Part 11

By Dee

AJ looked at the sight before him, and his heart went out for Kevin, but he knew better than to move with the gunman so trigger happy.

Nick threw a terrified glance his way; he was thinking the same thing. At least the plane seemed more stable, hopefully they would land soon.

***

Howie turned back frantically through the cockpit door to see Kevin on the floor wincing in pain. The muscles in Howie's back wrenched and twisted from the strain of leaning over his friend to steer the plane. He looked at the switches, dial, buttons and knobs that made up the control panel; he had an idea.

His eyes focused on a slightly smaller red button labeled "Ato Plt".  It couldn't hurt to try, he concluded and pushed it. Suddenly, as if by an invisible man, the plane glided through the air smoothly with out Howie's aid. So it was auto pilot, he thought. He considered moving Brian but decided against it. The less movement the better.

He turned in circles, lost in the small room, and feeling helpless in helping his friends. That is, until he took in to his sights a coffee pot, still brewing for the pilots who were supposed to be on this flight.

In the background he could hear the muffled threats of the gunman, tough and menacing, and Kevin's moans of pain.

Anger rose in him, like nothing he's ever felt before. His usual happy, sweet, sensitive disposition dissipated and he grabbed the coffee pot, ignoring the heat that flowed through his hand. The anger rose until it overflowed and he vibrated from the emotion.

Slowly and calculated he walked through the cockpit door to see the man standing over Kevin mocking him.

"Oh you thought you could talk a lot of mess and I wouldn't do anything? What, you thought I was stupid???"  He extended his leg fully, kicking Kevin in his hip, eliciting a scream of pain from Kevin.

"STOP IT!!!" Nick screamed lunging at the gunman with no avail, for AJ gripped his arms," Who do you think you are you-"

His words died on his lips when his eyes passed to Howie, Standing silently, slightly shaking, and holding the coffee pot. Howie walked over to the gunman, who returned his attention to the helpless man below him, and stood silently.

" Howie what are you doing?" Nick asked cautiously.

From behind the gunman Howie spoke, his voice dangerously low and laced with venom. " I'll be damned if I'm gonna sit here and let you control us"

"Who do you think you're talking to?" The man began, turning to the smaller man, but he was cut off by the scolding hot beverage that Howie lashed out at him from the coffee pot.

"ARRRGGGGGGGH!!!!" The man screamed in surprise and pain. Howie lunged at him, his hand catching the gunman's jaw as his punched him out cold.

AJ looked at the commotion before him shocked: The gunman out cold on the floor of the plane, Kevin injured, and a dead pilot.

"Now what?" he asked incredulously.

"We land this plane," Came a reply from the cockpit. All eyes on the cockpit saw Brian standing in the doorway.

***