H_NGM_N

Chapter 3

Elise was out on the track but was stopped by a hand on her shoulder. She turned, almost hitting Maverick in the shin with her helmet. "You're not really going up there, right? Just to prove some kid wrong?"

Elise shrugged and looked towards the planes. "I enjoy what I do and I love being up in the air, just like you. And if I can prove 'some kid' wrong, that's a bonus. Don't worry, we'll be done in no time and you can go back to dogfighting with the rest of the crew."

Maverick paused. "Is there something more I should know about? With you and Hangman?"

She didn't really want to tell him. The last thing she wanted was him wondering if he'd impair her judgement, but then again...

"The night at the bar? Hangman and I kissed a little and I--"

Maverick shook his head. "Look, as long as it won't become an issue, you can make out with whoever you'd like. Just make sure Cyclone doesn't find out, yes?"

She gave a mock solute. "Yes, sir."

"Now go beat his ass."

Elise smiled as she turned back to the planes, seeing Hangman getting into his which was right next to hers. He gave her a cheeky smile, a toothpick hanging from one side. "Maverick giving you some pointers there?"

"Don't choke," was all she said as the top of the plane came down and she readied herself for flight. As soon as the ramp agents gave the signal to go, her and Hangman shot into the air.

Elise needed that. She needed the feeling of getting in the air, the feeling like she couldn't breathe. She did admit, it was a weird thing to miss, but she loved it. She loved being high above the ground, everything turning into tiny blocks in her view. But she couldn't reminisce for long, she needed to, in Maverick's words, "beat his ass."

She saw him out of the corner of her eye and immediately broke left. She heard a small, "shit," from her headset as she continued on her flight. Her goal was to subtly get behind him, but, well, he was better than she had originally thought.

She'd just have to go below the hard deck. It was against the "rules" but it was an easy maneuver for her to finesse. 

His taunting voice came through her headset. "Hey, Legs, how about--instead of pushups--if I win, you come over and we see what happens."

"And if I win?"

"Then I'll take you out on a real date, and do the pushups."

She had to bite her tongue to stop her from responding. The only thing she needed was for his ego to grow, if that was even possible.

She put the nose of her plane down and started to plummet straight for the ground. She watched as Hangman did the same, a few seconds behind her. The only risk was Hangman could get the jump on her if he tried to get the missile on her before she had time to readjust, but that would mean almost killing himself in the process.

With concentration like that, your viewpoint and your thought process is so in-tuned on one thing that thinking about the hard deck and  trying to pin a missile on someone at the same time, well, it was almost a death mission.

Which is why Elise was very glad that the only thing she heard ringing through her ears was Hangman's voice yelling at her. 

"Come on, Legs, straighten out or we're both going to die." Many different variations of that were voiced, but Elise never stopped, and neither did Hangman.

It wasn't until 300 feet that Elise pulled up on her control, going straight and back. She then recentered her plane and was right behind Hangman, planting a missile on him in the next split second.

"Dammit!" She heard and she watched as he tried to look at her through the window of the plane. She gave him a bright smile and waved. He flipped her off.

They were back on the ground as three other planes took off to dogfight next. Hangman got out of his plane, breathing heavily, sweat dripping down his face.

Elise pointed in front of her where she had designated his spot to do pushups, which she counted.

After he was done, he stood up--the toothpick making it's daily debut--and took a step towards her, giving her a studying look while messaging one of his arms. "How'd you do that move?"

"Break some rules and you'll get some new tricks up your sleeve."

Hangman smirked. "I'd love to break some rules with you, Darling."

Without another word, she turned away and began to walk. "I know you would," she turned to him, "that's why we haven't."

Elise continued walking but was stopped by his voice. "Hey! Why do they call you Legs anyway?"

She smiled.

"Why did Hangman just corner me in the locker room and ask me if we fucked?"