The Need For Speed

"My dad believed in you"

Skye's POV: 

The couple days before Iceman's funeral are spent training as hard as we can for phase two of the mission. This would be the most difficult part of our entire special detachment and no one was sure we would be able to pull this off. 

My father had told us about the high climb at a high speed that we would need to make after successfully making it through the canyon. A climb like that would have us pushing 9 g's minimum. Our body's would feel over two thousand pounds of pressure pushing against us. Our skulls and spine would feel as if they were breaking and we would have to force ourselves to stay conscious during the flight. 

It's been very difficult to complete this phase. No one had even been able to complete phase one before we started this. The mission was pushed up by a week and we only had ten days to prepare. 

Our test runs with the navigation haven't gone well. Me and Rooster went up at the same time even though we were both flying solo. We had flown somewhat successfully. Successful is considered not going into g-shock and almost dying. We both were able to hit our target with the bombs which was better than most groups. One person passed out during his run and almost crashed. Not much longer after Phoenix and Bob had a bird strike. Right now me and Rooster are sitting and waiting for some news on them. 

My father finds us sitting down together silently. He watches us for a moment before talking, "Phoenix and Bob have minimal injuries and are going to be out of the hospital by tomorrow. You should both go home and get some rest. We have a long few days ahead of us." 

I sigh in relief before smiling, "Thank you." 

"I've never lost a wingman before, I'm glad to hear that." Rooster's voice is stern but polite enough. 

"You're still young. You fly long enough and you will. I'll see you both tomorrow" my dad moves to leave but Bradley makes a noise that causes Maverick to stop.

He angrily looks up to my dad, "You would know all about it though. Why did you pull my papers?" 

Maverick looks shocked. He doesn't answer right away but when he does he says, "You weren't ready." 

"Bullshit, why did you do it?" 

"Rooster, believe me, you were not ready." 

Rooster looks him dead in the face and speaks his next words clearly, "My dad believed in you, I'm not gonna make the same mistake." 

Maverick's face looks as if he's been punched in the gut. His face shows more sadness than anything else and I gasp at the words. 

I place my hand on my mouth, "Rooster." 

He looks at me as if I'm the one who did something wrong. My dad takes the chance to leave the room quietly. "What?" 

I shake my head slowly, "I don't understand men. I really do not." 

I walk out of the room and down the hall. I get to the elevator, push the button and press my body against the wall waiting for it to get down to the main floor. 

I drive myself to the hospital. I had to talk to Phoenix. 

I run to the front desk and ask the nurse for her room number. 

"Go to east 103. She should be there." 

I thank the nurse quickly before making my way to the east side of the hospital. I knock on her door to see her in her bed. What my eyes fail to notice is someone else in the room.

"Hey P, I was so worried about you. I'm sorry I didn't come sooner." I stand by the side of her bed looking down at her with a soft look in my eyes. I lean down to kiss her cheek before grabbing her hand and sitting by her feet. 

I hear a cough from the corner. I turn to the sound and see Hangman. He motions to the door, "Could we talk?" 

All I do is nod my head yes and tell Phoenix we'll be back soon. I step through the door and watch Hangman walk out behind me and close the door. We make the move to walk towards the vending machine to get a snack for Phoenix. 

I interrupt the silence with a question, "Why'd you do it?" 

He looks down guiltily, "I honestly don't know. I guess I was just jealous. I kind of thought what happened that night would stay between us and hearing you tell Bob got me angry. I'm sorry for taking it out on you guys. I should have just said something else. Actually, I should have said nothing at all. I'm sorry." 

I take in his words as I feed the machine a dollar to get a candy. My brain processes his words for a minute before answering, "You're right, you shouldn't have said anything like that. I get it though. Your feelings are valid just like mine are. You think we can move on from this?" I get the kit-kat from the machine. 

He nods instantly making me smile, "Was it really that bad?" 

I grow confused, "Was what bad?" 

"The orgasm I barely got to give you, was it bad even before we got caught?" 

I let out a barking laugh at his words. Same old Jake. I shake my head before letting out a joke, "Nah, wasn't bad. Could be better though." 

He pushes me by my arm and we start walking, "I couldn't be any better than I am right now babe. I've hit my peak in life. Yet I still manage to be better than everyone else, don't know how that works." 

"You're such an asshole, just stop talking now." 

We reach the door and I push it open to reveal Phoenix flipping through the channels on her television. I hold up the candy, "Got this for you." 

Nat squeals and makes grabby hands at me, "I love you so much. You're the most amazing best friend in the whole world." I giggle at her antics before tossing the red wrapped candy to her. "Are you guys friends again?" 

I look over to Jake before wrapping my arm around his neck. I ruffle up his hair while he laughs, "Yeah we're friends."

He suddenly stops laughing, "Could you make sure not to mess up my hair? It takes a while to be as perfect as it usually is." 

I roll my eyes before sitting on Phoenix's bed. We spend the rest of visiting hours laughing together. 

I'm glad they're in my lives. 

Authors note

A bit of a shorter chapter. I figured I needed the first scene in the book. 

I'm working on writing the rest of the chapters over the next couple of weeks. I'm not sure how many there will be because I don't know if I want to end it after the mission or if I want to continue on after that. Maybe I should make a sequel? 

We'll see!

Love you guys!