The Captain's Daughter (Bradley Bradshaw)

Chapter 33

Rooster's POV:

I was right. I knew he wasn't gone. I couldn't leave him. I promised Katie. And he was like a father to me. I couldn't lose him too.

When I landed on the ground, I went to tuck my shoot back into its bag. I looked up at saw Maverick running towards me. I landed far away from him, he must've ran the whole way.

"Are you alright?!" He yelled as he continued to run towards me.

"Yeah! Are you- what the hell?!" I yelled as he pushed me into the ground.

"You could have died!" He yelled as I got back up on my feet.

"I saved your life!" I yelled back.

"No I saved your life! That was the whole point! What the hell were you even thinking?" He yelled back.

"You told me not to think! Just do remember?" I made my point.

"Well I'm glad you're not dead. It's good to see you." He nodded to me.

"You know I'm glad I'm not dead either." I chuckled as we began to walk.

The walk was silent for a few moments.

"Did Katie put you up to this?" He asked.

"She did. I promised her I would protect you." I told her.

Oh shit. Katie probably thinks I'm dead. To be really honest, I didn't know if I was gonna make it out of that. I have to get back to see her.

"That's funny. So did I." He responded.

"What?" I asked.

"Why do you think I jumped in front of that missile? I promised her I would make sure you got home. Among other things. He looked at me as we walked.

"We need to get back. She thinks we're both dead." I told him.

"What do you think we're trying to do, Rooster?" He asked me as he walked ahead.

I knew he had no clue that she was pregnant. He has no clue why I'm more urgent to get back.

"Katie is pregnant, Maverick." I told him as he walked ahead.

He stopped dead in his tracks.

"What?" He asked quietly.

"Katie is pregnant. We're gonna have a baby. That's why we need to get back." I told him.

I knew she wanted to tell him, but he needs to know why not just me, but he also needs to make it back home. I know he would put his life in front of mine or Katie's, but he needs to know he's got a family. A family that needs him alive.

"I'm gonna be a grandfather?" He asked with tears in his eyes.

"You are." I nodded.

"Well then...let's go home." He told me as we jogged in the direction he lead us.

We climbed up a hill to see the base we had blown up. He was looking around with binoculars he had on him.

"Now I know they have the 5th generation fighters, BUT they could also have spare planes. Hopefully there's one that didn't blow up in the explosion." He said looking around the base.

"Mav, what other planes could they have besides a 5th gen fighter? You said it yourself they have advanced technology." I told him.

"I know what I said. But sometimes you need a back up. And those back ups aren't always gonna be the best. Aha! See! There it is, right there!" He exclaimed as he handed me the binoculars and pointed to where he was looking.

"What the hell is that?" I asked.

I knew it was a jet. It just looked so old. It looked like it wouldn't work at all.

"It's an F-14. Your old man and I used to fly those! That's our ticket out of here." He told me.

I put the binoculars down and looked at him as if he was crazy.

"You're not serious." I looked at him.

He just gave me a look back.

"You're serious." I nodded my head and handed him back the binoculars.

"C'mon kid. We're going home." He said as he ran down the hill.

I followed behind him, but he stopped behind a tree.

"Okay. When we get over there, we're gonna see if it actually works. If it works, I'll tell you everything you need to know. We're getting out of here one way or another." He told me.

"How are we gonna get over there?" I asked him.

"Simple. Like this." He said as he began to jog.

"Mav- okay." I whisper yelled as he ran off.

I caught up with him. I may or may not have slipped in the process, but I didn't fall so my cover wasn't blown.

"There's people everywhere, Mav. Do you think we should run." I asked as we fast walked.

He looked around for a second and saw people running.

"Yeah. Run. Run." He said as we ran.

We got underneath the little garage the bucket of bolts was in. Maverick looked at all of it to see if it would actually turn on.

"Are we sure this is gonna work?" I asked.

"Hopefully." He said as he started flipping the switches.

After a few moments the engine switched on. I heard him chuckled and throw his hands up in excitement.

"Okay I'm gonna get in. When I give you the signal you unplug everything and then get on board." He told me as I nodded.

He hopped up and got in his seat. He gave me his signal, and I started unplugging everything. I sealed every latch that was on the outside of the plane. I took off every red flag. I made sure all the missiles were ready. After everything was ready, I jumped up into my seat and saw how old everything was.

"What in the hell?" I asked.

"Close the canopy. We're getting ready to go." He told me.

I pressed the button as we left the garage. He's turning onto the runway, and I realize how short the runway his. He stopped the plane, also realizing how short it is.

"What's your plan?" I asked.

He didn't say anything. I could tell he was thinking.

"Mav. This is not a runway. This is small and very short taxiway." I told him.

I felt the plan move. I looked out the canopy, hitting my helmet on the window, and saw the wings going out of the plane.

"Why are the wings going out?" I asked him.

"Hold tight, kid." He told me.

"Mav. I don't like it when you say things like that. Mav? What are you doing?" I asked him, but he wasn't answering.

All of a sudden, the plane shot off so fast I could barely think.

"Holy shit!" I yelled causing Mav to lightly chuckle.

We were already starting to lift off, but there was a huge bridge in the way.

"Mav! You're not gonna make it!" I yelled.

"Almost there." He pushed.

"Oh shit!" I yelled as we hit the top the bridge, knocking off our landing gear.

"Well that's comforting." I said out loud to myself.

"Alright, Rooster. Let's go home." He told me as he flew into the sky.

This was it. We were going home. I was gonna be with Katie again. We were gonna make the perfect life we always wanted. I switched my coms back on. I needed to let Katie know that I was on my way home.