Chapter Text
Skipper’s eyes were filled with tears of disbelief as he stood outside the remains of what was once his home. The young veteran didn’t know what to do: everything was gone. Well, almost everything. The most cherished thing he held close to his heart was in his stomach.
In fact, getting pregnant was the reason Skipper was honorably discharged but the Corsair couldn’t blame his baby. He was even given a choice: get an abortion or get discharged. And guess what his choice was?
Skipper was surprised to find that he was discharged with honor instead of dishonor but he never questioned it.
His mind going back to the present, Skipper needed to get out of the cool autumn air and someplace warm. He didn’t have any friends around so he would have to find a place to stay until his insurance money came in and he could find another house.
With that in mind, Skipper changed into his plane form and took off.
He wasn’t in the air for long when he saw a hotel. Knowing that the building was a great place to rest, Skipper headed for the hotel’s main entrance.
When he landed, he changed back into his human form and went inside the office. Once inside, the Corsair walked towards the receptionist, who smiled.
“Hello and welcome to the Grand Starlight hotel. My name is Sheila. How can I help you today?”
Skipper returned the smile, “Hello Sheila. I’m Skipper and I’d like to get a room, please.”
“Certainly. And how many days would you be staying?”
“Three.”
Skipper then handed her his debit card. The woman gently took the card and went to put its information in the computer. After a few moments, Sheila looked confused.
“Sir, my computer is declining your card. Do you have another one?”
Confusion hit Skipper as he said, “No, that’s my only card and there should be money on it.”
The air was filled with the woman tapping away again on the computer and a few moments later-
“I’m sorry, sir. It’s still declining your card.”
Reaching over, Skipper gently took the card from Sheila as she handed it back to him. Skipper then walked over to the lobby area and pulled out his cell and called his bank.
After a few moments, “”Hello, this is Skipper Riley and there seems to be a problem with my account. Of course-”
Skipper gave the operator his account information. A few moments later, “What? That’s impossible! I had a bit over $20,000-wait, why was it closed? There shouldn’t be a reason why…I needed that money! I’m homeless at the moment and-it’s not your problem?”
Taking a deep breath, Skipper’s voice was low as he whispered, “This is not over. When I find out why my account was closed without a good reason, you will be in very big trouble.”
Even though he wanted to throw his phone at the wall, Skipper remembered that he was in a hotel. Without a word, he went to walk out the door when-
“Mr. Riley?”
Turning around, Skipper saw Sheila walking over to him-
“I know it’s none of my business but you said that you don’t have a home?”
“Yes. it burned down earlier and- I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to cause any trouble.”
Before Sheila could say anything else, the Jolly Wrench walked out of the office, turned into his alt form and flew off.
Skipper didn’t know what to do. All of his money was gone as the bank had closed it and took everything he had in his account. There was no error, no glitch and all they had to say was that it wasn’t their problem. The Corsair was seething but he had to calm down as flying when stressed was a really bad thing. He needed to find a way to get his money back. But in the meantime, he needed to find a place to stay and find some food for himself.
For four days, Skipper had looked around his town for homeless shelters but they were all full and couldn’t take anyone in. Sighing, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone.
Sparky was cleaning up his living quarters when his phone rang. Seeing who it was, he hit ‘Answer’, “Hiya, Skip. How are you? Oh, shit-are you okay? Thank Chrysler. Oh no-did they say why? Damn, I’m sorry. Uh, actually I don’t. I sold my house here a few months ago and I’m still on the Flysenhower. I’m really sorry, Skip, but I can’t help you -”
After a moment, there was a click and Sparky asked, “Skipper? Hello? Skipper, are you there?”
But he was only answered by silence.
When Sparky had said that he didn’t want to help the Corsair, Skipper just hung up.
Putting his phone in his pocket, Skipper sighed, changed into his alt form and took off.
After a few hours, Skipper’s fuel tank was completely empty and he was running on vapors. He still hadn’t been able to find a place to stay and with the bank closing his account and taking the money with it, Skipper was close to giving up. Knowing that it was safer to do more thinking on the ground, Skipper looked for a runway or a clearing when he saw that he was approaching a forest-
“There’s bound to be a cabin or two in the forest-”
After landing and changing into his human form, his stomach let out the biggest growl he had ever heard. Chuckling, the Corsair laid a gentle hand on his stomach, “I know, I know. You’re starving. So am I. Let's see what I can find.”
After half an hour, Skipper found some berries. Knowing that they were safe to eat, he kept himself from shoving a whole handful into his mouth as he chewed a few of them at a time. Even though the berries did manage to take the edge off of his hunger, he needed more food as the berries weren’t going to sustain him.
As Skipper walked farther into the forest, he found a cabin. The Navy vet walked as fast as he could to the small building. When he approached the door, he knocked. After a few moments of silence, Skipper knocked again. Getting no answer, the Corsair tried the door knob, it was turning freely. Opening the door slowly, Skipper walked in, “Hello? Is anyone there?”
The cabin was silent as Skipper walked in. The building looked like it had been lived in recently but there was no one around at the moment. Deciding to let some fresh air into the cabin, the Jolly Wrench opened the windows. When he was done, the Corsair went over to the fridge and saw that it was full of food. He then walked over to the cabinets and they were full of food as well.
‘Decisions, decisions.’
After going through everything, Skipper decided on having a sandwich. Pulling out everything that he needed, the Jolly Wrench made himself a ham sandwich and grabbed some juice. Putting everything away, Skipper then sat down at the kitchen table and started to eat. The sandwich didn’t last 5 bites.
When he was finished, Skipper patted his satisfied stomach.
That was when he remembered about his payments. Skipper didn’t know who to call so he decided to call the Captain of the Flysenhower.
Michael was reading a book when his phone started ringing. Picking it up, he had a big smile on his face as he answered, “Hello, Skipper. How are you? What? Oh Chrysler! Are you okay? Thank goodness. Why would they- I see. Yes, I can see if they’ll stop depositing your checks into the closed account though it might be awhile. Do you have shelter? That’s good. Let me see what I can do. You’re very welcome, Skipper. It was very good to hear your voice although I wish it was under different circumstances. Yes, I’ll call you back when I can. You take it easy now and take care of your baby as well. You as well, Skipper. Goodbye.”
With that Michael hung up and sighed, “Maybe it was a mistake not keeping Skipper on the Flysenhower. No, it WAS definitely a mistake not keeping Skipper on the Flysenhower. There ain’t no ‘maybe’ about it.”
Checking his watch, the Captain saw that it was too late to contact his superiors and ask about Skipper’s checks. He would do that the next morning.
Sighing softly, Michael’s mind started thinking about everything Skipper had told him.
Meanwhile, Skipper couldn’t keep his eyes open. He was so exhausted as he hadn’t slept in a few days that he thought that he would just pass out on the floor but he couldn’t leave the dishes laying out.
After bringing his dirty plate, glass and utensils that he had used to make the sandwich in the sink, Skipper turned the water on and added the soap. When the sink had a few inches of water in it, Skipper went to work and cleaned the dishes. When he was done, he rinsed them off and put them on a dish drainer. Unplugging the sink, Skipper then rinsed the soap suds down the drain. After making sure the sink and sponge were clean, Skipper walked over to the bed and pulled the bedding down. Turning around, the Corsair then sat down to take off his socks and shoes. Swinging his legs up under the sheets, the Corsair laid his head down and was out seconds later.
Cabbie was excited. He and the rest of the team got to go on 3 month’s vacation. Knowing that his plane form needed some room (okay, ALOT of room) to maneuver through the forest, he decided to walk.
When he approached his cabin, he saw that the windows were open.
“I know I closed the windows….wait-”
It was that moment Cabbie had remembered that he had forgotten to lock the door. Cursing himself silently, Cabbie unholstered his gun and quietly walked towards the door. After trying the doorknob, the Flying Boxcar saw that it was turning freely. Turning it all the way to the right, Cabbie quietly pushed the door open with his foot. After seeing no one at the moment, he pushed the door all the way open.
When he went in, he happened to turn his head towards the bed and saw a young man in his early twenties sound asleep. Walking over to the man, Cabbie kept the gun trained on the intruder and ordered the man to wake up.
Skipper had just barely gone to sleep when he heard, “Wake up!”
Sleepy blues eyes opened and Skipper’s vision was blurry so he blinked a couple of times to clear it. When he did, he saw a man with a gun aimed right at him.
“Why the fuck are you in my cabin?”
Before Skipper could answer, he saw something familiar about the man and asked cautiously, “Cabbie?”
“That’s my name but you haven’t answered my question.”
Not bothering to answer Cabbie’s question, Skipper replied, “It’s me, Skipper.”
Steel-blue eyes widened in surprise as he instantly lowered his gun, “Skipper?!”