Kara Bradshaw and her older brother Nick are quite easily some of the best Naval Aviators in the country, alongside her RIO and his pilot.
After an incident with one of their fellow pilots onboard the carrier, they are given a once in a lifetime opp...
Things on base had felt kind of empty in a sense since the accident.
Apart from the strong front that she was putting up, anyone could see that Kara had missed her brother deeply.
She would give anything to hear Nick's infectious laugh echo throughout the hallway and locker room, even just to feel his presence around her once again.
But she couldn't.
Some days were harder than others where all she wanted to do was curl up into a ball, and shut the world out but she continued to push forward because that's what Nick would have wanted her to do.
Having finished one of the last few hops left of the training program, the female pilot opened the canopy and removed her helmet with a soft sigh of relief. The white and silver helmet had felt constricting around her skull, which made her headache worse but still bearable enough to push through.
Shifting her gaze towards her instrument panel, she grabbed hold of the polaroid of herself and Nick - which had been taken by Pete - as well as his name badge before she proceeded to climb out of the cockpit. She had been flying with those two items on her instrument panel, which gave her a sense that Nick was up there flying with her.
Jumping down from the ladder, she smiled at her RIO, who simply stepped towards her with a grin.
"Another one bites the dust." Terence sang with a grin and bumped his fist against hers.
Kara rolled her eyes with a fond smile as they made their way inside towards the locker room - with Terence still singing his heart out behind her to 'Another One Bites The Dust' by Queen - when Leonard had stopped them with a grim expression across his features which put an end to the RIO's singing.
"Wolf, what's up?" Kara asked with a soft frown. She had grown so used to Leonard and Rick's jovial nature, and to see the RIO with a grim expression was strange.
"Maverick quit." He answered softly, knowing how close Kara was with the pilot.
The blonde stiffened slightly. "When?" She questioned, her hazel eyes hardening with a stern glint of anger.
"Just now, maybe ten minutes ago while you and Neo were up in the air." Leonard responded.
Pressing her lips together, the female pilot nodded her head and gave the RIO a soft smile of gratitude before she stepped past him.
The two RIO's watched after the younger Bradshaw's retreating figure. "Should we?.." Leonard trailed off slowly.
"Nope." Terence answered simply with a light shake of his head. "Once that look settles across her face, you don't want to be in the firing line of Kara Bradshaw."
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"You dumbass!" Kara exclaimed as she stormed into the apartment, her fiery hazel gaze locked onto the pilot in question.
"Good to see you too, Kara." Pete said sarcastically.
"Don't pull that shit with me, Pete." The blonde responded with a stern tone. "You quit? Graduation is on Monday!"
"You don't understand.." The dark-haired pilot sighed.
"I don't?" She repeated. "In case you've forgotten, Pete, I lost someone in that accident too."
Pete closed his eyes and released a soft sigh. Perhaps he was wrong in making that statement.
"I know that he was your best friend, your partner in crime, and your RIO, but that was my brother." She continued, her voice calmer than moments before. "I watched everything play out, and I'm going to have to live with those images haunting me for the rest of my life. I know being in that situation and having to watch it isn't the same thing, but.."
She trailed off and pressed her lips together as tears flooded her gaze. She knew that Pete had to be going through hell despite them clearing his name at the ruling, which had stated that he was not at fault for the accident.
But still, the pilot had persisted. Maybe if he had done things differently, then the events of July 29, 1986 would never have to be a day to haunt him and the Bradshaw family.
"Pete, you can't keep blaming yourself for what happened." Kara stated, almost reading her friend's self-loathing thoughts. "Nicky wouldn't want you to blame yourself for an accident that you had no control over. Most of all, he wouldn't want us to quit. You and I both know that he'd want us to keep going and graduate.."
Tears glistened in Pete's eyes, and he clenched his jaw in order to keep himself composed.
The blonde stared at him for a moment with her saddened hazel gaze. "I know it's tough, and it's going to be a long journey ahead to heal before we are okay again, but we gotta do this for Nick." She said and stepped forward before she pulled him into her embrace. "I already lost one brother during the program, I don't want to lose another."
The dark-haired pilot closed his eyes and eventually wrapped his arms around the woman, returning her comforting embrace, which only made her smile to herself in response.
It was a start.
Now, it was just up to Pete to decide what the next step was.
