The Captain's Daughter (Bradley Bradshaw)

Chapter 36

"That's a kill." Katie smiled proudly. 

Hangman and the rest of the team were all listening in to her dogfight. They all screamed and cheered when they heard her say those words.

Katie couldn't believe it. She did it. She saved them. She had three air to air kills, and now she has four. FOUR! She couldn't believe it. She saw the look in both Maverick and Rooster's eyes. She saw how proud they were of her. She didn't even have to see their full faces...she just knew.

When Maverick got shot down, she was scared she was never going to actually get to know her father. She hadn't really spoken to him consistently since he said she was his father. She thought her whole life fell apart when Bradley got shot down. She kept thinking how stupid he was, but knew he doesn't break any promise he makes. She thought her baby was never gonna have the family she wanted it to have. She didn't want her baby to live a life she lived. But now...now it wasn't real. Bradley was alive. He was save. She saved him. Katie saved Bradley and Maverick and that she will never let go of.

"Spare 2 asking permission to land." She said to the carrier.

"Permission granted, Spare 2. Prepare for landing." The lady said.

She smiled as she neared the runway. She put down her landing gears and slowly made her way down towards the runway. She knew Rooster and Maverick wouldn't be too long behind her. She was eager to get out of the plane...eager to be in Bradley's arms again.

Once her plane jerked to a stop, she quickly moved her plane to a spot out of the way. She knew they weren't gonna make a nice landing and needed quite literally the whole runway clear. By the time she was able to open her canopy, she could see Maverick and Bradley closing in.

"Please don't fly off the edge of the boat. Please don't fly off the edge of the boat." She prayed to herself and she watched Hondo and the whole crew pull out a net to stop the plane from doing just that.

She watched intently as they did their flyby and closed in on the carrier. She was too focused on the plane that she hear Hangman calling to her from down on the ground.

"Do you wanna come down, Tiger? Or am I gonna have to come up and get you?" He chuckled.

"Help me down." She laughed.

She got out of her plane, she felt Hangman's hands around her waist to make sure she didn't fall. When she got her feet planted onto the ground, she turned to face him and was automatically pulled into a hug.

"You are one of the best fucking pilots I've ever seen." He said as he pulled her into a very tight hug.

"Thank you for saving them, Jake." She held onto him.

"You did just the same thing. You saved them Katie. We both did." He smiled at her.

"My kid is gonna have the best family ever." She chuckled.

"Speaking of kids." He started as he bent down to her stomach.

"I don't know if you can hear me yet, kid...but it's your godfather speaking. Firstly, you're gonna love me more than your mother." He started and was stopped by a slap on his head.

"Jake, cut it out." She laughed.

"Alright let me finish. Lastly, I'm telling you this now and will continue to tell you your whole life. Your mom here, total badass. You're gonna fly like her one day. And your father, well just know you can count on him on him to always be there when you need him. You got the golden duo to be your parents, kid." He smiled and pulled Katie into another hug.

They both turned to see the plane crash into the runway.

"Well damn." Jake chuckled.

"Remind me to never lose my landing gear. That looked like it didn't feel good at all." Katie chuckled.