Chapter Text
Maru sighed as he came out of Med Hangar as he had just received some depressing news.. The day was dismal as it had been raining all week (not that he was complaining and they needed the extra moisture since it hadn’t rained for a couple of months). But that wasn’t the only reason why the mood around the Base was depressing.
The team had gone out to a fire a couple of days ago that was started by a lightning strike almost like the devastating fire that happened 3 years ago and there were some casualties during that fire but no firefighters although Cad didn’t really care as he was only concerned about the Grand Opening of the Fusel Lodge. At present, everything seemed fine until he got a call from Windlifter saying that Blade had crashed. When he heard that, Maru quickly went into medic mode and asked Wind of their Fire Chief’s injuries.
“He is unconscious. Both main and tail rotors were broken and he does have a major dent on his left side from where he landed on the ground. Other than that, nothing serious ”
“Shit. Alright. I’ll see what I can do. Bring him on in, Wind and be safe. Maru out.”
When the Skycrane approached Base, Maru started issuing orders to the Jumpers as Dusty sat off to the side. Cabbie, who was the last one to come in, rolled up to the young plane, “What happened, kid?”
Dusty was replaying the scene in his mind when he received a gentle nudge. Shaking his head, Dusty glanced at the Flying Boxcar.
“Yeah, Cabbie?”
A gentle smile, “I asked what happened?”
Dusty didn’t really want to tell the C-119 but since they were friends and soon to be team mates, Dusty said, “I was going to tag on and extend like Blade told me to but my mind was on the call I received from Skipper and my friends. You see, a month ago, I found out that my gearbox was failing. While my friends were calling all over the country, nobody has my gearbox model since it’s been long since discontinued. So I quit racing to become a firefighter because I screwed up and caused Propwash to become shut down. Now Blade’s hurt because of me and I don’t deserve to be saved. I definitely know I’m gonna get my ass chewed and kicked out for not being careful.”
“I’m really sorry about your gearbox and I know Blade ain’t gonna do that, Dusty. May I ask how you screwed up? If you don’t want to tell me, that’s fine.”
Dusty told Cabbie how he was upset when his old boss came into Honkers and wanted him to be a crop duster again (which he didn’t want to be anymore). He decided to push his engine to see how fast he could go. His mechanic, Dottie, installed a warning light in his panel so he’d have to pull power to be under 80%. He wasn’t paying attention, clipped a power pole, came in way too fast and skidded right into the support beam for the decoration propeller over the Fill & Fly gas station causing the giant prop to fall, hitting a gas pump and starting a fire. They were able to get the fire out by pulling down the town’s water tower (which wasn’t the proper way to put a fire out but it was effective), hence why he was there.
“And let me guess, you got Ryker?”
“How’d you know that?”
“He’s pretty famous, especially here. Hell, he’s even tried to close the Base down on numerous occasions but Blade was able to stop him by saying that without us, there would be no Park to come to and enjoy. Anyway, I’m happy you’re here, kid and Maru will see to it that Blade is better than new. Try and get some rest and see Maru tomorrow to have him look at your gearbox, okay?”
“I will and thanks Cabbie.”
With that, the Flying Boxcar turned around and went to his hangar while Dusty went to the temporary one. As the Air Tractor sat in his hangar, he thought about what he could have done differently. After awhile, he got tired of thinking and decided to do something, maybe get some flowers for the AgustaWestland?
‘Yeah, that’s what I’ll do. But I wonder what kind he likes?’
He could ask Maru but the medic was still in the Med Bay with the helicopter. He could ask the other firefighters but Dusty doubted that the team knew anything personal about their Chief. Well, he could find something nice or maybe something beautiful. Whatever he could find, he hoped Blade would like them.
A half an hour passed and Dusty was coming back with a very beautiful bouquet of white and red roses (this was the last bouquet since the florist shop said that the roses were top sellers and were extremely popular along with lilies and tulips). When Maru saw them, he smiled, “So, kiddo, who are those for?”
“They’re for Blade as an apology for saving me.”
“Aww, kid, don’t say that. I’ll find a vase for them and tell him that they’re from you and you can see me tomorrow for your engine since I need some sleep, okay?”
“Okay, Maru and thank you.”
Giving the flowers to the medic, Dusty turned around and went towards his hangar to get some sleep.
Later that night, Dusty was awoken by Patch. As he groaned, the Communications Officer told him that someone named Sparky called and he needed to get back to Propwash as fast as he could. Hearing the news, the small plane asked what was wrong and the female pittie shrugged, “I wasn’t given any information just that you need to get home quick. Here-” she then gave Dusty a can of oil, “I know it’s going to be really early but you’ll need something in your tanks to tide you over til you get home. Be safe, sweetie.”
With that the C.O. went back to her tower as Dusty gulped down the liquid, went to the runway and quickly took off.
When he reached Propwash, Dusty almost skidded off the runway but was able to slow himself down. As he turned around, Sparky came racing over to him, “Dusty, I’m so glad you’re here! It’s Skipper! He’s-he-”
“Slow down, Sparky and breathe.”
After taking a couple of deep breaths, Sparky said a bit calmly, “It’s Skipper, he had an engine attack a few hours ago.”
A soft gasp was heard and it was followed with: “Is he alright? May I see him?”
“He’s fine, he’s resting and like you have to ask, kiddo. Come on.”
Leading the way, Sparky and Dusty went to Skipper’s hangar. When they went in, the Corsair was resting comfortably and was sleeping.
As quietly as he could, the Air Tractor whispered, “When did it happen?”
“About 4 hours ago. I was with Chug and Dottie watching a movie and we heard Mayday’s sirens. We came out of the hangar and saw that Skipper was in extreme pain and was having a hard time breathing. I brought him back here to take care of him and he’s been sleeping ever since.”
“Thank you for telling me, Sparky.
“You’re very welcome, Dusty.”
Dusty smiled at the pittie and then looked at the Corsair, who looked very peaceful. Yawning, the small plane rolled out of Skipper’s hangar and towards his own. When he went inside his living quarters, he quickly rolled over to his sleeping mat, yawned, tucked in his landing gear and went right to sleep.
A few hours later back at Piston Peak, Blade woke up. As he looked around, he tried to remember how he got back to his hangar and was drawing a complete blank. He felt really dizzy but decided that he would roll outside and see what was going on. As he rolled past his desk, he saw some flowers.
‘Huh. I wonder who-’
There was a card that was tied to one of the flower stems:
“Dear Blade. I hope you like these roses and I hope you get well soon. Love Dusty.”
Something inside him snapped and he then threw the bouquet on the floor and proceeded to roll over them, completely destroying the beautiful flowers.
Meanwhile, back in Propwash, Dusty was just relaxing in his hangar when he heard, “This is Blade Ranger calling Crophopper.”
When Dusty heard Blade’s voice, there was definitely a hard tone to it. Something told him not to pick up but he did anyway since Blade was his Fire Chief: “Dusty here. What can I-”
“What the fuck is wrong with you? Are you sick or something?”
“B-blade, what-”
There was a voice in the background that was trying to calm down the angry helicopter, “Blade, hang on-”
“Shut the fuck up, Maru-” then he turned back towards the mic, “-There is no way in hell I want a sick fuck like you on this Base. You will no longer be certified. And-” Blade hissed, “-I don’t ever want to see you again, you disgusting, sick bastard because, as of this moment, you are banished from Piston Peak Park.”
Before Dusty could ask why Blade said that and before he could apologize for causing the AgustaWestland's injuries, the call abruptly ended. Dusty just sat there, looking at the radio as he was trying to figure out what was going on. What did he do to make Blade so angry with him? Then he remembered but why would flowers make Blade pissed? Before he could go back to thinking, there was a knock on his door.
“Come in.”
The doors opened and in came Skipper, who looked extremely concerned. Before Corsair could say what was on his mind. Dusty quickly said, “What are you doing out of your hangar, Skip? You should be resting.”
“I was until I heard someone yelling in here. What’s going on, Dusty?”
Sighing, turquoise blues glanced down and it took a few moments for them to look at the warbird. The Air Tractor explained what had happened yesterday and a bit about what was said a few minutes ago. Skipper then asked if it was true. The small plane just looked down, not bothering to hide the hurt look on his face. This was the first time anyone had asked him and the older plane didn’t have any malice, anger or disappointment in his voice as he asked Dusty his question.
“It’s true. I’m gay. I was hoping to keep it a secret but Blade somehow found out and I’m exiled from the Base and he’s pulling my certification because of it and I worked so hard.”
“Would you like me to talk to him?”
“No thank you. It’s probably best that I don’t go back seeing as how the Fire Chief doesn’t want a gay plane to work with his team. Please, Skip, go back to sleep. You need your rest.”
“If you’re sure, kid. I wouldn’t mind talking to him. I’m fine but listen, Dusty, if you need me, please, talk to me okay? I’ll be here.”
Something in the Corsair’s tone almost made the younger plane break down as he held back his emotions as he nodded. Skipper looked like he wanted to say more but the small plane looked tired. As the Corsair went to give the plane a nuzzle, Dusty backed up, avoiding the warbird. A look of hurt crossed Skipper’s face but he knew that Dusty was upset but maybe he would accept a nuzzle later. Making sure the Air Tractor knew that he was welcome to come talk to him whenever he needed, the Navy vet rolled out of Dusty’s hangar and towards his.
After Dusty was rolling over to close the doors, there was another incoming radio transmission:
‘This is Maru calling Dusty Crophopper. Come in, Dusty.”
The small plane didn’t want to answer the call but he did hear Blade yell at the mechanic when he was trying to calm the helicopter down. When the Air Tractor didn’t answer immediately, he heard, “Dusty, if you’re there, please answer the radio.”
Maru was about to call again when he heard a quiet, “Dusty here.”
“Hey kid. I’m not sure what had gotten into Blade but I’m so sorry about the way he talked to you. But if it’s okay with you, can we talk?”
“I’m, um, I-”
“No one’s here but me, Dusty. I think I know why Blade’s mad. Remember the flowers?”
“Yes?”
“Well, I heard a commotion earlier in Blade’s hangar and I went to see what was going on. He trashed those roses that you bought him.”
Dusty’s heart broke when he heard that Blade destroyed the roses but stayed quiet and listened to the radio in case Maru had anything more to say and he did. Maru wanted to ask Dusty something but wasn’t sure how but he knew to ask delicately because Dusty was already stinging from the AgustaWestland’s words:
“Dusty, I just want to ask a couple of questions and you don’t have to answer. Is there a reason why you got those roses? Do you like Blade?”
“No reason really. I just thought they were beautiful and that Blade might like them. If I knew he didn’t, I wouldn’t have gotten them for him. And I wanted to apologize for disobeying him and he got hurt but he didn’t give me a chance earlier when he was yelling at me. I do but he has clearly shown me that he’s against me so no, I don’t.”
Dusty tried to add the last part with venom but he couldn’t muster the strength but Maru could tell that Dusty was lying but didn’t call the small plane out on account that he was hurting. Before the chief mechanic could say anything, Dusty said, “Maru? I’m not feeling too good. I’m gonna go now. Goodnight and be safe.”
With that, Dusty turned off his radio and rolled out of his hangar to get some fresh air.
‘Maybe I shouldn’t have gotten Blade those roses in the first place. I wasn’t trying to prove anything but how did Maru know? Guy’s a freaking psychic. It’s probably better if-
A yawn interrupted his thought. Dusty then decided that he wanted to take a nap and he rolled back inside his hangar and towards his sleeping mat. As he got comfortable, he tucked in his landing gear and took a deep breath. But he never was able to sleep because of Blade’s harsh words.
‘Maybe I’ll try tonight and hopefully I’ll forget everything he said.’
But try as he might, Dusty couldn’t get those words out of his mind.
For the next two nights, Dusty wasn’t able to sleep. Well, he was able to get a few minutes of sleep the night before but he had a nightmare that scared him awake and he couldn’t sleep since. When he did close his eyes, he saw Blade and he had the meanest look on his face as he attacked the small plane. Dusty woke up before the attack scene could end. He knew he was making something out of nothing and tried to push everything towards the back-
Wait-something just crossed Dusty’s mind: If Blade had somehow found out, would he have told the team as well and the team would tell other firefighters?
‘Great, there’ll be more haters now all because I bought Blade those damn roses. I should’ve never done that. I should’ve just said, “I’m sorry I wasn’t listening when you and I were teaming up to take care of the fire and I’m really sorry you got hurt’ and that would be it. No confessing anything and I would have a job. Why do I fuck everything up?’
Then a thought hit Dusty-his gear box...........
Wait, hang on now. What Blade said were just words, right? They couldn’t hurt-
But they did and now he was having thoughts that he never should have been thinking.
Making up his mind, Dusty went up to the runway and started his engine. It sounded really rough but hopefully no one would hear it over the noise as everyone was up and about. Getting permission from the tower, the plane started his prop and took off.
Skipper had just woken up from his nap when a feeling of dread came over him. As he rolled over to his radio to call Dusty, his personal radio was receiving an incoming call, “Skipper? It’s Dusty. I just wanted to tell you I’m sorry. You’ve always been one of my best friends. Please don’t be mad at me but I couldn’t deal with this anymore. Please forgive me.”
As Skipper tried frantically to call the small plane back, he heard the sound of an engine cutting off and then, nothing……