CHAPTER THREE
Unpleasantly-Familiar Face

MIRAMAR, CALIFORNIA
FIGHTERTOWN, U.S.A.
2014

CASSIE AND ROOSTER ENDED UP TAKING A PIT STOP. As soon as they began to leave the parking lot of the Hard Deck, Rooster noticed Cassie resting her crossed arms on the open window frame, hanging her head out the window to watch the starry night above. A better idea popped into his head.

     "So..." he began, a smirk coming across his face. Although there were no incoming cars, Rooster remained stagnant at the stop sign. "...what do you say we go for a joyride?"

     "A 'joyride?'" Cassie asked, her head snapping towards him in excitement. Although a joyride could pertain to either in a car or a plane, Cassie was secretly hoping for the latter. Rooster's smirk widened into a genuine smile at the sound of excitement in her voice.

     He turned his head towards her, flitting his eyes towards the soft-top roof above them, "In the sky."

     Cassie hesitated only for a moment. The last time she had gone for a joyride was years ago when she won a bet with one of her TOPGUN peers about not being able to sneak onto off the base after hours. The last time before that was with Maverick, who had snuck a young Cassie onto the base with him to give her a glimpse into Daddy's day-to-day. Then, Cassie remembered what Penny had told her.

     Well, if he ever offers to take you for a joyride, say no. Well — okay, say yes, but be prepared to face an admiral.

     The possibility of facing an admiral didn't scare Cassie.

     She grinned, "I know a weak spot in the fence of the hangar." Within seconds, Rooster had switched his left-turn blinker to the right and turned onto the vacant street in the direction of the naval base.

     "I'm pretty sure I know a better way," Rooster countered.

     Cassie narrowed her eyes at him, "Have you ever even snuck onto the base?"

     He shrugged, not directly answering the question, "I just know a better spot to go in."

     "So, I'm going to take that as a 'no.'"

     Rooster scoffed, looking towards Cassie, "Don't you trust me?"

     She returned his gaze, "Do you trust me?" Rooster sighed to himself, feeling transported back to his and Cassie's first mission where they were still figuring out their dynamic. Initially, both were too stubborn to come to a decision. After a little tough love from their superior, they found out how to compromise. Rooster decided to let Cassie win this one, though.

     He returned his attention to the road, "Well then, tell me where to go." Cassie subtly smirked to herself in success. She helped Rooster navigate the roads leading to the less-populated back entrance onto the base. Although Cassie, herself, hadn't been here in a few years, she had memorized the route from all of the times Maverick took her here. They could easily get onto the base with their Navy IDs, but would have to be more stealthy in order to acquire a plane.

     Rooster turned off his headlights as he pulled up to the plane hangar, which was deserted aside from the few lingering officers ensuring that everything was stowed away in preparation for tomorrow.

     As soon as they began to leave the runway, Cassie nodded encouragingly, "Let's go." She opened her car door and shut it as softly as she could before beginning to silently approach the chain link fence. Rooster followed suit, accidentally shutting his car door a bit too hard, emitting a loud clang. Cassie turned towards him with wide eyes, "Shh!" She gave him an incredulous look, "You have never snuck onto the base before."

     He narrowed his eyes at her, "Yes, I have. Sorry, I have a heavy hand with the door it's a —"

     Cassie returned her gaze to the plane hangar, holding up a hand so her palm faced Rooster's face, "I don't care. Shut up." Rooster pressed his lips together to stop himself from worsening the conversation. Instead, he took Cassie's remarks as an indirect challenge.

     Rooster scanned the aircrafts and suddenly pointed towards a vacant F-18 near the end of the runway, "There."

     "What?" Cassie asked, following the direction of his finger. She shook her head, "What's so special about that one?"

     "We're taking that plane," Rooster spoke aloud, more so as an affirmation to himself rather than to Cassie.

     She noticed how Rooster's squatting stance had shifted in preparation for movement, "Bradshaw, wait —" Before she could finish her sentence, Rooster had broken out into a run towards the aircraft, seamlessly pulling himself onto one of its wings and sitting down in the cockpit. Cassie sighed aloud, "— or don't." She watched from afar as Rooster appeared to push buttons on the control panel to turn on the plane's functions.

     Cassie took one last glance around the tarmac, and upon seeing no one else in sight, decided to make a run for it. By the time she, too, had hoisted herself on top of the plane's wing, she could hear Rooster talking over the in-plane radio.

     "...currently undergoing night-time training." Rooster glanced towards Cassie once he noticed her arrival. She stayed quiet so that Rooster could continue the ruse.

     "There is no night-time training scheduled for tonight," the operator replied.

     "This session was scheduled earlier today."

     "If the session is not scheduled, then —"

     "This is a mandatory training session," Rooster interrupted, voice stern but with a goofy smile on his face. Cassie pressed her lips together to prevent herself from giggling at his behavior. "I am going to proceed."

     "Lieutenant —"

     "We'll be in the air in five," Rooster responded before hanging up the handset, smirking at himself. Despite what Cassie believed, Rooster has taken a late-night joyride in a plane and used those same lines with the operator. It works every time — well, the two times that he's tried it.

     Rooster leaned back in the pilot's seat and held his hand out towards Cassie for her to use to steady herself as she stepped into the plane. She accepted his hand and sat down on Rooster's lap, laying one arm across his shoulders as she shifted her weight towards the right so that he had a clear view through the canopy. Rooster buckled the pilot's harness over both of their bodies, the tighter straps pulling them closer to one another.

     Rooster looped his right arm around Cassie's waist so that he could reach the rightmost controls, pressing the button to shut the canopy. His finger hovered over the last switch required to turn on the engine.

     "You ready?" Rooster asked, glancing towards Cassie. He was wearing his signature smirk that she acted like she hated, but found herself softening at the sight of.

     Cassie gave him a final nod of encouragement, "Let's fly." Rooster flipped the final switch, adding the loud roar of the engine to the other low rumbles of the other plane parts. He began to drive the plane out of its spot and aligned it with the center of the runway.

     Rooster was about to do a verbal countdown before taking off, purely out of habit, but he noticed that Cassie was lost in her thoughts as she peered out the canopy. Instead, he internally counted down to himself as he drove the plane down the runway, taking off once they neared the end of the strip.

     Cassie's attention remained on the shrinking base as they ascended into the sky, watching as Miramar became merely a bunch of lights decorating blurry silhouettes of buildings and houses. She admired how peaceful Miramar appeared.

     Like home, Cassie thought to herself, the corners of her mouth turning upwards as she gained a new appreciation for her hometown. She noticed how quiet Rooster was and turned towards him, watching as he kept his attention on the monitor to ensure that they were at a high enough altitude before he could level out the plane. Cassie's focus wasn't on the monitor; instead, it was all on Rooster.

     Truthfully, as nervous as she was to find out that Rooster was stateside, Cassie was just as elated. He's been a frequent topic in the thoughts that keep her awake at night, specifically in the "what-if?" category. She didn't expect to have such a fondness for him given their rocky start during TOPGUN training, but during their mission together, they had no other choice but to become well acquainted. Through their budding friendship, they realized just how well they worked together — not only while in the sky.

     Cassie's fingers tangled themselves in the hair at the nape of Rooster's neck and his shoulders visibly relaxed. She was transported back to their kiss in the Hard Deck's parking lot, prompting goosebumps to arise on her skin. Shortly after, the monitor read a number high enough that meant they could stop their ascent and begin to glide past Miramar.

     "One hell of a view, huh?" Rooster asked as he steadied the plane, nodding towards the lights along the coast. Cassie followed his direction and looked back at the city, now at a different angle. They were parallel to the shore, and Cassie could even make out the faint outline of her childhood home.

     "It's beautiful."

     Rooster glanced up towards Cassie, watching as she internally reminisced of her childhood while growing up on the island. The genuine happiness on her face was a different kind of emotion that he's seen from her, but it was refreshing. He was used to interacting with the focused, strict Cassie while completing a mission. Here, she had the freedom to enjoy one of her true loves, flying, with another, the town she calls "home."

     "Yeah, it is," Rooster agreed, although he wasn't paying attention to the same view. He tore his eyes away from the reflection of her smile in the glass of the canopy, instead becoming mindful of her arm resting across his shoulders and her fingers twirling in his hair. Cassie faced Rooster, catching him looking away from her. She felt heat rush into her cheeks, unfamiliar with this kind of attention. Rooster maneuvered the plane around so that they could fly further over the open ocean.

     "Look up there," Rooster said, looking upwards similarly to how he did in his car. Cassie followed his direction, able to more closely analyze the stars in the sky than she was while in his car. She could easily point out the North Star, shining brighter than all the others. Other stars littered around the sky, comprising constellations that Cassie truthfully couldn't name. She couldn't remember the last time she had truly taken in the beauty of the sky, but now, she felt like if she reached high enough, she could brush the stars with her fingertips.

     Cassie glanced back towards Rooster, feeling a warm sensation in her chest continue to grow. Slowly, she inched her face closer to his until she became close enough to plant a small, soft kiss on his cheek.

     "Thank you for this..." she whispered in his ear, "...Bradley." Cassie felt him tense up slightly at the mention of his first name. Not his call sign, not his surname — Bradley. That name was typically reserved for family, and since both of his parents have passed away, it's been a while since he heard it. While, of course, his fellow Sailors were also considered his family, it wasn't the same. Cassie rested her head against his, causing him to become hyperaware of the warmth radiating from Cassie's body onto his own.

     Maybe —

     Static from the intercom interrupted Bradley's thoughts. He waited for the operator to talk again, since that sound preceded someone talking over the line.

     "Birdie." Cassie shut her eyes at the sound of the all-too familiar voice, preparing herself for Iceman's incoming scolding. "Time to cut your joyride short. Come on back down, and I want to see you in my office."

     Bradley furrowed his eyebrows, "How did he — ?"

     "Because I used my badge to get us in," Cassie mumbled before reluctantly picking up the handset to reply to her superior. "...returning to base now." She hung up the handset back in its original position before exhaling a heavy sigh. An awkward silence fell over the pair. Bradley was unsure if Cassie was mad at him for getting both of them in trouble, while Cassie was wondering whether or not Iceman would alert Maverick of his daughter's antics (that he had taught her in the first place).

     Bradley wordlessly returned the plane to the tarmac and parked it in its original spot near the hangar. Once the engine and other auxiliary functions were turned off, Bradley opened the canopy and unhooked the harness around both of them. Cassie naturally exited the plane first, as her position on top of Bradley prevented him from doing so. She stepped onto the wing and slid down to the asphalt of the runway, looking up towards Bradley in anticipation of him doing the same. He followed suit, landing on his feet beside her. His eyebrows softened in realization of the other person in attendance, whom Cassie did not notice yet.

     She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion of Bradley's facial expression, turning to look over her shoulder, "What — ?"

     Cassie stopped herself short at the sight of Iceman in the middle of the runway, hands clasped behind his back in anticipation of his niece to notice his presence.

     "Birdie," he said, looking directly into her wide eyes. His voice sounded hoarse from his recent throat cancer treatment. Iceman's eyes cast over to Bradley, who was definitely an unexpected plus-one to say the least. Iceman subtly nodded, "...Rooster."

     Bradley straightened his posture, nodding back, "Sir."

     Iceman sighed, turning on his heel before beginning to walk back towards the building. The pair quietly followed Iceman, not needing his direct order to do so. During their walk to Iceman's office, Cassie attempted to reconfigure her plan on talking her way out of this one. Since Iceman had only addressed Cassie over the intercom, she was hoping that Bradley would be able to sneak back to his Bronco and get off the hook while Cassie took the blame. Now, not only would Bradley get reprimanded, but Iceman was now aware of their...personal relationship.

     Once they reached the door to Iceman's office, he spoke aloud, "I'll see Rooster first."

     Cassie, forgetting that she was in the presence of Admiral Kazansky, not Uncle Ice, went to intervene, "But —"

     "Take a seat, Birdie," Iceman retorted, opening the door to his office. He held it open, allowing Bradley to step inside. Unbeknown to him, Iceman gave a pointed look towards Cassie as he shut the door, leaving her alone in the small hallway. She closed her previously-agape mouth, slumping down in one of the uncomfortable chairs like a student called to the principal's office.

     Why does he need to talk to Bradley alone? Cassie asked herself. She felt herself pale, Is he going to tell him? Cassie rested her head against the wall behind her, closing her eyes as she began to preoccupy her thoughts with how to explain herself to Bradley about her "secret" identity. How she is Maverick's daughter, knows about Bradley's parents, and knows that her father pulled Bradley's papers from the Naval Academy — the defining moment that broke Bradley's trust in Maverick. Cassie gnawed on the side of her mouth. Stupid, she thought to herself.

     Finally, Cassie experienced the beginning of what could become a good thing but for all she knows, that possibility was flushed down the drain. She watched the analog clock hanging on the wall, wondering how long Bradley had been in Iceman's office. Cassie began to stare at the clock, counting along with the seconds hand as it clicked continuously.

     Fifty-five...fifty-six...fifty-seven — Cassie's progress on the current minute was interrupted by the door to Iceman's office opening. She watched as Iceman held the door, allowing Bradley to exit. Cassie stood, analyzing Bradley's face for any indicator of betrayal. She had difficulty doing so because Bradley avoided all eye contact with her whatsoever. Cassie felt her heart drop into her stomach.

     Iceman waited until Bradley rounded the corner towards the lobby before refocusing his attention on Cassie, "Birdie." Cassie wordlessly walked into Iceman's office, taking a subconscious look around although it appeared the same as it always did. "Take a seat." Cassie noticed how Iceman was seemingly keeping his sentences short and concise, likely because talking aggravated his already-sore throat. Nonetheless, she followed her superior's instructions and sat in one of the two leather chairs across from his desk while he sat behind it. He took a sip of water from the bottle sitting on his desk. After he set it back down on the coaster protecting the real wood desk, Iceman looked at Cassie.

     "I'll have to tell Mav about this." Cassie identified that she was now talking to Uncle Ice rather than Admiral Kazansky.

     "About Rooster, too?" Cassie asked. Iceman's eyes narrowed slightly, intrigued by how Rooster's involvement in this situation appeared to be the largest of Cassie's concerns.

     He chuckled, "Y'know...I was sure as hell not expecting Rooster of all people to be up there with you," He covered his mouth as he coughed, probably because of the longer sentence. Regardless, a hint of amusement was in his eyes, "Want to tell me what that's about?"

     Cassie shook her head and folded her arms across her chest, avoiding eye contact with Iceman as she suddenly became uncomfortable with his interest in her personal life, "It's a long story."

     "We've got all night, kid." Cassie averted her gaze back across the desk at her uncle, who took another sip of water.

     Accepting that she would not be dismissed until Iceman got more out of her, Cassie reluctantly shrugged, "I don't know — I wasn't expecting this to happen either!"

     Iceman sighed, "Alright, well, I'm not going to tell you who you can and can't date —"

     "We're not dating," Cassie quickly corrected.

     "— but all I'm going to say is just..." Iceman pressed his lips together as he withheld another cough, upset that his condition was impeding on his attempt at a heart-to-heart conversation with his niece. "...be careful." He waved his hand around, "Naval aviators, in general, can be...not the best partners."

     Cassie narrowed her eyes amusedly, "You're a Naval aviator."

     Iceman nodded, matter-of-factly, "Yeah, so I know what I'm talking about." He shrugged, "But, Rooster seems like a good kid, so —"

     Cassie shook her head, looking down towards her lap, "This was just a one-time thing."

    Iceman coughed intermittently,  "Hmm — is that so?" Unscrewing his water bottle, he pointed towards the door, "He spent those thirty minutes in here praising you left and right, talking about how you're too talented to let something as harmless as this ruin your career —" Cassie's eyes snapped back towards Iceman's face in near disbelief. After he swallowed another gulp of water to lubricate his throat, he continued, " — and how this was entirely his idea and that if anyone should be to blame, it should be him."

     "...really?" Cassie asked hesitantly, remembering how he didn't even look at her as he walked past her in the hallway. Iceman wordlessly nodded. Her face softened as the warm sensation in her chest returned, realizing that she had — thankfully — read his body language wrong earlier. Cassie's shoulders perked up with a sudden urge to run out the building and chase Bradley's Bronco down the road as if they were in a romcom.

     Iceman noticed and nodded towards the door to his office, "You're dismissed, Cass." Cassie stood up, but instead of walking towards the door, walked around Iceman's desk to wrap her arms around his shoulders in a hug. It took him slightly by surprise, but he graciously returned the gesture.

     "I like having you stateside, kid," Iceman said, patting her back.

     "Thank you, Uncle Ice," Cassie said softly. When she pulled away, she added, "When you tell my dad about this...can you still leave out Rooster? I'm not in the mood to deal with —" Iceman held a hand up, stopping Cassie.

     He stood up and reassured her, "Don't worry about it." Although they had a more personal conversation, Cassie realized that she was still speaking to her superior. She raised her hand in a salute, and after Iceman had returned it, she dropped her hand and went for the door.

     Cassie subconsciously had a pep in her step as she walked through the hallway into the lobby, and then through the main doors into the parking lot. She didn't see the vibrant, blue Bronco among the few other cars still there at nearly midnight, and her heart sank. Cassie slowly looked around, hoping that she could spot it somewhere still on the base. Only once she had completely turned around did she see the car that she was looking for, with Bradley leaning against its hood with his hands shoved into his front pockets.

     The warm sensation in Cassie's chest returned, growing stronger as she walked towards him, "You're still here?"

     Bradley looked amused, as if the answer was obvious, "I wasn't just going to let you walk home by yourself." He nodded towards the building, "How was it?"

     Stopping a couple feet in front of him, she shrugged, "Fine."

     He laughed, "Yeah, I figured...Iceman's always had a soft spot for you." Cassie remembered the multiple times during TOPGUN training that Bradley had reported her to Iceman, only for him to essentially let her off the hook. Cassie sighed, wondering if Bradley was about to make a comment about those same memories. Instead, he simply nodded towards his car, "C'mon," and walked to the driver's side, "I'll drive you home."

     Cassie glanced towards the ground and softly smiled to herself, before walking over to the passenger's side and climbing inside the truck. After Bradley had turned on the ignition and rested his hand on the stick shift in preparation to begin driving, Cassie's phone began to ring. Slightly concerned since it was a little past midnight, she reached into her back pocket and grabbed her phone, holding it in front of her so that she could see who the incoming call was from.

Dad
Decline          Accept

     Bradley turned off the car when he noticed Cassie studying her phone screen with an indeterminable expression.

     "You need to get that?" Bradley asked, concern laced in his voice at her lack of reaction. His question brought Cassie back to reality, where she felt an overwhelming urge to be petty. She clicked the "Message" button instead.

Cassie
Shouldn't you be in Iraq by now

     After hitting "Send," Cassie held down the button that switched her phone to silent, then tossed it onto the floor below her.

     At Bradley's confused expression, Cassie shrugged, "It was just spam." Bradley wordlessly nodded and rested his hand on the stick shift in preparation of restarting the car. Cassie rested her hand on top of his, turning his attention towards her. She gently squeezed his knuckles, "Thank you..."

     Bradley's eyebrows flinched inwards, "For what?" She had already thanked him earlier while flying in the plane, so it took him by surprise to be thanked again when he hadn't done anything worthy of gratitude. For what you said, Cassie answered in her head, but she couldn't bring herself to say those words out loud. It would make the situation much more sappy than it needs to be.

     Instead, she just shook her head, "...for everything." As if they were flying in the air, their next moves occurred in sync. Cassie moved her hand from on top of Bradley's to the side of his face, while he similarly took his hand from off the stick shift and wrapped his arm around Cassie's waist to pull her closer. Cassie's hand slid to behind Bradley's neck as he brought her closer, the lack of center console in his car ensuring that there were no barriers between the pair. With their chests touching, they could feel each other's heartbeats thumping against one another. Distant in her mind, Cassie's subconscious noted the constant vibrations coming from her phone on the floor. Eager for a distraction, she quickly pressed her lips against Bradley's. Her momentum forced him backwards against his car door, allowing them to lie down at an angle across the front row's seats.

     Bradley's free hand brushed Cassie's hair away from her face, allowing him a glimpse of the moonlight reflecting off her skin when they momentarily parted. Cassie watched as his eyes scanned her face, feeling a familiar sensation crawl up her neck and into her cheeks. Encouraged to embrace her body's reaction rather than fight it, she leaned back down to capture Bradley's top lip between hers once again. Off-balanced, Cassie's body began to roll towards the floor beneath the seats, but Bradley's arm had caught her as soon as he felt her weight begin to shift from on top of him.

     Unbeknown to either of them, Bradley's elbow had accidentally knocked the stick shift, propping it into second gear. Cassie suddenly felt like they were in motion, and quickly sat up in alarm.

     Bradley, too, was stunned, worried that he had done something wrong, "What happened?"

     Cassie glanced out the windshield, "We're moving."

    "What?" Bradley asked, sitting up as well, noticing that the car was inching forward in the parking lot. His eyes widened as he noticed that the parking brake wasn't on and the stick shift had been moved into second, "Shit —" He quickly shifted the car back to first and engaged the parking brake, bringing the car to a stop. A brief moment of quiet passed between the two, other than their heavy breathing. Cassie began to giggle aloud, looking towards Bradley with an amused expression. He began laughing too, letting his head fall back onto the seat as the minor crisis had been averted.

     Cassie resumed her position on top of Bradley, lying down so that her cheek rested on his chest. Although, she couldn't admit that she was satisfied yet. She pushed her upper body up so that she was now straddling him. Bradley felt her move and averted his gaze from the underside of the soft-top roof towards Cassie to see her looking at the vacant back seat.

     She returned her attention to Bradley with a small smile on her face, "Want to move back here?"

     Bradley chuckled, moving to sit up as well, "We should've done that in the first place."

     "Then why didn't you suggest it?" Cassie asked jokingly, crawling through the gap between the driver's and passenger's seats. Bradley waited until she had gotten into the back before doing the same.

     "I was a little preoccupied," Bradley answered, causing a scoff to erupt from Cassie's mouth. She shook her head as she pulled Bradley into the second row, bringing him on top of her. He hovered over Cassie, taking in the sight of her; how her hair had become disheveled upon ungracefully crawling into the back seat, how her lips were pursed so that she didn't laugh at his joke, even though she thought it was funny... Bradley thought back to earlier, before Iceman had cut their joyride short.

     Maybe Cassie could be my family.

PRESENT DAY

     AT THE SOUND OF NEWCOMERS' FOOTSTEPS, the already-present mission candidates turned over their shoulders to see Cassie and Bradley walking in together. Their shared glances with one another didn't go unnoticed by either member of the pair, but neither outwardly reacted. Bradley woke up with a strained groin from his front leg that took the brunt of his fall into the deck the night before, and thus walked with a slight limp in his step. Cassie noticed that each of their peers caught onto it and had their own hypothesis of its cause. Nonetheless, she pursed her lips and avoided eye-contact out of preserving her own dignity.

     Hangman smirked, chuckling to himself at Rooster's abnormal stride as he readjusted the toothpick in his mouth.

     Once they came within earshot, Hangman spoke in a low voice — although, still loud enough for everyone to hear in the otherwise quiet space, "Damn, Blackwood. I'd never guess you had that in you." Cassie rolled her eyes at his immature comment.

     Bradley, on the other hand, furrowed his eyebrows, "What d'you mean?"

     Hangman scoffed in amusement, "Oh, c'mon, don't play with me. Use that brain of yours — assuming you have one." He leaned forward and barely lowered his voice, "What else would have you limping like that?" He nodded towards Cassie, "I'll guess that a little Birdie had something to do with it." The dots connected in Bradley's brain, causing his body to aggressively flinch forward.

     Cassie quickly intervened, stepping between them and grabbing onto both of Bradley's arms in restraint, "No."

     "Hey, Birdie." Cassie glanced over her shoulder towards Hangman. He removed the toothpick from his mouth and suggestively raised his eyebrows, "If you ever want to take me for a spin...I'm game."

     She sarcastically smiled, "Hard pass."

     Hangman nonchalantly shrugged, putting his toothpick back in its original position, "Your loss."

     Cassie shook her head in disbelief, mumbling under her breath, "I'll live." Upon seeing Bradley's murderous gaze still locked upon Hangman, she moved to lead him towards an empty seat, "C'mon —"

     He gave her an incredulous look, "Did you not just hear what he said to you?"

     She shrugged, "I've heard worse, honestly." At her failed attempt of lightening the mood, Cassie sighed, "Let him think what he wants. It's not worth it. He's not worth it." Upon noticing Warlock entering the room, she removed her grip from Bradley's arms, "Don't let him get under your skin." Once again, she motioned towards an empty table in urgency, insinuating that it was time to focus on the task at hand, "C'mon."

     At Bradley's rigid posture, Cassie glanced back at Warlock to see him advancing towards the podium between the two aisles of desks. She placed a hand on Bradley's shoulder nearest her and pushed him into a seat before sitting adjacent to Einstein in one row forward.

     "Attention on deck!" The rhythmic sound of chair legs scraping against the floor echoed inside of the hangar as everyone took up their rigid postures.

     Warlock took his position behind the podium, greeting the aviators, "Morning. Welcome to your special training detachment." He nodded, "Be seated." Once everyone did so, he continued, "I'm Admiral Bates, NAWDC Commander. You're all TOPGUN graduates." Warlock addressed different members of the room, "The elite. The best of the best." Even from a position behind him, Cassie could see the smugness radiate off of Hangman's form.

     "That was yesterday." Cassie's, along with everyone else's, attention was grabbed upon Warlock's words. "The enemy's new fifth-generation fighter has leveled the playing field. Details are few, but you can be sure we no longer possess the technological advantage. Success, now more than ever, comes down to the man or woman in the box."

     Hangman glanced behind his shoulder, first towards Cassie, who discretely scowled, then Phoenix, who subtly flicked him off. "Half of you will make the cut," Warlock continued. "One of you will be named mission leader. The other half will remain in reserve.

     "Your instructor is a TOPGUN graduate with real-world experience in every mission aspect you will be expected to master." Cassie perked up in interest at the hidden identity of their instructor. Like Phoenix inquired the night before, if the best of the best were all here, who would be given the responsibility to lead them?

     Cassie's phone vibrated from inside her pants pocket, and she internally cursed for not turning it all the way off. In her defense, she thought it was dead anyway, but apparently it had acquired a second wind. When she discreetly slid it out of her pocket to turn it off for good, the text notification from hours ago caught her eye.

Uncle Ice 🧊
Text me when you get this. I have something to tell you.

     Cassie furrowed her eyebrows, wondering what he would have to tell her?

     "His exploits are legendary, and he's considered to be one of the finest pilots this program has ever produced. What he has to teach you may very well mean the difference between life and death." Cassie noticed the others glance backwards down the aisle that their instructor was surely walking down, but she focused on quickly turning off her phone and stowing it away before their instructor made it to her row.

     Warlock nodded towards the approaching figure, "I give you captain Pete Mitchell."

     Cassie's posture went rigid with a mixture of emotions. Shock. Confusion. Anxiety.

     "Call sign: Maverick." As her father replaced Warlock's position behind the podium, Cassie felt like she was going to throw up. She hated being blind-sided, and this definitely takes the cake for the blind-side of all blind-sides. Pete immediately looked towards his daughter, whose widened eyes looked similar to a deer in headlights. Pete didn't hold his gaze for too long, not wanting to seem suspicious, but he could've sworn she was beginning to look a little pale. Thankfully, no one analyzed the gesture too closely, or else Cassie figured that the relationship between the two would've been clear as day.

     Pete cleared his throat, giving his pupils a half-hearted smile in greeting, "Good morning." Cassie was too preoccupied with her own state of emotions to think about what Bradley was thinking. She wanted to turn around to see for herself, but she physically could not budge.

     Cassie noticed the opened plastic water bottle in front of Einstein and pointed at it before asking, "Are you drinking that?"

     Einstein was surprised by the sudden question, but he handed her the bottle regardless, "Oh, no — no, you can have it."

     "Thanks." She quickly accepted the bottle, unscrewing the cap and chugging down what was left inside. Cassie disregarded the concern glance coming from both Einstein and her father, who continued with his introduction.

     Pete held up a thick instruction manual, "The F-18 NATOPS. It contains everything they want you to know about your aircraft." He nodded, "I'm assuming you know the book inside and out."

     Cassie's fellow aviators chimed in, displaying their arrogance, "Damn right."

     "Damn straight."

     "You got it."

     Pete dropped the entire manual into the nearby trash can, emitting a loud clang.

     He glanced back up towards the aviators, "So does your enemy."

     Cassie could barely hear Hondo's mumbling off to the side, "And we're off..." If she still wasn't so taken aback, she would've laughed to herself. But she was still wondering what she was going to tell her dad first after his little demonstration. She forced herself to blink back into reality, focusing on her father's next words.

     "But what the enemy doesn't know...is your limits." This, right here, was Cassie's limit. The unpredictability. The dishonesty. Soon enough, her emotions of confusion turned into frustration — into anger. "I intend to find them, test them, push beyond."

     You're already pushing far beyond, Cassie mused to herself.

     "Today we'll start with what you only think you know." Pete glanced towards Bradley and then towards Cassie, eyes trained on her as he relayed his parting words, "You show me what you're made of."

     Pete's words hung in the air before Bradley was the first person to get up from their chair and begin walking towards the runway. Cassie hastily turned on her phone to send Ice a reply before she would most definitely ask him for more details about this whole ordeal later.

Little Mav
If it has something to do with someone whose name starts with M and ends with K then I already know...thanks for the head's up. Much appreciated 🫡

     Surprisingly, she saw text bubbles appear almost immediately after sending her message. Since she had a minute to spare, Cassie waited to see what Ice had to say.

Uncle Ice 🧊
I tried to give you a head's up but you didn't respond earlier. You know I'd never send you in somewhere blind.

For how much you kids are on your phones these days, I can't believe you didn't see my text.

Little Mav
Phone was dead. Forgot to charge it last night 🤷🏼‍♀️

Uncle Ice 🧊
Not too surprised. That's what happens when you get involved with a boy

     Cassie narrowed her eyebrows before feeling heat involuntarily rise in her cheeks.

Little Mav questioned "Not too surprised. That's what happens when you get involved with a boy"

Uncle Ice 🧊
I have 👀 and👂🏼 everywhere

     Cassie rolled her eyes — one, at Ice's text to begin with, but two, at his use of emojis in replacement of words. She sent back a quick reply, purposefully using slang he wouldn't understand.

Little Mav
K. TTYL

Uncle Ice 🧊
What does that mean?

     Faintly smiling to herself in amusement, Cassie shoved her phone back into her pocket, realizing that she was among the last to stand up. As she noticed that her father had stayed back, too, she was unsure if she would approach him now or later. She ultimately decided on the latter, but as she stood and turned to follow Einstein and the rest of her peers, Pete said, "Birdie."

     Cassie stopped, nodding reassuringly at Einstein who had stopped too, "I'll meet you there." It looked like he had more to say, but with once glance back towards Pete, Einstein decided otherwise. Once he was out of earshot, Cassie turned back towards Pete, waiting for him to speak first. It seemed that Pete didn't know what to say either as he stood there, mouth open as he thought of where to begin.

     Pete opted to attempt to lighten the mood with a joke, "Well, your mother called me. You know that's never a good sign." Cassie huffed in agreement. Pete raised a patronizing eyebrow, "Apparently...you didn't tell her that you were flying out here." Cassie stayed quiet, feeling like she was caught doing something she shouldn't have. "She figured you were coming out to see me, and I had to be the one to break the news that you were training for a mission." Again, silence on Cassie's behalf. "Wanna tell me what that's about, Cass?"

     Cassie shook her head, "There's nothing to tell you about. I didn't even know why I was called out here. I didn't want to worry her if there was nothing to worry about, especially since —" Cassie's words got caught in her throat. She glanced away, crossing her arms protectively over her chest, "— especially since she has other things to worry about."

     Pete looked at Cassie apologetically. She desperately wanted to change the topic of conversation, gesturing towards Pete's figure, "How 'bout you? Being called back here to teach?" She asked, mockingly, "Wanna tell me what that's about, Dad?"

     Pete sighed, "Sometimes I wish you took on more of your mother's personality. I feel like I'm talking to a brick wall."

     Cassie pursed her lips, "More like talking into a mirror, but okay." At Pete's smile, Cassie felt the corners of her own lips flinch upwards, but refrained from rewarding her father with her usual wide grin. She glanced over towards her colleagues, noticing that they were all at their respective planes. Cassie faced Pete, "We'll talk about this later at home. Over dinner." She pointed at him, "You're buying."

     Pete laughed, "Well, I'm a little strapped for cash at the moment. I had a credit card declined last night." Cassie's mind naturally went back to someone being thrown out of the Hard Deck, but figured it couldn't have been her dad. If he was there, he most likely would have seen her — and if he had seen her, he would have said "hi"...right? He nodded towards the planes, "C'mon. Let's see your chops."

     Cassie smirked, elated to begin flying, "Try to keep up, old man."

hehe did you catch the switch from rooster to bradley in the flashback 🤭 if not go back and reread (jk...unless 👀)

UGH i love flashbacks of somewhat established relationships for this reason. as for the present...buckle up 😈