Broken As We May Be

Soon, the drill team was back in their orange flight suits, jostling their way through a landing. Glancing over to A.J., Chick, Bear, she found herself relieved that she still had some of her family left to bring home. "Come on, boys, one last landing for the books," she teased, her smile still sad but her words bringing them all to smile back.

"I'm never flying again. Boats, I'm taking boats," Chick commented. "I've never told anyone this, but I hate flying. So it'd be a damn shame to die now."

"That's easy for you to say; I owe one hundred grand to a bad-ass loan shark that I spent on a stripper named Molly Mound," Rockhound stuttered out through the jostling of the ship, getting the others of the crew to all look back at him.

Then, Chick cracked a grin. "Man…that is bad."

Peering past Will's seat, Adena could see the runway coming at them fast and forced herself to lean back into her seat, closing her eyes. Almost there. What she knew only took a couple of seconds, felt like hours—then they were touching down, jumping off the runway a couple of times before gliding along smooth as they gradually slowed. It felt like years since they'd left, since they'd been on something that wasn't travelling at the speed of light, but they were back.

Rising from her seat after releasing all of her buckles, Adena stood up and looked out into the world.

"Welcome home, Astronauts," Will called out to all of them, standing as well. Adena looked up to him, meeting those vivid blue eyes. It made her think about what Harry had said, when talking to Grace. Make sure that Colonel treats her right. She found the faintest smile coming to her lips, looking into Will's eyes. Manoeuvring around the console, he came to stand with her.

"Welcome home," she mumbled up to him, suddenly feeling so small. "Told your girls I'd bring you back."

Will reached up with a hesitant hand, pained to see the red of her eyes from her tears. She'd always look so strong to him, and even though he knew that even the strongest people had their weaknesses, he wished he'd never had to see hers. Not like this.

"Ready to touch the ground again?" he asked quietly.

The sound of breaking glass made them turn to look—Watts had broken the release to let them out the airlock door on the side of the ship, which would blow out the inflated slide that they'd take to get to the ground. Turning back to him, she took his hands in hers gently. "Yea, let's go."

One by one, they jumped from the opening in the ship to slide down to the ground, met with NASA at the bottom, who caught them and helped them back to their feet. Adena had one instant as she was jumping, in the air and about to hit the thick material that would carry her down, that she knew she had made a mistake. As soon as she landed with her legs out, on her back and sliding down, her shoulder gave the greatest tear of pain.

She was sure she had almost bit her tongue off when she clenched her teeth, fighting the pain even as her good hand reached over to pin her bad arm down, no longer able to control the limb completely. It kept it secure as she slid into the waiting arms of the NASA workers, bringing her carefully onto her feet before they moved to accept the last two, Watts and Will.

But when Chick turned to look at her, waiting, she dropped her hand and put a smile back on her face. This wasn't the time for her to make her pain known—they were all bruised and cut up, beaten either from the cash of the Independence or the rock storm. So, glancing back to Sharp, she decided that for just a bit longer, it was worth it to keep quiet. She'd walk with her family and meet the people that had doubted them with pride.

Approaching the lined up trucks of emergency vehicles and NASA personnel, they all spotted Grace as she pushed her way through the throngs of people. A.J. broke away from them and took off at a run to her, throwing out his arms to catch her as she barrelled into him. All around them, workers began clapping at the sight, welcoming them all home.

Adena found her feet slowing until she stood still, watching Grace and A.J. as they embraced one another tightly. Thinking they'd never see one another again. She smiled at that, happy for them as they clung onto one another. It had been Harry's final wish, for them to be happy together. From the lines of trucks, other people began to emerge. Chick's ex-wife and son raced to him as he gave his first true smile sine they'd left that planet, catching his little boy in his arms. Bear's wife was there to meet him as well, welcoming the big man home with open arms that he gladly stepped into, finally relaxing.

A thin hand caught her arm, warm and familiar, and Adena turned to look back to where Grace was now standing beside her, a sad smile on her lips. "Welcome home, Dee." Reaching out, the two women stepped into one another in unison, wrapping each other in a tight embrace as they mourned their father together. Adena could feel the tears burn at her eyes, but she couldn't let herself come to that again. Now, she needed to be strong for Grace.

"I broke my promise, too," Adena mumbled against Grace's shoulder. "I'd promised to bring them all home, but-"

Grace shushed her softly, fingers carding through Adena's hair—it was greasy and waving from being in a braid so long, but she'd always found comfort when Grace did such a thing. "I don't blame you, Adena. You brought yourself back, and for a while there I thought that I'd lost you forever. So…that's enough."

Pulling back, Adena took Grace's face in her hands as she gave a teary smile. "He's here with us, Grace. He always will be."

The soft blue of Grace's eyes glistened as she teared up as well. "I know. And he would be so proud of you, Dee."

A hand settled on both of their shoulders and the woman looked away from one another to where A.J. had joined them again. Adena smiled before stepping back, guiding A.J.'s hand from her shoulder to take Grace's hand, uniting the two again. Grace smiled at her sister before she turned to look up at A.J., reaching out to stroke his cheek. She was still reeling at having him back—she should she'd lost him and Adena both, but here they were.

"Miss. Stamper?"

Adena looked up, surprised, as Will stepped up to Grace, standing opposite of Adena. Grace turned to look at the Colonel, not sure how to take his sudden appearance, before he spoke again.

He saluted her as he formally introduced himself for the first time. "Colonel Willie Sharp, United States Air Force. Requesting permission to shake the hand of the daughter of the bravest man I've ever met." Immediately, Adena smiled as she looked to her sister. Grace didn't smile, but she could see the proud, sad look at the mention of her father.

She took Will's hand and shook it firmly.

Nodding to A.J., Will stepped away from them in favor of approaching Adena, already standing a couple of paces away from them. She was still smiling, watching him as he approached. Turning with him, they both began to walk down the tarmac, shoulder to shoulder, looking over the massing crowd of workers and family members, standing in wait or shuffling around to bring the mission to a final close.

Neither of them noticed the woman that stepped out from behind one of the dark NASA SUVs parked in the row, a man following close behind. Sharp's ex-wife searched frantically through the crowd for the blue suit she'd seen him wearing on television when they'd been filming the launch, her new husband a step behind.

"You know," Adena began, turning slightly to face Will as she came to a gradual stop. "Now that we're back…you did promise to take me flying again," she teased, getting a soft smile from Will as he stepped up to her again, closing the slight distance that had come between them. Looking down into those sea-green eyes, brightened by the sunlight, Will marvelled at this woman.

"I did promise you that, didn't I?" he asked, moved to rest his hands on her hips as she lifting hers to rest against his biceps, the warmth of them reaching through his suit. "Well…are you doing anything right now?"

His grin was matched by Adena as she leaned into him. "You know, you're very lucky. I just got out of a very busy schedule; you know, helping to save the world and all." For the first time in days, her stomach fluttered with a different kind of nerves. For the first time in days, she wasn't scared, or sad. She felt like everything was finally going to be alright.

"Oh, I heard about that," Will continued, "So, shall we?" he asked, bending slightly at the knees as his arms went around her, confusing Adena because why was he doing that to get to her level—when his arms constricted around her thighs and she was hoisted into the air with a gasp, her body pinned to his as he lifted her high above him. She felt a laugh burst forth after her surprise had passed, her arms falling to rest on his shoulders as she bent her head over his, her wavy hair caressing his cheeks.

"You know, you didn't just take me to the stars….you helped me touch them." she mumbled, remembering her words to him the night they had spent in his truck.

Her breath ghosted against Will's lips as she leaned over him, his arms still tight around her thighs as they pressed into his stomach. The sun reflected the bright orange of her suit into her eyes, turning them a whisky colour as she smiled down at him. She shifted her arms to caress her palms along his cheeks, six-o'clock shadow scratching at her skin.

"Miss. King," he began softly, drawing her up short in surprise. "Would you give me the…greatest honour…of kissing you again?" His voice was so soft, so sincere and sweet, that Adena trembled slightly in his arms.

Tracing his bottom lip with her thumb, she leant down to him. "It would be my pleasure, Colonel Sharp."

And finally, she let him catch her lips in a kiss, so soft and slow. Somewhere behind them, Adena could hear Bear and Rockhound, probably A.J., too, cheering loudly with a few catcalls thrown in, but she didn't dare pull away. His grip loosened on her thighs enough to slide her body down a few inches, getting them closer together as Adena slanted her lips over his, framing his face with her hands. Her shoulder ached with the angle it was resting in, but she was able to ignore the pain in favor of taking in each sensation his kiss brought her. He held her so tightly, so close, as though he feared it all may still end, be lost forever.

Her hands carded through his short hair, drawing him closer and wishing they weren't wearing those ridiculously thick suits. Her nose skimmed his cheek, her lips stealing his breath, as they held one another there on the runway in Kennedy.

They only broke apart when the familiar roar of fighter jets broke through the air, coaxing them to look up and away from one another, into the sky of brilliant blue. Six jets in a triangle formation roared overhead, leaving white trails in their wake. One jet broke away from the others, curving away and flying separate from the other five.

Set back on her feet, Adena watched the jets fly into the distance with her arms remaining tight around Will.

"We should go get checked out by the Paramedics," Will said suddenly, noticing that all of the others had already been coaxed to the row of trucks and NASA workers. Adena knew that her arm was about to be poked and prodded and felt a sense of both relief and dread.

"You look like you could use an icepack," she answered, using her good arm to tap at his cheekbone, which he must have bruised in the rock storm, and had since turned blue and purple on the flight home. "God knows I could use one." Her hand absently moved to her damaged shoulder—her greatest concern was that she'd need surgery to fix it.

"What happened? Was it the crash?" Will asked, eyes following the motion of her hand. He couldn't very well see the injury through her suit, and for that she was glad. She was sure it could be all kinds of colours by this point in time and it would probably cause him to panic at the sight.

Prompting him to walk with her, Adena remained tucked in close to his side. "Yea, because there weren't enough seats, I was down in the cargo bay when we crashed. I got blanketed by some piping until Bear pulled me out."

Will cleared his throat and ducked his head, trying not to imagine what she had just told him. It was difficult, but it was also better than when he'd believed she'd died in a fiery explosion back on the Asteroid. "I thought you were dead," he mumbled, leaning his head down to rest his temple against hers. "I watched as the ship went down, as the pilots got pulled out through the window and collided with ours. I couldn't get the image out of my head."

Adena leaned her head more firmly against his, sighing loudly. "I had to look at the bodies of my best friends and leave them behind; my family. That image will haunt me forever," she said in answered. She understood his pain, and the pain that wouldn't easily go away. The people of the Earth had to live in fear for a few days, but the crew that went up had lived with that much longer, and the ones to survive would be tormented with what they had seen for many years to come.

Leaning against the passenger door of one of the SUV's, Charlotte and her new husband were watching the two as they walked across the blacktop. NASA workers rushed toward them as soon as they saw their approach, surrounding them and whisking them away before anyone else could come close. Charlotte could see the bruises that covered the both of them, and the dark, tired look in their eyes. She could never imagine what they had lived through, especially since everyone could see not all had come home.

Will and Adena would not be separated, moving to the ambulances together. Bear reached out to playfully ruffle Adena's hair as she passed, his wife clasping the young woman's hand quickly in greeting and a silent welcome home.

Rockhound was busy with the woman she assumed he spent all his blood-money on, and Chick was with his son. A.J. was with Grace and Lev had gone off with the NASA workers as he bragged about how he was the Russian hero. Adena couldn't see Watts, but she assumed the woman had family somewhere in the crowd of people, rushing to greet them. Adena could also see the family members of those who hadn't come home, looking lost and unsure, with heartbreak clear in their eyes. She wanted to go to them, to be there for them, but her own wounds felt too fresh and raw.

Glancing to Will, Adena suddenly felt guilty for keeping him to herself. He had two little girls, and his ex-wife would probably want to see him after she found out about where he was going and why. "Don't you want to go and find your family?"

"Charlotte would never bring the kids here, she'd be too panicked about them getting lost," he answered calmly, realizing her concern. She was good at hiding it, but he could tell that she was afraid he'd go back to the life he could have had once he realized he had a second chance. "I'm not going anywhere, Adena. I'm here. With you."

The woman's cheeks flushed, having assumed she wasn't so transparent with her worries.

"Colonel Sharp."

Both turned to look, the official that was saluting Will looking somewhat abashed to have interrupted their moment. Will, however, composed himself sooner and saluted the man back, though his wasn't as tight as the other man's. His fatigue was starting to show through.

"We have paramedics waiting for you and Miss. King. Right this way."

Moved to perch on cots in front of the back doors of an ambulance, the EMT's began to carefully peel off the suits that the astronauts were wearing. Will groaned at the freedom it permitted him to no longer be in his flight suit; Adena groaned in pain as her shoulder was shifted and jarred.

"I was notified that you were in the crash of the Independence; were you injured?" the paramedic in front of Adena questioned, helping to lift the metal collar of her suit over her head, the zipper at the back of the suit already pulled down to allow her torso to slide out the back as she ducked down beneath the metal ring.

"Uh…yes," she mumbled slightly, her voice too low for Will to hear from where another medic was looking at the bruising on his face. Glancing up, the medic had paused in his removal of her suit as he waited for her to continue. "My shoulder was a bit dislocated," she elaborated, trying to make it sound as minor as possible.

"What?" he blurted out as his eyes widened. Then, the suit was pulled off of her torso completely, leaving her in the grey tanktop with the NASA logo on her left breast. Her right shoulder, exposed in the shirt, was a patchwork of black, blue and purple flesh.

"It's fine! I relocated it!" she quickly tried to assure, but the medic was already prodding at the shoulder to try and figure out how back the damage was without proper equipment to check. Immediately, a hiss of pain passed her teeth at his rough treatment, her back arching to the side as she instinctively tried to manoeuvre away from the painful touch.

"Oh God, Adena?" Will abruptly pushed passed the EMT tending to him, his suit now wrapped around his waist, as soon as he had spotted the discolouration of her shoulder. "You were working with that? Are you insane?"

"Well the adrenaline helped," she admitted, feeling embarrassed at the men that were gawking at her. "I relocated it when we were heading to you guys. The others didn't know about it. We were already facing so much shit I didn't want to add to it."

Will's fingers traced along her shoulder gently so as not to hurt the tender joint further. "You're nuts," he mumbled, looking to meet her pained gaze.

"You already knew that," she teased back, a smile softening her features. "I'll be fine, Will." She reached up with her good arm to take the hand lingering near her bruised flesh, squeezing it gently in assurance. Her hands were rougher than his, something that always caught him off guard, but the unique quirk just seemed to draw him to her more. "Go get an icepack for your head, would ya?"

"You're gunna be the death of me," he muttered, returning the squeeze before he withdrew his hand.

"Just keeping you on your toes!" she called as he walked back to the EMT that had been checking him over. He only glared at her wistfully as he sat back down, but she could see the faintest upturn of his lips to know that he caught her jest and didn't mind her off-hand humour.

There will be one more chapter after this one, an epilogue I guess, and then we're finally done!

The ironic thing is that I started this the same time I started University, and now that I'm finishing University I'm finally finishing this story. Amazing how it took me that long to post 18 chapters -_- Shame on me. I'm so sorry.