The Hard Deck.

The go to bar in Fightertown, USA. Often inhabited by the many ranks of Navy personnel and locals alike. And because of this, it is the place to be for a select group of aviators who have been ordered back for a classified mission.

"Oh come on," Coyote says in despair when Hangman sinks a ball into the pocket of the pool table.

Javy "Coyote" Machado and Jake "Hangman" Seresin were the first of the aviators in the bar that night. And for one of these two, the night would be the start of the rest of his life. (Again.)

He looks up, ready to brag, as always, when he notices another group of familiar aviators walk in.

"What do we have here?" Hangman asks. "If it ain't Phoenix!" He states smugly.

Phoenix just stares at him, as he smirks right back. She knows something happened two years ago to make him even worse that he was before, but she can't figure out what.

"And here I thought we were special Coyote. Turns out they give it to anyone.”

Phoenix looks at him annoyed. “Fellas,” she says to Payback and Fanboy, “this here is Bagman.” Now, she is looking smug, knowing the nickname will piss him off.

“Hangman,” he corrects almost immediately, a strained smile on his face. They got along occasionally, but Jake was too arrogant for Natasha to take for too long. 

“Oh whatever,” Phoenix quips back. Looking back to Payback, she continues. “You're looking at the only naval aviator on active duty with an air-to-air kill.”

“Stop,” Hangman falsely states, looking smugly at the other aviators.

Never one to let Hangman brag for long, Phoenix is quick to say “Mind you, the other guy was in a museum piece from the Korean War,” 

Coyote, quick to defend his best friend l, jumps in, “Cold War." 

“Different wars, same century,” Payback replies without hesitation. “Not this one,”  Fanboy is quick to back him up. 

Getting fed up, Coyote asks “Who are your friends?”

“Payback.” “Fanboy.”

“Hey Coyote,” Phoenix finally greets the aviator. 

“Hey,” he cheekily replies.

Somewhere behind the group, three more people enter the bar, heading right for Penny Benjamin, the owner and bartender for the night. Luckily, or unluckily depending on who you ask, they went unnoticed by the aviators.

Phoenix does notice someone else however. “Who's he?” The man looks up, looking slightly out of place among the self assured pilots.

“Who's who?” Coyote asks, not looking away from Phoenix

Everyone looks over at the man, who is brushing some crumbs off his pants. Looking up, he notices the others staring at him, so he just shyly smiles. 

"When did you get here?" Coyote asks, having not seen him come in or hear a sound from him.

“Oh, oh I've been here the whole time,” the man says with a sweet, shy smile

"Man's a stealth pilot," quips Hangman deadpan. "Literally," Coyote continues.

The man looks up, smiling shyly and as corrects, "weapons systems officer actually."

"With no sense of humor," Hangman sighs, and hands Phoenix his pool cue, getting ready to head to the bar. But before he can get far, someone interrupts the group.

"You're one to talk about no humor, Hangman."

The group quickly turns to the newcomers to see none other than JJ Kazansky, some of Admiral Tom "Iceman" Kazansky, Commander of the Pacific Fleet. On his arm is his fiance Taylor Devereux, and just behind him is someone all the aviators are familiar with.

And Hangman can't quite believe his eyes. Before he can stop himself, he whispers out one word. "Nova."

Nova Mitchell is someone you never forget, much less someone you can ever truly move on from. And this is the first time he has really set eyes on her in two years. (Except for one incident, which will become increasingly clear in only a few moments.)

Nova manages to avoid looking at Jake and instead focuses on Phoenix. "Nat give me a hug!" Phoenix happily walks over and squeezes the life out of her friend.

JJ looks over the group as the two women reunite before asking a question all three of them are wondering. "You all called back for this super secret mission?"

He knew something was happening, thanks to his and Nova's fathers being in the same place for the first time in years.

Coyote is the one who answers him. "Yea man. You got any insider info for us?" He's joking, of course, knowing JJ doesn't have the clearance for that sort of information. And even if he did, he wouldn't betray his father's trust but relaying it.

While they are clearing some things up, Jake slips away to the bar, trying his best to shake off the feelings that have begun to resurface after seeing Nova again.

Getting back to the issue at hand, Phoenix questions the silent man in the corner. "What do they call you?"

"Bob," he says looking down quickly.

"No your call sign," Payback corrects

He hesitates for a moment, "Uh, Bob."

"Bob Floyd? You're my new back seater?" Phoenix questions. "From Lemore?"

"Looks like it, yeah," Bob answers

Phoenix looks at him for a few more seconds before shrugging, knowing he had to be good if he was there with the rest of them.

"9 ball Bob, rack 'em," Phoenix says, while handing Bob the pool stick

"OK," he gets up and starts setting everything up

Over at the bar, Hangman walks up to Penny, looking straight at Maverick, who looks oddly familiar, despite never having met the man before in his life. "Penny my dear, I'll have 4 more on the old timer."

And then he hears Phoenix call out, shouting out the one name that gets his blood boiling faster than anything. "Bradshaw! Is that you?"

At the bar, Maverick looks away quickly, trying not to be noticed by Rooster, but keeping his eye on him after not seeing him for so long. But even from his peripherals, he sees the way his daughter reacts to the man.

Without missing a beat, Nova takes off like a bullet. Practically leaping into Bradley's arms, Nova hugs the man tightly. His arms tightly wound around her waist, lifting her off the ground. And knowing Nova isn't going to let go, he just walks over to the group with Nova hanging off of him like a koala bear.

"Is this how I find out you're stateside?" Phoenix asks, slightly offended, while lining up her shot.

Rooster gets Nova to let go of him for a short while, taking off his shades, before walking up behind her. "Yeah, I just thought I'd surprise you," Rooster says, just as Phoenix takes her shot, nailing him in the gut with the back of her pool stick. Nova and JJ just start laughing, knowing he had it coming. Hell, Nova would have done it herself if she wasn't so happy.

"Guess I surprised you back," Phoenix says smugly, straightening up and smiling down at Rooster. She high fives the hand JJ had out for her before sliding over to Nova.

Still hunched over, Rooster responds."It's good to see you," he smiles.

At that moment, Hangman walks back to the group with the beers in hand. He stares Bradley down, jaw clenched after the little display he just witnessed with Nova.

"Bradshaw, as I live and breathe" he taunts, taking the pool stick from Bob as he's lining up his shot.

"Hangman you look," Rooster hesitates, "good."  While they never really got along, Bradley didn't know why Hangman turned up his dislike to an 11.

"Oh I am good Rooster," Hangman says, lining up for his shot, "I'm very good," he says while taking his shot looking directly at Rooster. "In fact, I am too good to be true," he continues

Rooster, Phoenix and Payback all look at each while rolling their eyes. JJ and Taylor keep their eyes on Nova, checking to see how she is reacting. (So far so good, but she has successfully managed to avoid looking at him until now.)

A lull in the overwhelming news most of the group has just received allows them to refocus on what called them all to California in the first place.

"So anybody know what this special detachment is all about?" Payback ask the group.

"A mission’s a mission," Hangman says, "What I want to know is who's gonna be team leader? And which one of you has what it takes to follow me?" He says smugly, looking directly at Rooster. Anything he can say to get under Rooster's skin is a win in his book.

Rooster, always fed up with Hangman's attitude, quickly states "Hangman, the only place you'll be leading anyone is an early grave."

At that, Nova takes in a quick breath. She may be actively avoiding Jake at the moment, but just like him, feeling that never quite went away are trying to return in full force. It takes everything in her not to defend him again Bradley, mostly because she doesn't know how he has changed in the past two years.

"Ooohh," Fanboy exclaims, as the tension surrounding the two gets even thicker. You could almost cut it with a knife.

Hangman gets up from the pool table, walking past Phoenix and Nova, looking down at her quickly before going straight to Rooster.

"Well any man who follows you is just gonna run out of fuel, but that's just your aim Rooster, you're stuck on that perch, waiting for just the right moment that never comes," Hangman says, getting right up in Rooster’s face.

Without breaking eye contact, Hangman smiles and says, "I love this song," baiting Rooster, before walking away. The more distance he put between himself and Nova, the clearer he would be able to think.

"Well he hasn't changed," Phoenix says as she walks up to Rooster. "Nope, sure hasn't," Bradley replies. But Nova can only think of how much he actually has changed.

That wasn't exactly the Jake she knew. While, yes, he was always arrogant and cocky, he never went that far.

As the group discusses another group of aviators that just walked in, Bradley turns to Nova, JJ, and Taylor.

"Hey man," he calls out to JJ, as the two did that bro hug that was really a weird handshake/hug combo. Taylor gives him a quick hug as well, as the three amigos are finally reunited.

Nova, despite not wanting to ruin the reunion, knows she needs to tell Bradley something very important. "My dad's in town."

JJ stares at her, wide eyed thinking she was going to ease Bradley into that discussion, not just blurting it out.

Without further discussion, Rooster walks over to the piano, unplugging the jukebox along the way. The three look at each other before following him over. They know he uses music as a release.

Phoenix looks up, hearing the keys. She grabs a bunch of the others, knowing exactly what's about to happen.

"Hey guys," she calls out to the others, leaving Hangman confused as to why everyone is leaving their game. He follows their path and his question is answered.

Rooster just smiles at Phoenix as she, Fanboy, Payback, and Bob all walk up to the piano. Nova made herself at home on the piano bench next to him, as they used to do as kids. Hell, Bradley is the one who taught her piano in the first place. But before he can start the song, Penny rings the bell again, while a chant of 'overboard' starts up.

Soon enough, warmed up and ready to go, Bradley starts the song that has become a norm to those in Fighertown.

You shake my nerves and you rattle my brain
Too much love drives a man insane
You broke my will, but what a thrill

Everybody joins in for that famous line, the entire bar singing it loud and proud.

Goodness gracious great balls of fire

Nova is laughing too hard to sing, Taylor pulling her up from the bench to dance.

I laughed at love when I thought it was funny
But you came along and you moved me honey
I've changed my mind, this love is fine

The crowd hasn't stopped singing, always making sure to scream out these words. JJ takes turns spinning Taylor and Nova around, Phoenix quickly getting in the action as well.

Kiss me baby,
woo, it feels good 

Hold me baby, ooh, yeah, you gonna love me like a lover should

You're fine, so kind, I'm gonna tell this world that you're mine! Mine! Mine! Mine!

I chew my nails, I twiddle my thumbs
I'm really nervous but it sure is fun

Come on baby, you drive me crazy
Goodness gracious great balls of fire

Then Rooster goes into the famous piano solo, hitting all the notes perfectly. Bobbing his head to the beat, his aviators start sliding down.

The other aviators are cheering him on, dancing to the piano and the happiness radiating off of the entire bar. And while Hangman is enjoying this, as much as he hates to admit it, he can't take his eyes off of Nova.

Her smile, her laugh. They have haunted his dreams for years now. And he is finally seeing them in person again, but he isn't the one to cause these reactions. That hurts more than he had anticipated.

Ohhh, kiss me baby, woo-oooooo, feels good, yeah

Let me love you like a lover should.
You're fine. So kind.
I'm gonna tell this world that you're mine! Mine! Mine! Mine!

I chew my nails and I twiddle my thumbs
I'm real nervous but it sure is fun
Come on baby, you drive me crazy

And as the song comes to a close, once more the entire bar screams out that oh so famous line.

Goodness gracious great balls of fire

Cheering erupts from all, so loud you could probably hear it a few blocks away. Rooster stands, taking his bow as the bar chants his name.

☽☆☾   ☽☆☾   ☽☆☾

Outside the bar, Maverick looks in, seeing what he can only describe as a ghost. Rooster, the son of his late best friend, singing his heart out to a song Maverick himself used to belt out with Goose. His own daughter is right there with him as the next generation Mitchell and Bradshaw. JJ Kazansky rounds off the trio, a group tightly wound together by childhood bonds.

Maverick knew this mission would be hard. As soon as he saw Rooster's picture on that screen, he knew. But add in his daughter actively being involved on the medical side and JJ working in the area, he didn't know what to do.

What he did know, however, was that he would do everything and anything in his power to make sure Bradley came home. He couldn't take him from their lives.

Maverick didn't know if Nova would survive if he didn't.

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Word Count: 2,503

Here we go! A few reunions have taken place, but more back story to come. I promise.

I'm trying to show just how much the past 2 years have affected both Nova and Jake interns of each other. I've never done that before so let me know if it's working.

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