𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐯 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫

❝ 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐭 𝐚𝐢𝐫 ❞





























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It had been two weeks since training had began, and Faith was feeling on top of the world. Literally. The woman would ascend into the air with her WSO, Tango, each working day, kick ass in the air, and smoothly land her plane and then run down the tarmac to find her friends who would congratulate her on surviving another day of what could be the training of one of the most dangerous jobs on the planet, her doing the same for them, after their turn.

Everybody was kicking ass in the air. So, almost every Friday evening, the team would go out to the Hard Deck to grab a few drinks, and deepen their friendships even more.

Today was another Friday night. The squad's third Friday night, of many more to arrive. Today, instead of actually sitting and talking in the Hard Deck, the squad had decided to play a game.

Today, the group had planned on playing Dogfight Volleyball. Everyone had returned to their homes, changed into casuals, and returned back to base, where all of them fit into either Bradshaw's Bronco, or Wilson's Audi Q7, which had a bow and arrow on it's silver driver's door. Payback, Fanboy, Fritz and Harvard were in Bradley's car. Natasha, Bob, Jake, Tango, and Coyote in Faith's.

On the way from base to the Hard Deck, Archer and Rooster had planned to go head to head in a race to reach first. Losing team was to be thrown into the seawater, and would have to pay for the bill.

Everyone was sat in their team's car, waiting for, surprisingly, Admiral Hurricane to give the whistle of begin. Faith's heart was beating fast, and she took deep breathes to calm herself, eyes focused on the road ahead, left hand on the wheel, right on the gearstick. Beside her, Natasha sat, smirking to look over to her left, where Bradshaw's car was, smug expression on her face, as to say, 'my girl is gonna kick your guys' asses.'

Hurricane put his hand up, signaling the drivers to get ready, and the cars began to roar loudly. Faith looks over to her left, finding Bradley staring at her with a shit-eating grin, and hooded eyes. She just gave him a sickly sweet smile in reply

Hurricane began the count down, "Three! Two! One!" And the cars began to race.

Archer found herself ahead, body pumping with adrenaline as her companions encouraged her on. She was smiling a big smile when she could see Rooster in her rear-view mirror. She hadn't even stepped on the accelerator completely. But she wanted it to be fair. So she slowed down just a bit, Rooster coming at par with her. Just two seconds of being at equal distance with her, she looked at him once again, a mischievous smirk on her lips, and she raised her right hand from the gearstick to give him a wave and wink goodbye.

Archer stepped on the accelerator hard. And she rushed her way down the road, looking in the rear-view mirror to see the surprise on Rooster's face. The entire group in her car was hyping her up, screaming her callsign without missing a beat.

The squad in Archer's squad cheered even louder as they entered the parking area of the Hard Deck. Everyone immediately got out of the car, and Jake opened the door to the driver's seat, pulling Faith out of her seat, giggling, as he held her wrist, before hoisting her up on his shoulders, as the others kept cheering her on, gathered right next to them.

Just then, Rooster's car pulled up into the parking lot. He seemed to be in shock at the woman's insane driving skills, more at the wink she gave him, but of course, he wouldn't mention that to anyone. The entire group sitting in his car got out, defeated, but still, smiles on their faces, happy for the others who won. He neared towards Faith, looking up at her with a happy smile on his face.

Jake put Faith down at her request, and everyone made their way into the bar, pulling the losing team ahead of them to pay for the chaos they were gonna cause tonight.

Faith and Bradley made their way up the porch of the Hard Deck, and Faith reached forward, grabbing the handle of the door, and putting her hand out as she was gesturing to it, "Ladies first." She said with a shit-eating grin on her face.

"Thank you, kind sir." Bradley said, holding a hand to his chest, purposefully making his pitch shriller to imitate a woman.

They walked towards the bar, where their squad was gathered, bickering over their teams. Faith went to talk to Penny, "Hi Penny! Sorry to disturb you, but it is alright if we play on the beach right?" Faith asks, confirming with the owner once again.

"Yeah, honey, it's completely alright." Penny nodded, giving a genuine sweet smile to Faith, makin her smile.

"Thanks again, Pen. Oh ,and, if anyone from the squad orders anything, keep in mind, losers are paying." Faith said, giving Penny a smile of thankfulness.

"Alright, alright, alright, let's pick teams!" Jake's voice echoes, grabbing everyone's attention.

"Wait, who's captain?" A voice from the group asks.

"Good question. How about, Bob, and Payback?" Jake suggests, shrugging his shoulders, drink already downed.





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"Okay, let's do this!" The boys cheer and whoop loudly.

It was nearing sunset, the sky was shifting from a blazing yellow to a hot orange.

The teams had changed now, Bob's team consisted of Bradley, Harvard, Faith, and Jake, while Payback's team consisted of Coyote, Natasha, Tango and Fanboy.

Everyone was already two or three drinks in and tipsy, making the game even more fun.

Bob put out Jake and Faith as the starters, while Payback put out Tango and Fanboy as their starters.

With the whistle from a random lifeguard on the beach, the game began.

Jake began the game, tossing the ball to the other side, which Tango tossed back to him. Jake was unable to notice the correct angle of the ball, and missed it by nearly just an inch, as he plopped down on his stomach into the sand, staring at the ball right in front of him.

Faith looks at him in disbelief for a second, before shaking her head and nearing him, who now lay on his stomach staring at the sky, before Faith put his hand out to grab, pulling him up to his feet, whispering reassuringly, "Hey, it's okay, it's your first try." Faith gave him a small smile, patting his shoulder in comfort.

Jake nodded, shaking off the feeling of defeat, and put his head back into the game.

The whistle sounded, and Fanboy served, shooting towards Faith, who tossed the ball back to Tango, who served it back to her again, making her run forward a bit. Tango missed, and the referee, again just a random lifeguard on the beach put took note on the scores on the whiteboard Penny had lent them.

She could feel her shirt sticking to her skin as she looked down through her aviators to see that there was in fact a huge sweat stain on her shirt. Faith wanted to do nothing but toss the shirt over her head and onto the ground, but she was too focused in the game.

Tango was replaced by Natasha, who gave a subtle but competitive wink to Faith, as to say, 'show me what you got, honey'.

Faith served, right at Natasha, who tossed it back towards Jake. This time, Jake tossed the ball back, only for Natasha to jump high and toss the ball too near to the net. Thankfully, Faith rushed forward to toss the ball back over the net with just a little force, making Fanboy make a run for it. But he wasn't fast enough. The ball hit the ground before Fanboy plopped down on his stomach to catch it.

Two : Scorpions, One : Ninjas.

Fanboy was switched with Coyote. Now, we gotta play good, Faith thinks to herself.

"Focus, Jake, Coyote's a tough player." Faith cautioned Jake, who merely just nodded at their success, thinking they were an entire one goal ahead of the Ninjas.

Jake serves the ball, and Coyote tosses it back. Faith runs behind, trying to toss the ball back. Thankfully, she tosses it back to Natasha who tosses the ball to Jake. But he didn't toss it back, instead falling on his knees to the ground trying to toss it back. He heaves a heavy sigh, looking over at Faith, apologizing look on his face.

"It's alright, buddy, you played well." Faith comes near him to ruffle the hair on Jake's head, making him huff out a laugh.

Her team converses for nearly ten seconds on whom to switch with Jake. Faith makes eye contact with Bradley, who finds himself gazing back at her, losing focus on the conversation with their team.

Faith looks back down at the stain of sweat on her shirt. She scoffs to herself, thinking fuck it, before she brings her fingers to the hem of her shirt, pulling it off, revealing a ice blue bikini top underneath. She releases her hair from the tight pony she had tied, letting it breathe, before she puts it up into a looser pony.

Bradley finds himself stare at her as she tosses the shirt she was wearing. Though his gaze didn't linger on the bikini top, but the black ink on her back, between her neck and upper back.

'Everything you lose is a step you take .- Ma.' was the tattoo which caught the attention of Bradley.

But then he noticed those faded scars, covering almost her entire back. He made a mental note of asking her if she was okay, after they were done playing.

Faith taking off her shirt caught the attention of many other than Bradley, who took notice of not only the tattoo but the scars too.

Almost as if she could feel everyone's gaze on her, she immediately pulls a hand to cover her embarrassment-filled face. She felt as if everyone could see right through her.

As if he could see right through her. The happy facade she put on faded, the scars of her past returning back to her mind.

Bradley runs towards her, springing into action. He removes his shirt and holds it in his hands. As he moves closer to Faith, he taps on her shoulder slowly, warning, "It's just me." And she realizes who it is. Slowly peeling her hands from her face, she turns to face him, noticing him bare shirt, instead handing his to her.

Faith mutters a 'thank you', as she slipped the shirt on. Instantly, she felt comfort. Warmth. She could smell his musky cologne which she could immediately recognize.

"No problem, Archie. Let's win this thing, alright?" Bradley whispers softly, gently placing his hand on her shoulder, squeezing it comfortingly.

Faith finds herself smiling up at him in nothing but thankfulness. Natasha notices her expression, and decides to break the ice, "Alright! C'mon, let's play. It's the last round now!" She lets out a giggle.

Bradley and Faith fall back into formation, nodding their heads at each other, before Natasha serves the ball over to Faith, who rushes ahead to hit it back to Coyote.

Coyote smacks the ball right back at Faith, and she feels the adrenaline coursing through her, jumping into the air and tossing at back at him.

She knew he was a little lazy, and would take more time to run towards the net, so Faith aimed at a spot right before the net on the enemy's side. The ball is tossed back with the heavy force Faith applied to it, and barely misses the net. Coyote, right according too her assumption, does not make a run forward to toss the ball back. The ball hits the grounds, instead of Coyote's awaiting hands.

The Scorpions cheer for Faith, and Bradley immediately rushes over to her to hug her and congratulate her on making the winning shot. All the Scorpions come gathering around her and Bradley, cheering her on and whooping in happiness. Faith jumps onto Bradley's back, and he huffs out a groan, hands moving to grab her shorts-covered thighs, and hold her close so that she doesn't fall. Faith puts one hand around Bradley's neck, and one up, pointing to the sky in victory, whooping loudly as the others around the two jump around in happiness.

Bradley starts running towards the water, Faith still clinging to his back. She realizes his motives and tries to wiggle out of his grasp, but his hold just gets stronger. She yells out loud, laughing, "No, Bradley! Hey, stop," She says, still laughing as she feels the warm water touch her toes, before Bradley dives down into water, pulling Faith with him.

The two find each other's hands, pulling themselves up and out of the warm water with the help of the other. Faith puts an arm around Bradley's neck, resting her head against his chest as she giggles, making him grin largely.

Everyone else seemed to follow them into the water, splashing water and dunking each other under it.

They were still in the water, sitting as their clothes clinging to their bodies, entire squad sat side to side, watching the sun fall into slumber.

Faith looked around to see her squad around her, sweet smiles on their faces as everyone looks at each other. She realizes then, she had found her family.

And Faith was not planning to let go anytime soon.





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Everyone else but Faith and Bradley had gone inside to play darts or eight ball and have more drinks. Since the pair were designated drivers, the two didn't take any more drinks, instead choosing to sit by the beach and watch the moon light up the shore and dark midnight blue water.

The salt air gave her a sense of comfort, feeling like she had her mother looking down back at her, shining brightly in the night sky.

They were sitting on the sand, right beside each other, her leg resting against his. Faith was hugging her knees close to her chest, hair let down loose, and Bradley had straightened his legs in front of him, resting his palms on the sand behind him as support to stay up.

Bradley turns his head to the side to look over at her, her green eyes seemed to be even lighter as the moonlight mixed in with them. Her soft long hair seemed to become more of a light chocolate brown than they were, probably due to the glow of the moon. He thought about earlier, the pink scars on her back, the tattoo. "I was meaning to ask you, those, scars, on your back. How'd you get them?" Bradley asked in a soft voice, eyes capturing her defined features.

"You really wanna know, Bradshaw?" Faith turns her head to look at him in the eyes, noticing the softness they held, despite the rough brown in his eyes.

They were just so, so welcoming.

"You don't have to, I was, I was just-" Bradley stutters, thinking he hit a deep nerve, immediately trying to change the topic of the conversation, feeling as he ruined his chance.

"No, it's alright. I mean, I have to talk to someone else other than 'Tasha 'bout it, might as well be you." Faith shakes her head, making it clear to Bradley, that she wanted to tell him.

Bradley listened to her carefully, turning his body to face her as she begins, "After my mother passed away, my father didn't remain the same loving dad anymore. He drank, and drank, and drank, downing almost 2 bottles of liquor each day. Every night, he would approach me in my room, and he would beat me up every single night with his belt. This... this routine, continued until I was fourteen, and I decided I had enough of him. So I stole all the money from his wallet when he fell asleep after drinking. I packed a bag, and I ran away." Her eyes seemed hardened, but multiple walls she had formed in her head to keep those memories away were slowly being torn down.

"I met this man, an angel, really, one of the highest ranking Naval aviators. He took me under his wing, and he supported me when I told him I wanted to fly, take after him. He gave me this opportunity, and a life, but most importantly, he gave me unconditional love, which I thought I would never see after Ma's passing." Faith's eyes were filled with tears, but she didn't let them fall, holding them back. She could hear her angel's voice in her head, "your days of crying are over, sweetheart. take a deep breath, and think, now you have family."

Bradley, with tears in his eyes, looks at her, who was looking back up at him with a soft gaze and smile. He says, "I'm so sorry you had to go through all of that. I'm so sorry, Arch. I promise, if I see that man anywhere, I will kill him." He promises, anger flashing in his eyes.

"Not if I kill him first, Bradshaw." Faith whispers, smile slowly growing, as she leans forward to rest her head against his shoulder. He leans his head to rest on hers, and they both stare out into the moonlit sky, salt air around them bringing a sense of comfort and homeliness they found in each other's touch.

Faith could only think to herself, let this be forever.





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author's note:

THAT'S THE FOURTH CHAPTER GUYS. I AM ABSOLUTELY IN LOVE WITH BRADLEY AND FAITH, AND THEY FIND THEMSELVES FALLING DEEPER EVERY CHAPTER.

please do tell me how you feel of the book up until today right here:

THANL YOU FOR CHOOSING THE ARCHER TO READ, AND DO COME BACK FOR MORE!

destiny <3.