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wexhappyxfew · 10 months ago

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quiet reprieve

(a/n): for the annie x brady mota girlies, featuring annie bradshaw, john brady and a cameo from ken lemmons, and the women of Silver Bullets. enjoy!!

"It was pretty much a crap-shoot the second we got across the channel," Lieutenant Montez said, popping the cigarette off her lip and glancing towards Annie - clenched jaw, slightly blank stare forward, white-knuckled grip on her peak cap in her hands, her knee going a mile a minute.

It had been basically a complete, utter, mess from the second the plane was prepping to drop the bombs; Achterberg yelling over comms about some flak coming in at 3:00, Rybinski hollering from the ball turret about a faulty piece of the gun that needed checking, just as a spray of bullets penetrated from just below, with Carlisle yelling over all the noise her coordinates. It had felt like chaos. And it had been. Annie remembered her glancing towards Lieutenant Montez at one point and seeing her cold-stone stare somewhere lost in the flurry of clouds and graying smoke in front of them as a few chutes went out to their right.

"Lieutenant Bradshaw, any chutes from Son of a Gun?" Annie looked up from her daze and found the entirety of Silver Bullets, along with the interrogator staring at her. Sitting up a bit, shifting a bit uncomfortably, she cleared her throat and nodded.

"Yes, sir." she said, "All 10. We all counted. Confirmed it with Stagliano." Annie looked towards Stagliano who pulled the cigarette off her lips with a nod.

"All 10, sir," Stagliano said, the few scraps along her face from the rocking of the fort scattered on her cheek, "I wouldn't say Flying Colors was as lucky. Only 2 chutes." The interrogator seemed to let out a quiet sigh and made a few notes.

Gazing at the group of women was an even sadder affair than she was sure she could possibly handle; the drawn out looks on their faces, the exhaustion, the level of tiredness that lingered in their eyes, or the way they just seemed relieved to be on the ground.

Annie slowly looked over at the other tables - their crews dispersed about, members giving both distinct and scattered descriptions of whatever the hell had just happened. Through her exhausting eye search, she found her eyes caught on another pair of eyes that were intently caught on her own.

Captain Brady - the one that had hopped a ride with her and Major Egan as she had been shown the officers' club. He looked slightly different without the peak cap on, and his face looked more worn than it had a day or two ago, his hair sweaty and stuck a bit along his forehead, the stress-lines strewn against his forehead and cheeks. He almost was looking right through her it felt, like there was this being behind her, waiting to take her away, but she could tell that he could sense her there.

"I couldn't see much beneath me, sir," Rybinski said, her voice dry and monotone - much more dampened and sodden than she had ever been in the short time Annie had known her, "it was pretty much gray smoke from over the channel to dropping the bombs. German fighter came pretty damn close though, sir. Little too close for comfort."

"Flying Colors definitely was only 2 chutes, though," Ratcliff said, leaning forward against the table and lacing together her slightly soot-covered fingers from the metallic of the ammunition, a sigh escaping her lips as she cleared her throat, "can't say much else though, it went down in a ball of flame."

An awkward cough seemed to follow her words. Annie had seen Flying Colors go down in a rather quick matter. An engulfed ball of flame. Plummeting to the Earth.

A flying grave.

"Their chutes caught fire," Harlowe offered, "sir, the two men who jumped." Annie noticed Harlowe leaning back and shutting her eyes. What they saw, what they heard. It lived in them, it grew and fed off their fear, off the memories, of all of it. Annie watched as the interrogator crossed off Flying Colors with a quick flick of his pencil.

"How were flying conditions, Lieutenant Bradshaw?" the interrogator asked, "Ideal?" Annie looked up from her spot, meeting the interrogator's eyes, and slowly clenched her jaw a bit.

"Just fine." Annie said, "Flown in worse." The interrogator marked it down on the mandatory box for weather conditions, before placing down his pencil; the table grew relatively quiet, a few coughs, finger tapping and shifting of people in their gear.

"You're all dismissed," the interrogator said and Annie looked up from her white-knuckled grip on her peak cap, "get yourselves some food and rest." A few other tables were slowly moving about, getting their things and heading to the mess hall, clearing tables, folding maps and taking last minute sips of coffee previously handed out, all the sorts.

Annie shook the interrogator's hand, gave an attempt of a smile in his direction and then turned and headed outside, placing her peak cap on top of her head.

Stepping into the bright, rather warm sunlight was a world of difference from the inside of the interrogation room - the breeze was sweet, the sun bright and for a second, she almost had forgotten she'd been in the air not too long ago, one of the engines smoking, yelling over comms, bodies and planes falling from the sky in a smoldering array of death, the whizz of enemy fighters just outside of the fortress. It was unnerving.

"Lieutenant Bradshaw." Annie turned and found Captain Brady coming towards her, running a hand through his hair before adjusting the peak cap on his head and stopping just in front of her. Annie met his gaze and offered a quick salute and he nodded her off.

"What can I do for you, sir?" He watched her for a moment, his eyes seeming to hold onto hers as if looking away would suddenly shift the axis of the Earth.

"Was gonna go check on the fort," Brady said, nodding over to the tarmac where the ground crews were making quick work of some of the damage done, "lost a few engines while we were up there and want to make sure things are shaping up. Wondering if you wanted to come with. You look like you could use a step away from all this for a moment." Annie looked up at him and swallowed before nodding.

"Yes, sir," she said. He offered a bit of a smile - the corner of his lip turned up and for the moment, that was enough, especially after the hell of the day. The two started walking side by side, their uniforms still looking in a rather sorry state, but their gear was mostly removed and the breeze was beginning to wick the sweat from her forehead from the most part. It was quite beautiful when you forgot there was a war on, especially here at Thorpe Abbotts. The sky, the breeze, the green grass, the people all about.

"How'd it go up there for you all?" Brady asked her as they continued their leisurely walk forward, "And before you say anything, I must admit, that was the most relaxed I'd seen Lieutenant Montez coming back from a mission, even when today was a total shit-show." Annie looked up at him and noticed the slight quirk of his lips and smiled a bit and nodded.

"It went alright, sir," she said, "we lost a few engines, too, smoking, the whole-nine-yards. But, she did great up there. I'm lucky that she's my copilot."

"That you are." he said quietly, before glancing her way, clearing his throat, "I've been meaning to ask, what got you here?" She glanced at him and a slightly nervous laugh left his lips.

"A plane, sir." she said, the slight hint of a smile back onto her lips as she watched his gaze. The laugh that was playing at the edge of his lips slipped out and he looked to her again.

"I mean, what were you doing before you were here. What made you think - yeah, B-17s?" he asked and she chuckled quietly and crossed her arms and nodded.

"Originally, I was a translator, sir - German, French, some Russian….or well, it was a fair attempt at Russian, sir, can't say it ever went smoothly, but I was trying to just do that. Translating." she said with a nod and then glanced at him, "I was stationed at Fort Des Moines, and one of the women I was close with, got me a gig working on some of the planes - we had some B-17s there at some point. Started doing supply runs, started getting real comfortable. Eventually did so much with B-17s, that I got my license and then was training with a group in Texas. Then, I got the call." Brady watched her.

"And now," she said, smiling briefly, "I'm here, sir."

"I know the women are glad you're here," he said with a nod, "after everything with Birdie, I think you were what they needed." Annie watched him for a moment and nodded, her throat tight at the thought - the mental image yet again infiltrating her brain.

"Thank you, sir, I appreciate it." she said and Brady offered her a smile.

"It's the truth," he said, "you fit in well." Annie found herself unable to hide the grin and she nodded.

"And I know Major Egan is a big fan of yours," he said, a sideways look her way and she let out a laugh and shook her head.

"That's quite a stretch, sir," she said, "I think he didn't like the fact that I referenced him to be Cinderella at times." Brady laughed - had he always laughed like that? Because it was quite a nice sound.

"Well," Brady said, stopping and turning towards her, a small smile on his face, eyes soft in her own gaze, "I think it's kinda funny to see his feathers ruffled knowing you won't take any of his shit." Annie shrugged and stuffed her hands into her pockets and smiled.

"Ruffling feathers seems to be a party trick of mine, sir." she said, nodding at him, "I seem to bring it out when warranted."

"And with Major Egan, I can promise you, it's warranted." Brady said. Annie let out a small laugh and shook her head. She glanced over at Silver Bullets stood beautifully in the bright sunshine, noticing Lemmons and Wink there working away at one of the engines.

"Want to join me, sir?" she said nodding over to Silver Bullets, "Before heading to your fort?" Brady smirked a bit - smirked, yes that's right - and nodded.

"Lead the way, Lieutenant," he said, his voice lower than what it had been and she smiled slightly, before turning and moving towards the B-17 that she felt like she were slowly becoming both protective and maternal over.

"Hey, Lemmons," Annie called as she approached, Brady somewhere behind her - she could feel his eyes on her back, she just could at this point. Lemmons turned on the ladder in front of engine 3 and offered a wave, before saying something to Wink, and climbing down.

"Hey, Lieutenant," he said, reaching forward to shake her hand, before noticing Brady, "Captain."

"How's she looking?" Brady asked him, as Annie gazed up towards the cockpit of Silver Bullets, once filled with smoke and now still and silent.

"If only those engines hadn't gone," Annie said quietly and Lemmons smiled slightly.

"Well, I can promise you both she'll fix up just nicely," he said, "Wink's almost done with 3 and we'll be moving to 4 and then doing some refinishing, repainting - I'm rewiring something on Lieutenant Montez's side, that alright, ma'am."

"Of course." Annie said with a smile, "Whatever gets her in the air again." Lemmons smiled and readjusted his gaze to Brady.

"What's got you so concerned about Silver Bullets, sir?" Lemmons asked, "Your fort seems pretty much unscathed besides the engine so." Brady offered a slightly hesitant smile and glanced at a rather expectant Annie before looking back at Lemmons.

"Just wanted to make sure our replacement pilot has been getting what she needs, done," Brady said, "looks great, Lemmons." Annie caught Lemmons' eyes who raised a brow in her direction before turning away. Something shifted in her gut and she looked towards Brady, the sprinkle of red on his cheeks not just from the fact it was a little warmer than normal outside and she held back the grin.

"Well, sir, I can promise Silver Bullets is in good working condition, with an intelligent pilot to match," Lemmons said, looking up towards the berth of the wingspan, "I wouldn't worry too much. She flies like a beaut." Brady let out another one of his nervous sprinkles of laughter and nodded.

"I appreciate it, Lemmons."

"Don't you worry, sir," Annie said, looking up towards Brady, "Germans won't have a pot to piss in when she's back up and running again." Brady chuckled and then glanced at Lemmons.

"Your fort's coming along, by the way, sir," Lemmons said, "she's just over there, feel free to get a look at her and let me know if you need something else done. Otherwise, I'll finish up here, do your engines and move on."

"Alright, thank you," Brady said and then glanced at Annie at his side, "give me a few minutes, I'll be back." She nodded at him and watched as he took off around the side of Silver Bullets and disappeared. Lemmons glanced at her and chuckled.

"What's got him laughing so much?" Lemmons said and Annie glanced at him.

"What?" Lemmons came towards her, wiping his hands on a grease towel, smirk on his face.

"Captain Brady - giggling like a school girl, 'bout what? Never see him like that, usually got a sour look on his face." Lemmons said and Annie shrugged, crossing her arms.

"I don't know, probably trying to forget about the cluster fuck of a mission," Annie said honestly and Lemmons chuckled, throwing the towel over his shoulder and nodding.

"Right," he said, "that or the look on your face, ma'am. Either way, he's grinning like one of them Cheshire cats. Especially when he's around you." Annie watched as Lemmons smirked and then turned and walked away. Annie was positively sure her face was the color of the most ripened tomato you'd ever seen.

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