automatic stop, bradley bradshaw

thirty-three.

skye looked to the side as her father walked by, a book in his hands. she shook her head with a soft smile at the fact that she'd been right. she then risked a glance behind her, seeing rooster's unsurprising look of annoyance.

"did you know about this?" he mouthed.

"had a hunch." she mouthed back before turning around.

"morning." maverick said as he took warlock's place behind the podium. "the f-18 fighter manual." he introduced, slapping a hand on the book as he held it up. "it tells you everything you need to know about your aircraft. i'm assuming you know it inside and out."

hangman smiled. "damn right."

maverick dropped it into the trash can on his side. "so does your enemy. but what the enemy doesn't know, is your limits. i intend to find them. to help you pull beyond. today, we'll access what you do know. let's gear up."

skye couldn't help herself from smiling at her father's monologue, wondering if he'd practiced it in the mirror that morning. "fancy seeing you here." she said as she walked past him.

he chuckled. "surprise?"

"count me surprised." she replied.

she joined katia in the break room, moving to sit next to the radio. fanboy, payback, and rooster were all up in the air first. "good morning aviators." skye heard her father say on the radio. "this is your captain speaking. welcome to basic fighter maneuvers. as briefed, today's exercise is dogfighting. guns only, no missiles. do not go below the hard deck of 5,000 feet. working as a team, you have to shoot me down, or else."

"or else what, sir?" payback asked.

"or else i shoot back." maverick replied simply. "if i shoot either one of you down, you both lose."

"this guy needs an ego check." hangman mumbled from his position on the couch.

harvard and yale laughed. "we'll see to that!" they said before high fiving one another.

"that your old man?" hangman then asked, turning to skye.

she shrugged her shoulders. "what's it to you, bagman?"

"just curious." he replied. "if he's a mitchell, maybe he won't be too hard to put in his place."

phoenix glared at him. "watch your mouth, bagman."

skye shook her head. "it's fine, phe." she replied. "you know, it's about time i add another air to air kill under my belt." she mumbled, referencing to shooting down hangman.

"sir, what do you say we put some skin in the game?" payback suggested, drawing the attention back to the radio.

"what do you have in mind?" an amused maverick replied.

payback was smiling. "whoever gets shot down first has to do two hundred push ups."

rooster didn't seem amused. "guys.." he groaned.

"that's a lot of push ups." maverick replied.

fanboy laughed. "well, they don't call it an exercise for nothin, sir."

"you've got yourself a deal, gentlemen. fight's on." maverick said. "let's turn n' burn."

skye listened to the radio as her father completely shocked all three of them. she heard rooster save fanboy and payback, who were being pursued by maverick for a while.

"rooster just saved your life, fellas." maverick said. "but it's gonna cost him."

skye could practically see the anger in rooster's eyes. "not this time, old man."