Cowboy Casanova

13

10 Years Later

Nothing compared to watching the sunset from an F/A-18 from the sky. The way that the shades of blues darkened to black on one end and the other end bled into pinks, oranges, and a little bit of yellow. The colors reflected onto the ocean below, which looked so mesmerizing from above. I wasn't allowed to fly too close to the beach, but I could see people laying down, kids playing in the water, and groups of people playing soccer. I was stationed at the America ARG in Australia. It has been my favorite deployment. It reminded me of San Diego.

After my routine patrol, at least that's what I called it to anyone that asked, because I was not on the schedule to fly, I landed my jet and when I got out to head to the showers, I was greeted with one of my superiors. Thinking I was in trouble, I bit my lip and smiled wide. No one could resist the Mitchell charm. "Admiral Grayson has requested to see you right away." I nodded, knowing that he wouldn't know what this was about, so my questions would be wasted on him. I didn't bother changing - there was no time as I headed straight for Admiral Grayson's office. My mind was racing with questions. Has something happened? Was it Bradley? Natasha? Even worse... was it my dad? I feared that something might have happened and I didn't think I would be strong enough to deal with losing one of them. Maybe no one was dead. Her door was already open and I reluctantly smiled as I walked in. She had requested me when I graduated Top Gun. She had been impressed with my skills and wanted me to help teach other aviators on the ship how to kick ass. Those weren't her exact words.

"You wanted to see me, Admiral?" She looked up from her computer and smiled, shutting it for a second. She offered me the seat across from her. She folded her hands as I sat down.

"I received orders for you from Admiral Kazansky." My eyebrows furrowed. This was unlike him to pull me from my station, which didn't help my anxiety. What had happened?

"I don't understand. Did something happen?" She could see the look in my eyes as I stared back at her, my mind and heart racing.

"Nothing happened. There's a mission. You've been ordered to return to Top Gun. You need to report by Friday morning for your first briefing." I let myself relax. Good, no one was dead.

"Thank you, Admiral." We both stood up and she shook my hand.

"No, thank you for all of your hard work here. I know you'll make me proud." I smiled at her as I walked out, going back to my room.

I was going back. I was going home. I could only wonder who else would be pulled for this mission. My mind wandered to the one person I shouldn't be thinking about at all. I had never asked him where he would be stationed. We agreed that night, no strings attached. But despite all of that, he was an amazing pilot - not better than me, of course. Whatever this mission is, he came in second in his class.

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When my plane landed after an excruciating 14 hours, non-stop. I was tired. Because of the time change, I still had a day or two before I had to report for debriefing. Honestly, with all the time changes, I wasn't sure what day it was. I saw a sign in the air, the name MITCHELL read on it. My look of confusion turned into a smile when I saw the person I had missed the most. It had been a long couple of years since either of us had time off at the same time to see each other. "Dad!" I dropped my stuff, running towards him. "What are you doing here?" He held me in his arms for a little longer, not wanting to let go.

"I missed you."

"I missed you more." He chuckled.

"I'm taking you home. Iceman already has your housing ready for you. Plus, I wanted to pick up my little girl from the airport." He kissed the top of my head, going to grab my bags. I gave him a look. I knew what that meant.

"Oh, I understand. You pissed off another Admiral." My dad looked at me and sighed. I rested a hand on his shoulder. "This is why I came in first at Top Gun and you didn't. Just saying."

"I should ground you for that." I laughed, nodding my head sarcastically. "I'm still your superior." I put my hand over my heart, hitting him in the arm. "Elderly abuse. Elderly abuse." A few heads turned our way and I glared at my dad for making a scene.

"Ok, ok, I'll stop." He smiled, leaning down to grab my bags.

"Dad, I can get my own bags." He looked at me, stopping from getting my bags.

"I know, I just want to help." I smiled at him as he took one of my bags, leaving me the smaller one to carry. I shook my head but let him anyway. When we stepped outside, the humidity hit me like a freight train.

"I forgot how much I hate the humidity." My dad laughed, throwing my bag in the back of the convertible. I smiled. It was mom's car. "I missed you." My dad looks back at me as he gets into the driver's seat.

"I missed you..." I stared back at him and shook my head. "You were talking to the car, weren't you?" I nodded, laughing as I jumped into the car.

"You say that as if you don't talk to your planes the same way." I rolled my eyes. My dad put his hands in the air in defeat, before he drove off.

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My dad had dropped me off before walking to his own housing. It was a few beach houses down. It was late and the first thing I did was crash onto my bed and fall asleep. I hate sleeping on planes, so I don't. By the time I woke up, because of some seriously loud noises, it was late in the afternoon, the next day. By the time I processed what was going on, I had jumped out of bed and grabbed the most dangerous object I had on hand. The heavy thumping and clanging from down the hall made me scoff. Who had the audacity to walk into a Navy base and walk into a Naval Aviator's home. I silently slipped out of bed, my bare feet barely making a sound as I slowly padded down the hallway. When I turned the corner into the kitchen, I screamed. It was both a scream of shock and excitement. The man covered his ears. There stood the perpetrator. A tall muscular man dawned in a tacky Hawaiian shirt and a mustache, searching through my fridge. My completely empty fridge. When I stopped screaming, he smiled widely at me. "Now I know why they call you Banshee. That was awful." He closed the fridge doors and leaned against it.

"What the hell are you doing in my house, Bradley?" I asked, shaking my head at him.

"I was hoping you had food." My eyebrows furrowed.

"How did you even know that I got here? Are you stalking me?" He rolled his eyes.

"I saw the car." That was fair. I had to assume that there weren't many Navy Aviators with a speedster. "You gonna show me some love?" He opened his arms and I smiled, running into them. His arms wrapped around me tightly. I had missed him. It had been 10 years without seeing him. We were never in the same place at the same time anymore. I felt more relaxed once his arms were around me. He kissed the top of my head.

"Good to see you too, Nicole." I didn't want to let him go, but I slowly pulled away. "You need food." When he said that, my stomach growled.

"Wait, you weren't stationed here. Did Top Gun order you back?" He nodded.

"They said they wanted the best." I furrowed my eyebrows.

"Right, that's why I came back. So why are you here?" He shoved my shoulder, moving away from me.

"Haha. Very funny." He looked at the time and smiled at me. "Ready to go to the Hard Deck?" I looked down at my pajamas and laughed.

"No, but if you give me a minute, I will be." He jumped on top of the counter and kicked his feet back and forth. I threw on a pair of jean shorts and a baby-tee, rushing out. "Race you there?" He jumped down from the counter, running out of the door.

"You're on." He yelled from farther away.

"That's cheating." I felt like a child again as we both ran towards our cars, eager to beat the other. Speed. I always said that if I wasn't a pilot, I'd be a race-car driver. The drive was smooth. The Bronco couldn't compare to the speed of her Speedster, even if they were both older cars. I got there fairly quickly, leaning against my car to show Bradley that I had been here longer. When he pulled into th3e parking lot, he was blaring music from his Bronco and got out. He walked in first, my eyes locked with the vintage Kawasaki with Navy patches. I only prayed that Bradley didn't see him.