I Hope You Dance

Chapter 17

Monday rolled around fast, I was up at 0400 and ready to leave, my house by 0530. Rooster and I are definitely still keeping things quiet on base, not wanting to risk our careers, no matter how much he says he would give it up for me. I poured my coffee as I let Dahlia out one last time, not wanting her to have to hold it until I came home. I locked my door on my way out, tossing my duffel into the backseat and got into the drivers seat before heading off for base. It was a peaceful drive, still dark out and there was a chill in the air. 

As I got to base my phone started dinging again. I had to change all the privacy settings on my twitter, people have been blowing me up, tagging me, sending me messages. I'll probably deactivate it by the end of the day, tired of hearing about the trial and Aaron. "I had to shut mine down." Phoenix's voice rang through the locker room as I stared at my phone. "What?" She nodded. "Had to completely delete my twitter. People found me and blew it up, I couldn't stand half the shit said about you." I groaned and leaned my head on the locker. "I'm so sorry, Phoenix." She shook her head. "I like Instagram better anyway." She said, making me chuckle. 

"So, what do you think they have planned for us today?" I shrugged. "My new jet came in last night, so I have to test it out." She groaned. "Lucky, I'll probably be doing paperwork all day."  I shrugged. "I don't know, mundane sounds nice right about now." She scoffed. "You and mundane in the same sentence?" I quirked a brow at her. "No, it makes sense." I laughed at her words as we finished getting into our flight suits and heading out. As we did we saw Hangman, "Hey Bagman? We still on for drinks tonight?" I raised a brow at Phoenix. "That's new." She shook her head. "It's a group thing, we decided on it last night. We haven't told anyone till now." I nodded as he turned and smirked at us, waiting on us to catch up. "Yes, yes we are Phoenix." 

"Comin' Magnolia?" I nodded. "I could go for some drinks." They nodded as we walked out, Rooster and everyone else already there. "Good morning!" Rooster called and I rolled my eyes, you're too chipper." He chuckled. "Not my fault I like mornings." I scoffed. "Mornings are gross." I said swinging the arm that held my helmet. He just chuckled at me as Mav walked over. "We ready for the day?" We all nodded and he pointed to me. "Magnolia, your jet is actually in mechanics and probably will be for the rest of the day. Want to go deal with that?" I nodded. "Bye guys! See you tonight!" I yelled before walking to the shop.

~~~

It was end of the day and I have spent all day in the shop testing my jet and tweaking things to make sure it was in tip top shape. I walked back towards the locker rooms when Rooster stopped me. "Hey, you coming to the hard deck?" I nodded. "Yeah, I'm gonna go home and feed Dahlia first and let her out. You going?" He nodded. "Yeah-" "Lieutenant Wilder." I turned to see Cyclone calling me. "I'll see you." He nodded as I walked towards Cyclone. "Follow me." I did as he asked, my heart thudding loudly in my chest. The air was tense as I walked behind him, but it was suffocating as we walked into his office, Warlock stood to the side a dark look on his face as he made eye contact. 

I stood in front of Cyclone's desk at attention, sweating from what he was going to say. He stood at his window, staring out for a whole five minutes. "Have a seat, Lieutenant." I slowly sat in the chair across from his desk, pulling on my thumbs as he sat in his own seat, Warlock still standing behind him. "I assume you've seen the news." I pursed my lips, nodding. "Yes, sir." He sighed. "When news reached a few certain higher ups, orders were handed down quickly." A few tears welled in my eyes. "They were calling for you to be dishonorably discharged." I bit my lip to keep it from wobbling as a sob crawled up my throat. 

"They also called for Lieutenant Bradshaw's immediate dishonorable discharge as well." I shook my head. "Roo-Rooster-he didn't." I choked on a sob, not knowing what to say. 'He didn't know' Of course he knew, we knew what we were doing. "But you have one hell of a lawyer." My head snapped up, brows furrowed. "He stated your case before the Fleet Admiral. He told him everything, which did make them see why you did it." I sighed, nodding. "Which is why they have decided for you to go on unpaid leave until this is cleared up, rather than give you a dishonorable discharge." I wiped under my eyes, choking on a sob. "Rooster will remain in his position, unchanged." I nodded, relieved that Rooster wouldn't suffer the consequences.