𝘀𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗻'𝘀 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹 ༄ 𝗷. 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗻

𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚢-𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚎

𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚝𝚢-𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚎. 𝚕𝚎𝚝𝚜 𝚏𝚕𝚢

Bhavika took a deep breath.

Breathe.

Breathe.

Breathe.

She opened her eyes and zipped up her flight suit.

One whole year since she woke up in the hospital. Only a couple of months since her and Jake got back together. But it had been six years since she had gotten in a plane, and the last time wasn't the best experience.

It had taken Jake, Natasha and Athena to convince her to fly again. When Bhavika finally agreed it was because she felt ready again. Therapy had been going great and some of her more prominent anxieties had somewhat subsided, not all the way but she was getting there.

Bhavika pushed open the locker room doors and joined the other outside.

"Hi." She greet the rest of the squad.

"Hey." They all waved back.

"You ready to fly again?" Maverick said and walked up to her with her helmet.

Bhavika took it from his hands and ran her fingers over the familiar green scales that decorated the sides of the helmet. The white cursive of her callsign was a comforting sight. She looked up at her friends surrounding her.

"Yes."

"Perfect. We'll take this slow, if you don't even want fly today that is completely fine. You set the pace." Maverick coached her.

Bhavika had spent the last few months preparing for this moment. Ever since she had gotten rid of the crutches and decided not to take Honorable Discharge yet, she had been conditioning her body and mind to get back in the plane.

"We'll all be up in the air with you." Jake said and kissed the crown of her head.

They all branched off to their separate planes. Bhavika looked at her name plastered on the side of a brand new plane. She had forgotten that her original plane was somewhere at the bottom of the ocean. She climbed up a ladder and stepped into the plane, she grounded herself by talking a few deep breaths and tapping her thighs. Bhavika put on her helmet as the canopy began to close. She was trapped in silence, she could hear her heart beat in her ears.

Her breathing became rapid as the cockpit seemed to be closing in on her. Water was threatening to crack the glass. Blood was smeared on the canopy window.

No.

She was safe, all of her friends were there. She was completely safe. She cleared her head.

"Are you ready Siren?" Maverick asked her.

"I am." She confirmed and strapped on her oxygen mask.

"Good. Let's go." He pulled out of his spot first and took off into the air.

Bhavika watched as the rest of them take off before it was time for her. She had read over the entire handbook again and reacquainted herself with the controls. She pulled the plane out to the taxiway.