ROOSTER WAS STANDING NEXT TO PHOENIX AND JAKE, ALL THREE pilots anxiously listening to the conversations happening between skye, katia, hangman, deadzone, and panther. rooster was standing, his thumb pressed to his lip as he listened to them talk. 

he trusted skye and katia completely. he knew that they were both skilled, and that they didn't need him to succeed in a mission. nonetheless, it had been some time since they'd flown without him, and he was beyond anxious. 

"calm down, rooster." phoenix said, bringing him out of whatever trance he'd been in. "they're gonna be okay."

he nodded. "yeah, i know. i just don't trust seresin."

fang, who was friends with the other jake, stiffened. "what's that supposed to mean?"

"that this is an exercise based on communication, and i don't trust hangman," he spoke the name like bile, "to communicate effectively with the rest of his team."

the other man scoffed. "if they win this exercise, it's gonna be because of hangman."

rooster stood taller. "you do know katia's up there, right?" he asked, getting defensive of his friend. "what kind of boyfriend are you?"

jake shrugged. "i'm just saying. hangman's a good pilot. they should be thankful that they get to fly with him instead of you for a change." with that, he walked away to join coyote and some of the other guys by the foosball table.

the taller man was about to move to follow him when phoenix put a hand on his shoulder. "rooster, don't. he isn't worth it."

he looked down at her. "how can you stand to fly with him? is he always like that?"

she shrugged. "i get used to it. he's in a bit of a mood today, though. he isn't normally so opinionated."

rooster scoffed. "i can't believe he'd say that shit when kat is up there. she and skye are ten times the pilots he and hangman are." 

phoenix nodded. "yeah, i know. i think he knows it, too, he just won't admit it." 

"does she know?"

"what?"

"does she know he's pulling that bullshit?" he asked, pointing to the man behind him with his thumb. 

"havoc?" phoenix asked, quirking a brow in question. "no. i don't see the point in hurting her feelings. i've honestly been hopeful that being with her might.. make him realize that he should change."

rooster's brows furrowed. "so then why is he dating her?"

she shrugged. "i think he genuinely likes her. but i also think he's stupid and doesn't know how to handle that." 

he nodded. "so is that why you didn't want them to date at first? you seemed on edge when anyone would talk about it."

phoenix cleared her throat. "yeah. that's what it was." 

rooster was suspicious of this, but didn't want to pry. instead, he focused back on the small radio in front of him. he listened as skye gave directions to katia, smiling at just the sound of her voice. he had started listening just in time to hear skye mutter "oh, fuck me" followed by hangman's "is that an order, lieutenant?". he heard katia say something in response, but clenched his fist, feeling his jaw tigthen. 

"he's lucky i'm not there." he mumbled, seeing phoenix smirk at his reaction. 

"what's happening over there, riot?" he heard deadzone ask, and he became worried for a second before she responded.

"i'm making sure he understands signals." she said, pausing for what he could only assume was dramatic effect. "i'm giving hangman the bird." 

rooster chuckled at this, covering his mouth with a hand as he leaned in closer to the radio. "that's my girl." he said to himself. 

he was listening to them continue to give out small directions and orders, and judging by skye's apparent annoyance with hangman, he could only assume that he'd left them hanging, which wasn't a surprise to anyone. rooster almost glared over at jake, annoyed that he'd even suggest that hangman could make the two girls better than they already were. 

he leaned over to phoenix. "if they win this mission, it's gonna be without hangman at all." he told her. 

rooster was called back to the radio as he heard katia speak. "riot. skye. uh.. i think we just lost an engine." 

he didn't quite know how to react. again, he trusted them both as pilots. he knew they could safely land with a burnt out engine. regardless, he was now gripping the side of the table as if it was the only thing keeping him standing. "what happened, how did they lose an engine?" he wondered aloud. 

"you got in his jet wash, you need to get out." he then heard deadzone say, and rooster almost lost his breath. 

that's exactly what had happened to his father. 

he was now listening as skye said she was going to try to land the plane, right after saying they'd had a flameout on the starboard. rooster was completely pale in the face, and nothing in his brain was computing. he listened as she stopped talking, then heard panther say she had to eject. 

rooster ran a hand through his hair, trying to keep his breathing steady. he didn't think he was having a panic attack, but he was certainly panicking more than he ever had in his life. "shit, shit." was all he could hear skye saying, and he knew. he just knew she was having an issue with ejecting. 

"riot, you have to eject now!" panther's voice was panicked, and then rooster didn't hear anything else. he risked glancing over at phoenix, whose eyes were wide with shock. 

bradley didn't look at anyone else as he left. he didn't know what do to. he simply left. he was angry. he was beyond angry, in fact. it was all hangman's fault. that's the only thing that was running through his mind as he drove himself back to his home, running through some of the red lights and taking almost every turn too harshly. 

he knew he shouldn't have been driving, and he knew he should've been waiting to see if skye and katia were okay. but he couldn't even begin to think of what he'd do if they weren't. 

rooster was already long gone when skye arrived back at the base. she had been examined by the doctors, who had determined that she was clear to head back. she'd never had to emergency eject before, and she would've been more shaken by the experience if she wasn't completely and utterly pissed off with both hangman and herself. 

"katia." she mumbled her name as soon as she saw her, and both girls melted into each other's arms. "are you okay?"

she felt her nod. "i'm good. are you okay?"

"i'm so sorry." 

katia pulled back slightly to look into her eyes. "why are you sorry?"

"if something goes wrong up there, if you get hurt, that's on me. and i'm sorry, i should've been paying more attention."

the blonde shook her head. "if anything, this is on hangman. don't beat yourself up about this, please. i'm fine." 

skye sighed as she pulled her best friend back into her arms. the hug was as normal as it could be, given all of the flight gear between them. "i'm glad you're okay." 

katia smiled against her shoulder. "yeah, i'm glad you're okay, too. when you were having issues ejecting, i.. i thought for a second there i was gonna lose you."

this made her flash her normal smirk. "it's gonna take more than that to get rid of me, havoc."

"there's my riot." she smiled, patting her on the back. katia got distracted as jake came over, wanting to make sure that she was okay. the two embraced, and skye smiled for a moment before she found herself looking for rooster.

"nat," she called, jogging over to phoenix, "where's rooster?" 

phoenix frowned at this. "he, um.. he left a bit ago."

"he left?" skye asked, her brows furrowing. "to do what?"

"i don't know." the woman shook her head. "he got really upset when you guys started going down and he left." 

"oh."

"are you okay?" phoenix asked, putting a hand on her shoulder before looking at katia over her shoulder. "both of you. are you okay?"

skye nodded, sitting down. "yeah. yeah, i'm good. just a little spooked. has hangman gotten back here yet?"

phoenix nodded. "yep. he went straight to the showers. everyone was about to beat him up on your behalf." she said, watching as skye chuckled. "fanboy looked like he was about to lose it, seriously." her tone then became more serious. "we all know it was on him, not on you, okay?" 

skye put her elbows on her knees, letting her head fall, but she nodded. she was still thinking about rooster, about how he'd left seemingly without even waiting to see if she was okay. maybe she shouldn't have gotten her hopes up. 

"i'm gonna go home." she said more to herself than to phoenix, but she still nodded. 

"that's a good idea. take it easy for the rest of the night, riot." she then put a hand on her shoulder. "we're going to the hard deck later. i wouldn't recommend drinking this off, but if you want to hang out with some familiar faces, you should come." 

skye nodded. "okay, yeah. i'll ask kat if she's going, then." 

with that, she said goodbye to phoenix and headed home. katia arrived soon after, and said she was planning to go to the hard deck. if nothing else, skye reasoned, she could spit in hangman's face. 

the two arrived in jean shorts and t-shirts, neither of them really being bothered to care about their appearance after what had happened. everyone came over to them when they arrived, and even the pilots they didn't frequently talk to were making sure that they were safe. 

skye saw hangman standing in the back of the room and made her way over to him. "could've gotten us killed, bagman." she said through her teeth.

he looked up, and she thought he looked upset about it. "my bad, riot."

"your bad?" she scoffed. "it was a communication exercise and you couldn't communicate once because you were too wrapped up in the idea of proving yourself." she said. "and guess what? you did. you proved that you don't have what it takes to work as a team." 

he opened his mouth to reply, but then closed it. good riddance. skye walked towards the bar, ordering a can of coke that she then held to her head, attempting to soothe her newfound headache. katia joined her at the bar, putting a hand on her back. 

"you still good?"

skye nodded. "yeah, i think so. talking to him gives me a headache." she joked, cracking a smile. 

katia smiled back. the two shared a sweet moment of relishing the fact that they were both alive before the door swung open. skye turned to look first, and then immediately turned back around with a groan. 

"the fuck is he doing here?" she mumbled. 

rooster walked in, still in his clothes from before, with his aviators on as always. as soon as he saw him, he made a beeline for hangman. "what the fuck were you thinking?" he demanded, his voice echoing throughout the entire bar.

hangman held up his hands. "look, bradshaw, it was on me."

"yeah," rooster seethed, "that was on you. if either of those women died up there, it's on your dirty ass hands, you understand me?" 

the shorter man looked up at him. "dude, i didn't-"

"you didn't what? you didn't think? because we all know that, dipshit." he spat. "the only reason you wanted to take riot and havoc out is because you know full well that they're better pilots than you can ever dream of being." 

"is that so, bradshaw?" hangman asked, suddenly back to his normal self. "look, you can be mad for your girlfriend all you want. if they died up there, it's on her."

rooster then saw red. a group had started to gather around them, but he didn't notice a single person. all he could think about was how pissed off he was. not a single cohesive thought ran through rooster's head until his hand had already clenched to his fist, and until his fist made sharp contact with hangman's jaw.