FLYBY (b. bradshaw)

𝙎𝙄𝙓

Also another fail.

"Why happened?"

"I flew as fast as I could, kinda like my ass depended on it." Hangman told him. 

"And you put your team in danger, leaving your wingman dead." Bradley objected. 

Hangman shurgged. "They couldn't keep up." 

Lilah was the next flier, alone, since Maverick claimed that since she'd flown a mission just like this about three weeks prior that she didn't need anyone to practice with her. 

She got through the course with two seconds to spare. 

She winked at Maverick when she collapsed back into her chair, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. 

"What would you tell her family?" he asked aloud, specifically looking at Bradley. Lilah's heart clenched. "What would you tell them if she hadn't finished that course?"

No one spoke for a few seconds. 

Bradley was the one to break the silence. 

"That she was an exceptional pilot that was taken too soon." 

It was a jab at Maverick, Lilah could see it in his eyes. He didn't mean it, he just wanted to wound the pilot standing in front of them. 

Phoenix glanced up. "Anyone would've been honored to fly with her and cruel things happen to good people."

Omaha, Fritz, and Halo were next up at the course. 

Maverick grilled them, but their mistake had been simple, they weren't flying fast enough. The bandit's had gotten to them first and it'd been a dog fight that they'd lost. 

Last up was Rooster, Yale, and Harvard. 

"Rooster, man, we need to move faster!" Yale yelled, communicating the information from Harvard. "We're 15 seconds behind." 

"We'll make up time in the straight away," Bradley argued back, "Being late is better than being dead." 

"Why are they dead?" Maverick asked. 

"He was the only group to make it to the target location." Lilah countered. "12 seconds late, but he still made it." 

She heard a loud sigh. Hangman. 

"You're not flying fast enough." Hangman said, each word coming out of his mouth in a bored tone. "You don't have a second to waste." 

"We made it to the target." Bradley responded. 

Maverick took a step closer, angry. "And superior enemy aircraft intercepted you on your way out." 

"Then it's a dog fight."

"Against 5th gen fighters?" 

"Yeah, we still have a chance." 

Lilah put her head to the ground, shaking it.  

"In a F-18?"

"It's not the plane, sir, it's the pilot!" Bradley said back, his voicing raising. 

"Exactly." 

Lilah's head snapped up. 

"What the fuck?" the words tumbled out of her mouth before she could stop them. 

Bradley and Maverick were both breathing hard. Lilah wished she could've reached back and clasped her own hand around Bradley's shaking one. Maverick's face fell, as if realizing what what just happened; what he'd just said.