Blondie- A Jake 'Hangman' Seresin fanfiction

Chapter 13

"Admiral Haines?"

Georgie looked up as Maverick stopped what he had been doing, turning to face the admiral.

"I heard there was a football game going on, thought I'd come down and have a look." He smiled at the surprised faces of his inferiors. "Who's winning?"

"No idea," Maverick admitted.

"It's definitely my team, sir," Jake insisted.

"Alright, I'll take your word for that, Jake," he winked. "You tend to have good judgement. Please, continue playing, don't let me disturb you."

"Alright then, where were we?" Maverick asked.

"Mars just scored a touchdown," Jake offered.

"No she didn't," Bradley argued. "She didn't get over the line."

"Does it really matter? We aren't even keeping score," Maverick sighed. "Let's just reset."

"By the way, Captain," the admiral broke in. "It's a quarter to five. When did you last have a break?"

"Is it really? I took off my watch." Maverick shook his head. "Alright then, let's call it a day. I assume you'll all be heading into the Hard Deck, but remember, report to the dock for 08:00 tomorrow morning, mission will be 09:00 Thursday, from the carrier. Dismissed."

As Maverick had predicted, everyone made a beeline for the bar, but Georgie and Jake stopped to talk to the admiral.

"Are you coming in, Dad?" Georgie asked, nodding towards the bar.

"No, thank you, I think my Hard Deck days are over. I'll see you both on the carrier, alright? Enjoy yourselves."

"Later, admiral," Jake called, and they followed the others into the bar. They were immediately met with the sight of Lainey and Coyote kissing again.

"Great, now they're gonna be all over each other for the entire trip," Jake sighed.

"I'm so happy for them," Georgie smiled. "And I'm sure we were like that at the start. When we saw each other."

"Yeah, but that's different, because it's us."

They reached the others at the bar.

"I am joking," he clarified.

"I know," Georgie assured him.

"Georgie!" Penny called over, "was that your dad I saw out there?"

"The one and only," she grinned in reply. "I did try getting him to come in, but he wouldn't."

"Good," Payback broke in, "the last thing we need is an admiral breathing down our necks when we're off duty."

"You say that, but last night he spent ten minutes telling us about the time him and his mates got drunk and tried to steal an F-14," Jake smirked.

"They nearly threw him out of the navy," Georgie sighed, shaking her head. "The worst bit is it was his bachelor party. It was like a week before he married my mom."

"No wonder he likes you so much, you look like a perfect officer compared to him," grinned Rooster, nudging him.

Half an hour later, the group had spread out a bit, some of them playing pool and some of them at a nearby table. Georgie had been watching Jake and Payback play Phoenix and Rooster but got a little distracted and found herself scrolling through Instagram.

"Bob," she called out across to the other side of the table. "Have you heard from Danny recently?"

"Not since about a week since I got here, why?"

"Does anyone know which number CVN the Ronald Reagan is?"

"It's CVN 76, isn't it?" Rooster offered. "Why?"

"He told you he broke up with Alex, right?" Georgie asked Bob.

"Yeah, I remember, that was the day before I left Lemoore."

"Well he got transferred onto a carrier, only I can't tell which one."

"You're telling me Danny might be on the Reagan?"

"Uh huh!"

Jake looked between Georgie, grinning like a kid on Christmas, and Bob, wide eyed and slightly red. "Who's Danny?" he asked, moving next to Georgie so he could take his shot.

"He used to work in the maintenance crew for the Screaming Eagles," she told him. "Me and Bob used to play poker with him sometimes."

"You played poker?" he stood up having made the shot and met her eyes.

"I was shit, but they wanted another player," she shrugged.

"So what I'm hearing is, the only reason you're interested in this Danny guy is because he's got your life savings," Phoenix deduced, smoothly pocketing the 8-ball. "Looks like we won, gents," she grinned.

"Nice shot," Rooster praised, pulling her in for a kiss.

"Jake, um-" Georgie turned her body to face his- "I got a lift in with Lainey, but she's ... busy- could you give me a ride home?"

"Of course," he said. "Now?"

"Please?"

"Cool." He drained the rest of his drink and handed his pool cue to Payback. "Later, y'all," he announced, then grabbed Georgie's hand and they left the bar together.