FIREBALL

Chapter 9

the hard deck was closed for the night, only hosting the pilots who had spent their day at the beach. everyone was laughing, sat together at the bar.

thalia's conversation with coyote about the psychology behind cannibalism was interrupted by the familiar tone of her phone, signalling someone was attempting to call. she glanced at the caller id, immediately standing when she saw it was her aunt.

without even needing to pick up, she grabbed her bag and ran to her bike, shouting a goodbye over her shoulder. they watched her go with matching looks of confusion on their faces as she leapt on her harley and rode away, clearly above the speed limit.

she made it to the admiral's house in record time, not even knocking before letting herself in. sarah was waiting by the stairs, and without speaking, led the younger girl up to where tom was lying in his bed. the older woman hugged her quickly before leaving and shutting the door behind her, letting her niece and husband have their last moments together.

thalia sat on the bed, and held his hand. it was clear his days were up.

"don't leave me, uncle tommy. you can't."

she couldn't bear for him to be the sixth person to die in three years. he was all she had left of her family.

"as long as you fly," iceman rasped, not bothering to type when the end was so near. "i will always be with you in the backseat. when you're in the air, i'll be right beside you." thalia let out a quiet sob, leaning down and curling into his side like a young child. "thalia grace jackson, you are one of my greatest achievements on this planet. you may not be my daughter, but you goddamn might as well be. i am so proud of you, kiddo."

she wrapped her arms around him, not trusting words to come out. "shall i get auntie sarah?"

he nodded. "i want you both beside me when i go." 

she stood and slipped out of the room, telling her aunt that he was ready. 

sarah squeezed her hand as they re-entered the room, sitting in the armchair next to her husband's bed as thalia resumed her previous position. tom's frail hands stroked her hair, lulling her to sleep as grief overwhelmed her.

she distinctly heard sarah and tom talking, but it was muffled, and she was so tired, so she let go of the threads keeping her awake, and fell into the void of nightmares and dreams.

------

when she woke, a cold hand was stiff on her shoulder. thalia closed her eyes and walked out of the room. she couldn't bear to see her uncle, her godfather, her mentor, on his bed with his eyes closed in the clutches of the endless sleep that is death. sarah was downstairs on the phone when she left, tears running down her wrinkled face. 

her bag was still on the back of her motorcycle where she left it the previous night, and she slung it on her back. thalia hopped on the bike, and swerved out of the driveway to the TOPGUN base.

-----

it was past briefing time when she arrived, and she after pulling on her flightsuit and grabbing her vest she hesitated behind the door to the radio room, hearing cries of panic. all she heard was that coyote was in G-loc as she sprinted downstairs to her jet, pulling on her gear as she did, and starting it up before pulling out of the bay and lifting off the tarmac. 

through her comms, she could hear the cries of pete, natasha and bob trying to snap him out of it to no avail. her grief was pushed aside as she sped through the air to where the training course ended. 

"this is fireball, incoming to your position," she said, shocking the three who were still responsive. 

their voices of confusion flooded through, and she knew there would be similar responses on the ground, but she ignored them and continued to push her jet's limits to coyote's position. 

"maverick," thalia said. "you need to get a missile lock on him. it should snap him out of it. once you've done that i can guide him back to base, but i don't know if i can make it on time."

he replied instantly. "copy that. attempting missile lock."

thalia could see them by the time the tone rang through, and coyote's gasp came through loud and clear. 

"shit!" he yelled. "shit! shit! shit!"

"coyote," thalia soothed, "i'm coming to guide you back."

maverick stayed on his wing as she drew closer, pausing by phoenix and bob to give them a nod, but the second problem of the day came through.

"bird attack!" maverick called, seconds too late. 

thalia swerved her plane to cover the duo behind her, letting out a horrified yell as a few birds of the flock bypassed her straight into their engine.

"fuck!" came the yell of bob, as he informed phoenix of engine failure.

"guys, you need to eject, your right engine is on fire. whatever you do, don't restart-" maverick's warning fell short. 

in the panic of trying to help the pilot and her backseater, thalia's own problems remained unnoticed as alarms blared at her. both engines were out, and flames licked from the left side. she frantically tried to stay in control, but kept her voice calm as she spoke to her team-mates.

"there's no saving it, phoenix. the plane does not matter. you need to eject right now."

when natasha made no move to pull the handles, thalia yelled at bob to pull the rings. 

"get the both of you out of there, bob!" she cried in desperation. her words snapped him out of his panic and he opened the canopy and pulled the ejection handles, causing the two to fly out the plane and parachutes to open above them. 

"mav," thalia whispered. "i need to eject."

it was then the remaining two pilots noticed the raging fire in her jet that had spread to both engines. the plane spiralled uncontrollably as she opened the canopy and yanked on the ejection handles. 

her seat went to soar up, but her head hit the canopy as it did, and the seat was knocked to the side, the girl in it unconscious. 

maverick watched the incident with horror in his eyes as the three parachutes sent the aviators to the ground. "we need, uh, search and rescue for fireball, phoenix and bob, at coordinates: 39°25'17.99" N -118°42'5.99" W. bring a med team, fireball is injured."

1085 words- DRAMAAAA!- C xox