𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐱𝐱𝐱𝐢𝐱 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫

❝ 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 ❞





































"MAV, I GOT THE RADIO ON!"

"Outstanding, get us in touch with the boat." Maverick replies. Archer shakes her head, this man was really his father's son and her uncle's nephew.

"Copy that." Rooster replies. The excitement, however, quickly dies down when both aircraft's by each other's sides begin blaring alarms.

Another bogey.

"Oh my god." Maverick breathes, they did not have enough fire power for another enemy aircraft. Archer looks down, shaking her head with furrowed brows, the curiosity of making it out being utterly clear on her face.

They knew someone might not make it back, they knew. They just didn't know who. And now, it was going to be one of them.

Rooster and Maverick turn their heads to the side, up and down and then back side to side, but the bogey was still nowhere to be found. "Where the hell is this guy?"

Her gaze was straight ahead, looking through the clouds far before them, a black silhouette of what she could assume to be the bogey sort of visible. Her eyes widen, and she felt as if she caught the eyes of the enemy, breathing out in a warning to her boys, "He's on our nose."

Maverick tries taking the shot, but it goes to no avail and she realizes when he voices out, "Damn it, we're outta ammo, Arch!"

Before either of them can make a move, the bogeys making his shot. The missile falls down from it's attachment to the enemy, making it's way in their direction, pushing away clouds which curled around in whiplash. It's her or them.

It's her or them.

Archer is broken out of her trance when Maverick's panic is clear in her ears, "Smoke in the air! Rooster, flares!" The young pilot does as he's told from his seat, Archer breaking a right when they break a left, hearing the boom of the missile hit on of the deployed flares.

"That was close!" Rooster calls out, and Maverick finds Archer's gaze as he breaths heavily through his mask, tilting to the side when the bogey is coming at them front and center. Both Captains make the same move, breaking opposite sides to avoid a hit.

They don't have much time until the bogey levels out from behind them, and Rooster warns desperately waiting for the other two to make some sort of move to get out of this, "We're outta flares, guys!"

"Arch, he's already on us!" Maverick's voice is heard through the blares of the tone on his ship. The woman stays silent.

Then, she tells them hurriedly, already turning to the side, "Break right, break right!" Thankfully, Maverick understands, curving the jet to the side as they try to avoid hits from the bogey's rounds. Rooster voices out, and Archer curses at the small jerks she felt hit the tail of the Raptor, "Ah, this is not good!"

It's clear water below them, as they make sharp twists and turns again and again to avoid hits, barely making it out of the bogey's radar, before there's another tilt to the side to shake him off. Archer can hear the distress in their grunts, and she thinks back to the day she heard about the mission the first time.

They knew there was someone who won't make it back, they knew. And she knew in this moment, right here, right now, that it could not be her uncle, nor Bradley. She couldn't live without them. They could try living without her, at least they'd have each other. So, she goes for it.

From a Captain to a Captain, from a Kazansky to a Mitchell, from a niece to an uncle, she tells him then and there, "Mav." He hears it in her voice. They both do. One death for two lives. One life for two souls. The uncle tries denying what he knew she wanted from him, "No, no, no, no!" They continue in a game of a cat and two mice, trailing off course to the side to miss being hit.

"Mav, the second I tell you, go high, okay?" Her voice is raw with emotion, louder when she doesn't hear a reply from either of her boys. Teary eyes of hers' let a single one fall, as she tells them in a shout, "Damn it, Mav, talk to me!" He swerves to the right, then left. She banks left, then right. The godfather considers.

"Arch, what? No, no, no, no, don't pull this shit again, Fae-" Faith cuts Bradley off, "Baby, I know. I'll be right behind you, I promise." Silence. Still, the cat chases the two mice, around the blue morning sky above the clear blue water.

Bradley stays on his course of disagreement with her choice and her possible action any moment, "No! Faith, I swear, if you do this-" He's cut off when she ends it with a final yell, "We can't take much more of this!" Silence.

Heavy panting, grunting follows. The three are still engaged in the same game which continues with not a possible end. She hears him breath, she hears him break, and she tells him in a soft tone, a whisper, her feasible final words, "It's the only way."

Maverick is cutting in, helping her convince his back-seater, "We can't outrun this guy, we gotta eject." Rooster yells in fear and curiosity, "What?!"

Archer nods, that could be another way. "We need altitude." She points out, and Maverick is demanding his back-seater, " Pull the ejection handle the second I tell you."

"Guys, wait!" Rooster's tries go to no avail, Archer cuts in, "Rooster, there's no other way!" A final yell, and Maverick sends a nod to the younger Captain when he meets her eyes for a brief second, before they're ascending high above into the sky, bogey right behind them.

Assuming the bogey would follow after her and choose their current altitude over G-force, she swerves right in an attempt to distract the bogey. He chooses to go after Mav and Rooster. Bad choice.

She'd had enough of bogeys today. Looking down at the radar, she was reminded of having one last missile. Rooster's voice shakes her head clear, eyes going high to see the bogey following right after her boys.

With a deep breath, Archer pulls the yoke to herself with both hands ensuring that she'd go right behind the bogey, no matter how heavy the force on her chest remained. The throttle goes forward, and her back is pinned to the seat behind.

Right on the bogey's tail who kept straight on Mav and Rooster's, she presses the red button one last time for the day, high hopes of zero malfunctions kept in her mind as she feels the jet get lighter by the slightest. There's a smoke in the air from behind the bogey, and there's not one trail but two.

Two missiles hit the bogey straight up, ensuring a kill.

Archer turns her head back, and there the asshole was. Flying right through the black and orange lit cloud of what was an enemy aircraft right behind them, came out none other than Hangman and Archer by his side.

She shakes her head, as she meets the green-eyed blonde's gaze, his face covered but no doubt a smirk was plastered on his face as she hears his voice come in from her activated E-SAT, "Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. This is your savior speaking. Please fasten your seat belts, return your tray tables to their locked and upright positions, and prepare for landing." Chuckles and snickers are heard on the radio.

Hangman pulls up in between Maverick and Archer, as the older Captain punches the side of his canopy twice before throwing a thumb upward. Hangman throws him a smirk, before Archer is taunting, "Hey, Bagman!" She hides a snort at his groan and head thrown backwards, Rooster continues her words, "You look good."

"I am good, guys. I'm really good." She hides a snicker at his words, taking the opportunity to damage his ego, "Not at Nine Ball, apparently." Hangman groans, tilting his jet to the side, as he calls out, "I'm going before you can damage my ego any more. I'll see you back on deck."

The other three chuckle at his words.

Maverick breathes heavily, looking at Archer in the jet beside him, "That was close. Any better than Budapest?" Anticipating a reply from her, he watches as she opens her mouth to respond, but then Rooster cuts in, "Nah, man, this is nothing compared to Budapest."

She bumps her fist to the canopy at Rooster, and he does the same as they share a laugh at a grumbling Maverick.

A few more minutes of flying straight ahead, and they finally get eyes on the fleet, wanting to do anything more than just get out of the jets. Below, she could see movement on the fleet, and they seemed to be lining up the deck with a barricade.

"Maverick is downwind, no front landing gear. No tail hook. Pull the cable and raise the barricade." Archer rolls her eyes at her uncle's dramatics, calling out on the radio for herself, "Archer is perfectly fine, by the way."

"Hey, Mav, how about a fly-by?" A simple nod between both Captains, and a shaking head and sheepish smile on Rooster's face, they fly right by the tower. This was it. The thrill they lived for. This success, this victory. Exactly this.

A jolt shakes Mav and Rooster's plane once they level out from beside Archer, and she meets Mav's eyes, when the back-seater slumps into his seat, "Please don't tell me we lost an engine."

Maverick's response is simple and blunt, "Alright, I won't tell you that."

The older Captain settled into the barricade's nest like a baby bird returning home from a long flight, smoothly.

A few sparks, a few chains pulled here and there, but still somehow smooth. Her uncle was good at that pilot shit. They scrapped against the tarmac to a stop, and from above still in the sky, Archer was full on cackling.

Then, she flew in, nice, and smooth like always, and the two jets were surrounded by a huge mob of cheering crew and their squadron. The silver suits come out immediately, extinguishing the tiniest of glistening sparks on either jets.

Their canopies lifted, wind flying straight at her face in her seat, as she waved onto the crew surrounded by her.

Faith takes off her helmet, shaking it in the air and eliciting a louder cheer, just as she hops down from her seat, landing on her two feet with Jake's help.

Fanboy and Payback are bunching her up in their hugs as soon as she let's go of Jake's hand, patting her back when they pull away.

Phoenix met her next, pulling her into a hug as she slapped the back of the older woman's head and muttering, "If you ever do that again, I'll kill you myself!"

The crowd separates, and hazel greens find emerald eyes, and they're making their way to each other immediately. Heavy strides they took for what felt like forever until they wrapped the other into their arms, breathing in the smell of gasoline and jet fuel and sea water and their own scent underneath.

Faith takes a deep breath, nuzzling her head into his neck, as Bradley leans his head on hers' closing his eyes in bliss. She leans forward, wrapping her arms from his waist to his neck to pull him down to capture his lips in hers', smiling herself when he chuckles against her lips in the soft kiss. The crowd goes crazy, jumping up and down as they cheer the couple on.

They break away, leaning their foreheads against each other and sharing another peck before Jake comes around, a crooked smile on his face. He seemed, friendly?

Bradley and Jake stare at each other for a moment, matching grins on both their faces, before Jake is throwing in the towel, extending a hand of friendship to Bradley.

He shares a questioning glance with Faith who simply nods him on, and Bradley takes his hand with a nod and his lips pressed together in a hidden smile.

"Chalked yourself another kill." Bradley mentions, and Jake takes the chance to become himself again, replying with a smirk widening, "That makes two."

Faith puts one elbow on either boys' shoulders, smiling when they look down at her with grins of their own, "Mav has five. Makes him an ace." The two blondes look at each other again, sharing another smile and nod, before Jake is pulling Faith and Phoenix together, laughing when he hears them groan in disgust.

Maverick comes up from behind, tapping her shoulder and jerking his upwards when he feels her glance on him. Warlock and Cyclone stood, one with a proud smile, and another with a proudness, deep inside. Warlock is shaking his fist in victory, both Captains saluting in response.

Cyclone meets her eyes, and he sends her a quick nod. She breathes out through her nose, looking at her feet, pressing her lips in a thin line, before looking back up with a faint smile. She nods back, and her smile widens when she sees him give her a smile of his own.

Hurricane comes out from behind the doors, sending Faith a wave she returns with the same excitement. She salutes, bowing down like a ballerina would, before standing straight up. Another nod, and Hurricane salutes her back, properly. She grins.

Turning back around, she gives her uncle a long hug, holding him tight. He holds her just as close, breathing in before he tells her, "Thank you." Faith pulls away, arms still around his waist as she gives him a smile. She nods, "It's what my dad would've done."

Maverick pulls her into a hug again, chuckling into her shoulder as she lets out a free laugh. He lets go, jerking his head in Bradley's way. Faith turns around, looking back at a smiling Bradley. She steps closer to him, grabbing his wrist before pulling him to stand in front of Maverick.

"Sir." Bradley nods. Rolling her eyes at the two, she pushes Bradley ahead, just as Pete pulls him into a hug, punching his nephew's back as they held on tight. Faith wipes under her glistening eyes, smiling at Natasha when she wraps her arms around her waist, pulling her into her side. The boys follow, wrapping their arms around the girls' shoulders.

Bradley turns around when Mav points behind him, meeting Faith's eyes with a smile, finding a smiling Faith looking back at him with nothing but pure love in her eyes.

She steps out of her friends' hold, smiling brighter when they whistle and cheer around them. He steps forward too, grabbing her hand in his and entangling their fingers together.

A dazed look on either face, and they lean forward, wrapping their arms around each other. Bradley leans his forehead against hers' keeping his eyes in hers', as she whispers, "Take me to bed, or lose me forever, you big stud."

He presses a kiss on her forehead, lingering when he chuckles against her skin, pecking her lips once more as they smile in nothing but true happiness.

"Show me the way home, honey."