ALPHA STRIKE |rooster x oc|

chapter 8- you weren't ready

Clarke silently sat behind Phoenix, trying to keep her face as plain as possible.

"Hey, Broadway. How was your night after the beach?" Bob asked. Clarke took a deep breath to stop the smile that so desperately wanted to spread on her lips. Phoenix turned around and watched her, her eyes focused on her intensely.

"Uh, boring. Just went home and went to bed after sitting outside for a minute. It was so clear last night, it was nice," Clarke answered, Phoenix still staring her down. She turned her head as a chair scraped against the floor next to her, startling her.

"Sorry, Broadway. Didn't mean to scare you," Hangman said as he sat.

"What are you doing back here, Hangman? Don't the douchebags usually occupy the front row?" Clarke asked and gestured to the empty seat in front where he usually sat.

"Relax, I just have a question," he responded. "What are you doing tonight?"

"What?" Clarke asked in disbelief.

"What are you doing tonight?" he repeated.

"Um, I don't know, making dinner and maybe hanging out with Rooster or Phoenix. Why?" she was getting very skeptical.

"Want to grab a drink?" he said smoothly. Clarke stared ahead, unresponsive. After a few seconds, he waved a hand in front of her face and she shook herself back to reality.

"You want to grab a drink with me? You actually think that I would want to do that? You're even more delusional than I thought." she scoffed and rolled her eyes. He stood slowly with a deep breath.

"So that's a no then?" he asked smugly before he sat in his usual seat.

"That's a hell no," Clarke scoffed out. He nodded curtly and sat down, his eyes concentrated on Rooster as he walked up and sat behind Clarke.

"Hey," he whispered as he leaned across the table and tapped her on the shoulder. She shifted at the touch and turned to face him.

"Hey." she said dryly.

"Woah, what's wrong?" he asked, instantly knowing that she was upset.

"Just Hangman being Bagman, nothing I can't handle," she took a deep breath. "Let me try this again. Hi,"

"You sure? I mean, if he's bugging you or something I can fix that," he said with a lowered voice.

"Seriously, Bradley. It's fine, I'm sure." she reassured with a small smile. He nodded. He opened his mouth to say something else, but stopped himself as Maverick stood at the podium to begin today's exercises.

"Morning," he said with a nod and took a deep breath. "You all know that the target in located in a deep valley and that the surface-to-air defenses make it impossible to drop from a high altitude." The screen behind him changed to a map of the area they would be flying in. "The SAMs are located along the top of this valley, but they were designed to protect the air above not the canyon below,"

"That's because the enemy knows nobody is stupid enough to try and fly through there," Rooster piped up.

"That's exactly what I'm going to teach you to do. On the day, you will fly no higher than 100ft and your speed will be 660 knots. This is the only way to ensure you make it to the target on time before enemy aircraft has a chance to even notice you're there. The navigation systems in your planes have all been programmed with a course that simulates the canyon. Let's split into teams," he clapped his hands. "Hangman and Payback/Fanboy. Rooster and Omaha/Yale. Broadway and Phoenix/Bob. Harvard and Fritz/Coyote. Hangman's team is first." Each team rotated through, each flying the nav course. They all failed, except Rooster. After flying they reconvened in the hanger to go over everything.