automatic stop, bradley bradshaw

thirty-eight.

THE NEXT MORNING, SKYE WOKE UP ITCHING TO FLY. HER PLANS WERE ALL STOPPED SHORT WHEN SHE ARRIVED AT THE BASE to find everyone else packing up their things. "what's going on? mission cancelled or something?" she asked sarcastically.

phoenix shook her head with a playful smile. "no. we're gonna play beach football."

"again?" skye piqued, remembering the last time they'd played football at the beach. 

"get your flight suit off and get athletic wear on!" was the other woman's only response, jogging away to talk to fanboy. 

skye shook her head, moving down to her locker to see what clothes she may have stored there. luckily for her, she had put a nike sports bra and a pair of nike pros in there just in case. she thanked her lucky stars for it before changing clothes and throwing her black undershirt on over it. 

katia had already headed out with bob and phoenix, who were giving her a ride pretty much everywhere while her motorcycle was getting some repairs. skye was, then, by herself as she walked out of the locker room, lowering her aviators to her nose. 

"pick it up, riot!" she heard, and she rolled her eyes at her father.

"is this football game your bright idea?"

"yes, actually." he replied, not offended in the slightest. "we need to become more united as a team."

skye nodded. "i'll take your word for it."

maverick fondly shook his head before pulling his daughter in for a side hug. they drove their motorcycles side by side across the beach, eventually pulling into the lot at the hard deck. the mitchell's were the last of the group to arrive, looking out at everyone else running around.

there wasn't any method to their game at that point, and it appeared to just be a gleeful rooster running around with a football in his hands. he was doing everything to avoid getting tackled by the guys, or to get smarted by katia and phoenix, who were smaller and faster than him. 

coyote eventually bear hugged him into a tackle, sending them both flying into the water with a laugh. rooster stood back up, immediately making eye contact with skye. he smiled at her behind his glasses, extending his hand in an excited wave.

she awkwardly waved back, watching as the rest of the crew turned to see her and her father standing together. "you two mitchell's gonna join us?" rooster called.

"just enjoying the view!" she teased back.

rooster shook his head, a laugh escaping his lips. "yeah, yeah."

skye took the black shirt off, leaving herself in just nike pros and a sports bra. she then left her combat boots by her motorcycle, opting for the barefoot approach that everyone else was taking. "jorts!" she announced, looking down at rooster's clothing choices.

he laughed. "what about it?"

"you're like a middle aged father of two." 

"you know, skye, some women find that attractive." he replied.

she chuckled. "the only man who can pull it off is adam sandler." 

rooster was about to reply when maverick moved to the front of the group. "good morning, aviators!" he introduced. today, we're going to be playing dogfight football."

"dogfight football, sir?" payback questioned.

"you're going to be focusing on offense and defense at the same time, just like a dogfight." maverick smiled.

katia tilted her head. "sir, i barely understand normal football. you're gonna have to be a bit more specific." 

skye chuckled. "in essence, if you don't have the ball, get it. if you have the ball, don't let anyone take it from you."