Lt. Wren 'Atlas' Donahue is returning to Top Gun to train for an elite mission. Rivalries from her time at the academy and a certain distracting pilot are sure to make the mission more interesting. (Bradley Bradshaw x oc) -Completed
When Wren entered the classroom the next morning she was surprised to see Cyclone standing at the front of the room instead of Maverick. She took her seat next to Hangman and nudged him to see if he had any idea of what was going on, but he just shook his head and kept looking forward at the admiral.
"As of today, Captain Mitchell is no longer your instructor. We are updating the mission parameters. Time to target is now 4 minutes." Everyone started muttering among themselves.
"Sir, doesn't that give the enemy time to intercept us," Payback spoke out.
"It may, but then it will be a dogfight. Something you can potentially survive. Tell me what are your odds if you crash into the side of the mountain?" This shut everyone up quickly. Wren was still uncomfortable that Maverick had been booted from his position. The new mission parameters relied a lot less on them being good pilots, and a lot more on sheer dumb luck. There was no way everyone was coming back from this mission now.
"Suit up, let's get out there," Cyclone said, making it clear this was not up for discussion. "Coyote, Halo, Rooster, Fritz, you're up."
Everyone else headed over to the radio room so that they could listen in on the flight. They listened in as pair after pair were given shit by Cyclone if they pulled too far ahead of the 3 minute mark.
"Remember stay on time, we need you to make it to the target, can't have you crashing before that," his voice came through the radio. A knot formed in Wren stomach. Now more than ever Wren realized that they were simply pilots in the seat to the higher ups. They didn't care if we came home, just that we finished the mission. Wren knew of and accepted the risks that came along with her job, but she had also never been sent on a mission with such an obvious likelihood of her not coming home.
After the third run through of the new mission, Wren had hd enough. She stood up and flipped the radio off. She was met with some hey's and woah's from around the room, but she needed to be heard out.
"This is bullshit," Wren said. "They're not even giving us a fighting chance. They're setting us up to fail. Maverick may have pushed us hard, but at least he was trying to get us back home."
Hangman grabbed Wren by the arm and gently pulled her from the room. They got into the empty hallway and Hangman dropped her arm but stayed just as close to her.
"Atlas, if you can't do this tell me now. I can't find out up in the sky if you're not ready for this."
"What do you mean? No one is ready for this. It's almost impossible."
"No it's not impossible. What it is, is a test of how good we are. Atlas you're the only person I trust to fly with me on this. It'll be a dogfight, and we'll give it our all and we'll come home, because you're in the back seat, and you're the best damn WSO I know."
"I'm scared Jake."
"Don't be. I've got you, and you've got me. That's all we need."
He pulled her into a hug and Wren squirmed uncomfortably, not used to Hangman being this genuine.
"I trust you. I need you to trust me," he said.
"I do Hangman."
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A cold shower and a decent meal had put Wren in a better mood. She was still unsure of the updated mission parameters but she had to trust Hangman and trust her team, and she did. She decided to do the most reasonable thing she could think of to get over the stress. She went out with the rest of the team and drank more beers than she usually would on a work night.
Wren threw her handful of darts at the dart board beating out Fanboy for first place in the round robin they had started. Off to the left, Rooster was playing pool against Phoenix. Wren kept getting distracted watching him lean across the table to make a shot, or when he cheered in celebration when he sunk a ball. It was getting ridiculous how often her eyes drifted over to him. She needed to get her shit together, it was just some casual fun, there was no reason for her to be getting this invested in Rooster.
It was easier said than done when he looked so damn sexy covered with his t-shirt sticking slightly to his stomach with sweat, and the way his hands flexed and gripped the pool cue. Wren waited until Rooster looked in her direction and nodded her head to the back of the bar. He gave a slight nod in response so Wren told Fanboy she was stepping out for some air. She walked away from the group and Rooster followed shortly after. He caught up to her in hallway to the employee's room, his hands sneaking around her waist and picking her up slightly, pulling her tightly against him. She squealed slightly, not expecting the sudden contact.
Rooster set her back down on the ground and backed her up against the hallway wall. They were mostly hidden away from prying eyes, but Wren was also more preoccupied with Rooster's hands in her hair and the pressure of his body on hers to care about any onlookers.
His lips moved along her neck leaving Wren breathless.
"I've been thinking about doing this for days," Rooster said. His hands started exploring her openly, spurred on by the alcohol in his system.
"You shouldn't have kept me waiting."
"They said the suspense is almost as good as the real thing." Wren raised her eyebrow at him in disbelief. "Ok you're right, the real thing was fucking phenomenal."
The pair lost track of time, completely wrapped up in one another, until they were brought back to reality by Penny clearing her throat as she tried to move past them to the back room. Wren started laughing and tried to fix her hair as best she could.
"We should get back to back before they figure out where we are," Wren said.
"Like they don't already know what we're doing."
Wren panicked for a moment, worried about what their friends would think, but quickly decided she didn't care. She grabbed Rooster's hand and started pulling him towards the door.
