Jaden
I woke up this morning to the aggravating noise of birds fucking near the cave. It must be that wonderful season here in the forest.
I groaned a yawn and stretched out on the parachute Nicki and I was sleeping on. My back ached from the hard surface of the ground and... Hold up...
Where's Nicki?
I sighed to myself. She's probably wandering around. I know how fascinated she often gets with nature.
Welp. Time to go find her.
I stood up and pushed through the vines to leave the cave. The sun was shining bright, making me squint through it so my eyes could adjust.
When my vision came back to me, I found Nicole's footprints in the patchy dirt areas and followed those.
"Nicole!" I called.
No one answered so I kept walking and calling her name every now and then. Hopefully, she hasn't already forgotten that there was crucial work needed to be done. We don't have time for venturing around in this forest when no one even knows that we're stranded here.
Her bootprints led me through a bird hangout place where I saw hundreds of different types of birds. It was pretty cool and I could see Nicole being interested in being here but... She wasn't. So I kept walking.
I barely had the energy to even be doing this right now and I just wanted to hurry and finish up in that jet so I could get away from all these bugs and animals and shit... Literal animal shit.
As I traveled, something growled behind me. My eyes widened and I slowly turned around.
Please just be my stomach, please just be my stomach...
"Oh hell nah!"
It was just a brown baby cub but I wasn't trying to be anybody's breakfast so I ran from that bitch! I think I scared it too because it thankfully scurried off in the other direction.
If that bear would've bitten me, I might've gotten rabies from it or even something worse. I'm not like Nicole, she's been hunting animals since she was a child. Where I grew up, we didn't play around with anything owning claws and teeth. People and animals had their own lanes that weren't to be intersected.
Basic street knowledge 101.
I panted and slowed down when I knew the cub was gone and when I also noticed that I ran passed Nicki's bootprints. I headed back to them and followed them through some tall trees and a few bushes of flowers.
Suddenly, as I walked through the path of those bushes, there was a small hill that I had to carefully walk across to keep from slipping and, before I knew it, there was a wide-open space of nothing but thousands of vibrant colored flowers, trees that had nice fat vines hanging from them, and a huge waterfall that harmonized smoothly with the sounds of the small birds chirping.
I raised my eyebrows when I noticed that her footprints disappeared as I walked slowly on the flatter surface and they were replaced with her actual boots, then I followed those to her vest, then her shirt, then her pants...
"Nicole?" I asked, confused.
I scratched my head when I noticed her bra, panties, tank, and her battered helmet sitting on a boulder near the waterfall.
"Nicki, you there?!" I called out, squinting through the mists of the waterfall.
After a moment, she walked out from behind the waterfall with her hands filled with colorful pebbles and a grin on her face. She barely smiled like that so it made me smile too but, I couldn't get past the fact that she was completely naked, being covered by only the water around her waist and her hair over her breasts.
"There you are." I chuckled, kneeling down at the edge of the grass.
"I was here this whole time." she smiled at the pebbles in her hands.
I chuckled again, "I see that. But uh... Are you going to tell me why you're skinny dipping in there?"
She rolled her eyes, "I had blood, dirt, and sweat all over me. Why else?"
I laughed and watched as she placed the pebbles next to the boulder. She looked back up at me, eyeing my clothes, "You should get in."
I only smiled but questioned her at the same time, "Really...? You want me to?"
"I don't want you to get ringworms from all of that dirt and mud..."
I bit my lip, holding in a grin, "It does look kind of refreshing... I mean, as long as there aren't any piranhas or sharks or anything like that."
She laughed, "We're in a forest, dumbass. All you're gonna get is a little nibble from a tadpole... Just strip down and get in."
I thought for a short moment. And by short I mean,
Do I really want baby frogs crawling up my ass crack?
Then again, Nicole is naked.
Yup, I'm getting in.
I took every layer of my clothes off and climbed into the refreshingly cold water.
Not only did it feel weird at first but it was freezing cold too which took some getting used to before I could loosen up.
Nicole nodded with a smile, "That's more like it." she gave me a small peck on the lips.
I winced at the taste, "Why are your lips sour?"
She chuckled, "I used lemon to kill the bacteria in my mouth."
"Where the hell do you keep finding lemons?"
She smiled, "There's a bunch of fruits sitting around here in this forest. You just have to really search. I found this near those flowers." she pointed but I only saw the flowers. They were probably hidden somewhere but who knows.
"Yeah, well you're used to playing in bushes and climbing trees." I moved my hand down to lace my fingers with hers, "Let me have one of those lemons."
She pursed her lips then led me hand in hand towards the waterfall. I smirked at her perfect body as she guided me through the deep blue colored water, wondering how the hell a guy like me could call a girl like that my girlfriend. When I think about it to myself, it always feels unreal that someone as strict, mean, easy tempered, sarcastic, etcetera, chose to stay with someone like me... A Jaden... Someone who's made plenty of mistakes in life and probably never even deserved any of the second chances handed to him.
Now that I think of it... Is she really my girlfriend?
I've been spending all of this time with her and we've been doing all of the things that couples would but I never actually asked her out and made anything official with her.
Is that why she won't tell me that she loves me?
Nah... That's too weak of a reason. Besides, it doesn't really matter now, she's probably carrying my child as we stand here...
My brows furrowed at her as I began to remember the night we slept together... We used protection... For the first half of the session. Then I raised an eyebrow as I remembered that stern look Jerry gave me, "I once killed a man with my bare hands. Don't make me hear some unpleasing news, son, or you'll be next."
I widened my eyes at the thought of that protective guard beating my ass.
Nah, nah, nah... She's not pregnant.
"Here. Take a nice big bite." Nicki said, holding the half bitten lemon up to my lips.
I chuckled a little then took a bite.
Then the sourness hit me, "What the-"
Nicki slapped her hand over my mouth to keep me from spitting it out. She laughed, obviously enjoying my reaction, "Chew it thoroughly, Jay. You can do it."
I groaned into her hand as I chewed it painfully. My eyes teared up a river but I got through it until there was no flavor left. Or maybe my taste buds just burned off.
"It's done!" I said in her hand.
She laughed and dropped her hands to my shoulders as I spit the remaining lemon out in the grass.
"It wasn't that bad, ya wuss." she chuckled, turning my face towards her to give me a gentle kiss.
I wiped tears from my eyes, "My mouth... Is numb..." I could feel my tongue tingle.
She scoffed, "Aww well, boo hoo..." she grabbed my wrist and brought me with her to stand under the waterfall. "A grown man like you can't handle a bit of intense flavor?"
"I can..." I said, standing up straight and trying to look as if my mouth wasn't still sizzling from that lemon, "I've tasted things way more intense than that weak ass lemon."
She chuckled, "Oh yeah? Like what."
"Like you." I yanked her to me, making her yelp as I kissed her tenderly on her lips.
She kissed me back for a moment then couldn't help but start laughing on my lips.
"What's funny now?" I smiled, slightly confused.
She shook her head with a snicker, keeping her thoughts to herself and leaning back in for another kiss. I smiled realizing now that she was probably just getting tickled by something that wasn't a tadpole.
* * * * *
Nicole
After we finished getting cleaned up in the waterfall and getting "shower in a waterfall" scratched off my bucket list, we had our gear put back on and immediately headed to the jet to try and connect with our team again.
As we walked there, I could hear a faint noise in the distance that didn't sound like a wild animal. I could have sworn it said my name.
"Nicole! Jaden!"
Okay, so I'm not crazy because it said Jaden's name too.
I brushed Jaden's arm off of my shoulder and jogged over to the jet, where the sound is coming from.
"Nicki... Nicki!" Jaden jogged after me.
Something about that voice... It sounds so familiar.
"Ms. Nicole Greene!"
I knew it!
I ran faster towards the voice, "Jerry! Location!"
He was silent for a moment.
"Jerry!"
I halted by the jet, looking around and wondering why he stopped this "Marco Polo" game of "Nicole Jerry".
Jaden raised an eyebrow, "Where did he just-"
"Nicole..."
Jerry?
I smiled and whipped around, seeing him rush over to me and embrace me in his arms. I tightly hugged him back, feeling warmth in my heart that he's been alive all this time.
"I didn't give up hope in finding you." He breathed heavily.
I shook my head, holding back happy tears, "I would be lying if I said I expected you to survive that crash..."
He smiled at me, "I'm surprised too... I took a risk and jumped while being fired at left and right. I'm lucky to even be standing here right now."
I gave him one last hug with Jaden joining in as well.
"So glad to have you back, man." Jaden smiled.
I smirked at the both of them, "This part of the family is still here so that gives me one less thing to worry about. All we need to do to get back on track is contact the team..." I let out a deep breath with a smile. "Come on. Let's get to work."
We headed to the inside of the jet and made our way back to where we had left off...
The control board.
When Jaden turned the radio on to check our progress, there was nothing new. Same eery screech and same inaudible conversations between our members.
Jerry shook his head, "The same thing has been happening with my handheld device, only I couldn't hear them talking."
Jaden sighed and toyed around with the wires to make something work. Every once in a while we could hear a glimpse of what was being said each time Jaden pushed two specific wires together.
"This should make it work... See if you could find another activated wire," Jaden demanded.
I checked the control board again, not seeing any sparking or heated wires like the one he had in his hand.
"Everything's dead..." I told him.
"Can't we just activate one ourselves?" Jerry asked. "You know, put two wires together?"
Jaden kept tweaking with the radio, "That could be damaging but, I mean, I could try. At this point, I would do anything to make this work."
I rolled my eyes knowing that we would be here for another few hours but then I froze when I caught a glimpse of Starla's body in my peripheral.
Hold on a second...
"Don't lose hope yet, Jaden. I have an idea..." I headed over to the rotting remains and knelt down beside her.
"Nicki? What are you-"
"I've seen her on her phone before the crash. She should still have some battery left on it." I took her phone out of her pocket and brought it over to Jaden.
He raised an eyebrow, "None of us can get bars from here though..."
I shook my head, "I know that... Use it to power the radio."
"Ahh..." he smiled and grabbed the phone. "I like how you think, babe."
I watched as he pulled the back cover of the phone off and attached the wires from the radio to the inside of the phone.
This has to work.
And thankfully enough...
"Huh? Connected... I- it's connected! We've connected with Agent Greene!" the other end cheered.
I smiled. I found it uplifting to hear that they've been trying to get in touch with us just as we were trying to get in touch with them.
Jaden grinned, "Can you hear us? We need help!"
"I hear you loud and clear Agent Brown. Listen, we lost your plane on the radar. Do you know where you are located?"
Jaden looked back at me but I only shrugged, not knowing where we were either. He scratched his chin then told them, "I don't know where we are... Some type of forest or something."
"A forest, eh... There are a few possibilities on where you all might be. We're on our way right now just stay put."
He smiled, "Yes sir. You'll find us in the front half of our jet. Shouldn't be too hard to spot."
"I'm glad you all are okay after that crash."
"Most of us are okay," I mumbled, knowing that we've unfortunately already lost 3 members.
"Thanks, guys. We're going to need some extra equipment if you have some on hand." Jaden nodded.
"Got it. Stay safe." The agent on the other end signed off.
* * * * *
After about an hour of waiting and lighting a few flares, we finally heard the roaring sound of another fighter jet hovering over us, followed by the sound of someone's loud voice coming from its mic.
"GET YOUR ASSES ON THIS JET, CUPCAKES!"
I rolled my eyes and looked over at Jaden, "Is your friend okay?"
He only laughed, "I never said Coach Miles was my friend. Come on guys, let's get out of here."
He went ahead and rushed out of the jet with the rest of us following behind. As soon as I stepped foot outside, I could feel the heavy winds from the jet and I could see Coach Miles hanging onto the drop-down ladder, wildly gesturing us over as he spoke in the mic.
"LET'S GO, THREE MUSKETEERS! OUR TEAM NEEDS ALL THE HELP WE CAN GET!"
We climbed up the ladder and were pulled into the jet with the help of Tyler and Coach Miles. I was happy to finally be back with the rest of the team but I needed to know where we are in the mission at this point.
I took a seat next to Tyler, "How's the rest of the team doing? Did they escape the ambush?"
He fixed his hair into a ponytail, "Uh, yeah. We escaped the ambush... In fact, we blew up all of their tanks but, erm..."
I narrowed my eyes in concern, "But what?"
"We're kind of in a catastrophic mess right now... Well, not really bad like bombs being thrown back and forth but, it's pretty bad." he scratched his head. "So, remember how Fire Catcher went to Egypt first and just 'peacefully' left?"
I nodded, concerned about the quotation gesture he put on peacefully.
"Turns out, it wasn't so peaceful." he tensed up. "She hired a hitman to assassinate the head of the USSCI's Egyptian headquarters and robbed the HQ of their weapons, supplies, and whatever they had that were valuable. Which means, now we're being attacked by some of our own members. She used some manipulation to convince some of them to join her force to take down all Secret Service HQs owned mainly by Simon and people who support him." he shrugged and leaned back in his seat, "I was told that she framed Simon for the assassination and everyone in the Egyptian headquarters believed her. I don't know how long it would be until they realize the truth but we're trying our best to inform them before they find and attack the other headquarters."
She could possibly be planning to use that same manipulation technique with the European headquarters at this very moment...
We need to move fast.
I took a deep, angered breath, "Where. Is. Fire..."
"As far as I know, she's cornered in her home. But we can't get in because she has Simon held hostage. The dude is dead if we bust down those doors. They're trying to wait for the right moment to sneak inside."
This is just as I predicted... War.
I'm getting to that house. And I'm going to get Simon back. His life... Our life... Our headquarters... Our civilians' safety... It all depends on this very moment.