𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐱𝐱𝐱𝐢 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫

❝ 𝐚 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐝 ❞

✈ ✈ ✈

IT HAD BEEN A YEAR SINCE TOM HAD BROUGHT FAITH HOME.

Currently, they were in the air. It was Faith's first time in Tom's own P-51, having been in jets with her mother ever since she was a toddler.

Tom had slowly begun teaching her the mechanics and physics of the plane, and Faith remained so ever concentrated on each of his words and the unfamiliar ones, looking out the glass canopy, piping up to ask him questions whenever she didn't understand a word.

The fifteen-year old immediately become a bright light of joy for the Kazansky's, the life of their party of four.

It was just Faith, James, Sarah and Tom.

It was a minor number, but it was enough. It was more than Faith had ever imagined, and she was and is forever grateful for this second chance at life she was given.

"And this, is an invert." Without a warning, he flips the plane over as it flies straight ahead with it's canopy facing the ground not more than five thousand feet below.

Tom was nervous, as he flipped the plane onto it's belly, fully expecting her to cry and yell and shout in surprise. But instead, he heard chuckles, followed by a loud laugh, and when he turns back to look at her, Faith's hands were extended over her head. In utter shock, he lets out a chuckle of his own.

It was the first time she'd laughed so openly around him, let alone the family. It was a sweet melody, a symphony he kept close to his heart the very second, locking it behind the walls of his heart.

When he flipped the plane over and levelled out his wings, there was discordance from the young girl, mutters of 'again' escaping her.

Tom's brows were raised in surprise at the girl's demand once again, jerking his head to the side in a manner of saying 'well, what could go wrong'.

Multiple inverts later, the two Kazansky's found their way to the women's bathroom, where Faith was hurling her guts out, and Tom was rubbing her back, her hair in his hands as he held it back.

Wiping her mouth when she was done, she brings her hand to flush the toilet, falling back against Tom who wraps his arms around her, slumping on the rickety wall of the stall they were in.

He hands her a bottle of water he'd run out and brought before she puked, and she takes it, taking a sip and gargling. She spits the water out again into the toilet, flushing again.

Once again, she leans back against Tom, who wraps an arm without another word.

And then, she does something he wasn't expecting her to do.

In a soft and light voice, she lets out a chuckle once again, surprising Tom to his core, before she asks him, lower lip jutted out, brows furrowed, and eyes widening the tiniest bit.

"Can we do that again?"

They decided it was not the right time to do that again immediately.

So, they went home, after stuffing their mouths with ice cream, and a pinky promise of not telling Sarah.

Tom was tucking her into bed after dinner and a few games with the family. Pulling the covers over her pajama-covered body, he leans backwards, brushing his palm down her hair as she smiles up at him.

Faith's eyes were halfway shut, almost drifting off into the world of dreams. Tom places a kiss on her forehead, and she smiles, whispering back 'good night'.

He turns to move out of her room to allow her some rest after a long day at the hangar with him, but he's stopped when she grabs his hand. He looks back at her confused, meeting her open eyes with a confused glaze, he asks, "You need something, sweetheart?"

She shakes her head to the side. And with a smile lighting up her face in the dim room, she whispers for him half asleep, "One day, I'll be just like you, Ice."

"Just like you."

✈ ✈ ✈



THE SOUND OF THE TRUMPETS BROUGHT FAITH BACK WHERE SHE STOOD.

The flag once sprawled upon Tom's casket was raised, folded, and handed off to Sarah, beside whom stood, eyes dead ahead, shoulders rolled back, and chin up, Faith.

She was trying her best to keep it in, for the sake of her family. Her tongue bit her lip so hard he tasted blood, her fingers were curled into her palm so tight she felt like she'd have nail marks for the rest of her life forming right there. Her knees were locked, straight, and her back was fully upright.

The blue sky seemed blue with the loss of an angel. An orange painted it's way into the curls of the white clouds. The orange seemed like Ice's way of telling her to keep her head up, even though she lost him. The blue that faded into it was his way of confirming his absence. The white clouds seemed like a depiction of freedom.

Which Tom was. He was free of all his stress, all his burdens and his works, but most importantly, he was free of his pain. Her mind kept running back to that. He was no longer in pain, and that was a fact that everyone here knew, and everyone here kept that fact as an anchor for them to keep moving on.

From in front of her, Faith watched Pete remove his Wings of Gold, and gently place them on his wingman's casket. Another declaration, another bullet, and he's punching the wings into the wood with his fist. Her uncle raises his hand to place by the visor of his hat, saluting the late Commander of the Pacific Fleet, and one of his closest friends, the father of his niece. There's tears in his eyes, and he tries so hard to keep them behind.

Four planes fly in a single file, but then the third one from the right flies further ahead and higher than the other three. A missing man amongst the sky. A missing man amongst the crowd. Their salutes fall, and so do heads, and some tears.

Iceman was gone. Tom was gone. Her father was gone. People reminded her of that as they walked past her after shaking her hand right after her mothers'. They saluted her, the aviators and ones in service, the others, just patted her shoulder or her head and walked off.

Yes, he wasn't hurting anymore, but it still hurt. He was her everything. He gave her whatever she had at this moment, a family, friends, someone she could call her own, and someone who called her his. It was because of Tom. And now, he wasn't here. He couldn't be here, because Death had called upon him, pulling him into her entrapment.

The squadron then makes their way to her and her family. Salutes, hands shaken, hugs given, shoulders patted, one by one, they all file out. Then came her friends, her students. Payback and Fanboy shook their hands. Coyote and Hangman patted her back. Phoenix and Bob gave her quick hugs.

Bradley stood before her not long after, his own tears in his eyes as he meets Faith's glistening eyes. He could see her break herself down over not being there. He could see the bags under her eyes, when she stood up all night with Sarah in her arms as her mother broke down. He could see the perfection in her appearance, dressing up in her dress blacks just like Tom had taught her.

With no other words, he pulls her into a hug he knew she needed. Just as quickly his arms are around her, Faith is bringing him impossible closer, closing her eyes, and pressing her face in the crook of his neck, letting the tears fall. They stand like that, her tears dampening his black blazer, grasps tight around each other.

When they pull away, he sees the grief in her eyes. He sees the adoration she had for her true father, the man who took her in and gave her a chance at another life, one full of love and joy and dreams. Bradley wipes her tears with his thumb, as Faith leans against his hold on her cheek, closing her eyes when he presses a kiss on her forehead. With another quick hug, they pull away.

Hurricane makes his way over to the remaining Kazansky's. He steps forward, as Faith moves ahead too, both of them hugging for a couple of seconds before they pull away. Hurricane was also one of Faith's mentors, beside Iceman and Maverick. He was the one who challenged her during training, having seen her potential. He pats the side of her shoulder, nodding, before moving away.

Penny greets Faith with a comforting hand on her shoulder, "Hey, Fae." Faith nods, a tiny sad smile on her lips, "Hey, Pen. How's Mav?" Penny doesn't say anything, turning her head behind to see the man at his mention. Then she turns back to meet Faith's eyes, muttering, "A bit shaky. Talk to him." The younger woman nods, and Penny hugs her once again, before looking towards Sarah and grabbing her hands, falling into conversation.

And then, comes Maverick. Tears fall down both their faces at the sight of each other. One having lost a wingman, a brother, the other lost a father, a mentor. They meet each other in the middle as they wrap their arms around each other, comforting each other with their hold. He was her uncle, she was his niece, and right now, both of them had lost an extremely present figure in their lives.

Yes, they knew he'd leave. Yes, they knew it was inevitable. But he was free of pain.

Together, the uncle and niece make their way towards the tombstone of Tom Kazansky, looking down at it when they were not one feet apart from it. Engraved in gold like his heart, his name shone bright in the golden hues of the sun.

Faith nods, tears wiped off her face. She places a hand against her father's name, before standing straight up, and looking up at the sky.

"He can rest now."

Maverick turns his head to look at his niece, before he himself looks at the sky. "He's free of pain." Faith nods once again, looking at her uncle. They hug each other's side as they look down at the black marble on which one's father and one's brother's name was engraved in the grass.

Tom "Iceman" Kazansky was an angel on Earth, and he'd returned back to heaven where he was before, free of any pain, free of any suffering. And they'd always remember him. Not just in their memories, not just in the pictures, but in their hearts. There was little to none time left to mourn now, and as her father had told her before, this was no moment to grieve, but to keep working with a high head towards the success of the mission.

He'd left them behind, to be free of any hurt he must have had left. And even though it hurt, the fact that he wasn't in pain anymore gave them all the closure they needed, to move on in their lives and hold him in their hearts and memories, in photographs and pictures.

He would always be remembered, and they'd make sure of that. Always.







































































































author's note:

a filler, sorry 'bout that.

it's another short chapter, before a big one. we've almost reached the end of faith and bradley's journey, where multiple other's begin. yes, i've posted a miles teller fic, don't judge, that man is fine.

there's also something else you must watch out for, perhaps a book for a certain cockey green-eyed blonde???

stay tuned, for the next chapter, we rebel.

thank you so much for choosing 'the archer' to read!

love, destiny <3.