Untamed Flame || R. Floyd

5

She fired up her jet getting clearance to fly. It was an odd feeling being in an f-18 again. Her hands shook violently against the controls. It seems her husband saw her fear a ran in front of her jet. The canopy opened and her masked unclipped.

"What the hell are you doing!" She seethes.

He climbed up the wing meeting her eye. "Listen, you have to let go of the past for this. If you don't you could burn in up there."

She sighs reaching out to grab his hand. "I know, it's just hard to forget what happened." Bob squeezes her hand. He loosens his grip pulling to back of her hand to his lips. "Thank you for caring."

"Always. You got this."

Bob jumps off the wing scurrying across the tarmac. The canopy closes once more. She closes her eyes leaning her head back. Don't think, just do. She doesn't know exactly where that phrase came from buts it's helped her through all the dark times.

Her mind slips into nothing, freeing herself of her fears. When she's given the all-clear she's let off into the sky. The duo and single hers were already in the air waiting for her. She stays low watching the jets above her.

"Good morning, aviators. This is your captain speaking," she says smugly, "welcome to basic fighter maneuvers. As briefed, today's exercise is dog fighting. Guns only, no missiles. We do not go below the hard deck of 5,000 feet. Working as a team, you have to shoot me down, or else."

"Or else what, ma'am?"

"Or else I shoot back. If you've heard anything about me then you should know I will not go easy on you. If I shoot either one of you down, you both lose."

"What you say we put some skin in the game?" Asks Payback. She was aware of the connection between half the team. Finley knows Reuben Fitch is a good guy.

She looks up spitting their jet. "What do you have in mind?"

"Whoever gets shot down first has to do 200 push-ups."

She can already envision Roosters look of disapproval. He knows how she flies. "Guys." The short warning goes ignored by the two other men but Fin smiles.

Finley whistles. "That's a lot of push-ups."

"They don't call it an exercise for nothing, ma'am."

She laughs gripping the handle in front of her. "I have a better idea. The team who gets shot down the most by the end of the day owes a round for all the aviators at the Hard Deck."

"Today or tomorrow?"

She thinks about it shrugging her shoulders. "Up to you."

"You got a deal, ma'am. Tomorrow night it is."

"Fight's on. Let's turn and burn."

"Fanboy, you see her?" She hears Rooster say over the comms as she shoots upward.

"Nothing on radar up ahead. She must be somewhere behind us." Just then she cuts in underneath them stealing the show.

A chorus of "damn it!" and "what the hell?" Rooster had exclaimed "Shit!" veering off one way while Payback and Fanboy went the other. She laughs loudly at their fear.

"Okay, Moonlight. Let's try not to get someone killed on the first day," she whispers to herself.

"Tally, tally, tally! Moonlight's coming in! Break left!"

"Breaking left."

Swooping in, cutting close to getting a lock on, she smiles as she says, "Payback, where's your wingman?"