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Chapter twelve:

Maverick sits in the Hard Deck bar, watching pilots in their uniforms play darts, not noticing the green eyes, carefully watching him from the corner. His attention is pulled away from the pilots when his phone buzzes with a message from Iceman.

Ice
That didn't go well.
Mav
The kids aren't ready for this mission.
Ice
No one is.
That's why you're here.
Mav
You could have warned me.
Ice
Would you have come?

Maverick stares at the question, not sure what his answer would've been.
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Y/n sits in the corner, her glasses on top of her head, looking down at her drink as she listens to the conversation between Maverick and Penny, the bartender.
She's only half listening, the other half of her mind is wandering who knows where, thinking about why Ice would call back the one person she didn't wanna see. And how she was going to deal with him being her Captain for this mission. She also notices her mind drifting back to memories of her time in the past, all the good times she had with Ice and Mav.

She's brought out of her thoughts when Penny rings the bell behind the bar.
Y/n looks up with a smirk, knowing what that sound means. She gets up and walks over to the bar, not even glancing at the man beside her, ignoring his intense gaze.
Penny looks at Y/n, passing her her favorite beer without saying anything, already knowing why she came over to them, having known the young girl for a few years now.
"What am i missing?" Maverick asks, turning back to Penny after Y/n walks away. Penny points to the sign behind the bar which Mav reads out.
"Disrespect a lady, the navy, or put your cell phone...on my bar," Mav takes his phone off the counter as he realizes he's been caught.
"And you buy a round." Penny finishes for him.
"For everyone?" He asks.
"I'm afraid rules are rules. You're lucky it's early." She says walking away to help a customer.

Y/n returns to her corner feeling smug as she sips her free beer, turning her attention to the new pilots that just walked in.
"What do we have here?" Asks the cocky, tall blonde pilot she knows as Hangman, "If it ain't Phoenix! And here i thought we were special, Coyote." He says to the pilot playing pool next to him. "Turns out, the invite went to anyone." He continues.
Y/n studies each of them carefully, the two men, Hangman and Coyote. The girl with dark brown, almost black hair, Phoenix and the two guys who walked in behind her.
"Fellas, this here's Bagman." Phoenix says with her arms crossed as she talks to the pilots behind her. Y/n snickers to herself at the name.
"Hangman." He corrects her with an arrogant smile.
"Whatever. You're looking at the only naval aviator on active duty with a confirmed air-to-air kill."
"Stop." Says Hangman but she keeps going.
"Mind you, the other guy was in a museum piece from the Korean War."
"Cold War." Coyote chimes in.
"Different wars, same century." Corrects one of the men behind Phoenix.
"Not this one." The second man behind her adds.
"Who are your friends?" Coyote asks Phoenix.
"Payback."
"Fanboy." They answer.
"Hey, Coyote." Phoenix greets.
"Hey." He replies.
"Who's he?" She asks.
"Who's who?" Coyote asks. Phoenix nods her head to the side to a shorter guy with glasses, sitting, eating what looks like trail mix.
He stops eating and looks up when he feels all the attention go to him.
"When did you get in?" Coyote asks him.
"Oh, I've been here the whole time." He says with a shy smile.
"Man's a stealth pilot." Hangman says turning to Phoenix.
"Literally." Coyote agrees.
"Weapons systems officer, actually." The shy pilot corrects.
"With no sense of humor." Hangman says before handing his pool que to Phoenix, walking off to get some beers from Penny.
"What do they call you?" Phoenix asks the new guy.
"Bob." He says simply.
"No, your call sign." Coyote asks.
"Uh, Bob." He says with a slight nod.
"Bob Floyd. Your my new backseater, from Lemoore?" Phoenix asks.
"Looks like it. Yeah." He answers with a kind smile. Phoenix studies him for a moment before handing him the pool que.
"Nine-ball Bob. Rack'em."