𝕂𝕖𝕖𝕡 ℍ𝕚𝕞 𝕊𝕒𝕗𝕖

Chapter 24. I'm Going Anyway

"Everyone, dismissed."

Ava sat at the front of the class, avoiding Rooster like she had been for the last little bit. After his outburst with Maverick, she couldn't look at him the same. She lost her wingman, and he said the most hurtful thing that anyone could ever imagine. If he said that to Maverick when he was mad, what would he say to her?

"Captain Mitchell is no longer your instructor." Cyclone spoke, standing in front of the class. Ava shifted in her seat as she glared at the Admiral. She knew that he grounded the Captain after he'd texted her about it last night. 

"And as of now there are new mission parameters." Great, not only did Cyclone fire their only chance of success, now he's going to completely fuck up their mission all together.

"Time to target is now four minutes." Ava whipped her head to look behind her at Hangman, who had a concerned look on his face. Four minutes? Was the Admiral trying to get them killed?

"You'll be entering the valley at a reduced speed. Not to exceed 420 knots." Skywalker rolled her eyes as she leaned back in her chair. She was not enjoying these knew mission parameters and if she was chosen to fly, she would say fuck it and fly it the way Maverick had taught them.

"Sir, won't we be giving their planes time to intercept?" Bob chimed in, asking the same question that was on everyone else's mind.

"Well, Lieutenant, you have a fighting chance against an aircraft. What are the odds of surviving a head on collision with a mountain?" Cyclone answered, staring down at Bob who shifted uncomfortably under the Admirals gaze.

Skywalker was ignoring the rest of what Cyclone had to say. She didn't care, she was still going to fly it her way. She looked around the room, noticing Fanboy whispering to Payback. Ava could tell by the looks on their faces that they were also not thrilled with the news.

Despite trying her hardest not to, Skywalker eventually found herself meeting Rooster's gaze. He was looking at her already with wide eyes and a clenched jaw. She could tell that even he wished that Maverick was still in charge despite their most recent argument.

Ava gave him a slight nod before turning back to face the front, just in time to hear beeping coming from the monitor in front of them. There was a jet flying through the sim as Cyclone asked, "Who the hell is that?"

"Maverick to range control. Entering point Alpha. Confirm green range." Skywalker smirked as she heard the voice of the Captain over the radio. She wished she could see Cyclone's face right now but unfortunately he wasn't facing her.

"Uh, Maverick, range control. Green range is confirmed. I don't see an event scheduled for you."

"Well, I'm going anyway." Ava knew that the Admiral had to be fuming by now. She turned to face Phoenix who had let out a quiet "nice" at the Captains disobedience.

"Setting time to target: two minutes 15 seconds." Skywalker blinked a few times before leaning forward in her seat. She stared intently at the screen, double checking the timer to make sure she heard him correctly.

But Maverick did say 2:15 because that's what showed up on the screen. She could feel the excited buzz from around the room, and when she turned to look at Rooster, he also looked like he was curious if Maverick could do it.

"Final attack point. Maverick's inbound." He spoke once more before he started, and that's when the timer started to count down.

The room was silent aside from the occasional grunt coming from Maverick over the radio. Skywalker focused on the monitor a majority of the time, watching how the Captain moved through the terrain with ease.

Occasionally, she would look around the room to gauge other's reactions. Payback and Fanboy looked excited as ever. Phoenix and Bob looked stunned that he was able to move that fast. Hangman was hard to read, but it was obvious that he was tense. And then there was Rooster.

His face looked calm. In fact, it looked like the pilot didn't even care about what was happening. But by the way he was gripping the arms of his chair, she knew that wasn't the case. Maybe he felt that if Maverick could do this, there was hope for him still.

Rooster caught Skywalker staring at her and when he did, she tilted her head at him in a questioning way. He knew what she was asking and he nodded slightly in response. She wanted to know if he was okay, and he was... mostly.

"Popping in three, two, one." Skywalker turned back to the screen, watching intently as Maverick began to pull up. She leaned back, clenching her jaw as she felt her heart rate rise. He was about to drop the bombs and that's when quite a few people, including Skywalker, stood up from their seats.

If Maverick couldn't do this, what hope did the rest of them have?

Skywalker watched as the G's were steadily climbing on the screen. 9.3, 9.4, 9.5, it was making her anxious. The count down was getting closer and closer to zero and that's when it happened.

"Bulls-eye! Holy shit!" One of the other pilots in the room shouted. Skywalker let out a sigh of relief, leaning forward as she rested her hands on her knees. It was possible, Maverick just proved that. Now it was up to the rest of them to do it.

"Everyone, dismissed." Cyclone grunted as he stormed out of the room with Bates standing up and following shortly behind him. Oh he was definitely pissed now. But at least now everyone knew that this mission could be flown and survived.

-

"What do you think's gonna happen to Mav?" Phoenix asked, walking down the hall with Skywalker and Bob.

"Either he's gonna be discharged or team leader." Skywalker answered, shrugging as she slowly dragged her feet on the floor. She was worried that Maverick might get fired, and she didn't want that for him. He was one of the best fighter pilots they had, and without him, they were fucked.

"Well let's just hope it's the second one." Bob spoke, placing a calming hand on Skywalker's shoulder once they stepped out of the building. Ava only nodded, placing a hand over top of Bob's before the three of them went their separate ways.

Welp, guess we'll find out tomorrow. Ava thought to herself as she made her way towards her vehicle. Right now, all she could do was hope for the best.

-

A/N

WE'RE IN THE END GAME NOW BESTIES!!!!! I know this one was a bit shorter, but I hope that you enjoy the calm before the storm :)))) Also just a fun little life update: there's two more episodes until my favourite show comes to an end and I don't know how to cope so I might start writing a fic about that soon (;

Let me know if you have any likes or dislikes and I'll try to add it into my next chapter. And if not, I'll update again in 2 weeks :)

~ J