"Good morning, aviators. This is your captain speaking. Welcome to basic fighting manoeuvres." Maverick started.
Rooster, Payback and Fanboy were the first up on the planes. Snow-white and the rest were listening to what was happening from the radio.
"As briefed, today's exercise is dog-fighting. Guns only, no missiles. We do not go below the hard deck of 5,000 feet. Working as a team, you have to shoot me down, or else-"
"Or else what, sir?" Payback interrupted
"Or else I shoot back." She could practically see the smug on his face. "If I shoot either one of you down, you both lose."
"This guy needs an ego check." Hangman commented while holding a toy plane.
"Says you." She answered to him, he scrunched his nose and grimaced at her so she stuck her tongue out to him.
"We'll see to that." Yale replied to Hangman's previous comment, their cockiness making Snow-white scoff.
"What say we put some skin in the game?" Payback suggested.
Her head shot up immediately. "Don't do it, Payback." she whispered into the air as if he could actually hear her.
"What do you have in mind?" Mav asked intrigued by the challenge.
"Whoever gets shot down first has to do 200 push- ups" He said and my eyes widen with dread.
"Oh God no" she muttered to herself again.
"Guys!" Rooster intervened, knowing all too well how this is going to end.
"That's a lot of push- ups" Maverick tried to warn them.
"They don't call it exercise for nothing, sir" Fanboy retorted back.
"You got yourself a deal gentlemen. Flight's on. Let's turn and burn" Mav finished the sentence and just like that, the training began.
"Great, thank you guys!" She said sarcastically, her hand slamming against the counter in disappointment and frustration.
"You know they can't hear you, right?" Hangman once again interjected.
"I wish I couldn't hear you right now." She emphasised the 'You.' Hangman rolled his eyes at her.
"Fanboy, you see him?" Rooster asked.
"Nothing on radar up ahead. He must be somewhere behind us."
"No...he's below you-" Just as she said it, Maverick must have flown up between Rooster's plane and Payback's plane.
"Damn it!" "What the hell?" "Shit" She heard everybody exclaim in surprise, confirming her suspicion. She knew his way of flying, he likes the element of surprise and he sure as hell likes to show off.
"Tally, tally, tally! Maverick's coming in! Break left!" Fanboy shouted to Payback.
"Breaking left!" Payback said, both with panic in their voices.
"Payback, where's your wingman?" Maverick asked, getting closer to his plane.
"Rooster, where are you?" Payback asked shakily.
"I got your back. Hang in there. Hang in there."
"Hurry up man, Hurry up!"
"Payback, break right!"
"Breaking right!"
"Rooster just saved your life, fellas. But it's gonna cost him!"
"Not this time old man!" Rooster said angrily
"Oh Rooster..." She sighed and closed her eyes, she already knew what was going to happen.
"Rooster, you're too low! Pull up! You're hitting the hard deck!" Payback informed his wingman.
"Oh shit!"
"That's a kill!"
"Damn it." She muttered. Rooster let him get to him once again.
╚»★«╝
Snow-white and Phoenix watched Rooster doing the push-ups from the window. Payback and Fanboy joined. "That should be us down there."
Fanboy was partly right, Rooster basically saved them today but what he did was stupid and he knows it as well.
"But it's not" Phoenix said with her eyes still on Rooster "And now you know a little something about Rooster."
"What do you mean?" Snow looked at her, her brows furrowed in confusion, Phoenix did not answer, in fact, she walked away from them. "Phoenix! What does that even mean?" Phoenix ignored her question again, she turned slightly around with a smirk as she exited the room, Snow's arms slumped and she rolled her eyes whilst she turned around to look at Rooster again, still confused about what Phoenix meant.
╚»★«╝
later that afternoon
Snow-white, Harvard and Yale were next.
"Alright guys, expect the unexpected." She prepared herself for any eventuality, he was unpredictable but there was a slight patter in his way of flying. That's when she noticed his aircraft flying fast towards them. "Shit, watch out!"
He flew right between the pilots. "Greeting aviators. Fight's on."
"You're such a show off!" She was annoyed by how cocky he was. "Talk to me, Harvard. Where is he?"
"I can't see him, he's not on the radar up ahead."
"Shit! Break left." She told them, knowing he was going to pop out of somewhere.
"Breaking left."
Just then Maverick showed up from below them, but missed them since they had moved out of the way.
"Good eye, Snow." He sounded impressed.
"I know you better than you think, Mav." her tone was laced with poison.
He moved up and upside down, so that he could face her while he was directly above me. "What are you gonna do now?"
I throttled back, slowing the aircraft down. She moved up the plane so now she could possibly get a lock on him. He quickly spun back into his normal position and started flying downwards. "Not bad, not bad."
Snow-white still did not say anything back to him. She observed what he was doing as she was trying to get a lock. "Yale, mind helping me out here?"
"On my way."
Yale flew past her and closer to Maverick. "I almost got him."
"Back up. He's gonna get a kill-"
Before she could finish the sentence, Maverick had pulled one of his tricks, he throttled back like she had done earlier and flew past them so now they were in front of him, easy to kill.
"Smoked!" He announced proudly.
"Damn it!" Yale whined.
She sighed, knowing the pain that will come as soon as she gets out of that aircraft with Hondo ready for the push ups.
╚»★«╝
They were doing the push-ups, she was the third one in the line. Halo and Yale beside her.
Her blood was pumping, her forehead sweating. It felt like the Niagara falls were on her forehead.
"It was all fun and games in that selfie, wasn't it? Down!" Hondo was being cocky too now.
"I wasn't even in it!" She whined to him in a slightly frustrated tone. He shrugged with a smile on his face. "You're spending too much time with Maverick. You're acting like him." She looked up at him with the same smile he had.
"And you are talking too much, Snow." Halo interrupted. She rolled her eyes and continued on with the torture.
╚»★«╝
"Payback! Fanboy!" Snow-White shouted as she entered the room. "You two..." she pointed her fingers at them. "...are dead men." They both looked down, hiding a smile but Rooster laughed at that and she turned to face him. "I don't mind adding one more name on my hit list, Chicken."
His mouth agape, hand on his chest. She hit his arm playfully to which he smiled at.
"Someone didn't enjoy the push ups." Fanboy was still amused.
"Oh no, I loved not feeling my arms. Thank you soooo much!" Sarcasm clear in her voice while she sat down on a stool next to the radio.
"All right Phoenix, let's take this guy out!" They heard from the radio and her focus shifted immediately. Now it was Hangman's turn to fly, he was with Phoenix and Bob.
"Watch your back Phoenix." Rooster said, listening closely to everything they were saying.
Not long after we heard Maverick "You're out Phoenix!"
"Damn it!" Snow muttered and Rooster sighed in defeat. Now it was just Hangman and Maverick but that didn't last long either.
"Phoenix, I can't see him. How close am I? Phoenix?"
"I'm dead, dickhead."
"See you in the afterlife, Bagman."
"Go, Bob!" Snow cheered while smiling at his snarky comment, he's learning from the best.
"That's a kill."
Her and Rooster smirked when they heard that even though that means none of them had managed to "kill" Maverick today. As much as she hates him, she had to admit that he is one of the best pilots she's ever seen. It was also funny to see all those cocky pilots getting their egos crushed by him.
╚»★«╝
Once the day was over, she decided to visit her dad. She knocked on the door only to be greeted by Sarah, his wife.
"Emily! It's nice to see you!" She greeted her, letting her inside. Em offered her a smile.
"Office?" She asked, knowing he spent most of his time there, Sarah nodded and Emily made her way towards his door.
She knocked a few times and opened it slightly, Sarah had told her that he had gotten a really bad sore throat and that he could hardly speak anymore, so waiting for him to shout "*come in"* would have been pointless.
"Heya" She said sheepishly. His face lit up the moment he heard her voice, he immediately got up from his chair, arms wide open while he made his way towards her. He embraced her into a tight hug making her chuckle slightly "I missed you too, dad."
Once he let go of her, he slowly got back to his desk and pointed to the seat next to him. She sat as he began to type.
"What brings you here?"
Her smile slowly faded. "Did you know Maverick was gonna be my instructor?" One look at him and she could already guess the answer. "Why didn't you tell me?" He gave her the "isn't it obvious" look and she nodded back in response.
Of course he wouldn't tell her, he knew how much she resented Maverick.
She cleared her throat, got up and started pacing towards the door, stalling for some time to come up with a way to change the subject. "Anyway, I don't want to trouble you with all this drama! How about we do something together?" She turned to face him, he raised an eyebrow in surprise. It had been a while since they properly spent time together. They were often busy and their timetables didn't really match but now she had the rest of the day off. She missed spending some good quality time with her dad.
"Well that is if you're free, of course...Admiral" She bowed down to mock him. He laughed and shook his head. He then nodded in agreement and walked to her.
╚»★«╝
"Hey you know what, we should watch 'The Princess Bride'." Emily suggested with a mouth full of popcorn. She sat onto the couch, next to him. "Want some?" she asked bringing the bowl closer to him but he shook his head.
"Ok so no 'princess bride'?" She looked over to him and the look on his face was enough of an answer. "Alright then how about 'Speed' ? You can't say no to Keanu Reeves." He loved that movie. He used to make her watch it all the time when she was little. The smirk on his face confirmed that he still loved it, so they spent the rest of the evening watching the movie whilst playing board games like she was still 10 years old, until it was time for dinner.
"Hey, Em, are you staying for dinner?" Sarah asked coming from the kitchen.
"I...emh..." She was hesitant with her answer, she didn't want to be a burden but then she felt her dad's hand on hers. She looked at him and he nodded his head. "Yes, yes I am if that's ok with you."
"Of course, roasted chicken for dinner tonight!" She headed back to the kitchen.
"Alright, I'm gonna go help her." Emily got up from the couch. She placed a hand on his shoulder as she walked towards Sarah.
"So is it precooked or are we going to get food poisoning?" Emily joked when she entered the kitchen.
"You're so hilarious!" Sarah replied sarcastically, earning a proud smile from Emily. "You're not such a great cook either, are you?"
"Sarah...how dare you? I could be the next Gordon Ramsey." She placed a hand on her heart for dramatic effect and they both laughed.
"I'm glad you're spending some time with him. He loves being around you."
"Yeah I love being around him as well. I just wish that I could do it more often."
Sarah looked down, not saying a word. Her mood changing completely.
"Hey, are you alright?" Emily asked concerned.
"Yeah, yeah I was just emh-"
"-mesmerised by that chicken?" She said, making Sarah chuckle. "Jokes aside, you know you can talk to me, I'm here for you. We're family."
"Yeah I know, I'm just a bit tired. That's all." Sarah said with a sad smile. Emily nodded and went on to cutting the potatoes, something was up with her but I didn't want to pry.
╚»★«╝
The next day, training began again.
This time it was Rooster and Hangman against Maverick.
“So what’s the story between you, Snow and Maverick? It seems like he got you and Snowie a little rattled!” Snow-White heard Hangman on the radio, God he’s so nosy.
“That’s none of your business” Rooster shot back.
“He’s got a point!” Phoenix said, coming next to Snow.
“What?” She looked at her, confused.
“Hangman has a point, you two do look rattled, what’s the story?”
“Well I’m more rattled by the fact that you agree with Hangman, to be honest”
“Snow, come on-” Phoenix began but Snow shushed her when she heard what was going on with Mav and Rooster.
“What’s past is past. For both of us.” Mav sounded like he was struggling.
“You’d like to believe that, wouldn’t you?" Rooster was, once again, trying to prove himself.
“Hard deck is 5,000 feet, fellas. You are running out of room” They heard Hangman say, they were both going too low. Phoenix, Bob and Snow-white shared a worried look.
“Your strategy is about to run us into the ground.”
“Come on, Rooster pull up!” Snow-White whispered as she sat down on a stool next to Phoenix. Then it all went silent for what felt like hours, the anxiety was so strong that she was biting her nails without even realizing it.
“You got it. Don’t think, just do!” For the first time in a long time, Snow was happy to hear Maverick’s voice, she let out a breath she didn’t even realize she was holding.
“That’s a kill! Knock it off.” Thank God training was over for him.
“I’m going to talk to him” Phoenix said to Snow to which she raised an eyebrow at her. “What? I need to know what’s going on with you two.” Snow-white scoffed as she watched Phoenix leave the room.