When Angels Fall

by Sherryl D. Hancock

Devin nodded, noting that Skyler looked tired, but not wanting to spoil their fragile truce. It bothered Devin that their relationship had become so tenuous.

  Earlier in the evening she’d been surprised by some of the things that Skyler had admitted. It had never occurred to her that the reason Skyler had been so supportive of her helping Sarah was because she’d been in that state of mind at one point. It made sense, Devin realized, but she just hadn’t thought that Skyler had that in her; she seemed like such a survivor. Sometimes looks could be deceiving. It was something that made Devin more aware of how much she didn’t know about Skyler. It also made her more determined to help this woman through anything she was willing to share.

  Sebastian watched Skyler and Devin as they all talked. He noticed that Devin’s hand was stroking Skyler’s arm that was wrapped around her waist. Glancing at his sister, he saw the fond smile she had on her face. There was a very definite connection between his sister and Devin. He sincerely hoped that Jams was right about Devin and that she could really handle Skyler’s demons. Sebastian had realized earlier that night that Skyler wasn’t quite as invincible as he’d always pictured her. In a way it scared him, but it also made him glad that he would soon be in the same city as his sister, so he might get a chance to get know this older, wiser and possibly more damaged Skyler.

  Three days later, the group arrived back in Sacramento. Jams’ girlfriend picked him up at the airport. Devin had hired a car to take them back to her house.

  “Now, don’t get excited,” Skyler told Sebastian as they neared Devin’s house, “this isn’t my place. It’s Devin’s, and she’s been kind enough to let you stay with her.”

  “Us,” Devin put in.

  “Us,” Skyler corrected, grinning.

  Regardless of the warning, Sebastian was bowled over by Devin’s house. He walked around the place looking absolutely stunned.

  “This is crazy!” he kept saying.

  An hour after they’d gotten home, Sebastian found Skyler sitting in the backyard smoking. He walked over and sat down in the chair next to her.

  “Nice crib,” he said, grinning.

  “Devin’s, not mine,” Skyler said, not for the first time in the last hour.

  “She makes bank, huh?” Sebastian said.

  Skyler grinned, “She makes pretty good money, yes,” she said, her tone indulgent.

  “And you’re tappin’ that!” Sebastian said, his grin wide.

  Skyler gave him a narrowed look, “Watch it,” she said.

  Sebastian laughed, “Didn’t mean nothin’ sis, chill!” then he grinned widely, “It’s the pilot thing, right?”

  “Huh?” Skyler countered, unable to follow his erratic thought processes.

  “You used the pilot thing to bag her, right?” Sebastian asked.

  Skyler chuckled, shaking her head, “She pursued me, actually.”

  “Whoa…” Sebastian said, his look impressed, “So baller sis!”

  Skyler shook her head, rolling her eyes.

  “Speaking of the ‘pilot thing’,” Skyler said, lighting another cigarette, “you wanna do a ride along with us tomorrow?”

  “In the helicopter?” Sebastian asked, sounding like a little boy suddenly, his eyes lit up excitedly, “Hell ya!”

  Skyler laughed, “Okay.”

  That night they took a short drive down to a local restaurant called Moonshadows Malibu. They were seated out on the patio that over-looked the ocean.

  “I could get used to this,” Sebastian said expansively.

  “Don’t,” Skyler said, grinning, “probies don’t make that much.”

  “Damn!” Sebastian said grinning too.

  “Sebo’s going in with me tomorrow,” Skyler told Devin.

  “Oh, that should be fun,” Devin said, smiling. “Skyler’s an awesome pilot,” she told Sebastian.

  “Yeah, yeah,” Skyler said waving her hand dismissively.

  “Did she tell you that she saved my life?” Devin asked Sebastian, not willing to let Skyler dismiss her talent that easily.

  “Wait, what?” Sebastian said, looking over at Skyler.

  Skyler shrugged, “I did my job.”

  “Right!” Devin said, shaking her head, “She rescued me from my vehicle that was about to go over the edge of a cliff in a mudslide.”

  “Whoa…” Sebastian said, his voice sounding awed, “You did that?” he asked, looking back at his sister.

  “Technically, Jerry rescued you,” Skyler said giving Devin a pointed look.

  “Right, you just flew the helicopter,” Devin said, her tone acerbic.

  Skyler grinned, shaking her head. “That’s what they pay me to do.”

  “Yeah, and you got into trouble for it,” Devin said, not wanting Skyler to shrug off such an amazing thing that she’d done.

  Skyler didn’t answer, just shaking her head, her eyes looking out over the ocean.

  They moved on to other topics then, but Sebastian didn’t forget about it. He asked Skyler about the next day.

  The morning started off with Sebastian whistling appreciatively at Skyler’s car. He could tell it was his sister’s pride and joy.

  “This is hot,” Sebastian said, as they got into the car.

  Skyler grinned, “I love it,” she said.

  “It’s fast, ain’t it?” Sebastian asked, his eyes sparkling.

  “Oh yeah,” Skyler said, proving it by punching it when they got on the open road.

  “Wooo!” Sebastian crowed joyously.

  Linkin Park played from the speakers, the album Minutes to Midnight was playing. As the song “What I’ve Done” ended, the next song, “Hands Held High” came on. Sebastian, so much like his sister without even knowing it, reached over to turn the song up.

  “I always thought of you when I heard this song,” he told Skyler.

  Skyler looked over at her brother, surprised by the statement, but nodded as she tuned into the lyrics. The song itself was a kind of rock rap song. The words talked about how the singer wanted people to stand up to the government for sending people to war. Lines like “this war’s just a different brand of war, like it doesn’t cater to the rich and abandon the poor” and “like they understand you in the back of the jet, when you can’t afford to put gas in your tank, these fuckers are laughing their way to the bank and cashing the check.” It was a definite statement on how the Iraq war seemed to be about nothing, other than making people rich who weren’t the ones doing the fighting or the dying.

  It was listening to that song that Skyler realized that her time in Iraq hadn’t just affected her and her crew. It had affected her family, at the very least her brother, it was something to think about.

  When the song ended, Skyler turned the stereo back down.

  “That song, huh?” She asked.

  Sebastian nodded his head, his look serious.

  Skyler looked over at him, her look apologetic. “I’m sorry.” She said simply.

  Sebastian shrugged, “It’s cool,” he said “I was always proud of you. But when that crash happened...” he said, his voice trailing off as he shook his head, “First they told us your helicopter had crashed, then they said you were missing, then they told us you were back, but hurt. It was just really confusing.”

  Skyler took a deep breath, blowing it out slowly as she nodded.

  Sebastian looked over at his sister, seeing that talking about it was bothering her. He could see that there was a sheen of tears in her eyes, he felt bad that he had caused that.

  “But you’re here, and you’re good,” Sebastian said, trying to be positive.

  The rest of the ride to the airport was achieved in mostly silence.

  That day during his ride along, Sebastian got to see his sister in action, and he couldn’t help but be impressed. When she was flying, he could see that she was happy and he enjoyed the banter between Skyler and her crew.

  At one point, they were headed to assist with a rescue of a skydiver from a cliff. The winds were choppy in
the corridor between the vast cliffs, and the other chopper pilot had a smaller craft and wasn’t able to get into the area to help evacuate the person. Sebastian had a headset on so he could hear all of the chatter between the crew and the two pilots.

  “Rescue fourteen, this is Rescue seven,” Skyler said into her mike.

  “Go Rescue seven,” came the reply.

  “Come back fifteen, and clear,” Skyler said.

  “Back and clearing, roger that.”

  To Jams Skyler said, “We’re going to need to get in there close,” she told him, “what’s my fuel?”

  “Forty-five to bingo,” Jams replied.

  Skyler nodded, “Tom, Jerry, we’re gonna need to make this quick. In and out, got it?”

  “You got it boss!” Tom called, winking at Sebastian.

  As the first helicopter backed out of the way. As Skyler moved into position the helicopter bucked.

  “Sebo, you hold on back there,” Skyler told him.

  “Looking good, rescue seven,” said the pilot of the other helicopter, “Come right ten,”

  “Roger that, coming right ten. What do we got guys?” Skyler queried.

  “I’ve got eyes on the target,” Tom said, “Permission to open bay doors?”

  “Roger that, open bay doors. Careful back there, this wind is a bitch.”

  “Roger that,” Tom called as a blast of wind slammed into the copter.

  “Son of a bitch!” Skyler yelled, as she fought the controls.

  “Hurry up guys!” Jams called, glancing down at their instruments and then over at Skyler. “We may not be able to pull this one off either.”

  “That kids’ dead if we don’t,” Skyler countered, her look resolved.

  Jams nodded, blowing his breath out, and redoubling his efforts to help Skyler control the aircraft.

  Suddenly there was a loud noise and the helicopter shuddered.

  “Fuck!” Skyler yelled, “Something hit the tail rotor!”

  The helicopter started to spin, started to spin slowly. Skyler fought the controls, there was a loud whine as Jams worked at restarting the rotor. It caught and the helicopter evened out again.

  “Holy shit, Rescue seven!” yelled the other pilot over the comms, “Helluva recovery!”

  “Thanks Rescue fourteen,” Jams said, glancing over at Skyler.

  Jams could see she was breathing heavily and looking shell shocked.

  “Tom,” Jams said, “I’m going to put us back in position, grab that kid and let’s get home.”

  An hour later they were on the ground. Skyler hadn’t said much on the way back. As soon as they powered down, she was out of the copter and striding down the flight line. Sebastian went to follow her, but Jams held him back.

  “Give her a few,” he told Sebastian.

  Sebastian nodded, knowing that Jams knew his sister better than he did at that point.

  “Is she okay?” Sebastian asked Jams.

  Jams looked hesitant, but nodded, “That was close,” he said, his tone indicating how serious he was.

  Sebastian nodded, swallowing nervously.

  “But she did good,” Sebastian said, remembering what the other pilot had said.

  “She’s a damned good pilot,” Jams said, nodding, “Most people would have lost it there. And we’d have had to ditch.”

  “Ditch?” Sebastian asked.

  “Drop the copter in the drink,” Jerry said as he walked by clapping Jams on the shoulder.

  Sebastian’s eyes widened, but he nodded, not trusting his voice at that moment, afraid it would shake if he tried to speak.

  Three hours later, Devin came home. She’d gotten a text from Jams that said, “Scary day at work, check on Sky.”

  Walking into the bedroom they shared, Devin could see Skyler sitting on the bed, her knees up to her chest, her arms draped over them. Devin could see the haunted look in her eyes immediately.

  “Sky…” Devin began cautiously.

  She saw Skyler’s chin go up immediately.

  Devin put her hands out in front of her in a defensive gesture, “Are you okay?” she asked, her voice soft as she walked over to the bed.

  Skyler nodded, not looking at Devin, her eyes stared straight ahead.

  Devin sat down on the bed, reaching out to touch Skyler’s arm her eyes searching Skyler for signs of injury.

  “What happened?” she asked softly.

  Skyler took a deep breath in, expelling is slowly, shaking her head, “Something hit our tail rotor,” she said, her tone of voice grave, “we almost lost her.”

  Devin nodded her head, her look apprehensive. She knew that this was likely to have put Skyler in the mind of the crash in Iraq, that’s what was worrying her the most.

  “But you’re okay,” Devin clarified.

  “Yeah,” Skyler said, her tone still haunted, “we recovered it.”

  “And everyone is okay?” Devin asked then.

  Skyler looked over at her then, her eyes searching for hidden meaning behind Devin’s questions. “Yeah,” she said finally.

  Devin nodded, “This scared you,” she said, her voice sure.

  “It would scare anyone,” Skyler said, her tone reproaching.

  “Yes,” Devin agreed, “but–“

  “Don’t,” Skyler said cutting her off.

  “Skyler,” Devin began again.

  “No!” Skyler practically yelled, “Just leave it,” she said then, making a cutting gesture with her hand, her eyes flashing in anger.

  Devin stood up, taking a step back, her look fearful.

  Skyler looked back at her, challenging, her muscles tense, she was ready for a fight, and Devin could see that.

  “This isn’t going away, Skyler,” Devin said.

  Skyler just shook her head, her look on her face very closed off.

  “How long are we going to pretend?” Devin asked her then, her voice hinging on desperation.

  “Pretend what?” Skyler asked, her tone cutting.

  “That everything is okay, Skyler,” Devin said, tears in her eyes suddenly, “that you’re okay.”

  Skyler’s head snapped back, like Devin had actually physically slapped her. Her eyes closed tiredly for a moment, then she shook her head.

  “I’m not doing this right now,” she said, her tone defeated and exhausted.

  “Then when, Skyler?” Devin asked, her voice a plea.

  “Maybe never, Devin,” Skyler said, her voice strident now, “Is that going to be a problem?”

  Devin looked back at Skyler, surprised by Skyler’s outright hostility suddenly. She could sense that things were coming to a head and she wasn’t sure if she was ready for it, it scared her to death. Instead of answering, Devin just put her hands up in defeat, shaking her head, she walked out of the bedroom, closing the door softly. That night, Devin fell asleep on the couch. Skyler hadn’t come out of the bedroom. Sebastian didn’t know what was going on, but he didn’t like the way things were. He knew there was serious tension, and he suspected it had to do with the accident earlier that day.

  CHAPTER 8

  Things fell apart two days later.

  Devin watched Skyler pacing back and forth in agitation, she had no idea what to do, other than what she’d done, which was to call Jams. Sebastian stood at the side of the sliding glass door, he had no idea what to do at this point either. This wasn’t the Skyler he knew and the idea that she was going off the rails scared him to death.

  The conversation between Devin and Skyler that afternoon had started off simple enough, Devin was trying to get Skyler to go back to the doctors about the pain she was in. She’d been moving extremely gingerly since the accident a few days before. Devin had gotten more of an explanation as to what had happened from Jams, and she suspected that Skyler had been further injured by the jarring motion of the helicopter spinning. She also knew that Skyler hadn’t been sleeping at all over the last two days. Their CO had given them a few days off after the accident, knowing they needed time to d
eal with how close they’d come to crashing.

  “You need pain killers,” Devin had said to Skyler, keeping her voice soft, easily sensing that this wasn’t a topic Skyler was going to want to talk about.

  “Leave it alone,” Skyler had said, her tone even, but not angry.

  “I’m worried about you babe,” Devin had said, reaching out to touch Skyler’s arm.

  That’s when Skyler’s phone had rung, she’d pulled the phone out of her pocket looking at the display. As Devin watched, all the blood drained out of Skyler’s face. Without warning, Skyler had stood up and literally chucked her phone over the wall two hundred yards away, swinging her arm through and slamming it through the glass of the table. Devin had jumped up and out of the way of the shattering glass.

  “Skyler!” Devin had yelled, seeing the scarlet color of blood on Skyler’s hand, she’d tried to reach for Skyler’s hand but Skyler yanked it away with a yell. She’d walked away from Devin then, and stood like a stone statue staring out over the ocean. She was cold and unapproachable. Devin had stood waiting for her to come back, but it didn’t happen, she could see that Skyler’s entire body was shaking, her hand, held down by her side, was dripping blood.

  Devin had walked over, reaching out to touch Skyler’s shoulder, Skyler had wrenched away from her, “Don’t!” she’d yelled.

  Devin had relented at that point, terrified beyond words, she knew she was watching Skyler fall apart, and it made her feel sick inside. Inside the house she’d encountered Sebastian, who’d been roused from his position on the couch when he’d heard the ruckus.

  “What happened?” he’d asked, reaching for the sliding glass door handle.

  Devin had shook her head, “Don’t go out there, Sebastian,” she’d told him, “I’m calling in back up.”

  She’d called Jams.

  He’d arrived at the house 45 minutes later.

  “Where is she?” he asked.

  Devin gestured to the backyard.

  “Are you okay?” Jams asked her.

  Devin nodded, tears in her eyes, “Please help her,” she said, her voice shaking.

  Jams walked over to her, hugging her, “I’ll try,” he told her nodding to Sebastian who looked just as scared as Devin.