automatic stop, bradley bradshaw

fifty-six.

THERE WASN'T MUCH THAT SKYE REMEMBERED VIVIDLY ABOUT HER CHILDHOOD. she remembered going to local hangars to watch planes take off, she remembered seeing an f-14 tomcat's wings extend for the first time. she remembered flying model planes with bradley and katia, and she remembered the smell of her mother's lotion. but mostly, skye just remembered her father.

other than katia, maverick had been the only constant in skye's life. even when she wasn't constantly talking to him, or constantly calling him, her father was still there. 

no one expected maverick to enjoy being a father. not even the man himself. but the moment skye was born, he was wrapped around her finger. she was everything to him. people had teased him about it, poking fun at just how much his world revolved around his daughter. but it didn't bother him at all; he only cared about her and her safety.

skye, of course, didn't remember those first few years of her life in vivid detail. there wasn't much about her past that she did remember in full color, play by play, moment by moment. she sometimes wished she could. she did, however, remember the first time she'd ever flown a plane. 

after growing up wanting nothing more than to be a pilot, the sixteen-year-old skye was overjoyed at the opportunity to finally fly a plane. the single engine cessna wasn't necessarily the same as the military jets she hoped to one day pilot, but skye was nonetheless treating the experience seriously. maybe a bit too seriously, as her father had teased. 

maverick was giving his daughter the very best piloting experience possible. he was walking her through everything step by step, and making sure she remembered which controls in the plane did what. skye remembered the knot in her stomach as she lifted off, as she checked each monitor, and as she landed. 

but everything had ended up fine, just as her father had assured her it would. after her first flight, skye was immediately hooked on flying. immediately just as obsessed with it as her father had been. the two were instantly bonded and bonded by their love for flight.

skye hadn't been nervous to fly ever since that first time. she was a confident pilot, as she needed to be given the stakes of her job. she was always sure of herself and of her abilities, and she knew that she was a skilled aviator. there was no need for skye to ever be nervous in the air. 

and yet there she was. 

skye forced her hands to stop shaking as she tightened their grip on the joystick of her f-18. her breathing was becoming ragged, and she struggled to focus on the voices in her ears. 

"maverick's gone."

it wasn't real. skye would wake up in the next two minutes, and the past week would all have been some crazy dream. she and rooster had never fought, hangman hadn't ever been kind to her, and her father's plane hadn't gone down. 

but skye didn't wake up. as hard as she tried to force herself to open her eyes, she was only met with the reality of the matter. she wasn't imagining any of it. it was true; the man that held the most space in all of her memories was gone. 

skye wanted nothing more than to turn her plane around and look for her father. to find maverick and somehow get a way to bring him home. but her hands felt frozen. her head felt like it was going to explode. she didn't think she could make any decision without it being rash. and she couldn't even comprehend the reality of the scenario. 

none of it felt real until a voice spoke out against the silence. a voice that skye would recognize anywhere. "skye.." rooster's voice was strained. "i'm sorry." 

"bradley." skye forced his name to come out of her throat. "bradley, no."

it had to be a dream. some horrible nightmare. she'd wake up soon, and it would all be over. there was no possible way that this was happening.