Mydaysrgreen: thank you so much for your lovely comment! I am so glad you are enjoying the development of his character!
Anahvolf: thank you so much! I have so much more planned for the two of them!
Rgauthier: hope you enjoy this chapter! So sorry for the delay! Life got crazy.
KirikaAndo: you are going to have a love/hate relationship with this story soon…but thank you for your comments! It's been fun giving him more of a backstory.
Taylor Noelle Hood: more sweet Jake on the way!
Confusion and betrayal were the two emotions that you were met with this morning. Admiral Simpson had taken over the training and changed two of the biggest parameters. The group now had to fly at a slower pace and a higher altitude. The two things that were supposed to give you all the edge and bring you home safely.
A glance around the room showed you that everyone was in agreeance to these new rules. That it was complete and utter bullshit. It didn't take long for the questions to start, but the Admiral was prepared for them. According to him, we had a better chance at a dogfight than running our plane into the side of the mountain.
But you all had come so far from day one. Sure, there were still a few things that needed to be worked out but slowing everyone down wasn't going to fix that. This seemed like a slap in the face from the higher ups. Maverick may have been a bit unorthodox with his teaching, but it worked.
Thinking back on your conversation this morning with Jake, if one of you were selected for this mission, there was a good chance you weren't coming back. You looked over to him and saw his jaw clenched and hands balled up into fists. He seemed to be just as upset as you were, but you wanted to know why. Was it because he knew he was better than this? That he wasn't getting to prove that he could do the mission the way it was intended? Or because he knew the promise he made to you this morning was about to be broken?
Before your mind was able to start spiraling, the screen behind Admiral Simpson lit up. Someone was on the course and by the looks of it, it wasn't planned. Maverick's voice came over the speakers and you couldn't help but smile at the recklessness of your Captain. It wasn't lost on you all that he was fired from his position, most likely due to the passing of his long time Wingman, Iceman. Which just added more fuel to the fire. Who fires someone after a major loss like that? Probably the same person who is willing to sign the death sentence of the four pilots and two WSO's being sent out on this mission.
The atmosphere in the room seemed lighten up some with signs of hope as Maverick easily made his way through the course. You sat up straighter as he reached phase two and hit the target seconds later without a laser guiding him. Cheers erupted when the time of 2 minutes and 15 seconds were plastered on the screen, proving to everyone that this mission can be flown. You glanced over to Admiral Simpson and couldn't read his face. It was like he wanted to be upset at the blatant disrespect of his orders but couldn't because of the impressive flying that was just displayed in front of him.
"The group of you are dismissed for the day. Be prepared to depart at 0600 hours tomorrow." And that was that. Phoenix grabbed your arm and led you to the locker room, away from everyone else. You gave her a questioning look, but she shook her head, not giving you any indication to what was happening.
The second the door was shut she turned to you and said, "I have so many questions, but first are you okay after the flight yesterday?" It was the first time you had seen her since the training flight from hell and were thankful the two of you were even having this conversation. So many things could've gone wrong yesterday.
"It was a very long day, but I'm fine now. How about you and Bob?" She sat down on the bench in front of the lockers, and you joined her. Something told you this conversation was going to be a long one.
"It didn't look good for a moment. I thought I could restart the engine but didn't realize it was already on fire. I think the worst feeling was putting Bob in danger. He said he's fine, but I think he's a bit shaken from it." You nodded your head understanding exactly how she felt.
"There were so many times I felt like I took unnecessary risks that put my WSO and I in danger. And after those flights I would always go home feeling like complete shit and apologizing the next day for it. He would always tell me that he knew the risks stepping into the plane, but he didn't trust anyone else to be flying." You heard Phoenix sigh and looked over to her. She was fiddling with her hands, making you realize she was nervous about something.
"I should've been up front with you on day one. Your old WSO, the one who died on that mission, he flew with me for a year before you." You froze at her admission and didn't know what to say to that. Part of you wanted to be mad about keeping something like that from you, but if she brought it up before now, how would that have changed things? Her voice cut through your thoughts. "He was a good friend of mine, and I didn't know how to tell you. By no means do I blame you for what happened. Missions just go that way sometimes. But he did talk about you. Told me that you were one of the best pilots he's ever flown with and that you weren't like the rest of us. You didn't have the chip on your shoulder that we all seem to be engraved with. But he considered you family, and I figured you should know that."
The first day of training she gave you a surprised look that you never thought too much about. The names of pilots always get thrown around and you figured she had heard yours from somewhere. But the last place you thought she would hear it from was the one person you would always keep close to your heart.
All you could do was nod your head and take a few breaths. "Does anyone else know about him?" You thought about her question for a second and nodded your head. "Bradley knows he died but no details. Jake on the other hand knows pretty much everything that happened." You watched as she tried to suppress a smile.
"So, it's Jake now, huh?" It was your turn to sigh. Bradley knew something was going on between the two of you, but he left it alone for the most part. You knew Phoenix wasn't going to be that forgiving.
"Yeah, it kind of just happened. He's not who I thought he was and surprisingly has been pretty helpful these last few weeks." You waited for the jab at falling for the notorious Bagman, but it never came.
"He's different with you. Fanboy visited me yesterday and told me what happened. Said Hangman lost his mind when you went into G-LOC. Took him and two others to stop him from going up there. I think everyone realized that he is in fact human, and you are his one weak spot. I want to say I'm surprised, but if anyone could give him a run for his money it's you." You couldn't help but smile at the situation. The two of you were gossiping like old friends, you only wished it would've happened sooner. Who knew it would take a suicide detachment for you to slowly become your old self again.
When the conversations stopped between the two of you, you knew it was time to go. Every moment seemed like it was moving too fast with the inevitable happening tomorrow. Phoenix said she was off to find herself a hot date for the night, not wanting to spend it alone. You knew you were spending yours with Jake, you just didn't know what exactly he had planned. A text popped up from him saying he went back to his place to change and that he would meet you at your place in a bit. It gave you time to change out of your flight suit and into something a bit more flattering.
An hour later, a knock on your door had you running around trying to put something on to not answer it in your towel. You settled for a simple red sundress with your wet hair still a mess from the shower. Jake had seen you with sweat dripping down your face after a flight and hair tangled like a bird's nest. And because of that, you weren't concerned with how he was going to see you now.
You opened the door to be met with your handsome pilot holding a bouquet of sunflowers. "I don't know how you knew I wasn't a roses type girl, but these are beautiful. Thank you." He gave you a quick kiss on the cheek and walked inside after you.
"I've come to realize that you aren't like most girls, so I took a chance on picking these." The smile he gave you was a shy one. One that you hadn't seen before, and you loved every bit of it. The ever so cocky pilot was finally unsure about something, and it warmed your heart to know it was because he wanted to impress you.
"I wasn't sure if we were doing anything today, but it felt good to get out of that flight suit." You looked him over and saw he was in casual shorts and a t shirt. Something you wished you saw him in more often.
"You look gorgeous, Darlin. Never thought I'd get the chance of seeing you in a dress." Your cheeks warmed at the complement, not knowing what to say back. You never were good at receiving them.
"I just didn't want to have to match two pairs of clothing." Partially the truth, but you wanted to show him you were more than an aviator. "Let me braid my hair real fast and then we can get going."
The next few seconds surprised you. Jake came up behind you and said that he had it. What "it" was, you had no idea. Until you felt your hair being divided into three pieces.
"You know how to braid hair?" He gave you a hum in response, focusing on twisting your hair into a neat braid.
"When I was younger my Ma told me that I would need to learn how to win over a girl's heart. She taught me how to braid hair because most guys didn't know how to do that, and it would give me a leg up. For the longest time I thought she was crazy, but I did it to please her any way." His fingers were gentle as he skillfully made his way through your hair.
"Did it win over a bunch of girls?" you had a playful tone to your voice, but his answer was serious.
"I don't know, this is the first time I'm trying it."
A/N: Thoughts? Comments? I love to hear what you all think if their story so far! Thank you so, so much for reading!