Fight or Flight: Top Gun Maverick

Chapter 5 - First lesson

That morning I got up early, ready for the first lesson. I was excited yet nervous at the same time. I was not too thrilled about flying with Hangman but I'd just have to get used to it. My hair was a mess and I had trouble untangling it before I put it up into a bun and used a light amount of gel to slick back my wispies. I was never one for much makeup and just put on a thin coat of mascara before putting on my uniform. We would change in the locker rooms when we got there. I checked over my hair again in the mirror before grabbing my keys and an apple off the counter. Once in the car, I put my sunglasses on before starting the car and pulling into the street. I headed to the local coffee shop to get some coffee and a muffin before heading to the hangers.

I backed into a parking spot, turning the car off and brushing muffin crumbs off my uniform. I tucked my keys into a pocket and exited my car. The sun was already warm despite the early hour. I recognized Phoenix as she pulled into the spot next to me.
"Sup girl" I say as she steps out of her car. "How late did you end up staying last night?"
"Oh probably like 10:00? Wasn't super late." she responded, head buried in her trunk, rummaging for something. I chuckled "Not very late huh? My bedtime is maximum 10".
"Leia, you really need to learn to get out more" Phoenix laughs finally turning around and closing her trunk. She locked her car and we made our way over the gravel of the parking lot to the large airplane hanger. Bob was standing by the door and looked at us as we strolled up.
"I think were meeting in the main building today. Or at least thats what the others told me" he gestured to the main building and control tower.
"Oh okay" I say "Thank you Bob". He glances at me and I smile back at him. My heart beat quickening ever so slightly.
We head over to where Rooster had just entered. When we enter, we find ourself in a grand hall. To the left, down a hallway, we see the others crowding into a break room sort of thing. Some had their flight suits on already.
"The locker rooms are this way" Phoenix says, already headed in the direction of a set of stairs going down. I look back at Bob as I move to follow her and see him standing awkwardly in the corner, trying to figure out the coffee machine. I smile to myself before turning back to Phoenix and heading down the stairs.

After we had changed into our flight suits and were back in the break room, Maverick came in.
"Payback, Fanboy, Coyote! I want you guys in your planes, ready to go. We will be training in pairs today." Maverick says. Phoenix glances at me, a smug smile on her face.
"This'll be fun" she winks. I stifle a laugh and cough to cover it up, a smile still playing on my lips. Maverick continues,
"The rest of you...I want you to stay here. You can tune into the comms radio on that over there" he pointed to a small red radio in the corner. They left and we waited anxiously. We all edged closer to the radio when we heard Coyote talking to Payback and Fanboy.
"GOOD MORNING AVIATORS" Maverick says in an announcers tone. "Two vs. One.You try to get missile lock on me, I try to get it on you."
"Hah, 200 pushups to the plane that gets shot first." Coyote laughs. Phoenix and I look at eachother wide eyed.
"Thats a lot of push ups" I whisper.
"No joke" she replies. We listen to the dogfight, an anxious energy in the air, making everyone nervous. My fingers shake from the nerves and caffeine I had that morning.
"Errrr......Kestrel you have muffin crumbs in your hair" Bob says from besides me. I look up, having been lost in my thoughts.
"Huh?" I say. He reaches up and pulls something from my hair. Sure enough....a blueberry muffin crumb. I feel my cheeks heat up as I blush from embarrassment.
"I uhh had a muffin this morning" I mumble.
"How the heck did it get in your hair?" he laughs. I shake my head in bewilderment. Suddenly all our attention is drawn to the radio. Payback and Fanboy had just been "killed". One down, one to go. Multiple duos took their turn before Phoenix and Bob were called along with Hangman and myself. At least Bob and Phoenix were our wingman.

"Hey Bob, wanna know what your name stands for" Hangman teases in a not so friendly tone.
"Don't repl......" Phoenix starts to say before Hangman interrupts.
"It stands for "Baby on Board"".
"Shut up Hangman and focus on flying please" I say into my intercom.
"Theres a reason his nickname is Hangman". Phoenix says to Bob but before she could finish however, Maverick some shooting straight up between us. Hangman leaves Phoenix's side and veers right.
"Hes called that because he always leaves you hanging" Phoenix finishes, the scowl on her face, evident in her tone.
"Hangman we can't leave them there like that, we're their wingman" I shout at him over the noise of the plane. He just ignores me and pretty soon I hear Phoenix scream "SHITTT" into the mic.
"Your dead" Maverick says.
"Wheres he at Kestrel?" Hangman says, pulling the plane up to higher altitude. I scan the surroundings, looking for Maverick.
"Phoenix where is he" Hangman repeats.
"We're dead Dickhead" She scowls into the mic. I grin, leave it to Phoenix to be the smart alec. All of a sudden something hits the windshield.
"BIRD STRIKE!!!!!!!" Hangman shouts frantically.
"Left engine on fire, extinguishing" I call back, my heart racing frantically. I could hear it, pounding away.
"Hurry upppp" I hear hangman say from the front as we began to loose altitude. I frantically try to restart the engine. Nothing happens.
"Nothings working!!!!" I scream, panic etching my voice, working its way into my mind. Flashback start coming but i fight them off. I need to stay focused. The hard deck altitude warning begins to flash as we fall through the sky.
"Kes, try jiggling the choke lever and then restarting the engine" Hangman says panicked."
"No use!!!" I scream
"Eject Eject!!!!" He yells back
I flip the restart lever one more time, just for good measure. Just as we reach altitude of 100, the engine roars back to life and Hangman pulls hard on the joystick. We shoot upward, my heart in my throat.
"Please land" Maverick says. Hangman safely lands the plane and pulls it to a stop. As soon as the cockpit lifted, I tore off my helmet, strands of hair falling loose. I stumble off the plane and landing on the hard cement of the runway. I see Bob and Phoenix sprinting over from their plane. I stumble over to the side of the runway and throw up in the grass. I stand there, hunched over, waiting for more to come. I throw up again and feel someone hug me from the side, gently pulling strands of hair away from my face so they wouldn't get in the way. Fingers gently but awkwary caress my back, trying to sooth me. I didn't know who it was and just stayed there for a moment, enveloped in their arms. Whoever it was smelt really nice and was surprisingly strong. I hear the others run up behind us.
"Nice move up there Kestrel" I hear some dude say, menace lacing his words. I straighten up, Bob removing his arms from around me. My heart flutters, realizing it had been him who had been hugging me. I flash him a nervous side smile.
"Are you alright?" He says, looking at me, his kind blue eyes searching my dark ones. I weakly nod, almost getting lost in his beautiful face but turn my attention to whoever just spoke to me.
"What do you mea..." I start but get cut off.
"Trying to kill Hangam just like you killed Peter Macomb!? Don't think we all don't know about that" Lt. Lee says. I had never met this guy nor did I know his call sight but he sure seemed pretty cocky.
"We all know you purposefully jammed his eject lever" he continues
"Eyy man thats a little too far" Coyote says stepping up
"But lets face it" Lee continued "Peter wasn't that good of a co-pilot anyways". I lost it. Leaving Bob's side, I stepped up to him and punched him right in the gut. He was waiting for it though and was prepared. Seconds later I felt a blow hit my jaw and then I was on the ground with a boot to my ribs. I stumbled up, ready to block any more punches. My side ached and my jaw was already sore but I was too focused to notice. Suddenly Bob dove in, tackling the dude and trying to pin his arms. Phoenix had me by the shoulder, trying to steer me away. I watched as bob took a hit to the lip but got one in on Lees cheek. Bob stands up, a finger to his lip where it was now bleeding. I could feel a cut on my own lip along with warm blood streaming down from my nose.
"You are worth nobody's time!" Bob scowls at Lee, still kneeling on top of him. "Go home before you get beat up anymore". Bob stood up, looking down at him. I went over and steered him away by the shoulder. By then Maverick and some other officers had showed up. I slumped over, holding my nose as soon as we had gotten away from the crowed. Blood streamed down my hand, dripping onto the runway. Already a bruise was forming on Bobs cheek where Lee had scored in a lucky punch.
"Thanks" I mumble through the blood "You okay?" I look up concerned.
"Yeah, just a bruise" He replies. I smile through the blood.
"Makes you look badass" I laugh. He shoves me playfully in the arm.
"Lieutenant Jenkins!" I turn around and see Maverick coming towards me with some officers.
"Yes sir!" I say, standing at attention as best as I could.
"Did you throw the first punch?" He asks, reaching me.
"Sir, I did throw the first punch but...." I start before trailing off.
"But what Lieutenant?" He asks.
"But....Mr Lee was teasing me about Lt. Peter Macombs death...My co-pilot..." I finally say. Looking down. He looks hard at me for a moment. See me in my office later Jenkins". With that he turns away. I look over at Bob, standing there awkwardly as usual. "We should probably go get changed and clean up". I say, looking at my bloody hand and just imagining what my face looked like. My ribs were a whole different story....Any kick to the ribs would leave a bruise, especially that of someone wearing heavy duty army boots. With that, we made our way towards the locker rooms, joined eventually by Phoenix, Hangman and the others.
"As much as I dislike you Hangman" I say, slowing down till I was walking besides him. "Im stuck with you for a while so we might as well be on somewhat good terms even if we did almost just die". WIth that, I followed Phoenix into the girls locker room.

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Kinda a long chapter y'all (:
Let me know what you think of it. I try to update every other day but I have some very busy weeks coming up soon so no promises ❤️
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