𝐅𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐧, 𝐔𝐒𝐀 [𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫]

10

Before they knew it, the group was practicing take off & landing on the carrier. They were leaving for the mission first thing in the morning. While some would take the time to party it up and spend time with their friends, Sydney sat in her living quarters going over the mission in her head.

She wanted to make sure that if she was picked, she had everything down and did it the safest way possible. "I should probably call mom." she said to herself and stood to get her phone. Sydney quickly dialed the number, but hesitated to actually call. She had so much to tell her mother and father. Her near miss with death, Iceman's passing, and her talk with Viper.

"Sydney?" Her mother answered. It was nearly 1 am on the farm on the opposite side of the country and Donna had been sleeping good.

"Oh, mom. Sorry, is it late?" Donna looked over to the clock and sighed.

"Only 12:55am, is everything okay?" Donna got up to join her husband in the living room where he had fallen asleep watching tv again. She shook him awake and put Sydney on speaker.

"Is dad with you?"

"Right here sweet pea." he smiled even though he couldn't be seen. Just hearing their voice made Sydney feel a lot better.

"I just wanted to talk to you guys. Let you know we're shipping out tomorrow." As Sydney spoke, her mother's heart dropped. Those were words she always hated hearing.

"Well you be safe, and remember your training." Leo spoke firmly to his daughter. He too hated hearing those words, but knew it needed to be done.

"Will do dad." Sydney took a breath, "I also wanted to tell you that earlier this week, Admiral Kazansky passed away." Leo paused for a minute, hearing the passing of an old friend is always something he found hard.

"Tom was a good man."

"He was." Donna agreed before Sydney went on to tell them about her talk with Viper. "I'm glad he reached out and had accommodations for you."

"He was excited to hear you were going back to Top Gun. Even more impressed when he heard about everything you did in the time you left and went back." Leo was smiling. He was always so proud of his oldest child. She had done so much in just a short time.

"Okay, I'll let you guys go back to sleep. I love yous. So much." Sydney began to tear up at the thought of leaving tomorrow and never stepping foot on the ranch again. Or seeing her little brothers finish college & high school. Or seeing her parents again.

"We love you more." Donna spoke.

"Always." Leo added on before the call ended and Sydney put her phone down on the counter before going to open the fridge. There was 4 lonely beers sitting on the top shelf, begging her to crack one open.

It couldn't hurt. She thought to herself and reached for one. As she popped the top off, there was a knock on her door. "Well hello." Sydney said as it swung open to reveal Rooster.

"Are you busy?" he looked from the bottle to behind her to see if there was any company awaiting her return.

"No." he nodded and walked in without an invite. "Sure, come right in Bradley." she replied sarcastically as he sat on the couch.

"I felt as though we needed to have this conversation before tomorrow." He began, receiving a 'lets not' look from Sydney. She knew he was gonna want to talk everything out and come to a conclusion all in the span of the 2 hours she was allowing for the conversation.

"Brad, we really don't-"

"You were 5 when I met you. This little blonde bubble of sunshine that made everyone around her as happy as could be, no matter what." He began without warning. It sounded rehearsed to her, but he continued on. He had been trying to think of a way to say what he needed to before they left.