Burnie is coming for us. But there is one thing we do really, really well."

"Pause dramatically when making points?" Ryan asked.

"We fuck shit up better than anybody else in the world," Jack said, choosing to ignore Ryan's jibe. "And the only people who can kill us are…?"

"Each other!" Michael said, pumping his fist in the air. He got it now.

"So you're suggesting we can successfully break Geoff out of jail, which is impossible, because we are really good at chaos and destruction?" Ryan asked skeptically. "We are supposed to have faith because we always screw up?"

"Hey Geoff always had faith in us," Jack pointed out. "That may have landed us here, but he always believed in us. We can do it. We've proven in our heists that we all have our strengths. Now it's time to see if we can throw down when it really counts."

"But we failed!" Ray said. "Every time. We failed hard. Geoff believed in us and we failed. How are we supposed to pull something this huge off?"

"No one has ever broken out of Los Santos lock up," Ryan added. "Ever."
"I know all that, but Geoff may have had it wrong from the start," Jack said. "The answer was never to let us each take turns leading. The answer was to work together. That's what Michael and Lindsay did and it worked. Maybe not for everyone, but it did work. Hell, even this last heist worked, we just ran into a fluke when we flew too high. And look what we did when we failed then! Do you all realize we managed to parachute out of a crashing plane like a bunch of goddamn action heroes! Who even does that in real life?"

The gang exchanged rueful smiles

"Look we fail every time because we strike out on our own or don't tell the others what we are doing or planning or thinking...or goof off or we pretend to team kill like Ryan just because we can or because it's funny." Ryan glared but made no denial. "If we actually work together though, for real work together, our dumb luck and our strange invulnerability may just be crazy enough to work." Jack looked around at the gang. "If we can't get it right for Geoff, then we'll never get it right. This time we either succeed or die. What do you say?"

Gavin was the first to move. Holding his side, he grit his teeth and willed his aching legs to support his weight, which in all fairness was easy since he was so scrawny anyway. Gavin grinned at Jack and put his busted aviators on, not caring that they dangled uselessly from one of his ears. "Let's do it."

"Yeah," Michael said enthusiastically, zipping up his tattered wolf jacket. "Team Nice Dynamite 100%."

"Tuxedo Mask is ready to roll," Ray said, "W.A.F.F.L.E.O.!" He tied his charred eye mask back on and turned to Ryan who had not moved nor blinked. "R Connection?" The group looked at him and he just stared stoically back at them.

"What if I promise to let you lead it?" Jacks asked much to everyone's surprise.

Ryan said nothing.

Jack sighed wearily and closed his eyes. "And if I promise to find you a cow and let you use it however you want?"

Ryan's grin spread slowly over his face. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the crumpled skull mask he had stashed there before the last job and pulled it over his head.

"Then I say 'All hail the Mad King.'"

But it was Lindsay who asked the question on everybody's mind.

"Where are we going to find a cow?"

She didn't know if the five grins of pure evil that came in response were comforting or terrifying.