As the sun was getting low in the sky, even if it was hiding behind a thick layer of clouds, the cold wind was carrying with it the purring of six engines to the airfield of Biggin Hill. After a few minutes, the six Spitfires marked on the fuselage with the squadron code GW appear at low altitude over the airfield, cross it in all it length before to break. A first group of 3 aircrafts lands while the second group passes again over the airfield, though, only two are in formation during this passage, the third one is a bit behind and, as it passes over the legendary fighter base, executes a barrel roll in front of everyone on the ground, showing with pride that her pilot had shot down an aircraft.

"Did you saw the code?" Asks one of the man waiting for the aircrafts to land.

"It's our lad, it's the P one." Answers another man, sat next of the first.

Few minutes later, the three last aircrafts land in formation, splitting only once grounded to join their places among the other aircrafts. The both men sat on the grass then see one of the Spitfire coming straight towards them and stops at a dozen of meters of them before to rotate, now showing them her tail. The side door opens as the pilot switches off his Merlin engine, the both mechanics come closer to the aircraft, one of them climbs on the wing to assist the pilot, the latter has already unplugged his radio systems and his oxygen mask, the goggles up on his forehead, a great smile on his lupine muzzle and one of his paw patting his mechanic's shoulder he says proudly:

"You would never guess, we have found a Hun patrol, we only shot down one of them before they fled but none of us have been shot down. And guess what, I've been the guy who get the victory!"

"Please, don't tell me how you get it down, I'm enough of your pilots stories; they are all the same." Answers the red cat with a little grin.

"Aww, come on, I'm dying to tell it!"

"Then, hurry yourself to write it down on the paper, like that we may have a chance to save you from the death!" Replies the mechanics before to laugh.

The wolf, free from his harness, raises from his seat, jumps to the ground, lets his parachute on the horizontal stabiliser before to turn around and to say to his mechanic "Anyway, I've to talk to the squadron leader, any idea of where he is?"

Without answering, the cat points of the paw the dispersal where the pilots of the A flight are waiting for an order of mission. As he enters into the little wood structure, he salutes and calls for the Squadron Leader, the latter, four golden strips at the extremity of each sleeve, turns around and begins to yell at the pilot "Damn it, Neveu! Did you forget about safety rules?! No useless barrel rolls like the one you just did, imagine if your engine stops while you're on the back, it's a pilot and a craft that will be lacking to protect this damned island!"

"Excuse me, sir... I just wanted to... support..." begins to mumble the pilot before to be cut by the officer.

"Enough! I don't want any apologises, just don't do it again, okay? If you're here it means that your report is ready, right?"

"Uh... No, sir, I just have landed..."

"Then, why are you even here?"

" 'Cause I've got something to ask you, sir."

"Go ahead."

"Can I have a pass for tonight?"

"You've got somewhere to go?

"Kind of..."

"Explain."

"You're not without knowing, sir, that there's an excellent restaurant at Piccadilly that offers a diner for two when one shots down an aircraft..."

"And I supposed you've got someone to go there, then..." Replies the jaguar with a crooked grin

"I do hope so, sir."

"Then, why not another evening?"

"Because I may will be killed tomorrow, sir, I don't want to die without eating for free in this restaurant."

"Valuable enough. Get me your report as fast as you can and come take your pass at my office."

"Thank you, sir!" Answers the wolf as he salutes and leaves the dispersal. But as he begins to walks away, the wooden door opens and a voice calls after him, it's the one of the Squadron Leader

"Hey, Neveu! Don't forget to take a shower first; you smell sweat and I don't think it will please "her"!"

"Ah... Sure, sir, thank you." Replies the wolf, a bit embarrassed by what his superior yelled and by the laughs of the men of the A flight.

After he wrote his report as fast as he could with his medic's writing, he takes the direction of the lockers where he lets his flight equipment, takes a shower and dress up with his ceremonial uniform. A dark blue uniform of the same kind than the one used by the French Air Force at the exception that on the left sleeve is sewn an insignia which represents an anchor surrounded by two wings, over the left pocket, a blue, white and red shield carried by two wings and ornate by a Cross of Lorraine and over the right pocket, the other Free French Air Force insignia is sewn while on the pocket itself is hooked an Aéronavale (French Naval Air Force) pilot badge. Adjusting a last time his outfit but letting his cap into the locker, he takes his report and heads to the Squadron Leader's office who, after teasing him, about his absolutely unreadable handwriting, accepts to give a pass to the pilot. With this pass in his pocket, he finally can head to his final destination, a little office at the bottom of a corridor, the door is open but the pilot knocks on the door three times to announce his arrival. Behind a wooden desk, a svelte female officer whose the fur is white, grey and tawny, wearing a white shirt, raises her eyes from her papers to notice the officer coming in and closing the door.

"Ma'am..." Says the wolf after he has closed the door.

"Flying Officer... May can I do something for you?" Replies the coyote.

"Actually, I was wondering if you would accept to come with me at the restaurant tonight." The wolf managed to say.

She is, as him, in the early 20s, the wolf have been looking for this moments since few weeks now but he was either too much occupied or either too shy to finally dare to talk to her about his intentions. At his words, the coyote lays her back against her seat and raises a brow.

"I... beg your pardon?" she asks, embarrassed by what she thinks she have heard.

"I would like to know, madam, if you would accept an invitation to come with me in a restaurant of Piccadilly." Repeats the wolf, stressed by the situation and hoping for the things to happen well.

He notices that a smile appears on her muzzle as her brow falls and she puts her elbows on her desk to lay her head on her hands before she asks "And why should I accept such an invitation from someone I barely know?"

Trying to get a slight smile on his muzzle, the wolf answers her "Because it's not everyday that such a stranger comes to pay you an unrestricted meal in war time in a great restaurant of London."

"Indeed... But you see, I may have some work to finish for tonight..."

"Awww, you know, that's probably the only time I can ask you such thing, tomorrow will maybe too late, you know how a pilot's life is risky in war time."

This last answer makes her smile "Just a question, don't tell me you are about to bring me into one of those British restaurant."

"Don't worry, madam, it will be a great restaurant cooking specialities from our poor country."

Her smile growth and her look is directly drained to the pilot at those words "Then, just let me finish this and I will accompany you. By the way, if we have to pass the evening together, I think it will be better to call each other by our first names, I'm Hélène."

"Olivier." Replies the wolf with a large smile.

After she has finished her work, she raises and put on a dark blue vest bearing the two Free French Air Force insignias. They then went, to Piccadilly thanks to a car they borrow to the squadron and from where they walked to the French restaurant. Showing a proof of his commander to the Restaurant owner that he has shot down a German aircraft in the day, the latter yelled to everyone to the glory of the pilot and founds for the couple a table for two and offered them the dinner as well as the wine. In the restaurant, most of the customers are French and many of them are from the FAFL (Forces Aériennes Françaises Libres - Free French Air Force) as the owner decided to support the Free France by offering a dinner for two people to each pilot who shots down an enemy aircraft.

Once the dinner ended, the couple remained, speaking about them, around a bottle of wine, it's how they both learned about the other's past, when Hélène is from a middle class family of the region of Bordeaux, Olivier is, for his part, coming from a low high class family from the Poitou.
Hélène, was, before to come in the UK, in the French Resistance until the Gestapo launched a manhunt after her because of her actions, she managed to escape France thanks to a pick up mission led by an excellent Lysander pilot during the summer 1942.
Olivier, for his part was just qualified dive bomber pilot in the French Fleet Air Arm when the war broke out and was severely injured in the first days of the German invasion of May 1940. After several months passed at the hospital, he returned in an active Squadron from which he deserted by landing at Gibraltar and joining the Free French Navy which, after a formation in the RAF schools, sent him in the FAFL with the no.340 sqn "Île de France", among with pilots from the French Air Force.

Once their bottle finished, the exited from the restaurant and walked a bit in the streets of London, plunged into the darkness, when, in the middle of their conversation, the piercing sound of the air raid siren raises from the city's innards and the searching projectors switch on the ones after the others to sweep the dark sky, in search for aircrafts. Knowing what it means the pilot hurries, driving the coyote with him, hoping they could reach an underground station before the bombs fall but it's already too late; now, the purr of the multitude of engines in the sky is now audible. Though they become rarer than during the Blitz, the German bombings are still present but they only come when the sun is down and when the moon is high in the sky if ever there's a moon, it permits to limit the losses. They stop for a few seconds to look up in the sky as the bombers become to be lit by the projectors, then, the sound of fire shots is heard all over London, up there, some little explosions appears around the bombers. Now, a muffled sound is now audible as a multiple of coloured lines appears in the night, surrounding the bombers, the night fighters are already there.
As they come back to their situation, they get agree that they need a shelter right now, they search of the look around of them for a place, when the wolf founds one, it has been created by the ruins of a house, it sure doesn't protect against bombs but it already can protect them from shrapnel and other aircraft parts that might fall on them. He takes her by the arm and runs to this derisory shelter where they seat and take each other into their arms.
A kind of wailing resounds through all other noises, as he looks outside, he sees, flames falling to the ground, the flames cross a light beam, it's a fighter with elliptic wings which is going down, not willing to see what will happen to the poor aircraft, the wolf leaves it to its destiny and plunges back his look to the coyote, tighten around his chest as she prepares the moment when the bombs will fall. Speaking of bombs, the engines noise is now covered by a multitude of whistling which seem to last too much time before to end in an explosion in a neighbour district. As the bombs fall and devastate everything on their path, the nightmare from the Battle of France comes back to the wolf's mind, from this painful moment when he was surrounded by nothing but hostile projectiles that finally get him badly, to this terrifying moment when he had to evacuate the hospital he was in, in a city set afire, as German aircrafts where bombing the city. Haunted by those memories, he tightens even more the coyote in his arms, both to protect her as much as he can and to reassure himself. Feeling the growing pressure around her, Hélène raises her eyes to try to see the wolf's face but she isn't able to, but she still can fell his increasing pulse letting her know of the psychological state of the scared wolf who is now also quaking.

After several minutes, when the bombs have stopped to fall, when the canons have shut, when the engines noise was gone and when the sirens finally stopped their wailing and when only the sound of the fire and the cries and gasps lost in the bombed zones covered the night, they both left their shelter as if nothing happened and walked to the place where their car is parked, in silence. They came back to Biggin Hill without saying a word, avoiding the other's look. And it's only once arrived there, before to go in their own directions, that Hélène finally says him "Well... See you around... I guess?"

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Well... I tried new things, both in drawing and in writing, I'm not sure of what it gives so any review is welcomed.

So, this is about characters that I've been thinking about since a little while, for the moment, they both are secondary characters, maybe they'll become more important later if I found enough things to make them so, I've got, for the moment, way more informations and background for him than for her but I'm still working on that.