The pieces of my puzzle.

Twelve

(Azara's POV)

I sighed as I put my flight suit on. Today I was going up with Hangman and Rooster.
I was not in the mood for Hangman's ego but I had no choice in the matter.

I headed to the airstrip, prepped my jet and took off. A little while after I took off Rooster's jet gained altitude and flew up beside me. Then Hangman dit the same.

"Good morning aviators. Today we are going to be working on some more things that seems to hold you back." I said glancing at the two men that were flying either side of me.

"But we already did that." Hangman said, sounding bored. I rolled my eyes at him before continuing to speak.

"Yes we already did that, but you two have some more things that need to be worked on." I answered, taking a deep breath to calm myself. We had only been in the air for five minutes, I couldn't let Hangman get to me.

"Ok then what do I need to work on then?" He asked cockily.

"You fly way too fast and nearly kill your team." I deadpanned. "And you, Rooster are still to careful."

  ***

I took Rooster around the course first and  threw some surprises at him. He handled it really well and he will be able to move onto the next phase of training.

But when I took Hangman out, it didn't go as well as Rooster's round went. He was flying too fast and never warning me about stops or tight turns.

No matter what I did, I couldn't get him to slow down. "Hey princess, hard to keep up isn't it?" He taunted, making my blood boil.

"If you don't listen to me right now, Seresin I will make sure you don't go on that mission," I seethed at him.

He just shrugged and suddenly stopped his plane so fast that I crashed into his. I somehow managed to recover slightly but my mind had already gone to other places.

When I crashed into him my head had slammed back into my seat and then into the canopy. I could feel my chest tightening, my breathing getting heavier and heavier as I took in ragged gasps, in desperate need for oxygen.

I felt dizzy and on instinct I pulled my control stick up, gaining altitude.
My clouded mind had convinced me that going up would make my situation better but in reality it only made it worse.

Because of the sudden altitude change and my lack of oxygen intake due to me taking shallow breaths, the edges of my vision became fuzzy and dark until all I could see was black.

And then I lost consciousness.

(Rooster's POV)

I had watched the training between Hangman and Hellfire unfold.
I gasped as Hangman suddenly stopped and Azara crashed into him.

Her head had slammed into the canopy, and when she regained control of her jet I thought everything was fine until I heard her ragged breathing.

My heart rate elevated as she pulled up and gained altitude. "Hellfire what are yo-" I was cut off by her jet suddenly plummeting towards the ground.

She's in G-lock!!

"Hellfire!!" I called. She didn't respond. "Hellfire, please respond!!" When nothing happened I went after her and got missile lock on her. "C'mon, Azara." I muttered. Suddenly a loud beeping sound rang through both our planes. She was meters away from the ground when I heard her gasp and pull up.

I sighed in relief as she leveled out next to me. "You okay?"

She nodded. "Thanks for saving me but I'm not a damsel in distress." She snarked, her cold composure returning to her face. "You're both dismissed." She then radioed in for permission to land.

After it was confirmed that she had landed, I sent Hangman a glare before going to land.

After I had parked my jet I went to find Azara as fast as I can, because even though she said that she's fine, I didn't believe her for a second. I knew her too well for that.

(Azara's POV)

I climbed out of my F-18 and sprinted to an empty classroom. I sat on the couch in the corner of the room and tried to get my breathing under control. My emotions were all over the place with mixtures of both fear and rage.

I tried to recompose myself when I heard the door open. Rooster walked in with a concerned expression on his face.

He walked towards me and sat down next to me on the couch. After a few moments of silence he spoke. "You okay?" He questioned softly.

"I'm fine." I clipped, standing up and turning to face him.

He stood too, grabbing my hand. "Azara, I know you. You're not fine." He slowly rubbed his thumb across the back of my hand as he spoke.

All I wanted in that moment was to jump into his arms and be comforted by his warm embrace.

But I couldn't be vulnerable in front of him, I couldn't let my emotions show.
The last time I let him see my emotions he left. And I can't go through that again.

"Thank you, Bradly. For everything, but I just can't do this right now. I'm sorry." I smiled weakly at him, before ripping my hand from his and walking away.

"Azara, wait!" I heard him call after me. I stopped and turned to face him. "Bradly-" I began but he cut me off.

He placed his hand on my cheek and gazed into my dark brown. "I know you aren't ready to confide in me yet, and that's okay. Just know that one day when you're ready I will be here for you."

The combination of his gentle touch and his soft words almost made me break down right then and there. But I kept my composure and placed my hand on his.

"Thank you Brads. When I'm ready, I promise I will." I said and then walked away.

I climbed into my jeep and promptly burst into tears.