𝐇𝐎𝐍𝐄𝐘 • ʳᵒᵇᵉʳᵗ ᶠˡᵒʸᵈ

chapter one !

chapter one —  maverick
[ jasmine. ]
"queen bees are the star of the hive, the true heart and soul, pivotal to everything that happens in it." -unknown.

i wandered toward the rows of desks, in no hurry as i piled a spoonful of strawberry honey into my mouth. a gift from natasha. i was almost halfway through by the middle of the morning, and i wore my other uniform with a neat low bun sitting on the back of my head.

i noticed reuben had an empty seat beside him, so, i ambled into the exact spot. "morning, honey." he noticed me. "hi there." i replied happily, stirring around my honey as i turned around to natasha, "phoenix, this is the best honey i've ever had." "i'm glad you think so. stole it from my brother." "oh, how sweet." i smiled, noticing bob, who was fixing his glasses. "hi, bobby."

he pushed his glasses up his nose at an unnaturally quick pace, making eye contact with me. "uh— hi." i gave him another smile before turning around and placing the honey jar down beside my desk.

we all chatted, making sure we each got a good sleep and no hangover. soon, we were called, "attention on deck !" i hopped up suddenly with a very straight posture. it was like some sort of trauma trigger.

"morning," warlock greeted us, "welcome to your special training detachment. be seated." i fell back into my chair as admiral bates stepped up to the podium in front of the largest american flag known to america.

"i'm admiral bates, NAWDC commander. you're all TOP GUN graduates. the elite. the best of the best." reuben and i looked to each other and slightly smirked. "that was yesterday. the enemy's new fifth-generation fighter has leveled the playing field. details are few, but you can be sure we no longer possess the technological advantage. success, now more than ever, comes down to the man or woman in the box."

i saw hangman look at natasha, and she merely flipped him off while itching her head. i glanced back at her the other way around, and i made a quick silly face. she tried not to smile and failed. 'we got it,' she mouthed. i turned back around, satisfied.

"half of you will make the cut. one of you will be named mission leader. the other half will remain in reserve. your instructor is a TOP GUN graduate with real-world experience in every mission aspect you will be expected to master. his exploits are legendary. he's considered to be one of the finest pilots this program has ever produced." i felt natasha slap me on the back, and i immediately turned around to see—

"maverick." i whispered under my breath.

maverick was famous at TOP GUN. if you didn't know maverick, you didn't know this place. anecdotes were always floating around this place about maverick, and i had heard enough to know that maverick was... well, a character.

"what he has to teach you may very well mean the difference between life and death. i give you captain pete mitchell. call sign : 'maverick'." i glanced at reuben, and we gave one another the same look. the white man got up to the pedestal, and we all waited for him to speak. i let out a loud breath in the quiet half-room. "good morning."

no one replied, but reuben sent him an embarrassed smile and nod. "he was the guy we threw overboard," he whispered to me, and my jaw dropped slightly.

the captain held up a large booklet, "the F-18 NATOPS. it contains everything they want you to know about your aircraft. i'm assuming you know this book inside and out."