SKYE HUMMED ALONG TO THE SONG IN HER HEAD, WHICH just so happened to be 500 miles, putting ice into her lemonade. "what's got you in such a good mood?" katia asked as she watched her best friend move about the kitchen.

"i'm just feeling good." she replied, smiling to herself.

katia then gave her a look. "what happened with rooster then? you seemed pretty upset with him when you dragged him outside."

skye laughed. "yeah, because i was." she shook her head, a smile on her lips. "but then we talked about it, and he explained himself and i explained myself and.. he came over here and we had dinner."

"wow. that's kind of adorable." the other woman replied, putting her hair up into a bun. "what's that?" she pointed to the brown jacket on their stool.

skye looked over at it for a second even though she already knew what katia was asking about. "that's bradley's jacket." she said, trying to make her voice as nonchalant as possible.

the blonde's eyes widened. "that's his jacket?" she pointed at it.

"yeah." skye nodded, trying to downplay it.

"he left his jacket here?"

"yeah." she said. "i mean i was going to just take it to him today."

katia nodded, a small smirk on her lips. "okay."

"what?" skye asked, taking in the mischievous glint in her best friend's eyes.

"you're riding a motorcycle to work." she said.

"yeah?"

"and when you're on the motorcycle, you're not going to have anywhere to put the jacket."

skye rolled her eyes. "what are you getting at, exactly?"

katia smiled. "you're going to have to wear rooster's jacket all the way to base."

"no." she groaned, putting her head in her hands. "okay, come on. it isn't a big deal. it's just a jacket."

the blonde picked it up, looking at the patches that adorned the dark brown leather. "yeah. a jacket with his callsign on it and patches that correspond to all of the squadrons he's flown with."

skye looked at it, shaking her head. "it's not a big deal, okay? it'll be fine." she said, though it was more to herself than it was to anyone else.

"will it not be a big deal to him?" katia asked, laughing as skye groaned again, shoving her arm.

"shut up." when skye moved to head out the door, katia held up the jacket, a smirk on her lips. "thanks." she spoke in a sing song voice, taking the jacket and putting it on.

she hated to admit to herself how comfortably oversized it was on her, and how much it smelled of his cologne. she also hated to admit that she knew what that smelled like.

"it looks good on you. katia said, laughing as skye turned to give her a look. "no, no i'm being serious."

"thank you." she said as she put her helmet on and led the way down the road. something about the wind in her hair made skye feel a sense of comfort. she'd grown up riding her dad's motorcycle any chance he'd give her, and had gotten her own as soon as she could legally drive it. since she wasn't going to be flying today (no way after the fiasco the day prior), her hair was left down underneath the helmet, cascading in curly waves down her back. well, down the jacket. 

skye and katia arrived at the base together, parking in the same spots they always did. the brunette closed her eyes for a moment in annoyance as she noticed the bulky truck already parked in the lot. rooster, of course, hadn't arrived later than normal, like she'd been hoping for. 

"look who's here." katia said, nudging skye with her arm.

"shut up." she said for the umpteenth time that morning, taking her helmet off and leaving it with the bike. 

"it's good to see you both." a voice said behind them, and both women turned to see panther. "i was worried that you would need a day off after what happened."

skye smiled. "like i told havoc, it's gonna take a lot more than that to get rid of us." 

the man, who had easily become their favorite of the admirals, smiled. "well, that's good, riot. i can't go losing two of my best pilots, now can i?"

the two beamed. "thank you, sir." skye said.

"yeah, thank you, sir." 

he nodded. "of course. i'm not going to make either of you fly today, but make sure you keep sharp. you're both going to be analyzing the groups that go today and then submitting reports about their efforts."

skye raised a brow. "an essay? do you want it mla and double spaced, panther?" she smiled. "times new roman twelve point font?" 

the man shook his head, but laughed nonetheless. "no, riot. just a bullet point list will do. then you get to present it to the rest of your class." 

the two women nodded. "not a very good deal." 

panther patted them both on the back. "get some rest, both of you. i want you to both up and running tomorrow, if possible."

skye gave him a two fingered salute that katia copied. "sir, yes sir."

he walked away, and then they looked at each other. "why are we presenting it to the class?" katia asked, hating the idea of standing in front of the group and explaining why she was better than them.

"because we're better than them." skye shrugged, holding up her fist for a fist bump that katia supplied, despite still being against the idea. "i wonder who's flying today." 

katia gave her a look. "who do you think?" when skye looked back at her blankly, katia pulled at the jacket she wore. 

"oh, come on." 

they then joined the rest of the pilots, who were all gathered underneath the awning to hear who would be flying. skye almost wanted to turn heel and leave when she immediately made eye contact with bradley. he sat higher in his seat when she walked in, and she could tell by the look on his face that he definitely recognized the jacket on her shoulders, and she wouldn't have been surprised if he'd left it at the apartment on purpose. 

skye and katia sat down in their normal seats, which just so happened to be right in front of rooster, who now sat with a pleased smirk on his lips. 

hangman looked over at skye, who just so happened to catch his eye. "new jacket?" he asked, looking at the writing on it. 

she looked away from him, lifting her middle finger and rubbing her temple with it. she then heard rooster shifting in his seat, now leaning forward so he could speak to her. "new jacket?" he repeated, and skye looked behind her to see the smirk he wore. 

"yeah, some idiot who isn't smooth at all left it at my house last night." she replied, trying not to smile.

he didn't even pretend to hide his smile, though. "well, i'm sure there are many amazing qualities to this mystery guy." 

skye narrowed her eyes as if she was thinking about it. "no, not many i can think of."

rooster put a hand on his heart in mock offense, but he was still smiling. "you're going to break this poor man's heart." 

"tell him to avoid leaving his jacket at my apartment in the future, or he may not get it back again." she replied. 

"maybe he doesn't want it back, if it looks better on you than it does on him." he suggested, and skye tried not to blush. 

"maybe if he didn't speak about himself in the third person." she teased. 

he laughed, but moved slightly closer to her ear. "it does look amazing on you, by the way." 

skye had to look away from him then, because she was genuinely terrified of what she'd see if she looked into his eyes for too much longer. especially when he was complimenting her. 

"ladies and gentlemen," deadzone said, walking in with his hands behind his back, "today's pilots will be attempting the same task that was given yesterday. hopefully with less dramatic results, and with a more reliable set of teammates." he said this last part while looking directly at hangman. "today's pilots will be phoenix and fang with rooster as your wingman. the rest of you are to listen and take notes." 

rooster stood up, already in his flight suit. skye stood too, and had begun to take the jacket off when he stopped her, putting a hand on her shoulder. "keep it. you'll be my good luck charm." he smiled before walking away. 

"dear lord." katia breathed, watching the interaction.

skye nodded. "yeah, i know."

"he called you his good luck charm."

"i know." she repeated, not quite remembering how to move. 

"have you ever been a good luck charm before?"

skye nodded. "i was a good luck charm for a few indy car drivers when i was younger, but i think my dad just said that because it gave him a reason to teach me every single thing about every single driver."

katia thought about this for a second. "well, i mean.. now you can't ever take the jacket off."

the other woman rolled her eyes, but popped the collar of the jacket and joined her fellow pilots in the break room to listen to the radio replay of the comms. 

rooster, as expected, was doing great, and he and phoenix easily communicated. they were able to get deadzone out of the game with some minor difficulty, but they were really struggling with how to get around panther. the admiral was very fast, and could easily make sharp turns that could get him from in front of you to behind you in seconds. 

"come on, phoenix. any ideas?" rooster asked, clearly beginning to get frustrated with the continuous throw off. 

she seemed frustrated herself. "you're the one with the ideas." 

he laughed. "well, if i had ideas, i wouldn't be asking you, would i?" 

fang had been silent for most of the exercise, but he then cleared his throat. "what if we did the stop and turn thing?"

katia and skye looked at each other. "that's our thing." the brunette commented.

skye could practically see rooster's brows furrowing. "riot and havoc's thing?" 

the two women were suddenly very invested as fang replied. "yeah, i guess. it works, though." 

rooster considered it for a second, but seemed to realize that he had no better option. "okay, yeah. let's go for it. phoenix, you do that, i'll take him out while you get him distracted."

"got it." 

skye listened as rooster let out a celebratory holler, and she smiled. she couldn't imagine what it had been like for him to sit in the same spot she sat in twenty four hours before and to hear about her going down. she thought about it for a moment and then almost took back everything she'd said about him punching hangman. hell, she'd beat him up if he'd been the cause of rooster getting in a crash. 

when rooster got back to the base, skye had already been waiting for him, standing by katia who waited for fang. phoenix threw her arms up as she noticed the two girls, who were evidently waiting for their respective men. "wow, guys." 

skye laughed and hugged phoenix, completely ignoring rooster. "you're my favorite pilot, nat." she assured her, making the other woman laugh. 

"you're my favorite pilot, too." she said.

skye then turned to rooster, who was watching her with a smile. "congratulations, bradshaw." she said. "you were a better wingman than hangman." 

he chuckled. "i don't know if that's necessarily a difficult task to accomplish." he joked before wrapping an arm around her. "told you you'd be a lucky charm." 

she smiled, but took the jacket off. "as good as i look in it, it belongs to you." she insisted, putting it into his hands. 

rooster rolled his eyes, but took it from her. "oh, i was gonna ask you about something."

skye looked up at him, one of her brows furrowing in question. "what's up?"

"are you doing anything tomorrow? i know we have the day off, but i wanted to maybe take you to this place i found." his smile looked almost sheepish, as if he was afraid of her saying no. as if there was any chance she'd ever say no to an opportunity to hang out with him. 

"katia's going out with jake, so i'm gonna be free all day. what's your plan?" skye asked.

he shook his head. "no, it's a surprise." 

she gave him a look. "okay. when are you picking me up?"

"i'll be there bright and early." he replied. "if you want, i can bring you those pop tarts you like and then we can get lunch, or we can maybe go to a brunch place?" 

skye smirked. "i thought you had it all planned out?" 

rooster laughed. "i'm trying to come up with satisfactory plans!" he said, smiling as she laughed. "okay, so do you want to get brunch then?" 

she nodded. "brunch sounds great." 

"okay, then i'll see you tomorrow." he said, not even realizing that they'd walked all the way to their vehicles. he was too proud to admit it, but he'd intentionally parked his truck by the spots he knew skye and katia always took. he didn't have any shame in wanting to have those few extra minutes to talk to her. 

"tomorrow." she agreed as she put on her helmet. damn was she down bad. 

a/n: hey besties so me and my katia (i won't stop saying it i don't care if it's cheesy) made our own katia and skye necklaces, so
a) if you wanted a visual of what the fighter jet necklaces look like
b) i want to show off the necklaces

they look like this fr aren't they literally so cute i'm screaming
anyway thank you for all of your support so far with this story ily