Head in the Clouds

Late Night Conversations

Wren ran along the shoreline of the beach. The setting sun was warm on her back, but the damp sand on her feet was keeping her cool. Up ahead there was a picnic table and even from this distance Wren could see Rooster sitting on top of it staring out at the waves. She slowed on her approach, giving him plenty of time to notice her. He shifted over on the table so that Wren could sit next to him but he didn't speak right away. 

"So today was a little intense," Wren said. Rooster just nodded and continued to look out at the sea. "Hangman was totally out of line and I should have done more to stop him."

"It's not your job to cover for Hangman." Wren wanted to make a joke about how it literally was her job to cover for Hangman, but knew that it wasn't the right moment. "Besides, he didn't say anything that wasn't true."

"Rooster, you can't mean that."

"I fly by the book. I don't take risks. I don't know if I'm cut out for this mission."

"You're the only one who is making the practise runs, who cares if you're a little over time. We still have weeks to practise. And think about it, Hangman has fucked us over on every run. I haven't even had the chance to show off my skills yet."

This made Rooster chuckle. The two fell into a comfortable silence but Wren still felt guilty about Hangman bringing up Rooster's dad. Especially considering she has known about it before hand as well.

"Do you want to talk about the other thing..." Wren continued, not saying anything about his dad outright, wanting to give Rooster the chance to end the conversation. 

"You mean the fact that my dad died flying with Maverick?" Wren was surprised by his bluntness, so she simply nodded, letting him continue. "I mean there's not much else to say."

"It's got to be hard. Were you close growing up?"

"Right up until he pulled my papers. Maverick was my dad's best friend and I knew that if Maverick was proud of me, my dad would have been too. All I ever wanted was to be like my dad, to be a man he would have been proud of." Wren reached her hand out and placed it on Rooster's arm. 

"I know he would have been. You turned out to be a pretty great pilot, and a pretty great guy as well." Rooster's mouth quirked up into a smile.

"Thanks Atlas. I appreciate it."

"Want to head back to the house? Fanboy was cooking when I left." 

"You head back, I'll be there in a bit. I think I'm going to stick here for a while."

Wren got up from the table, and started the run back to the dorm houses. She couldn't help but look back over her shoulder a few times, but Rooster remained frozen in his spot.

Wren, fresh out of the shower after having gotten home from her run, found herself outside of Hangman's room. She reached up to knock, and after a moment the muffled sound of footsteps could be heard through the door. Hangman answered the door clad only in a pair of sweatpants hanging low on his hips. 

"Finally deciding to take me up on my late night offer? I knew you were still into me." His smug grin was insufferable, so Wren just pushed past him into his room. He gently kicked the door shut behind her and followed her in, throwing himself down onto his bed. "So if this isn't a sexy repeat of our school days, what's happening here?"

"We need to do better Hangman." 

"We're flying faster than anyone else here. We are the closest to making it to target on time. Not our fault that no one else can keep up."

"I don't mean we need to be faster dipshit. We need to start playing with the team. This isn't like the first time. We're not competing for first in class. The only way we're getting this mission is if we start acting like actual leaders instead of the self confident assholes we are." 

"I'm feeling like this is very much pointed at me Atlas. No need to speak in terms of 'we' if you just mean me."

"Don't flatter yourself Hangman, the reason we make such a good team is because we both only think of ourselves in the air."

Hangman seemed to understand that Wren was serious because he shifted so he was sitting upright on the edge of his bed. 

"We don't do well with teams Atlas. Never have, never will."

Wren groaned, getting frustrated with Hangman. 

"We need to try Hangman. Come on. Put on your big boy pants and let's get team leader. Ok?"

Wren reached out her fist, and when Hangman didn't respond, she shook her hand slightly. He sighed and gave her a fist bump. 

"Ok, let's get team leader."

"And," Wren tagged on, grabbing Hangman's wrist, "you need to stop fucking with Rooster. That was way out of line today." 

"I promise to stop fucking with your little boyfriend, but you and I both know if he doesn't man up and start flying like he belongs in this program, he isn't going to make it on this mission."

"Let Rooster worry about Rooster. You focus on getting us and our wingman to the target tomorrow."