killshot (bradley bradshaw)

XI

18 DAYS UNTIL MISSION

Jenna woke up to her alarm blaring. She sat up and rubbed at her eyes, trying to push the sleep from them. Rolling out of bed, she padded out to the living room to wake up Rooster, but he was nowhere to be seen. She saw the blanket that she gave him last night folded neatly on the end of the couch, with a piece of paper on top of it. Jenna grabbed the paper and read the scrawling handwriting.

Kill,
Thanks for letting me crash last night (even though you fell asleep so technically I couldn't ask). Also, check the fridge! See you at work :)
-Rooster

Jenna smiled at the note and turned around to head to the kitchen. Opening up the fridge, she spotted a plate with scrambled eggs and chopped up fruit sitting on the shelf at eye level. She ate quickly and dropped her dishes into the sink, noticing how there weren't any dirty dishes from when Rooster made breakfast. 

Changing quickly into her uniform, Jenna grabbed her bag and hopped into the car. When she got to the hangar, she pulled in next to Bradley's car and rushed inside. Jenna slid into her seat as Maverick started to set up in the front.

"Hey," Rooster said, turning to face her with a smile.

"Hi," Jenna said, face flushed from running from the parking lot. "Thanks for breakfast this morning!" Phoenix overheard what Jenna said and she whipped around in her seat in front of them to look at Jenna with a smirk.

"Glad you liked it. It's my specialty." He said with a wink. Rooster didn't seem to notice the silent conversation happening between Phoenix and Jenna, with Phoenix trying to figure out what went down last night. Jenna looked at her and mouthed "I'll tell you later".

"You'd better," She said and turned back around. Jenna cringed, knowing she was trying to get Rooster to notice her blushing.

"What?" Rooster asked, finally cluing in.

"Oh look, Mav's about to start. Pay attention." Jenna said, trying to distract him from the color creeping up her neck. Luckily for her, Maverick was actually about to start. He turned on the screen and the list of pilots participating in today's exercise popped up.

"Okay," Maverick started. "Those of you that didn't go yesterday, go today." Maverick and six of the pilots stood up, Hangman among them. They filed out of the room and down the the locker rooms, and Jenna caught Phoenix staring at Hangman as he left. 

Each group went, and each group failed. Not a single one of them had successfully flown the simulated route. Maverick stood at the front of the room again.

"Hangman," he said. "What went wrong?"

"I flew like my ass depended on it, sir." Hangman responded cockily. "The others just couldn't keep up."

Rooster interrupted before Maverick could continue. "You lost your wingman in the process. You're flying too fast."

Hangman scoffed and turned to look at Rooster. "You were over a minute late to the target. You're not flying fast enough!"

"At least we made it to the target," Rooster snapped back at him. "We are the only group that did."

Maverick pulled the conversation back to himself. "But at that speed, you'll be intercepted by superior enemy aircraft, Rooster."

"Then I'm prepared to dogfight," Rooster responded, challenging Mav.

"Against 5th generation fighters?" Maverick asked incredulously.

"It's not the plane, it's the pilot." Rooster said as he leaned forward in his seat.

"Exactly!!" Maverick exclaimed. "This is what I've been trying to teach you all." A moment of silence fell over the pilots.