Hold My Hand || J.Seresin

Chapter 7

"Hondo" I greeted, approaching the black man, "How's it been working with my dad?"
"Well he blew up a $100 million dollar plane." Hondo told me honestly.
"He hit Mach 10 though." I responded with a smile.
"And then he pushed it too far."
"That's Maverick for ya." I laughed and patted his shoulder, "I'm glad you're back."
"You think he can do it?"
"You know him better from a work perspective. But I know most of these aviators, they're in for a rude awakening with my dad's style of teaching." I was about to ask Hondo if he knew what I'd done, when a voice called out,
"Attention on deck!" The trainees stood. I kept my head facing forward, but my eyes darted to the side to see Warlock and Cyclone enter the bunker. Cyclone stopped a few paces in front of me, giving me a small nod as he passed. Warlock continued walking, approaching the podium. He set his papers down before looking at the aviators in front of him.
"Morning. Welcome to your special training detachment. Be seated. I'm Admiral Bates, NAWDC commander. You're all Top Gun graduates - the elite, the best of the best - that was yesterday. The enemy's new fifth-generation fighter has leveled the playing field. Details are few, but you can be sure we no longer possess the technological advantage. Success, now more than ever, comes down to the man or woman in the box. Half of you will make the cut. One of you will be named mission leader. The other half will remain in reserve. Your instructor is a Top Gun graduate with real-world experience in every mission aspect you will be expected to master. His exploits are legendary, and he's considered to be one of the finest pilots this program has ever produced. What he has to teach you may very well mean the difference between life and death. I give you Captain Pete Mitchell, call sign: Maverick." I watched as my dad walked down the aisle between the chairs. I was supposed to remain professional, but it was hard not to laugh seeing their facial expressions.

Jake's head swiveled toward me. I shrugged my shoulders lightly, giving him a small smirk. Did he really think I was going to tell him who his instructor would be?
"Good morning," Dad started, "The F-18 NATOPS, it contains everything they want you to know about your aircraft. I'm assuming you know the book inside and out." The aviators responded, agreeing loudly. I watched my dad scan their faces for a brief moment,
"So does the enemy." And then he dropped the giant training manual into the trash can next to the podium. I let out a sigh, sharing the same look with Hondo. This was going to be interesting.

My eyes flickered toward Bradley, who looked about ready to punch my dad. I probably should have given him a heads-up. My mind wandered from what my dad was speaking about. There was a stack of candidate files sitting on my desk, just waiting to be reviewed. While I'd be on the carrier for this mission, I was mostly just here for base support. Just because the mission was top priority, there were still decisions to be made regarding the next Top Gun class.

I snapped back to the present hearing the scraping of chairs. I guess my dad had finished his introductions. I gave a nod to Admirals Simpson and Bates before exiting the bunker and making the walk back to my office.
"Barbie!" A male voice called out. It was one of three people, and it wasn't going to be good. I slowed, turning to face them. Bradley was approaching,
"You didn't want to tell me Maverick was here." He said accusingly.
"It's a secret mission. I wasn't allowed to discuss mission details with any of you until after your first briefing." I explained, keeping my voice calm and low. If Bradley wanted to keep our relationship private, he'd need to do a better job of managing his anger.
"That's bullshit and you know it."
"Rooster, will you keep your voice down? You don't want anything to do with my dad, fine, but you are not putting me in the middle of this. I know how angry you are with what he did, and believe me, I'm angry about it too, but you don't get to put this on me." I paused, letting the words sink in. "Now get your ass to pre-flight." I ordered, knowing he'd have to listen since I was ranked above him now.

I waited till I couldn't hear Bradley's footsteps and then let my composure fall, leaning against the wall. I've tried to stay out of this situation with Dad and Bradley, but I'm going to need them to work this out, if not for their benefit, then for mine. My eyes flickered up when I felt someone's gaze on me. Jake. I shook my head, silently telling him not to approach and that I didn't want to talk. Even from here, I could see his jaw was clenched, clearly wanting to know what was bothering me, but he respected me enough to not push. I pushed off the wall and continued to my office, this time uninterrupted.

I glanced out the window for at least the 50th time today. The work pile hadn't decreased since I got back to my office. Something about my friends preparing for a secret mission had me distracted; could have been the danger or the proximity of Jake, Bradley and Dad or the fact that I could have been a part of this mission if I'd fought more against my father's wishes. I worked so hard to keep the past in the past; it would do no good to regret what couldn't be changed.

Tearing my eyes away from the window, I scanned the clutter of papers on my desk. A break - I'll just take a quick one and then deal with this mess. I grabbed my sunglasses, slipping them on and made my way outside towards the jets. The sun was glaring making it hard to see, but I swore there was a group of people doing pushups. My initial thoughts were confirmed when I approached and saw Jake, Phoenix and Bob. If looks could kill, Jake would already be dead by Phoenix's hand.

Hondo gave me a small nod, but continued counting, 106, 107. Things seemed to be off to a great start. I knew asking during the pushups wouldn't be helpful, so I figured I'd wait. There was a nice view with the wait. Jake's pushups were in perfect form. He'd been naked in my bed just last night, and yet I couldn't stop staring at him.

I approached the track, the sun beating off it. The closer I got, the hotter it felt. Why had my CO thought it was a good idea to start PT partner training in the afternoon? There was a shirtless guy about 25 feet from me doing pushups. I took a wild guess and assumed he was my partner.
"Are you Seresin?" I asked, glancing down at him. He continued doing pushups for at least another minute. I tried not to let out a loud sigh, when he finally finished and looked up at me.
"Mitchell?"
"It's Blackwood-Mitchell." I responded, crossing my arms over my chest.
"You look a little young to be married." He pondered, standing up. I was of average height at 5'6", but he was at least 4+ inches taller than me.
"I'm not." I said, trying not to stare at the muscular man. He gave a little smirk,
"Good to know." This guy seemed like a piece of work.
"Can we get started? It's freaking hot out here."
"Sure, darlin."
"Don't call me that. If you're not gonna call me by my last name, then it's Lila."
"Jake." He responded, holding his hand out. I took it and shook his hand. "Let's get started, sweetheart."

"Your dad really lives up to his reputation, Barbie." Phoenix said, pulling me out of the flashback.
"Was this some sort of punishment?" I gestured towards where all three of them were lying on the ground, breathing heavily.
"We made a deal." Phoenix told me.
"Hangman left us to get killed." Bob said, shooting a look at Jake. Hondo clarified seeing the look of confusion on my face,
"200 pushups for whoever got shot down. Mav's taken out everyone so far."
"Ah, and Hangman left you and Phoenix out to dry." I responded, looking at Bob. Sometimes I wanted to smack Jake over the head. It wasn't that he put up a "jerk" act, he was guarded and his walls were up. It had taken almost the entire year of our partner training assignment for him to finally be himself around me, and at that point we'd already been hooking up. It was frustrating watching others have such a negative opinion of him, but unless I wanted to reveal our relationship, I just had to keep my mouth shut and pretend like Jake wasn't Jake, but Hangman.