The next day Percy sat next to Reyna in class. Outside there was a place set up exactly like a school classroom. A chalkboard, desk, and a podium while school desks were set up in front of it. 

"Now, you'll also be trained and evaluated by a few civilian specialists. The civilians are here because they are our very best source of information on enemy aircraft." Lieutenant Commander Rick 'Jester' Heatherly explains to the pilots. "One of the most qualified is our TAGREP, callsign, Charlie."

Percy and Reyna glanced behind them upon hearing heels and Percy was surprised to see the blonde-haired woman from the bar. She still exchanged a smile with Reyna, both happy to have another women in this place that's full of men. 

"She has a Ph.D in astrophysics, and she's also a civilian contractor, so you do not salute her. But you better listen to her because the Pentagon listens to her about your proficiency." Rick looks at Charlotte Blackwood (otherwise known as Charlie), who was now standing by him. "It's all yours, Charlie."

"Thank you." Charlotte replies. Rick steps away to stand off to the side as Charlotte turns to face everyone. "Hello." A surprised expression forms on Pete's face. He wasn't expecting to see her. Even though he didn't do the whole act thing with Nick to her at the bar, he still managed to talk with her after Percy left once they were done dancing. "We will be dealing with F-5s and A-4s as our MiG simulators. Now, then, as most of you know, the F-5 doesn't' have the thrust-to-weight ratio that the MiG-28 has. And it doesn't bleed energy below three hundred knots, like the MiG-28. However, the MiG-28 does have a problem with its inverted flight tanks. It won't do a negative-G pushover. The latest intelligence tells us that the most it will do is one negative..."

"Are you going to tell her?" Nick whispered to Pete.

"Nothing." Pete replied. 

Since Percy and Reyna sat behind the two of them, they managed to overhear what they said and they exchanged a confused look. They both look at Charlotte when the blonde-haired woman pauses. Charlotte had stopped speaking upon realizing Nick and Pete were speaking while she was. "Excuse me, lieutenant." Charlotte says to Pete. "Is there something wrong?"

"Yes, ma'am, the data on the MiG is inaccurate." Pete responded.

"How's that, lieutenant?" Charlotte questioned.

"Well, I just happened to see a MiG-28 do..."

"We, we." Nick interrupted Pete.

Pete apologetically glances at him. "Sorry, Goose." Nick nods in response. "We happened to see a MiG-28 do a four-G negative dive."

"Where did you see this?" Charlotte inquired.

"That's classified." Pete answered.

Charlotte raises her eyebrows. "It's what?"

"It's classified." Pete confirms. A playful smile made its way to his lips.  "I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you." Percy rolled her eyes although there was an amused smile on her lips. 

"Lieutenant, I have top-secret clearance." Charlotte explains. "The Pentagon sees to it that I know more than you."

Pete smiles. "Well, ma'am, it doesn't seem so in this case, now, does it?"

"So, lieutant, where exactly were you?" Charlotte asked him.

"Well," Pete gestures to himself and Nick. "We..."

Nick nods with a smile on his face. "Thank you."

"Started up on his 6 when he pulled through the clouds, and then I moved above him." Pete explained.

"Well, if you were directly above him, how could you see him?" Charlotte questioned.

"Because I was inverted." Pete answered.

Tom pretends to cough, speaking into the cough. "Bullsh*t."

Some other men snickered while Percy and Reyna rolled their eyes, both annoyed with Tom. "No, he was man. It was a really great move." Nick defended Pete. "He was inevertrd."

"No need to call BS on something someone else did just because you're jealous you cant do it." Percy remarked to Tom, smiling sweetly at him when he looked at her. She couldn't see how eyes since he had sunglasses on, but she knew he was annoyed with her which she didn't care about. Pete glanced over at Percy with a smile, thankful that she stood up for him, and Percy looked back at Pete with a smile.

Charlotte looks at Pete with surprise. "You were in a four-G inverted dive with a MIG-28?"

"Yes, ma'am." Pete smiled.

Charlotte tilts her head to the side. "At what range?"

"No. About two meters." Pete glanced over at Nick to confirm it.

Nick shrugs. "Well, it was actually about one and a half, I think. It was one and a half. I've got a great Polaroid of it. And he's-he's right there. Must be one picture."

"It was a nice picture." Pete agreed.

Charlotte smiles with amusement. "Uh, Lieutenant." 

"Thanks, I like my pictures." Nick smiled at Pete.

Pete chuckles and smiles before glancing at Charlotte. "What were you doing there?"

Pete glances at Nick for help with this answer. Nick clears his throat. "Communicating."

Pete nods. "Communicating. Keeping up foreign relations. I was, you know, giving him the bird."

"You know, the finger." Nick clarified in case it wasn't obvious and even showed her.

Charlotte rolls her eyes. "Yes, I know the finger, Goose."

"I'm-I'm sorry," Nick stutters and puts his hand down. "I hate it when it does that. I'm sorry." Percy rolls her eyes, glancing at the other men when they snickered. "Excuse me." Nick said.

"So you're the one." Charlotte smiled at Pete.

"Yes, ma'am." Pete nodded.

"Alright, ladies and gentlemen, we have a hop to take." Rick announces and everyone stands up. "The hard deck on this hop will be ten thousand feet. There'll be no engagement below that."

"Perc, you ready to kill it?" Reyna asks Percy as the two of them walked to their plane. She smiles nervously when Percy raised her eyebrows at her. "And by kill it, I mean be awesome at this mission."

Percy chuckles, smiling at her with amusement. "I knew what you meant, Rey." She throws an arm around Reyna's shoulders. "And yes, I'm ready to kill it."

Reyna smiles with relief, wrapping an arm around Percy's waist. "Oh, okay. Good." Percy laughed a bit and Reyna smiled as the two of them continued walking.

****

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is your first hop. The jets you are flying against are smaller, faster, and more maneuverable, just like the enemy MiGs." Rick explains to the group. "The clock is ticking, and as of now, we are keeping score."

"Alright, ladies," Rick said. "Let's see what you got."

"Sunny," Percy speaks to her RIO Reyna, who sat behind her in the plane. She smirks behind her mask. "Let's take Jester down."

"Copy that, Blaze!" Renya exclaimed.

A few minutes in and the two women have been keeping a good eye on Jester, but every time Percy tried hitting Rick he would somehow manage to escape. "Wait, hold on." Panic is laced in Percy's voice as she glances to her left and right before continuing to look forward while flying the plane. "Where'd he go?" 

"Not for sure." Reyna admits, frantically looking around her in search for Rick. "I'm looking though..." Her voice trails off, her eyes widening when she looks behind them and saw Rick there. "He's right behind us!"

"Okay, here we go." Percy commented, using the gear shift to turn the plane to the right and then went down to get away from Rick. She lifted the gear shift up to make the plane fly up, flying the plane from left to right so it wasn't flying in a straight line. She knew if Rick was behind her he would have a better shot at her and Reyna if she flew in a straight line and she wanted to avoid that. 

"Sunny, gimme the goods." Percy voiced, referring to her RIO giving her an update of where Rick was.

"I don't see him." Reyna responds, looking both sides and behind her. "I think we're good for now-" Her eyes widen and a small gasp escapes her lips when Rick suddenly comes into view behind them. "Nope, never mind! He's still behind us, Blaze." She looks at Percy worriedly. "What do we do?" 

"I got it." Percy reassured her. She managed to get away from Rick which allowed her to fly the plane straight. 

Reyna groans, causing Percy to raise her eyebrows. "What is it?" Percy asked.

"He's right behind us again." Reyna complained.

"Nice job, ladies." Rick comments. "But you think you can get away from me that easily?"

"To be honest, I was hoping so." Percy mumbled. 

A few more minutes of flying and trying to get away from Rick and they come across some mountains. Reyna's eyes widen with panic upon seeing how close they were to the mountains. "Woah, hey, mountains!"  

"I see 'em." Percy reassured her, moving the plane away from the mountains more and continued to follow Rick. Percy flew by and over the mountains easily, trying to get a lock on Rick but he kept moving side to side.

"Blaze, we gotta get to the hard deck first!" Reyna speaks. "We can get him there." 

"Good idea, Sunny." Percy smiled. 

She flew towards the hard deck, getting there before Rick does. When Rick was there, she flew downwards to avoid him, turned around as she was below Rick and then flew up again to be behind him. She smirked when she finally got a lock on Rick. Whenever the circle on the screen in front of Percy turned green to red, a beeping noise went off, signaling to the two women that they had got Rick.

"Jester's dead, yes!" Percy cheered. 

"Whoo-hoo!" Reyna shouts excitedly. "Finally." She grinned, reaching forward to pat Percy on the shoulder. Percy glanced back at her and even though Reyna couldn't see her grin, she knew Percy was happy by the way her eyes lit up.

"Good job, ladies." Rick compliments. "Time to get back to the base."

****

After getting back to the base, Percy and Reyna went to the ladies locker room to get a shower and change.

"I'm so relived we got him." Reyna admitted, using a towel to drive off her wet hair since she had just gotten out of the shower. She was dressed in blue jeans and a red sweater with black flowers on it. 

"Yeah, me too." Percy agrees, finishing up braiding her wet hair into a fish braid. "For a second there I thought we wouldn't get him." She had changed into blue denim shorts and a blue hoodie over a grey t-shirt.

"You know, I heard that most of the guys got him too." Reyna informed her, setting her towel on the hanger in her locker. 

From her place standing at the mirror, Percy turns to glance at Rena with raised eyebrows. "Really?" She was a bit surprised to hear most of the guys got Jester. She then furrowed her eyebrows, glancing at Reyna curiously. "Wait, who didn't get Jester?"

"I think Hollywood and Wolfman." Reyna shrugs. "I heard them when we were walking to the locker room." 

Percy nods in realization. "Oh, okay."

On the way to the locker room once she and Reyna got back to the base, they saw some of the men leaving. Percy heard them talking, but she didn't really listen. She was honestly tired and just wanted to lay down and sleep. 

"Do you wanna do something tonight? Like, go out to a club?" Reyna suggested.

"Nah, I think I'll just stay in my dorm." Percy replies, shaking her head. She walks away from the mirror since she was done braiding her hair. Walking to her locker, a yawn escapes her lips. "I'm exhausted so I think I'll just go to sleep early."

"Okay." Reyna laughs. She shakes her head, putting on her bracelet she always wore. "Sleeping early is boring though."

"Hey, I went to a club with you the other night." Percy reminds her in a defensive tone. She pouts. "Let me have my sleep."

"Okay, okay." Reyna raises her hands in defense, smiling at her with amusement. She then notices the bracelet Percy has on and smiles widely. "You're wearing the bracelet that matches mine!"

Percy glances at her bracelet and a smile makes its way to her lips. "Yeah, of course I am. I always wear it."

"Me too." Reyna showed Percy the wrist with the matching bracelet on and Percy smiled slightly. She and Reyna had got matching bracelets during the first week of being at Top Gun. They both had clicked right away when they met and immediately became best friends. Reyna had suggested they should get matching bracelets since she thought that was a good idea and Percy agreed so they both got matching bracelets. The two best friends haven't took off their bracelets ever since then. 

When she heard footsteps leaving the men locker room, Percy walks over to the slightly open door to peek out and notices Pete and Nick had left the locker room, wearing their uniforms. "Guys," She calls out to them, getting them to stop and turn to look at her. Curious as to who she was talking to, Reyna joins Percy at the door and looks over her shoulder at Pete and Nick. "Where are you going dressed in uniform?" Percy asked.

"We were told to go talk with Viper." Pete answered.

"Pretty sure we're in trouble." Nick grimaces, glancing at Pete. "Man, you shouldn't have done that flyby at the tower."

Reyna looks at Pete with surprise. "You're the one who did that?"

"Guilty as charge." Pete smiled.

"Not surprised." Percy chuckled, smiling at Pete and he smiled back at her.

"Alright, you guys can go." Percy said, gesturing for them to leave. She shrugs. "I was just curious." Pete and Nick chuckled and then turned around and walked away.

"I bet you they're gonna get in trouble." Reyna commented.

"Yeah," Percy nods. "Probably." 

A/N sorry about the bad flight scene. i wanted to write percy's & reyna's turn of the preflight (like when pete & nick took down rick) & it was so hard trying not to make it the same but i think it turned out okay!