Hang Me Out to Dry

Bullseye

Fanboy was waiting for her in the parking lot as she exited the base. His face split open into a wide grin when he noticed her approaching. 

"Casper! Looking good girl," he called out waving his arms above his head. Not too far away Hangman was standing outside of his vehicle looking in her direction. She looked at him apologetically as Fanboy wrapped her up into a gentle hug and helped her get into his truck. Hangman gave her a small smile before getting into his own vehicle. She made a mental note to go thank him again when they got back to the dorm houses.

Fanboy chatted happily from the driver's seat, filling her in on what she had missed over the past two days and Sadie tried to pay attention but she was focusing on holding as still as possible in order to not disturb her ribs. They pulled up only to be greeted by the rest of the team standing in the driveway. She got out of the vehicle to a round of cheers and a few pats of the back, everyone being careful to avoid her injured side. 

"Come on Casper, we've got to celebrate your recovery with a beer," Fanboy called, towing her to the back deck. A beer appeared in front of her as she sat down next to Bob and Phoenix who were also being celebrated that night. The three pilots clanked their drinks together yelling 'cheers' as they did so, and took a sip. 

"I'm glad you're ok Casper. I'm sorry that we took you out on our way down," Phoenix said. 

Sadie shrugged, "Could have been any of us. I'm glad you're both ok too. Let's just maybe not doing it again."

"I'll clear it from my calendar," Bob said, chiming in causing everyone to laugh. "Does that mean you're not going to be flying for a while," he said indicating Sadie's injury.

"Yeah I'm out of commission for something like 6 weeks, but don't worry you can't get rid of my that easy. I'm sticking around until this is over."

This lead to another round of cheers from the group. 

The team had stayed up late into the night so Sadie hadn't had a chance to talk to Hangman. She hoped that she would have the chance to talk to him before heading to the base that day but he must have left early because when Sadie knocked on his door it swung open to reveal an empty room. 

She found him sitting at his desk in the classroom but before she could say anything to him Cyclone came marching in, drawing everyone's attention to the front of the room. 

"Captain Mitchell is no longer your instructor," he started causing a low murmur of surprised comments from the group. "As of today there are new mission parameters. Time to target is now four minutes. You'll be entering the valley level at reduced speed, not to exceed 420 knots." 

Sadie couldn't believe what she was hearing. Not only had they gotten rid of Maverick, but they were switching up the mission parameters last minute. They were not going to be prepared for this.

"Sir, won't we be giving the enemy time to intercept?" Bob asked.

"You'll have a fighting chance against an enemy aircraft. More than the odds of surviving a head on collision with a mountain," Cyclone challenged, shutting Bob up quickly. "Does anyone else have anything they'd like to say?"

Everyone knew that Cyclone wasn't really asking for their opinion and kept their mouths shut.

"Good. You'll now be attacking the target from a higher altitude, level with the North wall." 

Sadie moved her uninjured hand to grasps Fanboy's underneath the desk. They were going to be directly in range for the SAMs to take them out. Cyclone glared out at the pilots as if daring them to challenge his authority. A second passed, then another; no one moved. A beep from the screen broke the tension in the room. Cyclone whipped around to focus his glare at the green dot showing a jet entering the course area. Over the comms Maverick's voice rang out.

"Maverick to range control. Entering point alpha. Confirm green range."

"What the hell is going on?" The vein on Cyclone's forehead started throbbing as his face flushed red with anger.

"Range control to Maverick. Green range confirmed."

"Setting time to target. Two minutes and fifteen seconds. Maverick inbound." 

Sadie held her breath, leaning forward in her seat as the virtual Maverick sped through the starting point of the course. 

"Holy shit," Fanboy said next to her, sounding impressed. Looking around Sadie could see that everyone seemed to be impressed. They were all secretly glad that Maverick was standing up to Cyclone. Time seemed to fly by as they watched Maverick reach the first climb, then invert into the drop. 

"Bombs away," he called. Sadie's eyes were glued to the ticking count-down that moved from eight seconds, to seven, then six. 

"Bullseye!" Bob shouted, jumping up from his seat in celebration. The whole room bust into cheers, following Bob's lead. Cyclone's face was unreadable as he stared at the screen, unmoving and unblinking. Without saying anything he turned and exited the room, leaving the rest of the team dumbfounded and unsure what to do. Warlock, looking  just as confused, followed Cyclone out.

"Stay here," he said, poking his head back in the door before continuing after the admiral.