Untamed Flame || R. Floyd

2

San Diego International Airport...

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me."

She flips up her sunglasses to the top of her head dragging her luggage behind her weakly. It is six in the morning at the airport. The sun is just peaking over the horizon from outside the airport. She is not having it at the moment.

Before her is a six-foot man with dark brown hair and matching green eyes. He quirks the corner of his lip up into a charming smile.

"And here I thought you'd be excited to see me, little sister."

She rolls her eyes pulling him into a short hug. "You're two years older. You don't have to point me out like that."

"I mustn't lie."

She humphs turning her back. He jogs up to her as she started for the exit. "Where do you think you're going?"

"Finding this damn helicopter to take me to North Island."

He grabs her arm leading her in the opposing direction. "Then you're going the wrong way. The helicopter is in the hangar. We have to go to the main level."

She looks at him warily. His face contorted into a mixture of emotions. "It's good to see you Dyl. I'm glad to see you're still alive."

His shoulders shake with laughter. "Hey, I didn't just return from the other side of the world without my team. I thought the mission was so delicate it was mandatory to be there?"

"Me too, I guess whatever this is tops that. Hey, are you the one flying me? I didn't think you'd be here if it wasn't the case."

He gasps dramatically. "You wound me, sis. To answer your question, yes. Ice called about you needing a ride. He gave me clearance to lift off from here."

"You should be at the station. They need you there more than I need you here, Dylan."

"Ow, Finley, you'd rather have that little shit be here instead to crash the helicopter?"

She lifts a finger as they come to a stop. She points it accusingly in front of his face. "First off, that 'little shit' is still my brother and unfortunately my twin. Secondly, it's not my fault he's reckless like our father. And lastly," she slaps him upside the shoulder as he begins to laugh, "I need to stop at home. I want to see my husband."

"You won't find him there."

She swivels her head up to meet his eye. "Excuse me? Then where is he?"

He furrows his eyes at the tone of her eyes. They're crazy eyes. He tilts his head. "He's been called back for the mission. He should already be at the base. He'll be a part of the training to determine who goes on it. He hasn't texted you? I texted him before you got off the plane."

In the snap of a finger, her phone is in her hands and she's navigating herself to their messages. Of course, there is text is him saying he's been called back. She lets out an irritated breath reading more of the messages. Over the course of her flight, she notices he texted her quite a bit despite knowing not to expect a response. His last message was a question. She seemed to fail to mention why she was coming home, he questioned that.

"Oh..."

"Yeah, oh. Now come on. We have to get you there pronto."

She gives him a look. "What, no brother-sister bonding?"

He pushes her lightly towards the hanger. "Yeah, like you'd want to do that."

"What if I did?"

He glances over, shocked. "W-well I'd say you're full of shit. We've never had a one-on-one, Fin. We rarely talk unless it's the holidays and Ice invites me over or if Oaklynn begs for a sibling reunion."

She shrugs, "he is my twin. Would you expect anything else? Now that you mention how often we see each other it actually makes me sad. Maybe we should fix that."

"Maybe we don't."

She raises a brow as they spot the military-issued helicopter. It's larger than the average helicopter. It is a darker camo-green. She identifies it as a Black Hawk, which is quite common with military aircraft.

They climb in each putting on a headset. Dylan connects to the tower asking for the all-clear. When the air is clear he preps the helicopter for lift-off.

As they fly Finley directs her vision over to him. "What did you mean back there?" He peers over, his eyes neutral. "What did you mean maybe we don't fix it?"

Finley is a relatively closed-off person. She doesn't disclose her emotions if she doesn't have to. Showing emotion makes her feel weak, at least in the presence of her father it always felt like that. So, in this case, she wouldn't let him see that his words hurt her. The short phrase made her stomach tighten, catching her breath.

"We have different lives, Fin," he says, "Oaklynn is a surgeon somewhere in some state, you'll be going back to Afghanistan after this mission is complete for more months to come, I'm just a detective in San Diego. It's not like high school anymore where we used to see each other all the time."

She faces the window parting her lips slightly. She'd be lying if she said she wasn't surprised. "Do you wish to see us more?"

Dylan adjusts his headset watching the sky in front of him. She can hear him huff out a breath. She turns back in time to see him shake his head. The two of them lock eyes unable to find the right words. "Dylan Henry Syers."

He groans in annoyance. "Was that really necessary?"

"Are you going to answer the question?"

His emerald eyes turn away from her. He bites the inside of his cheek contemplating what to say. At last, he says, "even if I did, our day jobs aren't changing anytime soon. The distance will still be far."

She fiddles with her hands in front of her. Her hot breath going down the front of her chest. "You're right, the distance won't change and neither will the job... but maybe I could do better. Maybe I could call or text you more."

Dylan smiles over at her. "I'd like that." There's an awkward silence between the two until he clears his throat. She readjusts herself in her seat. "So you must not be too happy about teaching at Top Gun."

She furrows her brows snapping her eyes to him. "Excuse me?"

He notices her confusion right away sinking fearfully into his seat. A pissed Finley is not a fun Finley. He shapes his mouth into an 'o' shape gripping onto the controls tightly. "Uh, Ice... didn't tell you?"

She laughs disbelieving me, "uh, no! He got me on the first flight out here. He just said I was called back but never went into details. Do you know?"

"Well, it's Ice so anything about you guys he tells me."

"Then what is this mission? What am I doing if I'm not participating in the mission itself?"

"Fin, maybe you should wait until the Admiral on base—"

She grips him by the side of his jacket pulling him dangerously close to her. She glares harshly with gritted teeth at the man. "If you don't tell me I will drop us in the air."

He smiles softly, "that's a bit excessive, don't you think?"

"Dylan!"

"Fine! The point is to take out a nuclear enrichment facility. The Iranians made it illegal having it invaded the NATO Treaty. The risks are quite clear and dangerous. There is a perilous terrain, anti-aircraft systems, and adversaries flying cutting-edge stealth jets. Ice said that it would be four aircraft, two single and one double. They'd be using the F-18s. He said this mission is incredibly high risk, but you have the real-world experience so he wants you to teach it."

Her jaw slacks as she lets go of him. "What the fuck! Why wasn't I told this sooner? This is a suicide mission. How am I supposed to teach these guys?" By the worried expression on Dylan's face, she knows there's more. "What aren't you telling me?"

"You're... y-you're not teaching it alone."

"Who?" She asks sternly.

He lips his lips swallowing thickly. "Uh, Maverick?"

"WHAT!"