Neither did the fact that Jacques – the pilot who had taken her to so many field journeys, including the one where she found Rogue and King – was presently zipping around in an under-the-radar airplane to catch a couple of escapees and a woman who probably had no idea what the hell had happened.
“Miss Jilly!” he called back, over the roar of the prop engine and the wind blasting past the wide-open passenger door. This particular plane was a custom job that he’d developed just for situations like this one. “Seems to me this plane’s a little full already, how you wanting I should catch this other trio?”
They turned another circle around the hiding group. The current, and completely insane, plan was for Rogue and King to essentially take a flying leap out the side of the plane, pop emergency low-altitude parachutes, and escort them to a safe place for extraction. Of course, insane is a relative term, all things considered.
“We gotta come back for them, right?” she yelled back. “How about a chopper?”
Rogue stared out the door, hypnotized by the passing pines and firs. King had his eyes closed, his fingers interlocked behind his head which was firmly wedged between his knees. Jacques told him that’d be good for the nausea.
“First, them bears gonna have to drum up the courage to jump! We been cruisin’ the right altitude for ten minutes. I don’t suppose you can just shove ‘em out?”
King growled so loudly Jill could hear him, even over the engine. Rogue was still just staring, like he was contemplating his own mortality for the first time in his life.
“Boys!” Jacques yelled. “We been over this a thousand times. I wish I could jump with you and do that thing where we’re both strapped together, but reality is? This is the simplest thing. You just jump, then you yank the cord, and try to keep your feet down. Gravity does all the hard work!”
That didn’t help.
King made a slight lurching sound. Rogue’s thousand yard stare deepened. “Does this not seem stupid to anyone else?” he groused.
“No, it does,” Jill said. “But unless you want to chance those three getting snatched back up by GlasCorp? I don’t see much option.”
“We could wait for Draven. He’s always got an idea. Whether they’re any good or not...”
“The last of his ideas,” Jill said, “included escaping in a black helicopter after I ventilated a mutated bear. Remember that?”
King let out another growl, this one slightly tinged with the sound of a groan.
“And anyway,” Jill continued after listening to her larger mate’s piteous groan, “the sooner you jump the sooner you land.”
“Yeah,” Rogue said, cracking his knuckles and climbing to his feet, “and the sooner I can get a pine tree jammed up my ass.”
Jacques snickered, Jill smiled. “You’ll be fine,” she said. “Just keep your legs together.”
Rogue scoffed a laugh and shook his head before grabbing King’s parachute shoulder strap. “Do I need to slap you?” he asked. “Because I will.”
“Just jump,” King groaned. “I’m not gonna leave you hanging. Er, so to speak.”
Neither bear reacted to the fact that Captain Super Serious just made an awful pun, but Jacques was having a ball. “Remember!” he yelled back. “Count to five, feet down, pull the cord. And as soon as the first one of you jumps, next one counts ten, does the same thing. Got it?”
Rogue tried to flash one of his smug, cocky asshole grins, but the sweat on his forehead gave his nerves away. Jill grabbed his hand, put her other hand on the side of his face, and turned his head to face her. “I love you,” she whispered into his ear, before kissing him deeply, hungrily. “You get done with this and we’re gonna have a hell of a time later.”
She whispered something else into his ear, and as Rogue’s eyes widened in surprise, a wind caught him, and he let go of the door, flipping two times, then following Jacques instructions exactly. Seconds later, he was floating.
“You too,” Jill said to King. “Stay safe.” Another kiss that seemed to steel the bear’s ragged-worn nerves. “Don’t worry, we’ll be right behind you.”
“For anyone else,” King said, swallowing hard. “I’d pitch you out of the plane.” He kissed her so hard, so hungry, that her head was forced backward. “I heard what you said to Rogue,” he said with a grin. “I’ll hold you to that.”
Jill blushed, and King released his hold, sliding backward into the empty air. Just like his sworn brother, the massive bear turned a few somersaults before he stiffened, and pulled the chute cord. With longing eyes, Jill watched until both of them disappeared below the canopy.