Charged Skies

With every passenger lining the interior outing the doors on both sides, they all anticipated the jump. The water looked fathomless as they got closer, and Felicity tightened her grip on her backpack straps along with her sword, waiting to see who would jump off first.

The ocean has turned an angry blue-black with the storm rolling in. Felicity looked into the angry ocean and took a breath. Her legs were about to give out on her, but she clenched her teeth to try and steel her nerves. She had already made it this far and had to push a little further.

Melissa squeezed her hand, and Felicity sent a small smile. The strength from the physical test seemed like it was so long ago, but it truly was a time when she was able to see Melissa at a hundred percent. Now, it seemed as though she was withering away. With the bandages that were keeping Melissa's body stiff, Felicity couldn't even blame her.

A hard body pressed up behind her, and she could feel Leo's soft breath in her ear. He was as apprehensive as she was, barely holding together. Medina and Tatum were facing the other way just as Felicity was able to watch the helicopter come into view that was supposed to be their aide.

"Wasn't there supposed to be a whole team of helicopters?" Leo yelled.

Medina craned her head over the side to see their view. "What the hell? Where did the other two go?"

"They must have already gone down," Tatum muttered.

"What are we waiting for?" Felicity asked.

"We need to get a bit closer to the water," Tatum responded.

"We jumped earlier from the tallest height," Felicity pointed out.

"Melissa's suit is torn. She won't be able to withstand it," Medina said to put an end to it. "We have to be careful."

Felicity pressed her lips together and nodded. Melissa still wasn't in good shape, and it made her sad to be reminded. Instead, she needed to be more conscious of it. Leo wrapped his arms around her waist, and she leaned back into his body instinctually. She had gotten used to his presence over time.

"Melissa," Leo said slowly. "Please dive with your head first to break through the water. Tuck your head in."

"I have never done it before, but I will try," Melissa said nervously.

Leo tapped his fingers on her waist before whispering in Felicity's ear, "Scared?"

She glanced up. "Never." 

The howling of the wind got worse as time went by. They were approaching the water at an alarming speed, and Felicity's heart was picking up since Medina wasn't giving them the green light at all. At this rate, they will literally crash into the water inside the helicopter dragging them down.

They needed time to swim out first before the helicopter landed next to them and created drowning waves. That was one situation that Felicity knew that she would be helpless in even though they had their specialized suits. Her senses were jarred alert when Tatum started to count down.

Leo released his grip on her and moved to her side. He placed his sword out in front of him. She did the same, her blade buzzing into her hand sending shock waves down her arm with the unshed tears threatening to spill out since she was on the brink of collapsing. 

"Ten, nine..." Medina started.

Felicity could hear the shallowness of her breathing.

"Eight..." 

She could feel her eyes pulse from exertion.

"Seven, six..."

Her hand was starting to become numb.

"Five, four, three.."

Felicity's mind finally crystallized to one.

"Two… one," 

Felicity smiled up at Leo. His returning gaze ran cold as the concrete promise settled over them.

"JUMP!" Medina screamed. 

And off they went. 

The grappling water was threatening to take her under, the cold temperature feeling like ice needles in her skin from the initial impact from the water. Her heart felt like it was going to burst as she lost air. Up. Her brain was screaming to get out and go up.

Her legs were impassive, trying to swim through the harsh waves and currents. Breaking through to the surface, Felicity gasped for air. Choking, Felicity brushed the water from her eyes. The thunder reached them now, the booming sound ringing as a warning. She saw Medina and Tatum but no one else. 

A head bobbed from the water, and Felicity hurriedly swam over to her fighting the waves. Melissa was having trouble with her life jacket, barely treading water. She was going to sink back into the ocean. Felicity hurriedly reached out to her friend, and Melissa burst out crying. 

The suit that protected everyone else wasn't applied over to Melissa's case. The pain must be unbearable from the harsh landing. 

"Are you okay? Did you break anything?" Felicity frantically asked. 

"No," Melissa sobbed. "But I can't tell. Everything hurts, and I can't even feel my face. I can't even tell if I broke anything."

"Take a deep breath," Felicity yelled over the water. "You need to stop flailing around in the water wasting your strength."

"It's just all too much." 

"I'm so sorry," Felicity pulled her in for a hug. "I'm sorry, but we are here now. We can't do anything to change our circumstances, so we can't give up now. We aren't even home yet, but can you feel it? We're so close. So please, stay strong for a little longer, yeah?" 

"I don't know if I can," Melissa whispered. 

"I'm sorry, Mel." 

The lightning charged the sky with flaming colors, and the helicopter was still sinking not far from their landing. The waves were charged and larger than life.

The shrill grunt of a woman startled them, but they could barely survey the area further around them with the crashing waves and the dark night. She needed to find Leo and the others fast.