ALPHA STRIKE |rooster x oc|

chapter 26- standby

The air was sucked from her lungs. Hot tears stung her face and soaked her hands that were clamped over her mouth. Her vision blurred as more tears brimmed in her narrowed eyes and she took in a large gasp. "NO!!!" Her scream was blood curdling, her throat ripping at itself as she screamed and breathed heavily. Clarke looked over to Hangman, who also had a serious look of worry in his eyes. 

"Guys! We have to go back!" Rooster's voice crackled over the comms. Hearing his voice made it even worse for Clarke. She held in a violent sob as she could hear each of her friends wrestling with themselves over what to do.

"We can't." Bob answered weakly.

"There's nothing we can do for him!" Phoenix said, her breath catching between words as she tried to keep her composure. "Let's just get the hell out of here!" If Clarke hadn't been paralyzed with shock she would've gone after her father, but she sat motionless, staring at the screen of the jet. 

"We have to do something!" Rooster argued.

"We can't! We're no use if we're dead!" Payback argued back.

"Let's get out of here!" Fanboy yelled.

"Come on, Rooster." Phoenix pushed one last time. "Rooster! Don't!" Her yelling brought Clarke back to reality. She turned to Hangman, a pleading look in her eyes. 

"Dagger standby, requesting rescue permission!" He yelled into his headset. 

"Negative, Standby." He gave Clarke the most sympathetic look he could muster, but his own emotions were starting to show. Both of them could only sit and wait for everyone to return. Hopefully everyone would.

---

As soon as the jets came into sight, Clarke was out of her own jet and running towards them. Payback and Fanboy were the first to land. "Guys, what the hell happened?!" she screamed as she ran up to them. They looked at each other, looked back at her, and pulled her into a hug. "What?" she asked again. Neither of them answered. They all turned their heads to see Phoenix and Bob landing. Clarke marched over to Phoenix as she jumped out of the jet. Clarke was shaking as she looked at her friend, who hadn't said anything, and just looked at her.

"I..." her voice began to crack, "I'm sorry, Clarke." A small tear fell down Phoenix's face. Clarke let out another cry and collapsed into her arms. 

"No! No, what happened?!" She cried, wanting answers. Phoenix didn't answer. She just comforted her friend.

"I don't really know." she said quietly after Clarke's cries had softened. "Mav was Mav about it." Both girls let out a small chuckle. "Rooster..." Clarke gasped as she said his name. "I don't know. He had this look on his face. He was instantly upset, but it...changed, I don't know. It all happened so fast." Phoenix was struggling to retell the events to Clarke.

"Did I lose them both?" she asked weakly as she looked up at Phoenix's face. "Did I lose them both?! How? Did I lose them both today?!" She had finally gotten to a breaking point. Phoenix quickly ushered her off the main deck and back to the living quarters. As soon as the door shut, Clarke was on the floor in a ball of sobs. Phoenix knew there was nothing else she could do for her friend except be there. She tightly wrapped her arms around Clarke.

Some time later, a knock came at the door. Clarke sat up quickly, realizing she was on the floor of their room and not on deck. "How long have we been in here?" she asked as she rubbed her face, both puffy and wet from crying. 

"Maybe half an hour, I don't know." Phoenix answered as she stood to open the door. She expected to see one of the admirals there with news, but instead was met with Hangman, Payback, and Fanboy. She looked back to Clarke, who was zoned out staring at the floor. She stepped into the hallway, shutting the door behind her. "What? She's losing it, this better be good." she said defensively. 

"I swear, it's good." Fanboy said instantly. 

"Rooster showed up on radar." Payback added.

"Supersonic." Hangman said lastly. "He's flying something."