"We need to do what?"

"Get Enterprise a girlfriend," Hornet repeated, grinning like the cat that had eaten the canary. "Or boyfriend, whoever. But I've already got my eye on someone."

Northampton, Yorktown, and I all shared a puzzled look before we looked back at Hornet. "Who?" we all asked in unison.

"Vestal."

"Vestal?" Northampton repeated before she reached up to place a hand on Hornet's forehead. "Hon, are you feeling well?"

"Knock it off, I'm fine," Hornet scowled as she batted her girlfriend's hand away. "I've got my reasons."

"I think we should hear her out."

Northampton and Yorktown both looked at me as if I had joined in Hornet's madness. "Look, she picked Northampton," I quickly explained, "and she helped us get together, so she's clearly had some success. I say we let the crazy lady make her case."

"Thanks, Max, I-" Her smile died as she realized what I'd just called her. "Hey!" She scowled at me for a half second but made her pitch all the same. "Over the past months, she's been spending a lot of time at the hospital, and I don't mean the time she spent with me and Yorktown. She hung around Vestal quite a bit, too."

"Yeah, but Vestal was your doctor," I countered. "She could've been talking about your repairs."

Hornet nodded slowly, but there was a smug grin on her face. "Maybe…but every so often, she'd stare at Vestal for a good couple of seconds and smile. I'm tellin' ya, there's something there, we just need to create the right opportunity for them to realize it."

I hadn't noticed, but on the other hand, Hornet presumably knew her sister better than I. I glanced at Northampton and Yorktown, who both shrugged. "Alright, Hornet, what did you have in mind?"

Hornet's grin returned as she leaned in conspiratorially. "So here's the plan…"

"A shakedown cruise, sir?"

Enterprise seemed perplexed at the proposal, which, given the rather sudden and random nature, was understandable.

"Yes," I confirmed as I leaned back in my chair. "A shakedown cruise." Before she could object, I held up my hand. "Now, I understand that you've just come back from combat duty and your refit has just started, but I want to try out a new way to try and identify the problem areas faster. So what you and Vestal are going to be doing is taking a cruise around the local islands, doing a few full power tests and maneuvers while she takes readings in real-time. This way, she gets to get a good understanding of you and your rigging. An almost…intimate understanding, you might say."

Her cheeks flushed slightly, and her violet eyes suddenly broke away from mine, telling me that Hornet just might be on the money with this one. I did my best to suppress my grin as I continued. "So you'll get underway tomorrow, take a few days, and then once you've returned, report back to me. Any questions?"

Enterprise earnestly shook her head. "No, sir."

"Very well, then," I nodded. "Dismissed."

With a sharp salute, she spun on her heels and headed out of my office, pausing briefly to give Yorktown a friendly nod. She and I waited until we heard Enterprise's footfalls fade down the hallway before we decided to compare notes.

"So, you think it'll work?" Yorktown asked as she hurried over to my desk.

I looked over at the door, thinking it over before I finally answered her. "Maybe. Hornet was definitely onto something," I grinned up at her. "She blushed and averted her eyes when I said 'intimate understanding'."

"Interesting," she mused. "Although you did overplay your hand a bit on that one."

I shrugged helplessly. "Subtlety's not my strong suit. Why I'm an admiral, not a spy."

"You would look quite dashing in a tuxedo, though," Yorktown smirked as she leaned down to kiss me.

"Mmm, I'll keep that in mind," I grinned back. "In any case, I think we've created the perfect conditions for those two. Either they'll figure it out or we'll go to plan B."

Yorktown's brows furrowed as she tried to recall our backup proposal. "What was plan B again?"

"Lock them in a room together and tell them we won't let them out until they sort their feelings for each other."

"Ah, yes," Yorktown sighed. "Effective, but it seems so unromantic."

"Which is why we're going with Hornet's plan first," I agreed. "So what's next on the agenda for today?"

An unusually coy look crossed her face as she strode over to her desk and picked up her planner. "Paperwork through the rest of the morning and a bit of the afternoon, but at three o'clock, you have a surprise."

That perked me up. "I do? What is it?"

"Not really sure you can call flying lessons a surprise," I said, buttoning up my flight suit as we strode towards the hangar.

"Perhaps," Yorktown cryptically answered with an equally cryptic smile on her face. "I'll let you decide once you've seen it."

"Well, alright, but-" I swung open the door to the hangar and came to a dead stop. Our SBD was gone, and in its place were a pair of F6F Hellcat fighters. "Oh. Okay, this is a surprise…"

"Told you," Yorktown giggled as she rested a hand on my shoulder. "But that's not all. Take a closer look at them."

I took a few steps towards the fighters, my eyes roaming over every inch of the warbirds until I spotted a familiar skull and bones pattern just forward of the cockpit. "Wait…are these…VF-17's?" I turned back to face her. "How'd you get these, I thought they were Hornet's?"

"We traded Hellcat squadrons," she smiled, clearly enjoying the look of surprise on my face. "I was going to teach you some dogfighting no matter what, but after watching The Final Countdown with you, I had a little chat with her about swapping them out. She thought it was a fair trade for going along with her plan."

It warmed my heart to see how much effort Yorktown had put in just to surprise me. "Thanks, hon," I smiled, not realizing I'd said the pet name. "It means a lot to me."

Yorktown's expression changed to one of surprise as she blinked at me. "Hon?"

"Huh?"

"You called me 'hon'," she explained, still looking quizzically at me.

"I did?" When she shook her head, I simply shrugged. "I guess it just slipped out. Hon not work for you as a pet name?" Honestly, it was a bit strange we'd been together so long without picking up pet names for each other.

Her hair swayed from side to side as she emphatically shook her head. "That's Northampton's pet name for Hornet."

"Darling?" I offered.

"Hornet's pet name for Northampton."

"Honey?"

"I keep picturing New Jersey when you say that, for some reason."

"Sweetie?"

"Too sugary."

"Shnookums?"

"Absolutely not."

I stopped and thought for another moment before it finally came to me. "My blue rose. Or my rose, for short."

She thought about it for a second before a soft smile graced her face. "I like it. And what about a pet name for you?"

"I'm not opposed to the idea," I replied. "What'd you have in mind?"

Her eyes peered into me for a long couple of seconds until it clicked. "My light."

Immediately, my mind flashed back to our first night together. No, not that one. The first night when she was drunk and wouldn't let go of my hand. She called me her light then, too. "I love it," I smiled. "Now that's out of the way, are we ready to start my lessons?"

"Absolutely."

"How's she handling?" Yorktown's voice crackled in my ear.

"Outstanding!" I answered as she formed up on my wing. "Really responsive and smooth. Honestly, this may be the best airplane I've flown, no disrespect to the SBD." Granted, I'd only flown three different airplanes at that time, but still, the Hellcat was a very forgiving fighter.

"Good! Hornet and Enterprise said much the same thing about their replacements, and I have to agree with all of you. Excellent handling characteristics, and extremely easy to land, even on a carrier deck."

"Oh thank God," I muttered, much to Yorktown's amusement. I still wasn't quite over the appalling low-speed characteristics of the SB2C. "Maybe we could try a simulated carrier landing to wrap up the day?"

"If you want," she replied with a hint of mischief in her voice. "We'll see how tired you are after I've put you through your paces."

"Don't like the way you said that…uh…be gentle?" I playfully pleaded with her.

Her laugh, even through the static, was melodious and heartwarming. "No promises. Now, there are a few major differences when it comes to flying a fighter like the Hellcat versus flying bombers or torpedo planes like the SBD and Avenger. Beyond the obvious things like maneuverability, speed, and fire arcs, there are two big ones. The first is to fly offensively. If you try and play defensive, you're just going to get worn down by your opponent and shot down."

"Makes sense," I nodded to myself. "And what's the second."

"Learn your ABCs."

Did I hear that right? "ABCs? Pretty sure I covered those back in preschool…"

"Not those ABCs," she giggled. "The ABCs of air combat: Altitude, Bracket, and Concentrate."

"Oh."

"The first, altitude, is the most important one. It allows you to more easily gain energy in a dive to attack an enemy, and then easily escape any counterattack by using that energy to climb back up and out of his reach, while he'll have to struggle and climb just to get within gun range. Never give up the advantage of altitude unless you're diving down to attack from an advantageous position or for a necessary gain in speed." To prove her point, she pushed the Hellcat into a steep dive, then quickly pulled out of it, easily climbing back up and re-forming on my wing in just a few seconds. It probably would have taken double or triple the amount of time if she had just begun a climb from level flight.

"The next one, bracketing, is important and ties in with concentrate, so I'll just go over both at the same time. Ideally, you want to bracket the enemy and get in on his tail to shoot from behind."

"Hard to bracket someone if it's just me," I noted.

"Precisely," Yorktown agreed. "As I said, this is why it ties in with concentrate. You want to concentrate as much firepower as you can on one target, and that's why you need to work together. With your wingman, with your section, and with your squadron."

"Sort of like formation flying?"

"Yes and no," she answered. "There are times when staying in formation is the right move, and other times, you want to split up. But you always want to be in contact with each other so one can force the enemy into a position where someone has a clear shot."

"Got it. So I take it we're going to be working on some of these maneuvers together today?"

"Precisely," she said as she pulled ahead, moving me into her wingman position. "I'll lead, you follow, and once you've gotten the hang of things, you lead and I'll follow."

"Copy that. And when do we start?"

"Right now." Without any further warning, she shouted, "Break right!" Her Hellcat immediately banked hard to starboard, and I threw the control stick to the right as I followed her. This was going to be a fun day of lessons, I could tell.

Over the next few days, Yorktown put me through my paces as we practiced flying together. The way she handled her Hellcat was nothing short of breathtaking, especially with how clumsy and inexperienced my own efforts must have looked in comparison. But little by little, day by day, I managed to learn how the Hellcat handled, what she could and couldn't do. I still couldn't make it dance like Yorktown could, but I was confident enough in my abilities now that I knew I'd get there someday.

That Friday, we'd gone up for another lesson, but I was surprised when Yorktown leveled off at just five thousand feet instead of the usual fifteen thousand. Just as I was about to ask what was going on, her voice cut through the radio.

"I decided we'd try something a little bit different today," she announced. "We're going to put your dogfighting skills to the test."

"Sounds fun," I grinned, "What did you have in mind?"

Ahead of us, another Hellcat materialized, this one painted a bright orange-red. It immediately began diving down and pulling away from us. "We're going to engage this test fighter in a mock dogfight. It's unarmed, however, you and I will be using live ammunition, so watch where you're shooting. It will descend to three thousand feet, and from there, we'll pounce in a simulated attack. I'll lead the formation, so you take my wing and follow my lead. Are you ready?"

"You wouldn't ask if you didn't think I was ready, right?" I grinned over at her.

Her melodic laughter echoed in my ears. "Exactly."

Yorktown pulled her Hellcat into a gentle turn to port and I followed, staying tucked in behind her as her wingman. We slowly circled until she leveled out, then banked back to the starboard, dipping her wing so she could get a better view of our prey. Once she had him sighted, she called out. "Tally-ho! Bandit, two o'clock low!"

"I see him," I confirmed, "Bandit two o'clock low."

"Rolling into the attack, stay with me," she commanded as she rolled her fighter into a dive. I followed suit, keeping my eyes locked on the enemy as I dove after Yorktown. I watched her, waiting to see when she was going to take the shot. Then, when we were five hundred feet above the target, she squeezed off a burst, smoke trailing from her wingtips as her six .50 caliber machine guns spat fire. I could see the tracer rounds slicing through the air, just missing the F6F. The drone immediately reacted, snap-rolling to the right and diving to gain speed. "Break right and follow him, I'll try and set up for another diving attack."

"Roger." I gunned the engines and pushed the nose forward, slowly rolling the fighter as I fought to keep the enemy in my sights. Against the deep blue of the Pacific and bright green of the island's lush jungle, it was easy to spot him, at least. As the drone began to level off, I pulled the nose up and squeezed off a burst. The airframe shuddered as the Brownings all barked in sync, filling the air with lead. Obscured by the engine, I was unable to see if I'd hit anything at first. But as I pitched down, I could see several bullet holes and fuel trailing from his wing.

"I got him!" I eagerly exclaimed, "I got a hit, he's trailing fuel!" While I knew the Hellcat's self-sealing fuel tanks would correct the issue, knowing I'd managed to get a hit was very encouraging.

"Nice job, Max!" Yorktown commended me. "I'm coming in from above, keep him busy."

"Roger that," I grinned as I lined up the F6F in my sights. I squeezed the trigger, but this time, I only hit empty air as it unexpectedly rolled to the right. I swiftly followed, my Hellcat shuddering and rattling as I tested the limits of the airframe. "Think he's trying to turn-fight me."

"Agreed," Yorktown grunted. Even over the radio, I could hear she was struggling to keep her aircraft in control. I wondered what she was doing, but I dared not take my eyes off the enemy in front of me. "On my mark, break left. One…two…three…break left!"

Without hesitation, I snap the stick to the left and disengaged, just in time to see Yorktown's Hellcat dive by, guns blazing. I continued to turn left and saw the aileron of the drone twirling away towards the ground. "Got him good, but he's still got some fight in him."

Below me, Yorktown was pulling her fighter out of the dive, using that energy to climb back up into the dogfight. "Copy that," she acknowledged. "Go ahead and finish him off."

"With pleasure." I brought the Hellcat around, bringing the enemy aircraft under my guns. Without an aileron, the drone was wounded, and with limited maneuverability, there wasn't much it could do to avoid what was coming. I lined up my shot and fired off a long burst. The first rounds went wide, but then I saw the rest hit home, chewing up the armor and biting deep into the aircraft. Finally, one of the rounds found its mark in the engine, causing thick black smoke to billow from the front of F6F as it plunged towards the ocean. I watched it begin to tumble out of control, the nose now fully engulfed in flames. "Splash one," I announced with more than a little excitement.

"Great job, Max!" Yorktown cheered. "Form up on my wing and we'll head home."

"Roger that."

Sweat was still running down my back as I lined up the Hellcat on its final approach on the runway. While the Hellcat was remarkably responsive, it was still one hell of a workout when you were in the middle of a dogfight. Still, my experience with the aircraft had been and would be a positive one, even during simple procedures such as landing. Even at low speeds, she was easy to control, keeping a gentle glide slope as I kept an eye on the landing signal manjuu. Just before the wheels hit the tarmac, he signaled me to cut my engine, which I did. A second later, I felt the Hellcat bump as it kissed the ground, followed a half-second later by the sudden jerk forward as the tailhook caught one of the arresting wires. With another excellent landing under my belt, I leaned back and enjoyed the cool breeze that blew through the open canopy.

The sounds of boot steps on the wing got my attention, and I turned to see Yorktown climbing up to greet me, a proud smile on her face. "Well done, Max!" she congratulated me as she leaned in for a kiss. "How do you feel?"

"Fantastic, confident, wonderful," I answered honestly. "Thank you for this wonderful surprise. We doing this again tomorrow?"

To my surprise, she shook her head, a blush forming across her cheeks. "No, tomorrow, you're taking the day off and I'll show you the other surprise…"

A/N-Oh what could this other surprise be? Something that begins with an S and and ends with a t? If you said sweatsuit, you'd be right! Everyone in sweatsuits! Big, formless, shape obscuring sweatsuits! I kid, I kid. Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving for all who celebrate it! Until next time, fair winds and following seas!