It had been a week of the early wake up calls and you were getting close to nailing the course. Maverick voiced his concern early on, but knew it was a losing battle and settled for watching on the side. Even though the group trained together, it still seemed like it was everyone for themselves. Things between Bradley and Hangman only seemed to worsen, and Maverick was at his wits end. Today was the last straw for everyone.

Phoenix, Bob, and Coyote were up running through training while the rest of you sat in the room watching the simulation. You were falling asleep sitting up in a chair until Bradley nudged you. "Maybe you should take a break for a few days and get some actual rest. You look shit."

"Wow, Rooster. Way to make a girl feel good about herself. And I almost have everything down. A few more training days aren't going to make a difference." You heard someone scoff from the other side of the room and didn't have to look to figure out who it was. Bradley was all over it.

"I don't know what you said to her, but you are the reason she's doing this. So do us all a favor and keep your mouth shut for once." You tipped your head back and closed your eyes, not wanting to get into any of that.

"All I said was that she wasn't ready. Same thing I said to you except she actually realizes she needed to do something and not just mope around like a kicked puppy." Hangman didn't know when to stop, and you mentally noted that it was his biggest downfall. You opened your eyes when you heard a chair get knocked over and saw Bradley red in the face.

"And you are ready for this? Because the only thing I've seen you do is leave your team behind and still not make the time. You should be the one out there working to get better, not Ghost."

You stood up to leave when Bradley asked where you were going. "We have a job to do and sitting around here pointing the finger isn't going to fix it. Say what you want about each other, but the last time I wasn't prepared for something, my WSO died." Both froze when you said that and decided now was the best time walk away. Nearly running into Maverick on the way out, he stopped you and asked what was going on. "Dumb and dumber are at it again. Didn't feel like playing the middle child."

The look on his face told you he was done with everyone's shit. "Grab stuff for a workout. We are getting off base." Trying your hardest not to groan at his choice of words, you walked off to your locked to get changed.

Maverick took us to the beach and refused to say why until we were all there. You all carpooled with each other, but there were seldom any conversations. Bob, bless his heart, tried to talk about something he saw on TV the other night to lighten the mood. It was more of him awkwardly talking to himself about it, but you appreciated his attempt.

The group of you were at the beach in front of the Hard Deck. Maverick very clearly had a thing for Penny, and you didn't think this spot was chosen at random. He began to explain what the hell you were doing out here and it didn't take long for you to label him as crazy. Dogfight football was the team building exercise Maverick deemed would work. Everyone was split into two teams, both playing offence and defense at the same time. From the outside looking in, it looked like a whole cluster of a mess.

But thank God for sunglasses because all these guys with their shirts off was a much welcome distraction. You had to keep reminding yourself to keep your eyes off Hangman, because it would do you zero good if he caught you looking. It should be a sin for someone to look that good but have the personality of a teenager on steroids.

Teams were spilt up and you of course had to be on opposing sides of Hangman. The smirk he gave you when he lined up in front of you made you shake your head. "Better stay focused, darlin'. Wouldn't want your feelings to get hurt when you lose."

Even though you tried your hardest not to, a smile broke through. "My only goal is to make sure Mr. All American gets his ass handed to him by a girl."

Surprising you both, he full heartedly laughed. "Good luck with that, sweetheart."

The game started and it took a few rounds of all of you to grasp the concept. Maverick played the first bit with you, showing off that he still had it after all these years. Him and Bradley exchanged a few laughs, making most of the tension from the last week dissipate. The California sun was beating down on you and you needed to cool off if you wanted to keep playing. You didn't want to admit it quite yet, but this was a pretty good idea on Mav's part. A whistling sound caught your attention as you took your shirt off, leaving you in a sports bra and shorts. Phoenix wasn't too far behind you and the pair of you smirked when you realized most of the eyes were on you.

You snuck a quick glance at Hangman and the butterflies erupted in your stomach when you saw he was staring right at you, taking you all in. "Thought it was a bit of an unfair advantage for you boys and decided you needed a distraction." You walked back over to the group and got in position in front of Hangman again.

In the most ridiculous southern accent you said, "Better stay focused, darlin'. Wouldn't want to hurt your ego." The pair of you smiled at each other and a spark of competitiveness took over.

Hondo blew the whistle, and you side stepped Hangman, successfully getting around him. The sudden quickness caught him off guard and gave you a few second advantage to get near the end zone. You knew he was hot on your tail when you made eye contact with Rooster to throw you the ball. Putting everything you had into it, you jumped up in the air to grab the ball that was sailing your way. The figure behind you did the same thing and grabbed your waist to try and pull you away from the football. Somehow you managed to get a hold of it and landed on the ground with a thud. The breath was knocked out of you, and it didn't help that Hangman was kneeling over you with his hand on side.

"Shit, Ghost. Are you okay?"

You caught your breath and nodded your head. "Does it hurt?"

He looked down at you confused. "Does what hurt?"

A smirk appeared on your face as you asked, "Your ego?"

He tipped his head back and laughed then reached forward to help you up. You took the offered hand, and it was nearly comical watching your hand disappear in his. "I didn't think you had it in you."

You looked up at him as he said that. "Sports may not be my thing, but I don't like being second best."

The rest of the afternoon was spent playing Maverick's made-up game and all tension was gone from the group. You all knew it was back to work in the morning, but for once you put that worry to the side and enjoyed the moment.

The excitement and carefree attitude were long gone when you woke up from a nightmare. Memories from the past riddled your dreams and dread was the only thing you felt as you got out of bed. It was only 3 in the morning, but you knew there was no chance you could get back to sleep. It had been months since the last time this happened, and you foolishly thought you were getting better.

You decided to start getting ready for the day, maybe getting away with starting your morning training earlier. Your body went through the motions as your mind seemed to be trapped in the past, struggling to find its way back. Throwing yourself into training was the only solution you had, even though it wasn't the healthiest.

Within the hour, you were walking through the familiar halls of Top Gun and starting to feel a bit more like yourself. It was quiet, peaceful almost, as the base wasn't yet awake. You slipped into the locker room and grabbed your flight suit, pausing when you saw the picture tapped on the inside of your locker. The nightmare hit you with full force and you could feel the beginnings of a panic attack setting in. You had pushed these feelings off for so long that you had no choice but to give into the spiraling terror.

Hangman got to base early to try and get in a few laps before the others. Rooster was right when he said he had no room to talk. He had no idea when Ghost would get in, only knowing the spitfire pilot was always here and done before the rest of the group. The base was nearly silent except for a noise he heard in the locker room. It was close to 5am and it honestly didn't surprise him that Ghost would already be getting ready. He quietly opened the door and froze with what he saw. The normally put together girl he's come to admire was sitting on the floor against the lockers, struggling to catch her breath.

It took him a second to snap out of the initial shock and quickly walked over to her. He placed a hand on her shoulder, kneeling in front of her, but she either didn't care or didn't feel it. "Ghost, hey I need you to look at me." She was focused on the floor, tears streaming down her face.

He squeezed her shoulder to try to get through to her, "Darlin' I need you to breathe for me. You're going to pass out if you keep this up." She seemed to understand that someone else was here with her, but that state of panic didn't let up.

He took her face in his hands and forced her to look at him, "Sweetheart look at me. You need to mirror my breathing." He placed one of her hands on his chest and watched her eyes follow the movement. "Good girl. Deep breath in with me and then out." The blonde pilot over exaggerated the movements for her to follow them. He kept it up until her voice broke through the silence.

"I should've been better. I was the reason he was killed." And in that moment, Hangman had never felt more heartbroken in his life.

A/N: Likes? Dislikes? I've had so much fun writing this story so far and cannot wait to share the rest with you! Thank you so much for reading!

-C