'you'll see me in hindsight, tangled up with you all night, burning it down. some day when you leave me; i'll bet these memories follow you around...'
Sawyer Rivera quit her job after graduating from Top Gun; despite her extreme potential. A traumat...
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CHAPTER FIVE — gremlins
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I get into my aircraft, adjusting my helmet a bit, and a wave of familiarity crashes into me along with a number of memories. One more prominent than the rest; the moment that preceded the last flight I ever took.
I'm walking down the tarmac with my helmet in my hands, as the sun is beating down on me. A voice from behind me grabs my attention and I spin around to find Jake running up to me. He takes my free hand into his own and opens his mouth to say something, but hesitates. "What Jake?" I ask, although the words seem harsh, my tone is soft, and even pleading. Pleading for something to let me know that our carnival date was more than just a means to an end.
"Come back to me?" It's less of a question and more of a plea. I release a breath of relief, as he takes away any doubt I had. He cares. It may not be in the same way that I do, but it's still something.
"Always." A sentiment that causes his features to soften and his shoulders to relax. Yes, we're just training. But after what happened to Goose all those years ago; I've never treated it as something simple or by the books. Because you never know what can happen. No, Jake and I aren't together. Yet, there's a mutual understanding that we don't want to lose the other. Our bond is deep and personal. It's a comfort that I've never felt with anyone else.
I shake my head, ridding myself of the thought, and get ready to take off. Once we're in the air, Maverick's voice sounds through our comms. "Good morning, Aviators, this is your captain speaking. Welcome to basic fighter maneuvers. Today's exercise is dog fighting. Guns only, no missiles. We do not go below the hard deck of 5,000 feet. Working as a team, our goal is to shoot down Nova and Lady Lilith, or else."
"Or else what?" Payback's tone is dripping with arrogance, causing a wide smirk to flash across my features. Oh, this is gonna be fun.
"Or else they'll shoot back." And with Mav's final statement, we're off. Trying to take down Maverick, Phoenix, Coyote, Jake, and Payback. The two of us are flying side by side, mentally trying to convey our plans to one another and knowing that in order to get Jake out of the running, we have to be strategic. And this is our practice run to see what works and what doesn't.
"Alright, Gremlin One, let's kick some ass." Lilith's voice sounds over my comms and I glance over at her, smiling at the nickname. When we were kids, Maverick would call us gremlins because we gave the man a run for his money. The two of us were chaotic and it wasn't smart to feed us after midnight, so he coined the nicknames. And we've milked them ever since. Coyote makes a confused remark about said name, causing Mav to encourage us to refrain from using them. As if either of us are going to listen to him right now...or ever.
