Compromise-Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw-

Chapter Six

My phone chimed loudly, the alarm going off, letting me know it was 0600 hours. I had an hour to get dressed and get to the training room. I reached over to my right, groaning in annoyance as I did, searching for my phone. Though, where I would normally feel my bedside table, vibrating from my alarm, I felt a hard and very warm chest. I opened my eyes, the alarm still going off, and looked through my wild hair, seeing Rooster beside me. He was stirring awake, also groaning in annoyance.

He, just as I had, reached out to turn off the alarm, but his hand hit an empty bedside table. He sat up and looked around, taking in our situation. I also sat up, covering my chest with the blue comforter. I looked to my left and found my phone lazily sitting on the ground. Reaching down, I turned off the alarm. Rooster and I both laid back down. I closed my eyes again.

"What time is it?" He grumbled. I sighed, swatting at him to shut up.

"0600." I answered. Then the reality of our situation hit me like a ton of bricks. I sat up quickly, Rooster doing the same, and we looked at each other.

"We have to go." He said, peeling the blanket off of him. He was in a fresh pair of black boxers, ones he'd put on before we fell asleep, I recalled. On his feet, he looked frantically around for our clothes.

"Outside!" I said, standing up with the blanket still covering me. He met my eyes and nodded, opening the closet and throwing a button up at me. I thanked him quickly, as he left the room in a rush. I found my purse. Inside I had a fresh pair of underwear, black spandex shorts and a sports bra. I put all of it on before putting on the button up he threw at me, doing up a few buttons then collecting anything of mine inside. I was by the main door when Rooster came back in with our clothes from the night before. He tossed mine at me, then grabbed his keys.

"The drive is almost 40 minutes." He told me as we walked out of the cabin. I awkwardly slipped my clothes into my purse. We got into his bronco.

"Dammit." I muttered, tapping my foot anxiously. He looked at me, offering me my sunglasses. I took them, grateful he had grabbed them.

"Don't worry, I'll get us there in time." He promised, before backing away from the house, turning the truck around to get onto the dirt road. The sun, which was still trying to reach the road we were driving on, hadn't warmed the air yet, so I quietly hugged myself trying to get some warmth. The brisk wind blew passed us at fast speeds due to Roosters heavy foot. He really was set on getting us to training on time.

At 0652, rooster and I were sprinting to our training room, still in the outfits we had put on when we woke up. For rooster, it was the Jean shorts he had been wearing yesterday and a white tank he had in the closet. For me, it was my black spandex shorts, sports bra and a very oversized short sleeve button up, which was a red Hawaiian shirt.

0657, we burst through the doors of the training room together, both out of breath. The others looked back at us, as we walked over to our cubbies. In my cubbie, I kept an extra pair of socks and combat boots, which I quickly slipped on, without tying them, before rushing over to my table. Rooster seemed to have done the same thing, now also wearing combat boots. Just as we both sat down, the doors opened again, and Maverick walked in.

I took a few long breaths, trying to slow my racing heart down. I realized in our hast, I had left my purse in Roosters truck, which was now parked in the main parking compound. Glancing to my left, I noticed Phoenix smirking at me, a knowing glint in her eyes.

"Morning recruits." Maverick greeted as he walked up to the front of the class. He looked over us, a confused expression crossing his face as his eyes gazed over Rooster and I. We were not dressed to standard protocol. "Today." He continued. "We are going to be learning some teamwork. This mission will not succeed without it." He explained. My mind began racing, wondering what flight drills he was going to show us to practice with. "Follow me." He smiled, his hands behind his back as he started walking to the door that he had just come in.