FLYBY (b. bradshaw)

𝙏𝙃𝙄𝙍𝙏𝙔-𝙏𝙒𝙊

Cyclone stepped up next, silencing everyone. Maverick's whole demeanor shifted beside me. His jaw was tight, his shoulder's tense. I tried to ignore it as I listened.

"3 days ago, I was sure this mission was impossible, the parameters were too tough. And then I had one crazy son of a bitch pilot that I fired, and then a psycho and slightly dangerous pilot that forged her discharge papers do it in less than we'd asked, 15 seconds less, and with perfection. That pilot is standing in front of you." I bit my lip to hide my smile, yet no one else seemed to bother. "This will not be easy, it will be draining and push you to your limits, but it's possible."

The room was so silent you would've been able to hear a pin drop as Maverick stepped forward and cleared his throat. "I'm not one for speeches, never have cared for them and probably never will, but here we go." Maverick paused and met eyes with every pilot. "Two weeks ago, I never wanted to teach. I'm not a teacher, I'm a fighter pilot. Yet here I am, standing in front of all of you, as proud as a parent would be on graduation day. I have no doubt that this mission will be a success and I expect nothing less than perfection."

He again halted and turned to face me. "I've known Hurricane since she was seven, I watched her graduate middle school, high school, college, and the naval academy. I've been at her promotion, I've never missed an award ceremony," He gave me a side smile and I knew what was coming. "Her grandfather, Admiral Tom "Iceman" Kazansky was right next to every second, and if he hadn't left us so soon, he would be as proud as I am."

I didn't dare give him a hug as I sniffled and he continued, "It's a good thing that Iceman was the best of the best, and his granddaughter is here to carry on his legacy." Mischievous laced his words as he winked at the admirals. "And that I'm one crazy son of a bitch."

The admirals didn't seem it amusing, but the 12 pilot's did. They were all hiding their snickers with coughs and lip biting.

"How... wonderful." Warlock said, and he tipped his head to me. "Would you like to say anything to your team, Captain?"

I felt my face get ready as he urged me forward. "Let's rock their shit?"

I couldn't help but smile brightly as I heard a few sighs, but mostly laughing. I bowed as Bradley shook his head at my antics.

"Thank you, Captain Kazansky," Cyclone said, most likely because Warlock was covering up his smile with a cough. "I'd like our 12 pilot's and team leader to report to the ready room. Everyone else, do your job, mission is a good in t-missus an hour."

The mood in the room completely shifted, and suddenly, no one was laughing, not even a ghost of the smile tainted a single pair of lips in the room.

★★★

No one spoke as we sat down in our seats. Bradley was next to me, rubbing my thigh gently, tapping on it every so often with his fingers. Nat's leg bounced up and down and Jake was pacing in front of me. Despite the somber mood, I resisted the urge to trip him so I could watch him land on his ass.

I tugged gently on my eyelashes, a nervous habit that only reached before a mission. It used to be a strictly pre-meet thing when I ran in high school.

"Stop," Bradley muttered softly to me. Gently, he brushed my hand away from my eyelashes and onto my thigh. Five or six lashes sat on my fingers.

"It's going to be okay, we're going to be okay."

I blew out a long breath in response and stood up to start pacing with Jake. A few people had their heads pressed into the seat, while others sat hunched over with their hands folded and eyes closed. Reuben was massaging Nat's shoulder's, the action calming them both.

I felt a hand on my shoulder after I'd gone a few lengths of the floor.

Jake.

He wouldn't let me move, his hand clamping tighter onto my shoulder. His eyes were hard, lethal, ready, but something in the way his lips curved downwards and the worry lines that were sketched on his forehead told me differently.

"Be careful up there, Kazansky." he mumbled to me. His fingers digging him my skin had started to hurt. "And come back to us alive."

I managed to break free from his grasp. "You're worried about little old me? This is light work."

"Good," he whispered, fanatically. "Good."

I placed my good arm on one of his shoulders. "What's wrong, Jake?"

"She's going up, isn't she?" he asked in a manner as if his breath had been snatched from him. "Natasha, she's flying, right? She's your wingman?"

"How - how did you know that?" I hissed to him, shoving him farther away from the group.

He gave me a crazed glance. "You don't trust anyone else to watch your ass. You two always have each other's backs."

"She's smart." I reminded him with a forced smile. "And a good damn pilot."

"And you'll jump in front of her."

It must've been my tone, or maybe just because Jake and I were a lot alike, but he spoke the words aloud I'd never dared to say.

"You'd jump in front of any of them, right? You might not care most of the time, but you'll choose to jump in front of them. The feelings might go away, but the instincts don't."

"Yes," a whisper, a secret. "Yes, I'd jump in front of any of them, maybe without even realizing what I'm going on."

"Just," he sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Just don't get killed, okay? I don't think I've even seen Bradshaw so happy."

"I won't."

A lie, but he didn't know me that well.

I'd been a liar my whole life, and a good one. I just had to bullshit my way out of this for another 5 minutes, and I was home free. Maverick just needed to hurry up.

I was almost fully lowering into my seat when Cyclone and Warlock stormed in, Maverick on their tail. They were all arguing, but the conversation quickly ceased asthey reached the front of the room.

"All stand."

No one seemed fully keen on the idea, but no one stayed seated.

"Captain Kazansky," Warlock called to me and I tried my best to walk straight. Maverick put a comforting hand on my shoulder to keep me steady. "As you all know, this is your mission leader. No need for introductions, you've all become well acquainted."

Maverick cleared his throat beside me. Warlock seemed to have something stuck in his throat as he continued, "Under unfortunate circumstances, it's been decided that Captain Lilah Kazansky is not in the mindset to pick who will fly today. That job has been passed off to your instructor, Captain Mitchell."

The words took a few moments to set in. In the same amount of time, Maverick had stepped away from me and the words had already seemed to set in for the other 12 pilot's.

"What?"

I don't think I meant to speak the words aloud, but they came out anyway. Maverick stopped whatever he was saying to let Cyclone handle me.

"You've been deemed unable to make a good, well-thought decision."

"No, no," I laughed, but there was no humor. "I understand that. I'm asking why the hell I've been deemed "unstable"."

"With the recent events -"

I cut him off, "What, my grandfather dying? Me in a coma? I don't think someone else gets to decide if I'm unstable when it was me going through that. My team will consist of who I want to fly with, not my instructor who has more trauma than any of us combined."

"Stand down, Hurricane," Warlock barked, a warning underneath. I crossed my arms and jutted out my hip. "That's an order."

I opened my mouth, then shut it.

And then, I walked out of the room.

No one seemed to stop me as I slammed the door and got as far away from Maverick's echoing voice as possible.