"Capitan Mitchell is no longer your instructor, and as of today there are new mission parameters," Cyclone said from the podium. Free-bird's head snapped to look at him and pushed herself up in her seat. She looked at Rooster who actually looked a little concerned. "Time to target is now four minutes. You'll be entering the valley level at a reduced speed not to exceed 420 knots." What the hell? Anne thought to herself. She looked at Rooster again who she could tell was thinking the same thing.
"Sir, won't we be giving their planes time to intercept?" Bob asked.
"Well, Lieutenant, you have a fighting chance against enemy aircraft. What are the odds of surviving a head-on collision with a mountain?" Cyclone responded. Good point. "You'll be attacking the target from a higher altitude, level with the north wall. Gonna be a little harder to keep your lase on target but you will avoid the high-g climb out." Anne thought for a moment before a beeping came from the screen at the front of the room. In the simulation, a plane could be seen approaching the course.
"Who the hell is that?" Cyclone asked.
"Maverick to range control. Entering point alpha. Confirm green range." Mav said through the coms. Anne's jaw dropped slightly and she pushed herself up even higher in her seat.
"Uh, Maverick, range control, uh, green range in confirmed. I don't see an event scheduled for you, sir."
"Well. I'm going anyway."
"That asshole stole a plane," Free-Bird mumbled.
"Setting time to target: two minutes, fifteen seconds," Maverick said.
"2:15? That's impossible." Payback said.
"Final attack point. Mavericks inbound." His plane launched forward and entered the course, starting the countdown. Everyone watched on the edge of their seat as Mavericks plane navigated the canyon. Nothing could be heard except Mavericks grunting through the coms. He successfully made it through the canyon and approached the mountain. Everyone had their eyes locked on the screen, not looking away for a moment.
"Popping in three, two, one." Maverick's plane started the climb on the first mountain. He inverted and safely made it over, making his way to the dropping point. "Bombs away!" he yelled. Then, everyone watched as his plane jerked upwards and started it's climb out. Free-bird listened for his bomb hitting the ground, her eyes darting between her dad's plane and the falling bomb.
10, 9, 8, 7.
Free-bird and a few others in the room stood up. She watched with her jaw slack as Maverick approached the end of the mountain.
3, 2, 1.
Maverick's bombs hit the target as he crossed the end of the course. He ended with 0.16 seconds left, nevertheless making it in two minutes and fifteen seconds.
"Bullseye holy shit!" Free-bird said as she cheered with some others. She smiled and covered her mouth the looked down at Rooster who still had his eyes locked on the screen. His expression was unreadable.
"Damn," Hangman said. Free-bird smiled, knowing that even Hangman was shocked was a huge accomplishment. She felt... proud. Cyclone was still staring at the board, now with his arms crossed.
"Hondo, take them to run Maverick's course." Cyclone said as he walked out of the room.
"Uh, yes sir," Hondo responded. He looked at the group of aviators and dismissed them to go get ready.
Nothing special happened during training. People were finally starting to make the course in time and hitting the target consistently. After Maverick's success and the overall success of the group, spirits were high. They only had three more days until the mission but the group still decided it was a night for celebration.
Almost everyone was at the Hard Deck. The bar was loud and music was blasting. They had all had a beer or two and Anne, Bradley, Natasha and Jake were deep into a game of pool. It was Anne and Natasha versus the boys and the boys were losing by two balls. Bradley took a turn and potted two of the balls and tied the game. It was Natasha's turn and she got the girls down to one ball and the 8-ball. Anne gave her a high five as they moved to lean against a pair of chairs and watch Jake take his turn. He got the boys down to just the 8-ball. As he walked away from the table and Anne approached it, he gave her his signature smirk and a wink. She scoffed and looked at Bradley who was giving Jake a death glare.
Anne potted the colored ball but missed the 8-ball. It was Bradley's turn and if he got the 8-ball in then he and Jake would win. Now there is two problems with that.
1. Free-bird would lose.
2. Hangman would win.
She couldn't let Jake win, even if Bradley was playing with him. As Bradley walked over to the table, Anne walked around to where he was standing. She mouthed "Watch this" to Natasha.
As he lined up his shot she leaned down and whispered, "You should meet me in the bathroom after this." His eyes went wide as he pushed his cue forward. It hit the side of the ball, rather than the middle, and sent it rolling into a different pocket rather then the one he selected, causing them to lose the game.
Anne threw her hand up in the air with wide eyes and walked over to Natasha, high fiving her and laughing.
"Oh my god. I can't believe that worked!" Anne said, still laughing her ass off. Bradley had a scowl on his face and was now bright red.
"What the hell happened, man?" Jake asked.
Bradley pulled his shirt down in the front and mumbled, "Nothing." Anne walked over to Bradley as he started to walk away and hugged him from behind, still laughing.
"I'm sorry, please. It was a joke, I didn't think it would actually work." Anne was borderline crying she was laughing so hard. At this point Bradley was just dragging her as he walked, slightly laughing himself. He turned around, and made her sit in the chair he was standing in front of. He placed his arm on either side of her body, leaning so their faces were only inches apart. He stared into her eyes for a second, smirking. Anne wasn't laughing anymore she was just biting her lip smiling. He leaned closer so he could whisper in her ear.
"How about we go to my car insead?" He whispered, his lips grasing the shell of her ear. Anne's smile fell and her jaw dropped open. She felt chills run all over her body as he pulled back to look at her again. He was smiling, he knew that Anne wouldn't have a response. He stood up and walked to the bar.
"You guys are weird," he said, putting his cue down and walking to the bar. Anne sat in shock for a moment just staring at the wall. She turned too look at Natasha and the girls burst into laughter.
"What just happened?" Natasha asked, walking over to Anne as she stood up.
"I don't know!" The girls laughed more and made their way over to the bar, sitting down and ordering drinks.
"What did you say?" Natasha asked. Anne filled her in on what had just happened and Natasha's jaw had dropped all the way open by the end. "Wow, I didn't expect him to be that bold."
"Neither did I! In the 30 some years I've known Bradley Bradshaw, he has never been that bold." The girls sipped their drinks and continued to talk.
"Also! Can we talk about how Jake cannot leave you alone! He keeps making faces and winking!" Natasha said.
"Well you know about our whole situationship that happened in Top Gun." Natasha nodded her head and rolled her eyes as she took a sip of her drink. "He must not be over it or something. And him and Bradley have this whole feud going on so anything Bradley wants, Jake wants too."
"Oh my god, they act like children," The girls talked and laughed for a while. They didn't have many more drinks (even though many men offered to buy them some) so they were both able to drive themselves, and anyone else that needed a ride, home. They were deep in conversation when they heard yelling from across the bar. They looked over to see Bradley pushing through the crowd and running over to them.
"Anne! Anne, Anne, Anne," Bradley yelled. Anne hid her face a little as Bradley approached them. He grabbed her shoulders and brought his face close to hers. "We should sing our song!" Anne could smell the liquor on his breath, not to mention his face was flushed and his hair was messy.
"Hey, Bradley. Oh my how much have you had to drink?" Anne asked.
"Not a lot!" Anne tilted her head and looked at him. Bull shit.
"I don't think that's a good idea right now. It's getting late and we have training, maybe we should go back to the barracks... and get you a glass of water." He smile faded into a frown.
"Noooo, I'm fine. Come on, just once, please."
"I don't even think you could hit the right keys at the moment. Come on Bradley I'll drive you back." She stood up and grabbed his hand.
"I'll see you later," Anne smiled at Natasha who just laughed and watched them walk away. As they walked out, Anne gave him a mini lecture about learning his limit on alcohol and not just drinking until they leave. He frowned the entire time, crossing his arms when they got in the car.
"Wow, you are such a baby when you get drunk," Anne said, laughing to herself. He turned to her with an incredulous look.
"I am not!" Anne just laughed harder. Bradley's shocked expression melted into a smile and he started laughing too. The drive back was short (thank god) and Anne quickly got him back into the barracks before he could embarrass himself.
Anne shoved Bradley into the bathroom, yelled "Shower!", then shut the door and waited for him to come out. When he came out of the bathroom though, he only had a towel on and his hair was still wet. Thank GOD everyone was still at the Hard Deck.
"Bradley! What are you doing?" Anne covered her eyes, peeking through her fingers a bit.
"What? I'm covered! Plus it's not like you haven't seen me shirtless before. I saw you staring at the beach, Mitchell."
"Oooooookay, I could have gone my entire life without knowing that but thank you for embarrassing me for the night! Now go back in the bathroom and put some clothes on!" Anne shoved him through the door then leaned against the door and covered her mouth. So much just happened in the span of, like, 30 seconds. Anne, again, waited for Bradley to come out. When he finally did, Natasha and Bob were back from the bar. Bradley was starting to sober up, which everyone needed, and was actually starting to get tired now. Anne made sure he got in bed safely then went and flopped on her own.
"Is he okay now?" Bob asked.
"Finally," Anne sighed as she sat up.
"You know he couldn't stop talking about you?" Bob added. Anne thought for a moment.
"When he gets something in his head when he's drunk, he doesn't let it go. I once had to listen to him ramble about Star Wars for an hour and a half. I wouldn't think to much about it," Anne said as she pulled the covers over her body.
"Mmmm, okay Mitchell." Bob said with sarcasm in his voice.
Anne rolled her eyes and said, "I'm going to bed, goodnight." Anne rolled away from her friends and shut her eyes. Yes, it was true that she had to listen to him ramble about Star Wars but the fact that Bradley was talking about her... it made butterfly's go crazy in her stomach. Anne realized that this was the best day she's had in awhile. It made her smile. For once in a long time, she went to bed genuinely happy.
~
AN: Happy chapter! I hope yall are enjoying and thank you so much for reading :)
Also imma ask this now so I can prepare myself: do y'all want smut?