Anyone But Him // Jake Seresin

Chapter Four

Margot Mitchell
September

    A week after Top Gun began, Margot still didn't feel any better. She'd busied herself with Isla and Ryder, and they'd been making friends in class. It was hard being around Jake, because despite her best attempts, she still felt attracted to him. She found herself thinking about how his hands and mouth felt on her, and how much he made her laugh. He didn't seem to pay her any attention though, and apparently was doing his best to ignore her. She'd confided in Isla about it, and she understood but also felt like Margot shouldn't let her family drama rule her life. Basically in Isla terms: fuck the hot guy if you want to.

    "Rooster and Hangman are coming in as bandits. Use your best defense and offense moves to escape them." Peter announced over the radio. "And make it to your target."

Margot focused and glanced to her right. Ryder's jet was flying beside hers as her wingman. Neither of them flew with WSOs. Margot never had an issue with that, but it just had not had one. She preferred a single jet. She glanced behind her and could see two incoming jets, who she assumed were Jake and Rooster. 

She hadn't talked to her brother directly since he begged her to talk. Margot still wasn't sure on that front. A part of her wanted to clear the air, but she wasn't sure if she was ready. She did give him that he had respected her space though, and hadn't pushed her. He was a good guy, and she knew that. But she still hadn't processed how someone she loved so much could have hurt her with the things he threw at her the day they had their fight.

"Before we get going, I've got to ask, Kazansky," Jake said, "Why the hell is your callsign Freeze?" He paused. "Oh, that's right. I heard you froze the first time you got in a plane at the academy."

"He's just trying to rile you up," Margot reminded Ryder. "Focus."

"I'm just shaking in my cockpit listening to the taunts of someone whose callsign is a children's game." Ryder retorted. "Fuck off."

"Why not make it interesting?" Jake questioned, "If you two manage to squeeze past and beat us, we'll do 200 push-ups. If you lose, you do them."

"Let's just get started." Rooster interrupted. "Get to your target before we shoot you down. At least one of you needs to make it there for your team, whether it be Freeze or Siren."

"Siren? What the hell does that mean?" Jake asked, Margot hearing the confusion in his voice. She knew he'd heard her callsign a time or two in the last week.

"Like Greek Mythology," Margot began, nodding toward Ryder. She gave him a hand signal to indicate what move she wanted them to do.

"Both attractive and dangerous." Ryder finished, and as soon as he did, they both dove side ways in opposite directions. The sudden movement forced both Jake and Rooster to pull out of the way.

"Holy shit," Jake commented, sounding impressed.

Margot felt pleased. They had been trying to rattle them with all their bullshit, and her and Ryder had pulled it back on them. She switched over to the line that was just her and Ryder. "Let's go for Rooster first, he's slower." She told him.

Rooster came behind Ryder, and Margot made a sharp turn away from Ryder. At the same time, Ryder turned the same direction until they were in a 90 degree turn, then they moved into single file alignment. They had Rooster sandwiched between them, hence the name of the maneuver. Rooster was trying to get Margot into missile lock, and while he was distracted, Ryder managed to take Rooster out.