automatic stop, bradley bradshaw

thirty-one.

"YOU'RE SURE THIS WASN'T SOME SUPER SICK JOKE?" SKYE ASKED KATIA AS they left admiral blade's office. "like.. we both heard the same thing, right? pinch me." 

katia obliged, pinching her upper arm. "still awake?"

"still awake." she confirmed, though she didn't react to the pinch. "they just can't get enough of us, can they?" 

the admiral had told them of the mission. it seemed, honestly, like a challenging feat. they were to destroy a uranium enrichment facility located within a steep depression at the end of a mountainous canyon. the catch was that it was defended by surface to air missiles and an airbase with fifth-generation fighters; which they knew would require a risky high-speed approach in the canyon beneath radar coverage to reach the facility, pushing their jet beyond its limits.

"in an f-18?" skye had asked, looking at the graphic that the admiral had presented to them. "this seems like a suicide mission to me, sir. if those fifth gen fighters are waiting for us.. i mean, even if we dodge the sams, we'd be in a dogfight the whole way home."

blade tilted his head. "so, what do you say?"

skye smirked, looking to katia for confirmation before nodding. "we're in."

the two women quickly packed all of their belongings into duffel bags and backpacks. they both flung the various bags over their shoulders as they walked to their motorcycles, fist bumping each other before putting their helmets on. they drove to the airport, where a private plane took them, their motorcycles, and their bags to north island. 

once they'd landed in california, both women rode their motorcycles to the beachside house that the navy had offered to them. "oh, shit." skye mumbled as they walked inside. "they really gave us an upgrade." 

"anything's an upgrade from the apartment." katia argued.

skye laughed, but put a hand on her heart in mock offense. "don't knock the apartment." 

after looking around the house and deciding whose room would be whose, they unpacked, making the house as homey as possible by setting up a framed photo of michael cera on the coffee table.

 they both were hanging out for a bit more before katia put her elbows on her knees. "have any dinner plans?" she asked, looking over at skye, who shrugged.

"not that i can think of. why?"

"you think penny still owns the hard deck?"

parking their motorcycles next to each other in their usual spot made the girls feel an intense case of deja vu. what was even more nostalgic for them was walking into the hard deck, which was already bustling with various men in uniform. 

"mitchell and kazansky!" they heard, turning to see penny standing behind the bar with a smile. "what brings you two back to the north island?" 

skye shrugged her shoulders, taking her sunglasses off and putting them in between the collar of her uniform. "business calls, you know the drill. how've you been, penny?"

"i'm doing good!" she replied with a smile, already getting started on skye's pina colada. "still getting into trouble?"

skye smirked. "you know it."

penny laughed, setting skye's drink on the bar. her smile remained as she scoffed. "you've gotta be kidding me." 

when she looked over her shoulder to follow penny's gaze, the last thing skye expected to see was her father. in fact, she would've expected to see even harry styles himself before maverick. "look what the cat dragged in." she said, smiling over at him.