Little Bird

18

I'm afraid to be lonely

Nobody told me

It's harder than I thought to tell the truth

It's gonna leave you in pieces

All alone with your demons

And I know that we need this

But I've been too afraid to follow through'

As I sing the lyrics I make eye contact with Maverick, he has begun tearing up and pulled Penny into him. He has them both swaying side to side.

Hold me close and I won't leave

'Cause it hurts when you hurt somebody

So much to say but I don't speak

And I hate that I let you stop me

'Cause it hurts when you hurt somebody

As I finish the song Maverick comes up and gives me a big hug, thanking me for doing this for him. He walks back towards Penny, and I make my way over to Rooster, Phoenix and Bob.

"What was that all about?" Phoenix asks.

"I'm not sure, but he was weirdly emotional." I shrug, putting my arm around Bob's waist, tucking myself into his side.

Bob puts his arm around my shoulders pulling me in tighter. We stand and talk with Rooster and Phoenix for a while longer before we all agree to head back to the apartments.

When we arrive at the apartments Bob asks me to spend the night again tonight and I agree. We make our way to his apartment when we spot Rooster and Phoenix Standing outside our apartment. I turned and gave Bob a look before we continued on our way to Bob's apartment.

We made a small dinner together of chicken and rice, and cuddled up on the small sofa to watch a tv show as we ate.

"Are you nervous about tomorrow?" I asked softly.

"Yeah I am. I'm nervous one of us will go and the other one won't. I'm scared that we will lose someone on this mission." He responds.

"Maybe we should head to bed. Overthinking all of this will only cause more stress and freak us both out." I say, standing up and taking both plates to the sink, washing them as Bob dries them and puts them away.

We make our way towards the bathroom to finish up both of our nightly routines before climbing into bed and falling asleep.

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The next morning begins like all the others. Bob and I wake up, eat breakfast, then get into our uniforms. I pull my hair into its mandatory slick back bun and Bob cleans his glasses one last time before putting them on. We grabbed our bags and walked out the door.

As we make our way towards the parking lot we find all the other pilots and WSOs slowly making their way. Everyone is walking with a slower pace, as if worried about walking towards the unknown of the day.

When we all arrive on base we are told to head towards the carrier straight away. We were to depart by 7AM sharp. We are taken to the carrier by helicopter, then given room assignments. I will again be rooming with Phoenix and four other female crew for the three days we will be away. Bob, Rooster, Payback, Fanboy, Coyote and Hangman will all be in one room and then the other pilots and WSOs will be in another room .

Once we have put our bags down we are called to a briefing room where the teams who will fly the mission are being announced. Maverick is at the front of the room next to Cyclone, Warlock and Hondo.