Untamed Flame || R. Floyd

6

That evening Finley got the news that her room was with Bob. It made more sense to him now, though he still questioned the second room since they're married.

When they got back Bob helped her get out of her wet clothes and into pajamas. He settled on the couch cuddled into each other staring blankly at the tv that remains turned off. The two sit with Coronas in their hands.

A knock at the door interrupts the pregnant silence. Bob reluctantly got up, covering his wife with a blanket before going to the door.

He wasn't surprised to see Bradley there. In khaki shorts and another Hawaiian shirt like the one from the night before. His hands hang loose at his side, a depressive expression plastered on his face.

Bob was surprised to see Phoenix there too. Her dark brown hair was brushed out past her shoulders. She wears an oversized t-shirt and sweatpants looking concerned at the man.

"Phoenix was worried about Moonlight. She wanted to see that she is okay herself. She didn't know where your room was though."

He understands Bradley's words but he can't seem to find the right words. Bob glances back at Fin who still looks numb looking into nothingness.

"What happened, Bob? What was that out there?"

He scratches his forefinger against the door nervously. "Look, it's not my place to say—"

"Let them in." He swirls around quickly. Fin is staring tiredly at the trio. "I'll tell her."

"Are you sure, babe?"

She shrugs fiddling with the label on the beer bottle. "Yeah, I think I can trust her."

At her request Bob let's the two in. Phoenix looks around still seeing some unpacked bags and boxes. A mix of things she's sure comes from the couple.

Phoenix takes a seat in front of her as the boys settle in on the couch. Bradley on one side and Bob on the other.

"Phoenix—"

"Just call me Nat."

She smiles lowly looking to meet the dark-eyed girl. "Nat," she corrects, "you won't say a word." She crosses her heart, intently studying Finley. "It's only fair you call me Fin, it's what I prefer." Nat nods agreeing to her terms. "I haven't flown in four years."

"What?"

She chuckles at the hysterical expression. "I know, it's been a while. I still know everything about flying. Everything about it is right here," he points to her brain, "but with that knowledge also comes the memories. I'm starting to hate Hangman as much as you guys."

The group smiles at her letting her continue. "My last mission was overseas. I can't go into detail but what I can tell you is that everything was fine. It's the people whose arrogance, egos the height of the Empire State Building, overconfidence, too much pride... it's that who triggers me."

Natasha tips her head. "Triggers?"

"My mission was less of a security risk than this one. We went through the training and the groups were picked. It was a two-man job I was ready for. But the man who was my wingman had different ideas. He hated me through training because of my name, my gender, and my leadership. He always found a reason to verbally assault me. I didn't report and I didn't complain, I just pushed through it. He was an arrogant ass who thought he was a god. The mission was a success but the trip home was not. We were flying our f-18s back to the ship when he went against orders. We had a steady speed until a bogey showed up on the radar. He went after it but it only drew in another one. I shot down one both saving his pathetic ass," she laughs wiping her eyes. "He didn't take that too lightly. That's when his anger got the best of him and he shot at me. We were flying over a forest when I had to eject. I broke my shoulder. He left me there. For two days I was stuck in enemy territory because he left me behind to take credit for some lousy jets. It was until I got my esat working that they realized I didn't die. It wasn't until they got my report that they realized what really happened."

Nat folds her hands leaning over and covering her mouth. "I am so sorry, Fin."

"You didn't strike me down, Nat. You have nothing to apologize for."

"That's a terrible thing to do to anyone. Just over some petty kill?" Nat notices as Finley winces she's made a mistake. "I'm sorry, poor choice of words," she quickly says.

Finley waves her hands. "It's okay. I'm okay."

Nat lets out a sigh of relief. "So... up there today..."

She nods in return. "When Hangman left you to fend for yourselves just to take me out it felt like history repeating itself. All I thought about was Bob being in my shoes. It triggered that nasty memory and I lost it for a minute."

The brunette turns to her WSO. She gives him a confused look. "How did you know something was wrong?"

Rooster scoffs, "when you get to know Fin long enough you get easily annoyed by her. She talks a lot."

She glares at him from the side. "I do not."

"Sure. Whatever helps you sleep at night."

"Piss off," he goes silent looking away. She grins, "you're giving me the silent treatment? Finally, I win!" Bradley rolls his eyes. "Keep rolling your eyes. Maybe you'll find a brain back there."

Nat laughs at the two. "I know you guys grew up together but I expected joining the Navy would have split you up. How are you this close?"

Bradley lifts his hands scrunching his shoulders up as if to say I don't know. "We make up for lost time when we do see each other, I guess."

"I know you met Bob early on too but I didn't think you guys were that good of friends."

"Oh, Brad was his best man at our wedding. It was the best idea we had 'cause trust me you don't want my brothers being best man at a wedding. They got close after that. The three of us even have a group chat. We mainly talk shit about my brothers."

"I can only imagine what that's like. That's already too much testosterone for me."

Finley bites her lip. "Yeah well, when you grow up in a household of boys, besides my big sister, you become one of them."

"You said 'brothers' as in plural. How many do you have?"

She looks up to count in her head. "Four. Oaklynn is my twin, unfortunately, he's younger by the way, then theirs Dylan as you briefly saw today who is my half-brother, then my older brothers Max and Ty. Elizabeth is my only sister. We don't talk much though."

"You have a twin? I noticed you don't look like the Kazansky's is that..."

"No, Oaklynn and I were adopted by the Kazanskys. We were really young when we were adopted so we grew up calling them mom and dad."

Bradley looks over to Fin, shocked. He's never heard her talk so much about her personal life to someone she's barely met. Bob has the same look crossing onto his face.

"Have you ever looked for your biological parents?"

"Oh, we grew up knowing who they were. We just didn't care much to get to know them. Well, I should say we always knew about our bio mom."

"And your dad?"

She grits her teeth together fixing a smile. She spins her beer bottle in her hand not saying anything. She sighs. "He's a dick, let's leave it at that."