𝐅𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐧, 𝐔𝐒𝐀 [𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫]

09

Sydney was late getting into their lesson the next morning. She definitely needed a little more time to rest but had to stay on track with the mission. When she walked in there were whispers but she wasn't sure what they were about. She passed by Hangman and found the open seat by Rooster. They shared a smile and she leaned forward to Phoenix, "What's going on?"

"I think-" was all she could get out before Cyclone entered the room and began talking.

"Captain Mitchell is no longer your instructor and as of today, there are new mission parameters." he began causing a look of disbelief to cover everyone's faces. How could Maverick not be their instructor anymore? What happened?

Cyclone began going over their new parameters. No one could believe the danger they were being put in with the new set of rules. 4 minutes to target? That was enough time for enemy aircraft to intercept them. A higher flying altitude? So they risk the chance of being in the SAMs range?

"Sir-" Sydney began but was cut off by an aircraft being detected on the terrain map. She stopped and watched as it flew into position and they all heard Maverick's voice come through the comms radio.

"Maverick to range control, entering point Alpha. Confirm green range."

"It's confirmed, but I don't see an event scheduled for you."

"Well I'm going anyway." they watched as the time was set to 2 minutes and 15 seconds and his take off. Brad shared a look with Sydney who was equally as impressed as he was. How anyone was going to deny Maverick as the detachment leader now, they weren't sure. But if he could manage to fly the mission and hit the target in time, he would definitely be considered.

"Popping in 3, 2, 1." they watched and waited for him to launch his missile. Once it was bombs away, Sydney stood up with everyone else to see him the target.

"Bullseye. Holy shit." Bob said after seeing it make impact with less than one second until the time was up. Cyclone turned around to the group, trying to hide the annoyance on his face, and led them out to the tarmac where they ran the mission in the way he wanted it done.

The group spent 4 hours nailing the mission like there was no tomorrow. Although after the first round of 4 minutes, they all collectively agreed on trying to minimize the time as much as they could. Soon enough they were running the mission in the parameters Maverick had taught them and they were doing it easily. "Alright, that's enough for today. Come back down." Cyclone called through the radio to Rooster, Phoenix, and Bob. Sydney had already hit the shower before they even got back into the building.

"It's quite annoying that you all take forever to get clean." She said as the three met up with her relatively at the same time.

"Would you rather us be gross and sweaty?" Rooster joked as he pushed his sweaty black t-shirt in her face. She swatted it out of her face and fell back behind him and Bob to talk to Phoenix. She slung her arm around the smaller blonde's shoulders.

"Good to see that you guys are friends again."

"Well, we had a nice chat yesterday morning. Decided that it was easier to like him instead of attempting to ignore him until this was over." Phoenix laughed because she knew how good Sydney was at ignoring people. "Tell me something." Sydney asked her as she was tired of talking about herself.

Phoenix held a cheeky grin and removed her arm from around her. "So where we going to dinner? I'm starving." Phoenix had ran up between Bob and Rooster to avoid the question. Sydney found her spot next to Rooster and threw a look at her friend.

"You okay?" Bradley asked looking down at her and noticing her gaze toward Natasha.

"Yeah."

They all piled into his old Bronco and headed downtown to find a good place to eat. They had settled on the Werewolf, it was some bar that sold American style food. Which was a win for Sydney because she had been craving a good hamburger. "Table or bar?" Natasha asked as they walked through the doors. They all looked at each other and ultimately landed on a table. Once they were settled and had ordered, Sydney decided she wanted to get a drink from the bar. This whole detachment felt like a break mixed with a little bit of flying everyday.