“Something came up,” Blake said dryly, looking up at Gabriel from under his lashes as he packed his own bag.
“Something pretty big and important.”
“Eh.” Blake shrugged. “It was all right.”
Gabriel snagged his belt, dragging Blake close so he could lean in for a kiss that turned into a bite. Blake wrinkled his nose and shoved him off, his cheeks red and eyes bright.
“It’s the usual.” He waved his hand as he hefted his backpack. “The female main character isnot like other girlsand was promised to the tall, dark, brooding male character. But she runs away into the arms of another equally tall, dark, and brooding male character. Only for it to turn out that her betrothed wasn’t actually a bad guy, but she might like the second guy, so…” he twisted his hand, laying the back of it on his forehead as he pretended to swoon. “She’s conflicted.”
Unable to keep from smiling, Gabriel asked, “What’s the difference between the two male characters?”
“Chest hair, mostly.”
Shaking his head, Gabriel took Blake’s bag. “Chest hair: good or bad?”
Blake’s eyes dropped to Gabriel’s chest. “Good. Very good.”
They walked past the cooling embers of last night’s fire. Judd had put it out—no one asked how, they were afraid of the answer—and were gathering beside the helicopter. Tommy and Victoria were still going over things, their cheeks grease-smudged and eyes red-rimmed from being open too long.
Phin caught Gabriel’s eye and pointedly looked at the marks on Blake’s neck. He raised a brow. Gabriel flipped him off.
“We won’t be able to fly it far,” Victoria said, her brows drawn. “The fuel you found will get us to DC, but not much more.”
“That’s all we need.” Gabriel used his commander’s voice. “The plan was always to fly it from here, anyway. It’s closer. Onthe day of we’ll truck the team here. You can fly them to DC, then set her down somewhere safe.”
Victoria nodded, chewing on her lip. “It won’t be a comfortable ride.”
“We just need success.”
Alarmingly, that was the easy part of the plan. The most difficult part was getting the helicopteroutof the museum.
While the Huey was still airworthy, it had been a long time since it had taken to the skies. The museum might have had specialized equipment for moving the big exhibits, but they were almost certainly inaccessible to them now. The helicopter weighed five thousand pounds, way too much for them to move on their own.
“Why don’t we just back the truck in, hook it up with chains, and haul the bitch out?” Judd asked, crossing his arms as he looked at the helicopter’s landing gear.
“No way. Even if the truck could pull it, we’d rip the landing gear off. Probably ruin the tail boom, while we’re at it.” Tommy was adamant. “I did not spend all this time agonizing how to get this thing to fly for you to destroy it because you think you can just muscle your way out of everything.”
Judd held up his hands. “I’m just saying. It’s not that far. Concrete is slick. Could work.”
“The concrete could be an ice-skating rink. It doesn’t changegravity!”
“I could fly it out.” Victoria’s voice was calm; it cut through Judd and Tommy’s bickering. They stopped to stare at her.
She turned her cool gaze to Gabriel. “It’s not as if we have to worry about the wash destroying the hangar—doesn’t matter. This is a one-way trip. Fumes will be a problem, but it’s only a hundred yards or so.”
Gabriel eyed the industrial-sized roller door at the end of the museum. Itwasa repurposed airplane hangar. The doors were plenty big enough.
“It’ll be tight,” he thought aloud.
She pressed her lips together. “I’ve done it before.”
Of course, she had. Gabriel couldn’t forget watching her zip a billion-dollar plane through the streets of DC. Not to mention the split second she had to get into the faltering shield. There was no question she could do it.
“All right, Lieutenant.”
After further discussion, they agreed to wait until the day of the mission to take the helicopter out. They had no idea if the aliens were watching the skies or if they would notice a military craft suddenly appearing. It seemed safer to leave it where it was.
They did move all the vehicles and larger exhibits out of the way. Most of them had enough gas to move to the other side of the hangar. The older vehicles worked, too. Shielded from the EMP by antiquity and concrete.