Just stand there and watch me drown (OPEN)

[akhet]

"I want to fly." Marcus would normally have not caught that small statement but with his enhanced hearing it was easy. As Ari walked into Megans office he smiled,

"That can be arranged..." He said to himself with a smile, the girl clearly needed to be cheered up. He knew they barely knew each other but really he wanted to see her smile. He knew the base commander wouldn't have objections to it, and his CF-18 was still on base so everything should be fine.

As the two finally returned Megan let him know she was perfectly fine, excellent. It would do the child well to have some excitement in her life.

"Thanks Megan, I guess ill take her home then," he said, the woman simply smiled and waved them both off, Marcus knew that she would call in that favor at any time.

"Alright, now i know this is rather abrupt since we don't really know each other... But if your alright with it, and you don't think your aunt will mind... You want to go fly? I know its sudden but I think you'd like it," he said to the girl as he stepped in the vehicle before buckling up. "Only thing is the Base is three and a half hours away so yeah."

[arianna]

Arianna had no idea what he had concocted as a plan. She never could understand the male train of thought. Sometimes she was glad she couldn't. She really didn't want to know what men thought every second of the day, even though she thought she had a good idea what it was. Health class at least taught her that much.

Ari's expression dropped a little as she sighed when he said he would take her home. She didn't want to go home. But if that was how it needed to be then so be it. She could easily direct him to her house. More than likely she would have him drop her off on the corner. It would be easier that way. He didn't need to know where she lived. It would also keep neighbors from asking questions later. Ari was used to taking the extra precautions. It was something every teenager had to do, just to stay out of trouble.

Getting in the car, Ari immediately buckled up. It was then he started speaking. By the time he asked if she wanted to fly, Ari's face had lit up and she was looking up at him as if she was giving her her first puppy. "I would love that." She spoke with a smile on her face. She hadn't been this excited in a while. Not since she came to Forks. And then he said the last part. That would be a long drive. She thought for a moment as she looked out the window. "Let's do it. I want to fly. And if my aunt ask's I will come up with an excuse. Like I was studying late." It was a believable excuse too. Ari made excellent grades. She was highly intelligent. She was naive, yes, but smart and creative as well.

[akhet]

"Alright" with that he turned the car and headed off towards for McChord AFB. It was a long drive and also was rather quiet, the only interruptions when Marcus made a phone call to the Base CO to make sure everything was alright. The man didn't really care, it was a weekend and there was little activity aside from the normal supply missions headed to the middle east. As they entered the base Marcus stopped for a few seconds to show the security guard his identification and then drove a short distance to the main barracks.

"Alright, im just going to go in to tell them your here, just wait a second, bring all your stuff when you come, were not coming back to the car." getting out of the car he walked into the building before coming back out smiling and waved for Arianna to join him.

"Okay, so its all fine." reaching into his pocket he pulled out a hair net "Your going to have to put your hair in a bun, cant have it flying all over the place" he said with a smile, a minute later the two walked into the building until they reached a locker room. On a bench two G suits were laying there, one belonged to Marcus, the other was one he had taken from the back, he want sure but it should fit her.

"There's a room you can use to change around the corner if you need it, but you don't have to remove your clothes or anything to wear this suit. Just put it on top of your normal clothing, its a bit tight but that's all just to keep the blood from pooling at your legs if we do anything risky." without waiting for a reply he grabbed his G-suit and began to put it on.

[arianna]

The car ride was quiet. Ari stared out the window as she watched the scenery change. She was excited. For once her hands stayed clasped in her lap instead of gripping the door handle and seat belt. When they reached the base. Ana was excited and almost bouncing in her seat. Her eyes were lit up and bright and she leaned forward to watch everything as they passed buildings and people. sHe had never been on a military base before so it was exciting. SHe had not been this happy in a while. It was funny how she could be so happy in one day when just that morning she felt like her life was falling apart.

While waiting for the signal that she could go in, Ari slipped on her flip flops. Once he signaled for her to come in she got out of the car and walked over to him and into the building.She stopped just inside the door and waited for instructions.

Ari nodded and took the hairnet and the suit. She went into the room specified and set her suit down. SHe carefully slid her skirt off and folded it on the bench. SHe then slid her suit on over her bikini bottoms and shirt. Making sure everything was fastened, she took her hair down before winding it up into a tight bun leaving only her bangs loose as they were too short to pull back. She put the hairnet over the bun and looked at herself in a mirror on the wall. She looked good. THe suit fit snuggly against her curves yet covered her body to hide any marks scars or cleavage.

Arianna breathed out and smiled before walking out of the room and looking at him with her blue eyes and a soft smile on her pink lips. "Ready." She smiled.

[akhet]

As girl exited the room Charles smiled at the sight. The suit fit her, if it were not for the fact she was obviously too young she would have looked perfect in it. In his hands Marcus passed her a pair of boots and wool socks.

"Here take off those flip flops and put them in your bag, you'll need these" A few minutes later the pair of them made their way onto the flight line, it was relatively empty, Fort McChord was mainly a transport hub and many of the aircraft were in the middle east for the time being. As they neared one of the hangars he saw his jet and pointed it out to Ari. In his other hand he held their helmets.

"That's my girl, Canadian Airforce CF-18, I brought her down here when they transferred me from Cold lake." the ground crew had pulled it out from the hangar an hour earlier when Marcus had phoned in. A pair of crewmen were standing nearby waiting.

"Ah, Warlock, shes all prepped, we did a quick check and all systems are working fine" one of them said "Ah, so shes the lucky kid? Your going to enjoy this" he continued when he saw Ari, a moment later the two of them attached a ladder to the canopy for them to get in.

"Heh, thanks guys, been awhile since I've flown her..." Marcus replied before climbing up into the cockpit, a second later the ladder was moved back to allow Ari to go up. As she sat into the rear seat Marcus spun around to show her what everything was, and to hook up the air hose for her mask and pass it to her.

"And by the way, you see that lever under your seat that says Pull? Don't pull it! Not unless you want our trip to be cut short, other than that I think it should be okay for you to touch the other things back here. They've deactivated the rear seat functions so you have nothing to worry about." Holding out his hand he passed her a helmet. "Put this on, you don't need to put the oxygen mask on yet, but if we stay up about ten thousand feet long enough you may need it." He said before helping her put it on, a moment later he helped her strap in. Turning around he then put his helmet on and restraints. Looking down he pressed a button to activate the radio for the helmet.

"Testing, can you hear me? Just talk normally."

[arianna]

Ari put on the boots that fit perfectly and smiled standing back up. She was really excited. She wanted to go. She wanted to be in the air. This was sure to be an experience she would never forget. Her first flight and it was on a military jet.

As they made their way to the plane, Arianna got antsy. She wanted to fly and seeing the plane waiting made her even more excited. She waited patiently though for them to let her in. SHe had climbed in with one of the guys holding the ladder behind her in case she fell. She sat down into the seat and looked at all the buttons and switches. She listened to everything he said and nodded when he said not to pull the lever under her seat. She smiled and looked at all the labels for various buttons, switches, and knobs. She was hyped up. He helped get her buckled in and made sure the straps were tight to hold her in place then handed her the helmet and she put that snugly on her head. SHe felt like she was in the military now. Maybe if she liked this flight she would consider joining up.

He turned around and she looked around putting her hands on the joystick in front of her. She moved it around a little with a smile. She was having way too much fun with this. She was about to push the little red button on it when the voice came through her helmet. She jumped a little out of surprise them smiled with a slight giggle. "Can we go up now?" She asked ready to take flight.

[akhet]

"Good, lets get this started then" looking outside he gave the ground crew a thumbs up to let them know to get out of the way before he lowered the canopy and started the engine. With a smile he listened to the loud whine of the engines as they warmed up. Although the canopy muffled the sound somewhat it was still loud, he was happy that the helmets offered both him and Ari some protection. In front of him his instruments lit up and he took a moment to adjust the altimeter. After performing a couple other checks to ensure the planes ailerons, elevator, and rudder were working fine.

"Alright Ari, can I have you stay quiet for a couple minutes?" A moment later he activated the planes radio and called the tower.

"McChord control, this is Warlock, currently holding steady on flight deck. Requesting permission to taxi onto runway 15 for takeoff?"

"Good afternoon Warlock, permission granted." with that Marcus accelerated the jet onto the runway. A moment later he got confirmation from the tower allowing him to take off.

With a grin he maximized the jet engine output, with a roar the jet began to roll down the runway gradually accelerating until the ground below them was a blur, at that moment Marcus eased back on the control panel and felt the aircraft leave the ground. They were airborne, Marcus laughed feeling the hawk within shrieked in joy,

"So Ari? How do you like it?" he asked Ari as they leveled off at ten thousand feet. "Anything specific you want to try?"

[arianna]

Ari was ecstatic as she watched the canopy come down and lock them into place. She was almost bouncing in her seat excited. She nodded when he said to keep quiet and busied herself looking at the different meters and gages in front of her where they were starting to glow and light up as he started the engine. The roar was loud but it was muffled with the canopy and helmets. It just made the experience more surreal. This was something she would never forget. That was for sure.

As the plane moved to the runway and begun taking off, Ari's smiled grew wider showing her pearly white teeth. And then they were up in the air. She could feel the vibrations from take off and she let a giggle escape her lips as she watched them climb higher in the sky. She really enjoyed this.

The voice came through the speaker in her helmet. Her smile grew and she looked out. "This is amazing. I can't believe I am flying." She spoke with a laugh. She was truly happy in that moment. She wasn't thinking about any of her past problems or anything that troubled her that morning. No she was living in the here and now and loving every minute of it.

"Something fun." Arianna replied to his second question. She didn't know what was and wasn't capable in a jet. So she would let him decide what they did. She just hoped he knew the human girl's physical limits. So she braced her hands on the joystick in front of her and pretended to be flying the plane on her own waiting for the next move.

[akhet]

"Alright then, you let me know if you start to feel sick, there's a barf bag in the pouch behind my seat alright? Let me know if what I'm doing is too much" Marcus replied before banking the plane into a downwards turn before pulling back on the control stick into a 90 degree straight up climb,

"Alright, get ready for this, this is just like when your on a swing. But dont worry, we've got the altitude to do it" with that he yanked back engine control, a moment later the plane slowed to a halt before falling back into a free fall... For a moment he felt his stomach lurch as they both were weightless for a few seconds before gravity kicked in again, still pulling back on the control stick he set the jet into a level flight path before setting the engines back onto full, checking the altimeter he saw how far they had fallen.

"Hey, you know we just fell over three thousand feet in that? Alright now for some easier stuff" for the following few minutes Marcus pulled off barrel rolls, loops, and tight turns, all the while making sure he didn't put too much stress on his passenger. They were doing the maneuvers in an area that the base had set aside for weapons testing and dog fighting, as a result commercial and private aircraft were forbidden to enter.

A few minutes later Marcus pulled them in low to the ground, sending the jet flying over the tree tops just three hundred feet above, but from the plane it always seems allot closer. Marcus wasn't worried about possibly hitting a bird, for one the noise the aircraft made would have alerted them, the other reason he didn't worry was the fact that his eyes would pick them up allowing him to react much faster than a normal person could ever hope to.

Suddenly a voice broke through on the radio, "Warlock this is Western Air Control, a couple of our sensors near your location are picking up some irregular responses, I realize you are not armed and carrying civilians but could we have you check it out? If it proves to be a threat just bug out and well scramble some fighters to assist you."

"Control this is Warlock, um, let me get back to on that, Ari, you heard that exchange,do you mind us taking a bit of a detour? Sometimes the radar around here glitches or get ghost readings of aircraft that are not even there. Heck last time they had me check there were some locals experimenting with their satellite dish that set the radar off."

[arianna]

Arianna nodded and spoke a small affirmation to him as he gave her more instructions. She readjusted herself in her seat and watched out the window as they went down and then up before starting to free fall. The drop let out a scream of enjoyment in her that wasn't heard often. It was much similar to that of kids at a fair. But there was giggles embedded in her scream so it told Marcus that all was well.

When they leveled back out Ari smiled her breathing was fast and her heart was racing. "That was so much fun. It was like I was floating on air." She spoke holding the joystick and pushing a couple of buttons. She felt like a kid in a simulation of a flight like they had at NASA.

Then they went into some smaller stuff. Ari couldn't stop giggling. SHe was so happy and carefree at the moment. She wished she could stay up int the air for the rest of her life. Up here you didn't have to worry about anything. You were surrounded by clouds and open skies. Why would she have to worry?

A voice came over the radio and Ari listened to everything. Then she was being asked if i was okay to go check on a radar detection. "Yeah, I don't mind. Let's do it." She felt like she was on a mission, like in the military for real. This day was just getting better and better. The air force was starting to look like where she wanted to end up in life.

[akhet]

The Russian pilot was smiling as his aircraft entered American airspace. He had been ordered by his superiors to see just how far this new aircraft could penetrate the American radar defense network. So far it seemed to be a success, back at home politicians were standing ready to try and cover any fallout should any trouble occur.

The pilot doubted the need for for it. His fighter was equiped with the best stealth technology Russia had to offer and as far as the public knew it didnt even exist, the first official prototype set to be unveiled in 2010.

A few minutes after penetrating the American airspace the pilot detected a single aircraft performing maneuvers in an area north of a known military base. A minute later his computer had a match for what kind of aircraft it was and surprised the pilot, a Canadian plane... He was under direct orders not to engage anyone and really he couldn't. He was only armed with a Vulcan machine gun meaning he would have to get close to the enemy before he could actually do anything. That didn't mean he couldn't play a bit. He wondered how close he could get before the other aircraft got wind that he was here. Descending down to 10000 feet he decided to find out

--------------

Marcus smiled at the girls reply, she seemed to be really enjoying this and that made Marcus happy also. He couldn't bear to see her depressed for some reason.

"Alright," he replied before opening a channel to comman "Western Air controll this is Warlock, well go check it out"

"Thank you warlock, the anomaly is located at about ten thousand feet altitude, were not sure where however but it should be in your area." the other man replied before cutting the link.

"Roger command, Warlock out." with a smiled he pulled the fighter into a steep climb, it was then he saw it. His eyesight was far superior to any normal humans, it was a fighter, a really strange one at that, it shared many features with the American F-22 raptor but there were some small differences. With a curse he saw that his radar didn't pick it up, a second later he spun his fighter around to face towards it.

"Command, this is Warlock, we have an unidentified bogey in our airspace, appears to be a stealth fighter of unknown origins, please advise."

"Warlock, we are scrambling fighters to support you, sit tight and try to get a better view of the fighter"

"Are you joking? The thing looks like its a crossbreed between a Raptor and and a Flanker... Its a damn Russian jet!" Marcus growled over the radio before spinning the jet into a dive to try and shake the other fighter. "Ari, hang on this is going to get rough"