Here it is, y’all! A little reunion scene between the scrumptious Maguire brothers. Enjoy!<\/p>\n
*The following has not been professionally edited, so please ignore the grammar and typos. It\u2019s just for fun, folks \ud83d\ude42<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know why you were so worried.\u201d Adam Maguire downed the last swig of his beer. \u201cI\u2019ve got this flying thing down pat.\u201d<\/p>\n His gorgeous fianc\u00e9e, Nicolette, nodded with a smile. \u201cI wasn\u2019t worried about you. Do you want another one? We have time.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAre you trying to get me drunk, woman? I thought that was frowned upon before boarding a flight?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not trying to get you drunk.\u201d She laughed and tossed her long, dark hair over her shoulder. The streak of pink in her brown locks turned orange in the fluorescent airport lighting. \u201cBut a little liquor to take the edge off doesn\u2019t hurt.\u201d<\/p>\n A little liquor? Maybe not. But liquor combined with whatever pill she slipped into his drink when she thought he wasn\u2019t looking might begin to take their toll.<\/p>\n It was a well-known fact amongst his friends and family just how much he hated to fly. He was a simple man who worked with animals. A bagillion-ton machine that defied gravity boggled his mind and wasn\u2019t something he quite yet trusted.<\/p>\n Of course, a head doctor would probably pinpoint his hatred for air travel to the death of his brother Scott who had been shot down in a military drill over the Bering Strait.\u00a0\u00a0And if he were honest with himself, that was the exact reason why he had avoided flying.<\/p>\n But being a guy with no aspirations to travel the world, he didn\u2019t think he\u2019d ever have to face that fear, until he fell in love with a girl who had wanderlust in her boots. For the love of his Nic, he swallowed that ball of terror and held it in his gut even though it was excruciating.<\/p>\n Earlier in the week when they were about to head out on the first leg of their trip to New York, he had been half-afraid he was gonna sweat through his shirt and melt to the floor, then she suggested they stop for a drink at one of the bars in the terminal. Much to his surprise, the bottle of beer calmed his nerves. In fact, that one beer had made him so relaxed, when they were strapped in their seats and that big jet plane had rumbled down the tarmac, he hadn\u2019t even batted an eye.<\/p>\n This time around he spotted Nic slip something into his beer. The burly man-side of him wanted to call her out, but the terrified Adam deep down inside won out and he didn\u2019t say a word, grateful for anything that helped calm his nerves.<\/p>\n At the thought of drinking more liquid, he felt a pinch in his bladder. He glanced around, searching for a clock. \u201cWhen is our flight again?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe board in about an hour,\u201d Nic replied, looking at the display on her phone. \u201cI forgot about the time zone changes for this connecting flight. This layover feels like it\u2019s taking forever.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m gonna search for a restroom and stretch my legs a bit. I\u2019ll be right back.\u201d He dropped a kiss to her lips that quickly turned into a series of little kisses. \u201cBoy, I love you.\u201d<\/p>\n Usually, Nic looked at the world with a sardonic light in her eyes, but at his words, her gaze softened in that dreamy way they did only for him. \u201cI love you, too.\u201d<\/p>\n With one last kiss, he headed off to the little cowboy\u2019s room and did his business. On his way back, he took his time moseying around the terminal of the Dallas Fort Worth Airport.<\/p>\n Not having traveled much outside of little Mission, Washington, he had never realized how diverse the community was inside an international airport. The different accents, the clothes, how modern styles meshed with western classics.<\/p>\n And New York, man, New York had blown his mind. Nic took him everywhere, museums, bookstores, a Broadway play, and Central Park. And the food! He had eaten so much, he had to loosen his belt to the next notch. But after touring all of what The Big Apple had to offer, his skin was itching from mingling in the masses for so long and he longed for the wide-open spaces of home.<\/p>\n He came upon a cluster of chairs and spotted a beautiful redhead flipping pages through the pages of a magazine that rested on her lap. The burnished copper of her hair reminded him of his friend Faith, and the touch of homesickness he\u2019d been feeling the last couple days multiplied. Man, he couldn\u2019t wait to step foot back onto the Sprawling A Ranch.<\/p>\n Across from the women sat a big, beefy biker dude, complete with scruffy beard and leather vest. Tattoos covered his bare arms, and his massive biceps stretched the short sleeves of his gray T-shirt. The man laughed at something he heard on his cellphone and shook his shaggy dark hair as Adam heard him mutter, \u201cGeez. What a dumbass.\u201d<\/p>\n The husky rumble went right to Adam\u2019s ears and down to his boots, stopping him in his tracks. He glanced back over his shoulder at the biker and frowned. Maybe it was from being so homesick, or maybe it was because he was surrounded by airplanes, but Adam had heard his brother Scott call him and his siblings dumbass enough times to recognize the inflection.<\/p>\n Adam squinted, taking in the appearance of the giant man filling the tiny airport chair. While most of the Maguire sons took after their father with blonde hair and fair-skin, Scott had taken after their mother with an olive complexion and a full head of thick dark locks. Staring at the man\u2019s profile, Adam could\u2019ve sworn the man had the same nose as their mother.<\/p>\n It couldn\u2019t be. His brother died on a mission. Him and his entire crew.<\/p>\n Didn\u2019t he?<\/p>\n Scott\u2019s body had never been recovered. And for years, their mother had carried on the hope that he was alive somewhere. Could this man be his brother?<\/p>\n While Adam stood there, staring transfixed as his brain tried to process the possibilities, the stranger stood and stretched his arms over his head. He tucked his phone into his back pocket then started to stride in the direction of the restroom.<\/p>\n Adam jolted into action and followed. As the man ambled along, Adam noticed his gait and how he walked with his knees slightly turned out, as if he\u2019d grown up riding horses his entire life.<\/p>\n Coming to within a few feet of the muscular man, Adam stuttered, \u201cScott? Scott Maguire.\u201d<\/p>\n The man drew up short. After a few heartbeats, he cautiously looked over his shoulder. \u201cAre you talking to me, kid?\u201d he asked in a voice as smooth as broken glass.<\/p>\n His breath stuck in his throat, barely allowing him to eek out, \u201cScott. Is that you?\u201d<\/p>\n The man\u2019s lips drew into a straight line. \u201cSorry, kid. Got me confused with someone else.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWait. Wait.\u201d Adam chased after him and ran around his big body, blocking his way.<\/p>\n Holy shit. Up close, this man was a fucking mountain.<\/p>\n Adam looked up, up, up and practically swallowed his tongue as he looked on the face of his long-lost brother.<\/p>\n Whoa. Whatever shit had gone down over the past several years had certainly taken a toll on Scott. Scars crisscrossed his stubbled jaw and forehead, and his nose was more crooked than Adam remembered. There were a series of fine lines around his eyes and valleys of strain around his tightly pursed lips. But there was no mistaking those dark eyebrows and that stark blue gaze that swirled with a pain that cut Adam to the quick.<\/p>\n \u201cScott?\u201d he asked, still in disbelief.<\/p>\n \u201cLook, kid. I don\u2019t know who you think I am. But I ain\u2019t him.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cCut the shit, Scott. Where have you been?\u201d<\/p>\n Scott grimaced and shook his head. \u201cYou\u2019re really starting to annoy me, kid. I get told I look like people all the time. I get it. Anyone over 6\u20193\u201d with big shoulders, we all look the same.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe all thought you were dead.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m gonna tell you this one more time.\u201d Violence glittered in his eyes and his nostrils flared. His voice lowered to a menacing growl. \u201cYou don\u2019t know me, and I don\u2019t know you. If you know what\u2019s good for you, you\u2019ll leave me alone.\u201d<\/p>\n He moved to step past Adam, ramming his shoulder in a not-so-subtle hint to back away with enough force to make Adam stumble backward.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t understand,\u201d Adam muttered as he watched the stranger with the familiar gait walk away.<\/p>\n He had to be Scott. Didn\u2019t he?<\/p>\n Maybe this stranger was right, and it was a just case of mistaken identity. Perhaps Adam was so homesick that he was finding his dead brother in the faces of strangers? Or maybe Nic had slipped too much of whatever she had used to calm his nerves and now he was hallucinating? All sound possibilities, and all left a hole burning in his chest.<\/p>\n For years, he had grieved the loss of his brother like any young man did. Wistful remembrances whenever he\u2019d stumble across anything that his big brother would have enjoyed or said. But those moments had come fewer and far between. Thinking about Scott had gone from a few times a day to maybe once a month, if that.<\/p>\n It wasn\u2019t until that moment, when there had been the possibility of having his big brother back, that Adam realized how much he had missed the one Maguire son who never treated him as if he were a nuisance. Scott had been the quiet one in the family, the artist in the herd of ranchers. Every year on Adam\u2019s birthday, Scott would draw him a cartoon and post it to his bedroom door. The older Adam got, the racier the cartoons became.<\/p>\n Scott had shipped off to the Marines when Adam was sixteen, and practically fell off the face of the earth when he joined Elite Ops. When he died, the family was devastated, their mother most especially. But even as she mourned, she never gave up hope that somehow someway her son survived the crash. As years passed, they all had come to terms that Scott was never coming back.<\/p>\n Apparently, that hope had rubbed off on her son as he now stood in the middle of a crowded airport terminal staring at the toes of his boots as his eyes filled with tears. God, he was such a fool, and a big baby, blubbering over his brother as the agony of his loss tore him asunder as if he had just been told the news for the first time.<\/p>\n There was a click of footsteps on the linoleum then another pair of cowboy boots entered his line of sight.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s your name, kid?\u201d asked the deep, growly voice.<\/p>\n The stranger had returned.<\/p>\n \u201cAdam,\u201d he mumbled, not even bothering to stop his sniffle. The pain was too raw.<\/p>\n \u201cAdam. This Scott guy that you think I am, he was special to you?\u201d<\/p>\n Adam nodded, unable to get the words to form on his tongue.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat happened to him?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDied,\u201d he mumbled. \u201cMilitary. Elite Ops. Was killed on a mission.\u201d<\/p>\n The man hummed and from under his lashes, Adam he saw him fold his arms across his broad chest. \u201cAnd you miss him.\u201d<\/p>\n It wasn\u2019t a question, but Adam answered anyway. \u201cSomething fierce.\u201d<\/p>\n The man rubbed his hand over his jaw and folded his arms again. \u201cThat\u2019s tough. I was military, too. Came from a big family. I understand how hard it is to go out on missions that you can\u2019t tell anyone about and you don\u2019t know if you\u2019ll ever return from.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam blinked and looked up at the man as the cadence of his voice became almost hypnotic. \u201cYeah?\u201d<\/p>\n He nodded. \u201cWhen you sign your soul to Uncle Sam, you\u2019re expected to do things. Lots of things. Terrible things. But you do the hard jobs because you know that in the end, you\u2019re protecting the people you love.\u201d He paused to clear his throat. \u201cYou know, I was, uh, in Elite Ops myself. I saw and did a lot of nasty shit. But if your brother loved his family as passionately as I do mine, he wouldn\u2019t hesitate to do anything to protect them.\u201d The blue of his eyes shimmered as they narrowed with intent. \u201cIf\u00a0he<\/em>\u00a0were\u00a0me<\/em>, he\u2019d do anything,\u00a0sacrifice everything<\/em>\u00a0to keep them safe. Even if it meant losing them forever.\u201d<\/p>\n He were me. Sacrifice everything.<\/p>\n Those words penetrated the fog of confusion and disbelief that had held him moments before and the truth began to emerge. Elite Ops had been the best of the best Marines. They did the jobs no one wanted and no one was supposed to know about.<\/p>\n \u201cSacrifice.\u201d Adam managed to say, half-afraid to hope again. \u201cTo protect the family. You think my brother would do that?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFor the love of his family. I bet my very soul on it.\u201d<\/p>\n Holy shit. It was Scott. A battled-hardened version of his older brother was standing before him with sorrow and regret shining in his eyes.<\/p>\n Adam had no clue how long stared at his long-lost brother. It was only when the cold air from the air conditioner hit the hot line of tears rolling down his cheeks did he blink and wipe at the wetness with the sleeve of his shirt.<\/p>\n \u201cThat would-\u201d He coughed \u201c-that would suck. To be asked to do that. But I would understand the choices he made, and what happened, if he felt the family was in danger.\u201d<\/p>\n Scott nodded and blinked away his own tears as his shoulders slumped as if relieved of a great weight. \u201cGood. I hope you\u2019d understand.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDo you think I\u2019ll ever find out more details about how he died?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d He shrugged. \u201cThe military is an interesting beast. For the foreseeable future, probably not.\u201d The corner of his mouth kicked up into a grin. \u201cBut who knows what the future holds.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYeah?\u201d Adam let out a slow breath. \u201cI hope so. I miss him. A lot.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell, if I had a brother like you, I\u2019d miss you, too.\u201d<\/p>\n Over the loudspeaker a woman\u2019s voice announced. \u201cWe are now boarding for flight 509. Non-stop to New York. All first-class passengers and those needing assistance are welcome to board now.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell, that\u2019s my flight.\u201d Scott held out his hand. \u201cIt was good to meet you, Adam.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam latched on to the offered hand and squeezed tight relishing the warmth and solidity of his brother\u2019s touch. \u201cGood to meet you too, sir.\u201d<\/p>\n Scott chuckled and pulled away, although it appeared as if he did so reluctantly as he stared at their hands until their finger parted. \u201cGood luck to you.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThanks. Hey, I just got engaged. She\u2019s a hell of a woman. Gorgeous, smart. And bakes the best cheesecakes.\u201d<\/p>\n Scott blinked in surprise. \u201cWhoa. Congratulations. Don\u2019t you think you\u2019re a little young?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSpoken like a true big brother.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHa ha.\u201d Scott clapped him on the back. \u201cSee you around, kid.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam stood in the middle of the terminal and watched his brother amble away. It took everything within him not to follow and ask a million and one questions about what it was that had taken him away from his family and why they had been told he had died. But he quickly reconciled himself to the fact that whatever had happened, Scott was doing what he felt was right.<\/p>\n Oh, shit. Nic. She probably thought he passed out somewhere or had gotten lost.<\/p>\n He turned to go find his girl when a voice called out, \u201cAdam.\u201d<\/p>\n Just as he turned, he saw Scott standing behind him with his finger and thumb looped to form a circle. Before Adam could react, Scott punched him hard in the arm.<\/p>\n \u201cOw,\u201d Adam cried out as the pain shot down his arm to his fingers, making them numb.<\/p>\n If there had been any shadow of doubt who this man was, that sneaky trick sealed the deal. Adam used to play the finger circle game with his brothers. The painful game came to an end the time Scott had come back from basic training. He hit so hard nobody wanted to play the game again.<\/p>\n In this case, Adam didn\u2019t mind that he might not be able to use his hand for days. \u201cShit. That\u2019s gonna leave a hell of a bruise. I\u2019ll be feeling that forever.\u201d<\/p>\n A sly smile stole over Scott\u2019s lips. \u201cI\u2019m counting on it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLove you,\u201d Adam whispered. His throat constricted.<\/p>\n \u201cLove you, too,\u201d Scott mouthed back, then nodded and turned to quickly disappear into the crowd.<\/p>\n Adam thumped his chest with his good hand before he made his way back to Nic, opening and closing the fingers of his left hand to test his mobility. Damn. That really smarted.<\/p>\n Nic looked up as he approached. \u201cHey. I was getting worried there. Did you get lost?\u201d<\/p>\n He couldn\u2019t help but chuckle. \u201cNo. Actually, I found something.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYeah? What did you find?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a surprise. For my mother.\u201d For the future. Although his mother would be relieved to know her son was safe, he sensed that to tell her the truth would do more damage than good.<\/p>\n Instead of taking a seat across from the table, he slid onto the bench seat next to Nic and pulled her into his arms. As she gasped in surprised delight, he took her lips and kissed her slow deep, unhurried, and full of all the love he had in his heart.<\/p>\n \u201cWow,\u201d she sighed when he pulled away and stared up at it up at him with sex drugged eyes. \u201cWhat was that for?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI love you, Nic. Just know I love you more than anything in the world. And I really can\u2019t wait to take you home.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI love you, too, sweetie.\u201d She rested her head on his chest and melted in his embrace. \u201cI like when you say home.\u201d<\/p>\n He liked when she said home, too, because he knew without a doubt that as long as they were together home was always within reach.<\/p>\n Check out Scott’s Story in Elite Metal: Adamantium’s Roar and Adam’s in Sweetest Kisses!<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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