FLYBY (b. bradshaw)

𝙏𝙃𝙄𝙍𝙏𝙔-𝙏𝙒𝙊

Natasha was the one to wake us up.

I'd heard the alarm going off; I clicked it off.

I heard Maverick beating on our door; I pretended to be asleep.

Unfortunately, you can't disregard the day any longer when you have your only source of warmth ripped off of you. Or when you have a 210 pound man almost roll on top of you because Nat does not like to be ignored, nor is she a morning person.

"What. The. Actually. Fuck!" I growled, taking my pillow to her knees. It did nothing more than incline her to flip on the lights. I collapsed back to the floor, next to a somehow still asleep Bradley.

"Breakfast is in five." Nat snapped, chunking a pair of pants at me. Then, at Bradley. They hit him in the head. "And put on some damn clothes, a thong and t-shirt does not count!"

"We were sleeping!" I yelled after her as she slammed our door.

I yanked the blanket back up to cover me and Bradley, rolling into his chest. I felt him huff out a laugh against my neck as I groaned.

"It's not funny." I fumed out, but couldn't contain my laughter as he pulled me on top of him, careful to avoid my shoulder. I'd grown a costume to the constant, dull throbbing.

"It's a little funny." he replied as I traced the two scars across his face. I kept tracing until my finger finally tangled into his hair.

And then he was kissing me.

He was kissing me like this was the last time he was ever going to kiss me.

I wanted to yell at him, to scold him for even thinking about either of us dying today, but I didn't dare break the kiss, because I, too, knew that it might be our last.

Even once we parted, he didn't let me far out of reach, helping me put on my sling. The slightly movement was like sharp needles, and I tried to contain my wince. He caught it though, and kissed it off of my face.

I giggled slightly into his lips, praying that my morning breath wasn't bad.

He pushed a strand of hair out of my face. "You ready?"

"No," I told him, and for once it was the truth. "But it's now, or never."

He seemed to agree silently, as we laid there together on the floor, clinging to the last moments of happiness and peace.

★★★

There must've been 300 hundred people staring at me. Beside me stood Maverick, Cyclone, and Warlock.

12 pilot's stood in the front row and the rest of the crew stood behind them. Everyone was silent. I begged my stomach not to grumble, seeing as Bradley and I had missed breakfast. Neither of us had seemed to care, the chances of it not coming back up were low anyways.

"Attention!" Someone, a lady with a powerful voice, shouted. 300 bodies stopped moved.

"At ease." Warlock said, his voice demanding attention. 300 bodies relaxed. "In two hours, our mission will be a go. In two hours, we will have 6 brave pilot's going up into that sky."

He gestured to the 12.

And then to me.

"I'd like to introduce you all to your mission leader, Captain Lilah Kazansky, callsign, Hurricane." A few shattered clapping. "Today, she will make history. This is something that has never been done before. It's crazy, and dangerous, but she is everything and more than I'm sure you've all heard about. Hurricane will lead our team to victory today!" A roar of clapping.