THE ARCHER | ❝who could ever leave me, darling? but who could ever stay?❞
Faith "Archer" Wilson lost him years ago, and she didn't want to meet him ever again, after they left to become their own people, on different paths. But when she is called ba...
FAITH 'ARCHER' WILSON WAS NOT ONE FOR EARLY MORNINGS.
Unfortunately, today was an important morning, for it was her first day at the TOPGUN : Academy. Groggily, she smacked her alarm clock off, still laying in her bed for about five minutes before the little voice in her head yelled at her, 'get the fudge outta bed, and get ready.'
She pulled of the pale blue comforter off of her body, stepping out of bed and moving into her bathroom.
With a toothbrush in her mouth, she opens the door to her bedroom, looking at a fluffy cloud of white and grey fur, her one and only friend, her little baby, her kitten, Hulk. He was a white Siamese, with grey fur around his tiny face, beautiful Egyptian blue eyes.
She found the sweetheart on her porch, waking her up in the middle of the night with loud meows. Opening the door that day to a strange noise outside in the middle of the night was the best decision she had made in a very long time, besides joining TOPGUN.
After spending nearly half an hour getting ready and having breakfast, she took five minutes to scratch her companion's tiny head, and with his purring, she could have guessed she was doing the right thing. "Hulk, smash. Come on, smash, Hulky-boy." Faith says, waiting for the little kitten to do his thing. Letting out a huff of attitude, the kitten lifts his right paw, and stomps it on the ground, imitating the actual Hulk. "Great job, sweetheart!"
She picks him up, holding him close to her chest as she rests her chin on his head, his and her eyes shutting in a moment of enjoying their solitude, blessing each other with their warmth. "Wish me luck, honey." She opens her eyes, pulling him in front of her, and he reaches out a paw to touch her button nose, as to say, 'all the best, mama.' Faith gives him multiple kisses and scratches on his head, before gently putting him down on the ground, grabbing her bag, keys and helmet.
She turns back to look at him, "You be good at home, okay? You know where everything is, try not to poop on the love seat again, alright?" The kitten just looks at her with a mysterious glint in his eyes. She shakes her head, small smirk on her lips, knowing she can't help but melt for her little boy.
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WALKING HER WAY THROUGH THE TARMAC ONTO THE DECK, FAITH SWORE SHE HAD NEVER FELT HER HEART BEAT SO RAPIDLY IN HER ENTIRE LIFE.
It was even worse from when her father would beat her up, and then throw her in her room and lock her in for hours.
She put her stuff in her assigned locker, and walked to the deck. Faith was looking down at her admission papers, when she crashed into what felt like a brick wall, but it seemed to be wearing the Top Gun uniform, her papers scattering on the ground.
Raising her head up to look at the brick wall clad in uniform, she took a double take, glancing into hazel green eyes, which seemed to be staring down at her with an annoyed expression until she looked up. Faith noticed his eyes soften, trying to capture and store the deep olive green color in her head, not wanting to forget the wall's eyes.
Pulling back from his intense gaze, she looked down at her papers, then back to his eyes, muttering "Sorry for crashing into you." And she knelt down to pick up her papers, him following her to sit on his knees, helping her gather her papers, hands brushing against each other's.
Faith looked back to his eyes, a crinkle on her lips, which seemed to pull up in the tiniest of smiles. His lips pulled up into a smile. "Oh, don't worry about it, I should've watched where I was going." He handed her the papers which he had gathered.
They stood back up on their feet. Faith put her hand out for him to shake, "I'm Faith, Faith Wilson." He took her hand in his with a firm grasp. His hand felt soft, but rough at the same time, the feeling was so rare, Faith seemed to want to hold his hand forever.
"Bradley. Bradley Bradshaw." And then, came his smirk. Faith let go of his hand, wiping them down on her pants.
God, she hated her clammy hands.
"I'll see you around, Bradshaw." Faith's lips pulled into a smirk of her own, and she patted him on the shoulder before walking towards the Deck.
"Can I walk you to the deck?" A voice came from behind her. Faith's lips hid a ghost of a grin. She turned back to look at him over her shoulder, "You sure? I don't wanna be a bother." She fully turns around to look at him, who was slowly walking closer to her. "Yeah, I-" Bradley looked at his brown leather shoes, probably trying to hide the flush on his face, "I'm headed there as well." He nodded in confirmation.
"Okay." Faith nodded, small grin on her face as she held her papers close to her chest.
They started walking to deck together, stealing side-eyed glances at each other.
Faith turned to look at him, "So you're new here too?" she asked him with a curious gaze, eyes onto the right side of his face, walking by his side, but her attention was entirely on him.
"Yeah, it's also my first class today." Bradley nodded, small smile of pure joy on his face.
"Oh, wait, you're in Captain Hurricane's class too?" Faith paused at his side, making him stop to nod and reply, "Yes, Ma'am. You too?" Bradley asked, brows furrowed in curiosity.
"Yep." Faith nodded, looking down at her shoes.
She looked back up at him, a spark in her eyes, "What's your callsign?" she asked, beginning to walk in the same direction as before.
"Rooster. Bradley 'Rooster' Bradshaw." He replied, sharing that mysterious spark in his eyes with her.
"You?" He asked her now, looking deep into her eyes.
"Archer. Faith 'Archer' Wilson." Faith replied, smile on her lips growing unknowingly.
"Faith 'Archer' Wilson." Bradley repeated her name, which seemed to roll off of his tongue so smoothly. She didn't notice the way he directed his neck down to look at his shoes, hiding the fast paced wave of red blush from her soft eyes.
Faith had met multiple people in her life, but no one hand quite the presence around themself as this man walking beside her did. And the way he said her name, like no one had ever before.
And his smile, oh god, it made her feel like she had been seen for the first time ever in her life, as she stepped out of the dark shadows of her past to push herself forward.
