Some people think being able to fight is the ultimate testament to being alive.\u00a0 Other people think avoiding conflict is our highest calling.\u00a0 Me?\u00a0 I\u2019ve always been a lover, not a fighter.\u00a0 But I\u2019ve learned something in my life.\u00a0 Some things are worth fighting for.\u00a0 Some things are worth dying for.\u00a0 Some things are worth never giving up on, no matter how hard they become.\u00a0 When we realize that is when we can become the best that we can be.\u00a0 That is when we live our best life.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cSquadron point defense network is online and operational,\u201d Betty announced as one of the displays blinked.\u00a0 \u201cAll laser batteries ready to engage enemy missiles.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jack glanced at the rapidly approaching Western Alliance colony world Serenity, and the Chinese fleet holding station over it.\u00a0 They weren\u2019t running.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t blame them for that.\u00a0 He doubted he would run either if he outnumbered himself by as much as the Chinese did.\u00a0 They had nearly as many cruisers as the Americans had ships, though they were only half the size of Los Angeles.\u00a0 And the destroyers and frigates were similarly outclassed by the larger American warships.\u00a0 But the Chinese had almost sixty warships, with half of them being true threats to the American ships.\u00a0 The rest were frigates, but enough of them could take down a real warship.<\/p>\n
The primary American advantages were the heavy gravitic and laser cannons each mounted.\u00a0 They were designed to destroy enemy warships, and no Chinese cruiser could ever survive a sustained bombardment from them.\u00a0 The Chinese lacked those cannons, but they had more missile launchers on those sixty ships than most American fleets.\u00a0 They could overwhelm the American point defense network and swamp the warships with miniature black holes capable of destroying their deflection grids.\u00a0 And then it was just a matter of using direct fire laser turrets to burn the American warships in space.<\/p>\n
That was why it was standard doctrine for fighters to escort larger warships, and why they always used their laser turrets to supplement the point defense networks.\u00a0 It took a lot of laser turrets and point defense missiles to stop a proper Chinese missile swarm.\u00a0 And Captain Jack Hart had seen far too many warships die the death of a thousand cuts that one of those entailed.\u00a0 He really didn\u2019t want to see that today.<\/p>\n
He narrowed his eyes as one of the displays twitched.\u00a0 He expanded it with a wave of his hand and frowned.\u00a0 \u201cIs that what I think it is?\u201d<\/p>\n
Betty\u2019s small holoform glanced at the display in question, and she frowned as well.\u00a0 \u201cThe Chinese are deploying landing craft.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFrak,\u201d Jack whispered and pointed at another small craft leaving one of the larger cruisers.<\/p>\n
\u201cA tank,\u201d Betty returned in a shocked tone.\u00a0 Then she waved her hand over the displays and more of them flashed.\u00a0 \u201cAnd this isn\u2019t the first wave.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFrak,\u201d Jack repeated.\u00a0 \u201cThis isn\u2019t just a raid.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s an invasion.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cScan the Serenity military nets,\u201d Jack ordered.\u00a0 \u201cHow are they handling this?\u201d<\/p>\n
Betty pursed her lips and went to work.\u00a0 It took her entire seconds, though Jack knew most of that was just the seconds it took for communications with the planet.\u00a0 Finally she shook her head.\u00a0 \u201cChinese orbital bombardments have destroyed all of the planetary forts,\u201d she reported.<\/p>\n
Jack shook his head.\u00a0 Serenity\u2019s defenders would never be able to hold against that many attackers without the forts.\u00a0 Which meant they needed help.\u00a0 \u201cGabbie?\u00a0 We\u2019re gonna need to deploy the Marines,\u201d he said and waited for her form to flicker onto a display.<\/p>\n
Gabrielle sighed after doing so.\u00a0 \u201cWe won\u2019t be able to support them with orbital fire until those warships are defeated.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jack smiled.\u00a0 \u201cWell, that\u2019s what a HALO assault is for.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the middle of all that?\u201d Gabrielle asked doubtfully.<\/p>\n
\u201cAsk Major Thompson.\u201d\u00a0 Jack gave Los Angeles\u2019<\/em> Marine captain the customary promotion aboard ship even though he wasn\u2019t actually on board now.\u00a0 He was talking to someone who was<\/em> on board after all.<\/p>\n Gabrielle rolled her eyes and shook her head.\u00a0 \u201cHe\u2019s already asking for permission.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI guess that settles it then.\u00a0 What does Captain Wyatt think?\u201d<\/p>\n Gabrielle shook her head.\u00a0 \u201cShe doesn\u2019t like it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut we\u2019re going to be doing it?\u201d<\/p>\n Gabrielle scowled at him.\u00a0 \u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSounds like a downright fun eight-second ride,\u201d Jack said with a smile.<\/p>\n Gabrielle shook her head.\u00a0 \u201cMarines are crazy.\u00a0 You understand that, right?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOf course.\u00a0 Why do you think I volunteered?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cVery well.\u201d\u00a0 Gabrielle smiled again.\u00a0 \u201cMay God go with you.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHey now,\u201d Jack protested.\u00a0 \u201cDon\u2019t be jinxing a perfectly fine cakewalk with suggestions that I\u2019ll need that<\/em> much help to get out alive.\u201d<\/p>\n Gabrielle laughed and faded away.<\/p>\n Jack frowned for a moment, considering what to do now that the plan was in place.\u00a0 HALOs were never easy, no matter what he said to anyone else, even in the best of times.\u00a0 And a full-scale naval battle was not the best of times.<\/p>\n His fingers ran across a familiar display and his cockpit filled with music.\u00a0 T&J sang a song of defiance and his mind calmed down until he could see everything.<\/p>\n He needed fighters to protect the Marines all the way down, but he also needed to leave behind some fighters to protect Los Angeles<\/em>.\u00a0 He certainly could not trust the Navy Hellcats to do that job after all.\u00a0 He nodded slowly and looked at Ken Banno\u2019s force.\u00a0 Ken had six Avengers and Dawn still had five to take into battle.\u00a0 Eleven Avengers should be enough to keep Los Angeles<\/em> safe.\u00a0 \u201cHey, Crane?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, Boss?\u201d Ken returned.<\/p>\n \u201cYou and Swan need to protect Los Angeles<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cRoger that, Boss,\u201d Ken said with a curious look.\u00a0 \u201cWhat\u2019s up?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFunny you should ask,\u201d Jack said with a chuckle.\u00a0 \u201cCat, Fox, we\u2019re gonna play some HALO.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s my favorite game,\u201d Jesse chimed in.<\/p>\n \u201cAs long as you remember to wear your suit,\u201d Katy rejoined.<\/p>\n \u201cBite me,\u201d Jesse growled, though Jack had to admit it was all his fault.\u00a0 One shouldn\u2019t take a leisurely stroll through space in your birthday suit and then expect to avoid getting made fun of for the rest of your life after all.<\/p>\n Jack looked at Ken\u2019s display.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re in charge now.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cRoger, Boss,\u201d Ken said in acceptance and began spouting off orders.<\/p>\n Jack leaned back as his pilots continued to bicker, heckle, accept orders, grouse about orders, and all the other things that other Alliance soldiers always found crazy.\u00a0 Jack just focused on the displays showing the ground actions and considered his options.\u00a0 The invasion had probably started the night before, maybe a few hours earlier.\u00a0 The Serenity Defense Force was doing its best, but ruined war machines and torn landscapes showed the path of the Chinese advance.<\/p>\n The Chinese were close.\u00a0 All the ground forts were destroyed, and the only thing that kept Landing City safe was the powerful deflection dome covering it.\u00a0 The Chinese bombardment had not yet managed to penetrate it, and the Landing City Defense Grid had shot down every attempt to fly in.\u00a0 But if their ground forces could get into the city they could take the dome down from the inside.\u00a0 If the Chinese still held the orbitals when that happened, there would be nothing left to save in minutes.\u00a0 The Marines needed to be quick about it.<\/p>\n Jack relaxed and let his mind wander, using his eyes to follow the advancing red dots corresponding to Chinese troops.\u00a0 He looked for patterns that would betray leadership in the ranks, and barely noticed his hands twitching on the controls.\u00a0 Chinese missiles swept in to be shot down by the squadron\u2019s point defense network, but he continued to study the ground action.\u00a0 He trusted Ken Banno with his life.\u00a0 There was no need to waste any of his concentration worrying about his competence now.\u00a0 No need and no reason.<\/p>\n He returned to studying the ground on the displays again and chewed his lip.\u00a0 He wasn\u2019t certain, but he thought he knew where to shoot first.\u00a0 The clues were subtle, but the delays in maneuver were there.\u00a0 Some troops were waiting to take orders while others reacted faster.\u00a0 Those probably had high-level commanders in their midst.\u00a0 Other clues were there too.\u00a0 Some commands reacted better to ambushes and traps.\u00a0 Others moved through the defenders more quickly.\u00a0 He ran his eyes across the displays, highlighting the ones he thought controlled the chain of command with rapid blinks.\u00a0 He focused on the ones he really wanted dead and the displays accepted his ocular commands, highlighting each target in turn.<\/p>\n Missiles thrummed from their Avenger, their gravitic cannons fired, and Jack glanced up to see the Chinese fleet directly ahead of them, taking dozens of hits.\u00a0 Then he blinked as he realized he was actually seeing<\/em> those ships without any magnification.\u00a0 The Chinese scattered in every direction, wildly trying to avoid the American squadron charging through their formation.\u00a0 American ships spun and fired gravitic cannons at point blank range, ripping Chinese destroyers and cruisers apart.\u00a0 Missiles flickered back and forth to shred deflection grids and lasers melted armor off by the ton.\u00a0 It was tanks at ten paces and he saw Los Angeles<\/em> shudder from a hit on her forward wedge that nearly ripped the starboard side off.<\/p>\n Then they were through the Chinese formation, aft ends towards Serenity as their engines slowed them down to HALO speeds.\u00a0 Most of them at least.\u00a0 The destroyer Garcia<\/em> went into a flat spin with two of her four engines in flames.\u00a0 Jack watched her fall down towards the planet far too fast and hit the atmosphere.\u00a0 Her faltering deflection grid glowed for a moment, and then the destroyer skipped off like a rock in a pond and careened away from the battle, shedding armor and pieces of internal structure as her systems shut down one by one.\u00a0 That was not going to be a nice place to be over the next few hours.\u00a0 Assuming they had that much time.<\/p>\n Jack averted his eyes.\u00a0 He spent another second or so thinking, studied the targeting displays for another, and then nodded.\u00a0 It was as good as he was going to get in the time he had.<\/p>\n \u201cYou ready, Betty?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n Betty smiled at him.\u00a0 \u201cReady.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cJasmine?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m always ready,\u201d she said with a wink.<\/p>\n \u201cPromises, promises,\u201d Jack whispered and turned to the displays showing Jesse and Katy.\u00a0 \u201cFox, Cat, follow my lead.\u00a0 It\u2019s time to behead this beast.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cGot it, Boss,\u201d they answered in unison.<\/p>\n Jack glanced at Betty again before saying, \u201cMajor Thompson?\u201d<\/p>\n It took a few seconds for the Marine captain to answer, but when he did it was with the sound of competence that said there was no reason to fear.\u00a0 The Marines were here.\u00a0 \u201cThompson here.\u201d<\/p>\n Jack smiled at the voice and equally calm face on his display.\u00a0 \u201cYou got my targets?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIn living color.\u00a0 I concur.\u201d\u00a0 Then several more dots began to flash on the displays.\u00a0 The other Marine\u2019s face cracked with an amused smile.\u00a0 \u201cThough you missed some.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cRight,\u201d Jack muttered and studied the new dots.\u00a0 Try as he might though he just could not see what made the man suspect them.\u00a0 \u201cYeah, You got me there.\u201d<\/p>\n Captain Thompson chuckled.\u00a0 \u201cGround combat\u2019s my specialty, not yours.\u00a0 But you did good to get what you did.\u201d\u00a0 Then the man frowned and waved a hand at several dots on the flanks.\u00a0 \u201cBut why did you pick those?\u201d<\/p>\n Jack glanced at them and shrugged.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t know.\u00a0 They just\u2026feel dangerous.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know why.\u201d<\/p>\n The other Marine nodded for a moment as he studied the displays on his craft.\u00a0 \u201cThen we\u2019ll just have to make sure to double tap them on the way down.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAbsolutely.\u201d\u00a0 Jack chuckled.\u00a0 \u201cYou ready?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNever been readier,\u201d Thompson said and his head turned as he began shouting out orders to his Marines.\u00a0 Jack heard the faintest echo of responses and saw approval in the Marine captain\u2019s face.\u00a0 \u201dWe are launching in three\u2026two\u2026one\u2026now!\u201d<\/p>\n Jack watched Los Angeles\u2019 <\/em>flanks practically explode as the Marines made their appearance.\u00a0 Dozens of craft shot out from the warship with engines on fire, turned to hug her outer hull, and dove towards the planet at maximum acceleration.\u00a0 Most of them were fake, nothing more than drones using holoemitters to look like real Marine craft, but he couldn\u2019t pick them out from the handful of real craft in their midst.\u00a0 And he had to admit that it made the Marine assault look real impressive as it began to tear into the atmosphere.<\/p>\n Jack pulled the stick around, peeling the nineteen Avengers of his force away from the fleet, even as he saw Harrington<\/em> take a hit amidships.\u00a0 His eyes froze on the ship and the displays cooperatively zoomed in on her, showing the ghastly wound in high definition.\u00a0 He watched Harrington<\/em> take more hits as the entire Chinese fleet focused on her, each one pushing her further down into the gravity well.\u00a0 She kept her armored wedge facing the center of their formation and her engines flared to a maximum burn that would be clearly visible to anyone looking up from the planet.\u00a0 She was fighting for her life and the Chinese fleet redoubled their efforts.\u00a0 Missiles and lasers careened off her armored wedge, but a few bit in and tore away at the armor as her deflection grid began to collapse.\u00a0 And while the core of the fleet battered her wedge, the Chinese flankers tore into her lightly-armored flanks.\u00a0 American destroyers simply weren\u2019t built for this kind of fight and the Chinese took full advantage of that fact.\u00a0 Finally a hit smashed one of her engines into ruin and Jack knew she was going down.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not sure I can pull out of this one,\u201d Faith said from her display in a sad tone.<\/p>\n \u201cJust do your best,\u201d Jack whispered and held on tight to the controls as Betty forced them into Serenity\u2019s atmosphere, engines burning the thickening air around them.\u00a0 Their engines rotated close to the wing to reduce drag and maneuvering fins deployed to give them better control in the planetary soup.\u00a0 This wasn\u2019t his first time fighting in the soup, but he didn\u2019t like it.\u00a0 He was a starfighter pilot after all.<\/p>\n The air around them filled with thousands of burning meteors coming down all around them.\u00a0 Some were pieces of falling ships he knew, maybe even some from Harrington<\/em>.\u00a0 Some were Marine craft or fighters like him.\u00a0 The rest were the drones breaking apart into smaller hunks of metal full of electronic warfare AIs whose job it was to make the Chinese think that they were the true threat.<\/p>\n \u201cIncoming, incoming, we\u2019ve got incoming!\u201d Betty shrieked as hundreds of missiles turned into thousands as hidden launchers made their presence known.\u00a0 Red dots filled the display with their angry threat and Jack swallowed.\u00a0 The Chinese had been ready for them.<\/p>\n \u201cFrak me,\u201d Jack whispered as the missiles charged into the teeth of the Marine assault.\u00a0 Then he swallowed again and blinked.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t have a choice.\u00a0 \u201cOpen fire all weapons,\u201d Jack ordered, and the nineteen Avengers under his command fired fifty-seven gravitic cannons, ripple fired missiles from thirty-eight launchers, and brought one hundred and fifty two lasers up to maximum rate fire.\u00a0 Enough firepower to rip battleships apart streaked down into the fragile face of a populated world and Jack held on for dear life.\u00a0 Gravity twisted before them, bending even the air to their power, and the streaks of focused power became visible to the naked eye as they linked the Avenger and the most dangerous ground targets far below them.\u00a0 They stabbed into Serenity, tearing her surface apart, and smashing the Chinese offensive.<\/p>\n Men and machines screamed as gravity itself turned sideways, upside down, or inside out at the same time.\u00a0 Some were caught without warning and never had time to utter a word before being sucked into the tiny black holes.\u00a0 Some felt their worlds shift sideways and flew through the air, watching with terror-filled eyes as death claimed them.\u00a0 Then the beams of twisted gravity shut off and a shockwave of subatomic grit expanded out from their primary targets.\u00a0 Those that still lived were thrown away like toys, skin or armor evaporating under the subatomic assault.<\/p>\n Even many of the Chinese missiles fell to the gravitic assault, and Marine point defense chattered away at the missiles that survived.\u00a0 Thousands of missiles fell before entering attack range, and most of those that survived targeted the decoys.\u00a0 But the Chinese used gravitic warheads and weren\u2019t afraid to use them in atmosphere.\u00a0 Decoys ceased to exist across the advancing Marine front, and the planet\u2019s very atmosphere convulsed under the massed twin assault of competing gravity generators.<\/p>\n Jack felt the world go crazy as other missiles made it through the jamming and the point defense to attack the true Marine craft dropping towards the surface.\u00a0 One missile struck a Garm with a full platoon on board and sucked them into a growing vacuum of nothing, but he saw a few men and women tumbling away towards the ground on their own thruster power.\u00a0 An Avenger slipped into the event horizon and disappeared and another spun away spraying debris in every direction.\u00a0 One missile bounced off a far-more capable Barghest\u2019s defense grid before the tank dove down deeper into the atmosphere.<\/p>\n There were so many incoming missiles that Jack\u2019s instincts screamed nothing but danger, danger, danger.\u00a0 His entire world was filled with nothing but coming death, and Jack realized that he may have just finally bitten off more than he could chew.\u00a0 Maybe he should have asked for more help.\u00a0 Maybe Ken or Dawn could have tipped the balance.\u00a0 Or maybe he\u2019d saved them by leaving them in space.<\/p>\n Then Jack\u2019s Avenger screamed around him as a missile finally found him.\u00a0 A ravening black hole opened beside them, and he jammed the throttle forward, hoping to escape before it could grab them.\u00a0 Their starboard wing disintegrated, sucked away in an instant.\u00a0 Then their nose ripped off and Jack felt wind on his face.\u00a0 The canopy tore off, parts of it missing him by less than a cat\u2019s whisker, and he felt the Avenger dying around him.<\/p>\n The gravitic pull faded away, the missile\u2019s last gravitic assault dying to a lack of energy, and the Avenger dropped like a stone towards the ground.\u00a0 Jack worked the controls as they spun but it was no good.\u00a0 Everything was dead.<\/p>\n \u201cFrak me,\u201d he whispered again and glanced to the console where Betty and Jasmine stood unmoving in the gale force winds battering their holoforms.\u00a0 They\u2019re clothes and hair rippled in the wind, and he smiled at the effort they made even now to fit in to the real world.\u00a0 They met his gaze and smiled back.<\/p>\n Then the ground rose up to meet them, metal screamed as it tore, and pain erupted throughout his body.\u00a0 Then darkness claimed him.<\/p>\n Something crackled nearby.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t him.<\/p>\n Warmth touched his cheek.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t fire.<\/p>\n Water lapped against\u2026something nearby.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t a leak.<\/p>\n Jack opened his eyes and sucked in a deep breath.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t hurt anymore.<\/p>\n A bonfire burned in the darkness.\u00a0 Sand stretched as far as he could see in the light on three sides.\u00a0 Waves shimmered in the firelight on the fourth side.\u00a0 The familiar scene came into focus one piece at a time.<\/p>\n He heard music and turned to see Julie and Alex playing their guitars.\u00a0 It was their senior year of high school again.\u00a0 They hadn\u2019t left for Nashville yet.\u00a0 He hadn\u2019t refused to go with them yet.\u00a0 They sang so beautifully it hurt the soul.\u00a0 A third guitar leaned against the chair between them and he knew all he had to do was take it.<\/p>\n Schoolmates danced around the bonfire like they always had.\u00a0 They played water polo in the lake.\u00a0 They relaxed on the double decker pontoon.\u00a0 It was always the same.\u00a0 It was always that one perfect moment he wished he could get back.<\/p>\n \u201cYou always come back here,\u201d a familiar voice said.\u00a0 He turned to see a familiar head of red hair.\u00a0 He would have done anything to wake up seeing the sun through that hair back then.\u00a0 She\u2019d been the most beautiful girl in school and she\u2019d known it.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat are you doing here?\u201d he asked as he tried to remember why he was here.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m here for you,\u201d she answered simply, and the smile that every boy in school thrilled for covered her face.<\/p>\n \u201cOh.\u201d\u00a0 Jack frowned, remembering all the times he\u2019d wanted that smile.\u00a0 And when she\u2019d told him he could get it.\u00a0 \u201cHas Hell finally frozen over?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDo you want it to?\u201d she asked, spreading her arms out wide to emphasize her very best assets.\u00a0 \u201cAll you have to do is want it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut is that all you really want?\u201d another familiar voice asked.<\/p>\n He turned to see a blonde in a yellow sundress standing with her toes in the sand and remembered something.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re not Betty.\u201d<\/p>\n She bestowed a proud smile on him.\u00a0 \u201cNope.\u201d<\/p>\n He turned to the redhead.\u00a0 \u201cAnd you\u2019re not Kelly.\u201d<\/p>\n She ran her fingers through long red hair and sucked in a large lungful of air.\u00a0 She had\u2026very healthy lungs.\u00a0 \u201cI could be,\u201d was all she said in words, but every twist of her body promised so much more.\u00a0 His high school self would have jumped all over her and never looked back.\u00a0 He knew that.\u00a0 She knew that. \u00a0That was why she always came back.\u00a0 And it was why she was always wrong.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t like the person he\u2019d been that year.<\/p>\n He turned back to the woman who was not Betty.\u00a0 \u201cAm<\/em> I dead?\u201d<\/p>\n The blonde sighed.\u00a0 \u201cDo you want to be?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDo I have a choice?\u201d<\/p>\n The redhead laughed.\u00a0 \u201cEverybody has a choice, Jack.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat about the real<\/em> her?\u201d Jack asked, looking at the woman who couldn\u2019t be Betty.\u00a0 \u201cWhat about Jasmine and Natalie?\u201d<\/p>\n The blonde shook her head.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m here for you, Jack.\u00a0 Only they can answer those questions.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIs this real?\u00a0 Or a dream?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhy can\u2019t it be both?\u201d the redhead asked, running her hands down her sides.\u00a0 \u201cCome on.\u00a0 You can have everything you ever wanted here.\u201d\u00a0 Then she waved a hand towards the bonfire.\u00a0 \u201cEven them if you fancy that.\u201d<\/p>\n Jack looked at the bonfire, towards the two girls who sang like angels.\u00a0 They\u2019d gone on to do such great things with those voices.\u00a0 T&J was a success despite his worst fears.\u00a0 He\u2019d stayed home and wasted his time with girls that weren\u2019t worth a half of them.\u00a0 He turned his back to the woman who looked like Kelly and looked at the one who could almost be Betty.\u00a0 \u201cNo.\u00a0 I can\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n Betty gave him an approving smile.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, who are you, really?\u201d<\/p>\n Betty\u2019s smile turned more amused.\u00a0 \u201cMaybe we\u2019re your conscience.\u201d<\/p>\n Jack raised an eyebrow at her.\u00a0 \u201cFunny.\u00a0 You don\u2019t look like a cricket.\u201d<\/p>\n Betty leaned in close.\u00a0 \u201cFairy tales aren\u2019t real, Jack.\u00a0 This is.\u201d\u00a0 Jack raised one eyebrow at her and she chuckled.\u00a0 \u201cFor certain measurements of reality.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFine,\u201d Jack said and rolled his eyes.\u00a0 \u201cIf this is real, who are you?\u201d<\/p>\n Betty winked.\u00a0 \u201cMaybe we\u2019re your guardian angels, just trying to get your attention because you keep ignoring us.\u201d<\/p>\n Jack laughed and waved one hand towards Kelly.\u00a0 \u201cEven her?\u201d\u00a0 He glanced back in time to see her sticking her tongue out at him.\u00a0 He snorted and turned to Betty again.\u00a0 \u201cOr maybe you\u2019re just a figment of my imagination.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s right,\u201d Betty said with another of her smiles and leaned away again.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019re just an undigested bit of beef.\u201d<\/p>\n Jack looked back to Julie and Alex as they continued to make beautiful music.\u00a0 They sounded amazing together.\u00a0 They didn\u2019t need him.\u00a0 They never really had.\u00a0 But he\u2019d loved them so much.\u00a0 He could have them again here, and it would be perfect.\u00a0 A dream come true even.\u00a0 But it would never be truly real here.\u00a0 Jack sucked in a long breath and let it go.<\/p>\n Jack turned back to Betty, at peace with his decision.\u00a0 \u201cI lost them.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI know,\u201d the blonde said with an attentive expression.\u00a0 \u201cWhat are you going to do about it?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFind them.\u201d\u00a0 The answer came without hesitation and Jack knew he would have to live up to it somehow.\u00a0 It wouldn\u2019t be easy, but the best things never were.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019ve moved on,\u201d the redhead said with warm lips at his ear and ran electric fingers up his spine.\u00a0 \u201cWhy pine after the past when you can have everything the present has to offer?\u201d<\/p>\n Jack just shook his head.\u00a0 \u201cBecause the past was worth it,\u201d he said to the redhead, \u201cand settling for less in my future would be giving up.\u201d\u00a0 He gave her a pointed look.\u00a0 \u201cKelly was always second best at\u2026best.\u201d<\/p>\n The woman who could almost be Kelly hissed.\u00a0 \u201cYou have no idea what I\u2019m capable of, boy<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n Jack just shook his head again.\u00a0 \u201cCan you kill me where I stand?\u201d\u00a0 The redhead blinked in surprise at the direction question.\u00a0 \u201cOr can you only talk<\/em> me into killing myself?\u201d<\/p>\n Her mouth flopped open.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2026never\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cPlease,\u201d Jack interrupted with a smile.\u00a0 \u201cThis is a dream.\u00a0 It\u2019s always a dream.\u00a0 It\u2019s an amazing one, but I know the score.\u00a0 The moment I decide to stay here is the moment I die for real.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou will die,\u201d the redhead said very seriously.\u00a0 \u201cEveryone does.\u00a0 You can die screaming and fighting, in pain as you are torn apart, or you can die in peace, with everything you ever wanted.\u201d\u00a0 She spread her arms out wide to encompass all the things in this dream he could have.\u00a0 \u201cWhich do you choose?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI choose to live,\u201d Jack said with a smile.\u00a0 \u201cBecause today is not<\/em> a good day to die.\u201d\u00a0 He turned away from her and saw the smile on the woman wearing Betty\u2019s face.\u00a0 \u201cShall we?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t go with you,\u201d Betty said. \u00a0\u201cI\u2019m just an undigested bit of beef that will fade away the moment you wake up.\u201d<\/p>\n Jack sighed.\u00a0 \u201cYou speak well for a momentary bit of indigestion.\u201d<\/p>\n Betty smiled and leaned in close to his ear.\u00a0 \u201cMaybe your subconscious has learned how to speak better than you care to admit.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTouch\u00e9,\u201d Jack said and his gaze returned to Julie and Alex.\u00a0 All he could do for a moment was stand in place as their angelic voices washed over him.\u00a0 \u201cI really do love them.\u201d\u00a0 It felt good to say it.\u00a0 It felt good to admit it to himself.<\/p>\n The blonde woman tilted her head to the side and studied him.\u00a0 \u201cDid you ever tell them that?\u201d<\/p>\n Jack swallowed.\u00a0 He almost didn\u2019t answer, but it was a question he had to answer.\u00a0 For himself if not for her.\u00a0 \u201cI didn\u2019t know what love was back then.\u201d<\/p>\n The almost Betty pursed her lips and smiled.\u00a0 \u201cHave you learned what it is now?\u201d<\/p>\n Jack stared at the woman who looked so much like Betty and smiled.\u00a0 Her eyes opened wide at his frank gaze and his smile turned very serious.\u00a0 So often he had this dream and never wanted to give it up.\u00a0 So often he awoke to the shivers, feeling once again the loss of his youth.\u00a0 Today he looked forward, and for once he was truly happy to have dreamed this dream one more time.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t a joyful torture today.\u00a0 It was a promise.\u00a0 It was a memory.\u00a0 It was so much more, but today he relished the idea of leaving it behind.\u00a0 Real life was better than a dream after all.\u00a0 \u201cYes,\u201d he said and tipped his hat to the person who could almost be as good as the one he\u2019d sworn to ride into battle with.<\/p>\n Then he opened his eyes for real.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Some people think being able to fight is the ultimate testament to being alive.\u00a0 Other people think avoiding conflict is our highest calling.\u00a0 Me?\u00a0 I\u2019ve always been a lover, not a fighter.\u00a0 But I\u2019ve learned something in my life.\u00a0 Some[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3669","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2307-angel-strike-earc","uentry","postonpage-1","odd","post-author-medron-pryde"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jackofharts.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3669","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jackofharts.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jackofharts.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jackofharts.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jackofharts.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3669"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/jackofharts.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3669\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3671,"href":"https:\/\/jackofharts.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3669\/revisions\/3671"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jackofharts.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3669"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jackofharts.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3669"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jackofharts.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3669"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}