ten - temporary goodbye.

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the afternoon before the big mission, the group found themselves at the beach. they wanted to hang out as much as they could before the mission had become their only priority, so everyone now found themselves by the water thanks to hangman's last minute idea.

leah was seated in an old lawn chair phoenix had stored away. watching the very hilarious sight of rooster and fanboy taking turns basically throwing each other into the water. phoenix and payback had went off hunting for any interesting shells, leaving leah with hangman. something in particular that leah had noticed, was that hangman's whole mood had been off since that morning. if it were any other day, he would have joined the festivities and wrestled with the guys in the water. but, this afternoon saw him simply sitting in the sand, staring out at the scenery as he hugged his knees slightly. leah understood why he felt the way he felt, but it hurt to see a normally boisterous personality go quiet.

after taking a second to think about it, leah gets up from the lawn chair, sitting down next to hangman on the sand.

"it's always super pretty out here, just before the sun goes down." leah comments, trying to start conversation. for a moment, hangman doesn't respond, simply nodding after a couple seconds.

"jake.. you've been off since this morning, what's up?" leah asks, which causes hangman to look at her.

"nothing, it's - it's nothing." he responds, trying to focus back on the beautiful horizon before them.

"jake, the loud and boisterous hangman i know is missing the opportunity to go throw my loving boyfriend around in the water. something is obviously wrong." the comment from leah finally causes hangman to laugh. as he takes another second before giving an actual response.

"i'm scared i guess. i know i'm not going, but i'm scared to see someone get hurt. i'm an asshole yes, but i don't wanna see you or anyone else get hurt and not come back. i don't wanna say goodbye." leah goes speechless for a moment as hangman vents to her. she had the same conversation with maverick, and had begun to come to terms with the concept of loss. but, she understood. and felt bad that hangman of all people had those feelings.

"that's why goodbyes are temporary, because we'll end up coming back. i think everyone's fearful of the risk involved, but the only thing we can do is keep fighting and go with the flow." leah's consoling manner was welcomed by the noises of rooster and fanboy coming up to them. rooster sitting down by leah, making her laugh as he shook his hair on her.

"ah, bradley!" she exclaims, hangman and fanboy laughing at the whole ordeal.

"thanks leah." hangman comments as leah flicks sand at rooster. not caring if the two men knew what they were talking about or not.

"no problem, now if you aren't gonna take on them, you can surely take on your best friend." leah suggests, the two giving devious smiles to one another.

"you're on, don't worry bradshaw, i'll be gentle." hangman responds, rooster sending him and eye roll as hangman and leah head down to the water.

"you know, not only have i never seen you this in love with a woman. i've also never seen hangman be this open, not even during academy days." fanboy comments, the two watching leah tackle hangman into the water.

"right? and i love her, i really, really do. she's changed things for the definite better."

that night, leah ended up winning the water battle with hangman, no matter how hard he denied it. after everyone got a bite to eat, they went their separate ways for the night, getting ready for the upcoming mission. rooster ended up driving leah home, since she didn't take her car that afternoon.

"i don't think i'm gonna be able to sleep tonight." rooster comments, talking about his feelings towards the mission.

"me neither, but, after these last couple of days, i feel a lot better about going out." leah responds, humming along to the melody of the song that was playing on the radio.

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