October 31st, 2019 (Or was it November 1st?)

The hours seemed to drag by. The sun had set completely, replaced by a full moon.

Sitting by himself on the Flight Deck of the Andersen, Captain ("Major," he reminded himself) Jason Briggs, Tac Name "Trigger" was immersed in thought, holding a cigarette in his hand. Bringing it to his lips and inhaling deeply, he thought to himself, "If there's one thing I'm grateful to Harling for, it's legalizing marijuana. Rest in peace, you bastard."

Lost in thought, he didn't hear the footsteps behind him.

"Hey, Trigger." It was Count, looking for his friend.

Briggs lowered the joint and turned to look at Count. "What do you want?"

"So to the point, I see," Count sarcastically replied, taking a seat next to Briggs. "Have you seen her yet?"

"Who?"

Wow. He didn't know. "Your Scrap Queen."

That got Briggs to pay attention. "She's here?"

Count had to laugh. "Yeah, buddy. Last I saw, she was in the hangar, doing what she does best."

Briggs shot up like a rocket, discarding the joint. "Well, then. If you will excuse me, I'm gonna go see her."

Turning from his wingman, Briggs took off at a full sprint, accidentally knocking someone over.

"Ow! What the hell, you dumbass?!"

The voice was extremely familiar. And Briggs only knew one person that put emphasis on calling people "dumbass."

"Avril!"

Briggs doubled back to offer his hand to help Avril up. She took it, and immediately proceeded to punch Briggs on the shoulder. They stood and looked at each other for a minute before Briggs pulled Avril into a tight embrace.

"Trigger, I can't breathe," Avril choked out.

"Sorry," Briggs replied, releasing the hug. "I'm just glad to see you. I thought I'd never get to again."

Avril smiled and said, "Well, here I am. Aside from saving the world, what have you been up to?"

Briggs sighed. "Not a whole lot. Still jamming my Pop-Punk stuff. It's just so relaxing, especially after some of these sorties I've been flying. I think Count was right. I do have the Devil in my corner."

Avril scoffed. "Nah. You're just that good... Or extremely lucky."

"Speaking of luck..." Briggs reached into a pocket on his flight suit and pulled out a 10mm socket. "I do believe this belongs to you."

"You've still got that?"

"Well, yeah. You think I was going to let an enemy, or worse, Count, get his hands on this? No way."

"I never knew you were such a romantic, Trigger," Avril said in between fits of laughter.

Briggs laughed with her, not sure of how to tell her what he wanted to say.

"Here," he said, offering it back to her. "I told you when we left Zapland I'd give it back when the war's over. I think it's safe to say that the war is over."

Avril pushed his hand back. "War's not over yet. Keep it until you get back tomorrow."

"If I get back tomorrow." Seeing the look on Avril's face, Briggs continued. "I'm not going to sugar-coat it, Av. I'm scared. I don't know what's going to happen tomorrow, but in case I don't make it back-"

"Stop." For the first time since her grandfather passed away, Avril felt tears in her eyes. "You're going to make it back tomorrow, Jason Michael Briggs. Look at me. You're going. To. Make. It. Back."

Briggs looked into Avril's eyes and saw the determination in them. He smiled, pulling Avril closer to him. "I'm going to make it back."

The distance between them closed and their lips met, and for a few brief seconds, they both forgot about the war and the whole world going to shit around them.

"Ahem. Am I interrupting something?"

Briggs and Avril (albeit reluctantly) broke apart, eyeing the source of the interruption.

"You have about five seconds to run, Arthur," Briggs growled.

"Oh, come on, man!" Count looked at the pair sheepishly. "I told you my government name in confidence!"

"Three, two, one..."

Count didn't see Avril's leg swing forward, but he sure felt it connect.

"Well, that's a mood killer," Briggs joked, turning back to Avril. "So..."

"Yeah," Avril replied. "When you get back tomorrow, we'll revisit this. Hopefully without Arthur butting in."

Count clutched his groin, staggering slowly to his feet as Briggs and Avril walked away. "That's my boy," he muttered.

November 1st, 2019. 0715 hours.

Avril watched from the control room on the carrier as Trigger and Count chased the ADF-11 into the tunnel below the Space Elevator.

"Trigger and Count have disappeared from radar!"

Avril looked at the screen, a deep dread settling in over her. "Are you sure?" She looked at the radar officer with concern.

"Very," the officer replied. "But at last contact, they were 600 feet underground. Our radars don't go any further than that."

"Goddamn it!" Avril was nearing a panic attack now. She could feel it. This went on for about 10 minutes before...

"Contact! Strider 1 has returned to radar!"

Unable to hide her joy, Avril snatched a spare set of headphones and listened in, as Count gave his position to the Squadron (directly under the Space Elevator, minus 1900 feet).

Hey, Trigger," Avril spoke into the mic.

"Yes my Scrap Queen?"

Avril laughed. "You dumbass. What color is the sky?"

Trigger sighed over the radio. "A beautiful deep, dark blue."

The Deck of the Andersen. Approximately 0745.

Strider Squadron landed safely, being mobbed by flight crew and grounded pilots. Trigger fought through the crowd, looking for one person alone. He saw her near the edge of the flight deck, staring into the ocean.

He snaked his arms around her waist and whispered, "I made it back to you."

Avril turned to him and smiled, despite the still-fresh tear tracks on her face. "Good. I'm glad you're okay. Dumbass."

She leaned in close and kissed him, much in the same manner he had kissed her the night before. Tender and passionate. Like something both had been missing for years finally fell into place. As they broke apart, the distant whirring of rotor blades could be heard.

"You think they got him?" Briggs asked.

"No doubt," Avril replied.

"Well," Briggs said, taking Avril's hand in his, "Shall we go meet our friend?"

The chopper landed just as Briggs and Avril fought their way to the front of the crowd. Count jumped out and immediately kissed the flight deck before running to meet his friends.

"Welcome back, buddy," Briggs yelled over the rotors, pulling Count into a one-armed hug.

"Thanks," Count yelled back. Looking between Briggs and Avril, he joked, "I guess I need to get used to this."

"Damn right," Avril replied. "Don't you boys have a debrief to deal with?"

"They can wait," Briggs said, pulling Avril in for another kiss.

"Go. We can pick this up later."

Briggs sighed and looked from Avril to Count. "Alright. Let's go, Arthur. Debrief. Hopefully it's quick."

Avril watched her boys take off at a run, with Count screaming something about his government name and Briggs laughing like a maniac. Yup. She was glad she had him in her corner.

And that's another AC7 Story in the books. Don't forget to hit those favorite and follow buttons or to leave a review. Until next time, I bid you adieu. Goodbye... And goodnight. BANG!