ALPHA STRIKE |rooster x oc|

chapter 6- the beach

The next couple days were spent doing the same drills with Maverick, so when Friday rolled around and everyone was tired from the long week they were surprised when Maverick had new instructions for them. Everyone sat in the empty hanger waiting for Maverick or one of the Admirals to come in, same as every day, but instead Maverick walked in wearing jeans and a t-shirt. Clarke gave her dad a questioning look as he stood in front of the group with a familiar glint in his eyes.

"No flying today, we're doing some team bonding. A mission like this, with these stakes, only works if you guys trust each other. It's hard to get to know someone over a radio. We're going to the beach," he said with a clap. Everyone exchanged confused glances.

"Seriously?" Clarke asked.

"Yeah, let's go!" Maverick waved everyone to follow as he walked out of the hanger. They all quickly changed. Clarke was thankful she had worn athletic shorts and a t-shirt instead of jeans like she normally did, Phoenix had done the same. 

"So, you and Rooster..." Phoenix said as she and Clarke drove to the beach in her car.

"What about me and Bradley?" Clarke asked innocently as Phoenix gave her look. "Oh. I've told you this a million times, there is absolutely nothing going on. He's like my brother."

"Yeah, well you could tell me a million more times and I still won't believe you. There is something about you guys, I don't know if it's the way you guys talk or the way you hugged the other night at the bar. Something is there, I know it. I've know Rooster a long time and I've never seen him light up the way he does when you're around," Phoenix explained her thoughts. 

"I swear, we can't win. Everywhere we go we get these questions about our friendship. Even Blair, who's know both of us our whole lives, agrees with people that we're totally in love with each other. It's like we have to follow the romcom rule or the planet will implode," Clarke huffed.

"Romcom rule?" Phoenix asked with a small chuckle.

"You know, in a romcom, there's always some bogus reason the two leads can't, or won't, be together even though everyone knows how the movie's gonna end. Just because we've been around each other our whole lives doesn't mean we have to end up together."

"You do realize you just contradicted yourself?" Phoenix laughed as she parked in the sand next to the other cars. "Just admit it, you've at least thought about it." Clarke shook her head as she unbuckled herself.

"No, I haven't. Now shut up about it or I'll drown your ass," she threatened. Phoenix held up her hands as they joined the group next to the water. 

"All right, everyone knows football. But we're gonna put our own spin on it," Maverick instructed as he tossed one football to Hangman and the other to Rooster. "This is dogfight football, offense and defense at the same time. You have to know who's on your team and how to communicate with them without the enemy intercepting. Choose your teams." Bradley and Hangman did rock, paper, scissors for first pick; Bradley winning.

"Broadway," he said nodding at Clarke. She jogged over next to him and pulled her hair into a ponytail.

"Coyote," Hangman said and Coyote dramatically took of his shirt, Phoenix and Clarke both rolling their eyes. The process continued until everyone was split up. Bradley's team had Clarke, Phoenix, Bob, Fanboy, and Payback while Hangman's team had Coyote, Yale, Harvard, Fritz, and Omaha. Maverick explained a couple simple rules and Hondo blew a whistle signaling the start of the game. It was fairly simple and similar to regular football. Everyone had shredded articles of clothing leaving all the guys shirtless with Clarke and Phoenix in their sports bras. Every couple seconds there would be an eruption of cheering from one of the teams when points were scored, but soon they seemed to stop keeping track. Rooster had the ball and looked to Clarke who was across the beach and threw the ball. She caught it and ran to the end zone, Phoenix there cheering her on and high fiving as she threw the ball down in victory. The both looked across the chaos to see Payback and Rooster jumping up for a chest bump and as Rooster landed he did a small shimmy.