A/N: I'm back! Thank you so much for all the love for the first chapter. It warmed my heart and has inspired me to really get into this story. Here is a quick update for you all and yes, this will be a multi-chapter fic that will loosely follow Top Gun, the movie. I still haven't decided whether I will stick to certain character deaths..(so many people are against this lol) but it really depends on where my muse takes me. I have read all your reviews and comments and I hope to respond but if not know that I do appreciate you taking the time to let me know what you think.
I hope you enjoy this next installment! Please disclaimers in the first chapter.
After the briefing, the students were dismissed to go to their first class. Maura felt eyes watching her as she moved toward the exit. She spared a quick glance toward where she knew she was being watched and before she could make eye contact with the cocky aviator from the previous day, Susie came up to her. "Wow, Ice, you got called out in front of everyone! How cool was that?" Susie said almost skipping as they walked to their classroom. Susie's enthusiasm had taken Maura some time to get used to but now she looked forward to her little bundle of energy RIO. Maura gave Susie a cocky smirk and just kept walking.
"Hey, Ice, have you heard much about this newby, Maverick? Supposed to be a real beast of a pilot. Heard they did a 4G inverted maneuver with a MIG?! Can you believe that? But that can't be possible right, Ice? I mean there has never been a recorded occurrence of a MIG being able to invert, let alone at 4G!" Susie was used to Maura's silence as she went on and on in her enthusiasm. They arrived at the classroom and headed toward the front to take their usual seats. "So you think this Maverick really did that maneuver, Ice?" Susie asked but before Maura could reply, a deep raspy chuckle could be heard...from their seats. As they approached, they saw that it was the cocky aviator and her wingman from the bar.
"Yes, Maverick did successfully complete an inverted maneuver in the MIG-28, previously thought to be impossible." The cocky pilot said with a dimpled grin.
"Excuse me, you are in our seats" was all Maura volleyed back at her despite the dimples having a slight effect on her ability to get the words out.
"Really, I didn't see anything about assigned seating" was the response from the still grinning aviator. Maura noticed the deep brown eyes held a mischievous glint. Maura was trying to ignore the internal turmoil those eyes were causing her. After the incident at the bar the night before, Maura knew just what this pilot was capable of and she was not going to have it here, at work, in her domain.
"Seeing as you are clearly brand new here, I will explain this one time. Slider and I sit here for all classroom courses. Being Top Gun at Top Gun allows certain perks and one of those is sitting wherever I please. So, if you and your wingman here would kindly vacate our seats, we can all get back to the business of being the top naval pilots this country has ever seen. Well, at least some of us can get back to that." Maura finished with a slight smirk and a casual condescending look toward the pilot. As she had been talking, she had watched as the cocky grin had turned to a scowl with pursed lips. Unfortunately, this did nothing to make the pilot any less alluring. In fact, the look of determination on the beautiful woman's face brought out a fierceness that was really starting to effect Maura's blood flow.
As the now pissed off aviator was about to respond, the instructor for the class came into the room and all talking had to cease. Maura looked pointedly at them once more and watched as they reluctantly moved down the row to other seats. Feeling smug, she made a sweeping arm motion signalling Susie to take a seat and they both sat down with satisfied smirks on their faces.
"Good morning, I am Charlotte Blackwood, for the new folks, your instructor for advanced maneuvers here at Top Gun. I go by Charlie so use it just as you would all of the call signs you pilots have. I would like to get started by reviewing some footage of recent encounters with enemy combatants."
The lights dimmed and Maura was all business focusing on what was occuring on the large screen. There was no audio, which was unusual, but Maura could only guess the mission had been extremely top secret. She was kind of surprised they were able to watch it all if that was the case. But as the scene unfolded, it became very clear why. The flying by the US pilot in the footage was spectacular. A bit risky at times, but the manner in which they engaged the enemy and ultimately succeeded, was quite breathtaking. Maura had seen footage of herself and knew that her flying was just as good but for once Maura felt that maybe there was someone better out there.
As the lights came up, Charlie said "Ok, that was a recent engagement between Maverick and an enemy MIG. As some of you know, Maverick has joined Top Gun recently. So, this is your chance to debrief directly from the horse's, or in this case, aviator's mouth." Maura looked around waiting to see which person would prove to be the elite pilot. All this talk of Maverick and no one really seemed to have described what the aviator looked like. "Lt. Rizzoli, care to enlighten the class as to the specifics of what we have just seen?" Charlie asked.
Suddenly, just a few seats over, that deep raspy voice that Maura was beginning to get addicted to perked up. "Well as you can see, the MIG came up on our six out of nowhere. Goose here had been monitoring radar and nothing and then, bam, right on our tail…"
Maura stopped listening. No, this couldn't be right. The tall drink of water that had been pursuing her since the night before and had quickly become a thorn in her side was the infamous Maverick?! Maura stole a look at Susie and saw the puppy dog eyes that had taken over her face as she listened to Maverick continue to describe the encounter.
Trying to refocus on the topic at hand, Maura realized she was in deep trouble. For more than one reason, if the wetness in her flight suit was any indication.
A/N: What? Maura likes a cocky Jane!? Shocking I know lol.