𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐃𝐒 | 𝘛𝘰𝘱 𝘨𝘶𝘯

𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐞 || 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞

"𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶"

 - 𝘓𝘢𝘯𝘢 𝘋𝘦𝘭 𝘙𝘢𝘺

"𝐂𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐀𝐈𝐍 𝐌𝐈𝐓𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐋𝐋 𝐈𝐒 𝐍𝐎 𝐋𝐎𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐑 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐈𝐍𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐔𝐂𝐓𝐎𝐑." Cassie held her breath from where she sat. If he wasn't their instructor they were sure to fail this mission. She could only hope they would fail with no casualties.

Warlock continued. "As of today, there are new mission parameters. Time to target is four minutes. You'll be entering at reduced speed, not to exceed 420 knots." Cassie frowned deeply, turning to exchange a look with Phoenix.

"We'll be sitting ducks for enemy aircraft." Bob mentions grasping the attention of the Admiral. Cassie nods her head in agreement.

"I cannot agree more. With all due respect sir, this is not the way to do it." Cassie elaborates earning a warning look from Jake and a glare from Cyclone.

"We are doing this the way we have decided-" Cyclone was suddenly cut off by the beeping of something in the simulation displayed on the board.

"Maverick to range control, entering point alpha. Confirm green range." Cassie felt a hit of adrenaline.

"Oh my god." She mumbled under her breath, just audible enough for those close to her to hear. "Range control to Maverick. Green range is confirmed, but I don't see an event scheduled for you, sir." Said a voice from the communications box.

"Well, I'm going anyway." Maverick stated bluntly. Cassie's eyes widened. Her Godfather was a force to be dealt with.

"Nice." Phoenix said from in front of her.

"Setting time to target, 2minutes and 15 seconds." The pilots sat on the edge of their seats in anticipation.

"2 minutes and 15 seconds?" Payback spoke up. "That's impossible." Cassie shook her head with a smile. "Not for good old Maverick."

Maverick swiftly made his way through the course. The tension in the room could be cut with a knife. As the timer reached the 1-minute mark everyone sat on the edge of their seats. Cassie began to fidget.

"Bombs away." Maverick said as her released the bombs on the target.

A few pilots began to stand as Maverick edged closer to the end point. He reached 10gs. The bomb hot the target perfectly and the timer stopped with 0.16 seconds left.

"Holy shit." Fanboy exclaimed standing from his previous seating position. The air had been sucked from the room. Cassie grinned. He had done it. The impossible.

Cyclone looked towards a seated Warlock, fist in the air. Hondo looked towards Cassie as they exchanged a relieved look. This was going in the history books.

━━━━━━━⚜━━━━━━━

Maverick made eye contact with his puzzled goddaughter as he exited Cyclone's office.

"I still can't believe you did it." Cassie exclaimed, smiling as she embraced the man. Maverick smiled back, squeezing her hard.

"I can't either. What's even more bizarre is that Cyclone has just appointed me mission leader." Maverick expressed this. Cassie's face fell.

"He what?" Cassie questioned, a look of incredulity and alarm on her face. She was in danger of losing yet another significant person in her life.

Maverick's smile faded as he noticed the woman's expression. He held her at arm's length.

"I promise I'll do my best to get back." Maverick pondered. Cassie made a shaky motion with her head.

"We both know you can't make promises in this profession."

Maverick realised she was right. How was he going to break the news to Penny? He was oblivious. The two stood in silence, fearing the worst. Taking advantage of every second they had left with one other.

━━━━━━━⚜━━━━━━━

Cassie stood at her parents' front door. How she would tell them and her daughter that she might not be able to return tomorrow. She was completely unsure.

As she entered the house, she was greeted with the aroma of pasta and a warm hug from her daughter.

"Mummy!" Deliah yelled, sprinting to her mother's arms. Cassie clutched her daughter too tightly, causing her to groan.

"You're squeezing me, Mumma." Cassie quickly released go, kissing the small girl on the cheek.

"I'm sorry, baby." Delilah led her mother into the kitchen, where Ron and Dianne were dancing slowly to an old song. Cassie smiled, happy to see her parents so together. She stood motionless, holding her daughter's hand. This was house.

Her parents took notice of their daughter as the song ended. Still wearing work clothes and wearing her hair in a tight bun.

"How was your day at work, honey?" Ron questioned his daughter before kissing her on the cheek. Cassie acknowledged the gesture with a smile before responding.

"It was fine." Cassie understood how difficult it was for her father to go on without ice. She was concerned about him and how he would proceed.

"I thought I'd let you know; I might be chosen to go on this mission." Cassie stated this. As her parents turned to gaze at her, the air in the room fled, their faces darkened with anxiety and fear.

"I was dreading this conversation." Dianne stated as she looked at her oblivious grandchild whirling by her mother's feet. Cassie's eyes sparkled like stars as tears flooded them.

"I want you to know how much I appreciate you. And that's assuming I don't make it back. I had made arrangements for you to take full care for Del." Cassie elaborated.

Ron and Dianne turned their gaze to their distressed daughter. They refuse to consider the thought of losing their only child. Cassie moved to wrap her arms around her parents. Her eyes were filled with silent tears.

Cassie turned to face her daughter before kneeling and cradling her in her arms. Delilah grinned. The familiar smile that appeared to take her mother's anguish away. Nothing could stop Cassie from telling her daughter how much she loved her right now. She knew the time spent with her daughter was more valuable than anything in the world.

After all, love is a really powerful force. Cassie was putting her entire life on the line.

Hoping to return home.

Return to her perfect little family.

━━━━━━━⚜━━━━━━━

𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐞

Now I am sad. I am ecstatic to see the reads going up. I really do hope everyone is enjoying this fic. I have been coming up with possible endings. And if you have not guessed already. Cassie and Jake's love story is in fact a slow burn. Yet, the slowest burning slow burn of all time. I will see you all next upload 😊.