Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
↳𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐯𝐨𝐫 'see the fire I will defend, just keep on burning right to the end'
━━ 𓄼 𓄹 ━━
USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT Undisclosed Location
ABOVE THEM, the glory of dawn was slowly being eaten by low hanging clouds of a distant storm. Waves beat against the side of the carrier, but once the canopy clicked shut above her, the only sound Cam heard was her own breathing.
"All good, Berlin?" Fritz asked as he ran through their pre-flight sequence.
She stared out ahead at the runway. "I'm good." And for once, it was true.
"Dagger One, comms check," Maverick said.
"Dagger Two, up and ready," Phoenix responded.
Bradley's familiar drawl filled her ears. "Dagger Three, up and ready."
Cam adjusted her helmet. "Dagger Four. We read you, Mav."
"Dagger Spare is up and ready. Standing by," Hangman said with only the barest hint of bitterness. "Jaw still hurts, Berlin," he said over her private channel.
"Put some ice on it while we're gone," she jeered, running the test on her fire lights.
"Copy," he said back. "Hit 'em hard, Cameron."
It might have been the first time he had said her full name.
They hung in awkward silence, waiting for Maverick to respond to their roll call. She could hear the chatter of Fritz's coms behind her as he listened to the radar reports.
Finally, Rooster asked, "Sir, do you copy?" Silence. "Sir?"
Maverick's voice sounded slightly choked. "I want to thank you all for trusting me to lead you. You're the best of the best–it's an honor to be flying with you.All of you."
Cam smiled. He was talking to them all, but mostly to Bradley. She thought again of that plane roaring through the open sky of the desert. The cowboy on a motorcycle who had rescued them. Years ago, and it had brought them all here.
"We're with you, sir. All the way," Phoenix said.
"Forget the sir, Phoenix. We're all the same rank today. Dagger One, up and ready on Catapult One."
