The morning of the mission had finally arrived. Waking up wrapped in each other, The couple reluctantly separated so Bradley could get ready. Cat, Ronen, and Kai were coming over in a few minutes so they could say their goodbyes as well.

Cecelia went to the kitchen to make some breakfast, making sure he had something to eat before leaving. About half an hour later Bradley came downstairs with his bags, ready to go. Cat and the boys had shown up ten minutes prior and were already eating some breakfast while trying to keep Cecelia's spirits up. She was looking a little pale, the worry from before coming back full force.

All five grabbed their plates and sat at the table for a family meal, talking about anything and everything. But soon, it came time for Bradley to head to the base. And no one was ready to say goodbye. They all knew this would be coming, Cecelia specifically had dealt with this multiple times before. This one just felt more dangerous, more final.

Kai and Ronen both gave Bradley one of those handshakes-turned-into-a-hug hugs and wished him luck. Cat hugged him fiercely while also saying she would kill him herself if he didn't come home. He just gave her an extra squeeze for that, knowing she meant it.

Then it came time for the hardest goodbye. Cecelia all but launched herself into Bradley's arms, her arms around his neck, clinging to him for dear life. The tears she had desperately tried to keep in began to leak out. Bradley whispered sweet nothings into her ear, promises of how he would come home and they could really start planning their future. He whispered of the amazing wedding they would have, all the people they loved there as witnesses, and the talent filled reception that was bound to happen.

Pulling away, he wiped the tears off of her cheeks, though they were quickly replaced with new ones. Leaning in so their foreheads were touching, he released a breath. "I love you so much. I will do anything and everything I can to come home. I promise you that."

Cecelia squeezed her eyes shut for a moment before looking into his eyes once more. "And I love you. More than I could ever say. Come back to me."

With that, Bradley took one last look at his family before heading for his truck, already steeling himself for what was to come.

☽☆☾ ☽☆☾ ☽☆☾

In the briefing room of the carrier, Maverick and Cyclone stand at the front, ready to assign placements for the mission.

"It's been an honor flying with you," Maverick starts, "each one of you represents the best of the best. This is a very specific mission, my choices are a reflection of that and nothing more."

He surveys the pilots he's been training for the past two-ish weeks. In his mind, none of them were ready, hell he was barely ready. But this had to be done. And some had more promise than others.

Cyclone stands next to him. "Choose your two foxtrot teams."

"Payback and Fanboy," Maverick lists the first pair. "Phoenix and Bob," he finished off.

Both pairs give nods, accepting their official positions and beginning to mentally prepare themselves.

"And your wingman," Cyclone continues.

After a moment of hesitation, Maverick calls out one name. "Rooster."

Cyclone looks slightly concerned while Rooster looks up in surprise.

"The rest of you will stand by on the carrier for any reserved role that's required," Warlock informs the rest. Hangman looks slightly downcast, hoping he had been chosen for the mission. "Dismissed"

☽☆☾ ☽☆☾ ☽☆☾

Back at home, Cecelia has just gotten paler as the day goes on. The others have done their best to cheer her up. It had worked for a long while, especially when they were recounting one of the funniest moments from the night before.

"I really didn't think you would get Phoenix to break that quickly," Kai admitted sometime in the afternoon.

Cat just smirked. "I can be quite annoying until I get what I want." To which, all three Marcellini siblings replied "We know," in unison. Somehow, Cat had gotten Phoenix to admit what the bet was between her and Hangman. Ultimately, whoever won got to choose the other's Halloween costume for the next year. And that sparked an entire debate with Cecelia and Phoenix arguing for a good five minutes over a group costume now that they had three women.

"NO!" Natasha vehemently declared, shaking her head.

Pouting, Cecelia all but whined, "but why not?!" She couldn't understand why Natasha was so against the idea. These were ideas she and Cat had been coming up with for years, they just needed one more woman to complete it.

"I will not be part of Donna and the Dynamos! The Hex Girls, maybe." So Natasha had budged a little bit on one of the options, but even she had to admit the Hex Girls were badass.

It was enough to get Cecelia off her back, as she jumped up and hugged Natasha so tight she couldn't breath for a little while.

The group of four had laughed for a while about that one. Kai and Ronen knew just how long the girls had been planning this, so it didn't surprise them when Cat pulled up a Pinterest board of ideas they already had to distract Cece.

It had worked for a while, but eventually Cecelia began to pace again. And there was nothing they could really do about it.

Music was playing softly around the house, creating a peaceful atmosphere. Kai had gone into a separate room to practice his lines, while Ronen and Cat were reading some books they had found lying about the house.

But they all quickly came running when the sound of retching could be heard from the bathroom. Cat got there first, grabbing Cecelia's hair and pulling it out of the way. Kai went to grab some water from the kitchen while Ronen had towels ready to go before grabbing a spare toothbrush and toothpaste.

It took a few minutes, but eventually Cecelia had cleaned herself up. Kai helped guide her to the couch to sit down before grabbing her water.

"How are you feeling?" Cat asked once she was settled. Everything had happened so suddenly, she hadn't seen any warning signs.

Cecelia took a few small sips of water before replying. "I'm ok. A little overwhelmed, I think."

Ronen still looked concerned. "Should we take you to the doctor, just to be sure?"

Shaking her head, Cecelia declined. "I'm already feeling better. I just need to rest for a while."

☽☆☾ ☽☆☾ ☽☆☾

Just as Maverick is about to be shot and killed by an enemy helicopter, it's blown up out of nowhere.

He sees an F-18 appear from the smoke and he just knows it's Rooster.

"No, no, no," he says to himself. Watching as Rooster's plane gets shot down by the SAMS. Already running towards the crash sight, Maverick sees a parachute open, knowing Rooster ejected in time.

Running to him, he calls out "you all right?" As he calls out, Rooster is stuffing the parachute down so it's not easily spotted.

"Yeah, I'm good. You all right?" Rooster asks back, as he stands up. But before he can even think, Maverick is pushing his shoulders, sending him right to the snowy ground.

Both of them rip their helmets off. "What the hell?" Rooster asks angrily.

"What are you doing here?" Maverick asks instead of answering. His tone is that of a pissed off father.

"What am I doing here?" Rooster asks back rhetorically.

Maverick wastes no time laying into him. "You think I took that missile so you could be down here with me? You should be back on the carrier by now!"

Rooster isn't having it. "I saved your life!" He calls back.

Neither is Maverick. "I saved your life. That's the whole point." He waves his arms in an aggressive manner, trying to emphasize his point. "You have a fiancé waiting for you back home! What the hell were you even thinking?!"

And in the most ironic twist of fate, Rooster shoots Maverick's famous line back at him. "You told me not to think!"

Realization slowly spreads over Maverick's face as he takes in Rooster's words. Seeing this, Rooster just nods his head and lifts his arms in a 'what the hell' motion.

Both meds are breathing heavily, catching their breaths from the crazy past few minutes. Maverick bends at the waist, hands on his knees, before he stands back up.

"Well, it's good to see you," Maverick finally relents. And so does Rooster. "It's good to see you too."

Something Maverick had said earlier kept nagging at Rooster though. "Cece and I talked about the mission and all the risks involved. She knew exactly what she was signing up for the day she said yes."

Nodding his head, Maverick just smiles. But not his usual smile. No, this one was a smile of I know something you don't. And Rooster didn't quite know what to make of it. "What's that smile for Mav?"

He just chuckles a bit before grasping Rooster's shoulder. "I'm happy you found someone who you love as much as your father loved your mother." And he meant it. Looking at Bradley and Cecelia was truly like looking back in time at Nick and Carole.

"Thank you," Rooster isn't sure what else there is to say to something like that. All he had ever wanted was a love like his parents had. His mom had never been able to truly move on from his dad, so she raised him by herself until the day she died. And he couldn't be more proud that Maverick of all people could see just how much love he and Cecelia had for each other.

They stand in silence for a few moments, gathering whatever thoughts are going through their heads.

"So what now?" Rooster asks.

✈✈✈✈✈✈✈✈✈✈✈✈✈✈✈

Word count: 1,672

The mission is finally here! I will admit, this is about all I'm writing for the mission, although there will be another small scene next chapter. But we've only got 2 more chapters and the epilogue left y'all.

Cece isn't feeling too well, but we will also find out more of that next chapter, I won't leave you hanging for long.

And those Hex Girls halloween costumes? I might just be planning a one shot so we can see that play out. For those of you that don't know, the Hex Girls are a LEGENDARY band from Scooby Doo, introduced in The Witch's Ghost, before guest starring in multiple movies and shows after that. The music is honestly awesome and still holds up today, if I say so myself.

But that's all for now, so until next time. Bye!