When I woke up the next morning, it was because Bradley was gently shaking my shoulder. "Hey, I'm so sorry to wake you up I just... it's today," he breathed out quickly.

    I shook my head and sat up, getting out of my sleepy state. "No, it's fine. How do you feel? Wait, sorry, dumb question."

    Bradley laughed. "It's not a dumb question. I'm terrified but also think I'm okay in a way? I don't know how to describe it. Mav said... at first when he was hesitant about me being on the mission he told me when in the air, thinking could kill you. He told me not to think, to do."

    "Sounds like pretty good advice coming from him. Especially when you look at his career and our training from the last week and a half," I said. "And for someone who loves the book too much, it's good advice to mull over."

    He nodded along to my words. "Bradley." His gaze shifted from looking at the ground to up at me. "You have to promise me you won't do anything stupid. Follow your instincts, do your piloting- just try and come back to me. I know it's a selfish request, and I'm sorry about that, I just don't want whatever this is to end before it gets it's chance, you know?"

    Bradley cut off my rambles with a smile and I could see I didn't have much to worry about, that he was smart enough to make it back home. "You know I can't promise anything, but I can sure as hell try my best. And I will."

    "I know you will," I whispered and found his hand to hold. "Okay, now we've got to find Jace so he can get me in my wheelchair and we can get some fresh air."

    "I'll get him." Rooster gave my hand one more squeeze before he was off to find my nurse and wheelchair. Yes, it was kept out of my room. He was sure I'd try to get out if I had the opportunity. Yes, he had reasonable concerns.

    A minute later he was back with Jace and the wheelchair in tow. "Can you help?" Jace asked Rooster as he gestured to me.

    He nodded. "Just tell me what to do."

    Carefully the two men moved me from my bed to the wheelchair. Jace was down with my legs since my right one was pretty problematic and he was the better choice for messing with it.

    Bradley had me under my arms, careful with my right one. My cheeks were a pink color and I bit the inside of my cheek as I tried to ignore how warm his hands were. And where they were.

    "Okay, where to?" Jace asked.

    "Actually, I'll take her. Don't worry," Rooster interrupted. He immediately grabbed the handles and started steering me out of the room without waiting for Jace to agree. We laughed like mad men as Rooster practically raced me away from Jace's protests.

    "Where are we going?" I asked in between laughs.

    "I'm bringing you up to the others so you can listen in, we're gearing up to go pretty quickly," he said.

    My eyebrows shot up. "You really waited until the last second, huh?" I asked. He was already starting to abandon the book in a way.

    "Well, you know, had a briefing right before so it was kinda hard to find time," he explained as we entered the room where all the other pilots and WSOs were. "Look who I found!"

    Halo reached me first, giving me a hug then moving around to take Rooster's spot. "You go, you're needed on deck. I can take care of Sunset from here," she said.

    Bradley came around in front of me and pressed a quick kiss to my forehead. "I'll be back, then we can start planning that next date, okay?"

    "Okay." He hurried off and I watched him as far as I could. When he was out of sight, Halo started to wheel me over to where the others were sat. "How you guys doing?" I asked.

    Coyote was the one to answer, shrugging then saying, "We're not surprised they got picked. Now we're just here to support them as best as we can."

    I nodded. "Sounds like a good plan. You got the radio on?"

    "Yep," Halo answered from behind. She moved to sit down in a chair beside me. "If you need to leave at any point, let me know."

    The offer made me smile, and I gave her a quick nod. "Thank you, Halo."

    Now, everyone was silent. Radio chatter had started up with Maverick's ready confirmation, "Dagger One, up and ready on Catapult One." From there it was Hangman on Dagger Spare, Payback and Fanboy on Dagger Four, Phoenix and Bob on Dagger Three, and Rooster on Dagger Two.

    With the confirmation that command was ready, the Dagger Squad was off. We could all feel the rumbles and hear the confirmations as they were all launching from the ship. No one dared make a sound, now that they were up in the air and heading to the uranium site.

    Through all the confirmations, I heard Bradley's breathing. It was heavy, borderline panic. Then Maverick's voice came in and confirmed the attack. Tomahawks were launched and sent to the airbase of the enemy, to hopefully destroy all of the aircraft they could.

    "Two minutes and thirty seconds in three, two, one, mark," Maverick announced and I heard a timer start in the room. Yale was holding one, keeping a close eye on it as the seconds started to count.

    When they confirmed they were clear on radar, I let my shoulders relax. Tomahawks were close to impact and Rooster was already starting to fall behind. "Come on, Bradley," I whispered.

    Then bandits were in the air. They weren't aware of our guys yet, but they would be in less than 20 seconds. Rooster was going too slow.

    "Tomahawk impact in three, two... impact. Enemy runway is destroyed." Now the bandits were switching course.

    My hands sweat heavily as I heard them try to get Rooster to speed up. "Talk to me, dad."

    "Come on kid, you can do it. Don't think, just do."

    A beat, and then we heard Payback yell, "Jesus, Rooster, not that fast!" I couldn't stop from letting out a sigh of relief and smiled. He was back in the game.

    They got closer, and I could hear the last laser checks being done. Then, they were going up the mountain. Their heavy breathing became the only thing to hold onto until I heard the target get acquired and they popped back out of the valley.

    "Come on, come on," I whispered.

    "We've got impact! Check, direct hit! Direct hit!" Bob cheered.

    "Miracle one," Halo muttered.

    But then laser two wasn't online. Their panicked voices made my heart rate rise exponentially, then Rooster said he was dropping blind. "Oh god..." Everyone was too scared to move.

    And then: "Bullseye, bullseye, bullseye!" We all let out the breaths we were holding and let out some cheers. My body, which had been nearly stiff, leaned forward as I dropped my head into my hands. Now all they had to do was get home.

    "Coffin corner time," Omaha said as the cheering died down and people sat back where they had been.

    The radio was alive with voices, so many going at once. So much smoke in the air, so much happening. My hand found Halo's and I squeezed it hard, begging that the madness would be over.

    When Rooster's voice joined the craziness, I released a shaking breath. So many voices, so many commands. So much happening at once.

    "Dagger Two defending!" My heart squeezed. "Shit, I'm out of flares!"

    I choked on my breath at that. "Rooster, evade, evade!" Maverick's voice.

    "I can't shake 'em! They're on me! They're on me!" The panicked reply had me shaking as I realized what might happen.

    "Oh god, no Bradley come on," I mumbled.

    The next things caused everyone to freeze. It was heavy breathing, then Rooster shouting something, then him yelling. "Mav! No!"

    No one dared say a word. It was like all the air in the room got sucked out at those words. We were so scared. "Dagger One is hit! I repeat, Dagger One is hit!" Natasha's voice interrupted our brief silence.

    "Oh my god." I felt my insides tighten and my hand squeezed Halo's even harder. To be fair, she was squeezing mine with the same force.

    Everyone started calling over the radio, saying there was no parachute but they needed him to come in but there was no response. Rooster's request of circling back was denied, as was Hangman's request to go up in the air. There were bandits coming for them, they had to get out of there.

    For a brief moment, I felt something. I could hear something in the way Bradley was breathing. He refused to acknowledge the command of going back to the carrier and I could feel he wasn't going to. He wasn't going to just move on.

    "Please don't do anything stupid, Bradley, please," I whispered, begging with no way for him to respond.

    Things were being thrown out, but I couldn't focus on any of them. The only things I was listening for were Rooster's name and/or his voice. Nothing else mattered at this point in time.

    Fanboy yelled. "Rooster!"

    Moments later, "Dagger Two is hit. Dagger two is hit!"

    I let out a shaking breath that was mixed with a sob. There were hands on the handles of my wheelchair and I felt someone moving me. "No, no, I need to hear what happens," I begged through cries.

    "You need to get out of here," came Jace's firm response. He had found me, at some point, and it was like he had been waiting for his moment to strike. "I'll bring you back but that's too much right now. You're still healing."

    He wheeled me away, away from all the rooms and to a deserted deck. There was a railing blocking me from possibly rolling off which was a good choice on Jace's part. He was very good at reading his patients.

    When we stopped moving, he had me facing the water and put the breaks on my wheels. Then, he moved over to stand at my side, leaning on the railing as he also gazed out.

    "If... I..." I started, but nothing would form in my head. I couldn't make a sentence. I couldn't describe how I felt. Finally, "I'm not surprised. Of course he'd go after Mav, even if he was possibly dead."

    Jace sighed. "At least you know he's loyal and dedicated." A watery laugh escaped my throat, and I hung my head. "These guys are smart, okay? They'll come back."

    "And if they don't?" I asked, turning my head towards him.

    For that, he didn't have an answer.

A/n: deciding if I want to post the rest of the chapters next week or keep doing one a week... 🤔