Fly High and Go Far

ROOSTER-Chapter Five: Fuel to the Fire

The next day, Sammy sat behind Hangman again, with everyone in their original seats.  And with Maverick walking in, class began immediately.  Sammy caught herself staring over at Rooster every so often, looking adoringly at his profile, and thinking about how ballsy this man had become since his time at Top Gun.  They all would tell you that going to Top Gun really changed them.  For the better or worse, that's up to the person on the other side of the conversation.  But Samantha liked the new Bradley.  It had been about three years since he had gone to Fighter School, specifically the class before hers, and she knew him from Flight School.  Though he was a bit ahead of her, they hung out regularly.  Everyone in that room had met one another in some way.  Sammy was lost in her thoughts when she heard Bob piped up, knowing that when he spoke, it was a rare occasion.

"And yet, you always manage," he said.  Sammy stared over at Bob and then at Hangman, knowing immediately he was the source of commotion.

  "Come on, I can't be the only one that knows that Maverick flew with Rooster's old man–." Hangman got cut off, but kept on getting his thought out.

  "Hangman, enough," Maverick interjected.  Sammy shot her gaze at Bradshaw, who looked ready to launch out of his chair, and then back at Hangman, feeling the rage that Rooster exuded.

  "And that Maverick was there when his old man died–" And with that the entire room turned to pure chaos.

Sammy stood up right on the last syllable, and being the closest to Hangman without any hesitation swung herself around the row of seat and grabbed the back of his flight suit, pulling him down to the ground with a very audible thud, which immediately shut everyone up with the shock.  In the back of Sammy's mind, she heard a voice say, "you fucked up, Samantha Kazansky," followed by "Go out with a bang."

  Sammy hovered over Seresin as he laid on the floor confused, and trying to grasp onto his bearings, as to how someone half his size just took him down.  Sammy's rage ate her entire consciousness up as she lost control completely, going blind in the process.

  "You are an absolute disgrace, Lieutenant Seresin.  This program was brought together by my father, so shame on you.  Secondly, you are disrespecting someone twice the rank you are who has five times the amount of time in than you do.  And thirdly, you're disrespecting your teammates.  You want to know why none of us trust you to do this mission? It's because you are a fucking asshole, Seresin.  In fact, I can go talk to my father right now and get you out of this program.  Do you fucking understand?" Sammy yelled with the same fervor as a drill sergeant.  The entire room was silent during the entire escapade.

  "I–" Hangman hesitated, scared shitless and still laying on the concrete floor.

  "I asked you a question.  Do you fucking understand?"

  "Lieutenant Kazansky," Maverick piped up.  Sammy stared up at Maverick and lost her anger immediately seeing the worry on her Uncle Pete's face.  She looked over at Rooster, who was at one point held back, but had calmed down since and stared at Sammy wide-eyed, but still had four people holding onto him.

  "Sir," was all she said as her gaze went back to her uncle.  She stood straight up and breathed in deeply.

  "Step away from Lieutenant Seresin," Maverick ordered calmly as if Sammy was a bomb, and he was trying to diffuse it.  Sammy did so and stood back without question, letting Hangman stand up.  He stared at Sammy as if she had grown three heads and sat down in silence, shooting his gaze straight to the floor.  His hand rubbed the back of his head, presumably from it hitting the floor.  Maverick looked at everyone.

  "All of you.  Sit down and don't make another word," he said and then looked at Sammy, pointing towards the offices that were attached to the hangar.  "Me and you are going to have a chat."