BRADLEY DROVE KRISTEN HOME THAT NIGHT, dropping her off with a solemn kiss to her forehead and an ask to come inside; she answered no, wanting some time to herself. Her and Bradley had sure gotten onto eachother's better side lately, but that didn't mean she wanted to cry in his arms. She didn't want to appear weak, that was her biggest fear.

She woke up late for once in her life, her alarm being set off half an hour too late. To say Kristen panicked was an understatement, rummaging through her house to move faster only made her slower as she stopped everytime to pick up anything she'd dropped or knocked over.

Just her luck, she thought, knocking down a few of her picture frames when pulling her jacket from her bedside drawer. A delicate crack pierced the frames as they toppled over eachother. For the only moment that moment, she just couldn't lift them up to see the damage.

Kristen rushed to the base, hoping that at least the Admirals weren't sitting in on her training. She gulped at the sight of Admiral Beau Simpson pacing down the classroom, except the confusion of his poured onto her as she noticed a major detail; it was an empty classroom.

And it was an empty Tarmac too.

"Good morning Admiral Simpson," Kristen cleared her throat as she walked through the door, "I apologise for my lateness....uh... where is everyone?"

"I'm asking myself the same damn question Kazansky," He furrowed his brows, "There's nobody here. Not even a note left behind. I'm not enjoying Maverick's little games."

"They're games for sure, but he wouldn't be doing anything to jeopardise the mission," She affirmed, "What'd you talk about last time you saw him, Admiral?"

"We talked about needing to make a team."

"Oh fuck," Kristen facepalmed herself, jolting her head upright to excuse her language. Admiral Beau instead nodded waiting for her answer, "You're gonna have a field day with this one."

——

KRISTEN AND ADMIRAL SIMPSON EVENTUALLY ARRIVED AT THE BEACH, and to her suspicion there her team was with Maverick — playing dogfight football.

"You've gotta be kidding me," Admiral Beau threw on his sunglasses as the two exited, "This is what he thinks is productive?"

"It's a waste of time," She huffed, her arms crossed as the two walked down the sand. Maverick was grinning hard, his arms out wide as he ushered the two over.

"Glad you could make it, Frosty!" Maverick cheered, "Get in there!"

"I'm good," She rolled her eyes, "This isn't gonna help me learn to fly that route, I'll head back after I say hi to Penny. We need to be training."

"No," Maverick firmly replied, "You're gonna go out there with your teammates, and you're gonna play."

"What is this Maverick?" Admiral Beau interrupted, staring down at Maverick who shook his head, "It's dogfight football, offence and defense at the same time. Pretty cool."

"Who's winning?" He squinted his eyes trying to picture where the ball was, Kristen's jaw dropping as he entertained it.

"I don't think anyone's counting anymore," Maverick laughed. Admiral Beau looked back at him, "You need to be completing their training, and use every available minute. Why are we playing games?"

"You said to make a team," Maverick then pointed to his students, "That's your team."

"I'm trusting you on this Maverick," Admiral Beau said with some doubt, saying goodbye as he went back to his car to leave the beach.

"It's not a team, it's a bunch of idiots throwing a football around," Kristen tried to retreat to Penny but Maverick grabbed her arm, "This isn't helping our training. We should be starting part 2 of-"

"I've never seen you miss out on a game of dogfight football when there's a chance," Maverick locked eyes with the girl, "This was your favourite game, you know exactly why this is helpful. It's team-building."

"It's not about a team anymore," She shrugged, "I'm going on this mission, and I'm coming back from it. I don't need to play dogfight, I need to practice for a real one."

"You can't get like this Kristen," Maverick took his sunglasses off, "You need a balance. Have some fun, and bond with your teammates. You need to get this entitlement out of your head that you're going on that mission, everyone's equal here."

"— you don't let your ego write checks your body can't cash."

"I could cash them if I was training."

Maverick exhaled, "You're gonna burn yourself out Kristen. I suggest you go blow off some steam with your teammates, that's what's going to help."

"Thanks, but beach football still isn't worth my time," She shrugged, swinging her arm back so she could storm over to Penny, "But hey, if I turn 16 again, I'll let you know Mav!"

Before she could even sit down by Penny, she was already shaking her head, "Don't you dare."

"Excuse me?" Kristen backed off from the seat, "Why can't I sit? Or say hi?"

"You should be out there," Penny continued writing whatever notes she was doing prior, taking a sip of her cola, "You're going into Frosty overdrive, I can see it in your face. Go play."

"There is no such thing as Frosty overdrive," She rolled her eyes, "And no worries Pen, I'm heading back to the base anyways."

"How?" She dropped her pen.

"I'll call a damn Uber if I have to," Kristen sarcastically smiled, "I need to learn that route Pen, I need to know I can fly it."

"Sweetie, we all know you can fly it-"

"No!" Kristen cut her off softly, "You don't Penny. I keep hearing that I'm ready, that I'll be fine. That's not good enough, I need to do it. I need to know that I can do it."

Penny frowned as she listened to Kristen, her eyes being distracted as she noticed Rooster and Coyote sneaking up behind. Penny sighed, "And you also need to know that you've got people behind you, kid. Metaphorically and physically."

"Penny Benjamin-"

"Kristen Kazansky," Penny repeated as the boys finally snuck up behind Kristen. Bradley coughed, "Attention Lieutenant Coyote, this is a search and rescue. Target acquired. Secure and return to home base."

"Got it, Lieutenant Rooster!" Coyote laughed, watching Rooster pick Kristen up and swing her over his shoulders. Coyote followed behind as Kristen growled, his eyes meeting with hers, "Lieutenant Rooster, the target appears to be unwilling to cooperate, Sir."

"Shutup Coyote," Kristen hissed, lightly punching Bradley's back, "And you! You put me down asshole."

"Sure," Bradley grinned as he put the girl down, right beside a football. He winked over at Hondo who then blew the whistle, and everyone piled in for the next round of the game.

"Who's team am I even on!" Kristen yelled, out of instinct grabbing the ball. Bradley attempted to tackle her, narrowly missing as she secured it, "I heard you weren't all worried about a team now, Frosty!"

"Oh, you're so done Roost," She scoffed, throwing the ball to Natasha. The group cheered, as they meddled into another round of dogfight football. The back of her mind was still on training, however the forefront was now consumed by the game; she was already wet and covered in sand, maybe a game or two wouldn't hurt...

Eventually the ball was back in Kristen's hands, and Bradley had finally intercepted the ball and passed it off to Hangman. While Kristen was about to fall from the intercept, she brought Bradley down with her by his dog tag.

"Oh! You wanna go Frosty?" He teased, falling on top of her as she spun the two upright after. Kristen then jumped up as fast as she could to stand, but Bradley already had his arms around her waist to pull her into him.

"I feel like this is about to turn into a porno," Natasha snickered as most of the group's eyes landed onto the two, wrestling eachother. Hangman however looked a little more confused than anything, "They know neither of them have the ball right?"

Natasha pretended to cover Hangman's eyes, "Oh bless you Jake, their hands aren't all over eachother because of the damn game."

— cloudydior
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