Chapter 7: Heading Into Twilight

Monday morning. 6 AM…

Maverick walked into Vice Admiral "Cyclone" Simpson's office and then saluted him properly. Sitting next to Cyclone was Rear Admiral "Warlock" Solomon, who Maverick saluted as well.

"At ease, Captain." Cyclone stated.

"Yes, sir." Maverick replied, lowering his hand and loosening his stiff posture.

"Maverick… You have been through quite a psychological rollercoaster over the last few days. First the explosion at the bar, and then the face/off against Viper… Plus, I heard about your breakup with Penny- And then… to top it all off, your run-in with Viper's granddaughter. That is quite a lot to go through, wouldn't you say?"

"Sir, I understand your concern. But I assure you, I am ready to get back out there." Maverick insisted.

"Ha. I bet you are. But… I have some bad news." Cyclone sighed. "We are going to have to let you go, Mav."

"What!?" Maverick blurted. "This is what I love doing! You can't let me go now! I have nothing else!"

Warlock stood up and put his hand on Maverick's shoulder. "Calm down, calm down," he repeated.

Maverick shook his head in disbelief and simultaneously pulled his shoulder away. "After everything I've done for the U.S. Navy, this is how you treat me!?"

"Maverick. You are in your sixties. Isn't it time for you to let it go?… Wouldn't you rather head into your twilight years as an accomplished pilot?… maybe try to finally settle down while you are still alive?" Cyclone asked. "Hell. What about that WW2 plane project you've been working on? Wouldn't you like to find time to get that completed finally?

"Hell no, sir. I'm just getting started. In fact, I believe I have gotten even sharper since the last few assignments." Maverick assured him. "I still have plenty of gas left in the tank."

"Maverick. I'm sorry. But… this is the end of your Naval career. It's time for you to retire your wings."

"Sir, with all due respect, you are making a big mistake. I know I can still be very valuable to the Navy. Just let me stay on board. I won't let you down."

Cyclone stood up and walked over to the door. "We thought you would say that," he responded, turning the knob and opening it.

In walked Charlie Blackwood. "Maverick, you only have two options," she told him. "One. You can simply retire… or two-"

"-I'll take the second option." Maverick quickly interjected.

"Or two…" Charlie continued. "You can work with me and my team."

"Don't you work for special intelligence?" Maverick asked. "Not many special intelligence agents have a need to fly planes, do they?" He rhetorically asked.

Cyclone stepped forward. "Maverick. Let me put it to you point blank. You will be working for the highest homeland security team in the nation. Not even I have that much clearance," he mentioned. "You will have access to every military the U.S. has to offer… Even NATO!" He emphasized.

"And why would I need that much clearance? AND… What exactly is it you would be hoping to accomplish by adding me to the team?"

"We want you to help us go after the other terrorist groups, the ones who tried offering money for what they thought was a biological weapon." Charlie interjected, holding out a file with information on the terrorist cells.

Maverick took the files from out of her hand and began looking them over. He also began studying the landscapes where the terrorist cells might be located. "These are some rough terrains," he acknowledged.

"Exactly!" Charlie blurted. "We can't travel by land. We are going to need some good pilots to go in there and get these bastards. Plus, our intelligence team believes Viper might have given the terrorist groups classified information about you and/or your team before his demise. In fact, we have already reached out to the rest of your team, warning them of possible attacks. We still haven't heard back from Lieutenant Bradshaw or Lieutenant Trace."

Maverick handed Charlie the files back. "I think I know where to find those two," he stated. Then he paused for a moment, staring down at the ground… "I'll join… under one condition." He lifted up his head and looked at the three of them. "I get to pick my own team."

Charlie looked over towards Cyclone and Warlock. Both of them nodded their heads, acknowledging they approved of Mavericks demands.

Maverick then snatched the files back from Charlie's hand. "So… When do we get started?" He grinned.

"I guess we'll get started now." Charlie replied. "I believe our first step is to assemble a strike team."

7:30 AM…

Maverick and Charlie walked up to a beachhouse in Tijuana, Mexico. After knocking on the door a few times, Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw finally answered the door. He looked as if he had just woken up. His hair was a mess and he was only wearing boxer shorts.

"Mav? Charlie? What are you two doing here? I thought the Navy gave us a two week leave of absence. That is the reason for why I turned my phone off."

"The Navy doesn't want us back." Maverick stated, his face showing a serious expression.

"Pff… yeah right!" Rooster laughed it off, Maverick's face still showing a serious tone.

Suddenly… "Who's at the door?" A woman's voice yelled out from inside the beachhouse.

Rooster opened the door a bit wider to reveal Maverick and Charlie standing outside. Maverick and Charlie quickly covered their eyes because Phoenix was only wearing her bra and panties.

"Oh shit!" Phoenix blurted, quickly grabbing a blanket from off the couch and covering herself up. "What the hell are you guys doing here?"

"That's what I'm trying to get to the bottom of!" Rooster retorted.

"Aren't we supposed to be flying to Hawaii tomorrow?" Phoenix asked, her face looking puzzled.

Maverick stepped in through the doorway, causing Phoenix to try and cover up even more. "Oh, you guys are going to be flying alright… Just not to Hawaii," Maverick informed them. "Now hurry up and get dressed. We gotta go," he insisted, waving his hands about, as if to say 'move along.'

Maverick and Charlie then turned away, allowing Rooster and Phoenix to get their clothes on.

Moments later, as they walked towards Charlie's car, which was parked at the end of the driveway, Rooster asked, "What's the big hurry about anyways?"

"We have reason to believe your locations might have been compromised." Charlie replied.

"Not likely." Phoenix announced. "This is my Aunt's vacation home. I'm surprised Maverick even knew where to find us," she laughed.

Just after she laughed…

KABOOM! The entire beachhouse exploded, causing everyone to duck down and cover their eyes.

After Maverick checked to make sure the other three were okay, he got on his phone to let Cyclone and Warlock know what had just happened.

Warlock had some bad news for Maverick and company. "There was also an explosion at the base… it was Cyclone's car." He and everyone else went silent for a moment….. "I'm so sorry to have to tell you this, Maverick… Cyclone's gone. They tried to hit me too, but I stayed back for a moment to lock up the office. After Cyclone's car blew, I knew it was most likely, mine would have one underneath it as well. Sure enough, the bombsquad found one."

….. Complete silence continued… until finally, Phoenix couldn't hold back the tears any more and started crying aloud. Charlie quickly reached out to hold her, doing everything she could to comfort her.

"Why?... Why are they doing this to us?" Phoenix bellowed.

"Because they know we are the best of the best." Rooster proclaimed. "And they want us dead, because they also know… they know we are going to blow their asses off the face of this planet!" he declared.

Warlock tried once again to get Maverick's attention. "Maverick… There's something else…" he paused, waiting for Maverick to acknowledge he was listening.

"What is it?"

"Lieutenant Jake "Hangman" Seresin and Lieutenant Javy "Coyote" Machado are both missing." Warlock replied. "We were able to get ahold of them last night, but today they haven't answered back. Their last known location was at a bar in Los Angeles.

"What the hell were they doing in L.A.?" Maverick asked.

"You know how these young hotshots are. They were given two weeks off. They were probably blowing off steam, or hoping to make an impression on a couple broads… or more."

"We have to find them!" Rooster exclaimed.

"We will, Rooster. We will." Maverick assured him.

Charlie spoke up. "As of right now, after what happened with Viper, we can't say for sure if those two could be involved or not. We will have to tread lightly," she insisted.

That comment infuriated Rooster. "YOU ARE THE ONLY ONE WHO NEEDS TO TREAD LIGHTLY!" he demanded. "Those men are like brothers to me!"

Maverick quickly intervened. "Rooster's right. Viper had reason to seek revenge. Coyote and Hangman wouldn't have a reason to betray the team. If they are missing, it's either because they are passed out in a ditch somewhere from drinking too much, or they are in trouble somehow. Either way… We have to find them."

Charlie put her hands up, as if to say, she agreed. "I guess we'll have to start with the last place they were seen."

"Looks like we are heading to L.A." Phoenix declared.

Warlock was still listening in on the other side of the phone. "I have a plane heading to pick up the four of you right now. You can rendezvous at the Tijuana airbase. From there, we will get you to Los Angeles within thirty minutes."

"Copy that!" Maverick replied. "We are heading to the airbase now."