Born Free 7

Flight of the Gilbird2
Alfred/Gilbert/Ivan adventure

"If you are thorough with your fit, Alfred we need to get ready." Ivan said as he stood up.

"Bring it commie. I can't wait to get out of this creepy place."

Ivan brought out warm clothes and coats for both of them as well as boots gloves and other necessities. "Gilbert will have the weapons and gear we will need on the helicopter. Get dressed we need to get to the roof."

Alfred ducked into one of the empty rooms to change. He wasn't going to argue about the clothing but he did mentally cringe when he noticed that what he was now wearing looked a lot like Ivan's clothes in different shades. But it didn't matter to him, he just wanted to get out of this prison. He didn't care if he went naked, just the thought of being out was all he needed. Alfred's mind was full of blue skies and fresh air when Ivan brought him out of his thoughts.

"Alfred, are you ready?" came Ivan's voice from the other side of the door, "Knowing Gilbert, he probably be here sooner than expected."

Alfred put on the coat and stepped out of the room. Ivan's eyebrows went up and his heart skipped a beat. He had to resist the urge to touch Alfred. After years of seeing him in the ridiculous bomber jacket, now for the first time Alfred looked positively Russian! For Ivan it was like a dream come true.

Alfred caught the strange look Ivan was giving him, "Dude, stop staring. I'm only wearing this because I don't feel like freezing solid in this Popsicle you call a country." Alfred said backing out of arms reach. "Hey by the way, where are we going anyway?"

"We are heading south to Kazakhstan. Erik Krumangaliev is the nation there, he is very terrified of Andrey and will not help us, so from there we will have to sneak into China. Then we will contact Yao. He will be able to help us from there."

"Yao? Is he working with you too?"

"No, he's not working with us. He does not know we are coming yet, and it is not safe to try to make contact outside of the country. International calls are easily traced, but don't worry Alfred he will be very happy to see you, as for me, well… not so much." Ivan's voice trailed off.

"Why?"

"Alfred you are his ally. To say the other nations are not happy with me is what you would call, an understatement. Yao and all the other nations have all been trying to find you since you disappeared."

Alfred gave an indignant snort as he rolled his eyes, "You mean since you imprisoned me, right?"

Ivan closed the distance grabbing the front of Alfred's coat insistently looking down on the shorter nation, "I did what I had to do, if I hadn't you would be in their hands right now wishing for your death!"

Their conversation was interrupted as the sound of a helicopter began to drone overhead. Alfred and Ivan made their way to the roof. As soon As Alfred emerged from the building it was like a huge weight was instantly lifted off of him, he couldn't help but smile as he felt the sun on his face. The sun sat high in a perfectly blue clear sky above them. The world was awash in brilliant white and blue as the sun reflected off of the snow; shining so bright it hurt to look at it. Even the air smelt fresh and hopeful in contrast to the rotting grave of a palace now below them. The only thing that could have made this moment better for Alfred would be if he had wings. He looked off into the distance. The land around the mountains bore the tawny golds, browns, and grays of land suffering through the rag tag end of winter.

The snow kicked up and swirled as Gilbert lowered the helicopter onto the pad. Ivan saw the look blazing in Alfred's eyes, both child-like and feral at the same time. This was the heart and spirit that wound Ivan up and soothed him all at the same time. Ivan wondered if this Alfred would survive being a part of Russia, he hoped so.

Donning their helmets, they took off into the endless blue with Alfred hanging out of the side of the Gilbird2 shouting excitedly.

"So you guys cool now?" Gilbert said into his helmet's microphone as Alfred finally decided to close the door.

Ivan and Alfred both looked at each other and shrugged, was this okay? Alfred wasn't sure, "I guess so, as long as he doesn't hit me with that stupid pipe anymore."

"Good enough Da." Ivan agreed.

Gilbert gave a loud groan, "Geeze Ivan, what did I tell you about the pipe?"
Ivan gave a smile that was both sheepish and evil at the same time, "The pipe isn't an acceptable tool for making friends or political negotiations." Ivan recited like a child recites the lunch room rules after a food fight.

Alfred just looked at him incredulously but decided against starting an argument at the moment, "Hey how come we don't just go east and head through Alaska?" Alfred tried hopefully.

Gilbert shook his head, "Are you kidding? Across that wilderness, even if we could find the gas somehow it would be impossible. Only a complete lunatic would even think to try it."

"Well" Alfred countered, "It's not like there are helicopter fueling stations all over Kazakhstan either."

"I have a supply line already arranged. We can't travel the whole way in this thing no matter how much I would like to. We will hit our stop roughly 400 miles south near Perm. Then we head over to Kurgan where we can get a jeep for the trip into Kazakhstan. We have a few friends who will help us get to China after we cross the border. Then it will be safe to contact Yao."

Alfred grumbled at the thought of having to trek through several countries before finding a way home. But it wasn't long before he was leaning over Gilbert's shoulder to peer at the control panel, "Nice helicopter you got here, the Ka-60 is a spectacular piece of equipment."

"Yes it is." Gilbert quirked an eyebrow and looked at Alfred. He knew where this was going already, "and no you can't fly it, it's mine."

"Please?", Alfred begged trying his best puppy-dog eyes on Gilbert.

Gilbert remained firm, "No way in hell times a thousand, damn it! It's my awesome helicopter, you want to fly one, then get your own."

"Aww, you're no fun at all." Alfred whined as he caught sight of something on the floor and immediately perked up, "Hey weapons!" He picked up the grenade launcher and admired it, "An AGS-30, Cool."

"What are you doing?" Ivan panicked as he tried to reach over and grab the launcher from Alfred.

Alfred held the weapon aloft out of Ivan's reach, "Hey don't sweat it, stuff that goes boom is so my forte. And this definitely goes boom." Just then a loud explosion erupted that shook the helicopter.

"Alfred!" yelled Ivan "What the hell did you do?"

"I didn't do anything that was…"

"KRESSEE!" cursed Gilbert, "We've been hit!"

Down on the ground obscured by trees several jeeps and two tanks in snow camo. Gunfire was now tapping on the metal shell of helicopter. "SHIT! Ivan, man the weapons. Alfred if you know how to fire that thing, now would be a good time!"

"I'm on it already." Alfred answered as he unlocked the safety off the AGS-30 and slid open the door. Ivan aimed one of the helicopter's large missals as Alfred fired wildly at the jeeps. The soldiers on the ground scattered for cover as Alfred obliterated one of the Jeeps.

"Amateurs", Ivan cursed under his breath, "Do they even bother to train them before sending them out?" Ivan knocked out one of the tanks and the other fired.

There was a loud explosion and the helicopter gave another sharp lurch as the engine started to sputter erratically as alarms began beeping and red lights began to flash on the control panel. The smell of smoke began to fill the cabin. "No!" hollered Gilbert, "nobody shots Gilbird2 and lives! Ivan hit that fucking thing already!"

Ivan launched the missile and the second tank exploded. Alfred was still wreaking havoc on the jeeps as they slipped past the wreckage and resumed their course heading south until the smoldering wrecks were out of sight. Gilbert had switched off the alarms and the smoke was just clearing out of the cabin, it looked like they were going to be okay. Gilbert hummed disconcertingly as he tapped on one of the gauges.

"Shit, Ivan." Gilbert muttered with worry.

"I know, I see it on my control panel too." Ivan answered.

"What, what is it?" Alfred said as he put down the launcher and leaned over Gilbert's shoulder to get a look for himself. He could see the status panel of the helicopter and saw the red flashing panels indicating were the damage was. "How bad is it?"

"We are losing fuel; we should still have enough to make it to Perm before we run out completely, but…"

Alfred noticed Gilbert's anxiety rising as he looked at the gauges again, "What but, no but nobody needs but."

"But the damage to the engine is bad." As soon as the words left Gilbert's lips the engine started to sputter wildly. "No baby, you can't die now! Come on!" Gilbert cried to the helicopter as he began madly typing on the onboard computer on the control panel. The engine seemed to hear him because it quieted down a bit. Gilbert sat back and breathed a heavy sigh of relief and muttered, "I hope that takes care of it."

Ivan had a morose look on his face as he stared out across the horizon, "I don't think they were looking for us. If they had been ready for us they would have killed us easily." Ivan grunted to Gilbert.

"They weren't, they were probably heading to the smaller towns. Andrey, or should I say asshole, is going after the families of the soldiers who defected to the American side of the war. They are putting them in 'relocation' camps, but they have been murdering a lot of them."

Alfred froze upon hearing that, "They are going after families?"

Ivan stared at the passing world below muttering grimly, "Really now, just like those days again?"

Gilbert was working still flipping the switches on the gauges in an attempt to assess the damage as he spoke, "Hey Ivan, Asshole isn't winning any friends on either side of the war, it will only be a matter of time before somebody takes him out." Satisfied with what he was looking at he hit a few more buttons and turned to Ivan, "You my friend are about to have yourself a full fledged rebellion."

Alfred was confused, "Ivan, a rebellion is not something that usually goes unnoticed by a nation, how come you don't know what's going on with them, your people. Can't you feel anything?"

Ivan shook his head, "No Alfred, I can't feel them, I haven't felt anything since the days before Stalin and do not ask me about it, I do not know why!" he ground out as his hands gripped the steering column tightly.

Alfred couldn't believe what he just heard. Ivan was numb to his people and his land. How was that possible?

It was about a half an hour of silence between all three nations with only the hum of the engine droning in their ears as they flew over the thawing landscape. Alfred watched the ground below them. The Volga River and its tributaries snaked lazily, weaving like a muddy serpent through the landscape below. They were still quite a way from their destination when an alarm from the control panel broke the silence.

"What's wrong now?" Alfred asked as he stood up and looked at Ivan's set of gauges.
The status panel had several large areas blinking in red.

"Shit" cursed Gilbert. We've got to land."

Just then the helicopter gave a lurch as engine began to make a horrible noise like something was winding under pressure. Gilbert had already started to try to bring the Gilbird2 as close to the ground as he could. "NO! baby you can't die!" Tears were already starting for form in his eyes. He saw a field ahead and aimed for it in an attempt to bring the copter down in as few pieces as possible.

They were over the tops of the trees closing in on the clearing, when the winding sound met its crescendo and then there was a horrible wrenching sound followed by a sickening snap as something broke free. The next moment was nothing but a blur of helicopter parts, smoke, and yelling. An explosion rocked the cockpit and Gilbert was slammed from behind by the explosion wrecking his seat. Alfred grabbed Gilbert and Ivan grabbed the supply packs and they jumped. Being immortal had its benefits such as not dying when jumping out of a crashing helicopter 30 feet off the ground. They landed roughly in the bushes of the leading edge of the clearing that Gilbert had been aiming for. The Gilbird2 bravely sailed away towards the end of the clearing before tipping, and finally crashing and disintegrating into a spectacular fireball punctuated by further explosions, as all the ammunition triggered by the flames, exploded.

Ivan and Alfred had to hold Gilbert down as they tried to take cover from the exploding ammunition and flaming shrapnel that came with it. "Nooo" wailed Gilbert as he struggled in their grip "Not my baby! It should have been me!" he cried with all the emotion of a parent who just lost a child before passing out from blood loss.