Chicago • Bradly Bradshaw

8

After hangman, payback and fanboy were all in the briefing room after their go, maverick instantly questioned them.

"What happened?" Maverick asked Turing from the board.

"I flew like my ass depended on it." Hangman raised an eyebrow, looking to Katherine.

"But, you put your team in danger and your wingman's dead." Katherine glared at him.

Maverick looked between the two, a little suspicious.

.____________.

"Rooster! We're 20 seconds behind and dropping." Katherine yelled at the boy.

"We're fine, speed is good." Rooster said back.

"Increase to 500 knots?" Katherine asked, making a sharp right.

"Negative Chicago, hold your speed." Rooster denied.

"Shit, we're late!" Katherine groaned.

"We're alive okay, we can make up time in the straightaway." Rooster replied.

"Rooster, we're are not going to make it!" Katherine yelled, impatient.

"Just trust me, maintain your speed, we've got this." Rooster said.

.__________.

Once rooster, Katherine and Yale got back into the briefing room and sat down, maverick disappointedly looked at his daughter.

"Why are you dead?" Maverick asked rooster. "Your team leader up in the air, why are you and your team dead?"

"Sir, we're the only ones who made it to the target." Katherine pointed out to her dad.

"A minute late." Maverick was being harsh.
"Rooster gave enemy aircraft time to shoot him down, he is dead."

"You dont know that." Rooster stiffened in his seat.

"We're not flying fast enough rooster! We dont have time to waste here." Katherine looked over to Bradly.

"We made it to the target." Rooster looked behind him to Katherine.

"And we were intercepted on our way out." Katherine knew there was only one way to get rooster to realise what he did, "How are you going to tell my dad that you killed his daughter?"

Rooster closed his mouth and turned forward again, he didn't want to think about Katherine dying, let alone killing her. No matter how much he hated her he never wished death upon her.

Maverick cleared his throat at the front of the class, "you won't win against fifth-generation fighters, get that through your head rooster!"

"Yeah, we'd still have some chance." Rooster shrugged.

Maverick was getting impatient now, "In an F-18."

"It's not the plane sir, it's the pilot." Rooster said before he could think.

"Exactly!" Maverick snapped.