Top Gun: Category 5 - Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw

Something in the Orange

Katrina looked at the open bay door of the C-5 cargo plane that would take her and the rest of the pilots to a base in Turkey where they would board another transport and get air flighted to their carriers. She looked down at her tall black boots and shoved part of her blue travel cargos into the top. The backpack she was carrying was heavy on her back but she didn't know if she'd be gone a few days or a few weeks. Maverick told them to prepare for both as Top Gun instruction may continue on their carriers.

"Ready?" Rooster asks as he came to stand next to Katrina dressed in the same blue camo cargo uniform.

Katrina nodded and the pair marched up the ramp and into the C-5. They stored their bags and took their seats in the section designated for people. Team Alpha sat along the wall of the plane and Team Echo sat directly across from them. Katrina was looking at Spencer and Hangman from her spot next to Rooster. Rooster had taken the first seat in the line. The aviators were instructed to strap in and prepare for take off.

"I hate these planes, too damn big," Rooster grumbles as he clips his chest straps and pulls his top cap off, stuffing it into the pocket of his cargo pants.

Katrina laughs at his discomfort, "I'd hate 'em too but this is how my parents met."

Rooster turned to her with wide curious eyes, "For real?"

Katrina nods, "Yeah Cyclone was actually the Captain at the time and introduced them."

"How'd he manage that wasn't your mom an Army Nurse?" Rooster asks recalling Nurse Amy Parish who had seen Rooster several times throughout his Naval career.

"Yeah she was originally a NICU nurse for the Army and helped women give birth and get out of their home countries. She was the lead nurse on all the transports out of those countries and help get them to Berlin till they could get on their feet and figure things out. On one of her transport flights Cyclone was dropped a group of Navy SEAL when he crossed over Baghdad and he decided to introduce Nurse Amy to Navy SEAL Parish," Katrina says simply.

Rooster nods, "That's actually pretty interesting. Should I walk around and see if there are any hidden nurses aboard to wife?"

Katrina scoffs, "They all know better than to get involved with aviators."

Rooster laughs but doesn't argue, "You know Nurse Amy was on my carrier two years ago during my last Top Gun mission."

"Was she really?" Katrina asks with raised eyebrows.

Rooster nods and sucks on his bottom lip, "Yep, she did my post mission physical evaluation and treated me for some scratches and stuff." Katrina frowned wondering why her mom would need to treat Rooster at all. Rooster saw Katrina trying to add up what he said and he knew he had to distract her, "She mentioned you were newly single too."

"Oh did she?" Katrina groans with an eye roll that was so dramatic she rolled her neck too.

The corner of Rooster's mouth picks up in a smile, "Yep, brought her phone out to show me pictures of you. I hadn't realized you were at Iceman's funeral or I would have said hello. Despite the circumstances you looked good in the uniform."

"I am actually glad you didn't say anything I was trying to keep a low profile considering me and Sidekick over there had just broke up,"Katrina says with a jerk of her chin to Spencer who was starring right at her and Rooster. She tried not to spend time thinking about how Rooster said she looked good in her formal uniform, but the thought lingered.

Spencer glared and strained to hear their conversation, but between the loud plane and the space between them he couldn't make out anything and they weren't doing good enough lip movements to read their lips. He settled for glaring as the two pilots cozied up to each other for their flight across the Pacific Ocean.

Rooster's eyes flash to Spencer and they lock for a second, "He's starring at us."

"Good," Katrina huffs. Spencer had been irritating her more so than usual the last week and had been pressing her to hang out in their limited free time. "Anyways- oh fuck I hate this part."

Katrina clenched her jaw as and tensed her whole body as the massive cargo plane started catching speed to get into the air.

"You do this all the time," Rooster comments seeing how uncomfortable she got.

Katrina squeezes her eyes shut, "Yeah I do it. I can see and know how fast I'm going. When someone else does it I freak out. What if they do it wrong?"

Rooster laughs bumps her knee with his, "At least its not the Air Force flying us we'd already be dead." Katrina opens one eye peering over at Rooster and bumps his knee back.

"Just gotta get up there and its smooth from there," Katrina says in between deep breaths. She braces in her seat at the plane does a rapid climb.

Rooster shakes his head and tries not to laugh. It was a little ridiculous for a pilot to be this uncomfortable in a plane, "We're just getting altitude." Rooster assures bumming her knee again it was the only distraction he could come up with then. Katrina nods while pulling her lips into her mouth and closing her eyes again.

Finally, the plane stopped gaining altitude and Katrina relaxed but didn't stop bumming his knee with hers. It was a good distraction. They sat there quietly for some time thinking about the mission ahead. The pair never separated their knees even when they could feel Spencer's burning glare on them.

About two hours into the flight Rooster felt a weight on his shoulder and he glanced over seeing Katrina had nodded off using one of his broad shoulders as a pillow. How the girl could get nervous over take off but pass out mid-flight was a mystery but he was careful not to move one inch in fear he would disturb her. It felt natural and Rooster had never really had someone he let get close to him the way Katrina had in the past six weeks so he wasn't sure what this meant. He did know that having her place her head on his shoulder felt like no weight at all.

The entire plane shook as they hit turbulence. Katrina sucked in air sharply but didn't wake up or move from her position sleeping on Rooster's shoulder. She did drop her hand on Rooster's leg and he stared at that with wide eyes. His hand was millimeters from her and it would be so easy to just touch her hand...

Almost as if Katrina was reading Rooster's mind she stretched her pinky out and interlocked it with Rooster's all while he watched her do it. He waits for Katrina to reject his pinky but she doesn't and in fact she squeezes his tighter as the g-force pushes down as they gain altitude to evade further turbulence. It was a bold but simple move for Rooster that he had been thinking about doing for a long time but never had the guts. Katrina beat him to it.

Rooster untwined their pinkies once the turbulence subsided and placed his hand on top of hers giving it a squeeze. Katrina adjusted her position next to him so their upper bodies were connected even closer. He wasn't sure what Katrina's motive was or if she even had one, but Rooster knew that he no longer minded 16 hour flight.

_____________________________________________
So the slow burn begins... you're welcome and also you're not welcome because this one is about to be really slow lol. Love yah... Hope you're well.