killshot (bradley bradshaw)

XXIV

2 DAYS UNTIL THE MISSION

"And your wingman?"

The words hung in the air. Jenna held her breath as Maverick's eyes moved across the group of pilots. His gaze landed on her for a second, flickered, and then moved to the pilot her left.

"Rooster."

The whole room seemed to let out the same breath when Jenna did. As her brain finally processed the name Maverick spoke, both disappointment and fear hit her. Phoenix and Bob had turned to congratulate Rooster and she stared silently at the three pilots around her. All of them had been chosen, but she hadn't. 

The three of them faced her now, and she willed herself to say something, anything. Her mouth opened and closed as she stood there, dumbfounded.

"I-" Jenna started, and then shut her mouth again. She grabbed her things and moved towards the door, feeling the disappointment wash over her in waves. 

"Jenna, wait!" Rooster said, stepping into the aisle to follow her. Maverick put a hand on his shoulder to stop him.

"Let me handle this, kid." He said quietly and pushed past his wingman. Maverick caught up to Jenna in the hallway and she paused, sensing his presence behind her. Wiping at her face once, she turned around to face him.

"Jenna," Maverick began. "I'm sorry."

"I know," Jenna sniffled, tears threatening to crash over her eyelids. "I know. I went into G-LOC. I'd be a liability up there."

"You're right," Maverick admitted, shoving his hands in his pockets. "But the moment Cyclone decided to appoint me as team leader, you were out of the running. I tried to convince him to consider you, but he didn't want us both up there."

"Because I'm your daughter," Jenna stated more than asked. 

"Yes," Maverick confirmed. "He said that if something happened to either one of us, he couldn't trust that the other wouldn't go rogue."

"I can understand that," Jenna responded. 

"You're still getting a support role," Maverick said. "So if everything goes to shit up there, there's still a chance for you to get in on the action."

"Well, for your sake and  my friends' sake," Jenna let out a shaky breath, calming her emotions. "I hope that it goes perfectly."

"Thank you," Maverick said. When Jenna looked over his shoulder, she saw that her friends had come into the hallway, but they were keeping a respectful distance from her and Mav.

"I'm gonna go talk to them," Jenna said as she gave her father a grim smile. 

"Good idea," Maverick replied. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

Jenna nodded as she brushed past him and walked towards Rooster, Phoenix and Bob.

"Kill," Phoenix started. "We're sorry."

"No, no," Jenna shook her head. "Don't be. I'm sorry I walked out on you. Congratulations," she said, and she meant every word.

"Thank you," the three of them murmured together.

"At least you're not flying with Hangman," Jenna offered, attempting to lighten the mood. The three pilots huffed out laughs, thanking the stars that they wouldn't have to deal with Seresin's ego any longer.

"We wish we were flying with you," Rooster said, locking eyes with Jenna. She smiled, desperately trying to get it to reach her eyes. 

"I'm worried for you guys," Jenna admitted, breaking eye contact with Rooster and looking down at the floor. Phoenix pulled Jenna into a hug, and Jenna leaned into her friend, trying to dispel the weight in her stomach. 

"Hey," Bob said, patting the two girls on the back. "We're gonna be just fine." Phoenix broke away just enough to pull Bob into the hug. Jenna brought her head back up. Rooster stood off to the side, worry etched across his features as he looked at his friends.

"Get in here, Bradshaw," Jenna called, and he wrapped his arms around Jenna and Phoenix, leaning his head on Jenna's. The four pilots stayed in their group hug for the next few moments, trying to forget the weight placed on their shoulders. 

~

1 DAY UNTIL THE MISSION

The final day of training went smoothly for the pilots selected for the mission. Jenna and Hangman stayed back in the radio room with the other pilots, listening in on the practice runs. Since they had put aside their argument, Jenna fell into easy conversation with Hangman. She knew his ego was bruised from not getting selected for the team, so she avoided that topic as much as possible. When he landed, Maverick dismissed them all over the radio, and as the two pilots got up to leave, Cyclone stepped into the room.

"Hangman, Killshot, stay back a minute, would you?" He asked. They idled as the other pilots filed out and then stood at attention as Cyclone approached them.

"Sit, please," Cyclone said, gesturing to the couch behind them. Jenna did as she was told and sat back down alongside Hangman.

"You two are going to be my spares tomorrow," Cyclone said. Jenna sat up at his words and felt Hangman do the same. "You'll be up on the deck of the carrier and in takeoff position on the catapults after the others depart. You will be ready to lend any air support, if needed. You will obey commands to stay put, until given other orders. Is that understood?"

"Yes, sir," the two pilots said in unison. 

"Good," Cyclone responded and dismissed them. "See you tomorrow." 

The two waited to say anything to each other until they left the room.

"Well, at least it's something," Jenna said, her excitement for the next day beginning to challenge the dread inside of her.

"We're about to be the best god-damn air support they've ever seen," Hangman said. Jenna laughed and looked down to check her phone.

"Hey," she said, reading her messages. "looks like everyone is going to Hard Deck tonight for one last meet up. You down?"

"Yeah," Hangman said. "But it's gonna be an early night and I'm not drinking."

"It sounds like everyone's on the same page as you," Jenna laughed as she looked back down at her phone. "Phoe said she's already there and that Penny's having a karaoke night tonight." Jenna shook her head, smiling. "And your girl is demanding that we all take part."

"Of course she is. Alright then," Hangman said smiling and gesturing to the door to the parking lot. "After you, Kill."

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AN: I know a lot of you probably wanted Jenna to be on the mission team, but I've seen so many stories where the MC is, and I've had this planned from the start. Bare with me, I promise it will be worth it. Again, this is an "outside-looking-in" POV of TGM, so that's why Jenna is a spare.

Thanks for reading! Leave a comment/vote/follow!!! 

Next chapter is the one I have been waiting for!! The entire story was built around my karaoke idea!! I'm so excited for y'all to read it!!!