[ON HOLD FOR THE MOMENT] My Fighter Pilot ✈️ Lt. Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw

4. Dog Fights

While sitting in a room with a radio to listen to what the people were saying while flying against Maverick, I made a mental note to talk to Bradley about what is going on between him and Maverick because I've never heard him talk about him before. As I'm thinking, the thing that breaks me out of my thoughts is Fanboy and Payback challenging Maverick to whoever gets shot down, having to do 200 push-ups. Unfortunately, this didn't work in our favor because Maverick turned out to be much better than we thought he would. We were getting outsmarted left and right and everyone was having to do push-ups except for Maverick.
I was sent up with Hangman, Phoenix, and Bob which was great except for having to go with Hangman.
"Hey Bambi, Phoenix?" Hangman asks, drawing my attention.
"What?”  Phoenix and I say at the sametime.
"You see Mav anywhere?" He responds, and it suddenly dawns on me that we haven't seen or heard from him sense we got in the air.
"Right under us!" Bob yells, as we see Maverick come out of his hiding spot and flying right in between us making us have to move away quickly to regain control of our planes.
"Hangman, break right. Phoenix and I break left" I say, trying to communicate with everyone so we don't get taken down immediately. However, Hangman has other plans and decides to break right with us as well. "What the hell!" I yell while trying to stay on Maverick at the same time.
Phoenix decides to laugh a little bit before adding, "This is why we call him Hangman. He'll always hang you out to dry."
"Leaving your wingmen. There's a strategy I haven't seen in a while." Maverick responds.
"He called you a man, Phoenix and Bambi. You gonna take that." Hangman say trying to make us upset.
"So long as he doesn't call you a man." I say snarkily, trying to find Maverick again after losing him.
"Talk to me, Bob. Where's Maverick?" I hear Phoenix ask while maneuvering her plane around.
"Jesus, his nose is already coming around!" Bob freaks out slightly.
Suddenly, I notice that Maverick is coming right behind Phoenix and Bob, so I yell, " Break right Phoenix" as I then pull up to cut Maverick off so that he can't get Phoenix. However, while doing so Maverick gets me instead and I'm out. I take my mask off furiously, while I listen to the rest of the dog fight going on.
My maneuver must not have lasted long because I hear Phoenix get upset with Hangman telling him to get Maverick off her.
Hangman being Hangman has to be dramatic while saying, "For all you folks at home, this is how you bury a fossil."
Unfortunately, Maverick takes out Phoenix and then goes after Hangman. Hangman is able to stay on Maverick's fail for a bit trying to live up a shot, but Maverick pulls his plane up so that the sun is in Hangman's eyes causing him to call for help.
"Phoenix, I can't see him. Bambi, how close am I? Bambi?”
"I'm dead, dickhead! " I respond smirking.
"Same here douche." Phoenix says.
"See you in the afterlife, Bagman." Bob then adds, making me laugh.
We all land and do our 200 push-ups, while Phoenix, Bob, and I all stare daggers at Hangman. Afterwards, we head back to the radio room and after several more runs, Rooster and Hangman are up in the air and I'm sitting right next to the radio anxiously staring at it listening to what's going on.
"So, Rooster, mind if I ask you a personal question?" Hangman says.
"Would it matter if I did? " He responds and I sit forward slightly knowing what Hangman was going to ask and hoping that maybe he would answer.
"So what's the story with you and Maverick?” He asks very straught forwardly. "It seems lik ehe's got you rattled."
"That's none of your business. Now where the hell is he?" Bradley asks.
"Been here the whole time." Maverick says suddenly.
"Holly shit." I hear Hangmen say, and I roll my eyes leaning forward more wanting to know what's going on.
"You see me now?" Maverick asks cockily and I grit my teeth knowing Bradley isn't going to handle this well. “ Come on, let's get it over with."
I hear furious breathing before Bradley yells, "FIGHTS ON!"
I block out Hangman's voice standing up trying to catch what's going on through the heavy breathing before Maverick says," AlI right, you put us here. How you gonna get yourself out?"
"You can bail-out anytime" Bradley responds angrily.
"How low you want to go, Rooster?" Maverick asks, and I suddenly understand what's going on.
They're in a spiral headed towards the ground!
"I can go as low as you, sir! And that's saying something."
"What's past is past. For both of us."
"You'd like to believe that, wouldn't you?"
"Hard deck is 5,000 feet, fellas. You are running out of room." Hangman butts in. I can feeI the eyes of everyone else in the room on me but I'm too focused on the radio to ask what they're looking at me for.
Suddenly, you can hear the altitude warming coming from Bradley's and Maverick's planes, and I squeeze my eyes shut listening to Maverick. "Your strategy is about to run us into the ground. What's your move?”  The planes start yelling at them to pull up and then Maverick continues, "Now you got it. Don't think, just do.” I sigh in relief because this means they pulled up in time.
"Come on, Rooster, you got him! Drop down and take the shot!”  Hangman yells at him.
"It's too low." I hear him say and I sigh knowing that Rooster is too shaken and frustrated to take the shot.
"Too late. You had your chance! " Maverick says, "That's a kill. Knock it off."
"Damn it!"
"Go see Hondo about your push-ups." Maverick says before I leave the room to slowly make my way down to where Bradley should be doing his push-ups.
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Thank you for being so patient with me about the wait. Next pay should be up by Saturday. Hope you enjoyed!