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Hangman knew it was going to be bad as soon as he read through the information they were given. Inside the information was the name of his temporary WSO. He knew he should have seen it coming.
Rooster was the best damn WSO he’d ever had the privilege to fly with, and he knew he’d never find anyone better, but really? Rooster. Of all people he could have been partnered with (in a job that requires absolute communication, mind you) he had been landed with the one person who refused to communicate with him. The job requires absolute trust for them to work together.
Rooster is a great WSO, there’s no denying that, but there’s no way he and Hangman would be able to fly this without issue. Rooster would never talk to him, or work with him.
There’s no way they’d get picked for the mission if they were together. Maybe he could convince whoever was teaching this to swap his WSO with someone else.
Maybe he could ask Admiral Simpson to do it. If he explained the situation, surely it’s be swapped. Maybe something could be changed, after all, it would be in the best interest of everyone if all groups were paired with someone they could fly properly.
Or maybe this was the chance he was looking for. Maybe he could finally ask Rooster what he had done wrong that had caused him to walk out. “Waiting for the right moment” his ass, there’s no way Rooster had been waiting for the right moment to propose to Hangman, but Hangman doing it first made him leave.
There's no way. That was complete and utter bullshit. Rooster was a lot of things. A good liar was not one of them. He was loud (in the best of ways), funny, smart, pretty, and full of life, but not a good lair.
He was also walking into the bar. Fuck. “Bradshaw. As I live and breathe.” He grinned, putting on his mask as Hangman. He had once felt safe enough in this man’s arms to let him see Jake, to unguard his heart. No longer though, did he trust him.
“Hangman. You look… good.” He said, looking him up and down as they fell into their old song and dance routine.
“Well, I am good, Rooster.” He knew he shouldn’t have taken the bait, but he couldn’t help it. It was familiar. It was Bradley. “I’m very good In fact, I am too good to be true.”
“So, anybody know what this special detachment is all about?” Asked one of the people Phoenix had come in with earlier. They’d been introduced, but he was too distracted to catch his name.
“No, mission’s a mission. They don’t confront me.” He heard himself said, not focusing much on what was happening, focusing only on Rooster. The man he loved standing a few feet in front of him after years of heartbreak.
He had two options. Continue the conversations, and end up pissing Rooster off, possibly jeopardizing their chances to fly the mission, or ask to speak to him privately, and request that their issues be kept out of the sky, and out of their flying. He knew what the right option was, but he had never claimed to be mature.
“What I want to know: Who’s gonna be team leader?” He took his shot on the pool table. “And which one of y’all has what it takes to follow me?“
He looked at Rooster, waiting for his response. “Hangman, the only place you’ll lead anyone is an early grave.”
Hangman grinned, to keep himself from shutting down completely. He had trusted Rooster with that. It was no secret that he had the only confirmed air-to-air kill, but it wasn’t commonly known that he and his backseater had had to eject due to it. That only Hangman had survived that dogfight.
Phoenix glanced at Rooster nervously, as Hangman replied, “Well, anyone who listens to you when they fly is just gonna run out of fuel.” Not his best, but he was slightly in shock that Rooster, his Rooster, would use that against him.
“But that’s just you, ain’t it, Rooster?” He continued, “You’re snug on that perch, waiting for just the right moment, that never comes.”
Judging by the look on Rooster’s face, he had won. Now he just needed an out. He walked up to Rooster, so they were face to face. “I love this song.” He grinned, and walked off.
He heard Phoenix say something to Rooster, but he couldn’t be bothered to actually listen. He walked out of the bar, and sat down on the steps, setting the beer he was holding to the side, and burying his face in his arms.
He didn’t cry. He refused to shed any more tears over the man he had loved. No matter what it is he said. He sat there, with his head in his arms, until he heard footsteps behind him. He didn’t have to look up to know that it was Coyote.
“Hi Javy.” He sighed.
“Hey Jake.” He said, sitting next to him. “You alright?”
“Take a guess.” He snapped, then, upon realizing that, he said “Sorry. I’m just” He trailed off.
“It’s alright. What Rooster said about Daniel was out of line. He just wanted to get under your skin, a-“
He was cut off by Jake snapping at him. “Yeah? Well it fucking worked. He got under my skin alright. I trusted him with that, and he just throws it in my face at his earliest convenience. Funny thing is, he’s not wrong. Daniel fucking warned me that it might go wrong, and I didn’t fucking listen. I got him killed, Javy.”
“Hey, look at me.” Said his best friend. He looked up at Javy, aware of the tears in his eyes he wouldn’t let fall. He knew Javy could see them, but he didn’t care. “You didn’t kill Daniel. He told you it might go wrong, but he was still encouraging you to go. He wanted that kill for you as much as you wanted it. And neither of you could have foreseen that he was going to die. His death is not your fault.”
That was all it took for Jake to break down. Years of repressed emotions came flooding out, and he cried.
He cried for Daniel, his first friend, who would never grow up.
He cried for the boy he was before he took another man’s life.
He cried for his past self, who never let himself cry, not even when his friend died, or his lover left.
But most of all he cried for his love.
He was so in love with Bradley Bradshaw, that it hurt. He sat there, crying in his wingman’s arms, until he could no longer cry.
And when he looked up, and Javy asked if he wanted to leave, he just nodded in agreement.
The drive back was quiet for the most part. Until Javy asked, “are you going to be alright Jake?”
“Yeah, I’ll be fine.” He said.
Javy had never quite liked Rooster. He had never quite known why, until the breakup. Even then, Jake thought it was an unfair judgment. But who’s he to say who Bradley was, or wasn’t. He was an immature kid then, and he didn’t know Bradley now. Maybe he never would.
The sunlight was coming in from the tarmac as Hangman stared straight ahead, pointedly ignoring Rooter, who was sitting next to him, and kept trying to initiate conversation.
He wasn't really focused on anything going on around him, and knew he wouldn’t be until he was up in the air. He needed to fly. It didn’t matter who was behind him as long as he was flying.
He knew he was stuck in his own head. And from the way Javy was shooting him concerned looks, he knew too. Hangman kept the smirk on his face though, refusing to let anything show.
Javy knew him too well though. He watched as he opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by three people walking in.
They all stood up to greet them, though he had almost missed that he was supposed to be doing that, and had also almost stood up too long. Javy sent him another worried look, but he just grinned. He didn’t look convinced, but turned around regardless.
Admiral Bates was starting to say something that he didn’t really register. Judging by the footsteps though, it was an introduction. He turned to look at who was walking in. It was the man who was thrown out of the bar by Phoenix’s friends.
That meant the man had seen him crying. Fuck. He turned back around, and tried to pay attention. “…Captain Pete Mitchell. Callsign: Maverick.” Maverick.
He knew that name. The man was a legend, and his idol. His idol had seen him cry. He tried not to dwell too much on that thought, but to no avail.
What if he washed him out because of it? What if he thought he was too weak to handle this mission. What if h-. His panicking thoughts were cut off by a loud noise, almost causing him to jump, but he managed to keep his mask up.
He looked at the source of the noise. Maverick had thrown what looked to be flight manuels in the trash, and was continuing to speak. “But what the enemy doesn’t know is your limits. I intend to find them, test them, push beyond. Today we’ll start with what you only think you know. You show me what you’re made of.”
They were preparing for flight, and Javy walked over, “Jake, are you alright?” He asked, concerned about his friend’s wellbeing.
Hangman just grinned. “I’m fine Coyote, in fact, I am too good to be true.”
Javy just stared at him in disbelief, until Jake said, “Yeah. I mean no, but I’ll be okay as soon as we’re flying. Talking with Rooster messed me up. I’ll be fine once we're flying though!”
He reiterated when Javy looked concerned, “Just need to clear my head.”
“Okay, if you say so,” He didn’t look convinced, but Jake knew he’d drop it anyways. “While you were zoned out you missed only six people are getting chosen. We guessed it was something like that. You also missed that-“ He continued talking, but Hangman had stopped listening, instead focusing on Rooster, who had been walking over, and was stopped by Maverick.
They seemed to be arguing about something. He tried to listen, but they were too far for him to hear over the sounds of engines around him.
He came back to reality to someone snapping in his face. “-ke! JAKE!”
“Calm down, I’m listening.” Hangman said, quickly returning to his pre-flight checks.
“No you aren’t, are you sure you're alright? “ Javy asked, but Hangman just waved him off. He seemed unconvinced, but walked off anyway.
Hangman was mostly finished when Rooster walked over. “Rooster. Always a pleasure.” He said, making sure to keep his grin on his face.
“Look, let’s just fly this mission, and then we never have to see each other again, alright?” Rooster said hostilely, but it didn’t seem real. It must just be his brain messing with him. Jake thought.
“Okay. It’s not like I want to be doing this any more than you do. Just try to actually communicate with this, alright? I won’t have you holding me back from this mission.” He watched as Rooster glared at him, but didn’t respond.
The rest of the pre-flight checks went quickly, and soon they were up in the air.
Jake felt like he could breathe properly for the first time since he had seen Bradley’s name on that paper. His mind was calm. He could think. He could focus. He could breathe.
He looked right, and saw Coyote, who was flying on his wing, and gave him a thumbs up to let him know he was alright. Yeah, he was alright.
They could win this. As long as no one underestimated Maverick. Phoenix's friend Fanboy had, and now if they lost, they had to do two hundred push ups. He tried not to think about that, and instead looked for Maverick. The man should be somewhere, but he wasn’t in sight.
“Does anyone see him?”
“Nope, and he’s not on radar either.” Came the voice of the person whom he had been trying to pretend was not behind him. “How about you Coyote, you see him?”
“Nope, I got nothing.”
“Well he has to be somewhere.”
“Where the hell is he?” Rooster practically yelled.
“Been here the whole time” Hangman barely had time to react, before Maverick’s plane was inverted above his.
“Holy shit.” He muttered. He looked at Maverick, who seemed to be making direct eye contact with Rooster.
“You see me now?”
Hangman looked back at Rooster, who looked more angry than he had ever seen him before.
“Come on,” sighed Maverick. “Let’s get this over with.”
“Fight’s on!” Bradley yelled. “Get over him, try for the upper hand.” Rooster told him.
He listened, whether out of instinct, because he was used to having to listen to his WSO, or because he trusted Bradley, he wasn’t sure. Either way, he attempted to invert over Maverick, who in turn pulled them into some maneuver he’d never bothered to learn the name of.
They were circling around each other, swiftly approaching the hard deck.”All right,” Maverick said, somehow still maintaining eye contact with Rooster. “You put us here. What are you going to have him do to get you guys out.”
This seemed more like a lesson than a dogfight to Jake. What the lesson was though, he wasn’t sure.
“You can bail out anytime!” Yelled Bradley, who clearly wasn’t going to help him with this, despite the fact that he needed his help to get out.
“Rooster, what do I-“ Hangman started, but was quickly cut off by Maverick’s response to Rooster.
“How low do you want to go, Rooster?”
“I can go as low as you, sir! And that’s saying something.” That was an odd response, Jake noted. He’d have to ask him about it later, if only to bother him.
“What’s past is past. For both of us.” Came Maverick’s response.
“What is with these two?” He muttered to himself, noticing how close he was to the hard deck. He didn’t know what to do about this, and Rooster wouldn’t talk to him, even though he knew Rooster had been in this situation before. Still the argument continued, with Rooster making no attempt to help.
“You’d like to believe that, wouldn’t you?”
“Hard deck is 5,000 feet, fellas.” Came someone’s voice over the coms, he was too busy focusing to register who it was, though he was still grateful it was pointed out. “You are running out of room.”
“Your strategy is about to run us all into the ground.” Maverick commented, “What’s his move?”
“Pull up! Pull up!” Was called out by someone.
“Help me out here Rooster!” Hangman yelled.
“Level out after he does!” Came the yell from behind him, and surely enough, Maverick was leveling out.
“Now you got it. Don’t think, just do.” Maverick said, presumably to Rooster.
“Come on, guys, you got him! Drop down and take the shot!” Coyote said over the coms.
Hangman waited for Rooster’s thoughts on instinct. “It’s too low.” Hangman knew he could have taken the shot. He knew it. But he didn’t.
He wasn’t sure why he didn’t. It’s not like he was known for being a team player. Except for when he flew with Bradley. That was probably it, he thought. No matter how much he pretended to hate him, or how much he had been hurt by him, he trusted him, and listened to him. And he knew he always would.
His musings were interrupted by Maverick. “Too late. You had your chance.” Then, “That’s a kill. Knock it off.”
“Damn it!” Hangman said exasperatedly. “Go see Hondo about your pushups.”
They had finished their pushups, and Hangman stood up. Bradley was still going though. He turned and walked away. It wasn’t his problem. He stopped and thought about it for a moment, then Jake turned around and walked back.
“Breaking the hard deck, insubordination. Are you trying to get kicked out?” He asked, slightly pissed, but mostly genuine. He knew Rooster didn’t see it that way though.
“Don’t worry about it.” Rooster said, sitting up.
“Look, I’m going on this mission. But if you get kicked out, you leave me flying with some random person, and we both know that we would be much worse off if that happens. Talk to me. What the hell was that?” Jake asked.
“He pulled my papers.” Bradley said.
“What? Who?” Jake asked, slightly shocked.
“Maverick. He pulled my application to the naval academy.” Bradley explained. “Set me back four years.”
“Why would he do that?” Jake asked, only slightly rhetorically. He didn’t get a response, but he hadn’t expected one. Bradley had never been the best at opening up.
Later that night, he thought about what Bradley had said to him. He knew it wasn’t really any of his business, but he had to help Bradley prove Maverick wrong. They had to be on that mission. And they had to be the best.
The next few days, he pushed himself farther than he ever had before. Flew faster than he should have. Made decisions without talking to Rooster. That would just slow him down. He had to go faster. Be better. He and Rooster had to go on this mission. He might not like Rooster, but he had to help him prove Maverick wrong.
In retrospect, he might have gone a bit too fast, and failed to communicate a bit too often. He had a reputation for leaving his wingman, and trying to do everything himself, but most reputations weren’t true.
His certainly wasn’t. And he wanted to keep it that way. But he had to be the best. And that meant doing things he didn’t want too. Besides, what’s really wrong with it, as he justified it to himself, they were the best.
They were the first people to shoot Maverick down, and the closest to completing the course Maverick had set. There’s no way they didn’t get chosen. And sure enough, they did.
Hangman watched as Maverick stood in front of them, waiting for him to announce who he had chosen to fly with him. Part of Hangman wanted to fly it for a selfish reason. A mission like this would be great for his career.
But the rest of Jake wanted it so Bradley could have his closure. So Bradley could prove that he was good enough, that Maverick shouldn’t have pulled his papers
. He knew it was stupid. He should hate the man, shouldn’t he? But he couldn’t. Sure, he could act like it, but it was just that. An act. That’s all it ever would be, because he loved Bradley Bradshaw, and he always would.
Which is why he felt his heart break when their names were called off as the second Pilot-WSO pair to fly on the mission.
Sure, he turned and grinned at Coyote, who would be his wingman for the mission, but he didn’t feel the joy he should have. This mission was dangerous. There’s a chance someone might not come back from it.
And between Phoenix, Coyote, and (unfortunately) Rooster, the three people he cared about most in the world were supposed to fly it.
He walked out with everyone else, but lost in his own thoughts, soon strayed away from the group.
A voice pulled him from his thoughts though. “Hangman, can I speak with you?” It was Maverick.
“Yes sir, of course. Can I help you with something?”
“I chose you for this because you’re a great pilot. But that doesn’t mean you can’t not work with people. This mission is dangerous, and I need you to work with the team. I know you can. Please don’t prove me wrong.” He turned, and walked partially down the hallway, before turning back. “Oh, and Jake? Please take care of Bradley for me.”
He turned again, and left, leaving a bewildered Jake in his wake.
The next morning was a blur of anticipation, and going through the motions. Jake was stuck in his head like he always was before a flight, but his mask never faltered, even for a second.
Until Jake was on the tarmac, making eye contact with Bradley.
There were so many things he wanted to say, but he didn’t have the time, or the words. He opened his mouth to say something. Anything.
But all that happened was Hangman saying, “Give them hell!” Like Jake had, a thousand times before.
They had gone through pre-flight procedures, and were given permission to launch. Only after they were in the air for a while did the full gravity of the situation hit Jake like a brick.
Sure, he had realized it the night before, before that even, but the realization that he might never see these people again never sat right with him. No matter how many times it happened. Especially if he was up in the air with them.
He saw the canyon up ahead, and took a deep breath in. No turning back now, Hangman thought. “Four mark.” He said as they entered behind Coyote.
The terrain was familiar, as they’d flown it so many times before, and they were going to make it on time.
“Slow down! We have plenty of time. You’re going to hit a wall.” Came Rooster’s voice from behind him.
Hangman scoffed, and moved to speed up, just to mess with him, but stopped. “This mission is dangerous, and I need you to work with the team.” “Oh, and Jake? Please take care of Bradley for me.” He saw Maverick’s face in his mind as he asked that.
Like Jake could somehow protect Bradley when he couldn’t.
Hangman slowed down.
A noise of shock came from behind him, as though Rooster hadn’t actually expected him to do it. Hangman knew he had to listen though. It was his job to work with his WSO, Rooster or not.
“You’ve got to speed back up Hangman, you’re falling behind.” Came Coyote’s voice from the coms.
“Rooster?” He asked.
“Maintain your speed Hangman.” Came the response, and he did. It was his job to work with him, he reminded himself.
“You are falling behind!” Came Coyote’s voice again, more urgently this time.
His job, he reminded himself again. “Rooster?” He repeated.
A response came, but it wasn’t for him. “Talk to me Dad.”
Jake knew he was talking to Goose. He remembered Bradley used to do it all the time. It was a comfort thing more than anything else.
“Come on kid, you can do it.” Maverick said over the coms. “Don’t think, just do.”
Huh, that was knew. Jake filed that away under things to ask about later, if only to mess with him. Bradley would have told him if Maverick was his father, right? Maybe it just sounded that way because he responded to dad. But it seemed like he thought Rooster was talking to him.
“Increase your speed, Hangman.” Said Rooster. That was all the ‘go’ that he needed.
He flew as fast as he could, trying to make up for the lost time, and slowed just before he blew past Coyote.
They heard the celebrations of “Direct hit!” From over the coms. Miracle number one. Now it was up to them.
“Rooster, where's my laser?”
“I’ve almost got it.” Hangman felt his blood run cold. If he couldn’t get that laser on, the whole mission was screwed. All of this would have been for nothing. “Got it!”
“Target captured, bombs away.”
Hangman pulled up to get out of Coffin Corner.
He tried to hear if they had a hit or not, but he couldn’t focus on anything other than his breathing. He felt darkness creeping its way into the corners of his vision, trying to pull him into unconsciousness.
He was tempted to listen, to allow the darkness to engulf him. That would be peaceful. No pressure on his chest, fighting G-forces just to stay alive. No pressure from everyone around him to be perfect. No having to run from his own feelings. No more inability to think on the ground, or when he’s not running on adrenaline. He wouldn’t need adrenaline to clear his head, because he’d be dead. It’s not like this was a bad way to die.
Everyone knew someone wouldn’t come back from this. Why does it matter if it's him? It’s not like they’d miss him, anyways. Yeah, they’d miss Phoenix, or Coyote, or Bob, or Rooster, but they wouldn’t miss him, he was an asshole. Rooster. “Take care of Bradley for me.” Rooster would die if they crashed.
His eyes shot open, and he leveled out, just reaching the top of the mountain.
They were instantly thrown into chaos, trying to avoid the SAM missiles. Everything was chaotic, but he thrived on chaos, and knew exactly what he was doing, working with everyone else, they managed to take out most of the missiles.
“Shit! We're out of flares!”
“Evade, evade!”
“I can’t shake ’em! They’re on us! They’re on us!” Hangman prepared to eject, as there was no way to avoid impact. “What the hell?”
Maverick had flown his plane directly in front of the missle, saving them. “Mav! No!” Bradley yelled.
“Dagger one is hit! I repeat, dagger one is hit! Maverick is down.” Someone said, although Hangman wasn’t sure who.
“Dagger one, status.” Bradley’s voice broke. “Status!”
Everyone was talking at once after that.
“Anyone see him? Does anyone see him?”
“Dagger one, come in! I didn’t see a parachute.”
“We have to circle back.”
Somebody spoke from over the coms. “You have bandits headed for you.”
The person speaking was promptly cut of by Bradley asking “What about Maverick?”
“Dagger, you are not to engage. I repeat, do not engage.”
“Dagger four, return to carrier. Acknowledge.” Someone said.
“Please Jake. We have to go get him.” Bradley said quietly. He was the only person to hear it.
“Acknowledge.” The person repeated.
“Rooster, those bandits are closing. We can’t go back.” Hangman said softly.
“Please, we have to.” Bradley sounded as though he was on the verge of tears. “Please Jake.”
Jake hesitated, then turned, and flew in the direction Maverick had crashed. He knew it was stupid, but Bradley really cared.
They saw Maverick on the ground, and a helicopter hovering over him. They fired on the helicopter, and Jake thought they were in the clear.
A bandit flew in behind them, and there was nothing Jake could do to stop them from getting shot down.
He had less than a second to make a decision. Jake knew what he had to do though.
He whipped the plane around, so the front of it would take the most impact. So Bradley would be safe.
He vaguely registered ejecting, and turning to find Bradley. Even after all this time, he still turned to find Bradley. And he knew he always would.
“Hello Jake.” A familiar voice came from somewhere behind him. He opened his eyes, and saw he was in a plane. No, not a plane, his plane. The one he flew with Daniel, he knew it like the back of his hand.
And if this was the plane he flew with Daniel, then that means, “Dan?” He whipped around.
His late friend smiled at him. “Hello Jake. It’s been a while. No, I don't blame you.” He said, reading Jake's expression. “I never did.”
“How are you here?” He whispered, not really believing it.
“I don’t think I am. I might be, but neither one of us can prove it.”
“Fuck, I forgot how annoying the way you talk was.” Hangman joked, to try to cover how confused, and shocked he felt. He knew Dan could see right through him though.
“Thanks Jacob.” Dan was the only one he ever let call him that. “Look, you’re here because you have a choice. You can stay here, at peace, and never have to worry about anything. No pain, no loss, no old wounds, no pressure. From anyone, or anything.”
That sounded good to Jake, but he knew Dan wasn’t going to stop there. “Or?”
“Or you can go back, and fight. Fix your mistakes. You can’t change the past. It’s always going to be behind you, but you can still have your future. You can still have Rooster in your future.”
“What? How do you know about Rooster, you died before I met him.”
Daniel just smiled at him. “I’m not real, I’m your subconscious Jake. When you're dying, it chooses whoever you need to hear from the most, and takes all of their personality traits, and creates them for you. So no, he doesn’t blame you.”
Jake wasn’t convinced, but he’d never admit it. “What’s your choice Jake?” He asked softly.
“Do I have to choose now? Can’t I wait?”
“No, Jake. If you don’t choose, you will die. That’s how it goes. I’m sorry.”
Jake took a deep breath in. He’d already made his choice before he'd asked that. He just wished he had more time.
He stepped forwards and hugged Daniel. “Even if you aren't the real Danny, I still need to hug you. I’m sorry. I’m so so sorry.” He whispered softly.
“I don’t blame you Jacob. Neither would he. Okay?” He waited until Jake nodded, then said, “do you have your choice?”
“Yes.”
He didn’t have to say it out loud. Dan could read it from his face. “Goodby then Jacob.”
“Bye Danny.” The plane around him faded into darkness.
“-ke! Jake! Please wake up Jake.” Someone was yelling at him. He groaned in pain, and pushed himself off the ground slightly, but didn’t open his eyes. “Oh thank god you’re alive. I was so worried I lost you.”
His eyes shot open at that, anger filling his bones, and blocking out the pain. “You were afraid you lost me?” He repeated, his voice completely even, and filled with rage. “You were afraid you lost me? Is that what you just said?”
“Yes.” Replied Bradley, remaining fully calm. “Yes I was. I’ve always been afraid of losing you.” He looked like he was preparing for Jake to blow up at him.
Instead he just let his arms collapse from underneath him, and he fell into the ground, trying his hardest not to sob. “Then why did you leave?” He whispered after a long pause, barely audible.
He knew Bradley heard him though.
“If you were afraid then why did you leave?” He knew now wasn’t the best time to have this conversation, but he also knew it was likely that he wouldn’t make it out of this. He had to know.
Apparently Bradley knew it as well, because he said, “We’ll talk about this, but first,” then paused, sitting down, from where he was kneeling, pulling Jake into his chest, and wrapping his arms around him.
“It’s cold, and you’ve lost a lot of blood. I’ve managed to stop it for now, but we don’t want you getting hypothermia.” He explained. “Look, I shouldn’t have just left. I know that. Especially not the night after you proposed. That was even more fucked up of me. And I’m sorry.”
Jake went to say something, to disagree, or to yell that yeah, it was fucked up, he wasn’t sure, but either way he didn’t get that far.
“Please let me finish. We can talk about this after, but I need to tell you this. I know it was fucked up, but I was afraid. By that point in time, every person I had ever cared about had left me in some way or another. I thought it was going to be fine with you, but that night, and you proposing made it all real. I thought I would lose you, and I couldn’t handle that, so I decided to end it on my own terms. And trick myself into thinking I hated you. I know that’s not a good excuse, and I’m sorry. I’m so so sorry Jake. It’s okay if you can’t forgive me, and I’m not expecting you to, but I want you to know that I’m sorry.”
Jake didn’t say anything, letting the information he had received sink in. Every logical part of himself told him no. Don’t forgive him. Don’t give him a second chance.
But he had never claimed to be logical. “It’s alright Bradley. No, don’t say it isn’t, I don’t want to hear it. It’s alright, I forgive you. I would have forgiven you even if you hadn’t apologized. Because I love you. And I always will. I’ll never leave. Ever. If you’ll let me, I’d like to never leave you.” Jake said, burying his face into Bradley’s shoulder so he didn’t have to look at him.
Unfortunately, Bradley knew exactly what he was doing, and reached up, gabbing Jake’s cheek in his palm, and moving his face so that they were making eye contact.
“Are you sure Jake? Don’t answer right away. Think about it. Are you sure you want to try us again?”
“Yes.” Jake answered without hesitation. “Not everyone needs to spend a lot of time to make decisions.” He joked. “I want to try us again, if that’s okay with you.”
Bradley pulled his face forwards, and kissed him gently, as though he were afraid to hurt him more. “Yes.” He whispered. “Yes. A thousand times, yes. I’d love to try us again.”
Jake opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off by someone yelling in the distance.
“Bradley! Hangman!” It was Maverick.
“Lets talk when we’re out of here.” Jake suggested.
“Yeah, good idea. Can you stand if I help you?” He asked.
“I don’t know, lets find out.” Bradley helped him to his feet, and he slipped his Hangman mask back on. He couldn't let them know how much pain he was in.
“Are you alright Jake?”
“Yeah, never better.” He leaned against a tree as casually as he could, trying to pretend like it wasn’t because he couldn’t hold his own body weight.
Bradley didn’t look convinced, but Maverick was close to them, so he let it go. “You alright?” Maverick asked.
“Yeah, I’m good. You all right?” Bradley replied.
Maverick didn’t reply, instead pushed Rooster hard enough that he fell to the ground. If he were in any less pain, Jake would have tried to stop it, but he was afraid he’d pass out again.
“What the hell? What are you doing here You think I took that missile so you could be down here with me? You should be back on the carrier by now!” Maverick yelled.
Jake decided not to get in the middle of whatever this was, and just let it play out.
“I saved your life!” Yelled Rooster in response.
They yelled a lot, Hangman observed.
“I saved your life. That’s the whole point. What the hell were you even thinking?”
“You told me not to think!” Bradley yelled. He had him there.
“Well, it’s good to see you.”
“It’s good to see you too.”
Hangman decided to intervene in case it escalated again. “So what’s the plan?”
Jake had been mostly using Bradley to support himself while walking over there, but now they were sitting just outside the enemy’s base, listening to Maverick’s outrageous plan.
“You’re not serious.”Hangman said.
“You’ve got to be shitting me. An F-14?” Rooster said.
“I shot down three MIGs in one of those.” Maverick said defensively.
“We don’t even know if that bag of ass can fly.” Rooster said.
“Let’s find out.” Maverick got up, presumably to start walking towards it.
“Mav! Think this through. There’s three of us, and he can hardly walk. They're going to notice that.”
Maverick sat back down. “Right. I don’t know…” he trailed off.
Hangman knew it was their best chance. Jake took a deep breath in, ignoring the stitch in his side, and said, “Go. No Bradly, don’t argue, listen to me.” He said when Bradley had opened his mouth to argue.
“If we all stay here we will get found. No doubt about that. One person here has the best chance of not getting found. And yes, it has to be me. I can barely walk, and it’ll get us caught. You two take the plane, and get back to the carrier. I’ll make my way back to the crash site, and you two can inform them, and have them send search and rescue. Okay?”
“No Jake. You said you wouldn’t leave. No.” Bradley protested.
“I won’t leave. I’ll stay alive. I promise.”
“Are you sure kid?” Maverick asked, serious. Hangman had never seen him be serious before.
“Yes sir. I'm sure. I’ll be okay. You two need to get out.”
Maverick nodded. “Okay kid, if you’re sure.”
“No.” Bradley whispered, seeming on the verge of tears. “Please.”
Jake hugged him, ignoring the pain, and wiped a tear from his face, “I’ll be okay Bradley. See you soon. I love you.”
“I love you too.” They sat like that for a second, until Jake pulled away.
“Go.” And he did.
He got up to leave, and so did Maverick.
Except Maverick turned back, and hugged him, whispering just for him to hear, “Thank you for protecting Bradley.”
Then he got up, and walked away. Jake watched as Maverick and Rooster stole the F-14.
Someone must have informed everyone else, because people came rushing from all over to try to stop them, to no avail. They launched, and flew off into the distance.
Jake just layed where he was. He knew what he’d promised Bradley, but he couldn’t make it back. It hurt so much. And his head was so fuzzy. He thought if he didn’t collapse from pain, he might collapse just from that.
So he laid there. Not moving. Until there was a loud noise, sounding like a plane landing. He rolled over onto his side to see what was going on.
The wreckage was completely empty, and void of people, except for a plane that was landing, it was one of those fifth generation fighters Maverick had warned them all about.
The pilot got out, and ran to one of the remaining buildings where everyone on the base had collected, and Hangman had the stupidest idea he might have ever had, which was saying a lot, because he had a lot of bad ideas.
He waited until a few minutes after the pilot reached the building, and tried to push himself up.
His body was screaming in protest, but he ignored it. Taking a couple of cautious steps, he passed the tree line. He was now visible to anyone who looked.
He ignored any warning his body gave, and sprinted as fast as he could to the plane, adrenaline burning the pain away.
He made it to the plane, and climbed in. He started it, as the controls weren’t very different from other planes he’d flown.
He took off on the same taxiway Maverick and Rooster had. He flew in the same direction, and fiddled with the radio, trying to get in contact with the command tower.
He registered that he wasn’t in pain, so he must not have come down from the adrenaline high yet. Hopefully that would last until he landed, or he’d crash.
He saw something in front of him just as he got the radio on. As he got closer, he realized it was an F-14 being followed by a fifth generation fighter. Theres no one else it could be. It had to be Rooster and Maverick.
He sped up.
“Rooster, pull the handle! Eject!” He heard from over the coms.
“It’s not working!”
He pushed the plane faster than he thought he’d ever flown before.
As soon as he had missile lock, he fired, and hit the plane, blowing it up.
His brain went on autopilot. “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.” Hangman said.
He heard Rooster and Maverick laughing from over the coms. “Hey, Hangman, you look good.” Rooster said.
“I am good, Rooster.” He replied, taking the bait without any bitterness whatsoever. “ I’m very good.”
“Thanks for saving us Jake.” Bradley said.
“Of course. I’m never leaving you again.” He replied. The rest of the flight back went quickly.
As soon as his feet hit the tarmac he collapsed. He felt someone's arms around him. He knew who it was without looking. “Don’t leave Bradley.” He said, and then succumbed to the darkness.
When he came back to reality, the first thing he noticed was that he was in a fuck ton of pain.
The second was that someone was holding his hand. He opened his eyes. “You stayed.” He said, his voice scratchy.
“Of course I stayed Jake. I’m never leaving you again.”