Ghost • Tom Kazansky

• Chapter Twelve •

The following morning, Kara had woken up with an overwhelming feeling of dread that felt as if it was trying to drown her as anxiety bubbled in her chest.

Something felt wrong.

With a furrowed brow, she quickly brushed the feeling aside and got herself ready to go to base, throwing on the beige uniform and pulling her hair into the tight, military style bun.

Once she had arrived at base, she quickly stripped from her uniform and changed into her flight suit. Placing her uniform neatly in the locker, she grabbed hold of her helmet and her flight gear, and closed the locker behind her before she slowly made her way down the hallway, towards the hangar.

She stared at the ground as the overwhelming feeling washed over her again. Why was she feeling like this? She was never nervous for any of the previous hops.

"You okay, Kara?" Terence asked in concern as he walked up beside her. "You've been quiet all morning and you seem a little off."

"Yeah, yeah, I just.." She replied, shaking her head lightly before she released a soft sigh. "I just have this feeling, you know? It feels like there's a pit in my stomach, and I have never felt this anxious over a hop before."

"Everything will be okay." The RIO said and threw a comforting arm around his pilot's shoulders as they stepped out onto the tarmac. "We've got Mav and Goose, and Ice and Slider on the hop with us and my girl is gonna kick their asses."

Her hazel gaze fell towards their wingmen for the hop, both pairs of pilots and RIOs doing the mandatory inspection of their aircraft.

That feeling washed over her once more, which forced her to close her eyes as she breathed in shakily to calm her nerves.

Glancing up from his inspection, Nick noticed the anxious expression that had currently graced his little sister's features and frowned softly to himself before he made his way over to her.

With a quick nod at the eldest Bradshaw, Terence excused himself and proceed to start on the inspection of their jet, and left the siblings alone to talk.

"What's going on? You okay?" The eldest brother asked, his brown eyes full of concern.

"I don't know." The younger sister replied honestly with a shaky sigh. "I keep feeling like something bad is gonna happen but.. I don't know."

"Hey, everything will be okay. I promise." Nick said as he grasped hold of his sister's arms gently. "We're all gonna go up there together, Mav and I are gonna bump you and Ice down to second and third, and everything will be great."

A soft smile glittered across Kara's lips as she rolled her eyes playfully. "I am quite comfortable in first place with Ice, thank you, though I wouldn't mind bumping him down to second and you and Mav to third, big brother." She responded which made him chuckle.

Nick pulled her in for a hug and rubbed her back soothingly, which seemed to have eased her anxiety slightly. "Be safe up there, okay? I love you." He said, pulling away slightly before he playfully shoved her.

"I love you too." She replied with a playful roll of her eyes and a fond smile before her gaze soon landed on a certain ice-cold pilot; hazel meeting icy blues.

Tom gave her a wink with a supportive nod of his head and his cocky smirk before he climbed into his F-14 with Ron.

With a smile of her own, Kara made her way over to her F-14, where Terence had just finished up with inspection.

"How are we looking?" She asked as she came to a stop beside the ladder.

"We're good to go." Terence answered, having found no issues with their aircraft and stared at his pilot with concerned blue eyes. "You good?"