Spite is the Mind Killer (So Leave It on the Ground)

When you think you have had it all...

Blue team, that's a fail.

Damn it. Rooster cursed a little under his breath. It was worse enough they hadn't completed phase one of the mission, but now that phase two had been going not so smoothly as well, his mood was thoroughly soured. It gave him, however, an excuse to not think about the whole Iceman-Maverick-Roosterproblem. This was also helped by the fact that Hangman had not told anyone else of it, which was a surprise, but a welcome one.

Level out, Coyote. Maverick's voice cut through the room as the other pilots were trying to keep positive as well.

"We'll get it next time, guys and in the mission there probably wouldn't even be two bogeys near," Payback said.

"Yeah, right," Hangman muttered, but without real humor.

"Did you know how that sentence is the only one in like any language that-" Fanboy's rambling (to no one in particular) got abruptly interrupted by the radio.

Coyote? Do you copy? Bradley''s head shot up from where he was leaning it on his hand at the bar. There was an urgency in Maverick's voice that Bradley hadn't heard in a long time. Something was wrong and Bradley quickly shushed Fanboy.

"What's wrong?" Jake asked while Bradley heard Maverick repeat his request. Bradley shushed him as well, which made Jake's face shift to genuine worry as well. The other pilots stopped with what they were doing (which wasn't that much to be honest) and gathered around the tiny radio.

Coyote, level wings. Maverick sounded more and more worried by the second.

"Oh god, he's in G-LOC," Bradley and Maverick said at the same time. Several pilots cursed (a bit louder than Rooster had done before) and others silenced them with quick elbows in the ribs as no one wanted to miss a thing from the comms. Maverick shouted for Coyote, but the answer was a deafening silence.

He's gonna burn in! I'm going after him! Bradley started and sucked in a breath. He tried to imagine what was happening in the air, but all that filled his mind were explosions. He felt the blood run away from his face as he heard Maverick pleading for Coyote to wake up. Someone grabbed his arm and he grabbed back, releasing his building tension by strangling the other one's arm. His breath quickened. This was supposed to be a training. No one was supposed to be harmed by this!

Damn it. Coyote! Coyote! Maverick sounded as panicked as Bradley felt, but the iron grip he had on the arm prevented him from slipping into a bigger fit.

Coyote! Coyote! After that it was silent for a few agonizing seconds. The whole room held their breaths and Bradley gripped even harder.

Coyote, you okay? You okay? Bradley sighed from relief and the rest of the room followed suit when they all heard Coyote answer. He was out of breath and sounded pretty spooked, but at least he was still alive.

Good, good. Maverick sighed.

That is enough for today. Iceman sounded as cool as he ever was, but Bradley could very clearly hear the terror in his voice as well. Maybe he was the only one though, as Fanboy chuckled weakly.

"How the hell can he stay so cool, man?" The other pilots huffed with him, all pretty taken aback by the terrible way the day had progressed. Bradley closed his eyes and let out a long sigh. His heart slowly regained its old rhythm and he slowly opened his eyes. They locked with Jake's worried ones. Bradley flashed him a small smile and let go of his arm (apparently it had been Jake's all along).

"They are all right, Roo," Jake said softly and Bradley wanted to huff something back about the nickname (could he just stop with that, please?) but the radio sprang to live again.