Chapter 2 - Helping Hook

The shadows loomed over her, the stench of smoke burned her nostrils, and her entire body writhed with pain. There was nothing she could do. She was constrained by ropes and chains, all of which dug into her new and old wounds.

The ones that put her in this situation were silhouetted, making it nearly impossible to make out their features. But she knew who they worked for, and what they would do to get information out of her.

But despite everything they had done to her, she barely told them anything useful, which quickly tried their patience. Her stubbornness should have been her undoing, especially when she saw the gun pointed right between her eyes.

But then…

It all just faded away…

Victoria slowly blinked her eyes opening, having become numb to those horrible memories that she saw in her dreams almost every night. She wanted to forget her time in the army and what she had done while serving them, but it was like trying to ignore a giant, rusty nail impaled in your side.

The Black Hawk sighed heavily and pulled herself out of bed, making sure to check on Bertie before proceeding with her morning routine. Victoria always woke up early, with or without an alarm clock, so Bertie was always still fast asleep.

Like Victoria predicted, the young helicopter was slumbering peacefully in her room, so she headed to the kitchen to prepare some coffee. The skies outside were clear as the sun was just starting to peak over the horizon, and the bright light shone through the windows.

Mornings like this were one of the few things that helped calm Victoria's nerves, and remind her that there are some parts on this world that could never be touched by war. It's another reason why she chose to move here after leaving the army, the other reason being for Bertie's sake.

When Bertie came to mind, Victoria remembered how she asked about going back to the firefighters' base last night. She admitted that she regretted not thanking that red helicopter for rescuing Bertie, and it would probably bug her until she did.

After Bertie finally woke up later that morning, Victoria told her to get ready and fly to Piston Peak Air Attack. Upon hearing this, Bertie was ecstatic that she would get the see the firefighters again, to which Victoria's lips curled into a small smile.

She remembered when she was that young and spry, when she was oblivious to the cruelty of some people. That was before she joined the army, and before she was exposed to the cost of fighting for the "greater good."

Victoria pushed those thoughts aside, as she and Bertie took off and headed for Piston Peak Air Attack. It was only a couple minutes flight before they reached their destination, but Victoria couldn't find the red helicopter from yesterday anywhere.

"Hey, there!" a bright yellow plane called over, and approached the two with a big smile, "Can I help you?"

"We're looking for a red helicopter. Do you know him?" Victoria questioned.

"Oh, you must mean Blade! He's our chief."

"I see. And where is he?"

"He's out on patrol right now, but he should be back soon."

"Awesome!" Bertie joyfully exclaimed while smiling up at the plane, "Hey, can you show me how you guys put out fires, and get water from the lake and stuff?"

Victoria and the yellow plane looked down at Bertie with wide eyes, and then at each other in a silent exchange of better and safer ideas.

"Uh, I've got a better idea. If you're not busy, I can take you to Blade," the yellow plane suggested with a chuckle.

"We're not busy at all!" Bertie giddily exclaimed, and smiled brightly at Victoria, "And if we're lucky, there'll already be a huge fire, and we'll get front-row seats to an awesome firefighting show!"

"That's not gonna happen," Victoria argued flatly before averting her attention back to the plane, "I'm Victoria, and this little ball of energy is Roberta."

"But I prefer ta be called 'Bertie'," Bertie quickly pointed out.

The plane smiled down at Bertie, "I'll keep that in mind. My name's Dipper."

Yet another clear morning over the valley always helped bring peace to Blade's mind, especially while out on patrol. He always had the feeling that something could have or will go wrong, and he was completely justified to trust his intuition.

But as far as Blade could tell, there were no fires and there were no abrupt weather patterns to light the forest ablaze. Although, something about the serenity rubbed Blade the wrong way, as if everything was just too calm.

Just as Blade turned to head back to base, he suddenly spotted a large boulder sitting on a ledge that overlooked a tourist path through the woods. The boulder threatened to teeter off the edge at any moment, which would either lead to the fatality of an unfortunate tourist or block an escape route in case a wild fire broke out. Blade wouldn't allow either situation to become a possibility on his watch, so he opened a side hatch to release his winch and coil it around the boulder.

Blade switched into high gear, but the boulder wouldn't budge no matter how hard he pulled. The cable started to creak after a few minutes of pulling, making Blade fear it would snap if he continued. He supposed he would have to abandon the boulder, and go back to base for help as quickly as possible. It wasn't safe, but it was a risk he would have to take.

"Hey, Chief!" a familiar voice echoed through the air, as it was easily recognizable as none other than Lil' Dipper. Seeing her was no surprise to Blade, but what did throw him off guard was seeing Bertie and the scarred helicopter from yesterday following close behind.

"What are you all doing out here?" Blade questioned.

"They were looking for you, Blade!" Dipper shouted over the wind.

"Well, they'll have to wait. Dipper, go back and get Windlifter! I'm going to need help moving this boulder!"

"You got it!"

Dipper banked to leave, but made another sharp turn when she noticed a hatch open on Victoria's side, and a winch sprang free before wrapping itself tightly around the boulder.

"You ready, Fire Boy?" Victoria asked jokingly.

Blade stared at her for a moment, still registering the fact that she had a feat that resembled one of his own. But after realizing he had been staring blankly at her for a moment, he shook his hood and focused on the task at hand.

"Ready when you are," he simply answered, and tugged upward alongside Victoria.

Bertie and Dipper watched from the sidelines in curiosity, as the two helicopters worked together rather well. Bertie never expected to see Victoria cooperate with anyone so well outside of the army, and Dipper hadn't expected her chief to get along with someone who wasn't a firefighter so quickly.

Eventually, Blade and Victoria found safer and flatter grounds to place the boulder, allowing them to unravel their cables and pull them back in before landing to converse properly.

"Thank you for your help, Ma'am," Blade began politely, and quirked a brow when Bertie landed next to Victoria, "So, how can I help you two?"

"Just keep being awesome!" Bertie blurted out, much to Blade's utter confusion.

"Ahem!" Victoria cleared her throat before speaking sternly, "What Roberta meant ta say was, we wanted to thank you for savin' her yesterday."

"I was just doing my job."

"Aren't we all?"

A tense silence suddenly fell over the three helicopters, causing them to glance around nervously. This gave Bertie a brilliant idea, as a conniving grin crept onto her face.

"Well, if you two are gonna keep being weird, I'm gonna head back home. See ya!" Bertie suddenly announced before flying off, leaving Victoria and Blade alone together.

"I'm sorry about her. She's always been a little ball of energy," Victoria chuckled sheepishly.

"It's alright. Kids will be kids," Blade reassured while rolling his eyes.

"Ain't that the truth. Speakin' of which, we haven't been properly introduced yet. I'm Victoria Rogers, but everyone calls me Vicky."

"Blade Ranger, at your service."

"Well, it's nice ta know that there are some civilized gentlemen all the way out here, too."

"I'll try to take that as a compliment."

Victoria sensed another awkward silence fast approaching, so she turned away and prepared to take off. But paused and turned to face Blade.

"Hey, Fire Boy! If you ever find yourself in a jam again, don't be afraid ta ask me for help!" Victoria called back, as her propellers whirred and she flew off with a small smirk.

Victoria failed to notice it, but Blade couldn't help but smirk back while muttering, "Whatever you say, Texas."

Seems like the start of a beautiful relationship. Wouldn't you agree?

Until the next chapter, I'm TRikiD, bye-bye!