Before you joined the military, you could count on 3 fingers how many times youâd been in a plane. Now, though, with it being your main method of getting to ops, you lost count long ago.
Getting onto the plan and strapping in (literally and figuratively) for a long flight was second nature at this point. Maybe youâd talk with your teammates or grab a quick nap, or maybe even invade the cockpit to say hello to Nikolai.
It was such a day, one where you were craving the company of someone you didnât practically live with, so you found yourself at the door of the pilots cabin. It was locked, which wasnât unusual. Something about safety protocol.
You knock once. No response, which is a little odd but sometimes if he was on the radio he couldnât hear over the chatter, so you knock again. No answer.
âNikolai! Open up! I brought your favorite jerky,â you try to persuade.
âMaybe heâs sick of ya!â Calls Soap helpfully from his seat. You just flip him the bird without turning around.
You hear some shuffling in the cabin, which you assume to be Nik standing to let you in. ButâŠhe still doesnât. Which is undeniably weird. And youâre starting to get concerned.
You turn back to the team, and theyâre all watching curiously too. You shoot a confused look to your captain when finally the door swings open.
âFinally! Jeez, Nik were you wanking off orââ
Thereâs a gun in your face.
You hear various curses from behind you as you hit the deck, the shot flying past your head and toward the boys. Your instinct go on autopilot, you have no idea whatâs happening but you do know that whoever is flying this plane isnât Nik.
You swing your legs out to kick the shin of the usurper, making solid contact and causing him to trip into the doorway, gun falling to the floor.
By now the boys are in full work-mode, swarming your area to defend you and find out how these people got in the cockpit.
Before they can, whoever is still flying the plane jerks it into a steep upward angle, causing everyone not seated to lose their footing and fly toward the back of the plane.
Youâre on the ground, so you start to slide. The boys arenât so lucky, getting shunted backward unforgivingly, you hear the crack of a skull against the ground. The gun from the copilot slides past you before you can think to grab it, youâre flailing for contact with something to stop your slide. The copilot himself goes flying past as all the unrestrained cargo starts to slip. Things are getting messy fast and you still donât know who youâre up against, or where Nikolai is.
Blessedly you find purchase on the strap of some cargo that is restrained. When you look back up to the cockpit, you can see the pilot looking back at you, before he gets up cautiously and reaches out to slam the door shot once more.
Behind you, the boys fell further than you did but seem to all have grabbed somethingâŠexcept Soap. Heâs still sliding toward the end of the plane without moving at all. Panic floods your veins, that mustâve been the head you heard crack. Shit.
The pilot will have the level the plane out eventually, so you let go of your position hoping to slide down to where Soap is. You need to make sure heâs okay.
âWhatâre you doinâ?â Price scolds as you slide past his position.
He managed to get hooked on one of the large cases of supplies, but heâs starting to slip. Which wouldnât be a problem necessarily, but then the cargo door starts to open.
Suddenly, leaving your cozy spot near the front of the plane for a harmless slide down here is seeming like a really stupid idea.
âSergeant!â Price calls for you, far more panicked now.
Which is unfortunately very warranted because if you miss grabbing this last cargo box and JohnnyâŠyouâre all flying out the back of this plane with no chute. Then again, high stakes have always been where you felt most at home.
Johnny finally slips as you get to his position, grabbing his vest and the strap of the cargo at the same time. The tug on your shoulders is brutal but you hold on.
âFuck! We need to get this door closed, now! Simon!â
The copilot loses his grip, flying past you and out the open door with a strangled, âhelp!ââ
Simon is on the move now, releasing himself into cargo to bunny-hop his way to the control panel for the door.
Your grip is slipping. Johnny starts to groan.
Simon is at the control panel, swinging it open and starting to fiddle with the wires. Finally, Johnny wakes up. It doesnât take him long to feel the wind and take account of his situation.
âSteeeaamminnâ jesus! What the hell is happeninâ?â He starts to wiggle in your grip, trying to get his arms under himself and push away from the open sky.
âI got you, Johnny, grab on!â
He looks up, noticing that youâre anchoring him in place. His hand wraps around your forearm to pull himself up to the cargo, but youâre still slipping. Kyle and Price are making their way toward you now, but itâll be too late. You lose your grip as a mechanical whir sounds. Johnny tries to grab you as you slide away from the box, but you slip past, a brief second of terror fills you before you slam into the closing cargo door.
A large breath releases from your lungs, you look up to Simon and flop onto your back in relief. He just gives you a thumbs up, the bastard. Kyle and Price finally make it to the bottom. Kyle comes to you to make sure youâre okay, hand cupping your cheek and fixing your hair out of your eyes.
âYâalright, love?â You just nod.
John checks out Johnnyâs head injury, forcing him into some brief concussion checks despite his protests.
You let the silence and relief linger for a second, but not too long. You still have a hijacker in the cockpit.
âWeâre gonna have to figure a way back to the cockpit to take this plane backââ
The pilot apparently agrees because he sends the plane into a nose-dive, causing all of you to once again become victim to gravity and start to slide toward the front of the plane now.
âBloodyââ Kyle grabs you so you start to slide together. Blessedly the roller coaster is cut short as the plane levels out. Itâs starting to feel like these inane movements are not the hijackerâs decision.
You hear muffled Russian from the cockpit.
âNik.â You look toward where everyone ended up, âI bet heâs in there fighting with the pilot.â
âWell letâs move before he decides to send us into a roll.â The captain is back to giving orders, standing and grabbing a gun that didnât fly out of the plane.
âDonât jinx us, sir.â You grumble and help Kyle stand.
You approach the cockpit, hearing the sounds of a fight inside. Simon stands in front of the door, poised to kick it in, while the rest of you cover the angles. He looks at you each briefly before slamming his foot into it to send it flying open.
The scene revealed is Nikolai, still with a gag in his mouth and his hands tied in front of him, duking it out with the hijacker. Theyâre taking turns slamming each other into surfaces and kneeing each otherâs stomachs. Itâs not sophisticated.
âLet âim go!â Price commands while training his gun on the enemy.
He stops, slowly pulling his hands off of Nik and straightening, raising them above his head and turning around. John steps forward to take his hands and tie him up, but before he can, he lunges for John.
A shot rings out. The hijacker falls to the floor, your bullet finding a home in his chest.
John turns, giving you a nod that you barely give back before youâre dropping your gun and going to Nik.
You pull his gag out and use your knife to cut his bindings.
âYâknowâŠI didnât picture you seeing me tied up for the first time quite like this.â
You groan and turn around, all concern for him leaving you, âheâs fine.â You report to the others.
âWhat the hell happened, Nikolai?â Questions John.
Nik flys back to the pilots seat, pulling the controls and flicking switches so fast you canât keep track. âWas doing my pre-flight when they found their way onto the plane. Knocked me out before I even knew what was going on. I woke up when you started knocking.â
âWho the hell were they?â You ask.
âI do not know, milaya.â Is his only explanation.
âIâll call Laswell.â John says before leaving the cockpit.
âSoâŠis it safe to say this mission is cancelled?â Johnny says sheepishly.
The rest of you turn to look at him, âcâmon, Johnny, letâs sit down.â Simonâs pats his shoulder as he passes.
Before Johnny leaves the cockpit, he gives your temple a peck, barely noticeable. âThank you for savinâ me, hen.â
âAlways,â you smile up at him.
Eventually you make it back to solid ground, where the fun doesnât stop because investigating how hijackers got aboard your plane without anyone noticing is a major pain in the ass. Luckily, though, despite the major adrenaline rush and a little headache for Johnny, everyone got out okay.
