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thewulf · 6 days

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Skies of Concern || Mickey "Fanboy" Garcia

Summary: Request -may i request for top gun maverick with husband!mickey 'fanboy' garcia x civillian maverick's daughter!reader please? when you heard that mav called mickey to join a mission, you kind of mad to your dad cause it is dangerous for mickey (worried)... Read Rest Here

A/N: Eeeeek! This one was fun to write. Super cute and fluffy. Memories are in italics. Hope you enjoy anon!

Pairing: Mickey Fanboy" Garcia x Female Reader

Word Count: 2.6k +

T/W : General TGM warnings

The sun dipped below the horizon casting a warm, golden glow across the tarmac of the Naval Air Station as you waited for the aircraft carrier to arrive back on base. You stood near the water as the anticipation built with each passing minute. You were anxiously awaiting the return of your father, Maverick, and his trusted wingman and your beloved husband, Mickey Garcia.

But even in the middle of the tension and worry that gripped your heart your mind wandered back to a warmer memory. A moment of serendipity that had brought you into the orbit of the charismatic WSO who would later become your husband much to your fathers dismay. Although he eventually came around and loved Mickey as his own son.

It was a balmy evening at the Hard Deck as you waited for your father to return from a training mission. He’d asked you to meet him there against your better judgement. Although you didn’t frequent the bar that often anymore you had sought solace in the familiar surroundings of the bar, the chatter of fellow Navy personnel providing a comforting backdrop to your thoughts. As you nursed a drink at the counter trying to push aside the nagging worry that always accompanied your father's missions, you noticed him.

Mickey Garcia, with his effortless charm and magnetic presence strode into the bar. His flight suit a testament to the adrenaline-fueled world he inhabited. His gaze briefly met yours and in that fleeting moment, something sparked between you—a connection born in the anonymity of the crowded room. You should’ve run far, far away after the smirk grew on the pilot’s face. But you couldn’t. It’s like that one look had you rooted right into the bar stool.

Unbeknownst to Mickey he had just caught the eye of Maverick's daughter. You had planned to keep your identity hidden. More than content to observe from the shadows as he approached with a casual confidence that belied the danger of his profession.

"Hey there," he greeted you. His smile as warm as the fading sunlight outside. "Haven't seen you around here before. I’d remember a pretty face like yours. You can’t be a regular, no?"

His words were laced with genuine curiosity with a playful demeanor drawing you in despite the weight of your worries. Little did you know that chance encounter would set the stage for a journey fraught with danger and adventure but so much love. Oh, so much love.

As Mickey leaned casually against the bar with that signature mischievous twinkle in his eyes you couldn't help but return his flirtatious banter. "Well,” you replied with a playful smile tugging at the corners of your lips. "Maybe I like to keep things interesting. You never know when a new face might turn up." He was right. You often avoided the Hard Dec as it was your father and Penny’s spot.

Mickey chuckled. The sweet sound sent a pleasant shiver down your spine. "I like the way you think," he said. His gaze lingering on you with unmistakable interest. "Name's Mickey, by the way. Mickey Garcia." You nodded. You knew that. Hell, you knew most of your dads pilots even if you hadn’t formally met them. But you had to play dumb to keep up your charade.

You extended your hand. A coy smile playing on your lips. "Nice to meet you, Mickey. I'm... just a girl trying to enjoy her night."

His handshake was firm, his touch sending a jolt of electricity through you. "Well, just a girl, if you ever need someone to show you around this place… you know who to call," he spoke with a confidence only pilots seemed to have.

Before you could respond to him the familiar sound of your fathers voice cut through the air, drawing your attention to the entrance of the bar. Your heart skipped a beat as you watched your father stride in. He looked to be in one piece. Your concern washed away in an instant. His presence commanded the attention of everyone in the room. When he spotted you chatting with one of his pilots at the bar he made a beeline right to you with a less than thrilled look on his face.

"Hey there, sweetheart," Your dad greeted you. His voice was warm with affection as he pulled you into a quick hug. "You holding up okay?"

You nodded. A small smile tugging at your lips as you leaned into his embrace. "Yeah, Dad," you replied oh so grateful for the familiar strength of his arms around you. "Just glad to see you back in one piece."

But as Pete pulled away his gaze fell on Mickey, and you felt a knot of tension coil in the pit of your stomach. There was a shift in the air. A subtle change in your dads demeanor that set your heart racing with apprehension.

"Fanboy," Maverick spoke with an icy tone as he turned his attention to the charming pilot beside you. "Fancy seeing you here."

Mickey's easy grin faltered and was replaced by a look of uncertainty as he met Maverick's gaze. "Hey, Maverick," he replied. His voice tinged with a hint of nervousness. "Didn't expect to run into you here. You’re not usually here after missions."

There was a moment of uncomfortable silence between them. The air thick with unspoken tension as Maverick's gaze bore into Mickey with an intensity that made you squirm in your barstool. Finally, Pete spoke, his voice low and dangerous. "No funny business with my daughter, Garcia," he said. His words a thinly veiled warning. "Or you'll answer to me."

Mickey swallowed hard. The weight of Maverick's stare bearing down on him like a leaden weight. "Yes, sir," he replied. His voice was barely above a whisper as he nodded in silent acquiescence.

And as Maverick turned away with his arm slipping around your shoulders in a protective gesture. You couldn't help but wonder what lay ahead for you with Mickey. The chemistry between the two of you was something you’d never experienced before. There had to be something more. You felt caught between the love of a father and the allure of the skies.

It had been years since that fateful meeting at the Hard Deck, years filled with adventure, love, and the occasional heart-stopping moment as you watched your husband and father take to the skies together. But through it all you had remained steadfast in your support for both of them.

As you stood there the memories of that first encounter with Mickey came flooding back. A bittersweet reminder of how far you had come since that chance meeting. Now, as you awaited their return, your heart swelled with a mixture of pride and worry. You knew all too well the dangers that lurked beyond the clouds. But despite the nagging fear that gnawed at your insides you refused to let it consume you. You had learned to trust in Mickey's skill and your dads experience.

Your thoughts then took to earlier on in the week when you father broke the news he was taking your now husband with him to go fly a mission in Russia. He couldn’t tell you the details, but you knew it was going to be risky. Anything overseas always was. A pit formed in your stomach at the thought of the two most important guys in your life putting their lives in danger once again.

Unable to contain your fears any longer you turned to your father with a pleading look in your eyes. "Dad, you can't do this," you said, your voice trembling with emotion. "You can't take Mickey on this mission. It's too dangerous dad!"

Maverick's expression hardened. His jaw tightening as he met your gaze with a steely resolve. "I have to, sweetheart," he replied with a sorrowful look as his voice firm but tinged with regret. "We're the best chance they've got and Mickey's one of the best damn WSO’s I know."

You shook your head. The frustration and fear bubbling up inside you like a tempest ready to burst. "But it's not fair," you cried out as the words tumbled out in a rush. "Both of you don’t need to go. How about just you? Or him? Not both of you! I can't take it dad. Please" You knew the pleading would likely fall on deaf ears, but you had to try.

Your voice cracked with emotion. Tears welling up in your eyes as the weight of your fear threatened to crush you. You had spent countless nights lying awake dreading this exact moment when the call would come. One that summoned your father and husband into the heart of danger once again but farther away than you thought possible.

This time felt different, the stakes higher than ever before. And as you stood there with anger and despair boiling over inside you, you knew that you couldn't bear the thought of losing them both, not now, not ever.

Maverick's expression softened. A rare flicker of sympathy crossing his features as he reached out to pull you into a comforting embrace. "I know, sweetheart," he murmured. His voice gentle against your ear. "But we have a job to do, and we'll come back to you, I promise."

You clung to him like a scared five-year-old but you really couldn’t care. You were terrified. The weight of his words offering a sliver of solace amidst the storm of uncertainty you prayed with all your heart that his promise would hold true. That both your father and husband would return to you unscathed once more.

The anticipation was palpable as you stood on the base. Your eyes fixed on the horizon where the carrier would soon appear. It had been over a week since you last saw your husband, and your father depart on their mission. Each moment of their absence had felt like an eternity.

But now as the massive silhouette of the carrier emerged from the vast expanse of the ocean your heart leaped with relief. They were back. They were safe. You knew it because you hadn't received that dreaded call. The one that brought news of tragedy and loss. Still, despite the reassurance a knot of anxiety tightened in your stomach as you waited for them to disembark. You couldn't shake the lingering worry, the fear of the unknown that had plagued you since the moment they left.

And then, finally, the gangplank descended, and a surge of relief washed over you as you caught sight of familiar figures making their way down onto the dock. Your heart raced as you scanned the crowd searching for the faces you longed to see.

And there they were.

Your father emerged first with his iconic aviator shades shielding his eyes from the glare of the sun. Beside him, Mickey walked with a confident stride. His tattered flight suit a testament to the adventure they had just returned from.

Without a second thought you rushed forward ignoring the protests from the officers guarding the walkway. Your heart pounded with a mixture of joy and apprehension. They were here. They were safe. But still you needed to see them with your own eyes. To feel the reassuring warmth of their embrace. His embrace. Your husband and beloved.

Without hesitation you rushed forward to you husband. Your arms outstretched as you leaped into his embrace wrapping your legs around his waist. "Babe!" you exclaimed while happily peppering his cheeks with kisses. "Are you okay? You're not hurt, are you? I missed you so much! Don’t go for that long again, please." Your eyes scanned his frame for any sign of distress.

Mickey laughed while wrapping his arms tightly around you and returning your kisses with equal fervor. "I'm fine, honey," he reassured you, his voice filled with affection. "Not a scratch on me. I missed you more than you know pretty lady." He gave you a squeeze as he held you in his arms as the both of you ignored the bewildered captain beside you.

Your attention wholly focused on the man holding you in his strong arms. But when you finally pulled back you couldn't help but notice the grin spreading across your fathers face as he watched the reunion between his daughter and son-in-law.

"Looks like someone's glad to see her husband and not so much her old man," he remarked with amusement twinkling in his eyes.

You flushed with embarrassment realizing you had been so caught up in your reunion with Mickey that you had all but forgotten all about your father. But as you glanced back at him you found nothing but warmth and understanding in his expression.

"Sorry, Dad," you said sheepishly. "I was just... really glad to see Mickey. It’s good to see you too." As you attempted to slip down from Mickey's hold expecting to stand on your own feet again, you felt him tighten his grip around you. He wasn't willing to let you go just yet and a warm sense of contentment washed over you as you remained enveloped in his embrace.

Maverick chuckled. His eyes had a knowing amusement in them as he watched the scene unfold. "I can see that," he replied. His voice tinged with pride. "I see I’ve officially been replaced."

You grinned with your cheeks flushing with affectionate embarrassment at your father's teasing remark. "Well, Dad," you spoke playfully jabbing his shoulder from Mickey’s hold. "I think there's enough love to go around for both of you."

Pete laughed. "I suppose so," His voice filled with warmth as he spoke. "Just don't forget who taught him everything he knows."

You smiled, feeling a rush of gratitude for the two most important men in your life. "I could never forget.”

As Maverick chuckled, shaking his head, and walked away he left just the two of you there to continue on. Mickey still held you close in his arms. His embrace filled with a longing that mirrored your own. With Pete out of sight he seemed to pull you even closer. His touch igniting that usual fire within you.

Feeling his warmth enveloping you, you melted into his embrace. Your body fitting perfectly against his. His lips found yours in a hungry kiss. A silent declaration of his desire and his longing for you. The kiss deepened becoming more passionate as if he couldn't get enough of you after being apart for too long.

When he finally pulled back his breath came out in ragged gasps. He pressed his forehead against yours with eyes dark full of desire. "God, I missed you," he murmured. His voice husky with emotion. A mischievous glint sparkled in his eyes as he winked suggestively. His lips curling into a playful grin. And as you stood there wrapped in his embrace surrounded by the sights, and sounds of the base, you knew that the reunion you had been longing for was just beginning.

With a shared smirk Mickey held you a as tight as he could without squeezing you completely. His gaze was filled with promises of the passion to come. "Let's get out of here my love," he whispered. His voice low and intimate. "I want to show you just how much I missed you." The earned a giggle out of you as you knew he meant business when it came to that look.

And with that he carried you effortlessly towards your car. Each step filled with anticipation and desire. With a thrill of excitement coursing through you, you knew that the night ahead held endless possibilities. And you couldn't wait to explore them all with the man you loved.

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floydsglasses · 26 days

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𝙒𝙖𝙮 𝙊𝙪𝙩 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 - Mickey "Fanboy" Garcia (A Quiet Place AU)

Pairing: Mickey "Fanboy" Garcia x AFAB Black!OC/Jasmine

SUMMARY: Monster's aren't the only thing that survivors of the quiet world have to worry about now, the people though they are hunted are the biggest threat of all. Two survivor's out of options agree to help each get out of the vacant city to safety.

Tags: Mention of blood/wounds, post apocalyptic setting, use of ASL, Alien creatures. Drug Use,mentions of death, Stranger's to lovers, Implied Smut, Angst, Swearing, Fluff,

A/N: I based this loosely off the Lord Huron Song, Way Out There, check it out when you can its so good.

WORD COUNT: HAVENT COUNTED

⏁⏁⏁

ALONE,That’s how he felt. Everything was gone and he is one out of many survivors, sometimes he thinks he is the last survivor. He will be walking through an abandoned neighborhood, seeing the ruined car’s and nature taking over it will make him miss everything he had taken for granted, and being able to make a sound.

He missed people, talking to them. He was a person who thrived off social interactions. Always finding a way to include people in the conversation even if it was a small conversation. The only thing he talked with now was the voice in his head, which sometime’s was loud enough that it made him think that it was someone there.

He had no real plan, he just wanted to make it to the next sunrise. Having been living in anywhere that seemed stable till he got bored or had to move. It was lonely spending each day wondering and not having any idea of what to do.

Today was a ‘moving day’. He left a motel six he had been walking since the sun had risen, he thought it would be nice to try and live in one of the high rise’s by the marina. He passed the turned over car’s, vine’s growing into the tire’s and out of the engine.

That was a nice car, he thinks. He bet if he went back to the naval base the F18’s will be overgrown with nature. He looked down sadly, he missed his job, and his RIO. His flat shoes crunched softly, the bottom’s worn out from the use.

CLINK!

He stopped, his hand resting over his knife holster. His brown eyes scanned around him, his heart racing in his ear’s searching for the cause of the sound.

CLINK! He panted as he ran to the other side of an overturned car, his back pressed firmly against the hood of the car, he unsheathed his blade from his leather holster. He inhaled deeply to slow his heart rate. The clinking noise came again.

He bit his lip, hoping that whatever made the noise stopped soon. He didn't know what exact noise the monster’s didn't like. He licked his lip’s gulping. A few minutes later, the noise had gone away at least he thought.

He stepped on the sidewalk, continuing his walk past abandoned shop’s and firm’s, not sure which part of San Diego he was in. He could see some factorie’s, he guessed that he was close to the sea from the gull’s crying.

A sharp pain shot throughout his entire body. He gasped as he fell back into the brick wall, clutching his shoulder, he pant’s stifling a scream that desperately wanted to leave his mouth. He snapped his head, a short black stick with a neon green end stuck out of his shoulder.

“Shit.” He mouthed.

CLINK, he snapped looking up. Two men wearing bandanas covering their faces carrying crossbows in their hand’s look at him. He grunted holding his shoulder as he started to run.

The tip of the arrow dug deep into him as he bolted, their footsteps not far behind him. His backpack weighed him down, slowing his escape from the masked figure. What did they want from him?

He turned a corner down an alleyway. He gasped as he forced against something, a clothed hand clamped down over his mouth, he grunted against the stranger’s hold on him. Stop it, they whispered.

His shoulder ached as he moved his arm’s. A cold metal touched his temple, his brown eyes widened at the circular pressure against his forehead, the stranger's grip on his mouth tightened as the two men ran past.

The warm body of the person behind him warmed his back, what were they gonna do with the gun? Shoot him, or shoot up leaving him as monster bait. The stranger grunted as they removed the cold metal from his forehead, their hand clamped tight over his mouth.

They leaned to their left moving him with them, their free hand gripped a glass bottle tossing it down the alleyway with a shatter. His eye’s widen as a inhuman roar filled the air. Sorry for this, the stranger whispered in his ear before his world turned dark.

⏁⏁⏁

A MUFFLED sound filled his ears. He groaned softly as his eye’s slowly opened, his arm still ached with a sharp pain. He could make out he was surrounded by brick’s, a factory-like place. He grunt’s softly grabbing at his shoulders.

“Shit thought you were out longer.” A voice grumbled in a whisper. He pant’s in fear as he move’s his arms, a hand stops him.

“Don't move.” They whisper to him, he grabs at their hand. Their face covered by a floral bandana, their hair tucked inside of a baseball cap. Their brown eyes being the only part visible to him.

“Ow.” A female voice muffled by the cover say’s.

He raised his brows. “How?” He signed, she pointed up at the ceiling.

“Three foot concrete they cant hear.” She signed her motion’s fast, he only knew basic asl.

“What?” He signed, she shook her head.

“They can't hear,we are too far underground.” She whispered to him, she moved his jacket sleeve off his arm. He furrowed his brow.

“What are you doing?” He whispered, she didn't answer. He shook his head irritated, his finger’s pulled down her bandana. Her eyes widened at him.

She glared at him as he stared at her for a moment. He hadn't seen another person in so long it was comforting to see someone, especially someone as pretty, what he did not expect was the look of anger.

“Am I gonna have to handcuff you?” She fumed, she pulled his hand away from her.

“Sorry.” He apologized, she pulled out a needle,thread, alcohol,.

“What are you doing?” He asked her again, and she looked up at him. “Sewing you up.” She says bluntly, she leaned over grabbing a white rag, his hand pat around his shoulder where the arrow used to be.

“You removed it?” He asked her. She shrugged, soaking the rubbing alcohol into the rag.

“Yeah now I'm gonna have to sew you back up.” She tells him. His brown eyes widen in fear.

“What.wha sew me up?” He stammered.

“Yes, Unless you would prefer to bleed out.” She joked with a dry laugh, he shook his head. She grumbled under breath, she at him.

“You don't happen to have vodka on you, do you?” The girl asks him.

“What?” He said, confused, she shook her hand. “What about bleach?” She ask’s. He shook his head.

“No, What are you talking about?” He wonder’s, she bit her lip, she poured the alcohol into a plastic butter container.

“I'm almost out of alcohol so look’s like I'm using the rest on you.” She says to him.

She set the thread in the liquid, leaning over to him. “Can you roll this out of the way?” She asks him, gesturing to his gray long sleeve shirt.

“You want me to do it for you?”She wondered. He shook his head. He groaned as he slowly pulled his sleeve down, lifting it up over his head, his black curl’s falling back down. She flicked on her bright pink lighter with a duck on the side.

She removed the sewing needle from her bag, moving the flame under her needle. “What are you doing?” He asked, his heart racing.

“Sterilizing it.” She state’s, he leaned back. He wasn't sure what he was even laying on, just that it was safe for him to talk. “If blood loss doesn't kill you, infection will.”

“No offense but.” He gulped as she threaded the needle. The sharp end made his heart drop to his stomach.

“Your bedside manner suck’s.” He chuckled weakly, she rolled her eye’s. “My exe’s might think differently.” She mumbled under her breath, she got on her knees to his side.

She inhaled deeply.”I'm gonna tell you now this is not gonna be pretty.” She warns him, he nodded his head.

“You can hold my hand if you want.” She suggests to him, he whipped his head looking at her. She picked up his shirt, wrapping it tightly and handing it back to him.

“Bite down on this.” The girl ordered him. He pants, taking it from her, putting the gray henley in his mouth, gritting his teeth against it. She grabbed the warm needle hovering over his wound.

“Take a deep breath.” She says, she closed her eyes as she prepared herself. She winced as she began to thread through his skin. He screamed in agony, his cries muffled from the cloth against his mouth.

Hot tears escaped his eyes flowing down his face,she winced at the man in pain. His finger’s gripped against her free arm as she continued to work to patch him up.

⏁⏁⏁

HE PANTED, staring at the concrete above him. The pain in his shoulder diminished thankfully, though he could still feel it. She walked between the wood table set against the wall, she pulls out a shirt from her milk crate. She walked back over to him.

“Should fit.” She tells him, lightly tossing him a dark green henley shirt. He grabbed at it, slowly sitting up against the carseat, he groaned pulling the shirt over his head, being mindful of his patched up wound.

“Who were those guy’s?” Mickey wonder’s, she pulls her plaid shirt close to herself.

“San Diego bandits.” She answers. He furrowed his brow’s. “Who?” he ask’s.

She sighed irritated. “You don't know do you?” She says, she crossed her arms turning around to look at him.

“Their a group of radical’s killing anyone in the city who makes a sound.” She explained to him, he raised a brow. “Why would they do that?” He wondered, she shook her head.

“Because they think that by silencing anyone, they are appeasing god and that he will take the monster’s back.” She explained.

“So that’s why they tried to kill me, to stop me from making noise?” He ask’s her, she shrugged.

“That or they were gonna auction you off.” She says, his heart dropped. “Auction me? Like fucking cattle?” He ask’s, she shrugs.

“In a way, yes.” She answered. She puts her hand on her hip’s. “Some people they keep alive, other’s they drag out, and leave them as a sacrifice.” She explains.

He shook his head. “How do you know so much about them?” He wonder’s

“Because I used to be one of them.” She tells him. She sighed leaning back. “That was two months ago.” She clarifies. His brows furrowed.

“I've been in the city for two years, and never met them.” He tells her, and she shrugged again.

“They did not form till a year ago, and they didn't become violent till six months ago.” She informs him. He shook his head in shock. He was lucky they hadn't found him yet. They could have killed him at any chance.

“And I have some bad news for you.” She speaks up. He looked at her, she inhaled through her nose. “This thing isn't over for you.” She tells him.

“What? What are you talking about?” He ask’s her.

“When they dont silence someone, they will do everything they can to make sure you don't come back.” The girl explained to him, he ran his fingers through his curly black hair, his heart began to race.

“Are you serious?” He ask’s her, she nodded. He swore under his breath as he began to pace back and forth. “But.” She started, he crossed his arms looking at her, not expecting something good.

“I won't let them get to you…if you help me.” She says to him. His mouth parted agape. “Is that why you saved me?!” He wondered, he took a step forward.

“Just because you need someone to help you?” Mickey ask’s, she shakes her head.

“I saved you because I'm not an asshole.” She state’s bluntly.

“Really?” He says with a brow raised. “So you holding a gun to my head makes you less of one.” He remark’s rolling his eyes. Her jaw dropped, shaking her head.

“You mean me holding a car lighter to your head.''The woman tells him. She shook her head again.

“Baby the closest I have ever gotten to being violent with another human was when I held my hand over your mouth.” She declared, he wiped his mouth, regretting his choice of words.

“Look if you wanna go back out into that city and risk the chance of actually losing your life.” She sneered, she gestured up. “Be my guest.”

She step’s forward, her eye’s darkened as she glared at him. “But if you wanna get out of this god forsaken city..then you will help me.” She stated.

He takes a deep breath, collecting himself. “Fine.” He conceded.

“Okay then.” She smirked, she turned around grabbing a small blue book in bold font, San Diego County Map, tabbed with different colors. She placed the book on top of metal table.

“A month ago, I went down to the old coast guard sector, I tried to get on one of their boat’s to work.” She explains opening the small book, opening a map part of the book, pointing at the word’s in sharpie.

“As you can see it clearly didn't work, and I sure as shit dont know the first thing about fixing boat’s.” She admit’s with a weak laugh. “And what makes you think I know how to fix a boat?” Mickey wonder’s.

She reached into her front pocket, a jingling of metal peaked his interest. From her finger’s dangled a chain with a small metal plate at the bottom. He held out his palm as she placed the cold misc on it.

He turned the plate over, reading. Mickey Garcia, Fanboy. US NAVY.He looked at her in shock. “You went through my bag?!” He exclaimed in anger, she shook her head.

“It fell off your bag.” She says, she shook her hand. “You were in the military? So you have some type of knowledge about mechanic’s right?” The girl wonder’s.

He stammered for a moment. “I mean yes, I flew onto boat’s I didn't.” He stuttered, she shook her head.

“Yes or no, can you help me?” She asks him. He sighed, rolling his eyes. “Yes I can help you.” He tells her, her lips formed a thin line.

She extends her hand out. “Shake on it.” She ordered.

“I always shook hands with client’s, it's a sign of trust.” She explains to him, he nods his hand. Gripping her hand in a hand shake. “You have a name?” She ask’s. His brow rose.

“Don't you already know it?” He wonder’s, she shrugged. “I do but you should tell me it yourself.” She admits.

“Mickey.” He tells her. She smirked, impressed. “Jasmine, my friend’s called me J.J.” She says to him, she takes her cap off her head, her curly pixie cut shaking it off.

“I'll take you to the depot in the morning, it's about a three mile walk.” She list’s off to him, she bent down to the plastic crate by her legs pulling out a can of beefaroni. “I'm gonna heat this up,and you.” she points at him.

She rummaged through her pink crate, pulling out a red book. She grunt’s tossing it over to him. He read the title. Sign Language for Everyone: Basic Course.

“There is a safety shower in that back corner, it has only one setting that is lukewarm, I have another hammock you can set up.” JJ tell’s him.

“Oh I don't wanna be a bother.” He told her, and she shook her head.

“Trust me you dont wanna sleep on that seat.” JJ say’s to him. “Okay then.” He says, she smirked turning around, grabbing a chisel popping the can open.

⏁⏁⏁

THE BOAT gently rocked back and forth. She sat at the back of the response boat, gripping her large knife. She covered her face with the bandana again, her short curly hair hidden away in her green baseball cap.

Her brown eyes scanned all over for any threats. Conversation between the two was limited, only because he didn't know ASL as well as she did, and that he was busy fixing up the mistake she had made with the boat.

When she first found it she had tried to find the owner’s manual, she guessed the military didn't leave that out in the open. She sighed bored, she claimed she was an introvert, she usually preferred the comfort of her underground fortress.

Even before the world ended she was happy to be left alone in her crowded apartment. There were point’s where she practically thrived off of how quiet things were now, before the world was to be overrun with noise.

Now actually talking with someone after so long, made her think. A soft grunt’s pull’s her out of her thought’s. She looked up at him, his curly black hair pulled back into a tight ponytail.

“How is it?” She signed fast. His lips parted as he thought of what she might have said. She shook her head standing up carefully getting up walking inside the cabin. She grunted unhooking a whiteboard.

Day’s without an incident, 28 days. She quickly wiped away the black dry erase getting on her purple windbreaker.

“How is it?” She write’s down, he nodded his head taking it from her, wiping away her previous words.

“Should be fine. Some parts are missing though, do you know where I can get parts?” He asked her, and she bring;s out her book from her jeans pocket. Flipping through finding a directory.

She takes the whiteboard from him. “There’s a hardware store one mile up the road.” She tells. She pretends to write on her arm.

“Make a list.” She sign’s, he nodded his head understanding, he took the whiteboard from her, holding it back up.

“Did you break something in there?” He ask’s.

Her eyes widened, embarrassed. She leaned over taking it from him. “I got mad and kicked the panel.” She write’s.

He covered his mouth to stifle his laugh, She rolled her eyes at him. “I'm sorry.” He signed to her, she shrugged.

“What did you do before this?” He asks on the whiteboard. She smirked, taking from him, drawing a stick figure of a man with a gavel and robe.

“You were a judge?” He write’s.

She shook her head. “Lawyer.” She corrects him. He nodded his head, so that’s what she meant when she said client’s. He thinks’.

“What were you?” She asks him, he smirks, taking the whiteboard from her. “Fighter Pilot.” He tells her, she nodded impressed.

“Have you ever shot a plane down?” JJ asked him, he took the board from her quickly writing down. “I have.”

“How did you get the name ‘’Fanboy’?” She wonder’s, he rubbed the back of his neck, looking at the cabin of the boat.

He take’s the whiteboard from her. “I will tell you later, I can't explain this way.” He says, she shrugged.

“Cool, are you almost done for the day?” She asks him, he leaned back thinking. “A few more checks, should be good.” He write’s.

“Get to it.” She signed, he furrowed his brow at her signing.

She sat up pointing to the cabin again, he nodded his head standing up walking back inside. She sighed again. She glanced over her shoulder, catching a glimpse of his henley slowly moving with his muscle’s. She cleared her thoughts quickly looking away.

⏁⏁⏁

THE BIT OF stray sunlight shines above the steel mill, the small amount of lights dim lit the basement. She marked off on her notebook, sitting on the bottom half of a bucket. She kept a mental note of which tool she would have to take with them tomorrow.

He laid down on the car seat, boredly reading through his ASL book. He had at least memorized ten word’s, the silence air between the both of them was gnawing at him. She wasn't the most talkative person, he could tell.

He sighed loudly. She shook her head, as she returned her attention to her writing. He dropped the book on his chest, dropping his head looking at her. She drops her pencil, turning around looking at him.

“Alright pretty brown eyes, what do you want?” JJ teases him. He resists a smirk at her nickname, he sits up closing his book.

“I'm bored.” He says bluntly.

She shrugged. “Find something to do.” She gesture’s around, he shakes his head.

“Do what? I don't know what this place is,or even who you are.” He point’s out, she crossed her arms over her chest.

“Look I just..want something to do, and I will leave you alone till then.” He proposed.

Her brows furrowed as she thought. She sighed defeated. “Fine, you want something to do?” She repeated his answer, he nodded.

“Follow me.” She orders him, standing up quickly at a fast pace down the hall.

“Come on pretty boy.” She urged, he got to his feet following her down a hallway. She unclipped the flashlight from the wall as the light from above faded away. She pulled her arm’s closer to herself as they kept walking.

“So what is this place?” He asked her, she inhaled.

“Ryan & Edward’s steel mill, founded in 1939, at the tail end of the depression when World War || was starting.” Jasmine explained to him.

“Ran until 1988, Steel Crisis shut them down for good, and it didn't help that the place was a walking death trap at point’s.” She explains, he nodded listening to her smooth voice. She stops at a room with cabinet file’s and a desk.

“If it’s such a death trap why are you here?” Mickey wonder’s leaning against the door frame. She chuckled weakly.

“I don't think I really care if inhaled spores kill me, it would be better than..well you know.” Jasmine admit’s, she shivered as she walked in the office.

She walked over to the desk, pulling on the cabinet with a tug. She grunted, it didn't budge. She peaked over the desk.

“Can you help over here?” She asked him, he dropped his arm’s getting next to her, his grip on the desk handle tight.

“Ready?” He asked. The both of them grunt in effort, the draw came unloose. She stumbled back against him, she put her hand against his chest stopping herself, she cleared her throat turning around, getting on her knees digging through.

“What are we looking for?” Mickey ask’s, she holds the flashlight in her mouth, mumbling to him.

“What?” He ask’s, she rolled her eyes pulling it out.

She wiped the back off, handing the tool to him. “I came in here a month ago, it was late and found these old journal’s down here.” Jasmine tell’s him.

“I found a lot of thing’s down here too, kid’s used this place as a hangout so there is stuff littered here from each decade.” She explains to him, her arm’s covered in goosebumps as she rummages through the drawer.

“Look in one of those file cabinets, you can find some old stuff.” She tells him, he nodded his head, he easily opened it digginging through the past.

“You don't mind me asking.” He speaks up, he looked over his shoulder at her.

“How do you know so much about this place?” He wonder’s.

“Well on top of being a partner with a law firm, I had to study up on lawsuit’s.” She recall’s to him, he furrowed his brow.

“What happened here then?” He asked.

“Funny enough, it was a guy smoking, and reading a porno magazine on his break, he fell over the railing breaking his leg, and he sued his foreman.” She tells him, he shook his head with a smirk.

“That is so dumb, how did it end?” He ask’s, she shrugged again. “They settled out of court for 6, 000, which in the 1950's was a lot I guess.” She chuckled.

She pulled out a bundle of photos, and a journal. “Find anything?” She asked him.

“Old magazine’s, couple photos and…. no way.” He gasped in surprise, he pulled out a plastic baggy with green twigs and dirt, she raised a brow as he smiled in excitement.

“How old do you think that is?” Jasmine ask’s him. He flipped the bag examining it. “I don't know.” He is excited.

“You wanna find out?” He challenged, she shook her head, his shoulder’s slump.

“Oh come on, please.” He pleaded with her.

“It's probably not even good.” She tells him. He steps forward, a cockeyed smile at the edge of his lip’s. “Won't know till we try it.” He says.

“Oh so it’s we now?” She wonder’s. He shrugged, with a soft grin. She inhaled looking away from his stare.

“Okay, if I find paper, we can roll one.” She tells him, he smirks. She turned around, opening the sliding desk top. Basic supply’s of an office, a rectangular object catches her attention.

“Huh?” She says out loud. Mickey raised a brow.

“What is it?” He wonder’s leaning against the filing cabinet, she holds it up. On the paper line of the tape written in faded marker. Hollywood’s Classic Mix, and some more. she smirked.

“I found a radio.” She says to him.

Oh fuck yeah.” He agreed, she chuckled softly at his excitement. He walked out of the room with an extra step in his pace. She picked up the journal and photos following him out of the room.

⏁⏁⏁

THE TWO OF them laughed, after she had cooked up an old can of beef broth with carrots, the both of them rolled a joint sharing it. She scrunched her nose as she slowly inhaled the plant, she no doubt knew it was gonna stink up the space they occupied with their cots.

“Ugh this stuff suck’s.” Jasmine coughed, leaning over handing it back to him. He chuckled at her reaction.

“So where are you from?” Mickey asked her, she chuckled looking down at her feet in her Tom’s.

“West Virginia.” She answered. He nodded his head.

“Alright, how does a girl from West Virginia get in a place like this?” He teased, she smirked, she messed with the coils at the back of her neck.

“My parents.” She says.

“Were they lawyer’s too?” He wondered, she shook her head. “Mom was a doctor, Dad was an auto mechanic.” She tells him

“Yeah really broke the mold on that one.” She remark’s, he inhaled the joint. Coughing holding his chest as he handed it back to her.

“What about you, pretty boy? Where are you from?” JJ asked him, he smirked.

“Florida.” He answered. She scoffed. “Not surprising.” She tells him. He raised a brow.

“What does that mean?” He wonder’s, she shrugged. “You seem like the kind of person who lived in ‘Happier State’.” She states. He smirked, his cheek’s growing warm.

“Right there.” She point’s, his smirk turned into a grin at teasing.

“What?” He ask’s between his laughs.

“That..that..your million dollar smile, like how do you do that?” She wonder’s, her lips parted trying to stop her smile.

“The world has ended, and you still are smiling like everything is good.” She admits.

He shrugged. “I don't know..I just always smile.” Mickey guessed, she shook her head.

“They may have taken our sound..but they can't take away our smile’s.” He state’s, he chuckled lightly.

The soft glow from the barrel fire illuminated an orange hue on his face, his teeth practically shining in the light. Her lip’s formed a soft smile as she gazed on him, on his face she could see smile lines at the edge of his lip’s.

She looked down. “You're kind of right on that one.” She mumbled, she inhaled on the joint again letting out the same cough.

She leaned over the car seat to him, giving him the joint. She shivered, bringing her arm’s closer to herself. It was March outside, the cool would creep down on some night’s from the shaft above that gave access to the soundproof basement.

She gasps from surprise at the sudden feeling of someone hand on her skin, goosebumps flooding her arm’s as warm cloth wrapped around her. On both of her shoulders, a navy blue zipper jacket laid unzipped. She glanced at him, he smiled softly.

“Thank you.” She whispers while signing to him. He moved hand back and forward, and away from his chest. Jasmine smirked impressively at the man. Your Welcome

“Your signing is better.” She commented, he looked away as his face no doubt became redder at her complimenting. He looked down at the joint in his hand.

“Are you even feeling anything from this thing?” He wondered, looking at her brown eyes, she looked down at herself. She shook her head.

“80’s weed sucks.” He remarked, he tossed it into the fire.

The both of them leaned back in the car seat, the soft sound of the fire cracking blending with music that slowly played from a radio beside her feet. She closed her eye’s, she fought against the tiredness in her body desperately, she couldn't sleep, she needed to take watch.

“Fuck.” She mumbles, rubbing her eye’s. He glanced at her, the warm light bringing out her dark features. “What?” He whispered.

She shook her head. “I'm trying not to sleep.” JJ admits her voice is quiet.

“Why?” He whispered, she looked over at him. Her dark brown eyes soften.

“I’m supposed to be on watch, remember to protect you.” She tells him, he sits up.

“You can sleep, I’ll take the first watch.”Mickey reasure’s her, she shook her head.

“No, you're my responsibility.” JJ state’s, his heart skipped a beat at her determination.

He shook his head. “Well you can't protect me if you are tired.” Mickey chuckled, she shook her head no again.

“I'll be fine.” She reassured him, stubborn. She stands up to her feet, walking past him. “Jasmine.”

He says, his calloused hand reaching out grabbing her wrist. Her stomach went wild at the warm contact from his hand, his touch gentle as he looked up at her.

"Sorry.” He apologized, her breath hitched in her throat as she looked at him.

“You've done enough..just sleep.” He says to her in a whisper. Her heart began to race as he pleaded with her, his soft brown eyes practically beginning to concede. She pant’s nodding her head.

“Okay.” She says. She grabs at the jacket around her shoulder, handing it to him.

“No, you take it for tonight.” He assured her. She smiled softly.

“Um..good night then.”JJ say’s to him, tripping on her word’s. She walks away slipping her arm’s through the hole’s of the dark clothing item. She lays on her cot that is laid across from his, she brings her nose to the navy fabric of the jacket.

Deeply inhaling the scent, she could smell hints of the earthy and bit’s of what she thought was apple, she smirked against the cloth as she nuzzled herself into her sleeping bag. Her mind raced with many thoughts.

⏁⏁⏁

SHE STUCK her arm out bored as she walked along the dock. The last two days she had been playing guard to him as he fixed the coast guard boat. She was also doing the most she could to not share the same room with him for as much as she could.

She had been wrestling with herself over the obvious crush that was forming. She knew exactly why she was growing feelings so fast and she hated it. The world had ended and she had been starved of human contact for so long, and clearly anyone who was as lonely as she was would enjoy the company of someone happy like him.

She spun on her heels, walking back. She twisted her wrist with a knife. The boat rocked back and forth as he walked out of the cabin. He leaned over, lightly tapping the wood making her turn around to face him.

“What’s up?” She sign’s, he smirked, glancing back into the captain’s cabin. She raised a brow at his grin. He was always smiling. This time was different.

“Is it done?” She asks him.

He nodded his head. She put her knife back into her sheath, she excitedly walked back to him, being mindful of the noise her feet would make if she jumped onto the boat. She reached out her hand for him to help.

He guided her onto the docked boat. She gasped as her foot slip’s off the edge, almost touching the water. She sighed in relief, thankful he had a hold of her arm’s. She glanced up at him, quickly looking away as the heat rushed to her face.

He led her inside. “It should work.” He signed slowly, she nodded impressed.

He reached out to touch the ignition key, her eyes widened as she gripped his hand tight. He whipped his head around, confused at her action.

“Too Loud!” JJ signs, his lips parted nodding his head. “Sorry.” He says she released her grip on him.

“Tomorrow.” She promises him.

“We leave tomorrow.” She swears, he nods his head.

“Let’s get out of here.” JJ signs, he furrows his brow again. He watched her leave, picking up her backpack as she pulled herself back up onto the dock, he smirked to himself.

They quietly walked next to each other, looking around at the desolate San Diego. She looked down sadly passing by shop’s that were overgrown with vines and leaves. She had moved to the city when she was fourteen, she hated her parents for it.

She couldn't stand the crowdedness of the inner city, and she hated how close they were to the ocean. Did Not help people made fun of her for being from the south, and how she looked. She guessed the joke’s on them now since she is still alive.

He tap’s her shoulder. “You okay?” Mickey asked her, she nodded her head.

“Just thinking.” She signed slowly, gesturing to her head. “About?” He ask’s her, she shrugged.

She grabs the whiteboard from her bag, writing with the expo quickly. “How everything is gonna change soon.” She writes.

He took the whiteboard from her. “Where are we going?” Mickey wonder’s. She bit her lip at the use of we, sighed, taking it back from him.

“There is an island, rumored to be filled with survivors, about five mile’s south of the marina.” She wrote in bold, his brows furrowed at her explanation.

“Is it true?” He write’s, she shrugs, taking it back from him. “I don't know.” She admitted.

“We are gonna find out right?” JJ asks him, her question mark on the end big for him. He smiled warmly at the use of we. “Yes.” He signed to her.

⏁⏁⏁

SHE DUG THROUGH her bag, rolling her eye’s frustrated, they had finished off the final can of spaghettios she had. He looked up from his book over at her, his brow rose. He sit’s up placing his book on his knee. She grunted frustrated, as he kept digging.

“What are you doing?” He ask’s her, she looks over her shoulder at him. She sat on the dirty floor showing her backpack.

“I'm looking for something i was saving for a rainy day.” JJ tell’s him.

“You have better weed in there?” Mickey teased, she rolled her eyes playfully.

“No pretty boy, I have alcohol in it.” She says bluntly, his eyes widened at her snark.

“I was saving it for when I.” She stops mid-sentence, she pat’s her leg. “When I got out of here.” She stammered, he nodded his head.

She looked at her plastic container on the ground, she could see the orange lid covering the top of the brown liquid. She smirked.

“Found it.” She whispered. She ripped out a bottle of whiskey, the labeled ripped half way that he couldn't tell what brand it was.

“I thought you were kidding.” He laughed at her, she shook her head.

“No, I've been saving this bad boy for two month’s.” She says excitedly.

“Bad news is we have to share it, so don't expect guests.” JJ tell’s him. She grunt twisted the cap breaking the seal of the liquor. She leaned her head back as the ripe fruity taste went down her throat.

She scrunched her nose up. She pulled the dark green button down closer as she walked over to him, sitting on the opposite side of the car seat, handing the drink bottle over to him.

The radio softly played the mixtape she had found. Occasionally a voice would play from the tape, saying who requested what song and why it's there.

“Ill take my chances.” He tell’s her, he leaned his head back taking a swig of the fruity drink. His nose scrunched up closing his eyes. “Wow.” He say’s.

“How old is this?” He ask’s her, she shrugged taking it from him. “How far into the apoulpse are we?” JJ ask’s him.

“Two years.” He guessed, she smirked. “Two years old.” She remarks, she laughs as she takes another drink.

She gagged, holding her mouth. “You know what, don't know why I thought this was a good idea.” She grumbled, handing the drink back to him.

“So Fanboy.” She speaks up, drawing out his callsign. He perked up

“Enlighten me, how did you get a name like that?” She ask’s, he rubs the back of neck licking his lips.

“Thought you would have figured it out?” He says, she shakes her head, running her fingers through her curly hair.

“I'm not that smart.” She admits.

“Bullshit!” He exclaimed with a laugh. Her face grew red at his compliment. “Sorry.” He apologized to her.

“I kind of have a tendency to get loud.” He explains, she raised a brow.

“Like I'm the one who gets everyone hyped up.” He tells her, she smiled nodding her head.

“That makes sense, I mean you can't even talk up there, and you say so much.” She say’s to him, she furrowed her brow. “Hope that makes sense.” JJ mumbled.

“It did.” He says. He leaned his back again taking a swig of the alcohol. He groaned holding his mouth. Jasmine laughs at him.

“What about you?” He ask’s her, her heart skipped a beat. “What about me?” She wonder’s, he sits up handing it over to her.

“What were like before this all started?” Mickey wondered, she shook her head.

“I was quiet, I never really went out, I only hung out with some friends.” Jasmine recall’s.

“Actually, funny enough my favorite people to hang out with were my parent’s.” She chuckled warmly, biting her lip.

“My dad was always good with people and my mom, she was funny.” She recall’s.

“Aren't all mom’s?” He wonder’s. She shook her head.

“I guess but they weren't my mom.” She says to him, she looks down as her arm’s become cold. She sighs heavily.

“What about you? What were you like?” Jasmine wonder’s, she takes the drink from him, taking a swig from the alcohol.

“How was your family?” She asks him. He laughed and leaned back against the car seat. The Radio playing a soft rock song filling the air.

“Honestly..I wish I was able to stop, like there were point’s everyone told me to shut up.” Mickey admit’s. He sighed, his eyes looking down at the cold concrete.

“But I didn't used to be that way.” Mickey says to her, she listens intently at his confession.

“Believe it or not, I wasn't everyone’s favorite person in middle school.” He recall’s.

Her eyes widened at him. “No way.” She says, he nodded.

“Yeah I was either too loud or too quiet, it really messed me up.” He says to her. She looked down sadly.

“And girl’s didn't want to go to the dance with the boy who rode the bench all year.” He recalled.

“My a’ma though, you would have liked, she was always good with people, and making them happy.” He smiled softly. Her lips began to form a smirk at seeing him, a glint of a tear in the corner of his dark brown eyes.

“She had this crazy horse laugh, and she was so tough but she always meant well.” His voice broke at the end, his breath shook as he leaned over taking the alcohol from her. His face mute as he took a swig from it.

“You know what fucking suck’s about this world now?” His voice grim, she looked down at her finger’s as cold wash over her body. He shook his head as his lip’s formed a thin line.

“I have never felt so alone in my entire life.” He admitted, turning his head to face her.

“This world is so goddamn lonely… it’s suffocating.” His breath shook at his last word’s.

She hadn't thought about it. How it must have been for someone like him, to go from having everyone to having no one. Living in a world where you once thrived off social interaction and now all that’s left is living to die.

The radio scratched over as a voice began on the other end.

“This next song Slider suggested, who knew he was the romantic type?” A male voice teased, static on the radio play as grunt is heard on the other end.

“Shut up Hollywood.” Another voice scolded me.

“I'm just saying you have taste, don't be so harsh.” The man proclaimed. A soft piano began to play as the voice on the other end faded out. A soft old motown song she recognised from the moment she heard it. Bring It On Home To Me.

Jasmine look’s to the man on her left. His smile was gone as he stared down the bottle in his hand. She sighed, getting to her feet.

“Dance with me.” She says to him, her voice clear. He looked up at her, his brow’s furrowed.

“What?” he asked, confused. She took a deep breath. “I'm giving you what middle school you didn't get.” She says to him, extending her hand.

“Now get your ass up.” Jasmine teased him. He sighed in defeat, extending his hand, she pulled him up from his spot. He sat the bottle down.

She smirked, placing her hands behind his neck. His hand’s practically engulfed both sides of her waist, her heart raced in her ear’s as the blood rushed to her face at his actions. The both of them began to sway gently to the music.

it didn't seem like danger was near. It was just the both of them,that what only mattered was this moment with the two of them. The heat of the barrel fire illuminated their shadow’s onto the factory pillar’s. The figure’s on the wall are copying their slow movement’s.

“So this is what I missed out on huh?” He teased in her ear, vibrating against her skin. She scoffed softly.

“More or less.” She whisper’s.

He removed one of her hand’s from his neck, taking it his own. Leading their dance away from her control. She could swear her heart almost stopped.

“Alright Swayze, you got move’s.” Jasmine teases him softly. She chuckled, the feeling of his finger’s laced with her own sent shockwaves through her. Smile peaking through, radiating with a sense of peace.

“Oh I've got a lot move’s, baby.” He flirted, she bit her lip shaking her head. He took their tangled hand, spinning her around. A laugh left her as she twirled back to him.

“You are so lying about not going to a dance.” Jasmine say’s between her laugh’s. He shook his head.

“I didn't say I stopped dancing.” He point’s out, their chest touching as the song slowly began to end. Their brown eyes locked, Her breath hitched in her throat as goosebumps flooded her body.

His eyes glanced at her lip, his gaze so soft it made her stomach flutter. His hot breath peppered her face as the gap between them started to diminish. She panted as she slowly pulled away.

“Should be sleeping.” She whispered to him, clearing her throat. The heat rushed to her face as she rubbed the back of her neck. His black brow’s furrowed, puzzled.

“Long boat ride tomorrow.” She chuckled weakly.

“Yeah.uh, I should get to it.” Mickey say’s, copying the same false laughter as her. She picked up the bottle from the ground, putting it back in her crate.

You are such a coward, she scolded herself. She shook her head as she put away stray objects, and grabbed her knife from her holster. She changed her clothes in the corner she deemed her makeshift closet with her clothe;s hung to dry. She slipped her black shirt over her head, pulling her adida’s sweatpants that had been ripped at the knee.

Of course a guy who clearly wanted to kiss you, you didn't even kiss him. Her eye’s closed as she shook her head. She walked back to where both of their cot’s lay near one another, their sleeping bag’s unmade from the night before.

She sighed as it creaked with the weight of her body, she tucked herself into a sleeping bag, holding her arm’s close to herself. Still wearing the jacket he gave her, basking in its sweet earthy smell. She closed her eyes as she tried to shut her brain off.

The sound of light scratched across the floor fill’s the dead air, the familiar creaking of the cot made her heart race in chest. Heat began to rise against her spine, the warmth made her shiver. She turned her body over, her brown eye’s fluttering open.

They stared at each, neither daring to state the obvious between the both of them. His hand caressed her bare arm slowly trapsing to her face.

Her heart dropped as she finally leaned in, closing the gap between them. His hand gently held the side of her face as their lips moved with one another.

Jasmine inhales deeply as her fingers toy with small hair she could feel. His hands began to wonder at her body .

She ran her fingers to the hair tie that held back his curls. His hands gripped both sides of her hip's, pulling closer to him.

She finally pulled away, panting as she tried to catch her breath leaning her forehead against his. She could feel him smiling.

Jasmine looked him in his eyes, his hot breath peppering on her face. She unzips her sleeping bag, crawling over to him.

His hand holding her as her legs staddled his waist, he sits up the cot creaking with their weight shift. She inhaled deeply as she continuing to kiss him, their body's rocking with each other.

Jasmine's hand snagged the tie in his hair pulling it out with on hand. Running her fingers through his dark curls, gently pulling at them.

His hot breath grazed her as his lips began attacking her neck. She gasped closing her eyes as he held her with both his hands.

Her fingers ran down his back down to the hem of his grey t shirt, trying pull it over his head, he pulled back for a moment removing it for her. She contained her shock at his shirtless appearance.

She had seen him without it before, only she tried to be respectful as she was trying to patch up his wound. She caressed his face as she brought lips back to his.

Her heart raced in her chest. She bit her lip stifling a moan he worked down her neck, sucking on the loose skin of neck, for sure leaving a hickey.

His hand snuck under her shirt, his touch sending shockwaves through her. She pulled back, quickly as she could pulling her shirt over her head, leaving her in a purple brallete.

He looked her up and down. His brows furrowed as he looked at a dark pink fragment on her side. An almost perfect bullet. She panted glancing down seeing where is eyes were looking.

"How..did? He whispered, she shook her head. "it doesn't hurt." She reasures him.

His thumb grazed across the scar. "Are you sure..I don't wanna do if you-" She cuts him off by bringing her lips to his.

Quickly pulling back. "I'm okay." She says, him. His brown eyes are dark with a glint of danger.

"Just don't stop." She orders him with a mischievous smirk. With the go ahead he followed her commend. The fire still illuminated their shadows.

⏁⏁⏁

THE SUN gleaned down at the entwined couple. He held her from behind with his arm draped across her waist, his grip had been iron tight before he fell asleep. She had been awakened before he was, her mind racing with the night’s event and what was happening today. She sighed.

She moved her hand to remove his from her waist, trying to roll to her own cot. He mumbled into his pillow, she pulled his arm off her again as she tried to get away again. His grip tightened as he pulled her back to him.

“Five more minutes.” He mumbled. She shook her head, her finger’s grazing him. “The Sun is out.” Jasmine whisper’s to him.

“So?” He asked, his voice vibrating her shoulder. She bit her lip.

“We are gonna lose daylight, and that's not good.” Jasmine say’s, he grumbled some word’s into her shoulder.

“Why do we have to leave now? Can't we just stay here?” Mickey wonder’s, his voice deepened from sleep. She sighed sadly. “Not if you're being hunted, remember.” She says.

He sighed defeated. “It's a nice thought though, but this isn't a home.” She reminds him.

“Make it one then.” He suggests, she shook her head, she took his hand in her own, kissing his knuckles. “You are kind of cute like this.” She comment’s.

“Kind of? What is that supposed to mean?” He teased, his hand snagged the end of her hips, she flinched from the tickling of his fingers across her bare skin.

“Stop please.” She begged between her laughs.

“Mick, I'm serious.” She playfully elbowed his chest. He groaned. “Fine.” He whispered in her ear, she grinned as he kissed her shoulder.

The weight of the cot shifted as he got up, she could hear him shuffling around, the sound of his clothes being pulled over him. Jasmine brought her nose to his pillow, inhaling his scent as much as she could from the cloth. Her skin felt like it was buzzing from the nights event’s, she had gone a while without the comfort of another human it was like she was awakened.

She sits up, shuffling around for her bra and underwear. She pulled her henley over her t-shirt, her black sweatpants slid up over her legs. She looked over to her makeshift table, he stood over the wooden table, his shoulders tense as stood looking down.

She stood up, holding her arm close to herself as she strided over to him. “Are you making breakfast this time?” She ask’s him, he didnt respond.

Her brow’s furrowed. “Mick?” She speak’s up, chuckling. He didnt speak up, simply sighing deeply.

“Mickey?” She ask’s, he turns around leaning against the table. His face stone cold as he stared her down, his brown eye’s dark in anger.

“You lied to me.” He spoke, his voice flat. Her heart dropped at the venom in his words. He holds up a single piece of paper, in the middle was a hand drawn image of herself with the word’s underneath. Wanted Dead or Alive, Murder.

Her heart sank to her stomach. His breath shook as he lowered his hand, his jaw tensed.

“Mick, I can explain.” She stammered, he shook his head.

“Who did you kill?” He demanded, she lifted her hand’s up. “I.I didn't kill anyone.” She stuttered.

“Then why does it say that? Why is your face on a wanted poster?” He asked, his voice angry. She shook her head. “Have you been lying to me this whole time, who is looking for you?” He ask’s.

“My ex-fiance!” She exclaimed, his mouth parted agape at her answer. She crossed her arms as her body grew hot.

“The leader of the bandit’s.” She tells him.

“What?” He whispered confusedly, she nodded her head. “Yeah…and the person I ‘killed’ ..he was the one who did it.” She confessed.

“So yes, I am a liar.” Her voice was flat with anger.

“Sorry to disappoint you, pretty boy.” She smeared. She turned around to walk away.

“Wait!” He says, she stopped at the sound of his voice breaking.

“I’m sorry.” He whispered to her.

“Tell me everything.” He says, she turned around facing him. His face had softened as he gazed at her.

“Please.” He pleads with her, she sighed as her arm’s tightened. They both walk over to the car seat that serves as a couch. She sat opposite side of him, her breath shake as she runs her fingers through her hair.

“A few months ago my parents and I found this group of survior’s lead by a preacher.” Jasmine starts off, she leaned back against the seat.

“And it was fine, we all lived in this nice community of people, we were happy.” She recall’s.

His brows knitted as he listened to her. “Until the man leading it began to say that the alien’s were sent from God, and that we failed him.”

“My Fiance, before this world he was someone who was easy to anger, and he proposed the idea of appeasing them.” Jasmine admits, his brows furrowed.

“Appeasing.” He say’s.

“You mean sacrificing?” He corrected, and she nodded her head. His heart skipped a beat as his blood ran cold.

“I thought he was just saying it because he was terrified, saying what he thought would be right.” She tells him, her chest heaved as her heart dropped.

“The leader of the group refused, and the next day, Ronan found him hanging in the courtyard.” She tells him.

“Did he do it?” Mickey ask’s, she shakes her head.

“Honestly I don't know.” her voice shook.

“Ronan became the leader, and he started making good people do terrible things, corrupting them and twisting their mind’s.” She says, her brown eyes grim.

“They started to round up survivors, some they would take and auction off, people would become a part of the killer’s, some entertainer’s.” She tells him, she licked her lips, wiping her face.

“Other’s they would take out and leave for bait, drag them out to the river, and force them to scream so the monster’s would hear them.” She sighed, he blinked in disbelief.

He was counting himself lucky he never met them before she saved him. What they would have done to him if they found him.

“That's awful.” He says, shaking his head. She wiped away a tear. “I wanted to leave, and so did my parent’s.”

“And I didn't fully agree with the idea of leaving until he…auctioned off a child to become a sacrifice.” Her voice broke, his fingers laced with her as he held it in comfort. She gulped as she counted on.

“My parents rounded up a group of survivors, and we left in the middle of the night heading for the marina. My mom had heard talk of an island run by a naval man.” She recounted.

“Right when we got to the water, Ronan and his cronies found us, he forced my father and I on our knees.” She looked up at the dirty ceiling, the sunlight reflecting the tears that were starting to fall.

“He forced my mother to choose between us, if she chose my father then I would be forced to stay with Ronan and be compliant with everything he asked of me.” She bit her lip, making it bleed. The copper tasted filling her mouth.

“Or choose me, and my dad would be auctioned off, mostly likely as a sacrifice.” Her heart pounded as a lump formed in her throat.

“And my mom she was always so selfless.” She recall’s, the past tense of her word’s made chill’s run down his spine.

“She turned around and told everyone to run before she..” Her voice broke again as tear’s stained her brown cheek’s. She licked the blood away from her lips.

“Before she screamed.” Mickey’s jaw dropped agape. She covered her mouth as she held back the tears that flooded her.

“That’s not even the worst part.” She croaked.

“Me and another girl, we were running together away from him, and he shot her with an arrow right through the heart.” Jasmine’s pant’s as her mind flashed with image’s.

“He shot me too, but I got away after I made a noise.” She wiped her eye’s again, the tear’s didnt stop. “So they aren't hunting you Mickey.” His name rolled off her tongue.

She turned to face him. “They are hunting me.” She admits.

His arms wrapped around her bringing her into a tight embrace. His finger’s held the back of her curl’s as another arm held her shoulders. His body radiated with warmth as he whispered soothingly into her ear. The tears fell from her face dying his shirt.

“I’m so sorry.” His voice says softly in her ear. She sniffled, Ronan had not shown her that comfort in so long, she had forgotten what it was like for someone to care about her.

“That's why you need to leave.” She whispers to him. His brows knitted in confusion. “What?” He pulled away holding her shoulders.

“You should leave me, take the boat, leave me to deal with Ronan.” She state’s, he shook his head.

“Not happening.” He declares.

“You stay with me, you will die, and I can't let another person die because of me.” She stated, he shook his head.

“Jasmine I'm not leaving you.” He says to her, he is filled with determination.

“I made a promise to you, I will get you out of here.” He stated.

“I swear on my life.” Mickey start’s.

His hands running down to arms.” Nothing or nobody will fucking lay their hand’s on you.” He promised her, her lips parted as she embraced him once more. Both holding each other as the morning sun shone.

⏁⏁⏁

THE BOTH OF THEM WALKED next to each other, their backpacks filled with everything they could carry. She carried most of her own thing’s to make it easy on him. He writes on the whiteboard hold it up to her.

“How was it?” It read, she furrowed her brow’s in confusion. “What?” She asked.

He smirked, writing down more. “What we did last night.” he wrote, her face grew red.

“The sex?” Jasmine asked him, he nodded his head. She rolled her eyes at his question.

“That’s really what crossed your mind?” She jokingly asks him. His brows furrowed

He write’s again. “Good or bad?” He wondered, she shook her head. She takes it from him. “You're a dork.” She write’s. He smiled, taking it from her.

“It was that good then.” He Jokes, she rubbed her face. She fought the smirk on her lips. She was almost thankful he found her wanted poster, the weight on her body was gone and she didn't feel like she had to hide again.

She took it from him. “Dork.” She wrote in bold letters, his face grew red as he took it from her.

Before heading to the boat they needed supplies from a boat shop right by the marina, only a swim from their boat. She wasn't sure how much gas was in the boat. She knew it would take a good amount of gas to get to the island.

Her feet scraped to a stop, the water rocked softly against the concrete. Jasmine turned to look at him, taking the whiteboard again.

“Look for anything that we can use.” She orders him, he nods his head.

“What about you?” He signs, she smirks in approval at his signing.

“Find what I can.” She says to him, he nod’s walking inside. She walked on the other side of the garage letting her hand traipse across.

He grabbed a bottle of lighter fluid, tucking it away into his bag. Items left behind were still on the shelves. He guessed that people didn't really care about supply’s in the apocalypse, he hoped that he could find a type of radio to play music for her again. Seeing it was something made her happy, he liked seeing her smile at least.

A creaking sound pulled him out of his thought’s, he looked around him, his finger’s grazing over the leather of his knife holster. He slowly walked into the store, the hair’s on his neck raising as light footsteps patterned around him. Didn't sound heavy enough to be Jasmine.

He unsheathed his knife, looking down at the concrete, the shadow of someone casting through the isle’s. He pant’s as rounded the corner ready to face someone. His brown eyes drifted down to a smaller teen, their face hidden behind their long hair. Holding their knee’s close to their chest as they rock back and forth.

Mickey’s brow furrowed in confusion. They whispered to themselves continuing to rock. He couldn't ask if they were hurt, he sat his knife back in his holster. Bending down to their level.

“Hey, it's okay.” He whispers softly, they didn't look up. He put his hand on their shoulders to comfort them. “Are you hurt? He wonder’s.

Their blue eyes meet his, a smirk paint’s their face. He gasped for air as something around his throat restricts his breathing. He clawed at his neck as a tight scratch object tightened more and more forcing him up.

Jasmine’s ears perked up at quiet choking noise. She bend’s down hiding behind an aisle, seeing silhouettes casting above onto the metallic ceiling, the choking growing closer to her. She rolled onto her knees, sliding across the floor.

Hiding against a rack of scent tree’s, she peaked her head around the corner. Her heart stopped as she watched the scene unfold in front of her. His neck wrapped with a rope, being held back by three men, another circling him like a lion to its food.

He grunted against the rope. Jasmine turned around, holding her heart as it raced in fear. She looked around her fearfully. Mickey panted as his brown eyes widened fearfully, the three men’s mouth’s covered by bandana’s hiding their identities.

“Where is she?” Red Bandana asked him, he could only understand the last half. He shook his head pretending to be confused. He could see the fabric move from a smirk underneath.

“Ronan isn't gonna be happy, you and his wife.” Red tell’s him, he grunted in anger at the last word. She wasn't anyone's, not even his.

“What do you fella’s say we do?” He asks the three men, they look at their hostage and their mock leader.

“Kill? Or take it to the boss.” He asks them.

“He laid with his woman, he won't take that.” Blue banana sign’s. He towered over most of them, holding the rope tightly with one. Yellow bandana raised his hands.

“What use is he then?” He wonder’s. Red bandana shrugged in response. “Fucking nothing, we kill him, find the wife.” He order’s.

“How?” Blue wonder’s, red look’s to the water behind them, he gestured with his hands around the post. He nod’s as he pulls the black haired man to the ground, Mickey grunted as he fought against the tightrope that drug him to the water.

Blue wrapped the rope around a post. He picked up the former pilot by his shirt collar. He smeared at his helplessness. Mickey grunt’s as he leaned his head back colliding it with the head of the man who held him back. Blue stumbled back holding his nose as crimson flowed from it.

A bottle rolling on the ground catche’s their attention. Yellow furrowed his brow, walking over picking up the bottle examining it. A Hiland milk bottle, the white liquid beginning to fizz up in his hand, furrowed his brow.

It pop’s for a moment, it combusts in his hand with a boom sending him back, yelling in agony as his skin burns, his crie’s cutting with an inhumane cry that filled the once dead air. Blue bandana stumble’s back holding his eye in pain, in his blind stumbling he colluded with the tied up man, he yelped as he fell back into the cold water.

He grunted as he flayed his arm’s in the water, he choked as his lung’s ached for air. The sound’s above are muffled from the water. He panicked, kicking against the water, his chest aching as he fought desperately to kick to the surface. Pain shot through his entire body as the rope dug deeper into throat, he jolted as the strength began to leave him, slowly the sunlight that reflected on him disappeared as the world turned black.

⏁⏁⏁

MUFFLED GRUNTING fills the air, he could feel a pressure on his chest, plea’s from a person. His eye’s shot open as he coughed up water, gasping for air. He coughed water as the world around him began to form. Metal that rocked softly back and forth.

“Your okay, your okay breath.” A voice soothed him, she sat him up. Her curly hair soaked with water, her henley clung close to her body. She glanced back and forth between him and the cabin of the boat.

“Don’t move, I'm getting you out of here.” Jasmine order’s him, she grunt’s holding her side as she stumbles to stand up.

“Are you hurt?” he whisper’s weakly, she groans in response walking back into the cabin. JJ grunt’s as she fumbled with the gear’s of the boat, putting it reverse. Holding her side as she got herself out of the bay as fast as she could, she grunted as she turned hard.

The wind whipped against the boat as she got further away from the city. She looked at the mirror seeing him leaning back against the seat. He coughed as he looked up at the sky that raced away. He held his side trying to catch his breath.

“Come on, Come on.” She mutters under her breath. The city began to fade from her view, she sighed thankful. She removed her hand from her side looking down at her hand’s, her fingers covered in blood, she grunt’s placing her hand back.

The boat began to sputter. Her brown eyes widened in annoyance. “No, No no please no.” She begged for the machine. It groaned and sputtered coming to a stop, Jasmine exclaimed, hitting the wheel.

She limped out of the captain cabin, she slid next to him. She groans holding her side as she let out a sigh of relief.

“What happened?” He ask’s her, and she blinked slowly. She looked over at him, her chin cut up with blood leaking.

“They tied you up, I made a bomb.” She recall’s, his brow’s furrowed. “You made a bomb?” Mickey asked her, and she nodded her head.

“I took AP Chem for fun, it came in handy now.” She chuckled weakly. He shook his head, pounding from the impact of falling in the water. “Are you okay?” He ask’s her.

“Yeah, I'm fine.” She assure’s him, with her free hand she laced her fingers with his. Leaning on his shoulder. “I’m sorry.” she whisper’s.

“I didn't know they were watching us, we should have filled up yesterday.” Jasmine says to him, he shook his head. “You didn't know, it's okay.” He tells her.

“No it's not because we are now stranded.” She points out, gesturing to the boat. “Better than dead.” He reminds her, she scoffed.

“Well you were technically dead.” Jasmine tell’s him, his heart dropped at her words. “What?! I was dead?!” He exclaimed.

“You were under the water for a whole minute.” She tells him. His mouth parted agape, he couldn't recall much after he passed out in the water.

“The alien’s took two of them out, and tried to get me when I was getting you.” She explains, he looks over to her side, her hand held tightly on her side. Bit’s of crimson shining off of her hand.

“Did they hurt you?” Mickey asked in concern, she shook her head. “Its a flesh wound.” She grit’s, he shakes his head.

“You're bleeding, you're not okay.” He says to her, she shakes her head again. “I've been through worse.” She assure’s him.

“We..we shouldn't be far from the island, I think.” She mutter’s, she shuts her eyes as she slowly sits up straighter. “We can fire a.” She sway’s,

“Jasmine.” He says in concern, she lets go of his hand, standing up slowly. Holding her side tightly. “I'm fine.” She lie’s.

He stands up watching her, she grunt’s limping into the captain’s cabin. Pulling out a white first aid box, removing an orange gun.

“Fire the flare gun.” She mumbled, her eye’s rolling in her head as she swayed around. He quickly got to her side, catching her as she fell over. Gently laying her on the chair, he takes the gun from her hand.

“Jasmine you got to stay awake, okay, eyes on me.” He soothed her, her eyes opened and closed, struggling to keep up. “It’s okay.” She whisper’s.

He grabbed the first aid kit, pulling out gauze and wraps. He lifted up the hem of shirt, ripping off the cover. A long straight gash the size of his middle finger, blood leaking down staining her jeans. He holds the cotton to her wound, holding it tightly.

He takes her hand putting on her own wound. “Hold that there.” He says to her.

“Okay, how did you know that bomb was gonna work?” Mickey asked her, she leaned her head back, her eye’s on the verge of closing. “Hey!” He speaks up, his voice clearer.

“How did you make that bomb?” He wonder’s, she grunt’s. “It was milk and chlorine.” She answers. He chuckled.

“You just carry that on you?” He ask’s, she shrugged.

“Doesn't every girl.” She laughs weakly. He grabs the medical tape, ripping it off with his teeth. Placing it around each square of the bandage. She groaned, gritting her teeth in pain, he looked her up and down. She panted, closing her eye’s.

“Hey, don't do that.” He soothed, lightly patting her face. She shook her head, he smiled softly at her. “You don't get to die on me not now.” He declared, she smirked faintly.

“Didn't plan on it fanboy.” She tells him, he nodded his head. She squinted her eye’s looking out at the water. He turned to see what she was looking at, a faint shadow in the distance, the silhouette of what seemed like two people.

He grabbed the flare gun from her side, taking three of the flares placing one in his pocket.

“I’ll be right back, keep pressure on that.” He ordered her, he brought his lip’s to her forehead. He stood up walking back outside. He aimed the orange weapon up at the sky.

As he pulled the trigger it popped as the flare launched high in the sky, illuminating the midday overcast. His brown eye’s fall to the shadow in the distance, two bright light’s flash in his direction. He smirks. He turned around, getting to her side holding her hand as the shadow slowly got closer to the two survivors.

NO PRESSURE Tagged: @cowboysandpilots @bobfloydssunnies @sugarcoated-lame @sorchathered @fairyheart @swiftsgirlfriend @nouis-bum @senawashere @cottagecori @sebsxphia

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jackiequick · 1 year

Text

BABY ON BOARD HAS A WHAT-?!

Pairing: Bob Floyd x Reader/Bob x OC (Nurse Anna)

Other Characters: The Daggers (+ JenPen Mitchell) and a few other background characters

Timeline: Set some time after The Uranium Project

Setting: The Bradshaw Household

It was an delightful Tuesday afternoon, the sun was shining brightly but it was windy and a bit chilly outside. The crew was mostly there expect for Amber who was assigned with a few meetings with her father that day, other than that the Daggers were together at The Bradshaw Mitchell household.

Usually they would be outside on the patio but it was too windy to sit outside today, so they all hang out inside in the connected kitchen and living room area. Fanboy, Phoenix and Payback were fighting over which set of movies watch next on the flat screen Tv while Coyote and Bob was helping Rooster fixing the front windows that seemed to go scratched from week…let’s just say it no more playing inside.

JenPen was putting away groceries that they brought earlier while Hangman was sipping a beer in the kitchen island nearby one of the stools, plugging in everyone phones to charge.

“Hey, what time is Angel coming back home?” Jake asked using Amber’s nickname instead as he glances at his Instagram account.

“Why? You miss your girlfriend?” Jen teased the pilot, grabbing a bite of the freshly washed grapes left on the kitchen counter.

“Wha—No! I mean yeah, of course I do, Miss Bradshaw.”

“Mitchell—Bradshaw, actually. When I do get married, I might keep my last name.”

“Pfff, Bradshaw is too much a chicken to finally find a ring and propose to you.”

“Be nice, you’ll be Uncle Hangman one day you will have to be on your best behavior.”

Jake laughed at the nickname and rolled his eyes, “What you doing this weekend?”

“Uhh, I got to study the metrics for a few planes and might just wash my hair afterwards.” Jen said with a simple shrug and smile.

•

After a while, Coyote and Bob took a break from helping Bradley with the window. Javy went to wash his hands in the kitchen while Bob headed to the bathroom upstairs to wash his face. While Javy was drying off his hands, he heard a light ping coming from the section of phones being charged.

Coyote raised an eyebrow, checking to see who’s phone it was exactly. He flipped though the phones and lightly tapping each other curiously until another message came in. It was Bob’s phone.

You could’ve sworn Javy did a double take as he saw the message, the poor man’s jaw dropped. The message first being a photo dump of the beautifully made sky outside and the new message said ‘Hey darling! How are you?💘’

“Huh?” Javy muttered, he tries not to be curious about his friends business because everyone tends to be somewhat open with a lot of things. But this caught his eyes since he never heard of Bob Floyd having a lady. He read the caller ID and continued, “Who’s Nurse Anna?!”

Javy’s yell caught everyone in the room’s attention, all faces whipped around towards the tall man in confusion. Everyone expect Phoenix who was sorta listening but too busy texting Lieutenant Magnet Kenner about god knows what. Rooster was sitting next to his girlfriend messaging her tired shoulders as he asked, “Uh, what?”

“Who’s Nurse Anna?!” Coyote repeated again as if it was obvious the first time he questioned the name.

“Uh context please, pal..” Said Payback turning his head from the couch to look at him.

“I was drying my hands after helping Roo with the windows and I heard a ping coming from one of the phones. So I went to check who’s phone it was and guess who’s phone it was?”

“Who’s?”

“Bob’s!”

“Relax, it’s probably a friend of his from work.”

“A friend? Oh really?! A friend who’s a nurse…?”

“Uhh yeah…”

Fanboy stood up from the flooring in the living room to see the messenger ID on Bob’s phone lock-screen. Later on another message popped up from Nurse Anna saying 'Change of plans I might not be free Friday but we can definitely do Saturday instead 💞'.

Mickey smiled and let out a small chuckle reading it out loud, “Uhh I don’t know Ruben, the contact on the ID says Nurse Anna with a blue heart emoji! She called him ‘Darling’ in the two messages she sent to Bob. She asked about meeting up on Saturday and added a few love emojis too! I don’t think it’s a normal friend from work kinda thing…”

Coyote joked, “What? You think they’re just hooking up?! Like a causal hook up? Gahhhh no, that’s not Bob’s thing, last time I checked.”

The trio kept arguing on who is this Nurse Anna girl was and acting like they were trying to decipher a mystery case. JenPen added in a few jokes about how ridiculous they were acting, however she was just as curious about it all.

Hangman thought it was just a casual weekly hook up between the their friend and some pretty girl or something. The loudly voiced conversation kept going on for more than two minutes as all the Daggers expect Phoenix, who was just watching all of them discuss the matter at hand.

Little did they all know Robert ‘Bob’ Floyd was upstairs, standing in the hallway near the staircase hearing everyone, trying his hardest not to laugh.

•

Rooster eyebrows bounced motion and laughed as he exclaimed, “Damn! Well it looks to me that our WSO has himself a little girlfriend.”

Hangman was sipping his second beer as his mind was clearly in space. Soon enough his eyebrows popped up and he almost spit out his drink coughing, “BABY ON BOARD HAS A WHAT—?!”

“Awww he fell for a nurse.” Jen says in pure awe how Bob was probably in love, leaning into Bradley’s warm touch on her shoulders.

“I’m still on the part where Bradshaw said GIRLFRIEND!” Hangman said chuckling and coughing a bit.

“I think it’s cute.” Fanboy replies with a smile, “And she sounds super sweet!”

•

The conversation contained so much energy and no one noticed that Bob was gone, since they more focused on the mysterious lady.

Fanboy thinks she’s blonde with green eyes, Hangman thinks she’s gotta be a redhead with green eyes, Ruben believed she was a nurse on base for the longest time, JenPen guessed that she must’ve been one of the most talented nurses in school and Coyote had a gut feeling Bob met her months before they all returned to Top Gun for that mission.

Rooster was curious as he stated his questions to the group, “Who can she be? I never heard a nurse named Anna...or so I think?”

“I bet she’s hot! Like super hot!” Hangman said grinning as Coyotes chuckles slapping his shoulder mutter for him to shut up.

Ruben turned to Phoenix smiling, “Your awfully quiet, anything you’ll like to share with the class?”

Phoenix looked up from her phone confused, “What do you mean? Just because Bob and I fly together doesn’t mean I know everything about ‘em, he probably met her one day before we all met at the bar or something. Last time I checked nurses need a night off to have fun too.”

“Your sure about that? Phoenix you fly and eat together, you share teaching tips together. Also you guys even shared a life or death experience together with all of us. I feel like you know something!”

“Well I-”

Suddenly they all heard footsteps and the room went silent, some of them noticing their teammate walking into the living room. They all waited and looked around as if they were just caught in the act of a horrible prank.

•

“Phoenix doesn’t know because she was passed out in a hospital bed in another room, when it happened.” Said the voice of the man who’s phone started all of this with a soft smile. Bob stood there leaning against the wall fixing his glasses and trying not to laugh at their faces. Especially Natasha’s confused one.

Everyone turned to Bob in shock and motioned for him to continue. He said, “Well, after the whole bird strike that went down that same day, Phoenix and I was sent the to the med bay, when I met her. I woke up, less than half an hour after it happened, doctors came and checked on me. Then Anna walked in…she came in with extra blankets and check on my IV, to see if I needed anything…”

“And?” Phoenix asked, waving her hand gently as if to cue in that she wanted more information about this.

“She was pretty. I didn’t have my glasses on and I've just woken up with a headache, so my vision I was still slightly blurry, but I could tell she was absolutely stunning dressed in her blue scrubs and her brown hair that was in a ponytail…and she was very kind.”

Hangman smiled, “That’s her job, Bob, to be kind and treat patients well, for they can try and get better.”

Rooster looked up glaring at his blonde savior, “Who’s telling the story? Him or you?”

“Him duh!”

“Then let him tell it, Bagman!”

“Yikes..sorry, Floyd continues please, she sounds pretty nice.”

Bob smiled laughing softly and continued, “Because she is! Gentle and passionate too. She stayed with me for a while, asked how I was doing at the moment and what is my job in the Navy. Uh, eventually we started talking about movies and music, and then before she left to go see other patients..I asked her out, telling her once I got out the hospital and could be finished with our missions, I would like to take her to a nice restaurant…”

JenPen smiled listening as she heard Fanboy asking, “She called you darling? How long have you two been going out?”

“Oh no! She calls every single one of her patients darling or dear but for me darling just stuck I guess. I call her doll or honey, sometimes sweetie.” Bob said the last few nicknames with a laced dreamy smile as if thinking about his lady.

“You didn’t answer Fanboy’s questions though! How long?! I gotta—” JenPen asked but was cut off with a hand covering her mouth.

Rooster had his hand covering his girlfriend’s mouth snickering and looked up at Bob smiling, “Go on. She’s quiet now.”

Once again Bob laughed shaking his head and went on explaining, “We’ve only being seeing each other for 8 weeks more or less, with our busy schedules and all. I wanted to keep our relationship a secret for a while. You know, just the two of you and see where it goes."

Coyote rubbed the back of his neck chuckling awkwardly, "And I let it slip..I'm sorry man, I didn't know and you know I can get a little nuts sometimes."

"It's perfectly fine, I was expecting for you guys to find out eventually this month or so. Actually glad it wasn't Jake."

Hangman looked up with his eyes widen offended and gasped somewhat loudly, "WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN-?!"

"You would've texted Javy! Better yet, you would've called Amber then she would've told the all ladies!"

"I wasn't going to do that!"

"Oh really?"

Bob pointed to the iPhone in Jake's hand brightly lit as his fingers were on paused. Robert asked, "Who were you texting, Hangman?"

"No one." Jake exclaimed quickly, closing the messages that he was sending to his girlfriend and throws his phone on the couch. Everyone's eyes darted to the iPhone that showed messages from Amber popping up like crazy.

"You were saying.."

"Shit."

All the group could do was laugh and roll they’re eyes at this point from seeing the scene play out. Truly none of them were sad or annoyed Bob for keeping such a darling secret, it’s his life and he should be able to keep such good things to himself, of course when JenPen and Bradley did say that when Bob and his lady were ready they would love to meet her one day. Bob appreciated the welcoming ideas and support he’s getting as he went on to actually reply to Nurse Anna’s text messages knowing she might be busy but 100% checking her phone waiting for a reply soon.

Coyote kept apologizing for spoiling that little surprise even though no one was really mad at him or anything, as Fanboy and Payback sending all the good thing to their teammate’s way. As for Phoenix, she was very much happy but a little disappointed in herself for not finding out sooner or at least pick up the clues firsthand.

If your wondering about Hangman, he left the gang early to pick up his lady and well this happened…

Jake sat in the car, opening the door seeing Amber as he grinned like an idiot bursting to tell her everything that happened today. And once Amber climbed into her seat grinning and buckled in her seatbelt she said, “Ok, oh my god. Tell me everything!”

“Yes!” Jake shouted as he buckled in his own seatbelt, “Baby on board has a girlfriend! I was like ‘What? That’s crazy?!’ I didn’t believe it, but from what I heard she’s really pretty cute and she’s a nurse.”

“Ugh! Why is it that the day I have to work, is that day all the good things happen? Let me guess, you found out!”

Hangman snickered, “Nope!”

“Then who?”

“Coyote.”

“What?!” Amber gasp laughing.

Let’s just say the rest of the ride home was full of gossip and laughter from that one single car. The rest of day went as follows, Coyote and Payback went out to keep helping Rooster with the broken window, Fanboy and Bob chatting about their day and future relationships, while Phoenix and JenPen were ordering stuff on Amazon as they fixed up a few things around the house.

Thank you for reading this story and I really hope you liked it! 💙

Tags: @t-nd-rfoot @gaminggirlsstuff @theloveoftoms @rooster-84 @happilycameron @mandylove1000 @topgun-imagines @levijeanqueen @drspencereidhotch @fanboygarcia @starkleila @msrochelleromanofffelton @gcthvile and etc

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bobfloydsbabe · 3 months

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thinking about my fanboy fic and how cute this couple is 🤭

#helena rants #everyone say thank you to anna #because she's the reason i'm thinking of them #mei and mickey are so adorable #cuties in love i tell ya #mickey fanboy garcia #fanboy garcia #fanboy top gun #fanboy x oc #mickey garcia #mickey garcia x oc #otp: mickey x mei #oc: li-mei seo #fic: ocean city au

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jungle-angel · 6 months

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Top Gun Maverick Moodboards: The Pagekeepers

Right before Bob’s very eyes, the gold leafing on the black cover began to swirl and curl into shapes he had never seen before. The hairs on the back of his neck went straight as the gold leafing took the shapes of ships, mermaids, skulls, swords and krakens while in the little box at the top read four simple words……The Call to Adventure.

Tagging: @bradleybeachbabe @sebsxphia @rhettabbotts @desert-fern

#top gun maverick #robert bob floyd #bob floyd x reader #pete maverick mitchell #bradley rooster bradshaw #natasha phoenix trace x oc #mickey fanboy garcia #jake hangman seresin x reader #javy coyote machado #reuben payback fitch #dagger squad #top gun maverick moodboards #dagger squad moodboards #dagger squad au

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itgirlofnowhere · 2 years

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Top Gun Maverick HCs: How They Got Their Call Signs

i'm sure there is some official explanation for all of them, but this is what my silly little brain enjoys

Hangman- Hangman absolutely failed English class. This man cannot spell, punctuate, anything, especially over text. Someone said "texting Seresin is like playing a f*cked-up game of hangman" and it stuck. Any other innuendos meanings are pure coincidence

Phoenix- She refuses to give anyone context, but long story short, she lit her hair on fire. That's why she's always wearing her signature bun, to avoid any more accidental arson

Rooster- Roosters are known for two things: being early risers and loud/annoying asf. Our bestie Rooster is also known for those same two things around base

Payback- He's a legendary prankster, especially fond of a long con. Every so often, karma (aka Fanboy) does decide to hit him back

Coyote- Coyote has many interesting hobbies, one of the main ones being karaoke. He can rap any Nicki verse with style, but his howling singing voice led to his call sign

Bob- Much like in the movie, Bob misunderstands the question 'what should we call you?' and he answers 'Bob.' This leads to his frineds trying to make Bob stand for something. Ex, 'Baby On Board', etc.

Fanboy- In the movie, it's implied that he's a Star Trek fanboy, but what it doesn't show is that he's a fanboy over everything. Music, movies, shows.. he's also the best at hyping everyone up before a date, mission etc.

BONUS!! My OC Margo 'Wildcard' Mitchell- She was given her callsign because of her notoriously bad poker face. Also she's way too competitive for her own good and will do reckless and dumb things to win

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dreamsallalongthewatchtower · 8 months

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CH 1. Sin City

Summary: The daggers arrive in Las Vegas and it's just the beginning. Jake sets his sights on a girl he has to get know. Natasha meets an old friend and catches up.

Notes: Mentions of Alcohol, nothing too bad 18+ MINORS DNI

Word Count: 2.3k

Bradley, Jake and Bob were starting to get antsy. Knowing they should wait for the rest of the squad to join, the excitement of Vegas was starting to seep its way into the minds of Jake and Bradley. “We know where we’re all going to end up tonight so we might as well get a jump on the fun and go somewhere. It’s pointless to wait for the other three.” Jake suggested from the bathroom. “For once you are absolutely right Bagman. I heard this place called House of Blues is supposed to be a cool place, let’s start there and see where we are before we meet up with everyone else.” Bradley added. “I don’t know guys it would be fun to get out of the room, but shouldn’t we wait?” Bob asked cautiously. “Come on Floyd, I bet even you get laid this trip, the sooner we start the better chances you have.” Jake quipped. “Yeah Bob, and it’s not like we are going to go score drugs or head to a strip club, it’s the House of Blues, we’ll listen to some music and figure the rest out.” Bradley added. “I guess there is no harm in getting out onto the strip. Alright let’s go” Bob said putting on his shirt “Whoo!” Both Rooster and Hangman cried out. After five minutes the trio headed to The House of Blues.

After finding open seats at the bar the three men settle on a corner that faced the stage. While waiting for the next act Jake ordered beers for himself and Bradley and a ginger ale for Bob. “Here ya go boys,” the bartender said to them “First one is on the house for our fine military men.” the lady said as she walked away. “Looks like our luck has just started boys.” Bradley let out. “Please welcome to the stage long time favorite Maya Atwell.” A voice over the speakers announced. A tall slender women walked out onto the stage. Her unruly hair tucked into a ball cap that was placed backwards on her head let the crowd see her soft features and her blue eyes. “Hi everyone, how’s everyone’s night going?” The sultry voice asked. The crowd responded with a chorus of woos, whistles and hands clapping. “Those of you who are new, I’m Maya and I can play just about any song, for those of you who know the drill welcome on back. Let’s give a huge round of applause to Mike the owner slash manager and to the fine ladies you see around here serving.” Maya waited for the crowd to follow her orders and for the cheering to die down. “Normally I take requests, but I have plans later tonight so I’m going to be doing a short set of covers tonight. This first one” She continues as she tuned her guitar “Is by my favorite man in black. As always if you know it sing along and if you don’t I want you on your feet dancing. This is Walk the Line by Johnny Cash.” The sultry voice that was speaking to the crowd was not the same powerhouse voice that started on the song. Jake, Bradley, and Bob were all amazed. They stood in front of their stools and sang along with Maya. When the song finished the crowd erupted into applause. “I can’t believe a girl like that knows Johnny Cash” Jakes yelled to his counterparts. “Yeah, she’s something.” Bob added. “Alright this next one is one I love listening to growing up, this is for all of you who are infected with Beatlemania.” The singer started playing Hey Jude. “Damn bro, she is versatile. Who goes from Cash to The Beatles!” Bradley asked his friends. By the end of the song the singer had stopped playing and let the crowd finish out the song. “Okay” Coaxed the singer. “Last one for the night, this is one that I hold dear to my heart it was the first one I learned to play, and I hope I do it justice.” As soon as she started the first notes Jake recognized the song right away “Now she’s playing Nirvana! I have to meet this girl!” As Maya finished Come As You Are, everyone was on their feet applauding her. “Thank You House of Blues! Don’t forget to tip your waitresses.”

The singer exited the stage and appeared on the other side of the bar. “Let’s go meet her.” Jake suggested. “You’re crazy if you think I’m going to go talk to the girl who can command the whole place like that.” Bob interjected. “Come on Bob, what kind of wing man are you?” Jake asked “I’m not a wing man I’m a weapons system operator” Bob responded dryly. “Look do me this favor and I can owe you anything, anywhere, any time. Okay?” Jake added. “Okay, let’s go talk to her.” Bob said in a defeated tone. The three men approached the singer and watched her finish a bottle of water. “Excuse me ma’am can I get the lady a glass of whatever wine she prefers?” Jake asked the bartender. The bartender looked at Maya, and back at Jake and let out a little chuckle. “This gentleman wants to buy you a glass of wine.” The bartender repeated to Maya. Maya smirked before she responded. “No thanks, I’ll take my usual Lola.” Maya said turning her back to the three men. Lola poured a double neat of Eagle Rare into a glass for Maya. This choice of drink made even Jake blush. A woman who knows her liquor. Jake stepped to the other side of her to talk with her more. “You like whiskey, I like that in a woman. I’m lieutenant Jake Seresin.” Jake said, putting his hand out to shake Maya’s hand. “Well lieutenant, I’m Maya, and Eagle Rare is actually a bourbon and I dont just like it, I love it. Best drink to have after a show.” Bradley let out a cough causing both Jake and Maya to whip their heads in his direction. “How rude of me, this is lieutenant Bradley Bradshaw and lieutenant Robert Floyd.” Jake said as Maya waved to the two other men. “Nice to meet you.” At that moment Maya felt her phone buzz in her pocket. It was a text from her friend that she is ready to meet for dinner. “Looks like that’s my cue. Thanks for coming and seeing the show, hope you boys have fun in Vegas.” Maya said as she threw back her drink. “See you later Lola.” “Wait can I get your number?” Jake asked, blocking her path from the door. “Maybe some other time Ken doll.” Maya side-stepped Jake and left through the front door. Bob and Bradley erupted in laughter. “Oh man, that was almost worth coming over here. So glad you owe me.” Bob said in between his laughs. “Shut up. Who knows maybe we’ll run into each other this week.” Jake said with a hint of hope. “Hey, I just got a text from the others they are at the hotel and want to meet up on the strip.” Bradley said. Silencing anymore laughter him or Bob had left. The three men left the House of Blues and headed back to the hotel.

Maya walked into Bubbas Gump’s Shrimp Co. looking for her friend. The hostess asked if she was looking for someone. Before Maya could respond a pair of hands were spinning her around and embracing her tightly. “Oh Ashes, I can’t believe it’s been three years!” a familiar voice squealed in Maya’s ear. When the girl pulled away, Maya saw her best friend. “Natasha! I can’t believe you’re here.” Maya responded. When the reunion of friends ended the two women were shown to a table on the upper patio. “So, how has Vegas been since the last time I saw you?” Phoenix asked. “It’s been good, still working off a couple of debts but I’m so close to being a free woman.” Maya said looking over the strip. “How has the navy been?” Maya asked, turning her full attention to her friend. “It’s been good to me, I got called back to Top Gun. A special priority mission, the best of the best.” Phoenix said puffing her chest and flexing her biceps. “You’ll never guess who else they called back.” Phoenix started. “Fucking Rooster.” Phoenix finished. “For as much as you talk about him, you either want to be with him or you truly hate him, so, which is it?” Maya asked her friend. Before Phoenix got a chance to answer a waiter came by to take their drink order. “Okay, so what have you got planned for this week?” Phoenix asked curiously about her friend’s plans. “Well first and foremost we’ll have VIP bottle service everywhere we go. But I have a couple nights planned on the strip to keep your buddies happy, then a few dinners, a day at the Bellagio cypress pool bar. I made an appointment for us with a special someone for tattoos and we have the Florida Georgia Line Concert tomorrow night.” Maya finished. “I can’t believe you are opening for them; how did you land that gig?” Natasha asked. Maya looked at her friend and looked out over the strip once more. “Oh, you know me Nix, I have my ways. Besides, the owner couldn’t find someone who was willing to be paid so little. I figured I could just have him put it towards what I owe.” Maya responded as the waiter came back over with their drinks. “What can I get ya’ll started with?” The waiter asked. The two women ordered a few appetizers and a couple cocktails. “What do you plan on doing after you have paid your debt?” Natasha asked, trying to meet her friend’s gaze. Maya looked down trying to search her head for an answer. She already knew what she was going to do. She was going to get the hell out of Las Vegas and never look back. But she didn’t want to let her friend in on the last surprise of her birth week. “Ashes, you know you are always welcomed at my house and I’m sure your aunt would love to see you.” Natasha added when her friend didn’t respond. “HA! The only time she calls is when she wants to update her friends on her pathetic niece.” Maya responded sharply. “Hey! You are not pathetic! You would be pathetic if you stayed with Elijah and kept doing drugs. But you chose to get better, and you chose to make a better life for yourself. The first call I got from you when you got here sounded like you were in your favorite book. Living like Hunter S. Thompson, I was truly worried. But you got help and you are paying back your debt. I couldn’t be prouder. I’m sure your aunt is just worried.” Natasha finished. “Yeah, well you don’t know her like I do, and you definitely don’t want to hear our conversations. But I digress. I might bounce around New York or go visit some friends in Tucson. I’m not sure yet.” Maya said with a smirk, knowing she would be hounded until she gave her friend a real answer. The food and drinks came, and the two women sat reminiscing about their friendship and catching each other up on their current situations.

“So, my place is a little ways outside of town but it’s huge. It’s on loan from a friend of mine who won’t be back until winter. She is this really cool old lady. I wish you could meet her. She would love all the soldiers staying in her house.” Maya said as the two women waited for the bill. When the waiter put the little black checkbook on the table Natasha reached for it. “Um what do you think you are doing?” Maya asked. Snatching the book from her friends grasp. “I want to pay, plus I can get a discount.” Natasha responded. “No let me get this, okay?” Maya asked but was more or less telling her friend she had the bill. “Oh, I almost forgot to tell you there was this guy earlier. He tried to buy me a glass of wine and wanted my number.” Maya started. “Was he cute?” Natasha asked. “I mean yeah, he wasn’t horribly disfigured, but he was so cocky and kind of had this fuck boy vibe. The type for hooking up and not anything serious. But him and his buddies looked like they were here for a bachelor party, not the type to come to Vegas to gamble and see the sights.” Maya responded. “Did you give him your number?” Natasha inquired. “Yeah right. No, I told him some other time, then I called him Ken doll!” Maya said laughing. “Poor guy, had no clue he was finished before he even started.” Natasha said. The two women left the restaurant, stepping out into the cool Nevada air. “Text your buddies to meet us at On The Record, by the time they get there they we'll be able to start the birth week.” Maya said, leading Phoenix to her car. After a quick trip to the parking garage behind the nightclub the two women’s spirits were high and ready to party.

#natasha phoenix trace #robert bob floyd #bradley rooster bradshaw #jake hangman seresin #rueben payback fitch #javy coyote machado #mickey fanboy garcia #top gun maverick #tgm #fanfic #tgm fanfiction #jake seresin x oc

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joaquinwhorres · 1 year

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Tailspin - Part 4 (Fanboy Garcia x F!OC)

SUMMARY ››››› Having grown up just across the bridge from North Island, Carolina Alvarez has been told her whole life to stay away from the Top Gun boys. And for the most part, she has. That is, until Fanboy catches her putting quarters in the jukebox at The Hard Deck and initiates a game of cat and mouse that ends with her exactly where she swore she’d never be.

PAIRING ››››› Mickey “Fanboy” Garcia x F!OC

WORD COUNT ››››› 5,592

WARNINGS ››››› None?

MASTERLIST ››››› Here

A/N ››››› The moment you've all been waiting for. Unless you've somehow managed to avoid all of the spoilers I have on my blog about this.

She didn't respond to any of his texts.

His calls went unanswered too, the line ringing only once before routing to voicemail each of the three times he tried.

But it wasn't until the small Read 10:59 AM appeared on Bob's phone that he started to accept that Phoenix might be right.

His face fell as he stared at the screen for a moment longer before handing the phone back to Bob. "Thanks," he said, the word sounding flat and hollow.

The other man's mouth made silent attempts to form words as he accepted the phone, only stopping when Fanboy shook his head, relieving Bob of the sense of duty to respond. Bob sighed, pressing his lips together in a commiserative frown as he placed his phone upside down on the bar in front of him. "I'm sorry," he finally managed.

"Jesus, he doesn't need your condolences," Hangman sighed loudly from where he lay across the leather couch nearby. The accompanying eye roll was practically audible.

Bob side-eyed Hangman, his lips twisting in contempt.

"Oh, come on," Hangman scoffed as he rose into a seated position, throwing a hand out to gesture towards Fanboy. "You're acting like you just found out your mother died just 'cause some ex from five years ago who blocked you."

The words either didn't reach Fanboy or rolled right off him because his attention remained fixed on the phone in front of Bob.

"I just don't get it," Fanboy murmured.

"She's. Not. Interested," Hangman asserted, ignoring the warning looks from the other aviators. "Get over it or give up the dream that you're going on this mission." The blonde shook his head as he stood up. "If I stay at this pity party any longer, I'm going to start growing ovaries," he quipped, heading towards the door.

"Like you could handle them," Phoenix called after his retreating form. Hangman didn't slow down or even acknowledge her statement though as he disappeared out to the hallway.

Bob shot Phoenix a smile as she shook her head. "Asshole."

"As much as I hate to say it, he has a point," Payback said gently from his seat next to Fanboy. "You've been off your game up there."

"I–"

"Come on man," Payback cut him off with a sympathetic smile. "I've seen what you can do. You were the best Wizzo in our class."

"I know," Fanboy said, hanging his head. "I just can't shake it."

Payback pressed his lips together, meeting Bob's eyes over Fanboy's hunched form. The other WSO widened his eyes meaningfully, the loss for what to do written clearly on his face. Payback jerked his head in dismissal, and Bob slid from his seat, patting Fanboy's back once before heading over to Harvard and Fritz.

With a quick glance up to the heavens and prayer for help, Payback scooted closer to Fanboy. "Look, do you still trust her?" he asked, keeping his voice gentle and low.

Fanboy looked up, meeting Payback's eyes, and he could see that his closest friend here—the only one who knew just how little sense this all made—was approaching the end of his rope.

"Yeah, of course."

"Then trust that whatever reason she has for not wanting to talk to you is a good one."

It was a solid piece of logic, easily traced back to the golden ring that encircled Payback's left finger. Fanboy could practically hear Neema's voice in the advice, reminding him that Caro had never done anything without a reason. While each of her decisions were explained with a breezy sentence or sharp quip, there had always been a thorough and conscientious thought process behind her actions.

But she had always offered up her reasonings willingly. They had never been so much as veiled, let alone something he had to pry from her.

And it was that thought that led him to shake his head, eyes peering appealingly at Payback, urging him to understand. "I can't," he whispered, the admission coming out pained and apologetic.

Payback didn't have the time to do much more than sigh before there was a shuffling at the door that drew their attention. An administrative officer stood in the doorway, clipboard in hand. "Coyote, Payback, Fanboy, you're next."

The three men nodded, Coyote using Yale's distractedness to spin a shot into the goal before backing up, grinning from the foosball table. Payback slid from his seat, clapping Fanboy on the shoulder as he did so. "Come on. We'll figure this out after we go make an old man do some push ups."

"198…" Hondo counted, following it up with a loud, "Down!"

Fanboy wasn't sure what hurt more: his muscles that had been battered from the flying and subsequent push ups, his ego at having Maverick continue to best them despite having no WSO or wingman, or his conscience for being the reason that Payback and Coyote were both sweating next to him.

Because he couldn't stop thinking about it.

About that look on her face when he told her he'd missed her.

About the stupid gray letters that appeared on Bob's phone.

About the last time he'd seen her and how he should have just said it.

"200!" Hondo announced. "You're good to—"

The rest of his sentence was lost as Fanboy pushed himself up off the ground and onto his feet, taking off down the tarmac.

"Fanboy!" Payback called after him, but the backseater didn't stop, starting towards the building with more purpose than he'd even shown in the goddamn air.

Ahead of him, Hangman grinned, the sun glinting off his golden hair. "You know, if you ever get her to talk to you, make sure to thank her for me. For taking out the competition."

Fanboy's jaw set, his hands clenching into fists, but he continued on and into the showers, to wash away–even temporarily–the feeling of failure. But even the scalding water couldn't burn it away, and he emerged from the showers feeling somehow worse than when he went in.

"Fanboy."

The sudden sound of his name caused his heart to jump in his chest, jerking around to see Phoenix's form waiting beside the door. She pushed herself away from the wall to fall in line with him.

"What was that?"

He shook his head, turning back around so he could head towards the debrief room early for some peace and quiet before Hangman, Harvard, and Yale came down.

"Hey," Phoenix called after him, catching up with long strides. "I'm serious. Calling the wrong break is the kind of error that gets you washed out of flight school."

Fanboy shook his head, looking away from Phoenix. He could still feel her gaze on him, insistent and intense. "I know," he mumbled.

"Look, I've already got my hands full with Rooster; I can't have you spinning out too," Phoenix sighed, hand pushing at his arm to turn him towards her, finally getting him to stop. "So explain it to me–why is an ex you haven't seen or spoken to in the past five years so in your head?"

Fanboy sighed, running a hand over his head, the short hairs tickling his palm. His eyes rested on a photo of a pilot grinning in the seat of an old F-14.

"Because when I left, she loved me, and now she looks terrified of me. Something happened."

He chanced a glance at Phoenix's face finding the pilot staring at him with furrowed brows. "Five years happened."

He shook his head. "It's bigger than that. I mean, if you're right, she blocked me a while ago, and I don't know what I did."

"Maybe you didn't do anything," Phoenix shook her head. It was his time to look at her confused. "Maybe it isn't about you. Maybe she needed to block you to move on. Maybe she has."

The sentence hit him like a punch to the gut, knocking the air out of his lungs. It was a moment before he could breathe again.

"But why wouldn't she just say that?"

"I don't know," Phoenix shrugged. "But you need to figure out a way to let this go and get your head on straight. We need you on this mission."

Her last sentence was lost to him though because finally someone said something actually actionable.

He needed to get his head on straight. And that's exactly what he would do.

Renew Chiropractic was a six minute drive from base.

Six minutes.

For the past week, he had only been one well-timed traffic light or random turn down a side street away from seeing her on one of his runs. Instead, it took a Google Search and a four hour wait until his scheduled appointment slot.

His head was still reeling with the revelation as he pushed open the glass front door, entering the serene chiropractic office. Everything about the room was meant to be calming: the soft jade color of the walls, the essential oil blend puffing out of the diffuser, and the soothing nature sounds bubbling from the speaker. Even the row of empty chairs along the wall looked more plush than one might expect from a doctor's office.

None of it seemed to have any effect on him though, each muscle in his body still tense and on alert as he approached the front desk.

A tall, thin black man with wire-rimmed glasses looked up as he approached, eyes widening for a second upon seeing Fanboy in front of him.

"Hi, can I help you?" the receptionist asked. The middle-aged white woman sat next to him cast him a puzzled look before her eyes too wandered to Fanboy. She sat up a bit straighter in her seat, hazel eyes narrowed slightly as she followed his progress towards them.

"Yeah," Fanboy said, stepping up to the desk. "I have an appointment with Dr. Alvarez."

He offered them a hesitant smile, one that he hoped softened the edges of his obvious anxiety. Instead, the woman's mouth drew in tighter, dangerously close to a frown. The man next to her however schooled his features into professional sympathy. "I'm sorry, sir. Dr. Alvarez actually had to step out."

Fanboy's shoulders sank under the weight of his disappointment. He'd known it'd been a risk using his name while making the appointment. A part of him had considered using a fake name, but ultimately decided that would cross the line into unhinged. "Do you know if she'll be back today or this week?"

The man shook his head. "She didn't say."

"Dr. Houten is still in and he should be finishing up with his last patient if you would like to see him instead," the woman offered, rising from her chair. "I'll just let him know."

Fanboy took a deep breath, eyes floating to the open hallway behind them as he weighed his options. He could stay and waste his time getting adjusted by her colleague which meant he'd have to wait until next week in order to try catching her here again or he could just leave and camp out in the parking lot like a total lunatic—he didn't finish the thought. Instead, down the hall a door opened and out of it came Dr. Lane.

The same woman who had spilled a drink on Caro that first night back at the Hard Deck.

Who, when he asked during his physical, had scoffed at the very idea of knowing Caro beyond that incident.

Who now made eye-contact with him and clearly and solemnly said, "Shit."

She spun on her heel, hands coming up as if to push someone behind her, but instead, the person brushed her aside, coming out and peering down the hall to see what had prompted the reaction.

Caro.

She was openly shocked, her eyes wide and locked on him. Dr. Lane cast a quick glance between Caro and Fanboy before fixing her own determined gaze on him, her jaw set as she started down the hallway towards him with long purposeful strides. She stopped next to the older woman who had freed herself from behind the receptionist's desk.

It took less than a second for him to discern what was happening, the piercing realization bringing with it an acute and sharp pain in his chest. They were barricading him from the hallway. They were protecting her from him.

His face crumpled, brows furrowing and lips bowing into a frown. "I just came to talk," he said, his voice desperate and thin.

Dr. Lane shook her head. "You should head back to base." The words were technically a suggestion, but they sounded far more like an order. "She knows how to reach you if she wants to talk."

Fanboy opened and closed his mouth again, eyes shooting over her shoulder to try to find Caro. She had come closer, reaching the trio now and laying a hand on the other doctor's shoulder. "Jas," she said calmly, gently pushing her to the side so that she could come out into the waiting room. "It's ok."

The statement did little to pacify Dr. Lane. Instead, the other woman shot Caro a look that very clearly expressed her distrust of the situation. She didn't say anything though, allowing Caro to pass in between her and the Renew Chiropractic employee.

"We can talk outside," Caro said, pointing to the door behind Fanboy.

He nodded, leading the way out, pausing only to hold the door open for her before he headed down the path and out of sight of the glass front door.

When he turned to face Caro, he found her with her hand stuffed in the pockets of her maroon scrubs, her face carefully and uncharacteristically impassive.

"I'm sorry–" he started before Caro cut him off.

"You found where I work?" Her words came out even, dull almost, but he could sense the danger underneath them.

"I tried to text and call, but–"

"But I didn't answer, so you decided to ambush me at my job," she finished for him, folding her arms across her chest.

"It wasn't an ambush!" he protested, his heart rate rocketing at the accusation. "I made an appointment. So you'd know I was coming."

He watched her process this statement in real time. Her brow scrunching in the middle and corners of her mouth tugging down slightly. Her eyes slid to the right, towards the building, before snapping back to him. It was then that she seemed to see him for the first time—noticing that he was in his service khakis and the tension in his shoulders and maybe even the plea in his face for her to just give him a chance.

Caro took a deep breath, audibly pushing it out through her nose. "Ok," she said, her voice having lost some of its edge. "I can give you fifteen minutes."

Fanboy also breathed out a sigh of relief, eyes falling to the ground between them before flickering up to her. "You know, the website said forty-five," he attempted with a smile which faded quickly as her eyes hardened once more. "Sorry, yeah, fifteen minutes."

Silence entwined itself between the two of them as they stood in front of her office building, both in their respective uniforms and both wishing very much that this wasn't how they were spending their day.

Caro was the one who finally broke the silence. "You wanted to talk?"

"Yeah," Fanboy breathed out, hand coming up to rub the back of his head. "Yeah, I did." His eyes met hers again, despite the fact that every time he seemed to look at her, she seemed to grow even more guarded, even further away. "The other night at the Hard Deck…and then now…" he took in a deep breath before releasing it and the remainder of his sentence with it. "It just seems like there's something wrong between us."

"I was just surprised," Caro shrugged.

"Yeah," Fanboy agreed, hating his masochistic need to push the subject. "It just seemed like more than surprise. I know it's been years, but I thought…you just didn't seem…I don't know…"

"Happy to see you?" Caro supplied, raising an eyebrow.

He flushed at the accurate indictment of his own ego, and she shook her head at him.

"What were you expecting, Mickey?" she asked, exasperation tingeing every word. "Me to throw myself into your arms like nothing's changed?"

The thought had crossed his mind more than once, but even he knew that outcome was more of a daydream, a fantasy, than a possible outcome of his arrival back in Fightertown.

"No," Fanboy shook his head. "I just thought we were good."

"We're fine."

"Then why did your receptionists just try to keep me from seeing you? And why has Dr. Lane stepped in to keep you from spending more than five minutes with me?"

He didn't want to know the answer to either question. There couldn't be a good reason–one that would get him back on track and restore his focus on earning a spot in the mission. Whatever she said was going to spin him out worse than he was already. But he had to know. Because if he left it at Caro's lie he would never forgive himself. Just like he already couldn't forgive himself for just accepting that the original plan for their relationship's end was just fine. That nothing had changed from the moment they made that agreement to his last moments of saying goodbye.

"They're overprotective," Caro supplied.

"But they don't even know me."

"They know about you. That's enough."

He grew quiet, and the urge he had to walk towards her, to close the space between them, died. Instead, he pulled back some, as if she had poked a finger into his chest the way she used to when she was mad.

"What do they know?"

For the first time, Caro was unable to meet his gaze, her eyes going to a large ceramic flower pot that lined the path. "They know I loved you and that you left and blocked me so I haven't seen or heard from you in five years."

"What?" His horrified whisper seemed to suck out all of the air and sounds from their surroundings.

Caro met his eyes, and he could see the emotion there for the first time, thick and threatening. "You left," she repeated, "And you blocked me."

"I didn't block you–" he started, voice still wavering and almost soundless.

"You did," Caro said with a nod. She took a breath in, and like that, the emotions fell back down into her and away from the surface. "It's fine, though. It doesn't matter anymore."

"It matters," Fanboy insisted, finally taking a step towards her.

"No it doesn't. I'm over it."

"It matters to me," he tried again, taking another step, but Caro tightened her arms against her chest.

"It shouldn't," she said flatly. "Because it wouldn't change anything. You'd still have gone to Virginia, I'd still have been here, and life still would've moved on for both of us."

"Would it have?" He sounded almost as desperate as he felt.

"It did," she said, quietly. Caro ran a hand through her hair, looking over his shoulder and out into the parking lot. "Things are different now."

There was something in her voice. A distance almost as if trying to avoid coming too close to what exactly life had changed.

A thought popped into his head, and before he could stop himself, the question was escaping. "Are you seeing someone?"

Caro's expression turned stony, and she straightened her spine. "What? You'll only respect the fact that I'm not interested in starting whatever it is you're hoping for if another man is involved?"

"No," he sputtered.

"Then why does it matter if I'm seeing anyone?"

The pressure in his chest felt worse than any G force he had ever experienced.

"I just–" he started, struggling to form a response that wouldn't further drive her away. "I'm trying to understand."

Her eyes fluttered closed in obvious annoyance, but he supposed the gesture was better than having her turn away. When she looked at him once more, she was still clearly frustrated, but her gaze had softened some.

"I'm not seeing anyone," she admitted. "I'm just older now. I have more responsibilities, and I can't—" she cut herself off, swallowing and then breathing and then restarting again, slower this time. "I can't do this again," she finished, gesturing with a finger. "I need something stable now."

He was able to nod twice before the weight of his thoughts caused him to just hang his head to stare at his shoes. "Yeah that's...that's fair," he managed. Quiet once more settled itself around them, ballooning in the space between them so he felt even further from her. "Could we at least maybe get a drink while I'm here. As friends?"

"Mickey," she said, gently. Too gently. "You know we can't be just friends."

A car door slammed in the parking lot behind him, pulling Caro's attention from him. The color drained from her face, taking with it the awful look of sympathy. Instead she looked horrified, like she might throw up or pass out. Or both.

"Caro?" Fanboy asked, closing the space between them in two long strides. "Are you —"

"Mama!" A delighted shriek cut him off as quick and heavy thwaps hurtled towards them. He turned, watching with wide eyes as a little girl with bronzed skin and dark pigtails barreled towards Caro, only stopping when she collided with the chiropractor's legs, narrowly missing him.

He was going to be sick.

"Look!" The little girl demanded, shoving her hand up into Caro--her mother--'s face. "Kelsey painted my nails!"

Each little finger nail was a different color. Some a neon green, others a deep glittery navy, a sleek red, and a metallic purple. No two colors or textures were the same.

"I see," Caro said with a nod, taking the girl's tiny hand in hers and tilting it back and forth to inspect each nail.

For a second it looked as if she might glance up to meet Fanboy's eyes, but instead she looked into the little girl--her daughter--'s face.

"You know Bryson would probably like to see your nails, " she commented, releasing the small hand. "Why don't you go show him, and I'll meet you in there when I'm done talking? Then we can go home."

The little girl looked up at her before suddenly shifting her attention to Fanboy, her big brown eyes peering intently at him, assessing.

Evidently he failed as she frowned and then turned back to Caro, appealingly. "Um, what if you came with me?" Caro gave her a small smile, reaching down to brush hair out of her daughter's face.

"Give me five minutes ok? You can ask Kelsey to help you keep track," she said, looking up to where the babysitter—Kelsey—hovered. It was then Fanboy noticed that she was staring between him and Caro, brow furrowed. She seemed to snap out of it at the sound of her name though, reaching a hand out for the little girl.

"Come on, Dalia. Let's go show Bryson."

The name caused all breath to escape from Mickey's lungs, and this time Caro's eyes did shoot to his, their gazes locking on each other.

Neither of them took their eyes off of the other as the little girl reached for her babysitter's hand, letting the teenager guide her inside and away from Fanboy and Caro and the tension between them outside.

"Dalia?" He asked, the repetition of the name more than just a question of whether or not he had heard it correctly.

He was met with silence, which maybe should have been answer enough. Still, he felt like he needed to hear it, needed some sort of response, and so he attempted to ask again.

"Is she…?" he trailed off, looking to the door the little girl had passed through just moments before.

The little girl.

His–

He couldn't finish the thought.

Because she couldn't be. They had been safe—mostly— and who was to say that she hadn't been with anyone after he left? And it was entirely possible that when he'd shared that name with her five years ago, both of them wrapped up in her sheets with his arms around her and her head resting against his shoulder, she had decided that she'd liked it too and wanted to use it herself for any future children.

But when he met her eyes again, he could see it all over her face.

"Oh my God," he murmured.

"Mickey, I—"

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked, heart pounding as the world seemed to spin around him, alarms whirring to life to signal that he was crashing.

"I tried."

The words came out so small and quiet, it broke something in him.

"What?" his voice cracked on the word.

"Right after I found out. I tried calling you and texting, but nothing went through. I even tried reaching out on Facebook, and I was blocked." She spread her hands wide, shrugging.

It hit him then: he had blocked her. Right after he had returned to his squadron and gotten word of their upcoming short deployment. It had been too hard seeing pictures of her pop up on his feed. He wasted hours talking himself out of reaching back out and begging her to at least try long distance with him. He'd blocked her to protect her from any potential weak moments on the carrier.

"Shit," he breathed out, stepping backwards. His hand going up to his forehead. He missed his curls, something to hold onto to ground him in reality.

"I–" he started before taking another breath and trying again. "Do I need to sign papers or something?"

"Papers?"' Caro repeated. "For what?" she asked.

He lifted the hand from his head, gesturing to where his—Dalia had disappeared. "For her."

Understanding dawned on her face as she offered a smile that made him want to scream just to dislodge the emotion caught in his throat, threatening to choke him. She shook her head. "You don't need to do anything."

"I should help. I want to help," he pressed, correcting himself.

"Mickey," Caro said clearly, sternly. The same way he imagined she spoke to Dalia. "You're fine. Nothing changes just because you know now."

He breathed out a disbelieving, humorless laugh. "Everything changes."

"You're still in the Navy."

He sucked in a breath. Fuck.

Fuck.

She didn't need to continue. Bringing up the Navy was enough, but she went on anyway, whether because she thought he'd need more explanation or because she wanted him to feel the weight of her world.

"You're still stationed on the other side of the country. You're still gone in a month. You still have deployments and missions and wars and I don't want that for her." Caro stopped, and he could see the emotion back on the surface. It was everywhere from her eyes to her now slightly slumped shoulders to the desperate edge her voice had taken on. "I'm just trying to do what's best for my daughter here. You see that right?"

Fanboy's shoulders dropped. "I know," he said. "It's just…I have a daughter, Caro. I want to at least meet her. Even if it's not as her dad."

Caro was quiet, and he could see the thought turning over in her head. The tinkling bell of the front door opening interrupted her, prompting the pair to turn in tandem to see who was coming back out. Fanboy's breath caught hoping for Dalia to come bounding around the corner. Instead, it was Dr. Lane.

"Caro?" she asked. "I've been sent to inform you that it's been six minutes."

Caro nodded, offering a quick reassuring smile. "I'll be right in."

Dr. Lane nodded, her eyes falling on Fanboy with a hard, assessing look. She remained standing, just off to the side, resolute.

This prompted a softer, more genuine smile from Caro. "Can you let her know Jas?" she asked. The other doctor seemed more than a little reluctant to head back inside, disappearing with another sound of the bell.

Caro waited a second more, as if not entirely sure Jas was gone. Finally she faced him again, more relaxed than he'd seen her since he returned to San Diego. "I'll think about it," Caro assured. "Just promise me you won't try to come back here again or try to see her on your own. Please."

Fanboy nodded, taking a deep breath. "Yeah, I promise."

"I'll text you. Either way, I'll text you, and we'll talk. Deal?"

A sad half smile crossed his face remembering all of the other deals they'd made. This felt like the worst one by far.

"Deal," he agreed.

Caro re-entered the office to find Dalia standing on one of the chairs, peering over the reception desk.

"Dalia," she sighed, hand going to her head as her daughter's head whipped around. "No standing on the chairs, remember?"

"Sorry," Dalia and Jas both apologized and Caro's eyes slid over to the auburn haired woman as her daughter jumped down off the seat.

"I thought you'd have headed back."

Jas shrugged. "Thought I'd stick around just in case."

"That's kind of you, but I'm fine," Caro said, heading forward to her daughter, wrapping her arms around the four year old's torso in a swaying hug.

Jas snorted. "That has got to be the least convincing I'm fine ever."

"I'm sorry, I didn't know," Kelsey apologized from where she had taken her mother's seat next to Bryson.

Caro shook her head. "You have nothing to apologize for. Thank you for dropping her off." She looked down at the four year old. "And giving her a fun day."

Kelsey smiled as her parents came down the hall together, Dr. Houten giving his wife the same look he gave patients who came in after complicated car accidents. His eyes found Caro's, and her stomach dropped.

"Are you ok?"

"I'm fine. Really," Caro dismissed. "It was just awkward."

"What was awkward, Mama?" Dalia asked, leaning her head back to peer up at her mother. Caro offered a smile.

"I got a surprise visit from someone I haven't seen in a really long time. And sometimes when you haven't seen someone in a long time, things are awkward."

"Oh." Dalia said, hanging herself forwards on Caro's arms. "Can we go home now?"

Caro nodded. "Let me grab my things from my office, ok?"

She headed towards the back and Dr. Houten followed her. "Robin filled me in a little on what's going on. If you need to take a few days to sort this out, I can take your patients and we can reschedule the rest–"

"It's fine. Really," Caro said, bending over her desk to pick up her purse. "He won't be back."

He raised an eyebrow.

"He doesn't want to see Dalia?"

Caro looked up at him. "He won't be back here. I just–I need this to keep me busy."

He looked unsure, pressing his lips together before nodding. "Ok. But if it becomes obvious that you need time off, I'm not giving you an option."

"Thanks, Mark," Caro said, shouldering her purse. "Really."

He smiled, looking for a second like he might be tempted to give her a side hug before realizing that'd be even more awkward than a regular one. Instead, he laid a light hand on her back as if ushering her out of her own office.

Dalia was straddling two chairs when Caro exited the office, her hands wrapped in Jas' for stability. The guilty look on Jas' face killed the reprimand on Caro's tongue, replaced instead with a laugh and shake of her head.

"Ready?" She asked her daughter.

Dalia jumped out of the chair, tugging her hands free from Jas'. "Can we get ice cream?"

Caro loved her daughter.

She was so good. So easy all things considered. She wanted her mother and ice cream and fun, and she didn't need any complications to her life.

"Hmm," she hummed, squinting in mock-thought. She could practically feel the excitement bubbling off of the four year old. "I don't know…."

"Pleeeeeeease," Dalia begged, skipping forward to wrap her arms around Caro, head tilted up to implore her mother with big eyes.

"Ok," Caro agreed, tapping her daughter's nose. Dalia let out a cheer, releasing Caro and bouncing off towards the door.

It was entirely possible that more sugar was the last thing Dalia needed, but the girl apparently knew a thing or two about timing her questions.

"You know," Jas said, sidling up next to Caro. "I like ice cream."

Caro raised an eyebrow as she pressed out the door, waving a hand to the staff remaining behind. "Is that supposed to be a subtle hint that you'd like to join us?"

"To be fair, subtlety is not my strong suit," Jas admitted, walking alongside Caro. "If you'd rather keep it just a mother daughter thing, though, I totally get it."

Caro smiled at her new friend before her eyes darted to her daughter about to hop into the parking lot. "Hand please, Dalia," she called out. The little girl turned and scampered back, taking hold of Cato's outstretched hand. "What do you think?" Caro asked her daughter. "Can Jas join us for ice cream?"

"Yep," Dalia chirped as she skipped next to her mom. Caro looked back at Jas with a smile.

"You're in."

Next Chapter (Coming Soon)

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floydsglasses · 2 months

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A Quiet Place- DAGGER EDITION

SUMMERY: If they hear you, they hunt you. The world we once knew full of sound is gone, and silence is the key to survival, if you wanna avoid mysterious creatures that hunt by sound. Knowing that even the slightest whisper or footstep can bring death.

Dagger Squad X Various Original Female Characters ( Basically each story involves one of the dagger's with an original character, each set in the world of A Quiet Place)

Contents Involve: Post Apocalyptic, Angst, Use of ASL, Fluff, Death/Mention of death, implied smut, pregnancie for one story, mention's child death, blood

MASTERLIST

ᴀ ᴡʜɪꜱᴘᴇʀ ɴᴏᴛ ᴀ ʏᴇʟʟ- Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw

𝙑𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙂𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙚- Jake "Hangman" Seresin

Way Out There- Mickey "Fanboy" Garcia 𝙒𝙖𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙏𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝘿𝙖𝙬𝙣 - Robert "Bob" Floyd (COMING SOON)

#top gun maverick #top gun au #top gun fan fiction #top gun fanfic #bradley rooster bradshaw #jake hangman seresin #natasha phoenix trace #robert bob floyd #mickey fanboy garcia #rueben payback fitch #javy coyote machado #top gun x reader #top gun x oc #top gun x you

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jackiequick · 5 months

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TOP GUN OCs Part 3 ✈️

-> Click here to see the other parts

—

Nurse Jordana "Echo" Walker 🩺

Callsign: Echo

Age: 38

Relationship status: Divorced, Single

Background: Jordana, known as "Echo," is a skilled medical doctor in the squadron. She earned her callsign due to her exceptional diagnostic skills and the ability to provide vital medical support during missions. Her father was a renowned military surgeon, which inspired her to pursue a career in medicine.

Personality: Compassionate, charming, level-headed, and dedicated to her patients' well-being.

Lifestyle: Echo leads a fulfilling life, both personally and professionally, and is committed to her role as a doctor.

Nicknames: Her colleagues often refer to her as "Jor” or “Jordan”

Extra information: What she loves the most is getting get nails dirty and behind the wheel of a car or plane, ever since she was a child she was fancied by the way Navy pilots took the skies and feel like nothing even better once they’re above the clouds. That feeling of watching the world spin around while your frozen to your seat in the air and the adrenaline you get afterwards.

She was flying for a while in the late 90s—early 2000s, when she saw plenty of pilots become jet washed and she didn’t like it one bit, hearing stories about plenty being injured on the job and not a lot of staff on board, so that resulted in her taking up a medical exam. A few short months later, she started working alongside nurses and doctors to help nurse pilots back to health. Which is where she met Captain Maverick Mitchell, as he was injured after flight testing and sent to the medical wing of the North Islands to get check up, he was charming and thanked her for cleaning up his wounds.

With a smile Jor told Mav, “You gotta be more careful next time, Captain.” Maverick just grinned and nodding, saying he’ll try to best more cautious even though sometimes tells him, he will be back in this medical wing a few short months later. And he was right, meeting Jor again as she was sewing his wounds near his eyebrow. That time, he brought a friend who got hurt with him. Wraith. So she had two patients to nurse back to health, thankfully they weren’t that badly affected from the crash. Just a few cuts, bumps and bruises.

It didn’t take long for Jor to meet the rest of the 86 crew members, as Hollywood, Wolfman and Slider would make appearances at the hospital along with their friends Iceman, Buzz, Valkyrie, Sunset and others. Sometimes it was for checkups, other times to see some of their friends at the clinic but sometimes they just liked hanging out with the staff. Mainly because they were good people.

Captain Apollo "Mack" McCleary🔐

Callsign: Mack

Age: 42

Background: Mack, known simply as "Mack," is a control room operator. He earned his callsign due to his impeccable skills in managing communications and mission coordination. His precision and reliability make him an essential part of the squadron.

Personality: Analytical, total sweetheart, humorous, reliable, and a natural problem-solver.

Lifestyle: Mack has a steady and disciplined lifestyle, often working long hours in the control room.

Relationship Status: Mack is married to his high school sweetheart.

Nicknames: His colleagues affectionately call him "Mac."

Extra information: Apollo has been in the multiple square areas and has been working ever since he started back in 2005 in the Navy, wanting to be apart of Blue Angels and be behind the controls. He has always been one to have honest honor and respect towards everyone around him, putting his trust and thoughts into pilots he believes who can take the heat as he navigates them from the operations center. Such as Iceman, he would give all his attention and follow his leadership, as he stands back in the frontline of the control room sending up to the skies.

But it also gets him into a lot of trouble, due to him listening to Maverick during the Darkstar Project for Mach 10! Apollo knew it was supposed to be canceled that day, but a part of him though they gone so far into the process of making a jet that can go hypersonic it was worth a final flight according to Maverick. So Mack and his team got to quick work setting everything up in the control room launching Maverick into the air as he commuted with him from the ground reaching Mach 10–but it cost him and Hondo in some trouble with Admiral Cain afterwards. Even though, Apollo got into some trouble he was secretly grinning due to the fact that they achieved that purpose for the project, running home to his high school sweetheart to tell them to the good news.

Afterwards, Hondo gave him a call telling Mack he would be sent to Top Gun to help manage communication and mission coordinations. He was humorous about the fact that he would be returning back to North Island. But he always knew that he would never have a bad reputation there, since one of his friends/lieutenants Fanboy Garcia and Payback Fitch would be sent out the same mission too. So let’s just say things got interesting when he saw how The Dagger Squad decided to challenge Maverick, because Mack was waiting for every single one of them for their push-ups with a smirk.

Mack had his arms crossed and said, “It was all shits and giggles, huh? Drop down and start giving me 10 then we’ll raise it to 20.” All the Daggers glared at him, dropping down giving him 20 push ups as Hondo grinned counting them.

Naomi "Nova" Reynolds🍻

Callsign: Nova

Age: 28

Relationship Status: Single

Background: Naomi, known as "Nova," is a bartender who owns a popular bar near the naval base. Her callsign reflects her vibrant and outgoing personality, which lights up the atmosphere in her establishment. She serves as a source of support and encouragement for the Navy personnel and fighter pilots who frequent her bar.

Personality: Charismatic, welcoming, and known for her sense of humor.

Lifestyle: Nova enjoys a social and active lifestyle, always looking to bring joy to those around her. But she also sassy, knowledgeable due to being a bartender so she knows secrets, and loves karaoke.

Nicknames: She's often referred to as "No" by her regular customers. The women know the rules for the bar set by Penny Benjamin, so she doesn’t have a problem telling people “No”, or “No roughhousing, take it outside.”

Extra information: Naomi never really knew what she wanted to do in (still doesn’t to be honest), as she always has dreams and aspirations for things but as time files so quickly it feels like those ideals weren’t coming as fast as she wanted. As Naomi always said she wanted to be a writer, a musician of some kind finding herself making stories and music, then posting them on social media for some sort of attraction. One afternoon, at The Hard Deck she decided to take a chance singing on the small stage with her old guitar and caught a few eyes.

Penny, the owner of the bar saw how nice of an impression she made on the crowd and offered her a chance to sing whenever she wants. She even asked if she was open to working at the bar as well, Naomi didn’t mind it at all and agreed to Penny’s offer. Training under her and practicing bartending. And to be honest, Naomi loved it!

Working at The Hard Deck made her smile, let her have some fixable schedules since she had an active lifestyle and socialize with brand new people everyday. It resulted in her meeting some friends such as Lucky Kenner, who she already met before she started working there, and the rest of the Daggers. Anyone who walks into the bar, she’s always the first one to greet them at the counter with a smile pouring drinks and taking orders. They would say she’s a sight for sore eyes with an encouraging enough smile.

Jeremy "Renegade" Turner 🗃

Callsign: Renegade

Age: 47

Background: Jeremy, known as "Renegade," grew up in a family with a military tradition. His father was a Navy pilot, and he followed in his footsteps. His callsign reflects his tendency to sometimes push boundaries and sometimes take unconventional approaches during missions, often against orders. Makes sense how he ended up with Maverick as a friend.

Personality: Adventurous, sarcastic and snarky, witty, a bit rebellious, and unafraid to take risks depending on the situation.

Lifestyle: Renegade is a single pilot who leads an adventurous and sometimes unpredictable life, as he’s always sent on missionary work to go undercover and investigate tasks for the Navy. Sometimes it makes him question his line of work and wonder when’s retirement for him again.

Relationship Status: Single

Nicknames: His fellow aviators often call him "Ren" for short.

Extra information: Due to him messing around with Maverick and his gang so much, it makes wonder if he needs new friends, then he remembers Iceman and Wraith are there then he feels a little better. He thinks he’s sarcastic, stubborn as hell and snarky until he met Iceman’s wife Daredevil also known as Hazel, who nicknames him Hawkeye as a joke.

Ren has been working on and off duty for years, everytime he thinks he’s off the hook or thinking retirement is on his way—BAM! He’s given new duties to watch over new records and recruits for TOP GUN, which in his opinion ain’t so bad. He actually liked the new fresh faced students at TOP GUN, being so young and spirited in the way they fly. Some are way cocky for their own good where they get in trouble with their superior officers meanwhile others are trying to keep an low profile and just learn from their own actions.

Ren being well..Ren, always try to get under their skin and see what they’re made of, in small manners. Like let’s say he’s talking to another person and a student is running in the halls, he tells them to not do that but they won’t listen. So in result, Ren would lean a foot outwards causing the student to trip and learn to not run in the hallway. “Oops..i said watch where your going!” Ren said with a little smirk.

Sometimes Ren gets dragged into the craziness of Maverick Mitchell and the others plan. Such as when he was given the role to return to Top Gun as an independent counsel with Hondo and Hazel, having to watch over the team of returning recruits for the highly competitive mission. A few of them, he trained himself being their co-instructor years back, being Payback, Phoenix, Yale and Harvard. Even met Halo once during her classes.

Ren was in charge of being the one up in the far skies and taking notes of the crews flying skills, measuring their speeding length as they went along. Having everything ready for pre and landing as well! Like said beforehand, Ren has a tendency to not always follow orders and end up regularly regretting it later depending on what it is, pushing a few boundaries when it came to Admirals. So in result, he was the one to open the hard deck without Admiral Cyclone’s permission for Maverick to fly and even a few other things.

—

Thanks for reading! Who are your favorites of the 4? Let me know in the comments below

Remember to like, share and reblog for more like this

Tags: @gaminggirlsstuff @starkleila @halesfavoriteharlot @missstrawbs2001 @gcthvile @mandylove1000 @rooster-84 @mallowbee4 @degenbrat @hardballoonlove @queenslandlover-93 @djs8891 @theloveoftoms @topgun-imagines @simplyscorpio @roostersforevergirl and etc

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alegendoftomorrow · 2 months

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Ice Skating

Summary: A fun outing after Christmas turns into a tease fest when one of the Dagger Squad may not be as good at everything as they pretend to be.

OC: Olivia Carter (Liv, Livy, Olive,). Photo Journalist assigned to the Dagger squad to do a piece on Naval Aviators in the modern world. Official character sheet coming soon!

Word Count:1,971

Warnings: None

A/N: This is my first entry into @sailor-aviator ‘s winter challenge. My prompt was ice skating, though I did also use this as a springboard for a possible series that I hope to start soon. Now, is this late... so very much so. Did life decide to send me into the new year with one finale kick…. Also yes. Is this also the first personal thing I’ve written for myself in a long time…also yes. But I had so much fun doing it and it feels good to get back to writing again. I hope you all have a phenomenal New Year and you find all the things you were looking for…. Enjoy some Christmas in February

“This was a terrible idea,” Jake’s voice calls from somewhere behind Liv. His tone lacking its usual confident swagger as she turns towards it to find him clutching the edge of the ice like it’s his lifeline. His feet slipping and wobbling as he attempts to walk rather than skate.

“I thought you said you had been skating before?” Liv called as she glided closer to him. Stopping sharply in front of him and meeting his pouting glare with an innocent smile.

“Yeah, when I was ten,” he said sharply. Ducking his head in something that resembled sheepishness. “I thought it was like riding a bike.”

Liv shouldn’t laugh. She really shouldn’t. Yet she can’t help the barely contained giggle that bursts past her lips that she tries to disguise as a cough. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, it’s not funny. Just try to—”

“What’s not funny?” Bradley’s voice cuts through her words and the Christmas music still playing on the loud speakers around them. “Seriously Hangman, you’re still attached to the wall? You know there are five-year-old’s doing laps around you right?”

Jake rolls his eyes and mumbles something unintelligible, his hand coming up to pinch the bridge of his nose while Bradley leans down and kisses Liv’s cheek. His mustache scratching her warm skin in a way that still sets her heart racing like it did the very first time he kissed her there. His arm wrapping around her waist and tugging her closer to his side. Effortlessly using his strength to keep them both balanced and upright.

“Come on my love leave the poor man alone. Can’t you see he’s struggling enough?” Liv playfully smacks Bradley’s shoulder as he throws his head back and laughs. The California sun catching his blonde-brown curls and throwing that warm light back down onto Liv. Momentarily making her forget there are other people around her until Jake very loudly clears his throat.

“If you two are about to start making heart eyes at each other again I’m going to throw up.”

“Oh, whose making heart eyes?” A voice calls out. All three sets of eyes turn to find Mickey and Reuban skating towards them. Bundled up like everyone else around them against the “cold”. Matching knitted candy cane stripped scarves around their necks that were a gift from Reuban’s wife. They’d opened them yesterday when they’d gotten back and had yet to take them off. Somehow Mickey seemed more excited them Reuban had been. Proudly declaring “his shared wife” had made it for him. Reuban had found this far less amusing then the rest of the squad.

“No one is,” Bradley said quickly. Squeezing Liv closer he nodded towards Jake who was doing hi sbets to look like he didn’t need the wall to stay balanced. “We were just making fun of Jake here and his inability to skate.”

“You can’t skate?!” Mickey’s voice added to the shock in his wide eyes and dumbfounded expression.

“I can—”

“No way!” Reuban continued. “You mean there is something even the great Hangman himself can’t do.”

Jake sighed deeply and hung his head into his hand, groaning as the teasing continued. Liv wanted to feel bad but considering Jake was often the first to jump on someone else’s weakness she really didn’t feel too bad about it.

“Yeah, well not all of us grew up in the ice and snow,” he weakly shot back. Another round of laughter as Bradley argued that he too had grown up in California for some time, and Mickey put in that he’d grew up without snow too.

Liv just leaned into Bradley’s chest and looked at the group with an amused smile. The California heat was new to her. As was a Christmas and New Year without snow. Her parent’s farmhouse was likely half buried in snow and the pond she’d learned to skate on would have been frozen for months.

“Yeah, and didn’t Javy grow up in New Orleans?” Bradley added with a pretend thoughtful expression. “Yet I know that man can skate nearly as good as Livy here.” He jostled Liv out of her thoughts for a moment.

“Speaking if Javy, where is your wingman, Jake?” She asked.

“Oh, he hasn’t made it to the ice yet,” Mickey said. Pointing across the rink to the outdoor rental building where Javy was leaning against the counter with a wide grin as his hands animated the story, he was telling to the beautiful woman working the counter. “Yeah, he’s too busy flirting to come and save you.”

The woman laughed at something Javy said and Jake gave a long-suffering sigh, a look of betrayal crossing his face.

“Don’t make that face.” Liv smirked. “Like you haven’t done the same thing to him a thousand time.” She raised her eyebrow in an almost dare to have him disagree with her. He did not.

“Yeah, well how come Bob gets to sit this activity out?” He shot back instead.

They all looked over to the row of bleachers sparsely filed with mothers helping their kids tie up their skates, friends huddled around hot chocolate mugs laughing with whipped cream on their faces, and a few older people with cameras waving to their families on the ice. Right in the middle was Bob. His cheeks covered in a pink blush as he stuttered his way through an explanation of his booted ankle while he helped a woman’s young daughter stand up in her skates. The woman’s son was sitting on Bob’s other side continually shaking his head when his mom tried to offer him a pair of skates. Bob must have said he would watch him because the woman smiled and took Bob’s hand, nodding her thanks which made the blush on Bob’s cheeks worse. He nervously adjusted his glasses and pointed to the ice, saying something that made the little girl laugh.

Good for him, Liv thought as she turned her gaze back to Jake who was growing increasingly annoyed.

“Because he twisted his ankle playing volleyball with us all yesterday,” Nat said. Her sudden appearance causing them all to jump and Jake to scramble back into the wall.

“A little warning next time Tasha!”

“Sorry,” she said in a way that made it clear she wasn’t sorry at all. “What are we all doing hovering awkwardly over here?”

“Jake can’t skate,” Mickey supplied.

“We’re making fun of him,” Reuban added.

“I hate all of you,” Jake shot back.

“Even me?” Liv asked. Turning out of Bradley’s grip to face Jake fully with her best puppy dog eyes.

“Especially you Olive. This was your idea.” Jake pointed a finger at her and yet there was no venom in his words.

Liv gasped and gripped at her heart. Mock hurt flashing across her face as she fell backwards and suppressed a laugh when Bradley’s strong hands caught her. “I’m hurt Jake. You have wounded me and I don’t think I can recover from this.”

She peeked an eye open just in time to watch Jake roll his eyes and the other laugh.

“You’ll get over it,” he promised.

Before Liv could say anything back, a very breathless and unsteady Javy called out for them as he skated quickly towards them before nearly crashing into Mickey and Reuban. Both men exclaiming as they caught him and scrambled to catch their balance. Bradley pushing Liv back to standing and Nat skating a step forward with her hands out to help if needed.

“And where have you been?” Jake asked accusingly when Javy had been rightened back onto his own feet. Though Mickey and Reuban kept their hands floating beside him just in case.

“Whoa, whoa why the aggression?” Javy asked with only mild confusion. Liv recognized that mischievous glint in his eyes as meaning he was only half listening to whatever any of them said. He had come here with a plan. “I was only gone a few minutes.”

“It’s been half an hour and I could have used some backup,” Jake said.

Javy tilted his head and scanned his eyes over all their faces for a moment before just shrugging and plowing on to what he’d come here to say. “Okay so I was talking to Claire and—”

“Who’s Claire?” Natasha asked.

“Unimportant,” Javy continued. “Anyways—”

“She’s the woman renting out skates,” Liv whispered to Natasha who leaned over so she could see the woman in question and then nodded.

“She’s cute.”

“I know.”

“—So, she says her friend Amelia is the best there is,” Javy finished with a flourish.

“Wait. Who’s Amelia?” Liv asked. Clearly having missed something while talking to Natasha.

Javy fixed both of them with an exasperated look. “Do either of you ever pay attention when I talk?”

“As a general rule of thumb, no,” Natasha teased.

“If it makes you feel better, I don’t listen to any of you,” Liv added.

“Hey!” Bradley turned to face her with a pout. His honey brown eyes locking onto hers as he stuck his bottom lip out.

“That doesn’t include you, my love. I always listen to you,” Liv added quickly. Cupping his cheek and patting it softly with her fingers.

A chorus of groans and gagging noises followed the action.

“Alright back on topic. Amelia is the red head over there that’s offering lessons. She’s also single,” Javy added with a smirk.

More groans and eye rolls followed as they all watched Jake’s interest immediately shift to the woman a few feet away from them. She was tall and had a white hat pulled down over her ears, her long red hair only barley contained in a thick braid down her back. Smaller red curls poked out around her face and her ice blue eyes were filled with light as she clapped for a pair of siblings who had just finished skating the length of the rink without falling.

“Don’t worry I already talked her up for you.” Javy nudged Jake in the ribs and the other man’s confident smile once again wavered. His eyes snapping to Javy.

“What did you tell her?”

“Only the good things don’t worry. Come on, consider it my very late Christmas present to you.” Javy didn’t give Jake a chance to protest as he wrapped his arm around his and dragged him over towards the woman. Jake attempting to still look as tall and in control of the situation as he still white-knuckle gripped the wall.

“Oh, this I have to see,” Natasha said as she too moved to follow after them.

“I’ll race you there,” Mickey dared. Tucking the edges of his scarf back into his jacket so he was ready.

“Twenty bucks says I beat all of you,” Reuban chimed in. Living up to his callsign as Bradley and Liv shared a look before declaring their intention to race too.

“Let’s maybe not race towards the group of beginners though,” Liv said. Pointing instead to the bleachers on the other side of the rink where Bob was still conversing with the young boy beside him.

The pilots and Liv all lined up against the wall and waited for an opening while Natasha cupped her hands to her mouth and called out.

“Bob! Call it when we get there.”

Bob looked up and squinted at them before shaking his head with a sigh and flashing a thumbs up. Liv was pretty sure he mumbled something about pilots and there need for speed but her lip-reading skills weren’t the best.

“Go!” She called.

More laughter mixed with the sound of skates cutting into ice as the last bars of Jingle Bells played on the loud speakers. Just for this moment at least, they were safe and happy, and really that was all any of them had wanted for Christmas anyway.

#top gun maverick #top gun fic #bradley bradshaw #rooster bradshaw #bradley bradshaw x oc #natasha trace #natasha phoenix trace #payback #mickey fanboy garcia #bob floyd #javy coyote machado #Liz’s Christmas Challenge #dagger squad #writing challenge #ice skating

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averagewriter-inthedark · 2 years

Text

Living Up To The Legacy ✈️ | Top Gun Maverick Series P.4

Contains major spoilers for TGM

Catch up on the series here -> Series Masterlist

Characters & Pairings: Lt. Bradley ‘Rooster’ Bradshaw x Barbara ‘Legacy’ Mitchell (past/eventual romance), Captain Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell x daughter!OC (platonic), Lt. Jake ‘Hangman’ Seresin (platonic), Lt. Robert ‘Bob’ Floy (platonic), Lt. Natasha ‘Phoenix’ Trace (platonic), pretty much the rest of the characters are platonic.

Content Warnings: Character Death (Iceman), profanity, major angst, anxiety, light fluff | Female OC (she/her) | wc: 10.8k

Premise: Phase two of the high risk mission has the Top Gun candidates pushing themselves to the limit. Literally. For Barbara Mitchell, the heat is rising not just in the pressure to prove herself but also the battle against feelings for her ex-husband, Rooster. And when two accidents occur plus the loss of a beloved family friend resulting in Maverick being grounded, Barbara finds herself in the fight of her life to prove the mission can be done. Even if it means risking everything she’s worked for in her nearly decade of service.

Note: more than 50% done 🥺 this one was fun to write. I was going to add another scene but will save it for the next chapter. Please don’t hate me for the ending, I’ve got stuff planned.

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“Good morning,” Warlock greeted the pilots as they settled in their seats. After having a fun break the previous day, they were back to business. “The uranium enrichment plant that is your target will be operational earlier than expected. Raw uranium will be delivered to the plant in ten days time,” Barbara felt the air catch in her throat at the news. Around her the others tensed as Warlock continued, “As a result, your mission has been moved up one week in order to avoid contaminating the target valley with radiation.”

“Sir, no one here has successfully flown a low-level course,” Coyote points out the obvious.

“Nevertheless, you’ve been ordered to move on.” Many lean back in their chairs at the sound of that. “Captain.” Switching places with Warlock, Maverick takes to the center.

“We have one week left to focus on phase two. It’s the most difficult stage of the mission. It’s a pop-up strike with a steep dive, requiring nothing less than two consecutive miracles,” Maverick lifts to fingers to emphasize, the screen behind him depicting a simulation of a mountain. “Two pairs of F-18s will fly in a welded wing formation. Teamwork. Precise coordination of these aircraft is essential to both the mission’s success and your survival.”

As he breaks down the plan, a blue plane comes into view and follows the white dotted line, “As you know, the plant rests between two mountains. On final approach, you’ll invert directly into a steep dive. This allows you to maintain the lowest possible altitude and the only possible attack angle. Your target is an impact point less than three meters wide,” Barbara clicks her pen nervously. The sound of that did not look good. “The two-seat aircraft will paint the target with a laser bull’s-eye. The first pair will breach the reactor by dropping a laser-guided bomb on an exposed ventilation hatch. This will create an opening for the second pair,” Mav raises a single finger, ending with, “That’s miracle number one.”

He then breaks down the second half, “the second team will deliver the kill shot, and destroy the target. That’s miracle number two,” when Mav raises two fingers, Barbara notices Rooster tilt his head so she could see his side profile, like he was trying to look at her. She shakes her head, knowing he’d see the gesture and the pilot sniffs before readjusting his position. “If either team misses the target, the mission is a failure. Egress is a steep high-G climb out to avoid hitting this mountain.”

Hangman cuts in when Maverick pauses, “A steep climb at the speed, you’re pulling at least eight G’s.”

“Nine, minimum,” the Captain corrects to which Rooster comments, “The stress limit of the F-18’s airframe is seven-point-five.”

“That is the accepted limit. To survive this mission, you’ll pull beyond that, even if it means bending your airframe,” at this Cyclone makes a face, not liking what he was hearing. “You’ll be pulling so hard you’ll weigh close to two-thousand pounds, your skull crushing your spine. Your lungs imploding like an elephant’s sitting on your chest, fighting with everything you have just to keep from blacking out. And this is where you’ll be at your most vulnerable.” Maverick faces the group, “This is Coffin Corner.” What a name to call an impending death on an already Hellstorm of a mission. Barbara put a finger to her lip, shutting her eyes when the planes on the simulator crossed into enemy radar.

“Assuming you avoid crashing into this mountain, you’ll climb straight up into enemy radar while losing all of your airspeed. Within seconds you’ll be fired upon by enemy SAMs. You’ve all faced sustained G’s before, but this—this is gonna take you and your aircraft to the breaking point.”

“Sir,” Phoenix politely gets his attention and asks the million dollar question. “Is this even achievable?” From what the simulator was showing, it was far from it.

Maverick steps to her, arms going behind his back, “The answer to that question will come down to the pilot in the box.” Soon they are dismissed and Barbara heads to the locker room to get her gear on with Phoenix and Halo.

“I don’t feel good about this,” Halo says when they finish up, clasping her final restraint. The two women murmur in agreement, Barbara putting at least one cigarette behind her left ear and match behind the right before throwing the tin in her locker.

“Shit’s insane.”

“I’ll say,” Phoenix shuts her locker and leans against it. “Who’re you with today, C?” Judging by the look on Barbara’s face, it appeared she was not pleased with the day's test run line up.

“Fanboy, Payback, Harvard, Yale… and Rooster.” Halo whistles and Phoenix clicks her tongue. “Yeah, I know.” They finish up and all head out to their jets for pre-checks. Once complete, they bid Barbara good luck and leave for the lounge while Barb stays on the tarmac. She took a moment to herself, letting her thoughts linger before climbing into her F-18. For the exercise she was to be the team leader.

The nerves got stronger once they were in the air, the pilot having to take a deep breath as they stayed steady 300 feet above the ground. “Talk to me, Harvard. What’s the time?”

“We are on schedule, Legacy. Time to pop up in t minus thirty second.”

“Copy, Fanboy?”

“We are five seconds behind. Rooster, we’re falling back.”

“C’mon, Rooster,” she says, keeping her hand tight on the handle. “Move it or lose it.”

“Copy, increasing speed.”

“Harvard, check that laser for me will you.” He relays back several numbers, indicating the laser was ready to go. Her heart picked up as they approached the pop-up point. “Yale, prepare for pop up in three…two..one, now!” With a grunt she yanks the stick back and soars into the sky. Maneuvering the jet into the inverted dive, Barbara quickly gets upright after falling into the step dive. “Where’s that laser, Harvard.”

“Stand by, Legacy,” he says then seconds later calls out, “got it!” It locked on her screen, but Barbara cursed in her head, feeling that it was going to miss since it took him a bit to capture it. They were too low from what the dropping point should have been.

“Target acquired, bombs away!” She hits the button to release the mock missile and yanks the stick once more. They were now in the high-G steep climb, but level out when Harvard announced they missed the target. “Dammit!” The force of the G-s had Barbara breathing heavily for the few seconds they ascended. They pushed about 5 in that run.

Rooster shouts the same phase moments later when he too misses the target. “Head back to base. We’ll go again after the others.” They all copy and break off with Legacy, Harvard, and Yale going left while Payback, Fanboy, and Rooster go right. Legacy is the first to land, taxi off the airway just in time for Harvard and Yale to arrive.

Exiting the jet, Barbara heads off the tarmac to take her usual smoke break and runs into Halo, Phoenix, and Bob. “How’d it go?” Bob asks when she comes to a stop in front of them. Removing the cigarette and match from her pocket with a shake of the head, “intense. I had to level out before hitting six G’s. Couldn’t take it once Harvard said we missed the target.”

They all grimaced, sending worried looks to each other. Phoenix lets out a sigh, “I hear Mav is probably gonna just break us off into duos tomorrow, and once we master that try the two sets of pairs again.” The news has Barbara making a sound of relief, “Thank God.” Wishing the three good luck, she passes them to leave and takes her break before going to the lounge where she is met with the five men she’d just flown with. “Gentlemen,” she greets, sitting on one of the couches opposite Payback and Rooster.

“Not bad up there, C,” Fanboy compliments her from his spot against the window. She smiles in return, voicing the same to the WSO. They don’t do much to pass the time, however Fanboy and Payback do challenge her to a game of foosball. At times Barbara felt like eyes were on her, and did her best not to react.

She always knew when Rooster’s eyes were on her.

When she caught his gaze he was quick to look away, making a movement to wipe his face as though something was on it. Biting back a smirk, Barbara turns her back to him though could still feel the heat emitting within her. She tried to focus on the communications from the others as they came through the radio, but was having trouble as the same thoughts from the previous night made their way into her mind.

Fuck how was she gonna make it through another week when she was starting to feel like a school girl having a crush for the very first time. It was her ex-husband for God’s sake.

After another run that afternoon, this time with Rooster as team leader and missing the target once more, the pilots were dismissed for the day. Thankfully no one stopped her on her way out. It was becoming a habit each night for someone to catch her whether it be Rooster, her father, Phoenix, or even Hangman. But Jake learned the hard way to not mess with Barbara when she purposely hit the gas on her bike and nearly ran over his foot.

That night in the comfort of her own home, Barbara made a call to the one person she hadn’t spoken two since she got the detachment. Her mother, Charlie.

“Sounds like you have a lot on your plate,” Charlie chuckles, voice echoing from the speaker while Barbara nurses a glass of wine in her kitchen. She was going over the parameters of the mission, committing it to memory while also giving her mother an update on the past several days. “How do you feel overall about the mission, Barb?”

She clicks her fingernails against the glass with a sigh, “I really don’t know, mom. The others and I have talked about it in passing and we all agree it seems impossible. To be honest, the only person who I believe could actually pull it off is Pete.” It was the wholehearted truth. Only her father was capable in her eyes, but this job required a team. And they had a lot of work to do before developing one.

“I wouldn’t be surprised. Your father has always lived life on the edge,” Barbara makes a sound of agreement, “speaking of him, how are things? You don’t seem to be so….angry when talking about him.”

Biting her lip, Barbara takes a second to think of a reply. There was still tension between her and Pete, but she wouldn’t deny there had been a lift of resentment. But that could easily slip if he started to treat her differently. Not to mention not picking her for the mission solely because she was his daughter.

“It’s….complicated. All of my anger was on him the past couple years to shift the blame off myself. Every time I thought about him, It would just reignite everything I tried to bury in the past,” she takes a pause, refilling her wine glass. “This past week has had me thinking and letting go of a lot—mostly the stuff when I was kid. But….” The words fall flat, the woman unsure of what to say.

“But?” Charlie asks, causing Barbara to drop her head between her shoulders.

“I don’t think he and I will ever have a normal father-daughter relationship. We’ve tried in the past, it’s never worked. Ever since I was a kid it’s been rocky and when we seem to fix one thing, something happens that screws it up. First my college career, then my military career, and most recently my marriage. And honestly, mom, I can’t bring myself to get my hopes up because there’s a chance he won’t pick me for this mission even if I’m qualified. Do I have a lot to work on? Yes, this detachment is pushing me to the breaking point,” she takes a breath, pausing in her rant before ending with, “He promised he won’t wash me out…but Pete Mitchell is going to do what he wants.”

There’s silence over the phone, the older woman processing her daughter’s words. Barbara takes the moment to rub her hands over her face, “I don’t think I could forgive him if he did, mom.”

“No one is telling you you have to, Barbara,” Charlie says softly. “Your father and I know you are an exceptional pilot—although I do hate that you took on his way of not going by the book,” the comment makes Barbara laugh. “My point is, Pete will choose the candidates he’s fit to take on a mission as big as this. You work hard, you stay in line, and show him you can do it and there’s no doubt he will pick you. But…on another note, you have to understand his point of view, Barbara.”

Immediately Barbara squeezed her eyes shut, knowing what Charlie was on to. She was prepared for this conversation, but it still had her gripping her forearms rightly as they rested on the counter. “He’s a father, you’re his daughter. You may be the best fighter pilot the world has ever seen, but to him you’ll always be his baby girl. I know he had a lot to work on when you were young, but Pete tried his best. It wasn’t always good at times but nonetheless he would always call me just to ask about you. From what you’ve told me about this mission, someone could likely not come home. How do you think it affects him with the only two options ending with him most likely losing you?”

Barbara felt a wave of emotion at the crack in her mom’s voice at the mention of her likely dying. It put into perspective for the thirty-year old that this was not just any job for Maverick. It was personal. These were people's lives at stake. Their families would be the ones to endure the pain and lose if they didn’t make it. And Rooster was in the same category as her because Mav saw him as a son. Everything that could come out as a result of Maverick’s decision would be an end to whatever strain he wanted to erase between him and Rooster.

“I know,” she sighs, silently wishing that things could be different. But unfortunately the universe worked in mysterious ways. “I know. Not an easy choice.”

For the next two days they continued to work on phase two. During this time Barbara came very close to the target, the closest she’s been, working with Phoenix and Bob. It was decided after the first day of phase two training they would split the pairs up before coming back together in full formation. Though Barbara did well with the other foxtrot teams, it still didn’t come close to how natural it felt with Phoenix and Bob watching her back. If she were picked in the end, she hoped they’d be paired together.

It was approaching the end of the day and Barbara was settled in the lounge after running the course with Payback and Fanboy. Halo was flipping through one of the magazines beside her and they made small talk to pass time. Phoenix, Bob, and Coyote were in the air.

“Talk to me, Bob,” her voice comes through the speaker.

“We are twelve seconds late on target. We gotta move! We gotta move!”

“Copy. Try to stay with me,” Coyote replies. Suddenly Bob’s tone becomes confused, “Huh? Wait, who’s that?” The question made Barbara click her tongue. She should’ve known Mav would make it more real by acting as a bandit. “Blue team, you’ve been spotted.”

“Shit, It’s Maverick.”

“What the hell is he doing here?”

“I’m a bandit on course to intercept. Blue team, what are you gonna do?” Barbara hadn’t realized she moved from the couch to a chair in front of the radio, bringing an elbow up to rest on the surface.

“He’s twenty miles left. Ten o’clock. 700 knots closure,” Bob relayed, to which Coyote said, “Your call. What do you want to do?”

“Continue,” Phoenix replied, “We’re close. Stay on target.”

“He’s swinging around to the north!”

“Standby for pop-up.”

“Be ready on that laser, Bob.”

“Copy. I’m on it.”

“Blue team, bandit is still closing,” Mav warned.

“Popping now!” Coyote shouts and soon the three aviators are grunting and breathing heavily as they ascend. “Talk to me, Bob. Where’s Maverick?”

“He’s five miles out. He’s coming fast.”

“Target’s in sight.”

“Where’s my laser, Bob?”

“Deadeye! Deadeye! It’s no good,” Bob says with disappointment. “Sorry, I can’t get a lock.”

“We’re out of time, I’m dropping blind.” Seconds later Coyote calls out, “Damn it, missed!” Once again grunts could be heard from the speaker as the pilots began their high-G climb.

“That’s tone,” Maverick suddenly says, indicating he locked on someone. Bob confirms it, “Maverick’s got missile lock on us.”

“Shit! We’re dead,” Phoenix curses.

“Blue team, that’s a fail. Level out, Coyote.” When Coyote doesn’t copy, Barbara feels her stomach drop. “Coyote? Do you copy?….Coyote, come in.” There’s still silence from the pilot, calling the attention of everyone in the room. “Coyote, level wings.”

“Oh no,” Barbara whispers, hand coming to her mouth. Beside her Fanboy and Rooster stiffen, the others exchange looks of worry when Maverick gasps, “Oh, God. He’s in G-LOC.”

“Coyote? Coyote?”

“He’s gonna burn in!” Phoenix shouts and the anxiety rises in the group. Maverick then says, “I’m going after him.” Barbara’s knuckles were practically white from how hard she was gripping her the edge of the counter. “Come on. Give me tone, give me tone, give me tone. Snap out of it, Coyote. Come on! Come on!”

“Oh my God,” Barbara squeezes her eyes shut. Never had she heard her father sound so frightened in his life.

“Come on, Coyote. Come on. Come on!” Her heart picks up, beating like it was about to burst from her chest. “Damn it! Coyote! Coyote! Coyote! COYOTE!” There’s a familiar gasp of air and it goes silent. In sync everyone waits and is met with eminent relief when Maverick goes, “Coyote, you okay? You okay?”

The pilot is breathing heavily into his mask, shaken by the experience, “I’m okay. I’m good.”

“Good. Good,” Mav repeats with relief. “That’s enough for today.” On the other end of the table, Jake pats his hand against the counter, expression unreadable. But Barbara could see the tension behind his eyes. Like everyone else, the Lieutenant was fearful for his friend and thought he was about to witness his death.

“That was close,” Phoenix says what they were all thinking.

Maverick sighs again, “Too close.” What they thought would be the end of the chaos, was only the beginning. Because seconds later Maverick is shouting, “Bird strike! Bird strike!” They were all well aware of how dangerous a bird strike could be. It could cause damage to the plane and take out equipment if they weren’t careful.

And that played out before their ears because after Phoenix calls out the strike, Bob is yelling, “Phoenix, left engine’s on fire!”

“Climbing,” she shouts, and Barbara became almost nauseated by the overwhelming emotion she was feeling. “Throttling back. Shutting off fuel to left engine. Extinguishing fire.”

“Right engine is out!”

“It’s still spinning. Trying to restart it.” Immediately Barbara is out of her chair, causing the pilots around her to flinch at the action. She doesn’t care. The woman is practically yelling at the speaker. “No, no! Don't do that—It’s still on fire!” Maverick must’ve seen it too from his position because he was repeating what Barbara was saying, “Phoenix, it’s on fire. Don’t start—.”

“Throttling up.” The dread swarms Barbara as her friend fails to listen. Part of her couldn’t blame Phoenix. If the roles were reversed, who knows what she would’ve done.

“Oh my God,” Mavericks voice sent chills through her body. Without realizing it, Barbara’s hand reaches back to catch Rooster’s. Both of them squeezing despite the intense heat from the touch.

“We’re on fire! We’re on fire!”

“Damn it! Extinguishing right engine!”

“Phoenix, Bob, punch out, punch out!” Mav yells, and Barbara feels her body start to shake. The anxiety became too much at what she was hearing. It was every pilot's worst nightmare.

“Warning lights everywhere! Hydraulic failure!”

“I can’t control it!” Phoenix screams.

“We’re going down, Phoenix! We’re going in! We’re going in!” Bob's screams have tears prickling in Barbara’s eyes. Though they hadn’t known each other long she had grown to care for him. The fear in his voice was absolutely chilling that it had some of the pilots back away from the speaker. Hangman and Payback had their hands in their hair. Halo had her head down in a silent prayer. Fanboy was gripping the back of the chair Barbara had sat on.

And Barbara? She was squeezing the shit out of Rooster’s head.

“You can’t save it. Eject! Eject!” Maverick orders. Not hesitating Phoenix is repeating the order to Bob, “Eject! Eject! Eject!” Seconds later the radio goes silent, leaving everyone in the room to wonder if they had made it out.

With trembling lips, Barbara slowly lets go of Rooster’s hand—realizing she had grabbed it in the midst of the chaos—and brought it to her chest. Since her back was to him, Barbara missed how he had tried to reach out and grasp it when she pulled away. The pumping of her heart thumped below her palm at an alarming rate, her hand slightly trembling as she tried to catch air.

Unsure of how to react, everyone was quiet. The only sound that could be heard was the helicopter taking off from the tarmac—on its way to rescue Phoenix and Bob. The sound snapped Barbara out of her daze, who took a sharp breath before spinning on her heel to exit the lounge. Her head was hurting and she felt nauseated. As she sped down the hallway and threw open the front doors Barbara was met with the warm sun. It did little to help her—in fact it made it worse because next thing she knew she was spilling her guts into a nearby trash can.

Groaning, Barbara prayed none would get in her hair. She was so used to having a bun to keep it out her face that she forgot it was cut short. It fell over her cheeks and brought one hand up to push it away. Footsteps approached behind, and soon her hand was replaced by someone, another hand coming to the same on the other side.

She didn’t have to look to know it was Rooster. His shadow and cologne was enough.

After a few moments to catch her breath and make sure her stomach was empty, Barbara reached into her pocket to pull out a tissue. Stepping back to wipe her mouth she felt Rooster release his hold from her hair. “Thanks.”

He nods to her, stepping back to give her some space. “Not used to you having your hair so short.” The comment makes her chuckle. It was true. Their entire relationship Barbara’s black hair was long and wavy. The amount of hairspray, gel, and pins to keep it neat when in uniform was a bucket load. Once everything happened in 2016, she surprised her friends and herself by chopping it to a bob.

“Yeah. Me neither.”

“Why did you cut it?”

“Wanted a change,” she mutters, briefly glancing at him. “Felt like it was something I needed.” In the peripheral she saw him nod again. Throwing out the napkin, Barbara pulls out a cigarette and plants herself on the top step to set. Lighting the tobacco, Barbara takes a deep inhale with her eyes closed, feeling the nerves slowly start to settle.

“Why do you do that?” The tone in Rooster’s voice has her let out a tired sigh.

“Because it calms me down, Bradley. Okay? And right now I’d rather have the taste of nicotine than vomit in my mouth.” She keeps her eyes closed but feels him move to sit next to her. With this she turns her head away from him, so the smoke isn’t blowing in his face. “Let’s not argue about this. Please.”

“I won’t,” he replies, though there’s a hint of protest in his voice. It wasn’t like he could have her promise him again to quit. She had no reason to listen to him. “Are you okay?” Barbara scoffs lightly which had Bradley quickly say, “Nevermind don’t answer that.”

They sit there for a while. Neither says anything as Barbara finishes her cigarette. Finally she asks the question that had been nagging at her since he arrived, “Why did you follow me out here?”

The pilot shuffles his feet, glancing to where his hands laid in his lap. “Felt like I owed it to you after last week. And you would’ve done the same for me.” Barbara mentally curses, hating the fact he knew her so well. What also didn’t help were the butterflies swarming in her tummy.

Fuck she needed to get it together

She didn’t reply, and Rooster didn’t need her to. He already knew the answer. Thankfully the sight of the helicopter returning caught their attention, and both pilots were met with relief when they saw Phoenix and Bob being hauled off and into an ambulance. “Oh thank God,” Barbara whispered, bringing her hands together in a silent prayer.

Rooster bids a glance to the sky in silent thank you, “I’ll stay and wait for an update. You should go home, get some rest.” She sees him lift something in the corner of her eye and is met with a dum-dum lollipop. The ace she made must’ve been comical because Rooster was biting back a smile.

“Wha—.”

“I’ve noticed you’ve been going to town on them since we started training,” Barbara felt her heart stutter, cheeks going pink. “Thought you could use one.”

“Oh—-uh,” she stuttered, not really knowing how to react. With a small smile, she took the candy, flinching when she felt a shock when their skin touched. “Thank you….that was uh, very kind of you.” ‘God’ she thought to herself. Was that all she could come up with? She was married to the guy once upon a time. It was embarrassing how a little gesture of bringing a lollipop could get her flustered.

“You’re welcome,” he replied, rubbing his hands together and looking away. Whatever he was feeling it was hard to put a name on it. Clearing his throat, Rooster stands and practically blocks the sun from Barbara. “I’ll uh—I’ll leave you be then.” He goes to enter the building, walking slowly as though he expects Barbara to stop him. Which he was silently hoping for despite not understanding why.

Again, denying the feelings he knows is resurfacing.

And deep down Barbara wanted to. As she watched him go there was a tug on her heartstrings. But the woman didn't really know what to say. What could they talk about? Besides the beach day it was the first time they managed to get through a conversation—even if it was short—without arguing. Letting the thoughts go, Barbara sat in silence as she watched him leave before sighing and getting up to wash up.

The shower was a much needed one. There were still emotions running through Barbara, but most had settled once the hot water hit her skin. Halo was just finishing up when she got there, and Barbara relayed that Phoenix and Bob had been sent to the infirmary. “Good. I hope they’re okay,” the older pilot said in relief. They talked for a bit before saying goodbye and leaving Barbara to her shower. She didn’t know how long she’d been in there. It wasn’t until the hot water turned cold that she decided to get out.

Once dressed Barbara collected her belongings and set out for the parking lot. She had just turned the corner, unlocking her phone to see several missed calls from her mom and Sarah when Admiral Bates intercepted her. “Lieutenant Mitchell.” Barbara looked up from her phone, already filled with dread from the amount of calls when she saw the look on his face.

It was one of bad news.

Tears sprung in her eyes, but she fought to keep them at bay, “He’s gone isn’t he?” She didn’t need to hear him say it. After the last visit with Iceman, Barbara felt it was the last she’d see him. Sarah had mentioned it was any day that the inevitable would happen.

But that didn’t mean it hurt any less.

Face solemn, Warlock simply replied, “I’m very sorry.” Squeezing her eyes shut, Barbara made a sound like she was holding back a sob. Iceman was like a second father to her. When things got tough and Maverick wasn’t there, Ice stepped in and had her back. He was there at her commission ceremony, when she graduated flight school, he even flew to pin on her ranks when she made Lieutenant. When she got in trouble with pissing off superiors Ice got her out of it much like he did with her father. If it hadn’t been for him, Barbara would’ve been out of the Navy after the stunt she pulled two summers prior. And after she transferred to North Island, Sunday dinners became a habit with the Kazansky family.

They were her family.

“Has my father been notified, sir?” She asked after a moment. Pete was likely still on base and she wondered if they had reached out to him already. Or if she was going to have to be the one to give the awful news.

“I was just on my way to tell him,” Warlock tells her, nodding his head in the direction of the lounge. She assumed that’s where Mav was. “Would you like to join me?”

She really didn’t know if she could handle it. It would break her heart to see the pain on her father’s face knowing his wingman is gone. They’d been best friends for thirty plus years. Sniffing, Barbara wipes a finger under her eye and gives a short nod, “Y-yeah. I think that would be good.”

In silence the pair walk down the darkened hallway. All the while Barbara mentally prepares herself. She doesn’t have time to really have a pep talk because before she knows it Warlock is opening the door of the lounge and to the pilot's surprise she sees Maverick is not alone. Rooster is with him.

Whatever they were talking must’ve not been good because they were chest to chest with one another with Rooster glaring while Mav looked like he had been slapped in the face. The sound of the door combined with Warlock calling out to Maverick catches their attention and Barbara sees the flash of concern on both men when they see her expression. It looked like Rooster was about to move toward her but stopped himself. Instead Maverick is the one approaching the two.

“What is it?” He says to Warlock before turning to Barbara. She opened her mouth to speak, but the words failed to come out. Instead she glances at her feet while Warlock breaks the news.

“We’ve just received word on Admiral Kazansky,” the sharp intake of breath from Mav had Barbara wince. And when the words fell from Warlock’s lips, Barbara couldn’t stop the tears as they fell to the floor. “I regret to inform you, Captain, but the Admiral has died.”

The day of the funeral was a bittersweet endeavor. In her Service Dress Blues, Barbara stood beside her father at the front with the Kazansky family. It was a beautiful service. One she would remember forever. Hundreds of service men and women attended, many of whom worked with Iceman over his 30 plus years of service. The candidates were even in attendance. And every now and then Barbara could feel eyes on her.

No matter how many times she’d heard it over the years, the sound of Taps always brought tears to her eyes. The flag laying over the casket was folded and presented to Sarah by Admiral Simpson as the 21 gun salute was performed in the distance. Barbara kept her eyes forward, but saw Mav turn his head from her peripheral. And when it was time for him to Mav to tack in Ice’s wings, a lone tear trailed down her cheek.

To conclude the service was the fly by which sent chills through Barbara’s body. In the handful of times she unfortunately had to watch friends laid to rest, the feeling always arose. It was a final send off to the fallen. Maverick, with tears in his eyes, stood at the end of the casket saluting until the planes passed. All he could do was stare at the portrait of his wingman.

A rivalry that became a friendship that would last a lifetime.

When everyone dispersed, Barbara was the first to offer her condolences to the family. She’d already been to their house the night Ice passed, convincing Maverick they should go be with them, but nonetheless brought the older woman into a hug.

“I know I already told you this the other day,” she sniffed, “but my mother sends her love and support. She’s sorry she couldn’t be here today but called me this morning to let you know she’s thinking of you and the family.”

“Thank you, sweetheart,” Sarah replies, wiping her face with a sad smile. “Tell her I thank her for the flowers she sent the next time you talk to her.”

Barbara nods, “Of course.” Maverick had returned at that moment so Barbara stepped away to hug Ice’s children who were like cousins to her. They spoke for a few moments, before Barbara decided to take her leave. As much as she wanted to stay for the reception the pilot was not feeling it. Well aware she was going to have to get her head back into business, Barbara had spent most of the past couple days burying herself in sorrow to the point she was exhausted. Dark circles had formed under eyes that were covered with makeup to hide how tired she was.

“I’m gonna go home,” she said to Maverick, who seemed a little surprised. He wasn’t expecting her to leave so soon. She quickly explained, “I haven’t got much sleep the past couple nights. I know Admiral Simpson expects us to be ready for training on Monday so I’d like to take the next day to recoup.”

“I understand,” he nods, feeling the same way as his daughter. The tone in his voice gave away how drained the Captain was. “Get some rest. I’ll see you Monday.” As they were in uniform and he outranked her, Barbara lifted her hand in a salute, waited for Mav to do the same and did not drop hers until he did. It was odd having to salute him, but Barbara brushed off. Fidgeting on her feet, Barbara made the rash decision to reach up and lay a soft kiss on Maverick’s cheekbone. He froze, not expecting the gesture, but nonetheless it brought a smile to his face. With one last squeeze to his forearm, Barbara took her leave.

Instead of riding her bike, Barbara had driven her 1960 Ford Thunderbird that she often kept in the garage of her home. She only took it out on certain occasions where she wore her Dress Blues or gowns for officers balls. It was a gift to herself when she made Lieutenant after searching high and low for the vehicle. Unlike a lot of newly commissioned officers, Barbara spent most of her paychecks on paying off student loans while saving up for her dream car. It was well worth the wait.

When she got to her car she found Phoenix, Bob, Fanboy, Payback, and Rooster huddled by the trunk. The second she made eye contact with Phoenix, the brunette was walking toward her, catching the attention of the others. “Hey,” she greeted, bringing Barbara into a hug. “How are you doing?”

“As best as I can really,” Barbara mumbled, pulling away and giving a light shrug. “I knew it was coming, but of course it doesn't make it any easier.” Nat gives a look of understanding to which Barbara asks, “How are you though? You fucking scared me the other day, Natasha.”

Nat grimaces in response, “well I certainly can say I know what it feels like to see my life flash before my eyes. But other than that I’m good. Bob is too.”

“Good, I’m so happy you two are okay,” Barbara squeezes her forearm. She nods to the guys, “What are y’all about to do?”

“Heading to the Hard Deck. Shoot some darts, play some pool, and drink the day away. None of us knew Admiral Kazansky like you so we felt like it was better than to take up room at the reception.”

“Yeah, I’m not going either.” Phoenix raised her brow in surprise. She would’ve expected Barbara to attend, being she was his Goddaughter. But then again it was up to Barbara to go if she wanted.

“Do you want to come with us?” She nods her head to the guys who were trying to not make it look like they were listening in. Briefly Barbara locks eyes with Rooster, whose face was full of concern for the woman. Once again she felt warmth under his gaze. It was only a matter of time before the feelings became too much. With a shake of the head, Barbara turned back to Phoenix, “Not tonight, Phee. I think I’m just gonna call it an early night.”

“Okay. But call me if you need anything. Alright?”

“Will do,” Barbara taps her shoulder and walks with her to the others. She greets and thanks them for attending the service which has Fanboy and Bob both offer a small hug while Payback pats her back. Meanwhile Rooster stays still with his hands in his pockets, but nods to Barbara when they make eye contact. She returns the gesture, removing her car keys from her pocket to unlock the car.

“This your ride?” Fanboy says with surprise. When they stood by the car after the service it was to admire it. None were aware it belonged to the young Mitchell. They’d only ever seen her ride her Ducati. At her look of pride he whistles out a ‘Damn.’ Bob and Payback are also gawking which makes the woman chuckle. For the next couple minutes Barbara finds herself answering questions about her car. Where she got it, how she got it, and if she would let them take it on a spin one day.

“If you drive like you fly, then Imma pass on that,” Barbara points a finger at Payback, who puts a hand to his chest as though she’s broken his heart.

“Oh come on, C, I am an excellent driver.”

“I’ll see to that.” After a few more words of exchange and side hugs to Bob and Phoenix, the four pilots bid their goodbyes, leaving Rooster to stay behind. It was awkward to say the least. Neither knew what to say. Barbara shuffled on her feet, putting her hands on her pockets. “How are you?”

He lightly scoffed at the fact that was the first thing she asked. “You’re asking me that question, Barbara?” She had to hold back rolling her eyes, but clicked her tongue as she replied, “Ice meant as much to you as he did to me. I know you’re hurting too, Bradley.”

Licking his lips, he leans on the side of the car, “I’m sad—of course I would be. He was there for me and my mom a lot after my dad died. But it’s you I’m more worried about, Barbara. He was your Godfather.”

The familiar emotion of grief filled her chest but she pushed it away. She had cried enough, and right now she did not want to cry in front of Rooster even if he had seen it many times before. He was the only one she would show emotion to when they were together. Even her parents had never seen her cry. “I’m fine—really I am. You don’t have to worry about me, Bradley.”

Rooster just shakes his head, voice going low, “I’m always going to worry about you.” The air catches in her throat. The way he said it was like how one was trying to deny the fact they could no longer refuse the truth any longer. The same way Barbara was fighting her own truth.

Quickly changing the subject because she was dealing with mixed emotions by his confession, Barbara nods her head to where the others were getting in their cars. “You should go. Don’t keep them waiting and beat the evening rush.” The expression he gives her reads, ‘I’d rather stay here with you,’ but nonetheless Bradley sighs and pushes off the car.

He steps back, but before she could react he’s suddenly bending down to her level. Freezing at the contact of his lips meeting her cheek, Barbara can’t contain the blush rising on her cheeks from the fire she was feeling. His lips linger, staying for a few seconds longer than what she would have expected, until he pulls away and turns around before she could say anything.

‘Did that really just happen,’ she thought to herself. It was like she was in a trance. When she finally snapped out of it, Barbara stumbled back and caught her hand on the car door. Bradley had just entered his Bronco, catching Barbara in his rear view mirror which had her quickly open the door and fall into the driver's seat. The entire way home Barbara couldn’t help but let the thought plague her mind:

How was she going to get through this mission and not let her heart get in the way if either she or Rooster get selected?

The next day Barbara slept and exercised her worries away. First she slept in till nearly noon, made a late brunch, and then decided to go to the Fightertown gym. It came in handy when Barbara wanted to use the equipment rather than take a run around her neighborhood. And luckily she didn’t have to pay for a membership. After about three or so hours, drenched with sweat and feeling a weight lift off her shoulders, Barbara decided to call it a day.

As she was passing the air strip on her way out, she caught sight of Maverick’s bike parked in front of the building where the Admiral’s offices were. Confusion filled her. What was he doing there?

Letting her curiosity get the best of her, Barbara pulled up into a space and quietly made her way into the mostly empty building. It was dimly lit in the hallways, which made sense since it was Sunday. Soon voices could be heard in the distance as Barbara approached Admiral Simpson’s office. On her toes, so her footsteps wouldn’t echo, Barbara leaned her back against the wall and leaned close to the door. “Sir?” She stiffened at her father’s voice.

There’s a pause before Cyclone says, “We both know you didn’t want this job, Captain.”

“Sir, they’re not ready.”

“Well, it was your job to get them ready.”

“Sir, they have to believe that this mission can be flown,” Mav pleaded and Barbara felt her heart skip. If she was assuming right, this was Cyclone firing Maverick. With Ice gone there was nothing in the way from the Admiral doing so.

“And all you’ve managed to do is teach them that it can’t.” Barbara felt anger rise. She couldn’t believe Cyclone was pulling her father off—especially with the mission being days away. It was a big mistake.

“Sir—.”

“You’re grounded Captain,” he cut him off. “Permanently.” A hand came up to her mouth, Barbara willing herself to not act irrational and burst in there to curse her superior. ‘Stand your ground, dad. You can’t let him do this. You’re Pete Mitchell for God’s sake.’

“Sir—.”

“That is all.” At the dismal from Cyclone, Barbara mentally cursed and raced back down the hallway before Mav could open the door. She didn’t want to get caught by either man eavesdropping. Hauling ass out the building she threw the doors open, literally jumped on her bike and sped away.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck!” She hit the handles in anger. Slowing her speed, cause lord knows she didn’t want to get a ticket on base, Barbara’s mind was racing. What the fuck was Cyclone thinking? They were less than a week away from pulling off the biggest mission of their lives and he was pulling their instructor out at the mose grave time? He was basically giving them a death sentence.

Barbara, though hating how her father was hardly there in her childhood, knew he was the best fighter pilot in the world. With three kills under his belt, the man knew what was needed to hit the target and come home. While the mission parameters looked impossible, it was the only way they would survive with all its obstacles.

There had to be something they could do. Thinking of ways to convince Cyclone to change his mind, Barbara hadn’t even realized she had spent nearly an hour driving around San Diego. The sun slowly started to set and she pulled up to the Hard Deck for a much needed drink. Again, the first thing she saw was Maverick’s bike. The thought of a drink disappeared as the pilot saw footsteps in the sand leading to the back of the building.

Following them, Barbara peered over the corner and found Mav crouching in front of Penny. It was hard to hear their conversation from where she stood, but was able to piece together Penny encouraging the man to find his own way back into the air. It brought a smile to Barbara’s lips. She really liked Penny out of all the girlfriends her father had mentioned over the years. The two, while their relationship had its ups and downs, seemed like a great fit.

When she saw the older woman place a hand to Mav’s cheek and said, “but you’ll find a way,” Barbara decided to make her move. “Captain,” she saw the two jump at the sudden intrusion but relaxed when their eyes fell on her. Putting her hands in her pocket, Barbara nudges her head to the beach with her attention on Maverick. “Mind if I have a word?”

Mav says something to Penny before rising and replies, “of course.” Falling behind him, she bids a small smile to Penny who returns it, and walks with her father to the edge of where the dry sand meets the wet sand. It was cool around them from the ocean breeze. The two silent for a moment to take in the scenery.

“He’s making a mistake,” she finally says, noticing Mav turn his head to her. “Cyclone,” the name has the man tense, realizing Barbara knew what had happened. “I know they say curiosity kills the cat, but I couldn’t help myself when I saw your bike parked in front of his office.”

The confession has Maverick sighing, “You overheard.” There was a mix of disappointment and embarrassment in his tone. It has Barbara frowning, turning to the side so they were facing each other.

“You can’t let him get away with it.”

“Barbara—.”

“He’s making a mistake!” Her voice rises, the anger from earlier returning. “You know he is, Mav, and you’re gonna just let it happen?” When he doesn’t answer she takes a step closer, determination set in her eyes, “You said it yourself, we’re not ready. Cyclone is going to lead us to death if he takes over.”

While Maverick agreed with her, he still didn’t like the way she was talking about the Admiral. Even if it were true. “Barbara, you shouldn’t be saying that about your superiors.”

She makes a face as though to say, ‘try me.’ “I’ve said much worse and I’ve said it to their faces. And no—,” she raises a hand when Mav opens his mouth, “I will not elaborate. That’s a conversation for another day. Bottom line is, you’re Captain Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell for crying out loud. And the Maverick I know doesn't sit back when he knows he could do something.” A pause comes as she finishes her rants, noticing how Mav had a small smile when she said his full name. “So? Any ideas?”

Pete shuffles his feet in the sand, tilting his head with a shrug as he glances to the waters, “I have one that comes to mind.” Barbara nods, liking what she was hearing.

“Okay, so what’s our plan?”

“Our plan?” His head snaps back with bewilderment. Immediately he’s refusing the implication, “No, no, no. There is no ‘our’ plan, Barbara.” His fingers went up in quotations when saying ‘our’.

“Yes there is,” she insists.

“No, there’s not.”

“I’m helping you do whatever it is you’re planning, Pete.”

“Barbara—.”

“Maverick.”

“This is a bad idea.”

“All your ideas are.”

“Which is why you’re not helping!” He shouts with his arms out causing her to fall silent. Softly Maverick takes a hold of Barbara’s shoulders, connecting their eyes so he could get through to her on the matter. “Honey, If you were to help me—because God knows regardless I’m done for even if I do it—you could get court-martialed. Possibly discharged. I can’t let you risk your career for me. Do you understand?” While it prided the Captain his daughter was willing to help him get back in the air, he cared about her more. She was on her way to becoming one of the best pilots the Navy had ever produced. Just like him and his father before him. After years of working so hard there was no way Mav was going to let her throw it away.

When she didn’t say anything at first, Pete thought he had changed her mind. That was the goal. But what stunned the Captain and had him pulling her into a hug, the first one in several years, was when she uttered the words in full determination, “What’s the point in being a legacy, your legacy, if I can’t live up to the name.”

“Captain Mitchell is no longer your instructor,” was the first thing the pilots heard from Admiral Simpson the moment they settled in for the day's briefing. Confused looks were shared between Phoenix and Rooster when they realized Barbara hadn’t arrived when they were ordered to sit. “And as of today, there are new mission parameters. The time to target is now four minutes,” the beep from the screen sounds as the -02:30:00 changes. “You’ll be entering the valley at reduced speed. Not to exceed 420 knots.”

In the front row Hangman and Coyote exchange looks, as do Phoenix and Bob, who says, “Sir, won’t we be giving their planes time to intercept?”

“Well, Lieutenant, you have a fighting chance against enemy aircraft. What are the odds of surviving a head-on collision with a mountain?” Phoenix adjusts in her seat, not liking what she was hearing. “You’ll be attacking the target from a higher altitude, level with the north wall. Gonna be a little harder to keep your laser on target, but you will avoid the high-G claim out.” In the back, Warlock was having to keep neutral.

“We’ll be sitting ducks for enemy missiles,” Fanboy mutters to Payback under his breath.

“Where is Lieutenant Mitchell?” Cyclone suddenly asks, realizing he did not see the pilot in her usual seat. Those in the front had turned their head while the ones in the back and to the side leaned over. All became confused at the sight of the empty chair. This was unlike Barbara. And with a mission so close it was out of character by a long shot. “Was she running late this morning?” Cyclone asks no one in particular.

Murmurs sound around the room, many shrugging their shoulders. Rooster tightened his jaw, shaking his head when Phoenix gave him a look that read, ‘where the hell is she?”

“Has there been word of Lieutenant Mitchell dropping out?” The Admiral asks Warlock who shrugs and says, “Not as far as I know, Sir.” Suddenly their attention is on the monitor when it starts beeping. From the side, in blue are two plane simulators heading straight for the course. “Who the hell is that?”

Their answer is given in the form of the one and only Pete Maverick Mitchell.

“Maverick and Legacy to Range Control. Entering Point Alpha. Confirm green range.”

“Uh, Maverick, Range Control, uh, green range is confirmed. I don’t see an event scheduled for you two, sir.” Reactions varied from around the room. Most of it was of shock, especially from Phoenix and Rooster, while others like Fanboy and Bob were fidgeting with excitement. Cyclone looked like he was about to shit his pants.

“Well, we’re going anyway,” Barbara said through the coms. It sent a grin to Phoenix, “Nice.”

Up in the air, Barbara was pushing her plane faster than she’s ever before to keep up with Maverick. Nothing besides adrenaline controlled her. The consequences would come after. But for now, she was going to prove to the team that they could get the mission done.

“You can punch out now, Legacy. There’s still time.”

Scoffing at her father, Barbara simply said, “Not a chance, old man. I feel the need for speed.” There was no turning back now. It was go time.

“Setting time to target: two minutes and fifteen seconds,” the number appeared on her screen after the words left Mavericks lips. Feeling her heart pumping, Barbara cracked her neck, pulled down her visor, and said a silent prayer.

“Final attack point. Maverick and Legacy inbound,” he announced and Barbara’s hand went to the lever, ready to follow his move. Inverting, she thrusted the lever and descended down to the entry point of the simulated course. The second she hit it the countdown started, and for everyone in the briefing room watching it happen live, all they could do was hold their breath and wait.

“First turn up ahead, Legacy.”

“Let’s turn and burn,” she exclaimed before a grunt escaped her at the force of the tight turns. They were one minute in with one and half to go as they hit the halfway point of the terrain.

“Talk to me, Legacy.”

“Right behind you, Mav,” she huffs, barely able to catch breath but the adrenaline was distracting her. Time felt slow but really it was going fast because before they knew it they were out of the terrain and approaching the pop up point with 40 seconds to go. Here Barbara was able to really breathe and she took advantage of the moment while mentally preparing for the mountain climb.

The ground was so close she was practically touching it. Maverick was right in front of her, the two maintaining their position with not a lick of Barbara falling behind. In the debriefing room the tension was getting high. Rooster was leaning forward with hands clasped tightly, heart racing as the planes got closer and closer to the simulated mountain.

For Barbara, one hand was on the lever the other on the controller as she waited for Mav’s signal. “Popping in three…two…one.” The plane soared upward and soon they were making the inverted dive. When they swung upright they had to act quick for time was running out. It would be tough to fly and lock the laser on the target, but it had to be done.

Barbara could barely contain the shakes in her finger, but fought against it. She locked on the target at the same moment Mav called out, “Bombs away! Legacy!”

“Locked, bombs away!” Her thumb hit the button, dropping the mock missiles before both hands clutched the stick and shot the plane up. They were less than ten seconds from zero, Barbara feeling the tightness in her chest grow with the force of the Gs pulling against her. She was pulling with everything she had to stay level all while fighting the urge to black out. The darkness formed around her eyes, but Barbara kept her focus on the laser monitor.

And in the debriefing room? Well half of the pilots were out of their seats and if they weren’t they were surely on the edge. The area showing the G force was rising from 8 to 8.5 to 9 and 9.5. Rooster was now gripping the arms of his chair. There was a part of him, while impressed and amazed by his ex-wife for acting unorthodox, worried for her well being. Especially after the close call with Coyote the week before.

And Barbara was fighting that G-Loc so hard. There was sweat blocking her vision, her head was pounding, and it hurt to breathe. But it all was worth it when the countdown stopped at -00:00.16.

It was a bullseye.

From both Mitchells.

“Bulls-eye! Holy shit!” Fanboy exclaimed the second the monitor beeped. Several others cheered, in awe at the sight of the successful run. Even Hangman was impressed, the man muttering a low, “Damn.”

“Yes,” Bob gave a high five to Phoenix who was grinning like a maniac. She couldn’t wait to see Barbara when she landed. Behind her, Rooster was leaning forward, as though he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. But there was no denying he was in absolute amazement. Even with 10.Gs staring back at him.

Barbara and Mav had proved the mission could be done.

Removing her mask, Barbara took a deep inhale, bringing a hand to her forehead to wipe away the moisture. Leveling out beside her dad, Barbara turned her head where she could see his face. Like her, he looked like hell. “You good, old man?”

“Yeah,” he laughed out of breath. “I’m good. Are you?”

“As good as one can be after pulling ten fucking Gs.” He laughed at the rhyme again causing her to grin. They basked in the moment of peace before heading back to the tarmac. Where they would face the consequences for their actions. No matter the outcome, Barbara would accept it. She very well could face the end of her career, but to her it was worth it.

The second they landed, the Mitchells were ordered to Cyclone’s office. Warlock had met them on the edge of the tarmac, remaining professional but Barbara could see he was in fact impressed with the two. Of course he couldn’t say anything, but that was okay.

Standing at attention beside Pete, Barbara kept focus on the blinds in front of her. Cyclone was looking out the window, his back toward them while he grilled into the pilots, “You have put me in a difficult position, Captain. And you, Lieutenant, don’t even get me started. One the one hand, you two have demonstrated that this mission can be flown. Perhaps the only way it can be survived. On the other hand, you did it by stealing multi-million dollar aircraft and flying it in such a manner that it may never be airworthy again.”

‘Oops,’ Barbara thought to herself.

“Iceman is no longer here to protect you,” Barbara tenses at the mention of her Godfather. “I have everything I need to have you court-martialed and dishonorably discharged. So what do I do?” Cyclone asks, but it sounds more like it was a question to himself. This is confirmed when the next statements are, “Risk the lives of my pilots and perhaps the success of this mission. Or…risk my career….by appointing you team leader?”

The best way to describe what Barbara Mitchell felt in that moment would be the equivalent to the Earth stopping. There was a heavy feeling in her chest, and Barbara unconsciously reached out to grab Maverick’s hand. He gripped it back, feeling the slight tremor as his own shock surfaced.

“Sir—.”

“I think the admiral’s asking a rhetorical question, Captain,” Warlock cut him off, causing Pete to halt his movements. Barbara squeezed his hand, fighting back the overwhelming feeling of anxiety in her veins. As she was going through the possible outcomes, her father being named team leader was one of them. It was one she was having trouble with, because it meant she could easily lose him.

And that scared the fearless pilot.

“Lieutenant Mitchell,” Maverick’s hand fell from hers as Barbara snapped to attention. Just by the sound of Cyclone saying her name indicated she was not about to receive good news like her father. “While you had a part in demonstrating the possible success of the mission, the fact still remains. Unlike Captain Mitchell here, you give me no reason to brush this aside and I have to set an example for people who think it’s okay to break the rules,” here it comes, “With that being said, you are no longer a candidate for this mission and are hereby grounded.” The air caught as she took in a sharp breath, Maverick doing the same. “You will be subjected to a court-martial where your fate will be decided by a jury of your peers.”

“Sir—,” Maverick tries to step in, but Barbara doesn’t let him.

“I understand, sir,” she was impressed her voice didn’t break. Maverick went to protest, but with one look from Barbara he stood down. Fighting it would do him no good, especially now with his position.

“For now you’ll continue to act as though you are a candidate seeing as tonight I was planning on Captain Mitchell to choose his team. And in doing so I’m also allowing you to come on the carrier, but you will not play a part in the reserves. See this as me being generous since it’s your father who I’m sending out.”

“I appreciate that, sir,” she replies, still gripping the fact it was Maverick who in the end got to be the team leader. And now he had to choose between Hangman, Coyote, and Rooster for his wingman. Hangman was out of the question, proving he could not work in a team from the beginning. Coyote was good, but the G-Loc had Maverick concerned.

That left Rooster.

“You’re both dismissed. We will be meeting at the hangar in one hour.” Neither Mitchell wasted a second and were out the door, Maverick pulling Barbara into his arms.

“I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry, honey,” he said into her hair, gripping like she would slip from his arms. There were tears in his eyes. It pained him that the worst outcome for his daughter happened.

“I-it’s okay,” she stuttered out, pulling away to wipe her face. She wasn’t devastated like she thought she’d be about her career. Her emotion came at the worry of Maverick and possibly Rooster going on the mission. “I expected this to happen. I accepted it last night when I said I would do anything to get you back in the air,” she sniffed, giving her dad a small smile. “It worked though so it was worth it.”

Yeah it worked, but that didn’t mean Pete was heartbroken and upset it cost Barbara everything she loved. “There’s gotta be another way.”

“No,” she said firmly, “We can’t fight it anymore. It was bound to happen eventually and I knew that when I woke up this morning. We can worry about me later, okay? Right now you need to focus on the mission and who you plan to pick. Although I already have a feeling you already know,” her voice goes quiet, Maverick’s expression confirming. Blinking a few times to keep the tears at bay, Barbara nods, telling him it was okay. “He’s ready. You know he is.”

“Barb—.”

“I trust him with my life, dad,” she cuts him off resulting in complete shock from the aviator. That name hadn’t been used since Barbara was fifteen. She could only imagine what he was thinking at that moment.

Pushing the thought aside she lightly squeezed his forearms, “More than anyone else on this planet, I trust him with my life and you can too. While he started slow and had a lot to work on, I know he can pull through.” Licking her lips, Barbara accepts the inevitable, “Rooster won’t let you down.”

………………….

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