I Know You ~ J.Seresin

41

"Time is your greatest enemy," Maverick says as he looks out at the aviators. Tate stood next to him with her hands behind her back. "Phase one of the mission will be a low-level ingress attack in two-plane teams," Maverick shows the aviators the blueprint that was put together on the screen behind him.

"You'll fly along this narrow canyon to your target. Radar-guided surface-to-air missiles defend the area," Tate says as a diagram of the SAMs pop up. "They're lethal,"

Tate looks at everyone as she turns around.

She was really teaching them. She was actually doing it.

Bradley kept a straight face as he listened to her, but he couldn't be more proud of her. Jake listened to her with a smirk on his face and a toothpick in his mouth. He too was just as proud of her as Bradley was.

"But they were designed to protect the air, not the canyon below,"

"That's because the enemy knows that no one is insane enough to try and fly below them," Bradley says. Both Tate and Maverick look at each other when he speaks.

Tate purses her lips as Maverick looks at Bradley.

"That's exactly what I am going to train you to do," Maverick says cockily to Bradley. The man looks away from Maverick as he continues explaining the mission to them all.

Tate watches as Bradley tries hard to not look at the pair in front of everyone.

The two still had not talked to each other. Bradley was giving Tate space just like Lucia told him. And Tate was trying to find the right moment to go and talk to him.

"Time to target: two and half minutes," Tate says as Maverick finishes up about their roof and hard deck.

"That's only because fifth-generation fighters wait at an air base nearby. You up against them in your F-18s," Tate purses her lips as she looks at everyone. Her eyes scanned the crowd as she spoke.

"You're dead,"

"You need to get in, hit your target, and be gone before the planes even have a chance of catching you," Maverick says.

Maverick looks over at Tate, who was looking at the men in front of them.

Both Bradley and Jake look at each other before Jake turns his gaze right back to Tate. A smirk still sat on his face.

Maverick then goes on to explain the terrain that they will all be flying through. He goes on about the amount of pressure and slight pain that they will go through before dismissing a wingman and a fox trot team.

"Coyote, Bob, and Phoenix. In the air," Tate says. Natasha and Bob look over at each other before nodding their heads and standing. Javy stands as well, following the two out of the room.

"While they are in the air, the rest of you will be out on the tarmac waiting for your next turn. Hondo will direct the groups. Everyone is dismissed," Maverick says.

Everyone stands from their seat and exits the room, leaving both Maverick and Tate in the room alone.

Tate looks over the screen as Maverick clears his throat. There was tension between the both of them, and he wanted it to stop. But he knew there was tension between her and someone else.

"What happened with you and Bradley? I can tell that you guys aren't on the best of terms," Tate looks over at Maverick and presses her tongue to her cheek. "You can tell, or you saw what happened?"

Maverick purses his lips.

"I heard it. The Admirals heard it too. You guys weren't the quietest out on the tarmac,"  Tate takes a deep breath as she looks at the screen. The three aircraft rustle the building as they fly over.