Two Birds On a Wire

Chapter 1

The nearly bald headed man tapped his finger impatiently as he stared at the back of his name tag that rested on his desk. The dark blue of it shined in the dimly lit light next to him.

The clock ticked off each second there was, only creating even more temptation in the young pilot's veins. He could only imagine what was going to happen next. What he was going to say next.

"You do know that being in my office more than twice today is not a good thing, right? Don't you dare go thinking you should be proud of this because this is not something to be proud of." He looked up to the dark headed who stood at attention, eyes straight ahead of him as he clamped down on his jaw. He could've sworn he saw a smirk try to form on his face. It wouldn't surprise him if it did.

"Yes, sir." He replied.

The man sighed, looking away again.

He was about to chew his butt out the best he possibly could. Normally it only took once, maybe twice, for anyone else on his aircraft carrier to get it through their head that you're getting yelled at so you don't go doing a stunt like that again.

Clearly, this guy doesn't understand that.

It's not that he's dumb. It's not that he's not a good flyer.

In fact, he's one of the rising best of the best.

And the dark haired knows it. Whenever he gets that look on his face, everything breaks loose. Everyone knows it, too.

He's an intelligent pilot. He doesn't think about what he's going to do, he just dos. That's probably what makes him so good. He's determined. Once he has something on his mind, he's not going to stop until that is achieved. But with the great, comes the bad.

He should come with a warning label.

With the amount of trouble he's gotten himself into with his career so far, he should be up and out of here.

But the commander couldn't just disqualify him from flying anymore. He might not appreciate his behavior, and he certainly doesn't want him to keep doing what he does when it comes to not following instructions, but he can't risk losing one of the best out there.

He sighed again. Here comes the rant.

"You've just flown past yet another aircraft tower." He looked up at the pilot. He could've sworn he heard a chuckle escape from his mouth. It wouldn't be hard to not hear it with such quietness in the room. But the male still stared ahead, blankly.

"First time was no laughing matter, second time round is still no laughing matter. I busted your butt for it the first time, and now I've got to do it again." His temper was rising. And he hadn't even gotten to the main part yet. "When you get yelled at for doing it, it usually means don't do it again!" He made sure to make the last words bold. But was that enough to get it through his head? Probably not.

He straightened his posture. "You're one of the best pilots I've seen in a while, son, and I don't want to have to wait another while to get another one as good as you. You got that? Enough with this! I'm tired of having to see you in my quarters just because you won't listen!" He yelled.

The older male gave a sigh. He leaned back in his chair, giving the table another tap with his finger. "You've lost your RIOs twice because you're stuck in the same place each time. They're moving up and you're in the same spot you were in months ago. You're also losing your backseaters because of your recklessness." He said. His temper seemed to have cooled down just a little bit.

"We find you a new RIO and pair you up with him, but it never works out. It never works out because of you. You don't cooperate with him at all, no matter what or who he is."

The dark haired inhaled.

"You don't ever listen. I tell you to do this, you go the opposite. I tell you what your orders are, you screw the orders. I told you to land that damn plane and you disobeyed. You went right after your wingman when you knew he was going to get his butt busted."

He watched the male intently, waiting for him to say something. He sat up and placed his hands on the desk.

"So tell me," He prompted, looking down. "Why is it that you won't listen?" He looked up at him. "Why is it, Maverick?"

The dark haired thought for a second before awsnering. "I'm not sure, sir." He replied, almost sounding unsure of his words. That couldn't have been for him. He's never uncertain with himself. He's Maverick. He's one of the most confident and levelheaded people there ever was.

"Bull." The commander replied.

Maverick thought again. "I just feel like you have to go against what you're told to be even better than you already are."

"So what was the reasoning for not landing the plane?"

"I had to make sure my teammate was okay."

He nodded. Although he believed him, he still didn't think that was the whole truth. He just wanted to know, why does he do what he does? Maybe he did tell the whole truth. Maybe the truth is that he's not so careless about everyone around him as he thinks he is. Maybe his theory on Maverick's loyalty not being there is false. But is it? The man has lost both his RIOs, and he doesn't work well with anyone. He prefers to be alone. To do it his way. For wanting to be a naval aviator, he sure doesn't work well with others. The commander wondered how he even passed his years in flight school.

"Yeah. And why do you think you can't keep a RIO?"

"Maybe because the RIOs just aren't right for me." If he could've shrugged, he would've.

Ah. So we've come to a full circle. He thought. The older nodded, his mind made up. "Well then that brings me to the other news." He leaned back in the chair again.

Maverick broke his eye contact with the wall ahead and eyed the man, only for a second. He quickly realized he broke attention and shot his eyes back to straight ahead. A soft sound of brief laughter came from the commander.

"Well? You going to ask what it is? I know you're dying to do so."

Maverick blinked, overly confused. "Sir?"

The man gave another chuckle.

He knew that Maverick was sure he was going to get busted for the last time. The last time meaning he was through. He was getting his wings clipped. Turned in. Taken away. Maybe he'd even make him swallow them without a second thought. That's just how much he pisses his commander off. He understood in a way, though. He figured that if he was in his position, he wouldn't be sorry either. He wouldn't give him another shot.

But here he was, standing in the room about to hear news that would throw him into even more shock, even more confusion.

"You're getting a new RIO."