4 DAYS UNTIL THE MISSION
After letting Rooster know they were going to have a cookout if the rain let up, Jenna drove home quickly and ran into her apartment. She took a fast shower, pulled on some comfy sweatpants and a t shirt, and began tidying her apartment before her friends came over. Before she knew it, there was a knock on the door and she threw the laundry she was carrying into her bedroom and shut the door. Semi-satisfied with the state of her apartment, she moved through the kitchen and opened up the front door.
"Hi Bob!" Jenna greeted the pilot standing in her doorway.
"Hey Jenna," Bob replied with a smile. He handed her a large, covered bowl. "I brought this for tonight. It's fruit salad."
"Perfect," Jenna smiled as she stepped backwards to let Bob into her apartment. She peered out of the doorway and into the parking lot, noting that the rain had finally stopped. She looked for Phoenix but failed to spot her friend. "Hey, Phe didn't come with you?"
"She told me to go without her, she's dealing with something," Bob said with a shrug of his shoulders.
"Probably dealing with someone," Jenna said with a small smirk, remembering the argument she overhead in the hallway back at the hangar. Bob laughed and walked further into Jenna's living room, claiming a spot on the couch. As soon as Jenna had put the fruit in the fridge and sat down with Bob, another knock came from the front of the apartment. Jenna groaned slightly, getting up from her seat and headed back over to the door, opening it to reveal Rooster. Jenna felt her face light up instantly at the sight of him, and her cheeks warmed when she spotted the flowers in his left hand.
"These are for you," Rooster said, stepping over the threshold. "As a thank you for hosting."
"You didn't have to do that," Jenna said, grinning as she accepted the bouquet, her fingers brushing his. "But I am very glad you did," she said with a wink. Rooster laughed and followed her into her apartment, heading towards the countertop in the kitchen to put down the bags of chips he also brought. Bob looked at the flowers and then at Jenna with a smirk on his face, but said nothing. Jenna turned back to the kitchen just as Rooster was finished filling up a vase he found with water for the flowers. He handed it over to Jenna as she untied them.
"These are so pretty" She said, arranging them in the vase.
"The second prettiest thing in the room," Rooster said, winking at her. Before Jenna could respond, Bob cut in.
"Oh Bradshaw, you're too kind. I am pretty, aren't I?" Bob joked and the three pilots burst out laughing. Jenna's phone rang, interrupting them.
"Hey Phe," Jenna wheezed, still trying to recover from laughing.
"Hey Kill," Phoenix replied. "I'm here but any chance you can come outside for a second?"
"Yeah sure, be right there," Jenna said and ended the call, slipping her phone into her pocket. She slid past Rooster and exited her apartment, only to find both Phoenix and Hangman standing in the parking lot, the latter with a shit-eating grin on his face. Jenna looked at Phoenix a little confused, as her friend pulled her off to the side.
"I'm sorry I didn't ask if he could come," Phoenix said, shaking her head. "But he basically begged to come with me tonight." Before Jenna could respond, Hangman interrupted.
"I did not beg," he scoffed. "I simply wanted to apologize for my behavior earlier and also hang out with my girl's friends." Jenna raised her eyebrows at the second part of the sentence and Phoenix gave her a look that said she'd explain later.
"Plus, I come bearing gifts," Hangman said, holding up a few packets of steaks. "Nat said you guys were having a cookout tonight. You can't not have steaks."
"How very southern of you," Jenna replied sarcastically, but a small smile appeared on her face. Hangman stepped forward to the girls, his face turning serious.
"Jenna, I am very sorry about earlier. I am an asshole some of the time," He said.
"More like most of the time," Phoenix muttered and Hangman shot her a withering look.
"Well, if Phoenix puts up with you, there's gotta be redeeming qualities in you somewhere," Jenna replied, teasing her friend. "Thank you for your apology, Jake. I forgive you." Phoenix dumped the bags she was holding in Hangman's arms and linked elbows with Jenna.
"You are the best," She said, and Jenna led the two pilots inside her apartment. When they made it to the kitchen, Jenna let go of Phoenix and directed Hangman to put the meat in the fridge. As she turned around to the living room, she saw Rooster glaring slightly at Hangman.
"Oh shit," Phoenix muttered. "I did not know Bradshaw was gonna be here." But as Hangman shut the fridge, he looked back at Rooster coolly, and folded his arms across his chest.
"Bradshaw," Hangman greeted him, nodding his head politely.
"Seresin," Rooster replied, sitting back on the couch as his facial features smoothed out. Phoenix and Jenna whirled towards each other, surprise on both of their faces. Jenna looked from Rooster to Hangman and then back to Rooster, waiting for an explanation.
"What?" Rooster asked.
"What do you mean 'what?'," Jenna responded. "That was the most civil I've ever seen you two behave."
"We decided to call a truce," Hangman explained, Rooster nodded along from across the room.
"You know what," Phoenix said to Jenna as she moved to sit down next to her WSO. "I'm not gonna question it."
"Good call," Jenna agreed, sliding next to Rooster. She looked back in the kitchen and saw Hangman standing a little awkwardly.
"C'mon Seresin," Jenna said. "We don't bite." Hangman laughed as he made his way over to the couch and sat in the lounge chair to Jenna's left. The group squabbled about what they wanted to watch until they finally decided on turning on a baseball game until dinner was ready.
"Okay, who wants to grill?" Jenna asked. Rooster, Hangman, and Bob all stood up at the same time, and Phoenix rolled her eyes.
"Have at it," Jenna said, gesturing the the back door. "The grill is on the back porch." Hangman and Bob headed outside while Rooster went to the fridge and grabbed the food.
"Play nice," Jenna teased as he walked past the couch and out to the grill.
"Yes ma'am," Rooster replied as he saluted her. Phoenix and Jenna watched through the window as the three male pilots argued over who got to do what. The girls laughed to themselves, ready for the night ahead.
~
3 DAYS UNTIL MISSION
Sunshine streamed through the windows as Jenna walked into the briefing room the next morning, ready for a full day of training. As she sat down next to Rooster, she noticed Maverick was back in the front of the room, standing with Cyclone. After allowing the pilots a few minutes the chat amongst themselves, Cyclone cleared his throat and everyone snapped their attention to him.
"Good morning," he began. "I have an announcement to make. As you know, we are less than 3 days out from the mission," Cyclone paused. "I have decided to appoint Maverick your mission leader." Jenna smiled at her father as murmurs moved through the room. Although happy for Maverick, Jenna realized that there were now only 5 spots left for the mission.
Maverick stepped up next to Cyclone. "You have today and tomorrow to prove you belong on this team," Cyclone said. "Good luck." With that, he strode out of the room and left Maverick to begin.
"Aviators," Maverick greeted them. "The uh, stunt, I pulled yesterday was to prove to you that this mission could be flown. It was never my intention to take mission leader away from one of you." He cleared his throat and continued, "But with that being said, it is my honor to be flying this mission with you. The final team will be picked tomorrow after training, giving the 6 of us a day to run through the route together. Sound good?"
"Yes, sir," the pilots responded.
"Good. Now," Maverick said. "To your planes."
~
2 DAYS UNTIL THE MISSION
The pilots had spent all of yesterday and today working on their speed and precision with the nav system. Jenna had flown with a different team every time she went into the skies, as Maverick was trying to get a feel for who would be most cohesive together. By the time the day was over, almost every mission run had been under or very close to the time limit of 2 minutes and 30 seconds. But only a few different sets of teams had hit the target both times. On one of her runs, Jenna had hit it, but Maverick missed the first shot, so it didn't matter.
Now, they were all seated in the briefing room, waiting for Maverick and Cyclone to announce the selected team. Jenna's stomach rolled nervously, and she bounced her knee up and down. The air was thick with tension as she stared out the window, waiting for the final decision. Jenna knew that this mission could easily fail, and there was a possibility that anyone that went might not come back. Despite this, Jenna wanted to be picked more than anything. Beside her, Rooster sat silently in his seat, watching Jenna out of the corner of his eye.
At the sound of the door opening, the pilots stood at attention as Cyclone and Maverick walked up the aisle and stopped at the front of the room.
"It has been my honor to teach and train you for the past two weeks," Maverick addressed the group. "This mission is extremely dangerous, and my choices for the team are based solely on what and who we need for this mission to be successful. The decision was not made lightly." Maverick held Jenna's stare, then looked to the rest of the group.
"Pick your two foxtrot teams," Cyclone declared from his spot on Maverick's left.
"Payback and Fanboy," Maverick paused as the two pilots subtly pumped their fists. He turned to the two pilots sitting in front of Jenna. "Phoenix and Bob." Jenna sucked in a breath as Bob turned to Phoenix with a pained smile and Phoenix nodded her head.
Cyclone turned his head to Maverick, seemingly pleased with the choices.
"And your wingman?"
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AN: Cliffhanger! Thank you so much for reading! Leave me a comment/vote to let me know what you think!!
Tried to move time along pretty quickly in this chapter, just so we can finally get to the good stuff!!!
Also, thank you so much to all of you that read and voted for part XXII! I appreciate it so much! I try to leave a message for you guys on your pages to thank you but I get restricted quite often because of too much commenting lol! I just want you all to know how much your support for this story means to me!!!