Hardest to Love | Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw

𝟏𝟗 - 𝐈𝐓'𝐒 𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐌𝐘 𝐅𝐀𝐔𝐋𝐓

My Father stands in front of Beau's desk with his hands cupped together. He wears his green jumpsuit, gazing down at Beau, sitting in his chair with his hands placed on top of his table. Beau has called my Father in for a brief talk while everyone else and I are flying in the air, training.

Beau's elbows rest on the arms of the chair, the gloomy sunlight hit his face as he stared back at my Father. "I can only imagine what you must be feeling right now." He finally speaks. "Take some time, whatever you need."

My Father takes a second to think before he responds back to Beau's statement. He shakes his head. "Well I appreciate that, Sir, but there's no time. The
mission — " Beau cuts him off. "I'll be taking over the training from here."

My Father narrows his eyes, furrowing eyebrows at the male in front of him. "Sir?" Beau shifts his body back, leaning into his chair. "We both know you didn't want this job." He gestures his hands up in the air.

"They aren't ready yet." My Father protests, taking a step forward.

"Well it was your job to get them ready, Pete." Beau snaps back, raising his chin up. "Sir, they have to believe that this mission can be flown." His heart starts to race. "What you've only managed to do is teach them that you can't. You can clearly see that each and every one of your pilots are struggling up there, three almost nearly killed."

My Father tries to fight against the Admiral, saying, "Sir." But he cuts him off, not wanting anything else, but for my Father to leave and let this mission run without him. "You're grounded, Captain." Beau's eyebrows lift slightly.

"Permanently." That last word shatters my Father.

He shakes his head in disbelief while Beau moves on, looking through papers on his desk. "Sir." He calls again. "That's all, Pete." He sighs, looking up.

Beau waits for my Father to leave his office. He lets out a sigh through his nostrils, licking his lips. My Father was afraid something like this would happen, and it did. He starts walking towards the door, forcing his hands into fists. Beau looks back down at the papers on his desk, going by on his day.

—

"We're gonna crash." My voice gave up on me. I come to a realization that both our engines are broken down in flames and we weren't going to make it. "Lolo, nothing's working." I panted.

My voice echoes through my ears, sudden ringing reflects inside my ears. It disrupts me, scrunching up my face. I make a small groan, hoping it would stop. I'm in my jet at this very moment, flying straight up. My face feels as if a whale just hit me straight in the face with its tail. Gravity isn't my friend right now. I curse to myself, pulling on the yoke as hard as I can until I reach the maximum height I need to aim.

"Try one more time! Don't give up!" Malia switched a switch that restarted the jet. The color of her skin drained from her as she tried to comfort me, fighting for our lives at this moment.

My teeth grind as another flashback attacks me while I try to manage myself, steadily, in the air. The more I fly up, the more it's harder to breathe in air. "Fuck." I pant. "Hawk, you alright?" Natasha asks through the radio. I purse my lips tight together. "I'm fine."

I let out a long breath of air from my mouth. "Hawk! Listen to me! We're still up at a good distance from the ground, we have time, just keep trying!"

The ringing gets louder, forcing my performance to fail as I reach to the top. My hand which is formed into a firm fist slams onto the glass canopy. My face turns pale. I break left, turning upside down as my jet flies down. Another groan escapes from me.