When Angels Fall

by Sherryl D. Hancock

  Not too long after the food arrived, an older couple walked over to the table. Devin saw Jams hand reach over to touch Skyler on the shoulder. Skyler, who had been talking to Sebastian, turned to look at Jams, and followed the direction of his look. Both Skyler and Jams moved to stand from the table, the look on their faces serious.

  “Mr. and Mrs. O’Reilly,” Jams said, extending his hand to the man first.

  Devin felt herself holding her breath as she glanced over as Sebastian, who looked equally nervous.

  The couple shook hands with Jams, and then looked to Skyler who was standing at what Devin could only consider attention.

  “Sir,” Skyler said, inclining her head to the man, “Ma’am,” she said to the woman then, her look conciliatory.

  “We’re so happy to see you here,” the woman said, then she turned to look at Devin and Sebastian.

  “Ma’am,” Skyler said, turning to gesture to Devin, “this is Devin James, my girlfriend,” she said with a smile at Devin.

  Devin stood, extending her hand to the woman.

  “I’m Anna,” the woman said, smiling at Devin. “This is John,” she said, gesturing to her husband. “We’re Tommy’s parents.”

  Devin nodded, glancing at Skyler.

  “Radar’s parents,” Skyler told her.

  “I thought so,” Devin said, smiling at the woman.

  “And this is my brother Sebastian,” Skyler said, introducing her brother as he moved to stand.

  “Good to meet you,” Anna said, shaking Sebastian’s hand.

  “You too, ma’am,” Sebastian replied, nodding to John respectfully.

  “Let’s sit,” Anna said, then as John grabbed two chairs from nearby tables.

  Once they were all seated, Anna turned to Skyler, taking her hands in her own.

  “I want you to know that my son loved being on your team,” she told Skyler.

  Skyler closed her eyes for a moment, nodding, even as her throat constricted. Devin reached out, putting her hand to Skyler’s back. A tear fell from Skyler’s eyes.

  “He said you were the best damned pilot in the unit,” John told Skyler.

  “Thank you sir,” Skyler said, looking at him, her eyes glazed with tears, “your son did a great job as a crew member.”

  “We miss him,” Jams added.

  Skyler nodded, agreeing with Jams. Not trusting herself to speak at that moment.

  “We also understand,” John said, his tone subdued, “that if it wasn’t for you, we wouldn’t have gotten his body back so we could lay him to rest.”

  Skyler turned her head away, as the memory of dragging Radar’s body to the vehicle the insurgents had parked outside hit her. It had been a tough job, Radar had been a fairly good sized guy and at that point she could barely breathe due to a punctured lung and broken ribs, not to mention the gunshot wound. But she’d had no intention of leaving any of her men behind.

  “Leave no man behind,” Jams said, knowing what she’d been thinking.

  He held up his beer to Skyler. Skyler looked over at him, picking up her beer, “Angels Fall,” she said, with that they clinked the ends of the bottles together as the group looked on.

  “Chief,” came a voice from behind them.

  Skyler recognized it immediately.

  “Gunny,” she said, moving to stand, and was immediately caught up in a bear hug.

  The man was introduced as Gunnery Sergeant Smitty. As they talked, Radar’s parents stood from the table and looked on. At one point, Anna walked over to Skyler, moving to hug her. Skyler hugged the woman back, feeling the extra squeeze Anna gave her. She appreciated that Anna seemed to understand how hard it was for her to talk about the crash. John extended his hand to Skyler, taking it and shaking it firmly. The couple then walked away, circulating amongst the group.

  Not too long after that there was a toast to the fallen soldiers. Radar and Benny were then remembered specifically, fortunately they’d been the only soldiers lost from the unit. After the toast, Skyler did some circulating and came face to face with Benny’s parents. Jams saw it from across the room and grabbed Devin by the hand taking her with him to intercept the group.

  “We finally get to meet you,” Benny’s mother was saying, “I’m Jessie,” she said, smiling at Jams as he walked up.

  Jessie Kings looked just like her son, her blue eyes shining as she looked up at Skyler.

  “This is Billy’s dad, Bill senior” Jessie said, pulling her husband forward.

  Billy’s dad was a big man, with the chiseled features of a John Wayne type cowboy. He nodded to Skyler, a man of few words.

  Skyler nodded to Bill senior, her look pained. She felt Devin’s hand take hers. Glancing at Devin, she could see that Devin was watching her. Jams stood nearby doing the same. She squeezed Devin’s hand smiling at her. She caught sight of Sebastian then, he stood close to Jams. The whole gang was there, Skyler thought to herself.

  “Mrs. Kings,” Skyler said, “this is Devin, my girlfriend, and that’s Sebastian, my brother.”

  “It’s good to meet all of you,” Jessie’s said, nodding, then she looked back at Skyler, “We were hoping that you’d be willing to come back to the ranch with us,” she said, her tone entreating.

  Skyler nodded, “We’d like that,” she said, “I have some things I’d like to tell you.”

  “Well, we can do that there,” Jessie said, smiling softly.

  By the time the reunion wound down, it was nearly midnight. Jessie suggested that Skyler and the group follow them to the ranch.

  “It’s about a half hour out of town,” she told them.

  Since Skyler had a few drinks, Jams took over driving. Devin and Skyler were in the backseat. Devin looked over at Skyler.

  “Are you okay?” she asked.

  Skyler nodded, taking Devin’s hand in hers. It was at that moment that the song Angels Fall came on in the car, Skyler’s iPod was plugged into the stereo.

  “Fuckin’ Benny!” Jams said, grinning, even as he turned the song up.

  The group listened to the song, Skyler sang the words.

  “Grey skies will chase the light away no longer, I fought the fight, now only dark remains forever, divided I will stand, and I will let this end…”

  Devin wondered if Skyler meant to let things go finally. She hoped that’s what she’d meant. After the song ended, Skyler looked over at Devin, seeing the concern in Devin’s eyes.

  Leaning in, she kissed Devin’s lips, pulling back to look down into her eyes.

  “I couldn’t have done this without you,” she told Devin.

  Devin smiled back at her, “I think you could have,” she said.

  “Uh-uh,” Skyler said, shaking her head. “Jams, hand me my iPod,” she said, tapping the back of the driver’s seat.

  Jams handed her the iPod. Skyler took it, scrolling through the songs, selecting one, then looking at Devin.

  “You need to listen to this,” Skyler told Devin, “Especially the first verse.”

  Devin nodded, and listened as the song began, she could see the name of the song was “You’re Mine” by Disturbed.

  The first verse told Devin everything she needed to know.

  “I’ve begun to realize that whenever I am with you, you deliver me from the pain in my life. Easy now to recognize all the misery I have been through it was beating me to submission till the day you arrived. Certainly I felt alive, strength I had lost was revived, I’m mending inside and we both know why, cause you’re mine.”

  As the song played on, Devin looked back at Skyler in wonder, “Is that how you really feel?” she asked.

  “Definitely,” Skyler replied, her look unwavering.

  Devin smiled, leaning in to kiss Skyler deeply. They hugged, and stayed that way for a while.

  In the front seat, Sebastian and Jams exchanged looks, Jams nodded by way of telling Sebastian that what they’d just heard was a really good thing. Now if they could just get through this visit with Benny’s parents.
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  The ranch they drove up to was expansive, much larger than Jams or Skyler had expected. This was a serious cattle ranch and Billy had never let on that he was from such a successful family. Skyler and Jams exchanged a look as they climbed out of the car, Jams look was glowering, even as Skyler shrugged, grinning.

  Benny’s parents lead them into the huge white house that seemed to go on and on. The foyer they walked into was two stories and decorated with rich wood and rustic style paintings and bronze Remington statues.

  “Wow…” Sebastian said, staring above him.

  Jessie and Bill senior grinned.

  “It’s late,” Jessie said, tiredly, “so we’re gonna just show you to your rooms, and we’ll talk in the morning, okay?”

  Skyler nodded, grateful for the short reprieve.

  Within the hour, Devin and Skyler were laying in the massive bed in one of the guest rooms. The room was large, with its own bathroom and a bare timber ceiling.

  “I take it you weren’t expecting anything like this,” Devin said, leaning up to look at Skyler.

  “Got that right,” Skyler said, shaking her head, “Benny never said that the ranch he was from was this massive.”

  Devin grinned, “Maybe he wanted to be just a regular guy,” she said.

  “Yeah,” Skyler said, nodding, “makes sense. He was always trying to fit in; I guess we didn’t know why it was so important to him.”

  They were both silent for a few minutes, each lost in their own thoughts. Devin looked up at Skyler then, seeing that she was deep in thought.

  “How are you feeling about this?” Devin asked, feeling like she needed to check in on Skyler’s state of mind.

  Skyler looked down at her, her look considering, “I’m scared as hell,” she told her honestly.

  Devin grimaced, nodding her head, “You have to know that it’ll be okay,” she said, her tone beseeching.

  Skyler inhaled slowly, her look skeptical, “Do I?” she asked.

  “What’s the worst thing that could happen?” Devin asked her tone serious. “What are you imagining?”

  Skyler thought about the question, “I guess I’m worried about what they’ll say.”

  “What are you planning to tell them?” Devin asked.

  “Everything,” Skyler replied simply.

  Devin inhaled sharply, but then nodded slowly.

  “You’re worried that they’ll blame you,” Devin surmised.

  Skyler looked back at her for a long moment, then nodded.

  “It wasn’t your fault,” Devin said, knowing that this was something that Sandy had been working on with Skyler for the last month.

  “I know,” Skyler said too quickly, nodding her head.

  “Skyler…” Devin said, her tone chiding, “you know it wasn’t your fault, none of that was your fault.”

  Skyler grimaced, her guilt warring with her common sense.

  Devin levered herself up on her elbow, her hand reaching out to touch Skyler’s cheek.

  “No matter what happens,” Devin told her, “we will get through this.”

  Skyler looked back at her, swallowing convulsively, even as she nodded.

  They fell asleep that night, with Devin’s hand on Skyler’s chest, Skyler’s hand covering Devin’s.

  Skyler woke in the middle of the night with the sensation that she was being watched. Looking across the room she was shocked to see Benny standing there.

  “What are you doing here?” she asked him.

  “Saying goodbye,” Benny said, his blue eyes sparkling in the semi-darkness.

  “Don’t do that,” Skyler said, shaking her head.

  “Gotta,” Benny replied, his look serious.

  “No,” Skyler said, shaking her head in futility.

  “Ya gotta let me go…” Billy said as he faded from sight.

  Skyler woke with a start, looking around she didn’t see anything out of place. She realized then that she’d been dreaming. Laying back, she hugged Devin close to her trying to shake off the feeling of the dream.

  The next morning dawned and Devin woke before Skyler. She got out of bed carefully, and pulled on jeans and a t-shirt, tiptoeing out of the bedroom, hoping she could find Jams. She ran into him in the hallway.

  “Hey,” Jams said, grinning because he was sure they’d been doing the same thing.

  “Hi,” Devin said, returning his grin.

  “How’s she doing?” Jams asked without preamble.

  Devin nodded, “She’s okay,” she told him, “she’s scared though.”

  Jams nodded, “What is she going to tell them?” he asked.

  “Everything, she said,” Devin told him.

  “Wow,” Jams said, looking surprised, but then he nodded, “it might be what she needs to do, to get past all of this.”

  Devin nodded, “I’m just hoping that they take it okay,” she said, voicing her biggest concern.

  There was no way to know how Jessie and Bill were going to take what Skyler would tell them about their son and the true circumstances of his death. Jams and Devin, however, were resolved to back Skyler up, no matter what happened.

  Jams and Devin were sitting out on the large patio, when Sebastian joined them. The patio was furnished with chairs and couches, set on large terracotta tiles with Spanish tile inserts. There was a built in fireplace and barbeque set off to the side, and a huge blue pool nearby. The morning was cool with the slightest breeze, it was a beautiful morning.

  “How’s she doing?” Sebastian asked immediately.

  “She’s okay,” Devin told him, nodding and smiling at him. “A bit nervous, but for the most part, okay.”

  “Good,” Sebastian said, looking relieved then looked around him, “this place is insane!” he said.

  Devin and Jams chuckled.

  “Is this what you were expecting?” Sebastian asked then, suspecting that it wasn’t.

  “Nope,” Jams said, shaking his head, “Benny never told us any of this,” he said, gesturing to the expansive patio they sat on, indicating the huge house as well, “he said he was from a ranch in Texas.”

  “That was our Billy,” Jessie said from behind them, as she stepped closer to them.

  She’d seen them out on the patio and had stepped outside to tell them that there was coffee and breakfast in the dining room. She’d overheard the comments, including the ones about Skyler Boche’.

  The group got up from their chairs, turning to look at Jessie.

  “He never wanted people to know he came from all this,” Jessie said, smiling fondly, “He wanted to be a regular guy.” She said, her look sad then, “I guess that’s why he joined the Army.”

  “To be a regular guy?” Jams asked, his tone gentle.

  Jessie nodded, “And to be anonymous,” she said.

  “You should know that Skyler adored your son,” Jams told Jessie.

  “And he adored her,” Jessie said, smiling as tears glazed her eyes in the morning sunlight. “When he first wrote to us about joining your team, and told us about Skyler, we actually thought she was someone he was interested in romantically.”

  Jams grinned, he’d long suspected that Benny had a crush on Skyler. Skyler had never been flagrant about her sexuality, but she also didn’t hide it. It had taken some time for Benny to realize that Skyler wasn’t really interested in guys.

  “I do think he had a case of puppy love for her,” Jams told Jessie honestly. “Sky wasn’t shy about who she was, but she also didn’t shake your hand with one hand and pull out her lesbian card with the other.”

  Jessie chuckled at that description, “He did eventually tell us that Skyler was gay, but that she was still really cool and that we’d like her a lot.”

  It was Jams turn to chuckle, the words Jessie’d used sounded exactly like Benny.

  “We also thought his nickname was cute,” Jessie said.

  Jams dropped his head, “He drove us crazy with that band!” he said, shaking his head.

  Jessie laughed, �
��Us too!” she said. Then she stepped back, gesturing to the house, “I wanted to let you all know that there’s coffee and breakfast in the dining room if you’re interested?”

  “Definitely,” Sebastian said, walking toward the house, the rest of the group followed.

  Devin lagged behind to talk to Jessie, “Skyler’s not up, yet,” she told the other woman, “I don’t think she slept very well, the night before last.”

  Jessie nodded, her look understanding.

  “Well, we’ll just let her sleep then,” she said, patting Devin on the arm with a smile.

  When they all had coffee and plates of food in front of them, Jessie looked over at Devin.

  “How long have you two been together?” she asked.

  “About a year now,” Devin said.

  Jessie nodded, “She still seems kind of haunted,” said, her tone concerned.

  Devin nodded, “She took the loss of her crew very hard,” Devin told her, looking over at Jams.

  “She’s just now starting to really deal with it,” Jams told Jessie.

  Jessie nodded, sensing that they were trying to protect Skyler, and prepare her at the same time. Her son’s death had been the hardest thing Jessie Kings had ever been through. She’d seen Skyler and Jams at the air field when her son’s body had come home, they’d been two of the pall bearer’s escorting his coffin off the plane, and again at the funeral. Jessie had been far too mired in her own pain then to pay any attention to the two members of Billy’s crew that had survived. Later she’d tried to send a letter to them, but never heard back. She’d left it alone at that point.

  When she’d met Jams at the first reunion, she’d still been unable to really talk about Billy’s death, so they’d exchanged pleasantries and talked about minor things. This was the first time Jessie had actually talked about Billy’s death with the members of his crew that had survived. She was as nervous as it sounded like Skyler Boche’ was about this meeting.

  Bill senior walked into the dining room at that point, pouring himself a cup of coffee and picking up a roll he joined them at the table. Nodding to everyone, he sat quietly and drank his coffee.

  “So,” Jessie said, looking at Jams, “What are you doing now?”