Cowboy Casanova

29

"Bullseye, bullseye, bullseye." I let myself smile as I focus on getting out of this mountain. That's miracle number two. Now we just have to get home, alive. But as soon as we rocketed out of the mountain, there were SAMs on us immediately.

"Smoke in the air!" I yelled. Dad and Phoenix had been battling them for a while, making sure that we all got out of there safely. I turn to dodge and weave, firing counter-measures, straining, cursing, grunting, breathing heavily in my cockpit, working to outmaneuver the agile, angry missiles.

"Shit, they're everywhere." Rooster yells. It's a lot of noise, a lot of flares, and a lot of maneuvering. We watch each other and try to help out the best we can, but Rooster runs out of flares and there's a missile on him. "I'm out of flares." He yells. I can feel my heart stop as I turn to see him.

"Rooster, evade, evade." Dad yells.

"I can't shake them. They're on me, they're on me." Dad shoots back to use his flares but a missile catches sight of him and hits his jet.

"DAD!" I scream out. I see half of his jet fall in one direction. I can see Kelly's face as her jet fall's into the water, killing her.

"Dagger one is hit. I repeat, dagger one is hit." We dive into the valley and below the SAMs and their radar.

"Dagger 1, status. Status. Anyone see him? I didn't see a chute." I remain silent, tears welling up in my eyes as I wait for my dad's voice to break through.

"Dad?" My blood ran cold. My eyes widening as my heart just about stopped.

"We have to circle back." Rooster tells us.

"Comanche, bandits inbound. Single group, hot." I feel my breathing pick up. "Recommend Dagger flow south. One minute to intercept." It's silent for a few more seconds. My throat feels tight and I want nothing more than to land this plane. "All Daggers flow to ECP. You have bandits headed for you."

"What about Maverick?"

"Dagger spare. Request permission to launch and fly aircraft." Jake. I hear Jake's voice and it makes me want to break down.

"Negative, spare. Dagger, you are not to engage. Repeat, do not engage."

"Dagger Two. Return to carrier. Acknowledge." Rooster doesn't say anything and I don't blame him.

"Rooster... He's gone." Rooster makes eye contact with me.

"We have to go, Bradley... I can't lose you too." I told him. But instead of following us back, he shoots off to the forest to find my dad. By the time we made it back to the carrier, I was having a hard time getting out of my plane. And then, through the radio, we all heard that Bradley was shot down.

"Dagger two is hit. Dagger two is hit. Dagger two come in. Dagger two, do you copy?" It's silent. My heart shattered. The lack of adrenaline finally caused my body to break down as an unstoppable sob came from my body. My throat stopped hurting. Why was he such an idiot? And now all my fears have come true. They're gone. The rest of my family, gone. My flight crew tried to get me out, climbing up the ladder and tugging at the straps to unhook me from inside. I resisted, not wanting to believe that they were dead, not until I saw bodies.

"Darlin, you have to get out of there." Through my tears, I could see Jake up on the ladder, holding his arms out for me. He had pushed the flight crew aside, knowing that he would be the only one able to get me out of this thing.

"I was supposed to be there to save them." I sobbed, letting him finish unstrapping me. He helped me out of my aircraft, wrapping his arms around me as I crashed to the floor. "I wasn't supposed to lose them. Not both of them." I ran out of things to say as the next sob came rushing out. I couldn't control it anymore.

"Deep breaths and keep your eyes on me." I looked up at him and his green eyes, filled with worry. He wiped my tears away as my breath shuddered. Another sob wracked through me as the flight crews worked on clearing the runways. "We need to get you inside." He told me and I nodded. He moved me from the ground and took me inside, sitting me down next to a window so that I could look out.

"We're receiving a signal from Roosters ESAT." Phoenix yelled as she ran into the room. She sat down next to me. They weren't letting us back in the air. She flipped on the radio and we listened. "An f-14 tomcat is airborne and on course for our position." I felt myself smile, a laugh raking through my body. Both Nat and Jake looked at me like I was crazy.

"Bradley couldn't fly an f-14 if his life depended on it." I told them.

"Mav." They said in unison. Jake ran out of there, not before kissing my forehead, and got into his plane, not caring if they cleared him for takeoff. His jet launched into the air and he circled around, waiting for any sight of dad and Rooster.

"Overwatch is reporting two fifth gen fighters on course to intercept that F-14." Nat and I sit in that room, the rest of my tears gone from my face as we anxiously wait to hear what happens. It's quiet for a few minutes. Rooster and dad still don't have their radio on yet. "Overwatch reports the F-14 has engaged. One bandit is down." Nat and I cheer as a few other pilots enter the room. Payback and Fanboy sit down behind us and Javy stands in the doorway. We're all anxiously waiting for them to come home. They still had one bandit on them. It was silent for minutes as we waited for more news.

"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. This is your savior speaking. Please fasten your seatbelts, return your tray tables to their locked and upright positions. And prepare for landing." I smile, hearing Jake's voice over the radio.

"Hey Hangman, you look good." We all hear Rooster's voice break through the radio.

"I am good, Rooster. I am very good. I'll see you back on deck." We all race to the window to see Hangman land. Dad does a fly by and I smirk. I really am his kid. As soon as he lands (one really can't call what he did landing), we all rush out onto the ship. The sailors and flight crew mod them, cheering. I push through the crowd. My dad sees me and I jump into his sweaty arms.

"I thought I lost you." I looked over at Rooster, dragging him by the ear over to me so I could hug them both. "I thought I lost both of you. Not fun, by the way."

"All thanks to him." I look over, seeing Jake standing there, a smile on his face. He knows what he did. Bradley nods at Jake, walking over to him.

"Well shit... you're alive." I smile, as they shake hands. That says everything.

"Chalked yourself another kill." Hangman smiles.

"That makes two." Nat walks over to us, and Bradley throws his arms around her.

"Maverick has five. Makes him an ace." And Jake's smile fades, not a lot. Not when I kiss him on the lips, wrapping my arms around his neck.

"I don't care how many kills you have. You got my family back home." I look back, watching as dad pulls Bradley in for a hug, making me smile. Amends have been made. It was like the perfect ending to a movie. If this was a movie, of course.