ACE | T. Kazansky

8

You think up there, your dead

Ace and Spade sat next Maverick and Goose, right behind them was Iceman and Slider.

Ace couldn't help think about the night before, she was so giddy just thinking about it. "I see last night went well." Spade whispered. "Yeah... what about you and Anna?" Ace whispered back. Spade smiled at the mentioning of her. "Awh going well." Ace whispered. "Seeing her again tonight." Spade whispered. "Can't get enough of her." Ace whispered. "Like you can't get enough of Kazansky." Spade whispered which caused her cheeks to redden.

She shook it off as the both looked ahead as Viper began to speak.

"The Bogey has good position right here, alright freeze frame." Viper started. Ace looked over at Maverick, who looked as he had his mind on two different things in the moment.

"Moment of choice. The F-14 is defensive and has a chance to bug out right here. Better to retire and save your aircraft. Push a bad decision. Charlie, jump in here at any time." Viper explained.

Charlie walked in and took a sip of drink. Maverick looked at her with concentration.

"You stay in there any longer, the bogey's gonna blow you out of the sky. You take a hard right, select Zone 5, you can extend the escape. You made a bad choice, Charlie?" Viper finished.

Charlie watched the screen as the aircraft flew in the simulation. Ace and Spade looked at each other in confusion then looked back at the front as Charlie explained the maneuver. "Aircraft One performs a split S? That's the last thing you should do! The MiG's right on your tail. Freeze this. The MiG has you in its gunsights, what were you thinking at this point?" Charlie questioned.

"You don't have time to think up there. If you think, you're dead." Maverick spoke up.

"Well, that's a big gamble with a $30 million plane, Lieutenant." Charlie looked at him.

Ice took off his aviators, knowing Maverick made a bad decision. Ace bit her lip while Spade sighed.

Charlie and Maverick were having a stare down at this point, then Charlie broke the silence.  "Unfortunately, the gamble would worked. The MiG never got a clean shot. Maverick makes an impressive vertical move over here..."

Ace looked over and saw the disappointed look on Goose's face as he looked over at Maverick. 

"...The encounter was a victory, but I think we've shown it as an example of what not to do." 

"Gutsiest move I ever saw, Mav." Slider whispered to Maverick. Ace looked up at her brother and glared then sighed as she looked forward again. "Now, this is the perfect example of a textbook maneuver." Charlie explained.

......

By the end of Class, Everyone was dismissed and Maverick stormed out of the room, Charlie followed him. "Yep, Charlie pissed him off." Spade said. "Really you don't say, I felt the tension the whole time."  Ace said.

Ace and Spade walked out of the room. "Anyways I gotta go, I am meeting up with Anna in an hour." Spade said. Ace smiled. "Have fun." Ace said. "Always." Spade said as he walked ahead leaving Ace by herself.

"Hey Ace!" She turned to Goose. "Hey Bradshaw, What's happening?" She questioned. "I was wondering, Carole and Bradley are coming in soon, I was wondering if you would like join us in dinner when they come in?" Goose asked.

She smiled. "Of course, I have to catch up with my best friend and see how much that boy of yours grown." Ace said with a smile. Ace has always been close with Goose but with his wife Carole, the closet and not to mention she adores Bradley.

"I say he's grown couple inches since you last saw him." Goose tells her. "Yeah, He's gonna be a lot like you Goose, I know it." Ace said which caused him to smile. 

"That means a lot, I'll see you around." Goose said as he patted his friend on the shoulder and walked off.

She smiled. Then she walked back to her room, changed into more comfortable clothing.

.......... 

She was reading a book when the door knocked, She got up and put on a cardigan since she was wearing a tank top, still wanted to look decent. She opened the door to find Chipper standing there. Ace grew annoyed by his presence and sighed. "Hello Chipper, how can help you?" She asked.

"Well Ace, we need to talk about something, may I come in?" Chipper asked. Ace nodded and let him in. He sat down at her desk chair while she sat on her bed.

"Well Chipper..." Ace said.

"Yeah, I came here and apologize, for myself. I am leaving it to Sundown on his own. Ace, I am sorry for the comments that I made. I wasn't thinking, then I realized. Because you are not only a woman in the navy but the only woman in our class. You deal with so much bullshit and I know you must get tired of it. Then I realize you don't tolerate it, so I came here to apologize for my actions." Chipper explained.

Ace hummed then smiled a bit. "Wow, Your the first." Ace said.

Chipper looked at her puzzled then shock came across his face. "I dealt with assholes in the past but none of them have came to apologize for their stupidity. As for you, thank you but I hope to see Sundown apologize because what he said, reminds me of those asshole. But thank you for apologizing. I hope now down the future, we can be friends." Ace said.

Chipper smiled at the woman. "Thank you Ace, not to suck up or anything. You are hell of a pilot." He said as he got up and headed to the door. "Thank you, I hear it daily.... have good evening Chipper." Ace said with a smile. "You too Ace, you too." Chipper said as he left her room.

She smiled. "Things are really changing." She said with confidence. Then her door knocked again. She opened it and  found Slider standing there.

"Slider, everything good big bro?" Ace asked.

"Yeah, I just saw Chipper leave your room, everything good?" He asked, Ace chuckled a bit.

"See you being protective... yeah, just came to apologize for what he said with Sundown." Ace said. 

"Well I see Spade calling him out did something, well he did the right thing." Slider said. Ace smiled at the mentioning of her RIO. "Spade is like you, protective." Ace said. "So is Iceman when it comes to you, little sis, I hope he makes you happy, because he will never hear the end of it, if he hurts you." Slider said.

"Love you big bro." Ace said with a smile. "Love you too." Slider said as he pulled his sister into a hug.

.........