SKYE WAS LAUGHING WITH HANGMAN FOR A BIT MORE AS THE NIGHT OFFICIALLY SUNK IN. neither of them wanted to accept that, just hours from then, they'd be waking up to enter into the most difficult mission they'd flown yet. "doesn't seem real." skye had said. "that it's tomorrow, i mean."

hangman nodded. "yeah.. it doesn't." he looked down at the drink that skye held in her hands, seemingly stuck in thought. he then looked back to her eyes. "you should talk to him."

"what?"

"bradshaw. before the mission. you should talk to him." he explained.

skye understood what he was saying, and honestly she knew that he was right. but the thought of talking to rooster still made her beyond anxious. especially considering how well her conversation with him just an hour prior had gone. "i know." 

"i know you know, but are you actually going to do it?"

she thought about this for a moment. "i know i should. but i really.. i would rather avoid getting rejected again, thanks."

"you know he didn't actually want to reject you, right?" hangman replied. "there's no way. everyone knows how that guy looks at you. and the way he talks to me? he's all 'you don't deserve her' and shit. he clearly loves you." 

"then why is he being difficult?"

"dropped too much as a child?" he shrugged. "i don't know. but i do know that you cannot go on this mission without explaining how you feel, or you're going to regret it. believe me."

skye nodded, letting that sink in. "is that why you came out here just now? trying to.. explain all your truths before the mission?"

he shook his head. "not entirely. i guess i just.. i didn't want to be in the way of you and bradshaw, if i ever was."

"you weren't in the way, jake." she argued. "like i said, he's the one who rejected me. you didn't do anything wrong."

"i'm being serious." he said. "you should tell him. soon."

"did you see how my recent conversation with him went? that lovely little.. ordeal that just went on? yeah, i'm good."

hangman nodded. "okay, tell you what; you tell bradshaw how you feel, and if he doesn't feel the same, you can kill yourself on the mission."

"kill myself in the name of honor?" she laughed.

"in the name of honor." he agreed. they clinked their drinks together.

when hangman made his way back into the bar for another drink, skye followed. she was quickly stopped by amelia, who practically sprinted over to her. "hello?" skye laughed as amelia's arms wrapped around her waist.

"don't go on the mission." the younger girl's voice was meek, and it broke skye's heart.

"i have to." she replied, moving back to look amelia in the eyes. "but i'm gonna come back, and when i do, we'll get to go shopping and hang out and do anything else you want, okay?"

"promise?"

skye didn't like the severity of the word. it was a promise that she certainly wanted to make, and aspired to keep, but she didn't know if that was realistic. the mission was unpredictable, of course, and she didn't know yet  if she'd be one of the people chosen for it. if she was chosen, then she had no right to promise that she'd be returning home. it was too dangerous. 

but she couldn't let amelia know how afraid she truly was, so skye just nodded, putting on what she hoped was a convincing smile. 

"promise." 

with another big hug, amelia left skye standing there with only her thoughts. her silence was interrupted by hangman, who bumped his shoulder into hers. "your dad's waiting outside. he said he wants to talk to you."

skye raised a skeptical brow, wondering how a conversation between her father and hangman had gone. truthfully, jake reminded her of what her father had been like at her age. maybe that was why she couldn't tell if she loved or hated him. 

she was thankful that he wasn't making a big deal out of her not being in love with him. she hoped that this meant she could keep a friendship with hangman even after the mission. everything always came back to the mission.

"okay, thank you." she gave hangman a smile before shouldering her way through the crowd of people and to the doors. sure enough, maverick stood in his white uniform that mimicked hers. "hey, stranger." 

maverick turned over his shoulder, a smile spreading to his lips as he saw his daughter. "hey." he waited for her to walk over to him before looking back out at the lapping waves in front of him. "so.. i'm team leader now, huh?" he marveled, a small chuckle escaping his lips. 

"don't be modest." skye replied, smiling at him. "you're the best of the best, remember?"

"don't forget that you've bested me once or twice so far." he reminded her.

she smirked. "oh, yeah. and don't you forget it, either." 

her father chuckled at her comment before his smile slowly faded away, replaced by a serious frown. "i know i.. i tend to be reckless on these missions, kid." he began. skye remained silent, able to tell that her father was carefully thinking through everything he wanted to say. "but that doesn't mean you should do the same, okay?"

skye's brows furrowed in confusion. "what's that mean? you're not doing something reckless tomorrow, are you?"

he shook his head. "i don't plan to. but i have a job to protect you, and to protect the rest of the squadron. but that's my job, not yours. don't do anything that you don't have to. keep yourself safe, please."

"..dad?" she didn't know what to say. "why are you telling me all this? i've been on missions before."

"not like this one." he reminded her. "just.. please. you have to come back home."

skye didn't want to laugh at that sentiment, since it was very kind, but a small snort escaped her, and she struggled for a moment to hide it. "sorry. it's just.. this really feels like it's coming out of nowhere, dad. i appreciate it, i really do. but.. i'm going to be as careful as i always am, you know that." 

maverick seemed to be getting to his real point when he took a deep breath. "you have to come back home, but not just for me."

she blinked. "huh?" 

"you have to come back home for bradley." his eyes moved from the waves and back to meet hers. "you need to talk to him, skye. and i need to talk to him, too. and i also need to talk to you. but none of those conversations can happen tonight, so you have to come back home. both of you." 

skye let all of this sink in. "you're the second person to tell me that tonight." she finally settled on saying, a small chuckle rumbling her chest. she looked down at her nails, picking at the beds of them as she did when she was nervous. it was a bad habit, she knew. "i know i need to talk to him. i just don't know how." 

"you two are best friends." maverick said. "you probably know each other better than anyone else, aside from katia. you're going to be able to talk to him, you just have to both listen to each other." 

she nodded. "yeah. i know you're right. it's just so damn scary." 

"i know." her father gave her a reassuring smile. "but it'll be okay, i promise." she gave him a look. "i wouldn't be telling you all of this if i didn't think it would end up okay." he reasoned. "trust me."

skye looked at the waves for a moment before her gaze moved back to her father. "okay." 

"okay?" he raised a brow.

"okay. i'll talk to him for you, if it's so important." 

maverick immediately wrapped his arms around his daughter, shocking her. "i love you." he said, and she felt tears swelling into her eyes at the sentiment that often went unspoken in the mitchell household. funny how they were both afraid of love.

"i love you, too, dad." skye replied, her face pressed against his shoulder. they were both clinging to each other as if they were the only thing keeping the other upright, which may not have been too far off. 

after a couple minutes, maverick was the first to pull away. "i'm so proud of you." he said, and skye almost wanted to ask him to stop in case she started crying. "no matter what." a small smile spread onto his lips. "that's probably enough old man talk for tonight. go celebrate with your friends, tomorrow's a big day." 

skye chuckled, nodding. "okay. i'll see you tomorrow, bright 'n early."

"bright 'n early." her father confirmed, and they both mock saluted at each other as skye made her way back into the hard deck. she turned back around to see her father, dressed in his white uniform, his sailor hat in one of the hands that sat behind his back. he looked like the epitome of navy royalty, and she was reminded that she still didn't know how she'd ever live up to him. and yet he was proud of her. 

when she turned back around, penny was standing in front of her. the woman wrapped her arms around skye, giving her body a small squeeze of reassurance. "be safe tomorrow." penny said. 

"i will." skye promised for the umpteenth time that night. "he's out back." she then said, watching as penny gave her a knowing smile and then made her way outside to see maverick. skye thought that their reunion was quite sweet, and she was happy that something good had happened for her father for once. 

the thought of the couple reminded her of rooster, and skye immediately found herself scanning the crowd for him. he was tall enough in his white suit that she should've been able to point him out immediately, but she didn't see him anywhere. her shoulders fell a little, but she managed to spot phoenix and katia sitting with bob, fanboy, and payback, so she moved to find them. 

"you just missed him." katia said when skye was within earshot. "he's been moping in the corner for the past who knows how long. he just left."

"who?"

"rooster." katia said as if it was obvious, which it definitely was. 

skye nodded in understanding. "oh, okay." 

"did you guys fight?" katia asked, moving away from the group so that she could talk to skye individually. 

skye shrugged her shoulders. "it wasn't really a fight, more just him.. asking if me and hangman were together, and then me telling him that he has no right to be jealous if we were."

katia nodded. "yeah, i mean, he was the one to reject you."

"that's exactly what i said!" skye exclaimed. "and then he got upset and i got upset, and.." she trailed off. "yeah, it was kind of a fight. and then hangman came out there, and he told me that he likes me, but that he knows i like bradley more, and that that's okay.. and then he and my dad both told me to talk to him, but i have no idea what i'd say. i feel like i already said everything; he's the one who needs to talk."

the blonde's eyes widened as skye's speech finished. "okay, that's.. wow. this has been an eventful night for you, huh?"

"yep." skye confirmed. "what about you? anything new with everyone else?"

"not really." katia shrugged. "bob wants us all to hang out at his place at some point after the mission, and fanboy thinks he's determined to die alone, and.. that's pretty much it."

skye nodded. "all good stuff." 

"for sure." katia studied skye's face for a moment, registering that her social battery was completely burnt. "do you want to head home?"

"please." skye confirmed, giving her a grateful look.

with a goodbye to all of the members of their squadron that remained there (everyone except rooster and hangman), skye and katia were putting their seatbelts on and driving home. it didn't seem appropriate to ride their motorcycles in uniform, they'd told anyone who'd asked. 

neither of them could sleep when they got home, though, and they ended up visiting each other in the hallway and deciding to just sleep on the floor in the living room. with their pillows and blankets strewn across the floor, the two women fell asleep and tried to avoid the inevitability of the day that was to follow.