Page 5 of Xavier's Mission

Yup.Stressed.It came off her in waves.She isn’t the only one. He stared at his reflection in the mirror as he moved his shoulder and arm around. Normally he’d never get up and go to the john on a short flight like this, especially not without Joey flying in the right seat. But his arm was going seriously numb. Not just tingling. He moved his shoulder through a few of the exercises the doctors had taught him, grateful when the numbness lessened.

What the hell had kicked it off? Had he pushed too hard at the gym this morning? He moved some more. Then he put his arm down by his side. He was fairly certain this episode was caused by stress. His shoulders were bunched and slightly higher than where they should be. It was enough to put extra pressure on the touchy, damaged nerve.Shit.Flying with Simon was just a bad idea. At least when he didn’t have time to prepare properly for it mentally. He’d done his due diligence with the aircraft, but he hated flying with someone he didn’t know. It was giving him serious anxiety.

He tried one of the techniques they’d taught him in rehab; to think of something calming. Make a list of things that made him happy, and relaxed. An image of Allegra Wagner popped into his mind. He’d love an opportunity to makeherhappy. Those eyes were so damned captivating. And the rest of her wasn’t bad either. She was damn fine and he would love the opportunity to explore her perfect curves. He smiled at the thought. Now that would be relaxing.

They hit a little bit of turbulence and he gasped. Flying was still something he loved but after the helicopter crash, his joy wasn’t quite the same. Conditions had to be perfect in order for him to relax and things were far from perfect on this flight. Simon seemed competent but he wasn’t Joey. The weather was deteriorating and this whole excursion had come out of the blue. He liked more warning these days. Maybe he was getting old. For sure he’d lost his edge. It was why he was just a pilot and not anything more. He missed being a Ranger more than he’d thought possible, but he knew he’d never again be able to handle a serious mission. His shoulder just couldn’t take it.

He stared at his reflection and shook his head.Get it together.He ran through some breathing exercises with his eyes closed. His ears popped but he felt much better. He let out his last breath and opened his eyes. His shoulder was lower and his arm felt great. Better than it had in a long time. He grinned at himself. Now this was more like it. He was…euphoric. Fuck! The plane must have depressurized. He was suffering from a lack of oxygen. Euphoria was a symptom of oxygen deprivation.

Sucking in a huge breath, hoping there was some oxygen in it, he ripped open the bathroom door and practically dove behind the last seat pulling out a small oxygen tank. He pulled on the mask and tried to open the valve. His fingers weren’t cooperating. The lack of oxygen was getting to him and making his vision blur and shrink. He closed his eyes and opened the valve by feel.

Sweet oxygen filled his lungs and he inhaled deeply. He grabbed another small tank and shoved it under his arm. Making his way toward the front of the plane, he lurched as they hit turbulence again. He glanced out the window. Snow. He forced his way to the passenger. She was sitting with her head back on the seat looking like she was asleep. He knew if he didn’t get her oxygen soon, she’d be dead.

He slid the mask down over her face and then turned on the tank. “Come on…breathe,” he mumbled in his mask. If this didn’t work, he’d have to do mouth-to-mouth, a dicey proposition in this situation but he couldn’t give up. This was a favor to Hank and after everything that man had done for him, there was no way he was going to let this woman die if he could help it.

Her eyelashes fluttered and her beautiful green eyes opened.

Thank God.

She glanced around, groggy from the lack of oxygen and then her eyes flew to his and she gripped his arm. “What’s happening?” she mumbled through the mask.

“Depressurization. Stay in your seat with your seatbelt and mask on until I tell you. Don’t panic. You’re fine. I’ll get us down to an altitude where we can breathe without the masks and then we’ll make an emergency landing.”

Her eyes were huge as he turned and hurried toward the cockpit. What made his gut churn…what he didn’t say…was that since the airplane hadn’t immediately gone to a lower altitude, he suspected Simon was dead. It would be too late to get him oxygen. He’d been without it for too long but Xavier would give it a try. He would always try just like he tried with Jamie. He did everything to keep his friend alive but shrapnel from the downed helicopter had ripped through his friend’s chest and there was nothing he could do. Xavier had never felt so fucking helpless in all his life.

He took a steadying breath in an effort to calm down. Breathing fast would use up more oxygen than necessary and until he knew the situation, he needed to conserve as much as he could. He had to clear his mind of that horrific past experience and deal with what was happening now.Live in the moment.The irony of it made him want to laugh.

Opening the cockpit door, he was stunned to find Simon wearing an oxygen mask with a parachute pack over one shoulder. The airplane was on autopilot and the oxygen alarms were going off.What the fuck?Simon immediately lunged at him knocking him backward into the wall. Instinct took over and Xavier fought back, grabbing at Simon’s mask.

Simon drove a punch into Xavier’s gut and tried to pull his mask off. Xavier bent over and used his shoulder to pin the man against the opposite wall. There wasn’t much room to maneuver, and he’d dropped his tank. If the hose pulled out, he’d lose his oxygen supply. Simon made a grab for it, but Xavier twisted away. Simon went after him and they fell against the pilot’s seat. Xavier swung with his right arm and connected with the man’s jaw. The blow forced Simon to stumble backward into the main cabin.

Xavier picked up his oxygen tank and went after Simon but his co-pilot rushed him and pushed him back into the cockpit against the co-pilot’s seat this time. Simon grabbed Xavier’s tank and tried to wrestle it away. Xavier fought for control of the tank. He wasn’t giving up. They hit turbulence again and Xavier lost his balance, falling against the control panel pushing the yoke forward and hitting all kinds of buttons with his back. The airplane immediately responded and angled downward. More alarms screamed.

Simon fell into Xavier and smashed him in the jaw. He grabbed Xavier’s oxygen mask and pulled it off his face. Xavier lashed out but Simon had him pinned. He was losing the ability to fight back with no oxygen. His limbs were getting heavy and his lungs were screaming for air.

He fought to get the mask back but Simon held it too far out. Xavier couldn’t reach. Instead, he flailed around looking for a weapon. Any weapon. The plane was gaining momentum on its downward trajectory. Alarms pierced the rushing wind sound as the plane plummeted downward. At this rate, they’d crash.

Xavier’s left hand hit the metal tank. His fingers tingled and he struggled to get a good grip but finally he managed to pick it up and with his last burst of strength, he smashed the tank on the side of Simon’s head. The man immediately let go of Xavier’s mask and slumped to the floor. Xavier scrambled to grab the mask and put it back in place, taking a few deep breaths before turning and dropping into the pilot’s seat.

He pulled hard on the yoke, but they were in a steep dive. The plane responded and leveled off, but now they were in the thick of the snowstorm. He pulled on his seat belt and then put out a distress call to the tower. Alarms were still going off. He tried to gain altitude but the plane wasn’t responding.

Confused he went through the checklist in his head of what could be wrong. There. The de-icing for the wings. He must have flicked the switch off when he hit the dash. He hit the buttons for de-icing to come back on. It beeped and lit up, but it was too late. A substantial accumulation of ice on the wings had jammed the controls and they were too low.

“Mayday, Mayday, Mayday, This is Delta Two Lima our wings are iced up. We’re too low.”

“Delta Two Lima We have you on radar. Can you get to the following heading?” The voice started reading off coordinates.

”This is Delta Two Lima, No chance, tower. The plane is already difficult to maneuver.” The truth was the plane was less a magnificent flying machine and more like a flying elephant. There was no way he could do anything other than try to put her down without killing himself and his passenger.

“Tower, we’re going down.” The plane was dropping like a stone. He looked out his windscreen. He was flying blind into a swirl of snowflakes.

More alarms went off. “Pull up. Pull Up,” the airplane alarm screamed at him.

I would if I could. He pulled with all his might, but the flaps were frozen and it would take too long for the plane to get rid of the ice. Trees suddenly appeared. They were heading toward the side of the mountain. He ripped off his oxygen mask now that they were low enough he didn’t need it and yelled “Brace yourself!” He barely had time to strap himself in before the belly of the plane scraped the tops of the trees.

The next minute was the longest and the shortest of his life. Like last time. The helicopter crash that had left him permanently damaged had come out of the blue. He hadn’t been expecting it at all. This he saw coming. He wasn’t sure which was worse.

The plane shuddered as it hit the trees and then the sound of tearing metal filled his ears as the wings were ripped off. They hit the ground hard and careened forward into the meadow, burying the nosecone and what remained of the fuselage in snow. Then the world went black.

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