�Chapter 2
1. Touch�
People ask if I�m in love with you
Because I�m sitting here with your picture
And smiling to myself
�May day may day! I�ve been hit!� she yelled into the head set. The helicopter was aflame and was heading for the ground. She frantically hit the side glass trying to bust out. Her elbow smashed into the glass leaving a long cut along her elbow. She gasped in pain. She wasn�t going to give up. She looked behind her to see the other passengers, her friends� dead. All dead. It was her fault. She could have avoided this. The plane hit the dirt and her life flashed before her eyes: boot camp, her friends, and missions. Then she saw the rolling hills of Pennsylvania. Moving to Iowa and meeting her blue eyed next-door neighbor. Her mind flashed to him and with a sudden burst of strength she smashed most of the glass and tried anxiously to get out the window. She kicked the remainder of the glass and shimmied through the opening until she finally reached her goal. She looked at the wreckage. Then she looked down at her now blood and mud caked uniform. She picked out one of the shards of glass from her arm. She winced in pain and agony. The tears mixed with the newly fallen rain as she wept for her friends.
She shot up in bed drenched in a cold sweat. She was breathing heavily. A heavy sob was caught in her throat. Silent tears began to fall down her cheeks. She thought the memories went away, but her once repressed memories came back. She glanced at the clock. 3:30AM. She had to get up for the set anyways. She harshly wiped all of the tears from her eyes. She was embarrassed to be crying. She never really did. She grabbed one of her favorite t-shirt�s and pants then set off for the bathroom. Elijah entered her room and heard the shower water running. That was odd. He usually had a hard time waking her up. He walked over towards her bed and saw the tear stained pillow. He sighed and made her bed. She had a lot of explaining to do�
*
She sighed as she walked out of the bathroom. Shuffling her feet she finally made it to the kitchen. She immediately poured herself a cup of coffee then added sugar and cream.
�Are you going to have some coffee with that cream?� She muttered a response. This is how things usually were. She was falling asleep while Elijah was semi awake. �Dom should be here soon. We have to do another Billy wake up call.� She walked over to the small table as soon as her she touched the seat her forehead fell onto the table with a big bang. Elijah jumped. �Mack?� He questioned. �Mack�� silence. Enough was enough. He screamed, �Mackenzie Rose Evers what the hell is wrong with you today!�
She rubbed her forehead. Her eyes were stinging from the tears that threatened to fall. She wasn�t going to cry. Not again. �Elijah I�ll talk to you when I�m ready,� she said barely above a whisper. Her voice was obviously shaking. His hard eyes turned soft. He rubbed her back reassuringly. She put her head on his shoulder.
�I still can�t believe you dyed your hair,� he said as he ran his finger through her brown and blond hair.
The door opened and closed �Hey guys!� Dom looked at them both �holy hell! Mack, what did you do to your hair? You look like� that one girl from X-Men what�s her name?�
�Rouge?� she offered.
�That�s the one! I like it,� he smiled. �Am I interrupting something?�
�No, I�m just having a pretty crappy day,� she frowned.
�Already? But it�s,� he checked his watch �4 AM, what�s wrong?� she shook her head. �Well, we better get Billy then. Shall we?� she nodded, took her coffee, and followed them to the car.
�Which car are we taking?� she sipped her coffee.
�It doesn�t really matter,� Elijah shrugged.
�We�ll take mine,� she walked towards her silver Beetle. She then plopped into the drivers seat and shut the door.
�I call shotgun!� Elijah yelled.
�That�s not fair,� Dom pouted and Mack shook her head.
�You can sit there on the way back,� Elijah said.
She turned on the radio and U2 blasted through the speakers. She turned it down, �Sorry about that.�
�No problem. We�ll need it that loud to wake Billy up anyways,� Elijah responded. She laughed as she began the short drive to the sleeping hobbit�s quarters.
*
They finally got to the loft. She turned off the ignition and sat there as Dom and Elijah got out of the car. Dom went over to her side of the car and opened the door, �Come on. We can�t get him up without you!� Dom grabbed her arms and pulled her out of the car.
�But I don�t wanna!� she whined. He rolled his eyes, took her hand, and practically drag her to Billy�s place.
She stumbled in to see Elijah shuffle his feet to the coffee pot. He poured himself a glass, saw Mack, and poured a cup for her also. She took the cream out of the refrigerator and got the sugar. Her cup was once again practically sugar and cream. She felt her pockets and then frantically searched through her purse. Elijah look at her oddly. She finally found what she was looking for.
Dom was running through the house yelling, �Get up Billy! Come on come on!� she could hear him jumping up and down on the bed. They heard a crash and assumed that he fell off of the bed. She took out her cigarettes and lit one. She closed her eyes and savoring the taste.
�I thought you were going to quit,� Elijah said.
�I will when you do,� she raised her eyebrow towards him.
�Touch�,� was all he could say.
Billy dragged his feet to the bathroom door, �Zee, if your going to smoke then go outside.�
She sighed and walked onto the balcony. After a few minutes she heard the balcony door open and then close. �When did you start smoking?� Surprisingly it was Billy who asked her the question.
She took another drag and then blew out the smoke, �I started when I was in the military. It was the only thing that could really calm my nerves. I could fly a plane and shoot a .50 caliber gun, but without cigarettes I�m lost.�
�When did you quit the armed forces?� he asked.
She shook her head, �I�m not really all that comfortable talking about it. I haven�t even said anything to Lij.� He nodded his head understanding where she was coming from. She then smashed the remainder of her cigarette into the ground.
�I didn�t know you were in the military,� he said.
She shrugged, �Lots of people don�t. Ever since freshman year in high school I knew I wanted to be a pilot for the military.�
He was intrigued, �What did you do?�
�I was mostly a pilot but I did go on actually missions.�
Dom walked onto the balcony, �Come on we have to go.� She nodded and followed him into the house.