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Wingmen: The Playlist — Based on the gay novel Wingmen by Ensan Case.

[Playlist on Youtube]

Songs:

1. “Learning to Fly” — Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

He reminded himself that he was a Hellcat pilot. In the morning a big blue fighter would again be put into his hands.

2. “Waiting for the Sky to Fall” — Richard Grieco

In a totally unnerving flash of insight he realized his feelings for the commanding officer were a lot more than admiration.

3. “The Life You Lead” — Barclay James Harvest

He kept coming back to the fact that nothing this day and many days afterward would be amusing—the only man he had ever really cared about, he knew now, was missing, and probably dead.

4. “Move, You Lose!” — Phenomena

It bore no resemblance to the stories of gallant, skillful fighter pilots jockeying for position and saluting the fallen vanquished. It was much more a question of who shot first and had someone upstairs to cover his tail.

5. “Man of Devotion” — Fools Garden

He felt that if the skipper asked him to take on the whole Japanese air fleet, he would do it single-handedly and without hesitation. He would do anything for Jack Hardigan.

6. “If You Believe” — Sasha

He felt the expansion of Jack’s chest as he breathed, the roughness of his beard against his neck, and knew that this was what he had wanted all along.

7. “This Silent World” — Chris de Burgh

He wanted badly to touch Fred, hold him. But he couldn’t. They were two men who were as close as two men could be, but they were still very much apart.

8. “The Pressure's On” — Adrenalin

“My men have the wrong attitude,” Jack finished for him. He had been thinking it, too. Since Kwajalein they were listless, careless—dangerous. They needed motivation. Whose fault was all this?

9. “Lovers in the Wind” — Roger Hodgson

Fred squeezed Jack as hard as he could. He was thinking that he loved Jack very much but would never find the time, the place, or the words to tell him so.

10. “Battle” — House of Lords

He would remember those minutes of combat for the rest of his life, as though they were a strange and marvelous dream burned too deeply into his mind to forget.

11. “When the War Is Over” — Cold Chisel

To commemorate the Christopher Street Liberation Day, which took place 56 years ago today in 1970 in New York, I have written a fic featuring middle-aged Andrew Raynes (TC) and Fred Trusteau (WM), and their reactions to this momentous gathering.

Owning a business is hard. Sometimes you need a hug, some words of reassurance, and to have a cigarette with your lover, or co-owner, or the man you used to fly right next to. Sometimes he can be all of that.

Hey,

As you mentioned, Fred wouldn't have financial problems — he'd probably even be a millionaire. That’s basically the only concrete thing we can say about his post-epilogue life.

I like to imagine Fred was wrong and that Duane would get back in touch with him. Duane is a fascinating character because he is unpredictable in a realistic way, and although he felt a great deal of envy toward Fred, I don’t think he ever truly hated him. And with the war years being a distant memory, I can picture him trying to be friendly.

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