Ghost • Tom Kazansky

• Chapter Nineteen •

"Mustang, this is Maverick requesting flyby." Pete radioed to the carrier's air-control tower.

"Negative, Ghostrider, the pattern is full." The commander responded, denying Pete's request.

"Excuse me, is there something I should know about?" Merlin asked curiously as his pilot simply chuckled in response.

"Pete.." Kara warned with a pointed look as she glanced towards the pilot that flew on her left, knowing full well that he would disobey the order anyway.

"Come on, Kara, don't you want to be a daredevil for once in your life?" Pete teased as he threw a grin at the female pilot.

Kara rolled her eyes slightly as a smile tugged at the corners of her lips, and Terence took the silence as a good sign, a grin splitting across his face.

"I think we got her, Mav." He stated with a chuckle. 

"Just follow my lead." The dark-haired pilot said with a light-hearted laugh as he flew slightly ahead of Tom and Kara.

The blonde shook her head with a smile and turned towards the jet that flew on her right, where she was met with Tom's icy blue gaze as an amused smirk tugged at the corner of his lips.

With a playful roll of her eyes, Kara increased her speed slightly and flew beside Pete, but a little bit lower than him while Tom flew beside her - him too just slightly lower than her.

Together, the aviators buzzed the tower and laughed amongst themselves as they prepared to land.

Once the planes landed on the carrier's runway, the pilots and their RIOs were greeted with a hero's welcome as a huge crowd consisting of Naval officers, radar officers, shooters and fellow pilots surrounded their planes.

As they climbed out of their jets, Kara and Tom met each other's gaze and smiled at each other before she felt herself being scooped up into a hug by Pete, who spun her around and placed her back on her feet, only to ruffle her hair playfully.

She released a light-hearted laugh and swatted his hand away from her with a playful glare before her hazel gaze landed on Rick and Leonard, who had just disembarked from the rescue helicopter and was headed straight towards them.

"You are a total bad ass, Ghost!" Rick exclaimed with a grin.

Leonard nodded in agreement with his pilot. "That was one hell of a move out there!" He added before he let out a loud cheer with Pete; the dark-haired pilot lifting him up before he moved onto Rick.

The blonde shook her head with a fond smile and held her fist out to Terence. "We did it." She said.

"We?" Terence repeated with a grin and bumped his fist with hers before wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "No, that was all you. You got us out of those MiGs' line of fire."

"But I wouldn't have been able to do that without the help of my RIO." She added with a grin and hugged her friend before the voice of a certain ice-cold pilot grabbed their attention.

"You!" Tom called out, causing both Kara and Terence to look over at him only to find him staring at Pete, who slowly approached them. "You are still dangerous. You can be my wingman anytime."

A proud smile glittered its way across Kara's lips at Tom's words as she watched the interaction between the two.  Her boyfriend and friend had come a long way since the start of the training program, and she couldn't be more prouder of them.

"Bullshit, you and Kara can be mine." Pete responded with a smile before he pulled the ice-cold pilot in for a brief hug.

"Aww, look, it's a Kodak moment!" Terence teased with a grin, eliciting a giggle from his pilot.

A shriek soon escaped from the blonde as she found herself being hoisted up into a bear-hug by Ron. "Who knew there'd be a bigger badass than me?" He stated as he spun her around.

Kara laughed and slapped his shoulder lightly. "Me." She retorted playfully. "Now put me down, Big Foot."

The RIO simply laughed and placed the woman down on her feet, only for her to come face-to-face with a certain ice-cold pilot.

Without a word, Tom snaked his arm around Kara's waist and drew her close - his icy blues shining with pride and  his signature smirk present - before he leaned down and captured her lips with his.

The cheers from the crowd appeared to have gotten louder at the affectionate display between the two pilots, all while Pete, Terence, and Ron grinned at the sight.

"Now that's a Kodak moment." Pete stated, nudging Terence lightly.

Pulling away slightly and resting his forehead against hers, Tom stared into her hazel eyes with a soft smile. "I love you, Kara Bradshaw." He whispered.

A bright smile glittered across Kara's lips as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "I love you, Tom Kazansky." She replied.

Tom's smile broadened, and lightly pecked her lips before he closed his eyes in contentment as he simply held his girlfriend close.

And that was how the two stayed for a moment as the world around them slowly faded, the cheers sounding almost distant to them.

In that moment, it was simply just them.

Tom Kazansky and Kara Bradshaw.