Righteous - Bradley Bradshaw

~As I live and breathe

no more dates lol that was just to keep it on track to the present 

"Is that you? Is this how I find out you're stateside?" Ok then, obviously they know each other.

"Yeah, I just thought I'd surprise you." Excusing herself to get a drink, she pulls her hat down to avoid his eye.

"Bradshaw. As I live and breathe." Walking back to the group with her refill, still avoiding eye contact. She doesn't know where they stand. 

"Hangman, you look.....good." he doesn't know that comment will go straight to Jake's head. 

"Well I am good Rooster, I'm very good." Mouthing along to Jake's famous line, she takes a seat by Bob. that action forced Bradley's eyes to her. "In fact, I am too good to be true." 

"Is he for real?" Bob whispers to Oakley.

"That's as real as Bagman will get." 

"So," Payback breaks the awkward pause. "Anybody what this special detachment is all about?" 

"Well, a missions a mission, they don't confront me. What I want to know, who's gonna be team leader?" Glaring at Jake as a silent warning to not tick anybody off, Oakley sighs as he continues. "And which one of y'all has what it takes....to follow me." And there he goes. 

Bradley shoots Oakley a glance before turning to Jake. "Hangman, the only place you'll lead anyone is an early grave." Right Bradshaw is sassy. 

Jake flashes his signature grin, walking around the table to Rooster. "Well, anyone who follows you is just gonna run out of fuel. But that's just you ain't it Rooster? You're snug on that perch, waiting for just the right moment....that never comes. I love this song." Walking away from Bradley, Jake taps Oakley's knee. 

"What?"

"I love pushing his buttons." 

"Nope. He sure hasn't." Oakley overhears Phoenix talking to Bradley when they make eye contact. 

"I'm gonna get some air." Handing her beer to Bob, she makes her way over to the doors that lead to the beach. Sitting down in the sand she takes in the ocean smell. 

"You shake my nerves and you rattle my brain!" 

That one song takes her straight back in time when things weren't awkward between them. Not knowing what went wrong between them, bothers her. Bradley was her best friend, the man who got her in the air again, the man who's to blame for her pre-flight ritual, introducing herself to her plane. 

They had it good, then one day he just stopped answering. 

And she doesn't know who to blame. 

"I'd knew I would find you out here." The sudden break in silence by Bradley makes her tense up. 

"Something about the beach right?" Making his way to sit beside her in the sand, he doesn't say anything for a bit. 

"Can I ask you something?" Bradley nods, watching her take off her hat and running her fingers through her hair. "Did I do something wrong?" 

Breath hitching in his throat, he tucks his sunglasses on his shirt. "When?"

"Oh I don't know, how about 4 years ago when you decided to stop talking to me."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"It wasn't your fault. I-i just...i don't know what happened."

"Wow, after 4 years, that's the best you got?" Oakley scoffs, grabbing her hat to stand up.

"No! Wait. You're right. You deserve better than that."

"Darn right I do."

"I found out that Maverick pulled my papers." Her jaw drops when she hears that. "It had set me back four years."

"But, you graduated with me."

"Yeah, and 4 years before that, I had sent my papers in and they were rejected. Then I found out why." 

"So him screwing it up for you for 4 years equals the same for me for 4 years?"

"No no no. It doesn't."

"I'm sorry to hear the papers got pulled that sucks. But what hurts more is that you just stopped talking to me for no reason. And I had thought that me and you were tight." Bradley listens as her eyes water. "I mean, you were my best friend. The only reason I got back in the air, the only reason I graduated Top Gun. Heck, to this day I still introduce myself to my aircraft. Because of you. And it's because of you that I lost my best friend, a part of myself." 

Standing up, placing her hat on her head, she looks down at him. "B, I have missed you for 4 years. I am here to fly. When you can come up with a better reason for dumping me, you let me know." Walking back to the Hard Deck, she gets to the door and Bradley is still sitting in the sand. 

"Hey, you ready to go?" Bob comes up.

"Yeah, I'm wiped." 

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