"Talk to me, Baywatch, tell me what you're seeing," I said, looking around in front of me in case I could see anything. I figured he would get a much better picture than me, considering he was looking at the radar, but I couldn't just sit and wait for what he had to say.

    A moment of silence, and then, "Nothing yet. I'm keeping my eye but they're not showing up here. Hound, you seein' anything?" My WSO, Josiah "Baywatch" Baldwin looked through the window on each side, trying to see if he could find anything that wasn't showing up on the radar.

    I waited for the WSO to my wingman to reply. He did, but it took a second. "Nothing's popping up on my radar, either. Just you guys. They're either really far away..."

    "Or under us," Cody "Chief" Jenkins finished. Him and Ahmed "Hound" Blaese were my favorite wingmen because they thought of the outrageous things, like being below. That was a classic strategy of mine so I wouldn't of been shocked if the enemy was down there, too.

    Before going for what I wanted, I asked Baywatch first. "Should we check and see if they're below? I'd rather see them coming, you know," I said with a smile.

    Baywatch chuckled. It's amazing how, even when we're on a mission, we can still joke a bit and laugh. It keeps us from getting worked up and tense. We had to be sharp and the best way to stay sharp was to be relaxed and focused. Tensing, panicking, and freaking out were never an option in the air.

    "Let's do it, Sunset." I smiled even wider, and then moved the craft down so we'd be heading for below radar heights. When we got below clouds, I still couldn't find anyone. "Damn it, I was sure they would be down here," Baywatch complained. He was always a complainer before things got serious.

    "Command, what do you have for us?" I asked. My thought was they might be able to see the bogies better than we could.

    I had been wrong. "Negative on bogie sighting," was the response we got.

    There was a chorus of groans over the radio, coming from me, Baywatch, Hound, and Chief. "Thought this was supposed to be a mission? We just up here to sit and look pretty, cause I can do that better on the ground," Hound joked around.

    We all cracked up and felt so much stress leave our bodies. For a moment, just the briefest of moments, we were back at the academy, just sitting in the air and having fun. Baywatch and I did that some nights, with Hound and Chief joining. We were all pretty good friends.

    But my best friend was always Baywatch, no matter who showed up into my life, he got to keep that title. We spent so much time together and told each other literally everything we could. About the hookups we had, or the real relationships that went sour. We visited the Hard Deck together every weekend- it was the same routine.

    But our moment was ruined when I heard a swear over the radio and the sound of engines bursting overhead.

    "Talk to me, Chief! What's going on up there?" I asked, ready to assess the situation and figure out what to do to help.

    "Bogies on our six, we could use some help!"

    It didn't take any more words to light a fire under our tail and get flying up there. Unlike our training exercises and other academy happenings, I had to get up there quick and take out the bogies before they got their chance.

    As I passed back up in radar, Hound started to yell. "Smoke in the air!" I heard the word 'flares' get thrown into the radio before a bunch of the small things poured out of Chief and Hound's plane. The missile that had been heading for them exploded and left them unscathed. They were lucky.

    "Baywatch, get me locked on!" I called as I went straight to the closest bogie. He gave an affirmative and I pressed the button, letting a missile of my own shoot out and hit my intended target. When it made contact, I heard a couple short cheers.

    "I can get the other, on my word you move the hell out of the way, got it Chief?" I asked. He agreed, something he struggled to do, and waited for me to get into my position. For someone who loved to take charge and direct his life, he was pretty good and listening to me. I always admired that part of our relationship as a team.

    We got closer and more lined up, the bogie trying to get locked onto my wingman before I could lock onto them. I was just better, which is how it goes on every mission, and managed to get a lock.

    "Right!" I yelled and wasted no time in firing the guns. Chief's turn had been unexpected, leaving the bogie confused and still long enough that I shot them down.

    Whoops and hollers came through the radio and I felt relieved. Chief and Hound thanked each other. I wish I could turn to look Baywatch in the face to thank him. He thought the same thing. "When we land, I'm giving you a proper hug, you hear?" he asked. I just laughed.

    "Sunset look out!"

    The words barely made it out of Hound's mouth before everything suddenly felt... wrong. It was too hot, we were floating, and I couldn't hear. It only lasted two seconds before the ringing alarms and yelling met my ears.

    "Eject! Get the hell out of there!" I heard from command. I didn't waste time thinking and pulled the eject handle in between my legs. My seat shot from the plane as soon as the canopy was opened and I was falling through the air.

    "We got one chute but I'm not seeing another. Baywatch, do you hear me? Eject, now!" Chief said. I looked around and saw our plane spiraling toward the ocean below me. And there was no second parachute in the sky.

    My voice came back to me. "Baywatch! Get out of there!" I screamed at him. From here, in the sky, I was useless. I couldn't help. All I could do was scream and hope he could hear me.

    "My... my chute isn't working!" Baywatch yelled back. There was a noise of struggle and then panic. "It's jammed- my eject- it's jammed!"

    The air got stuck in my throat when he said this. Oh no...

    "Baywatch! Keep trying, pull it harder!" I yelled. This was not how I imagine us parting. One day I knew we'd be put on different assignment after graduating. Either going to different coasts or continents; that I was prepared for and had been preparing for. I never imagined me having to watch my best friend fight for his life in a spiraling aircraft heading for the deep, hard ocean below. It was unforgiving.

    It got closer and closer. "Baywatch!"

    Static.

A/n: Welcome to Don't Look Down! I'm so happy you're here and hope you enjoy the rest! I know, it's a very depressing start. But! It gets better. I promise.