The next morning Sophie was the first one to the beach, her aviator glasses covering her eyes, her dark hair tied up in a ponytail as she wore shorts and a wetsuit top over her sports bra. It felt weird being in beachwear for a training exercise but it had been a text from her dad that had told her that they wouldn't be flying today.
She sat down on the stairs to the HotDeck bar, listening to the waves and birds as she watched the sunrise and empty bottle beside her. Just taking a moment to smile at the memories of doing this with her mom when she'd been younger. She could hear bottles being shifted behind her as Penny continued to tidy up from the night before, she had gone in and offered to help only to end up accidentally helping Amelia with her Math homework. She'd eventually been thrown out when Penny had noticed her, a coke thrown in her direction in thanks.
Her silent reprieve wasn't long however as the sounds of jokes and taunts got closer. Her gaze flickered to her left at the sound and couldn't help but roll her eyes as Harvard, Yale, Hangman and Coyote appeared from the parking lot, all suitably dressed for the beach. Sophie kept her face neutral as the four came down onto the beach, and twisted her head back to face the waves, her aviators keeping her hardened stare hidden from view.
"Hey mini-Mitchell. How are you this fine morning?" Hangman greeted, not able to resist using his new favourite nickname for her. Sophie did her best not to react, but found herself wishing internally that he'd go back to calling her crispy duck.
"Leave her alone Hangman." Another voice countered, making the group of Five look over, Sophie sent a small smile to Phoenix, though it fell a moment later as Rooster walked past. His signature Hawaiian shirt flapping as he headed directly towards where Hondo could be seen down the beach, saying nothing to the group that had began to crowd around the sitting girl.
"Ooh, Still not talking?" Hangman pretended to whisper to the girl, laughing when she stood up and pushed past the group.
"We're going to be late." She bit out, Phoenix and Bob glaring at the group as they followed a after her.
The group of Graduates lined up as they arrived down by Hondo. Sophie wincing as she unintentionally landed beside Rooster, subconsciously going standing beside her original pilot in her haste to get away from Hangman. She kept her eyes ahead, saying nothing as Rooster took a small step to the right, her only saviour being Phoenix offering a nudge of encouragement. Maverick appeared only five minutes later, a cool box and two footballs with him. He threw one to Rooster and the other to Hangman.
"Right. Time for some basic team building, we'll be playing Dogfight Football. You'll be split into two groups, both will have a coloured ball. Aim of the game is to score and defend your line at the same time." Maverick explained, smirking as he did so his eyes still hidden behind his own aviators. His gaze flickered between his daughter and Rooster, trying not to frown at the tension. Sophie eyed her dad with narrowed eyes, wondering what his aim was with this.
"Who wins?" Hangman asked, smirking with Coyote.
"Whoever scores the most." Maverick shrugged, beginning to mark out their playing field, "Hondos assigned teams."
"Red Team. Hangman. Coyote. Harvard. Yale. Fanboy, Fritz and Halo." Hondo read off his clipboard. Sophie tensing as she quickly realised her and Roosters name hadn't been read. She chanced a glance up at her ex-pilot and winced as he caught him glaring down at the sand.
"Blue team. Rooster, Bob, Phoenix, Hawk, Omaha, Payback, Maverick." Sophie let out a shaky breath as she realised Rooster was with enemy one and two. She glanced at her dad who smiled at her reassuringly, telling her silently he had done this on purpose. She glanced at Phoenix who also sent her an easy smile, letting her know she was with her.
"Let's get this started." Maverick called, all the graduates coming over to the marked field and sorting themselves into either side and kicking off the game.
They hadn't been playing long when all the tensions of the past few days began to melt away for Hawk, her competitiveness making her focus on the game more than staying out of Roosters way. Rooster's own competitiveness took centre stage as he and Hawk scored point after point, working silently together. Maverick stuck to the sidelines, trying to keep a smile off his face as Rooster lifted Hawk in the air with a cheer after their fifth grounding. He shared a look with Hondo who gave a thumbs up in support, knowing that while Maverick had been concerned about the idea, it seemed to be working.
The group played for a few hours, everyone bar Sophie stripping off to their lowest layers as they got warmer and warmer from all the intense workout. It was about this point that Maverick decided to take a break, having lost count on the score a while ago. He was happy with his decision to focus on teamwork, having noticed even Hangman and Rooster sharing a passing smile.
Sophie panted as she ran to catch another long throw from Rooster, smiling again when she managed to catch and ground it before Coyote could grab her. She let out a small cheer, tossing the ball back to Phoenix as she came back to her side of the field. Bob patted her on the back in congratulations as she smiled widely at Rooster who shared the smile. They silently prepared for the next round, Phoenix immediately tossing the ball to Hawk as the whistle blew. Hawk managed two steps forward when she was tackled roughly by Harvard and dropped the ball, she grunted as she fell to the ground her breath leaving her. Harvard got up and apologised, her waving him off as she took a moment to recover. She pushed herself up to a sitting position and shook the sand off her hair.
"Hawk, watch it." She heard just before a ball came into contact with her face. She groaned, her hand coming up to her nose, only to frown as she felt a warm liquid. She pulled her hand away to see blood and sighed.
"Great." She breathed, ignoring the small group forming around her. She pushed herself up, muttering she was going to go tidy herself up, Phoenix patting her on the back as she passed. Rooster stood off to the side, silently watched her go, his worry for her battling his frustration.
"Alright, take 5." Hondo ordered, seeing some of the group taking the moment to have a seat on the ground and realising how long they'd been going. The group all divided out into their normal groups. Rooster standing with Phoenix and Bob.
"Didn't you know you and Hawk were so good at Football." Phoenix offered Rooster who shrugged his shoulders.
"We used to play it against her cousins." He explained before a frown came over his face as he realised where the game had probably come from all those years ago. Phoenix not noticing the shift in Roosters mood just nodded.
"Certainly came in useful." She offered with a smile before her gaze fell on a smirking Hangman sharing a laugh with Harvard, "what's he planning." Rooster followed Phoenixes gaze, finding himself wondering the same as Hangman started smirking and looking in his direction.
"Let's find out." Rooster offered, leading his way over to the group.
"Rooster, Phoenix, Bob." Hangman greeted with a smirk as they came over. Harvard and Yale sharing a knowing look with the man.
"Hangman." Rooster greeted suspiciously, eyeing the three with narrowed eyes.
"We were just talking about Hawk, she looked like she was getting quite the work out." Hangman shrugged, "Yale was wondered why she hadn't taken off her top since it's so hot out." Rooster felt his eyes narrow at the topic of conversation but said nothing as Hangman continued, "I told him it was cause she must have some major scars after her accident but he didn't believe me, so what would you say Rooster?"
"Hangman, shut it." Phoenix interrupted, seeing Rooster tensing and nudging the man, "let's go get some water."
"Now hang on, all I'm askin is if she has any." Hangman shrugged with a smirk, enjoying being able to wind Rooster up so easily, "I mean she was your backseater before she lied to you. You'd know, wouldn't you?"
"She does." Rooster bit out in anger before slamming his mouth closed, not having meant to reveal anything but had let it slip out before he could stop it. Phoenix glared at Rooster who had the decency to look away.
"Hey, catch Rooster." Coyote grinned as he hoped over the banister of the HotDeck Bar and tossed a familiar looking top at the man. Rooster caught it without thinking, only to frown when he looked it over and quickly realised it was Sophie's.
"What's… oh no." Phoenix suddenly breathed, her eyes meeting the clearly distressed owner of the top who was standing on the stairs to the HotDeck breathing deeply. Rooster followed Phoenix'a gaze for his eyes to widen as he saw Sophie for the first time in months without sleeves covering her arm.
Sophie breathed deeply as she stood in full few of her supposed team mates, her eyes narrowing in on her top that had been stolen from the bathroom without her noticing. She'd stupidly taken it off when she'd gone to clean up her nose bleed, not wanting blood on it and wanting a moment without clothing clinging to her shoulder. She hadn't realised it was missing until she'd been about to leave.
She wasn't stupid. She knew everyone would know of at least consider she'd have burn marks after her accident. She knew it wasn't something she should be ashamed off, her therapist had told her as much, but she liked the safety net of long sleeves. She didn't get stares. She didn't get questions. She didn't have to face it. Didn't have to relive it every day.
The group of men had the decency to look a bit concerned as they saw the extent of her burns, the skin covering the top of her left arm and shoulder being bright red compared to her usually pale complexion, giving away the exact location that the fuel has spattered on her. Her shoulders were tense as she tried to control her breathing, her eyes were filled with a mixture of fear and anger as she stared at the top in the hands of one of her most trusted friends.
"Soph," Rooster breathed, his anger with her for lying to him diminishing as he watched her face the group, knowing she'd be feeling completely vulnerable without the top. He took a step towards her, trying not to wince as she stood a step back.
"Bradshaw." She spat back, Rooster trying not to flinch at her use of his last name- something she hadn't done since they'd met. Her eyes moved from the top in his hands to his face, "if you'd wanted to get even…"
"I didn't, this wasn't me." Rooster cut in immediately, needing to ensure she knew that. Yes, he was angry with her, he may have hated her for a moment but she wasn't wrong when she'd said they were best friends, he knew he wouldn't have stayed angry at her forever as much as he hated to admit it.
"What's going on?" Mavericks voice cut in, having noticed the stand off from his position talking to Hondo further down the beach. He'd come over, frowning when he'd noticed Sophie's scare on full display, something he'd never seen.
"Nothing, Sir." Sophie responded as calmly as she could, taking another breath as she clenched her fists, looking away as her father saw her scars for the first time. She kept her eyes on the horizon as she marched down the steps, grabbing her top from Rooster and sliding it on without saying anything as she continued to walk down the beach. The group she left watched her go, Phoenix, Bob and Rooster all trying to hold in varying degrees of anger on behalf of Sophie.
Maverick eyes the group with a heavy stare, waiting for them to either separate or to explain, not wanting to risk a fight breaking out over whatever his daughter believed was 'nothing'. Rooster and Hangman seemed to share a long stare before Hangman shook his head and walked off. Rooster glaring after him.
"Get back to it." Maverick ordered the remaining, gesturing for Hondo to set the game back up again. He watched them all walk away, before he let out a sigh.
Sophie went back into the game with extra vigour, not talking to Rooster but working with Phoenix to defend the line instead, leaving Bob to run for the long ones. Her face remains stoic as she focused on the game, her tackles becoming slightly more rough as she admittedly took out some frustration. It wasn't long until a small smile did manage to break through her cold demeanour, unable to stop herself as she watched Bob land his first touchdown. She stood back and watched as the group celebrated without her, her smile falling slightly as she silently reset by herself, trying to shake off the anger from the vulnerability. It wasn't until she got pulled into a silent half hug by a familiar arm that she felt a smile touch the sides of her face and her chest lighten, her darker feelings fading slightly.
The game continued with frequent breaks until the sun began to set, Maverick being the first one to call it a night. The group let out various whoops and groans, but decided it best to follow their captains lead. Sophie waved her goodbye to the group, a tight smile on her face as she headed to her bike.
Rooster said nothing as he watched her leave, debating if he should speak to her or not. Phoenix watched him, shaking her head when she heard Hawks bike tearing out the parking lot, much faster than she should have been going, knowing Rooster had missed his chance.
"You're an idiot." Phoenix muttered to him as she followed him up the beach to his jeep.
"What?" Rooster questioned twisting to face her even as he continued to walk backwards, confusion all over his face.
"She's your best friend. So what she didn't tell you who her dad was?" Phoenix shrugged, hoping into the passenger seat. Rooster bristled at the reminder, a dark look occurring his face.
"He pulled…"
"Pulled your papers. I know. But that was Maverick, not Hawk. She's been busting her ass keeping you safe. You don't seriously think she did it just to spy on you for him? She probably knew you'd react like this and just prayed it never come up." Phoenix offered as an explanation with a shrug. Bob keeping quiet on the back, "maybe you should talk to her?"
Rooster let out a sigh, thinking over what she'd just said before nodding his head. Silently agreeing with Phoenix.
"I'll talk to her tomorrow." He promised.