✔ᵉⁿᵍˡⁱˢʰ Starscream [Top Gun Maverick]✔

22

If this was a punishment, Kim didn't know what kind it would be. One where she just thought it couldn't be true.

It was just like Kim had said to Mitchell and Penny before. If Maverick broke the rules, the man would eventually be celebrated or rewarded for it. As now. Whether this could be considered a reward, however, she would question.

Mitchell was appointed squadron leader for this mission.

"What did you say?" wanted to know Kim, who just couldn't believe that the captain didn't have to go to jail, nor that there were any other consequences, which included herself, "Why aren't we in the middle of St. Charles Place and Connecticut Avenue?" she asked. Where did the jail free card come from?"

"It's like you said," Mitchell began, "The right people, believe in something."

"That's not a reasonable answer, nor is it the explanation for both of us still standing here," far from it, so Kim wasn't finished, "What kind of deal did you make?"

"No deal. It's just the mission," Pete assured the brunette, but this was more than hard to believe, "It's solely about the mission. It's all good, Kimmie."

This suicide could hardly be downplayed with 'all is well'. After all, this mission was nothing else. Suicide. Pure, unadulterated suicide.

But good news is usually followed by bad news. The training was over, because all preparations for the departure were already made and were in full swing. In the course of tomorrow, the aircraft carrier would leave.

Shit was getting serious. Really serious.

•●•

Good mood far and wide, but no penny. Usually the owner was the reason for the best mood in the Hard Deck, but there was no trace of the woman far and wide, instead Jimmy was there. To make matters worse, it was packed.

"A caipirinha with extra limes," Kim ordered after having to push through the crowd and finally getting to the bar, "And an extra shot of the cachaça as well."

As far as the eye could see, nothing but good cheer.

Grateful, Kim took her glass and handed a bill to Jimmy, who shook his head and said someone buy a round. If she had known that ahead of time, she would have taken something else, but there was no reason to complain about a free drink.

"And I thought you were good," with her lower lip pushed forward, Kim stood next to the blonde ego number in front of the dartboard and squinted at him as she took a sip from the glass, "That one, has nothing to do with 'too good to be true.' That's lousy. Sorry, didn't mean to break your little pilot heart."

"Too late," it was heard from Jake, whose next arrow hit right in the middle, who then looked to her, and took her glass, emptying it before leaving, "You had your chance."

"Yes, because it is an intangible honor to be the 'girlfriend' of an overbearing pilot whose narcissism is beyond any scope. What a privilege I've been given," Kim countered with amusement, causing Jake to walk back to her, " 'You're worth it.' Makes me wonder, in what way? Because, let's face it, you just want someone presentable. Seeing, but not hearing."

"A similar question, I could ask you. What do you want?", to answer Jake didn't even let Kim, who knew in advance she wasn't going to get to it, so went to the disc on the wall and got the three arrows, "Ah, wait, you don't even know." "Not a hollow retard," Kim said instead, glancing up at Jake fleetingly as she walked extra close to him and grazed him barely noticeably, "What would you want with someone with nothing but bullshit flowing out of their mouth?"

"Cute," Jake retorted, moving in close behind Kim, lifting her right arm a little and putting his right hand on top of hers so she could start aiming judiciously even though she hadn't even started, "Eyes always on target and don't get distracted."

Don't get distracted, so yeah? Who was really distracted now?

It was no wonder why Kim's throw didn't turn out to be the very best. When someone was standing right behind you, close on your heels, nothing could come of it. So her second throw missed as well, which is why she heard an amused snort behind her, and without having to turn around, she could see a smile on Jake's face because both of her arrows weren't stuck near the Bulls Eye, but at the outer singles.

"Can you do me a favor?" before Kim said anything about what she wanted Jake to do or what he could do for, she pushed the pilot an arm's length away from her, "Go away. There's no way you can concentrate when someone is so stuck on you."

"Good to know," Jake smirked, waiting for Kim's throw, which ended up being no different from her previous two, "Which one of us sucks now?"

"Hey, thirty-two points and I hit it three times," lousy would definitely look different especially since Kim didn't claim to be good at anything herself, "Lousy would be something else."

"Come here," Jake shook his head as he grabbed the arrows, "I'm not lousy, I'm good, extremely good. It's enough for me to know where my target is."

"Is clear," which led to Jake's typical cocky smile and Kim standing to the side of him to put a hand on his eyes, "Well then, prove it."

"Didn't you say I don't need to prove anything to anyone anymore?", Kim had, merely in a different context, which didn't change the fact that Jake hit the Outer Bull Ring twice, and once in the Bulls Eye, which resulted in Kim taking his hand down, unnerved, "Too good to be true. What do I get now?"

"Permission to pick the next song," smiling broadly, Kim gestured to the juke box on the wall in the corner, "Your maturity test. Choose wise."

If only Kim had left it alone, because shortly thereafter, the first notes of 'Pour Some Sugar on Me' rang out. Out of X arbitrary number of songs to choose from, the pilot picked this one of all. Coincidence? Hardly. If there was one song, as Hangman saw and described himself, it would be this song. This song, exactly.

"Not cocky at all." in any way, the voice in Kim's head added to that as Jake returned with a bottle and a glass.

"You wanted a good song. Since you're into older," the glass meant for the brunette, however, Jake held tightly as Kim tried to take it and she looked at him for it, irritated, "No more smashing photos, okay?"

"Difficult. Can happen faster than you think," there were things that couldn't be promised, so Kim never did where it wasn't that would be the case, "Stop acting like you care about what I do or how I'm doing, please. Because what went on between us has absolutely nothing to do with that."

"If you'll stop acting like it was barely anything between us," with that Jake set his beer aside, took the glass from Kim's hand to put it away as well and put the brown haired girl's arms around his neck, "Let's see where the journey takes us and if it doesn't work out, so be it. That's all you can try to do. This job makes sure you make the best of your life because you never know what tomorrow will be or what to expect. I don't want to wonder what if...."

Still, Kim pulled the pilot down to her, kissed him and gave a soft, 'shut the hell up already'. And they say women talk a lot.