18 DAYS UNTIL MISSION
Jenna woke up to her alarm blaring. She sat up and rubbed at her eyes, trying to push the sleep from them. Rolling out of bed, she padded out to the living room to wake up Rooster, but he was nowhere to be seen. She saw the blanket that she gave him last night folded neatly on the end of the couch, with a piece of paper on top of it. Jenna grabbed the paper and read the scrawling handwriting.
Kill,
Thanks for letting me crash last night (even though you fell asleep so technically I couldn't ask). Also, check the fridge! See you at work :)
-Rooster
Jenna smiled at the note and turned around to head to the kitchen. Opening up the fridge, she spotted a plate with scrambled eggs and chopped up fruit sitting on the shelf at eye level. She ate quickly and dropped her dishes into the sink, noticing how there weren't any dirty dishes from when Rooster made breakfast.
Changing quickly into her uniform, Jenna grabbed her bag and hopped into the car. When she got to the hangar, she pulled in next to Bradley's car and rushed inside. Jenna slid into her seat as Maverick started to set up in the front.
"Hey," Rooster said, turning to face her with a smile.
"Hi," Jenna said, face flushed from running from the parking lot. "Thanks for breakfast this morning!" Phoenix overheard what Jenna said and she whipped around in her seat in front of them to look at Jenna with a smirk.
"Glad you liked it. It's my specialty." He said with a wink. Rooster didn't seem to notice the silent conversation happening between Phoenix and Jenna, with Phoenix trying to figure out what went down last night. Jenna looked at her and mouthed "I'll tell you later".
"You'd better," She said and turned back around. Jenna cringed, knowing she was trying to get Rooster to notice her blushing.
"What?" Rooster asked, finally cluing in.
"Oh look, Mav's about to start. Pay attention." Jenna said, trying to distract him from the color creeping up her neck. Luckily for her, Maverick was actually about to start. He turned on the screen and the list of pilots participating in today's exercise popped up.
"Okay," Maverick started. "Those of you that didn't go yesterday, go today." Maverick and six of the pilots stood up, Hangman among them. They filed out of the room and down the the locker rooms, and Jenna caught Phoenix staring at Hangman as he left.
Each group went, and each group failed. Not a single one of them had successfully flown the simulated route. Maverick stood at the front of the room again.
"Hangman," he said. "What went wrong?"
"I flew like my ass depended on it, sir." Hangman responded cockily. "The others just couldn't keep up."
Rooster interrupted before Maverick could continue. "You lost your wingman in the process. You're flying too fast."
Hangman scoffed and turned to look at Rooster. "You were over a minute late to the target. You're not flying fast enough!"
"At least we made it to the target," Rooster snapped back at him. "We are the only group that did."
Maverick pulled the conversation back to himself. "But at that speed, you'll be intercepted by superior enemy aircraft, Rooster."
"Then I'm prepared to dogfight," Rooster responded, challenging Mav.
"Against 5th generation fighters?" Maverick asked incredulously.
"It's not the plane, it's the pilot." Rooster said as he leaned forward in his seat.
"Exactly!!" Maverick exclaimed. "This is what I've been trying to teach you all." A moment of silence fell over the pilots.
Rooster broke it. "There's more than just your way to fly this mission."
Hangman cut back in. "A man flies like Maverick, or no one is coming home from this." He looked over at Phoenix and Jenna, smirking. "No offense intended."
"And yet, you always manage," Bob said, shaking his head. Phoenix and Jenna both glared hard at Hangman, but kept their mouths shut.
"I don't mean to single you out, Rooster." Hangman continued, ignoring Bob. "But you're flying too safe. We are training for a level of combat that none of us have experienced before. You need to focus on the present, not the past."
Rooster sat up straight next to me. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Oh come on. We all know that your dad was Maverick's RIO and that he was flying with Mav when he died."
Jenna whipped her head around to look between Maverick and Rooster. She did not know that. Rooster stood up, fuming.
"You son of a bitch," he yelled at Hangman, and lunged for him. Immediately, all of the pilots were out of their seats, with Phoenix and Jenna both reaching towards Rooster to hold him back. They struggled for a moment, but eventually the mob evened out into two groups.
"I'm just fine," Hangman said, putting his hands up. He turned to Maverick. "You know he's not fit to fly this mission, sir."
"Alright that's enough!" Maverick yelled. "You're all dismissed for the day. Go home!"
The group of pilots quickly dissipated, leaving Rooster, Phoenix, Bob and Jenna collecting our things from our seats.
"Hard Deck later?" Jenna asked quietly.
"Yeah that sounds good," Phoenix responded, and Bob nodded along with her. Jenna looked to Rooster for an answer from him.
"Maybe," he said with a grunt.
"I'm buying?" Jenna said, trying to convince him.
"Now you're talking," Rooster said with a small smile. "I'll be there."
~
A few hours later, Jenna walked into the Hard Deck thirty minutes before it opened. She needed to have some time with Penny before everyone else got here.
"Hey Jen!" Penny greeted her, coming out from the kitchen.
"Hey Pen!" Jenna said with a chuckle. "I know I'm early, need help with anything?"
"Actually, yeah that'd be great," Penny said. "Help me with the cases of beer back there?" She asked, gesturing towards the kitchen.
"Sure thing!" Jenna said, heading back. It only took a few minutes to carry everything to the bar, and afterwards she sat down on a barstool as Penny started refilling the fridges underneath the bartop.
"So," she said, smiling mischievously. "I saw you with Bradshaw the other night. What's goin on there?"
Jenna groaned as she put her head in her hands. She should've known an interrogation was coming.
"He came over yesterday and took me paintballing because he thought it would make up for a bad day we had." she said, looking up at her.
"So, like a date?" Penny asked.
"I don't know. I mean, maybe?" Jenna responded, smiling. Then her face fell flat. "Probably not though, right? There's no way."
"Oh yes way. You shoulda seen the way he was lookin at you the other night." Penny laughed. "That boy is smitten."
"He's cute," Jenna admitted, blushing. "You really think he might be into me?"
"Definitely," Penny said, still laughing at her. "You gonna give it a go?"
"I don't know," Jenna said honestly. "With the mission and everything, you don't know if something will happen to either of us. And then when it's over, we go off to different assignments again."
"Well," Penny started. "In my experience, if it's meant to be, you'll always find your way to each other."
"Well that's good advice," Jenna said. "But in your experience?" she question her, knowing that her ex-husband was off in Hawaii with his new wife.
Penny looked at Jenna. "Maverick."
Jenna almost spit out the water she was sipping. "Mav??? You and Captain Mitchell?"
"Yes ma'am." Penny said. "We have known each other the better part of our lives, and each time something separates us, we always seem to find a way back to each other."
"Wow," Jenna said, shocked. "I believe you."
Their conversation ended as the front door opened and a group pours into the bar. Penny gave Jenna an apologetic smile and went to grab them all drinks. Jenna sat with her water, waiting for her friends to show up. She scrolled through her phone, careful not to put it on the bartop, when she felt a tap on her left shoulder. She looked up to her left, but no one was there, so she looked to her right, and there sat Rooster.
"Got ya!" He said laughing.
"You suck," Jenna said, hitting his arm. "I'm paying, but on one condition."
"Name it," he said, looking at her.
"What's going on between you and Mav?" Jenna asked. "I mean, I know you said he pulled your papers, but it obviously goes deeper."
Rooster sighed and signaled over to Penny for a beer. When she placed it in front of him, she gave Jenna a smirk and walked away. Rooster took a sip, and then began to talk.
"My dad and Maverick were in the Top Gun program together, back when I was little. He was Mav's RIO. His responsibility." Rooster put both hands on his beer and let his head fall. "And one day during a training exercise, Mav got caught in his wingman's jetwash, and spun out. They had to eject, but when my dad did, he hit the canopy and died on impact. Obviously, Maverick survived and is just fine."
Jenna leaned over closer to him and put her hand on his arm. "Bradley, I'm so sorry," she said.
"Yeah, well it was Mav's fault that he died, and he made everything worse by pulling my papers," Rooster said, lifting his head back up.
"He had to have done it for a good reason," Jenna said. "Have you ever asked him about it?"
"No, I've never gotten the chance," Rooster admitted. "I know I should, but I just can't."
"You'll always resent him if you don't give him a chance to explain himself," she reasoned with him.
"Yeah," Rooster said, a ghost of a smile on his face. "Maybe you're right."
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AN: Sorry for taking literally forever to get this out to you!! Hope you enjoy!! Thanks for reading!
Also, I moved some things around in previous chapters, so there is a little bit of a repeat in this one!