"Is she still back there?" Maverick asked, focusing on flying and avoiding the other jet.

"No, sh-shes gone" Rooster chocked out, holding back a sob. Maverick held back his own sadness as he pushed forward, knowing he needed to save Rooster.

"Here comes another one." Rooster warned Maverick as they were shot at again.

"Rooster, flares! Now, now, now!" Maverick ordered as he pulled up and Rooster released the flares to take the hit. "Splitting the throttles. Coming around." Maverick reported his actions. "Give me tone, give me tone." Maverick pleaded as he locked onto the jet that shot me down.

"You got him, Mav! You got him!" Rooster shouted up to him.

"Taking the shot." Maverick said as he shot a missile at it but it spun out and dodged the missile at the last second. "What the..." Maverick asked as the jet floated past them.

"Holy shit! What the fuck was that?" Rooster looked back at it before looking up at Maverick for answers.

"Hang on. We gotta get low. The terrain will confuse his targeting system." Maverick explaiend his methods to the younger pilot.

"Here he comes!" Rooster looked back.

"Talk to me, rooster. Where is he?" Maverick asked as they were shot at again.

"He's still on us!" Rooster warned as they continued through the low terrain. "We took a hit! We took a hit!" Rooster reported the damages as they got shot at again.

"Damn it!" Maverick cursed.

"Come on, Mav. Do some of that pilot shit." Rooster used my old words to him as he held a hand to the canopy as they were shot at again.

"Brace yourself." Maverick warned. He pulled them up fast and leveled them breifly before dropping them back down again.

"Holy shit." Rooster groaned. "I don't know how Sunshine puts up with this"

"I got tone. Taking the shot."

"Damn it!" Rooster shouted grumpily when they hit the flares instead.

"Out of missiles. Switching to guns." Maverick reported to Rooster as they grew desperate.

"Come on, Mav, come on." Maverick cheered himself on as he chased the jet.

"You got him, Mav!" Rooster cheered him on as well.

"It's not over yet." Maverick warned carefully. "One last chance."

"You can do this." Rooster told him, remembering how he told me that before we went on the mission.

"Come on, Maverick." Maverick took the shot, hitting the engines of the jet and causing it to crash.

"Yes! Splash two!" Rooster cheered out proudly. Maverick breathed heavily as he flew them up into the air again.

"Sunshine, that you?" Hangman called over as an F-18 flew along side me.

"Hangman, am I ever glad to see you" I sighed in relief.

"Are you flying that piece of junk by yourself?" He asked in shock next.

"Yes, but I'd really like to land now" I told him with stress and nerves.

"Shit, we got a bogey coming up on our 6" Hangman noticed. "Get back to the ship, I'll deal with this" he warned as I banked off to the right and he banked to the left, the enemy jet following after him. I watched carefully, as Hangman was caught in target lock.

"Everyone always needs my help" I commented simply as I flew in behind them. "Come on, come on" I tried to get a lock, the sound filling my jet as I took the shot, waving Hangman.

"The hell?" Hangman looked back. "I thought I told you to go back to the ship"

"And I thought you didn't need my help" I countered with a smirk.

"Go" he laughed back.

"Hangman, save Maverick and Rooster, please"

"I will" he agreed before we separated.

"We have an incoming f-14" the comms tower announced to the navy personal.

"This is Sunshine, coming in for landing" I announced and Phoenix sat up from where she had been waiting in the communications Centre. "I don't know how to land this thing" I warned them next.

"I'll walk you though it" Traces voice came through the radio and I sighed in relief.

"Nat" I smiled at the comfort her voice brought me.

"I'm right here, Nick" she told me before the tower cut in.

"Approaching landing, call the ball"

"The lever to your right, flick it to call the ball and keep you speed as you descend, but down go below the ship." She explained.

"Okay, I got this" I nodded trying to hype myself up.

"You got this" she repeated back to me. The landing was bumpy and rough but I made it.

"Glad to have you back, Sunshine" Hondo offered me a hand down the ladder of the jet after he pulled it out for me.

"Thanks, Hondo" I offered him a smile before seeing Trace come out of the ship to see me. I moved away from Hondo with another thanks before running to my best friend and sister and pulling her in for a hug.

"You did amazing" she smiled at me proudly. "But please never scare me like that again"

"Thanks for helping me land" I smiled to her. "And I will never leave you like that again" I promised her.

"Are Mav and Rooster still out there?" She asked carefully.

"I hope so" I looked back at the clear blue sky before she was pulling me back into the ship with an arm over my shoulder.

"Mav, I got the radio on." Rooster reported after flicking a switch in the back and the radio finally connecting.

"Outstanding. Get us in touch with the boat." Maverick told him proudly.

"Copy that." Rooster nodded.

"Oh, my god." Maverick sighed as another alarm started beeping throughout the jet.

"Where the hell is this guy?" Rooster looked around with panic.

"He's on our nose." Maverick stated with realization at the jet coming straight towards them as Rooster shifted to look at it too.

"Damn it, we're out of ammo." Maverick grumbled as she tried to shoot him down.

"Smoke in the air! Rooster, flares!" Maverick ordered as he cut to the side.

"That was close." Rooster claimed as the missile hit the flares instead of them. He gasped as the jet flew just above them and passed them. "We're out of flares, Mav." Rooster panicked more as he looked back to see the jet turning around to follow them. "Shit, he's already on us."

"This is not good." Rooster worried as they were shot at again, not able to take much more. Maverick tried his best to dodge the bullets but was struggling. "We took another hit!" Rooster reported.

"No, no, no, no, no!" Maverick shouted out in frustration as he continued to fly to his best ability. "We can't take much more of this. We can't outrun this guy. We got to eject." Maverick told Rooster.

"What?"

"We need altitude. Pull the ejection handles the second I tell you." Maverick ordered and Rooster thought back to the training incident only a few days ago. His mind soon thought back to me as he grew unfocused.

"Mav, wait!"

"Rooster, there's no other way." Maverick told him as he started to pull up. "Eject, eject, eject!" He shouted to Rooster as they got the altitude they needed.

"Rooster, pull the handle! Eject!" Maverick shouted as Rooster pulled the handle and nothing happened.

"It's not working!" Rooster shouted back in panic that they were going to die. "Mav!" Rooster shouted desperatly as they flew higher and higher towards the sun but the jet followed and started to lock on them.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Goose." Maverick whispered to himself. The sound of target lock rang through their jet as the missile was shot. But before it could get far the jet and missile were blown up, prompting Rooster to look back.

"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. This is your savior speaking." Hangman spoke confidently as he flew through the smoke to meet the others. "Please fasten your seat belts, return your tray tables to their locked and upright positions..." Hangman continued as Rooster laughed with relief. "And prepare for landing." Hangman flew alongside them.

"Hey, Hangman, you look good." Rooster looked over at him with a smile as Maverick sent him a wave of thanks.

"I am good, rooster. I'm very good. I'll see you back on deck." Hangman broke off to go back to the ship.

"Do you think Sunshine made it?" Rooster asked Maverick with hope.

"I think well find out" Maverick agreed, not wanting t0 get his hopes up in case I really was shot down. Hangman came in for landing as Trace, Bob and I stood outside waiting for them, a Medic checking me over.

"Maverick is downwind. No front landing gear. No tail hook. Pull the cable and raise the barricade." Hangman ordered out was he was secured to the ship. I stood up suddenly brushing away the medic who had been trying to check me over as I saw Rooster and Maverick returning.

"Foul deck! Foul deck! Raise the barricade!"

"Go!" Hondo shouted as he ordered them to set up the barricade everyone working together. Maverick flew around the tower for a fly by as I laughed at a usual trick Rooster and I would always do.

"That's not good" I told Phoenix as their jet shook upon coming in close for landing.

"Please don't tell me we lost an engine." Bradshaw pleaded tiredly.

"All right, I won't tell you that." Maverick stated.

"Okay." Rooster grunted as he shifted in his seat preparing for the rough landing. Roosters head flung forward as they landed harshly, but he was okay. They breathed harshly as they opened the canopy, crowds of people rushing to help them out and cheer their victory and survival.

"You good?" Maverick asked back to Rooster as they pulled their helmets off.

"Yeah. I'm good." Rooster nodded though he knew he would only feel better when he knew I was safe. Rooster lifted his helmet high as everyone cheered for them, the two pilots climbing out. Hondo hugged Maverick, glad his friend was safe.

"Bradley!" I shouted as I pushed through the crowd, Phoenix right behind me. He recognized my voice right away, face searching for me desperately through the crowd.

"Nicky!" He replied, run over to close the gap between us as he lifted me in a hug, spinning me around. As I was set back on the ground he refused to let go as though he might lose me again. "I thought I lost you" he claimed looking into my eyes as tears filled his.

"We're a team, you survive, I survive, you can't get rid of me that easily" I told him with a proud smile, finally letting myself open up and feel the pure happiness.

"I just- I didn't know if you were okay because I though you got shot down but when Hangman saved us I hoped he had saved you too and—" Bradley rambled until a pair of lips on his own cut him off, leaving him stunned as his dream girl pulled away with a shy smile. "Woah" he gasped in awe, eyes wide. "I liked that" he claimed before pulling me in for another kiss.

I laughed as we separated but stayed close, Hangman approaching us as Rooster kept his arm around my waist, holding me to his side. Hangman silently reached a hand out and Roosted shook it with a nod, both of them smiling towards each other for once.

"Chalked yourself another kill." Rooster commented.

"That makes two." Hangman stated proudly.

"Mav has five." Phoenix added. "Makes him an ace." She smiled as Rooster shrugged.

"Our own little Sunshine here also got herself a kill" Hangman stated, letting his ego take a hit for once.

"What?" Trace and Bradshaw looked to me in shock.

"Saving me" Hangman elaborated as Phoenix patted my shoulder as Rooster kissed my forehead proudly.

"Captain Mitchell! Captain Mitchell!" Rooster made his way through the crowd, searching for Maverick as I followed him. "Sir." Rooster greeted.

Maverick looked at him for a second before pulling him in for a hug, breaking the hug a second later to bring me into it too.

"Thank you for saving my life." Maverick pulled back to thank us.

"It's what my dad would've done." Rooster nodded. Maverick nodded back with a sad smile and tears in his eyes. Maverick pulled us in for another hug, holding us close for as long as he could.

"I'm so proud of the both of you" he whispered for only us to hear.

"You two need to get checked by a medic now, come on" I told them both in a stern tone as I cared about their safety and pulled away from the hug. I had started walking towards the door of the ship when Maverick stood staring at me. "What now?" I turned back to ask him as Roosted held my hand.

"Nothing, you just reminded me of your mother." He stated. "She was caring too, and stubborn" he added.

"I'm not stubborn" I protested.

"Yes, you are" Bradley chuckled from beside me.

"I'm not" I said, pulling him along towards the medic.

Don't think, just do.

"Hey, Nicky, I was thinking that when we get back, would you maybe want to get dinner together?" Rooster asked nervously as the medic checked him over and I sat by his side the entire time.

"Are you asking me on a date, Bradley?" I teased him.

"I guess I am" he smirked back.

"Then I would love to have dinner with you" I claimed with a smile that I couldn't hide.

This felt like flying.

....................................................
Question of the day: what do you think of Rooster and Sunshine finally being together?