𝕂𝕖𝕖𝕡 ℍ𝕚𝕞 𝕊𝕒𝕗𝕖

Chapter 16. You've Been Called Back

"I heard about your mission before... I'm sorry."

2020:

It had been a long time since Skywalker had been to North Island, eight years to be exact. It's funny how she felt like she couldn't escape that place, and now she was excited to be back. There'd been a lot of changes since she left. For example, her and Rooster hadn't seen each other in those eight years, but they kept in touch.

She also grew out the purple so she had her natural blonde hair back. When you're in the Navy, you don't really have time to sit there for hours and dye it anymore. Her hair was in a single french braid and she was wearing her Navy Uniform with a tag that read 'Carens' on it.

"Hey, Skywalker!" Her attention was grabbed by a brunette who looked familiar walking with two men of varying heights. She blinked a few times when she realized who she was looking at. "Phoenix?" Skywalker immediately ran to the girl and wrapped her arm around her, pulling her into a hug.

"What's it been? Six years?" Phoenix asked as she pulled away from the hug, keeping her hands on Skywalker's shoulders. "Eight, actually." Skywalker shifted her gaze from Phoenix to the two men behind her. "So, Phoenix. Who's your friends?" The taller one asked, pointing a finger towards the blond.

"This is Skywalker, she used to date one of my fellow Top Gun graduates." The two girls were standing side by side, arms wrapped around each others waist as they smiled at each other. "So, what I'm hearing is, your single now." The shorter one looked towards Skywalker and gave her a wink.

"Watch it, Fanboy." Phoenix jokingly punched his arm as she motioned for the three of them to follow her inside The Hard Deck. As soon as they stepped inside, they could hear someone yelling from across the bar.

"Well what do we have here?" They all noticed a familiar looking blonde standing over by the pool tables. "If it ain't Phoenix!" Hangman yelled once more and the four of them made their way towards him. "And here I thought we were special, Coyote." Hangman walked up to the group, leaning on the edge of the pool table with Coyote right behind him.

Phoenix stood in front of him with her arms crossed as she stared him down. "Turns out, the invite went to anyone." Hangman flashed his signature cocky smile as Phoenix sighed while turning to her head to speak over her shoulder. "Fellas, this here's Bagman."

"Hangman."

"Whatever." The two bickered momentarily before Phoenix continued. "You're looking at one of the only Naval Aviator's on active duty with a confirmed air-to-air kill." Hangman gave her a quick smile as he leaned against his pool cue. "Stop." He said in a mocking tone before Phoenix continued once again.

"Mind you, the other guy was in a museum piece from the Korean War. Not like our girl here" Her tone was sarcastic as she gave him a mock pout and pointed towards Skywalker who smiled sarcastically at the blond. 

"Cold war." Coyote chimed in, correcting the brunette. 

"Different War. Same Century." The taller one spoke, looking over at the two with a slight smirk. "Not this one." The shorter one added as he stood with his arms in front of him. Coyote and Hangman just stared at the group for a moment, not knowing what to say. 

"Who are your friends?" Coyote asked, motioning to the two men with his pool cue. "Payback." The taller one answered. "Fanboy." The shorter one added. 

"Who's he?" Phoenix asked, nodding her head to the side. Coyote just looked at her confused for a moment before asking, "Who's who?"

Phoenix turned her head to look at the man sitting in a chair, while wiping off crumbs from his pants. Skywalker could've sworn he looked familiar but couldn't quite put a finger on it. The man finally looked up from his lap, noticing the crowd was looking at him now.