The plane landed on the jetway in a not-so-gentle manner, but Fletcher didn’t even flinch. He got used to flying while at training, though the landings were something he didn’t experience too often considering he normally jumped out of the airplanes.

  The others on his row were quick to stand up and get their luggage, but Fletcher took his time with such things. He had nowhere to be and no one who expected him. His being back in Finnack was hopefully going to be a giant surprise—ideally a better one than when he went back to Alcett early for Christmas only to discover his dad had nearly been murdered.

  Bag in hand, Fletcher stood at the tail end of the line to exit. It was a durable duffle with the name “F. Dixon” on it, just like what all the other soldiers carried. He was one of them, indistinguishable even since he wore the uniform of an active duty private, not a recruit.

  As he stepped off the plane and into the afternoon sun, he squinted at the lush greenery of the mountain. Woodell was located in a desert, so he kind of forgot about luxuries like trees. Summer was in full swing, but the heat was nothing compared to where he’d come from. Keeping his bag on his shoulder, he walked through the busy airport and located the desk specifically designated for newly assigned military.

  “Fletcher Dixon. I’m here at Finnack until I leave for officer training.” Fletcher slid his ID card to the clerk.

  She scanned it, typed on her computer, and then printed out a couple of pages for him. “Here’s your room assignment, Private, alongside a map of the facility. You’ll have an interview to confirm your readiness for officer training, but other than that you’re free to enjoy this as a vacation.”

  “Thank you.” He took the documents—paper was cheaper to produce than technology and the electricity to power it. The first place he went was to his new quarters, a private bedroom that would barely pass for a closet. It had a wardrobe and a bed, nothing more. It was probably even smaller than his cell from when he was in solitary confinement.

  Smiling, Fletcher tossed his bag on the bed, grateful that he at least got his own room. He cleaned up a bit after the eleven hour flight, but since he’d slept quite a bit on the plane, he had plenty of energy to do something.

  Only he didn’t know what.

  He supposed he could go work out, but he also wanted to talk to someone. He already missed his friends from the Hotshots.

  But he had friends here. Kind of. Addy was always chipper, but he didn’t really want to see Jeric, and given they were dating, it was hard to see one without the other.

  He definitely didn’t have it in him to visit his dad and listen to his father complain about his decision to not invite anyone to graduation. Plus he was miffed at Sebastian for the whole letter situation. Surely his dad could have done something about that. He managed to pull off a visit to Fletcher while he was in solitary confinement, but he couldn’t find a way to send a single letter to him over the course of twelve weeks? Fletcher didn’t believe that for a second.

  Obviously Hazel was a no-go. If he had it his way, he wouldn’t see his mother again until after officer training, or maybe even ever.

  That left Nora…

  Sure. Why not? They left things off a little rough with the whole training fiasco, but she’d been reasonable enough the days following it that he thought it was safe to pay her a visit. Besides, she went through the Hotshot program when she first joined, so now they had something in common, something they could actually talk about that wasn’t just her teasing him.

  Not that he knew where to find her, but he could figure it out. Probably. Fletcher left his room behind, but brought the map with him. His dad had taken him to visit Nora at her office once while he was recovering from his bullet wound, so he had a vague idea of where to go. From there, he could ask for directions or just wander until he stumbled upon it again. It wasn’t like he was in a hurry.

  As Fletcher walked through Finnack, he noticed something strange. He felt… comfortable traversing these hallways, and he even nodded to other soldiers in the hallway. It was a stark change from what he felt when he originally stayed at the base, but he also was a soldier now, and that gave him purpose. He was part of the Mixed now, for real.

  He did end up asking for directions to see Captain Anders, but the soldier scoffed as she pointed the way, her eyes hinting that she thought Fletcher was way out of his depth.

  Thanking her, he set off on his course and arrived at Nora's door. He rang the doorbell and waited for her to answer. She did not sound happy, but he’d come this far.

  As the door slid open, Fletcher stepped inside to see his older sister bent over a desk, scribbling furiously on a piece of paper.

  She briefly glanced up and huffed. “Whatever this is, Private, make it quick.”

  “Oh come on. Like your time is so valuable,” he responded, a grin on his face.

  “Excuse you?” She glared up at him with her hazel eyes, but it took a moment for her to recognize him. It didn’t help that the buzzcut was far from growing back out. “Oh. My. Deities. Fletcher.”

  “Hey, Nora. How are you?” he asked.

  “I can’t believe this. It’s not supposed to be possible. You got kicked out of the Hotshots… There’s no way you can dig yourself out of this hole, kid.”

  He rolled his eyes and gestured to his uniform. “Clearly, I did not get kicked out. I graduated yesterday. I’m back for a couple of weeks before I leave for my next posting.”

  “No way. No way your platoon only took twelve weeks. I had money on you being out there for four months.” Nora leaned back in her chair.

  “Maybe I’m not as hopeless as you thought. I didn’t even rank last in my class,” he told her.

  “Second to last isn’t anything to brag home about.”

  “Ha. Ha. I was twelfth in the final standings.”

  Nora raised her eyebrows. “That’s better than I expected. Of course, I was third, but it’s not a competition.”

  “We can make it one,” he offered.

  She motioned him over. “Come here. Let me get a good look at you.”

  He stepped closer and held his arms out, doing a small spin.

  Nora stood up and grabbed his arm, putting his arm into a standard flexing position as she felt his bicep.

  “Not bad, Fletcher. At least you gained a little muscle if nothing else,” she said.

  “I’d like to believe I did more over the past twelve weeks than get buffer,” he argued.

  “Want to put that to the test?”

  “Yes. Please. Give me a chance to redeem myself,” he said.

  “You’re on. Meet me at the training room in half an hour. I have to finish something and get changed,” she said, sitting back down.

  “Will do.” Fletcher started for the door but then paused. “Uh, Nora. Can you do me a favor?”

  “It’s Captain, Private,” she said with a teasing voice.

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  He grinned at her. “Ah, right. Oh, dear awe-inspiring Captain Anders, can you please perform one simple task for me despite the lowliness of my rank? Ma’am?”

  “What is it?”

  “Don’t tell Mom or Dad I’m back. I’ll do that. Eventually…”

  Nora glanced at him with surprise on her face. “They don’t know? What about Addy and Jeric?”

  Fletcher shook his head. “Nope. Just you.”

  “You mean to tell me that you snuck back into this base, without sending any kind of word about your graduation to anyone, and the very first person you came to see was me?”

  “Don’t let it go to your head,” he warned her.

  “No. No. Let me have this.” She held a finger up. “If I tally everything correctly, that means that I’m currently Mom’s, Dad’s, and your favorite person in the family. That’s a full sweep. I deserve a medal or several for that accomplishment.”

  “Whoa. Wait a second. I’m definitely Dad’s favorite.”

  “Not since you went radio silent at training and ignored all his letters,” Nora replied with a smile. “But stop stalling. I’m still going to kick your butt you know.”

  “We’ll see about that.” Fletcher pressed the button to open the door. “See you in a few.”

  “Bye, Fletch.”

  There was no winning the battle over the nickname, and he’d given up trying at this point.

  He returned to his room, changed into some work out clothes, and then, using his handy-dandy map—something he wished he had three months ago when he first stayed at Finnack—Fletcher easily found his way to the training room he knew his sister favored. He went ahead and stretched out while he waited for her.

  It wasn’t long until the door opened and Nora stepped in.

  “Let’s do this thing. Only don’t go crying to Mom when I trash you,” she said, sliding her shoes off.

  “I’m not going to be the one crying this time.” He stepped onto the mat.

  “Oh, yeah. Training was definitely good for you. You finally grew a sense of humor.” Nora positioned herself in front of him. “Ready?”

  “Ready.”

  Nora dove forward, and Fletcher stepped to the side, but it was a feint, and she threw a kick out which caught him in the stomach. Dismissing the brief moment of pain, Fletcher punched towards her face with his right hand while his left hand jabbed towards her stomach.

  She danced backwards to avoid the hits, and Fletcher capitalized on the opportunity to chase after her, keeping her on the defensive. He struck out towards her shoulder, but as she moved to dodge it, he used his leg to side sweep her feet.

  Nora jumped, easily avoiding his attacks. Deities, she was fast. Even fresh off his training, it was obvious his sister still outclassed him in fighting. But he was doing better at keeping up with her, and that’s all he really wanted to see.

  Now Nora went on the offensive, sending quick strikes out to Fletcher. He ducked and dodged around them, but a few still managed to land home. Recognizing how far below her he still was, Fletcher decided to try something different and stop playing it smart. Nora had better instincts and years of experience on him. He would never be able to beat her in a classic spar.

  He feigned like he was going to attempt to tackle her to the ground, but as she went to defend, he instead backed up and jogged away from her.

  “Chicken,” she called out. “You don’t get to run away in a fight.”

  Fletcher kept running anyway, not a full sprint, but just enough to get Nora to chase after him shouting insults. After a minute or so, he slowed even further, and she took her chance to dash towards him.

  Spinning around, Fletcher suddenly dove at his sister and tackled her to the ground. From there he was able to use his superior strength to pin her arms to her sides.

  “Ha. I win,” he declared.

  Her knee found its way to his stomach, and he choked out his next breath. In that moment, she wiggled free of his grasp and tossed him onto his back, planting her foot on his chest.

  “No. I win. Nice try, but not good enough, buddy. Not even close.”

  He chuckled, regaining full control of his lungs.

  Nora helped him to his feet and clapped his back. “Let me start off by saying you still suck. Big time.”

  “Thanks. That’s really inspiring,” he said.

  “But,” she continued. “You suck a whole lot less than before, and that’s something. Maybe, maybe there’s the tiniest glimmer of hope you might someday be able to compete with the real fighters.”

  “You forget that you’re older than me. I just have to wait you out,” he pointed out.

  “You’re kidding yourself if you think you’d ever stand a chance against me. Maybe Addy though. She’s not all that proficient in hand-to-hand.” Nora stretched her arms. “Ah, that was nice, but I actually have a job to do, unlike a loser like you.”

  “I ship out again in two weeks. Let me enjoy my time off,” he protested.

  “Where are you going?” she asked. “I’m assuming some place very far away from the fighting.”

  “Very, very far,” he confirmed. He then quickly changed the topic. He was actually enjoying being with Nora for the first time he could remember, and he didn’t want to ruin that by bringing up officer training. Her teasing would be unbearable. “You got any plans tonight? We should have dinner if you’re free.”

  Nora grinned. “Even better. We’re going out tonight. It’s karaoke night at Griff’s, and Addy promised to sing ‘Single Ladies’ with me.”

  “Oh. Another time then,” he said, a little deflated.

  “Deities, are you deaf? I said we. You included, bozo.” She shook her head with a chuckle.

  Fletcher hesitated. “Well, I’m not really a drinker.”

  “Not yet,” Nora assured him. “Give it a year or so stuck in these bunkers they call bases.”

  He laughed. “Okay. Yeah. Sure. It sounds fun.” At least it was something to do, and he was actually enjoying being with his sister. He grabbed his water bottle from the floor.

  “Great. After this we should stop by Jeric’s and Addy’s to see if he has anything you can borrow that isn’t Mixed issued. You’ll never get laid wearing that.”

  He nearly spit out the bit of water he’d dared to sip at that moment, and Nora laughed as he coughed up the few droplets which went down the wrong tube.

  “I… But…”

  She laughed harder. “Don’t worry about it. He’ll be fine with it. I’ll stop by your room tonight and then we can go.”

  “Okay,” Fletcher said, still unconvinced.

  She waved and walked away. Instead of returning to his tiny bedroom, Fletcher opted to go out to the park and walk around. He wanted to enjoy the nice weather and greenery—though all the plants were more yellow due to Finnack being on the Mythian half of the planet.

  Hours later he returned to his apartment, and exactly on time, Nora showed up to drag him to Jeric’s and Addy’s apartment.

  The apartment was along the lines of a studio, complete with a tiny kitchen and small sitting area—though all of it less nice than his father’s quarters. It was tastefully decorated, much of it clearly Addy’s doing.

  Jeric was nowhere to be seen, but Addy was there, and she happily dug through her boyfriend’s clothes to find a few options for Fletcher. She didn’t make a single comment about his surprise return, focused on selecting a good outfit. He disliked the idea of borrowing Jeric’s clothes without his permission—or even doing it at all—but Nora and Addy didn’t give him any other choice.

  He changed into the provided form fitting black jeans and a short sleeve button up in the quarter’s private bathroom and then endured Nora messing with what little hair he had to get it “just right.” She and Addy then went to work on their own outfits, leaving Fletcher to sit on the lone couch and stare at the wall.

  Jeric showed up while they were getting ready, and he offered a simple grunt in greeting.

  “Hey, Jeric,” Fletcher said, one hand tapping on the arm of the couch. This was a horrible idea. He didn’t want to do this.

  “Fletcher. Nice shirt.” His friend glanced at him accusingly.

  “Take it up with Nora and Addy. It was their idea.”

  Jeric shook his head and went to the closet. He changed clothes, completely unbothered by Fletcher’s presence, and once he finished, he sat on the other side of the couch.

  Fletcher thought about starting up a conversation, but he couldn’t think of anything to ask, and Jeric’s general demeanor was pretty unwelcoming. Luckily he didn’t have to endure the awkwardness long as Addy and Nora finished soon after.

  Addy greeted Jeric with a long kiss and lots of touching while Nora made a gagging noise from near the door. She smiled at Fletcher and motioned him over.

  Once he got there, she wrapped one arm around his shoulders. “I feel like we got off on the wrong foot, Fletch. Let’s fix that tonight.”

  “Uh huh. What did you have in mind?”

  “Out drink me tonight, and I’ll forgive you for not knowing who I was.”

  He laughed. “I don’t think that’s going to happen. I told you, I’m not a drinker.”

  “You have Anders blood in you. I think you’ll be surprised.” She patted his back and looked back at the couple. “Alright. Enough kissing. Let’s get this show on the road.”