Something felt wrong when Ivy had gotten up that morning. She didn't know what it was but that sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach was telling her not to get in that plane no matter what.

"You all right?" Bullet frowned "You're too quiet"

She shrugged with a sigh "I just have that gut feeling that something bad's gonna happen but I'm pretty sure it's bullshit so let's do this"

Theo chuckled wrapping his arm around her shoulder "There's the Ivy I know and don't worry, everything's gonna be fine. We've got this"

She nodded with a small smile "Hey Bullet, I feel the need..."

"The need" Maverick and Goose said at the same time as they came walking over with matching smirks on their faces.

"For speed" Theo chuckled, giving the two boys a high five "You guys ready to lose today?"

"Are you?" Maverick retorted as Chaos rolled her eyes in response "Seriously though, be safe up there. Both of you"

"Yes sir" Ivy saluted him before giving him and Goose a quick hug before going to their own jets.

"Okay, Gentlemen and Lady. This is hop 31. Two weeks to graduation" Jester said over the radio "The Top Gun trophy is still up for grabs so every point counts"

"Well its bottom of the ninth, the score is tied. It's time for the big one" Goose's voice came over the comms.

"Then let the games begin boys" Chaos smirked as she playfully winked at Ice who chuckled while shaking his head.

"You up for this one, Maverick?" Ice teased. Maverick smiled before replying "Just a walk in the park, Kazansky"

"Contact. Multiple bogeys, 1-6-5-" Slider calmly announced "Two miles. Looks like they're going away from us"

"Oh I see them, tallyho" Maverick replied to Slider.

"Yeah, I got them. Right two o'clock, I'm in" Ivy said as all three jets broke right, flying towards the three jets.

"That son of a bitch cut me off" Maverick mumbled about Ice "Come on, come on. Jesus christ. Ice, take the shot"

"Come on, Ice, get the hell out of there" Bullet told him.

"I can't get the angle. I'm too close for missiles. I'm switching to guns" Ice quickly told them.

"Ice, fire or clear" Mav ordered "Look at this! Jesus christ, I can take a shot right here!"

"I need another twenty seconds then I've got it" Ice said but Ivy knew that in an actual fight, they didn't have that extra time.

"Ice we don't have that kind of time, I'm moving in. I've got the shot" Ivy said before accelerating speed.

"We hear you loud and clear, Chaos" Goose said as he and Mav backed off slightly.

She went to get a missile lock on them when all of a sudden the jet lights started to flash and the alarms started going off "Oh shit! Bullet what's happening?!" Ivy asked in a panic as she tried to control the jet.

"Our engine's failed!" Theo exclaimed, starting to work on the controls.

"Ivy, can you hear me? What's going on?" She heard her brother's worried voice come over the comms but she couldn't speak. She was more focused on getting her and Theo back safe and alive.

"Chaos, come on! Talk to us" Ice was trying to stay calm for his girlfriend but the way their jet was shaking, it was proving some difficulty.

"This is not good. We've got a flame-out. Shit, engine two is now out!" Bullet said in a panicked voice, his hands doing everything they could to get the jet working again.

"No, no, no. I'm losing control, I can't control it!" Ivy had never felt so scared in her life as the jet began to spin "Bullet I can't control it! It won't recover, shit!" She told Theo frantically.

"It'a coupling up, Ivy! We're out of control! This is not good! This is not good!" Theo's voice was restrained as the jet spun around in circles.

"Mayday, mayday! Chaos and Bullet are in trouble! Their in a flat spin heading out to sea!" Ice practically yelled as him and Maverick tried to keep up with the jet. Mav felt like he was going to be sick, he was watching his sister and best-friend's plane spin out of control over the Pacific Ocean and there was nothing he could do to help them.

"Altitude 8,000, 7,000" Bullet could feel the G-force pushing against his chest as the plane continued to spin out of control "Six! We're at six Chaos!"

"I'm pinned forward, Bullet. I can't reach the ejection handle. Theo, you're gonna have to punch us out. I can't reach the ejection handle. Eject!" Ivy told Bullet.

"I'm trying! I'm trying!"

"Eject! Eject! Eject! Watch the canopy!" Bullet pulled the handles and he and Chaos were shot out of the jet but Bullet wasn't clear of the canopy as he got sent head-first into it. Soon as they ejected, Maverick and Iceman had lost contact making them panic even more.

Ivy knew something was wrong when her and Theo came floating down in their parachutes because while she was conscious and moving, Bullet wasn't. When Ivy landed in the water she ignored how cold the sea was and instead started swimming over to where Theo laid on his back with his eyes closed.

"Bullet!" She screamed, quickly pulling him into her arms "Theo! Oh no!" He was limp in her arms as she saw the blood coming from his head "Oh god! Wake up Theo, wake up! Come on, you can't die here! You can't!" She cried helplessly while firmly rubbing on his sternum to hopefully wake him up.

"God damn it! Come on Theo, come on!" She held Theo tighter when she heard a small groan "Theo?!Hey, can you hear me? Please tell me you can hear me?!"

It was a whole minute before he mumbled "I love you Ivy. . .I'll be okay I promise" That was the last thing he ever said to her before the life left his eyes. Ivy let out a chocked sob, burying her head in Theo's shoulder as she cried.

It wasn't long before the coast guard found them. A man jumped from the helicopter and quickly swam over to the two "Ma'am, let go off him. You've got to let him go ma'am" So Ivy reluctantly let go off Theo so the man could attach him to the harness that was waiting for them.

-----

When Ivy and Theo arrived at the hospital on base, Theo was of course rushed to surgery and Ivy was quickly checked over but luckily she had no serious injuries. If only Bullet had gotten that lucky.

A knock on the door made Chaos jump as she looked up and saw Viper walk in. If she wasn't so distraught she would've stood up and saluted him but now wasn't the time "How you doing?"

"I'm alright" She mumbled even though they both knew that was a lie.

"I'm sorry tell you but Bullet is dead" He told her sympathetically while walking over to the side of her bed and taking a seat.

"I know" She whispered.

"You fly jets long enough, something like this happens" Viper said.

"Doesn't make it any better though does it? He was my RIO, my responsibility" She replied shakily, her hand going up to wipe the tears from her cheeks "He had a kid on the way and now they have to grow up without a dad"

Viper sighed "In my squadron in Vietnam, we lost eight of eighteen aircraft. Ten men. First one dies, you die too. But there will be others, you can count on it. You gotta let him go" He then patted her shoulder gently before standing up "You gotta let him go Chaos"

Ivy didn't say anything and instead just watched as Viper stopped in the doorway "Maverick, Goose, Iceman and Slider are outside, you want me to send them in?" She nodded and he gave her one last smile before taking his leave.

"Ivy, thank god" Maverick came rushing into the room to hug his sister "You scared the shit out of me"

"I'm sorry" She mumbled into his shoulder causing him to shake her head as he pulled away and placed a loving kiss on his forehead.

"You don't need to apologise now how are you feeling?" Mav asked, sitting down on the seat Viper used just a few minutes ago.

"Like shit, my body's sore but that's understanding so I'd say I was pretty lucky" But Theo wasn't...She thought. Mav nodded, grabbing her hand and squeezing it gently.

She smiled at him and squeezed his hand back when she saw Ice walking into the room with a relived look on his face with Goose and Slider behind him "Hey"

"Hey sweetheart" He smiled, giving her a gentle hug before sitting down on the other chair next to her bed. You could see the dry tears that stained his face from when he saw Ivy being brought in on a stretcher with four doctors surrounding her "You feeling all right?"

She shrugged "As could I can be I guess" She then turned her head to Goose who was quick to come over and give her a hug "You missed me Goose?"

"You know I did" He chuckled and ruffled her hair.

"Hey Slider" She greeted him with a fist bump causing him to smile and nod at her "Good to see you're alive Chaos"

She lightly chuckled at him "Yeah me too" She whispered and the room went silent before she spoke again "I'm sorry about Bullet Mav"

Maverick frowned very clearly confused like the rest of them where "What?"

"He was your best-friend too, god since the fourth grade and-" She took a breath before continuing "-And I killed him Pete! I fucking killed him..." She cried, making Maverick pull her into a hug as she sobbed into his shoulder.

Mav couldn't help but shed some tears of his own as he looked at Ice who shared the same concerned look as he did "It's okay Ivy, just let it out, it's all gonna be okay" He tried to console her, his hand running through her hair in a comforting manor.

But Ivy knew she was never going to be the same pilot she was before the 'accident.' Every time she shut her eyes for just a second, she was back in the water where she watched the colour and the life drain from her best friend's face. The next thing that entered her head was; how was she gonna tell Jessica?