Trust fall - Pete Mitchell

Till death do us part.

"Gentlemen, and ladies." Viper started off. "Today, unusual pairs are going up." He continued " Maverick and Goose are going to be facing Princeton and Javy. Hurry up!"

We scattered and prepared ourselves. It was weird, facing Maverick. I was so used to the others but I hadn't been up against Mav and Goose in a long time. His flying style was complicated to predict but I crossed my fingers that I would get him. I was one point in front of him now, this could put him in the lead.

"I love you, may the best win" Mav kissed my cheek and I smiled back at him. Goose gave me a quick hug and we both got into our planes

"I love you too but don't think I'm going to go easy on you losers" I spoke back taunting them. They both scoffed and pretended to be terribly hurt by putting their hands on their hearts. I laughed.

"No one on radar yet but you know how Mav flies. He can do some crazy stuff" Javy said on the radio.

My chest tightened. I was on edge. I did not want to lose. I couldn't lose. I thought of admiral Montgomery's words and put my game face on.

"Let's not over estimate them. It'll only stress us out. 'Kay?" I told Javy

"You're right, sorry." Javy replied. I could tell he was also pretty anxious but did his regular RIO job and stayed calm. I checked my wings and suddenly understood what was going on.

"Under us." I pointed my nose right down and beat them at their own game. They were waiting for the right moment to pop up but Javy managed to predict it. I muttered a "good job" on the radio but stayed focus on the target. We were far from being finished with them. Mav did a sudden movement and disaster happened.

"Jet wash, Jet wash, Jet wash!" Javy yelled

"I know, I know, I know!" I cried out.

One engine cut off. We were in an uncontrollable spin. The second one cut off.

"I can save it. I can save it" I was desperately trying to pull the plane back up. The only thing in my mind wasn't death. I just didn't want to eject in case the court ruled it unnecessary. I wanted to keep my job.

" Altitude 7000, 6000. Prince , we're at six!" Javy yelled

"I can't reach the ejection handles. EJECT EJECT EJECT" I suppose Javy reached them because the next thing I know, I was parachuting down to the sea.

Unfortunately, the sharp parachute cord cut me deep in my side and in a few different places. Once I reached the sea, all of my cuts stung really badly. I bit my lip holding back my pain. I saw Javy was still alive and started to breathe again. I was bleeding a lot. I felt dizzy and my eyelids were heavy. The safety heli came down to help us but I knew there was no way I could make it. It was a question of time and I was bleeding out. Everyone in the heli tried to convince me to stay awake but it took a lot of effort. This was it. I thought about everyone but especially Maverick. My only hope was that he wouldn't blame himself.

"Tell him it isn't his fault. Tell him" I mumbled out to Javy. His eyes were teary. He knew it was over for me.

"I will. I promise I will." He nodded and held my hand.

I was laid on a metal board and taken to the hospital. Maverick ran towards us and managed to grab my hand. He tightened his grip twice. I smiled at him but didn't manage to speak out any words. He was shoved away and I closed my eyes.