FIREBALL

Chapter 12

maverick was sat at the bar in the hard deck when thalia approached him, a soft smile on her face. 

"mav, i hope you haven't packed up just yet. i still need your skills for a couple more days." 

he tried to apologise, having heard from the team what she had done, but she waved it off, carrying on her speech.

"i need you back to help me teach them what you taught me. what i did out there, that was for them, for you. that was for the hope that our crew might survive this mission. i need you on that carrier with me when i choose my team. i need you on that carrier, guiding us through the dangers, because you are our teacher. our instructor. our mentor. and you need to live up to that, and help me give that crew a kick up the ass and a bit of hope that we can come back." her chest heaved slightly and her eyes shone with a million emotions. "what do you say, pete? you in?"

pete nodded slowly, a shit-eating grin widening on his face as he did so. he pulled thalia into a hug. "thank you."

"it's what uncle tommy would have wanted me to do."

his brow furrowed as he recalled her speech. "what did you mean, by the way, when you said about ice's brother, and his wife and son. i though he only had one brother."

"he did. that was my dad, my mum, and brother. jake, my brother, died on a mission for the marines, my mum killed herself the same day when they got the call. she was abusive to us, but loved us in her own twisted way. i learnt to forgive and forget- focus on the good times. my dad killed himself a year later on the anniversary of their deaths." she gave a wry smile. "it makes it a lot easier and a lot harder having all their deaths on the same day. less dates to remember, but three times the grief."

pete opened his mouth to say something, but closed it again as the crew came up behind thalia quietly, ready to scare her.

hangman got close behind her, counting on his fingers: three, two, one, "boo!"

she spun round, her fist flying as she did so, and it landed square in the centre of his stomach to which hangman let out a loud wheeze and hunched over.

thalia struggled to stop her laugh spilling out, her face turning redder and redder as she did so. once she thought she had control of it, she finally looked at the rest of the group, but as she made eye contact with rooster, they both lost it, everyone else following soon after.

every time the laughter died down into giggles, bradley and thalia would look at each other again and snort a laugh, sending the whole group, including hangman, into hysterics. 

maverick finally got his students to calm down, letting out a chuckle as natasha helped thalia up from where she'd fallen off her chair. his tactic for doing so, however, he soon regretted.

"game of darts? whoever loses has to buy everyone else a round?"

bob shook his head in a panic, remembering all too well the night after the first day of training, and thalia's impeccable aim. "bad idea, mav," he warned, his thick texan accent even stronger after his laughing fit. 

hangman shook his head. "don't worry, bob, i drink a cheap drink," he grinned confidently.

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hangman shook his head, grumbling as he handed penny his card to pay for the round. 

"need some help there, bagman?" thalia teased, her crown from winning at an angle on her head. he gave her a look, and she laughed, the sound bubbling from her lips like a waterfall.

"you're laughing now, fireballs, but when you lose the next round, guess who'll be laughing then," he warned jokingly.

he did not, however, win the next round, or any of the rounds for that matter, the crown fixed permanently on thalia's copper hair. 

at the end of the night, the crew posed for a photo in front of the hard deck sign for penny to fix to the wall. maverick stood next to the blonde bartender, grinning at his students. 

fritz, harvard, yale and omaha were stood in various superhero poses. coyote was in hangman's arms in a bridal lift as they winked at the camera, and phoenix and bob were kneeling next to and pointing at thalia's head as she was held upside-down by rooster. the whole group was laughing when penny clicked the button, living in the moment, instead of worrying about tomorrow.

770 words- the shortest chapter in the book so far! holy shit this has taken me three days wtf- C xox