Spitfire | Top Gun: Maverick

chapter 2

"A woman with a voice is, by definition, a strong woman. But the search to find that voice can be remarkably difficult." - Melinda Gates

Chapter 2: The fine art of seduction

Walking into the Hard deck on a Tuesday wasn't exactly what she had in mind, icecream and The Witcher had been calling out her name as she walked out of the front door of her house. She had contemplated turning around and going back to the comfort of her bed more than once but decided to grow some balls and woman up.

She was dressed in a white tank top with her dogtags hanging over her shirt, a black oversized leather bomber jacket with all of her flight patches on it and some light blue jeans. Her aviator glasses were hanging onto her shirt – Penny Benjamin thought she looked exactly like a young Pete Mitchell as she caught sight of the young woman walking in.

For once, Spitfire didn't know why it felt like her heart was exploding out of her chest as her legs took her towards the countertop of the bar, a female bartender behind it serving drinks like her life depended on it. She scans the room, her gaze falling over a few people dressed in their naval uniform before settling on a group of seemingly young pilots, one man in particular.

They were all standing around a pool table, laughing with beers in their hand – only one woman amongst the five men present. The man that caught her eye got ready to try his luck at shooting in the 8 ball only to fail miserably a second later when he shot in the rival teams striped ball. It was very evident to her that he was annoyed with himself as he sat down next to one of his friends.

"It's your turn tonight Hangman, $10 on the line here," Coyote smirks at his friend, already having a bet in mind. He waves the money in his friend's face while taking a swig of his beer. "Only 10? Who do you think I am, an amateur? You know I'm always up for a good challenge." Hangman grins while raising his eyebrow, "bump it up to $30 and we got ourselves a deal."

"30 it is my friend," Coyote claps Hangman on the back and laughs – he'll be $30 richer after tonight. He takes another swig at the bottle and points to a redheaded girl sitting at the bar, in a deep conversation with Penny Benjamin, the bartender. "You have to have carnal knowledge of that fine lady sitting over there by the end of the night."

Hangman lets out a wolfish laugh, his pearly whites making an appearance as he shakes his head, "You could have at least given yourself a fighting chance, you just lost yourself a few bucks." Standing up he shakes out his shoulders and looks back at Coyote, "now watch as the master does what he does best, seduce... target located and locked"

As Hangman made his way through the growing crowd of men and women, Phoenix having overheard the conversation turns towards Coyote, "You do know who that girl is right? He's going to have his ass handed to him without even realizing it."

All Coyote can do is grin and nod his head while eyeing the red haired girl, "and that's exactly why I chose her."

On the other side of the bar however, an oblivious Spitfire talks animatedly to the bartender who she now knows is called Penny Benjamin.

"He really did that? What a dick!" Spitfire exclaims out as Penny tells her about the time a young naval pilot recklessly broke her heart. "He did! I was devastated after that, I thought we would get married, how foolishly young in love I was," she tells the young redhead and waves her hand dismissively. "It's in the past now though, I moved on and eventually had a beautiful daughter. You should meet her sometime, I'm sure the both of you would get along like a house on fire."

"I would love that..." Spitfire smiles softly up at the older woman and lets out a giggle, "I've always wanted a younger sister to annoy." Penny quickly turned as another customer called out to her, not before giving the young girl her number. "Call me whenever you're free sweetheart, you're a breath of fresh air around here."