𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐀𝐑𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐑 ,̾ 𝘽𝙍𝘼𝘿𝙇𝙀𝙔 𝘽𝙍𝘼𝘿𝙎𝙃𝘼𝙒

𝟮𝟯 | 𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗴'𝘀 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗼𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐱𝐱𝐢𝐢𝐢 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫

❝ 𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐠'𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 ❞





























FAITH AND MAVERICK MADE THEIR WAY TO THE HARD DECK AFTER THE GRUELING BRIEFING SESSION.

Well, a briefing session where Faith and Cyclone were nearly at each other's throats, while Maverick and Warlock tried to be civil.

Their bikes were placed by each other's, the duo entered through the familiar doors of the Hard Deck, the overhead bell ringing in announcement. There's several personnel already at the bar, clad in their flight suits or casuals. Conversations echoed throughout the familiar place, and Faith felt herself smiling at the feeling of being back since what felt like forever.

It was good to be home.

There's a familiar voice to Faith, two of them, honestly, and her gaze shifts towards the corner of the bar, where two of her previous classmates stood before the dart board as they talked about.

Faith smiles to herself as memories from eight years ago resurface. Those puny staring competitions, all those pool games, the singing by the piano, and the guitar serenades.

Hangman scores two for two, as Coyote places a hand between his eyes and the board before them, the blonde scores once again, slapping the other man's hand in victory before walking over to grab the darts off the board.

There's a message on both their phones, probably from Ice on their group chat labeled 'The Golden Trio'.

Yes, the name was Faith's idea.

The woman sat beside Maverick by the bar looks down at her vibrating phone, elbows off the counter to not violate Penny's rules. Faith could only hope Mav would disrespect one of his old flame's rules.

Popsicle: That didn't go well.

Maverick : The kid's not ready for this mission.

Faith sighs deeply, shaking her head to herself. Rooster, had made quite a name for himself. He was good. Probably one of the best, the choosing of him for this mission was proof of that. But, he was slow in the air.

He sat perfectly on his porch, like he was waiting for the exact moment he could jump in and save the day. That was the one and only thing he had wrong when he flew. There just wasn't an immediate need for speed for the guy. And in real world missions, speed doesn't matter as much as skills do.

You can't think. You have to trust your gut and your wingman and just do it. From what Faith had read about Rooster, these things were not right there, present off the top of his mind, and she made a promise to herself right then and there, to push him as much as she could. no matter how much he could hate her.

Popsicle : No one is.

Popsicle : That's why the two of you are here.

Bird : You could have warned us.

The woman snorts, yeah, her father could've seriously given them a warning.

Popsicle : I bet neither of you would have come if I told you.

They just stare at their phones, looking over Ice's final words on text. The two of them knew neither of them seriously wouldn't have returned. 

They're broken out of their trance as a familiar voice neither of them had heard since too long ago calls out, "Oh, you gotta be kidding me." There's a shift in the air, well, between Penny Benjamin and Pete Mitchell. Faith's grossed out at the lovey-dovey gaze her uncle gave the older woman.