I Know You ~ J.Seresin

37

"So Rooster, mind if I ask you a personal question?" Tate pursed her lips at Jake's question. She knew he was going to say something so dumb that it was going to get Bradley all worked up. They still hadn't talked to each other. It had now hit the 4-day mark.

"Would it matter if I did?" Bradley asks annoyed. "What's the story with you and Maverick? It seems like he's got you a little rattled,"

Fuck.

He didn't know.

"That's none of your business,"

Natasha watched as Tate's body grew tense. She knew listening to the men bicker about Maverick wasn't the best thing.

Tate sighs as she puts her hands on the table. She puts all her body weight on it as she takes deep breaths.

"Fights on!" Bradley yells at Maverick.

Natasha, Javy, and Brigham all whip their heads up, looking over at Tate who had now looked up at the radio.

"Oh no," Tate says softly to herself.

This was a terrible idea to put the three of them together.

Jake, Bradley, and Maverick? That was a literal accident waiting to happen.

Jake watches as the two men circle each other, nose-diving to the hard deck. It was like the move he had seen Tate do with Brigham years ago.

His mouth drops suddenly. Her flying was exactly like Mavericks.

"Alright, you put us here. How are you going to get yourself out?" Maverick asks Bradley.

"You can bail out any time!"

Tate lowered her head.

She was embarrassed by the two of them. There was a time and place for the bickering. Right now was not that time. Or place.

The two men continue to spiral downward as Jake sat there getting a kick out of the show they were putting on.

Everyone in the room with Tate all sat at the edge of their seats. Some were crowded by the windows, trying to get a good look at the men in the air.

"I can go as low as you sir! And that's saying something!"

Tate purses her lips at his words as they continue to act like idiots.

"What's past is past!"

She stands upright.

"Fuck this," she says as she walks away from the radio. Natasha gets up from the couch wanting to follow her friend but she stops when Tate puts her hand up.

Tate exits the room, not wanting to hear them bicker anymore.

She heads down the hallway and to the office closest to her. She opens the door and Admiral Cyclone looks up at her shocked.

"Kazansky!"

"I know sir, I'll knock next time but you have to see this,"

The tone in her voice was clear. He knew there was something wrong. Cyclone stands from his desk and follows Tate.

The two walk out to the hangar and she points at the sky.

Cyclone uses his hand as a visor to shield out the sun. When he gets a better look at the sky he frowns. "You've got to be kidding me,"

"What's your move?" Maverick asks Bradley.

They both being to approach the hard deck quicker, their cock pits warning them. They continue to spiral as the voice tells them to pull up.