Plus One Part Four

Plus one part four

Jake "Hangman" Seresin x f!reader

Summary: After running away from Jake she realizes that maybe she's really into him and that scares her.

Part one. Two. Three.

Warnings: wound, mention of blood, insults

Jake didn't have time to see it coming when she slipped out of his embrace and almost ran away. He was so confused that he stood there for a moment before he finally regained the use of his legs and tried to catch her.

"Y/N!"

He lost sight of her as she rushed into the building, glanced around to finally see her in the distance entering the ladies' room. He slipped between the guests to reach the place and when he was about to arrive there, he saw Erin entering in her turn. He stopped, couldn't see himself throwing the bride out of the bathroom at her own wedding and he preferred to avoid drawing attention to themselves, even if it was probably already too late.

Running a hand across the back of his neck, he raised his face to the ceiling and let out a sigh. Why had she reacted like that? Had he gone too far? This evening had brought them closer than they had been able to get in almost a year, he didn't think he was wrong in thinking that she shared a mutual attraction, well he had believed it up to that point and she hadn't really tried to put him on another track. Perhaps she had had a reason of her own for having reacted in that way. In any case they were going to have to clear things up.

•

She entered in hurry in the toilets and rushed to the sink, opening the tap on cold water she put some on her face to make go down again the inferno in her cheeks due to what had just happened with Jake and her race to leave him in the lurch. She turned off the tap and put her hands on either side of the sink and looked in the mirror. At the same time Erin slipped inside the room and walked towards her with a worried expression on her face.

"Something's wrong Y/N?"

She put a hand on her shoulder looking at her in the mirror. Y/N took a deep breath before turning to her. She needed to release what was in her heart and talk to a friend.

"Erin I like you a lot you know that. I have to tell you something but promise me you'll keep it to yourself."

The bride nodded before checking to make sure no one else was in the bathroom, indicating to her friend to continue. She then told him about her masquerade with Jake, the fact that he had offered to be her date to save her from having to endure yet more questions and pained looks, dates arranged by the aunts to meet their nephew, explained to her that she had felt for some time an attraction for her neighbor that she didn't think he shared given the number of women passing by his house and the lack of attempt to get closer to her if it was the case, and finally his attitude tonight, and his more than closeness to her.

"He turned me upside down. I panicked so I ran away, left him hanging there, oh my god what is he going to think? Maybe it offended him?"

She placed the palm of one of her hands on her forehead, the other on her waist and Erin put one hand on her shoulder and the other on her arm, amused to see her friend in this state, which was quite rare.

"You have a crush. But it's not a big deal, everything will be fine." She tried to reassure her.

"What if I just forgot? I've spent so much time alone that if anything I've forgotten how to behave! "

"Calm down. There's nothing to forget, it doesn't get forgotten and the way he's leading the way I'm sure you'll have no trouble following in his footsteps." Erin chuckled, "You should go back before he thinks you've really run away."

Erin replaced a few wild strands of Y/N's hair, hugged her quickly before gently throwing her out of the bathroom before she could protest. Y/N looked around looking for the blond head and saw him on the side of the dancefloor where he had been kidnapped by a group of older women led by Tilda. She smiled amused as she saw him giving them his charming smile, the conversation looked lively and he looked like a fish in water.

His bow tie was undone, the first buttons of his shirt unbuttoned and his sleeves rolled up over his muscular forearms, he was so attractive that a wave of heat spread through her, thinking about what had happened in the garden. She turned on her heels to look away and cool her mind and was served by running into Harvey, Noah's grandfather, a small man approaching a hundred years old with two hairs on the rock fighting a duel, hunched over and walking with his cane as fast as he could to escape his wife. A tender smile stretched her lips.

"Oh darling! I haven't had a chance to see you yet. How are you?"

He put a hand on the young woman's arm, Harvey and Jody were Noah's grandparents and both having grown up together, they had become hers by proxy, especially the only ones for her, who had never had the chance to know hers.

"Harvey, very good, what about you, still running from Jody?" She sneered.  He glanced behind him.

"She's going to get my skin. I don't know how she hasn't done it in 70 years of marriage... She's baking me to a crisp."

She smiled, to tell the truth she hoped that one day she too would live something as long as these two, a tough love, a complicity and a support to any test.

"Darling, who’s this man that brought us? Is he treating you well? "

She almost lost her smile and had to make an effort to keep it and not worry Harvey with a sudden broken face. Lying to others had been one thing, lying to them was another. And this she hadn’t thought of before.

"Jake is my ... friend." She finally said in a way that didn't stray too far from the truth. "And he treats me very well." She reassured him in a soft voice accompanied by a smile.

"He'd better. Otherwise I'll take care of him."  He said as he made his cane dance, signifying that he would attack Jake with it.

Harvey patted her on the arm before resuming his frantic run to escape Jody.

And it was the case, he had treated her wonderfully well all evening, he had proposed to accompany her and he played his role wonderfully, she took her courage in both hands and turned around ready to join him. With what he did for her, she owed him an explanation, that is to say, she had totally panicked.

Passing her hands on her waist as if to avoid false folds on her dress she moved towards them before stopping suddenly. How was she going to manage to pretend anything after what had just happened, was he going to reject her? She took a deep breath as if to give herself courage and resumed her way. Arriving at their height, the women around her noticed her presence and gave her a smile. Positioning herself near the pilot, she slipped an arm around his.

"Oh Y/N there you are."

"Sweetie this man is wonderful, make sure you don't let him go."

Jake laughed and she had a little laugh too, she felt his gaze on her and without her expecting it under the circumstances, he leaned in and placed a kiss on her temple.

"Oh I consider myself the luckier of the two."

The women giggled and took their leave to move on to their next victim. Not daring to meet his eyes she contemplated the guests on the dance floor.

"Is everything okay? You seemed to be in a hurry to leave."

A grimace formed on her face after she bit the inside of his cheek too hard.

"I -." She was cut off by a young woman she knew all too well, but never thought she'd run into here.

"Y/N honey! You won't mind me borrowing your date!"

Jake didn’t have time to react that the young woman took him the hand embarking on the track leaving Y/N on the spot the open mouth.

"What the fuck did just happen?"

At a glance she spotted Noah chatting with some people she didn't know and went to meet him.

"Would you excuse us for a moment?"  She took him by the hand and led him further away.  "I can't believe you invited her." She said turning to him and he understood immediately who she was talking about.

"Wow wow." He says, holding up his hands in defence. "Do you really think I would have done that? Y/N please."

"Really Noah? What the hell is Brandy doing at your wedding?"

"Would you believe me if I told you that it was granny Jody who invited her? She plays Crazy Eights every Tuesday with her grandmother and she was so proud of her grandson's wedding that she invited her, and because she thinks we've always been friends since middle school, thought it would be a good idea to invite her granddaughter too."

"What?" She asked stunned after shaking her head. "Noah, this girl is a psycho! I ended up with a bowl cut because of her! Do you know what it's like Noah to have a bowl cut in high school? I was teased all the way through the end of it because this crazy girl decided to cut my hair off in the middle of Mrs. Harris' history class! Because she thought I was trying to steal her boyfriend 'cause I was put in a study group with him."

Noah looked at her almost horrified, she was the one who looked like a nutcase now.

"Okay okay, this episode obviously created a real trauma in your adolescence, but she's just there as a guest, and you hadn't even seen her until then. Besides, I made sure that no pair of scissors were accessible." He said on the tone of the joke what earned him a dark look from the young woman. "No? Still too early to make a joke? "

She grabbed him by the arms and turned him around to see Brandy wiggling against Jake. He made a face that didn't escape Y/N and didn't reassure her.

"You don't think that ..."

"Think what?"

"That she would try to steal Jake from you for revenge?"

"But revenge for what?!" She replied in a hysterical tone.

"Look, I'm sure you're worried about nothing. Besides, you only have to see the way Jake looks at you to understand that there's no risk of him going elsewhere."

She raised her eyes towards her friend under this revelation. How was Jake looking at her? Noah passed his arm around her shoulders and kissed her on the cheek while giggling before moving away, leaving her ruminate.

One look at the dancefloor was enough to make her blood boil and she went to sit back down in her seat, mumbling. On the way she stopped at the buffet and took a plate and filled it with small cream puffs to try to appease her frustration. Seeing a waiter about to pass behind her with a bottle of champagne she intercepted him and took possession of the bottle from which she poured herself a glass. She leaned back in her chair, a glass of champagne in one hand, a cream puff in the other. She was fulminating to see Brandy laughing like a bitch while making eyes at Jake, who had obviously already forgotten that he was supposed to be in a relationship. While she was literally shredding a little cream puff to get over her nerves, she met his gaze and thought she would explode when she saw a spark of mischief in his eyes that she knew perfectly well since it was the one that animated his gaze when he teased her. He does it on purpose. She realized whereas he made rock Brandy backwards, revealing to the whole world her fabulous neckline. He was trying to make her jealous. While he slipped his hand in the back of her enemy to approach her, she saw a rictus stretching his lips, staring at her. Clenching her jaw, she drank the contents of her glass in one go, looking for the courage to get up and remove her pseudo boyfriend from the dirty hands of this bimbo. This little game lasted a little while during which their gazes clashed, and she hadn’t even realized that under the annoyance she had tightened too much her glass in her hand, this one breaking without noise in her palm. It was only when Erin, who was chatting with the people sitting next to her, realized that drops of blood were strewn on the floor that she looked up worried at her friend.

"My god Y/N what happened, you are bleeding!"

The other people around the table then gathered around her, picking up the broken glass and gathering towels to put on the wound. Jake, who hadn’t taken his eyes off of her, abruptly left Brandy alone in the middle of the dancefloor to run to her after seeing this small group gather around his presumed girlfriend.

"Y/N, you okay?!"

He made his way through this little group to kneel down in front of her worried and take her hand in one of his, the other sliding on her cheek making sure she was okay.

"What happened?"

"What the hell were you doing with her?" Said she dryly the tears starting to rise as she began to feel the pain in the palm of her hand.

His worried look gave way to a slight amusement.

"Jealous Y/L/N?"

"Shut up Seresin and fucking kiss me."

A huge smile stretched his lips revealing almost all his teeth and sliding his hand from her cheek to her neck, drew her to him to kiss her, as he had never kissed any of the bimbos who sneaked out of his house.

Well guys, this is the crucial moment. I hadn't planned on going further than one chapter and today we are on the 4th. The story can end here or it can continue in the fluffiest way. Please, let me know in the comments, even if it's just a thumb up 🙏, if you want to see this adventure continue beyond this wedding.

Dilemma

Pairing: Beau "Cyclone" Simpson x f!pilot!reader (Callsign: Poppy) secret relationship + no use of Y/N.

Summary: Reader finds out she has been dismissed from the mission and is gonna confront the Vice Admiral about his decision.

Warnings: mentions of death through threats, swearing, bad writing, grammatical mistakes, sorry English isn't my first language.

Be indulgent please it's my first one putting the reader in a pilot seat, I'm more into the usual fluffy stories 🫣.

To say she was angry was an understatement, she could have knocked heads without batting an eyelid because she was so seething with rage. Strolling down the hallways towards the source of her problem she didn't even pay attention to Payback and Fanboy who called out to her as she passed by them. Making them raise their eyebrows and follow her lead as she walked towards the break room in which she entered opening the door abruptly, she quickly found the reason for her anger, sitting on the arm of one of the sofas, his smug smile still pinned on his face that she dreamed of hitting.

"You! Hangman piece of shit! "

The man turned his head towards her before straightening up and his smile widened as he guessed why she would have killed him if she could.

"Poppy my dear, you've never been better named than you are right now by the color of your face." He chuckled as she approached dangerously, determined this time to slap him in the face no matter what she risked next.

"You deserve to roast in hell!” A group of pilots formed around them intrigued by what was happening, as she was about to jump at his face, two arms encircled her waist to prevent her from going through with her gesture.  "Rooster let go of me! I'll take that stupid smile off your face and you'll see. Rooster, let me go!"

Jake looked at her with a proud look on his face without batting an eyelid as Bradley tried to restrain his friend.

"Leave him he's not worth it."

"What's going on?" Phoenix finally interjected as lost and stunned as the others.

"Maverick just grounded me on orders from Simpson, who was reportedly told that I didn't feel I had the shoulders for this mission, which was too much pressure for me. You're so afraid of getting passed over that you manage to sink whoever you can. You tried to undermine Bradley's confidence in his own abilities because he's your biggest competitor and now you're taking it out on me? Wouldn't it be you Seresin who doubt your abilities to the point of resorting to such low acts to oust the competition?"

Maybe he was hiding behind his smile or he was unaware of the lack of morality of what he was doing but Jake didn't bat an eye, still wearing his smirk.

"They made a mistake on the selection, it was about recalling the best. But maybe some of them couldn't make themselves available. So they had to plug the holes." Jake said.

"That's so low of you, yet not surprising." Interjected Bob who had placed himself next to her.

"It doesn't matter who will be chosen for this mission Jake, we are all on the same team. But maybe you don't really grasp the meaning of what that means?"

Not wanting to hear what he might have to say, if he had anything to say, she turned and walked out of the room to Vice Admiral Simpson's office. Once in front of the door she took a deep breath before knocking twice on it and entering when he gave permission.

When she entered the room, Cyclone was sitting at his desk, Warlock sitting opposite him, she stood by the door, straight as an i, hands behind her back, both men facing her.

"Lieutenant Caldwell." He sank into his seat with his elbows on the armrests, his hands folded in front of him. "To what do I owe your presence in my office?"

"I would like to speak with you about your recent decision about me sir."

A silence followed.

"We'll pick this up later." He finally said to Rear Admiral Bates who nodded and gathered his documents before getting up and leaving the office, nodding to Poppy who greeted him with a "Sir." Once the door was closed she walked towards the office.

"What the hell is this? You have no right to stop me from flying!"

"I have every right, in this case I'm not stopping you from flying, I'm removing you from this mission."

He straightened up in his seat, leaning slightly over his desk on which he crossed his hands.

"Are you aware that Hangman said all that just to get rid of me? Would you have called me back if you didn't think I could do it? Do you doubt my abilities?"

He passed his hands over his face while posted on the other side of the desk she leaned forward putting her hands flat on it.

"Of course not. But under the circumstances, under the method you are being taught, under the only way to complete this mission, there will be casualties." He paused, anchoring his gaze in hers. "And I won't risk losing you." She straightened up, gritting her teeth.

"Then it's personal."

"This is not the time to discuss this Molly."

"It's time if I decide to." She replied curtly, Beau's gaze turning stern. "You can't interfere with my career and ground me as soon as the danger is too great for your taste. It’s part of our job, if you constantly do that I will never fly again!"

"Molly that's enough, we'll discuss it tonight."

"Oh no, we're going to talk about this now. Put me back in."

"Molly..." He ran a hand over his face, his tone dragging.

"Beau, if you do this it’s over."

Her words had the effect of a bomb and he looked her straight in the eyes stunned by what she had just said.

"Your choice Beau, either accept the risk without something necessarily happening to me, or lose me."

A silence settled between the two of them, looking into each other's eyes and it seemed to last forever until he finally spoke again in a neutral tone.

"After careful consideration Lieutenant Caldwell, your abilities making you a suitable pilot for this mission, you are reintegrate in it."

She straightened up and her chest heaved as she took a deep relieved breath, she didn't realize she had been holding it until then.

"Thank you sir." She turned on her heels about to leave the office when he rose from his seat, slipping one hand into his pants pocket, the other touching the desk with his fingertips.

"I didn’t authorize you to dispose of Lieutenant." He spoke in a sharp tone.

With her hand on the doorknob she turned her head towards him, his downcast look had given way to a threatening one, knowing full well what was coming next her fingers slid from the door handle to the lock below and locked the door.

"Good." He commented on her gesture.

With a feline gait she returned to the office.

"You seem irritated."

"Why wouldn't I be? You show up into my office and discuss an order."

"Seriously Beau?" A frank laugh shook her chest. "I don't think I stormed in here like a fury and almost revealing our little secret. And as for discussing an order, it's within my rights to want to discuss a decision with my superior and express my point of view. You never would have made that decision if Hangman hadn't come in to screwed it up."

"Are you really going to blame me for wanting to protect you?"

"You can't protect me Beau, I blame you for letting the personal override the professional. We agreed this wouldn't happen! Do you know what it's like to be put on the spot for that reason?! No, you didn't think about that, did you? Maybe you were more focused on the possible loss of your toy, who would have sucked you under the desk on your lunch break otherwise?"

A dull growl escaped from his chest. "You're going too far, be careful."

"Or else what? Fire me, my career won't end there. Fire me, and what will Admiral Kazansky think of a Vice Admiral who sexually blackmailed one of his subordinates?"

His jaw clenched so hard he could have broken it in anger.

"You are going way too far Molly, stop this right now."

"It was you who started Beau, assume that for once you didn't take the right decision, even though the intention was laudable I admit, it was unprofessional." She paused and thought for a moment before going too far and regretting it. "It's up to you if you'd rather sleep on the couch tonight, if not it'll be me." She was about to turn her heels and leave once and for all of his office when in a flash he made the turn. Everything happened quickly, a hand sliding in her neck he drew against her to crush his lips on hers, pressing her against him with a hand in her lower back. Surprised but without any intention to push back him, she rolled up her arms around his nape and pressed her chest against his deepening this passionate kiss, one of those which follow the reconciliation of an argument. Taking off his lips of hers he put his forehead against hers.

"No one will sleep on the couch tonight."

Enjoy, daddy

Pairing: Daddy!Beau "Cyclone" Simpson x wife!reader

Summary: Cyclone receives an unexpected visit while at work.

Warnings: the sexiest daddy, short one

Beau ran his palms over his face, rubbing his eyes. These last few months had been particularly grueling since the birth of your son. With the work during the day and the nights marked by little Luke's awakenings, a permanent state of fatigue had set in with him as with you. He took his steaming cup of coffee on his desk then drank a sip while sinking in his armchair, his glance slipping on one of the photographs on his desk which had been taken a few days after the birth of your progeny and a soft smile stretched his lips.

He was about to get back to work when his attention was drawn to a knock on the door, which opened directly after that. The only person who could afford to enter his office without his permission, because he let it happen, was you.

First he had the stroller in his sights and then you, a far too cheerful look on your face. You never came on the base unless there was a problem, and from the look you had, that wasn't the case.

"Hey, there's my two prides. What are you doing here, is something wrong?"

He stood up and came to meet you, putting an arm around your waist while placing a kiss on your temple.

"Everything is fine, I was out for a walk with baby Cyclone when we thought you'd like it if we came to say hello at work."

He smiled and leaned over the stroller to pick Luke up, wiggling around as he saw his father's face. Holding him with one arm around his small waist and the other hand behind his head he kissed him on the forehead to which Luke responded with a chirp.

"It's a little far from home for a walk."

"It's good to get a change of scenery once in a while." You say passing the back of your hand over the little one's rosy cheek. But Beau was far from stupid, he had a very good intuition, a very very good intuition, you weren't there for a simple courtesy visit and he became sure of it when he saw the changing bag under the stroller, way too big for a simple walk.

"Honey..." He started to say suddenly realizing but you didn't give him time to continue, cutting him off.

"The diaper has been changed, the last bottle was an hour ago, there are three more in the bag just in case and everything you need to change him. You'll manage, you're the greatest daddy ever. I love you, enjoy daddy!" Sneakily kissing him you rushed out of the office to run down the hallway. With a stunned look on his face he tried to stammer something, some kind of protest as he followed you but when he came out of the office you already had left the hallway. He glanced around, no one, not a sound except the chirping of your son still in his arms on whom he returned his attention without knowing what to say. Father and son looked into each other's eyes and while Beau looked totally lost in what had just happened, Luke's attitude contrasted with his own, a big smile on his cute face, fidgeting in his father's arms, drooling on his shoulder. As he walked back into his office realizing that you had abandoned him the baby for the day, a laugh echoed through the hallway, a sigh of relief escaped his lips, knowing that laugh all too well. He then poked his head through the door and saw you appear at the corner, laughing out loud with one hand on your abdomen and the other over your mouth trying to cover the laughter.

"Hilarious, really hilarious." He says with a smirk, unable to blame you for a second.

"You should have seen the look on your face, would you have panicked at the thought of being alone all day with your son Vice Admiral?"

He gently shook his head in amusement and bent down to put the baby back in his baby carriage, wrapping him in his little blanket, then straightened up to face you, pulling you to him, putting his arms around your waist.

"I'd rather be alone with you, you deserve a little correction." He purrs in your ear before placing a kiss on your neck.

"If you arrange to come home early I think I can give you a moment once Luke is in bed."

"I'll be home by 7 p.m., be ready."

Shattered souls

Pairing: Jake "Hangman" Seresin x expilot!fem!reader (no use of YN)

Summary: One mistake, three destroyed lives, a lost love, they will have to rebuild themselves. This is the story of two shaken beings.

Warnings: angst, death, physical wounds, trauma, swearing, very long post, maybe inaccurate things about the Navy (I really don't know much about it sorry), English isn't my first language so for sure grammatical mistakes

"Jake!"

She felt a weight crush her chest and jerked upright under the pain, her heartbeat ringing in her ears. The presence of the sheet under her hand reminded her that she was in her room. Staring at the darkness in front of her she tried to regain her normal breath. A quick glance at the alarm clock on the bedside table to her right told her that it was only five o'clock in the morning, eighteen minutes to be exact. Her sigh broke the silence that reigned and with one hand she removed the sheet before getting out of bed. Grabbing her robe from the chair in the corner of the room, she left it to go to the kitchen. She didn't need to turn on the light, the coffee machine's indicator light was bright enough for her to use. While the coffee was brewing, she leaned against the counter of the central island, slipping her cold hands into the pockets of her bathrobe to warm them up. Staring blankly into the darkness and silence of the night, her dark thoughts found their way, that they knew all too well into her mind. The beep of the machine indicating that the coffee was ready made her raise her head, she took the cup with both hands to enjoy the warmth of it and leaned on the central island, leaning on her elbows, facing the window observing the streetlamp on the other side of the street whose light was oscillating.

"Alright alright! I'll bet you twenty bucks that she'll turn you down before the end of the night!" She giggled as her friend and navigator jostled her by pushing her on the shoulder making her stagger to the side and bump into someone.

"Be careful pretty, I hope you don’t fly as you walk." Mocked the blond Ken that she collided before resuming his way. She looked at him moved away taken aback.

"Who's that one? I've never seen him on base." She turned her head to Billy who shook his head signifying that he didn't know who it was either.

"This one is Hangman." Said Shark who had slipped up behind them without them feeling him coming and startled them. "He just arrived, replacing Sunrise who broke his arm."

"Wait what, how did he do it?"

"He wanted to do trampoline at his little nephew's birthday party. He jumped too hard and ejected and landed against the fence, well actually going through the neighbor's fence to be exact."

The pilot and her navigator looked at him in surprise, a completely stupid look on their faces.

"So he's the one who's going to replace him, Sunrise isn't here to come back at the moment. Jake Seresin, that's his name, that guy is arrogant, nobody can stand him where he comes from." He continued.

"What a beautiful portrait, it makes you want to know him."

The three went back to their planes. As they were about to take their seats, their superior came trotting up to them.

"Touchdown! Sunshine!"

"Yes sir."

"You must have heard that Sunrise wouldn’t be with us for a while, nothing changes for you, his replacement takes his place as a wingman."

The two looked at each other sharply, how stupid had they been not to make the connection when Shark had told them about him a few minutes earlier? From the top of her ladder ready to take her place at the front she saw Jake further away wink at her with a sly smile. It was promising.

Turning off the shower faucets she grabbed her towel and tied it around herself, went to the medicine cabinet above the sink to get her cream, and ran her hand over the foggy glass once it was closed. She looked at herself for a moment in the mirror, swivelling her chest to observe the huge scar that had been part of her for two years now. She brushed it with her fingertips before lowering her eyes and going to her room to get ready.

As she did every Wednesday morning, she went to the local church for the meeting that took place in a room adjacent to the religious building. As usual, she warmly greeted the men and women who, like herself, were attending the meeting, some of whom were just partners in suffering, others had became friends who had found each other and created a bond based on mutual suffering. All the people present at this meeting had suffered a trauma in their lives, all as varied as each other, but which allowed them to understand and help each other in the painful ordeals that followed.

She took off her jacket and hung it on the back of the chair, the same chair for the past two years, a creaky old folding chair with a cracked brown leather seat. Always in the same place, in the same circle, surrounded by the same people.

"Sunshine and Touchdown? Where do you get names like that?" Jake's voice came over the radio and Billy could feel his friend rolling her eyes. "Come on what, we're going to get really close over the next few weeks, maybe months. How about we get to know each other."  The young woman winced at the word "months", she wanted her wingman back, her habits, she hated change and especially, new things. Yes, Sunshine was a person who was perfectly happy in her habits and her comfort.

"Billy was one of the best players on his college American football team, and he's a big fan to this day." Her melodious laughter filled the cabin and the radio as Billy took offense, the pleasant sound making Jake smile.

"One of the best?! I was THE best, the handsome player, I could have been a star myself ma'am."

"And Sunshine where did that come from?"

"She's the sunshine of the base." Billy cut her off as she was about to retort. "A real ray of sunshine that little piece of woman."

"Stop it Billy, that's not true."

"Of course you do! You're always in a good mood, always smiling, and everyone finds it a pleasure to hear your cheerful tone and laughter over the radio when we're on mission."

She felt her cheeks catch fire and put her cold fingers on her cheek to cool down.

"Embarrassed Sunshine?" Jake's mocking tone rang in her ears and she turned her head to the left to see his plane next to theirs, a perfect but mocking wide smile on his face and she flipped him off for any response which made him burst out laughing.

Contrary to what she could have thought from the portrait that had been drawn of Jake, the young woman supported him rather well, obviously with a point of exasperation in certain moments, but she had to admit that he had a certain charm that she wouldn’t have known for all that to describe, but the Texan didn’t leave her indifferent. The two pilots spent their time sparring and jabbing at each other, mostly with a smile, until one day one of the spats ended unexpectedly.

"You are so condescending and lacking in discernment!" She exclaimed exasperated by his behavior.

His legendary cocky smirk on his face, his hands in the pockets of his flightsuit, following her on her tail through the corridor.

"Would I have lacked discernment with you sweetheart?"

She made volt face what he didn’t expect and had just the time to stop himself not to enter in collision with her, and she was now almost against him. She raised her head to address him because he was a good head taller than her. Their two faces were only a short distance from each other. An impassive air on her face, a soft glance and a smirk on his.

"Why do you always have to look so flirty Seresin." Her voice was low, giving a certain intimacy to their closeness.

"Always, you sure?"

"I've always seen that look on your face, a face I often hold back from hitting."

"Maybe you've always seen me with that look on my face because that's the one I'm willing to give you." His seductive tone provoked shivers in her neck and she rolled her eyes ready to turn her heels to move away from him. Nevertheless before she could make any gesture he brought a hand in her neck and put his lips on hers. Surprised, she widened her eyes and felt Jake smiling against her lips. He was insufferable, but at the same time he attracted her like a magnet. Her hand slid down his neck and she stood on tiptoe as he wrapped an arm around her waist. She would have let herself choke for lack of air not to have to break this kiss. A throat clearing was heard and they parted in surprise, but not without Jake pulling his arm from her waist. She looked at Billy who was with a few meters of them and who had just surprised them, then her glance settled on the arm of Jake that she pushed back abruptly.

The three of them looked at each other not knowing what to say and then finally Billy broke the awkward silence.

"Okay I'm definitely not a fan of what I just saw to be honest and I hope to erase it from my memory soon." She bit the inside of her cheek, why did she feel embarrassed? She was of age and vaccinated, right? She could do whatever she wanted. "But if it means you'll be watching over her even more she's in the air, that's fine with me." He finished before passing by them to continue his route, gently squeezing the arm of his friend while passing by her.

Hands clasped on her knee, legs crossed, her gaze fell on the person in front of her, a newcomer, someone who had been unlucky, someone who would be scarred for life, someone who would never be the same. She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned her head towards Denise who leaned towards her.

"Would you join us for coffee after the meeting?" She whispered to her and when she looked up her eyes caught the faces of Barry and Shirley behind her neighbor who were watching her waiting for her answer.

"Sure." She whispered in turn causing smiles on all three faces to which she responded with a slight smile and returned her attention to the newcomer who was finishing telling his story.

The door at the back of the room creaked and a cold wave swept into the room, Curtis, who was leading the meetings and had been absent a few minutes before, hurried back to the middle of the circle, he glanced at the young woman, playing nervously with his fingers.

"Please excuse me, I was with a newcomer." He cleared his throat and turned to the door as a figure rushed in, Curtis desperately searched for her gaze and when he caught it, addressed her with a silent "I'm sorry." she frowned not understanding what he meant and was struck with dread when she saw the face of the person taking his place in the circle.

Sitting on the right side of the row next to Billy she saw Jake, sitting on the left a few rows ahead turn his head and wink at her, holding back a smile she pretended to look away which only widened the pilot's smile as he returned his attention to their superior.

"This is a reconnaissance mission prior to the decision of a possible attack. You will take off, perform your reconnaissance and return to the aircraft carrier. Touchdown, Sunshine and Hangman, that's for you, you'll board in two hours."

The pilot and navigator exchanged glances before getting up and leaving the room. As they left to retrieve their equipment wandering through the building, she felt a hand reach between her loins and Jake appeared beside her.

"It's all about reconnaissance. We'll be back as soon as we're gone." Said Billy.

That's what it should have been, a simple reconnaissance patrol.

Her heart was beating so fast and yet she had the feeling that it was no longer irrigating her brain. She sat back in her chair, resting her back against the backrest, her hands still crossed on her knee. She wasn’t able any more to think, wasn’t able any more to keep her attention on what it happened around her, the memories for which she put so much energy to keep buried in her went up to the surface, she knew this moment by heart. It lasted the moment of a flash but she felt it as if it had lasted for very long minutes.  

"Thank you Ben for your testimony." Curtis' deep voice brought her back to the moment. It was his turn now, her gaze quickly found his to get lost in it, as if no time had passed, as if they had seen each other the day before, as if they hadn't gone through the horror that had knocked them both down.

When the meeting came to an end, everyone stood up and after greeting each other, headed for the exit.

"Don't wait for me, I'll be there as soon as I can." She addressed the small group that was waiting for her to go to the café, the one on the corner where they used to meet. They nodded and headed for the exit, leaving only the two of them, face to face, hands in his pockets, her fingers around her scarf, revealing the white knuckle of her fists clenched around the fabric.

"What are you doing here?"

What was ironic was that spending so much time on aircraft carriers, she still hadn't been able to get over the seasickness, ironic, right? For someone in the Navy, even though her role, fortunately, was to spend more time in the air than at sea.

"Shall we do karaoke night this weekend? Just so I can introduce you to Naomi, we'll do duets. You and Ken and Naomi and me." She laughed at Billy's naming of Ken for Jake, they had been dating for several months and Billy, moderately liking Jake, making an effort for his friend, still couldn't bring himself to call him by his first name.

"Maybe you could start by making an effort and calling him by his name." He pouted, which caused her to roll her eyes. As she was about to climb on the plane she heard Ken trotting towards her.

"Hey hey hey. You know we never leave like this without saying goodbye." She giggled.

"Jake we literally fly together, and we talk to each other over the radio." He placed a kiss on her forehead.

"That's no reason, we may be together up there, but we're not physically together."

"God, he's even more annoying that way than when he's a dickhead”. Grumbled Billy who took his place at the back of the plane rolling his eyes of exasperation, what Jake didn’t pay attention to, too busy to scrutinize his girlfriend.

"I got your back." He added before placing a furtive kiss on her lips and joining his plane.

"Hey Cinderella, do you care to come up?" Billy called out to her, she looked up at him and grabbed the ladder to climb up.

"Why should I be Cinderella?"

"Hangman do you see anything?" She glanced to either side of the plane.

"Nop. All seems quiet. We do have the coordinates listed though."

"I don't like it." She muttered to herself.

"A hunch?" Asked Billy, who had learned over time to trust his friend's hunches.

"Yeah, and not a good one."

"Relax, everything will be fine, it's just a reconnaissance." He tried to convince her as much as for himself.

"I know a good way to relax." Jake's voice came over the radio, which had the effect of making her giggle and Billy mime a vomit. Her joyful laughter echoed through the radio to Jake's delight. Flying with them, he had quickly understood what the navigator had said the first time. A melodious, joyful, infectious laugh that had relaxed many on missions. Jake considered himself lucky to be able to enjoy it outside of these moments and better, to be the reason for her laughter even in some cases.

"If you're laughing that means it’s okay. I'm unbuckling myself to look further."

"Jake no, don't." Her laughter stopped short and she looked around for his plane.

"Everything is going to be fine sweetie, there is nothing to report obviously." He wanted to reassure her.

"Hangman you're a pain in the ass, don't do this to us."

"My presence reassures you Touchdown?" He teased.

"That's the whole point of your role dickhead." He replied scathingly.

"I'll be back in a flash." He steered to go in an opposite direction leaving them two, a hint of insecurity rising in her, Billy fulminating in the back.

"I swear, once we get on the ground I'm going to punch him in the face."

"This is the excuse you've been waiting for for months. Do you see anything?"

"No nothing." She sighed continuing her monitoring when Billy stirred behind her. "Shit."

"What?"

"We have two bandits coming our way."

He barely had time to look behind him when he saw two planes heading straight for them.

"Touchdown talk to me."

"There's one coming at five o'clock." He looked across the canopy. "The other one at seven. Shit! Hangman what the hell are you doing bringing your ass in!"

Everything happened very quickly, surrounded by the two, not being able to avoid them being on each side, she accelerated and tried to maneuver not to be hooked hoping that Jake intervenes very quickly. 

"Hangman!"

"Sunshine I'm coming!  I see them, I lock him, I shoot!" Jake, who had managed be on the tail of one of them, was able to stick to him and lock it  before making a strike, but this one had time to shoot before being hit. By the time he could react, the second one had caught up with them and fired instantly, hitting its target in the heart. The first missile hit one of the engines which caught fire, the lights started to flash like a Christmas garland, and Sunshine tried as best she could to regain control of the plane without much success.

"I can't control it! I can't straighten!"

"Eject!" Jake yelled into the radio.

They didn't have time to do so as the second missile hit them dead center, taking out the end of the plane and the second engine, the back of the plane went up in flames, and she heard Billy screaming behind her, desperately trying to pull on the ejection seat suspensions.

"Request backup, request assistance, Touchdown and Sunshine are hit! Damn it hurry!"

"Billy! Billy!"  Overwhelmed by panic her heart raced and tears began to blur her vision, raging on the suspensions. "Why isn't it working, Jake! Jake!"

Her laugh would never echo through the radio again.

When she woke up she was dazzled by the brightness of the room and had to blink several times to adjust. She felt a sharp pain run down her back and let out a groan of pain.

"Sweetheart."

That familiar voice was Jake's, who walked around the bed and came to stand next to her pressing a button on the headboard.

"It's morphine, it will help."

"Where am I?" She tried to look around her but her field of vision was restricted, lying on her side, she looked up at Jake who showed a serious face. Suddenly all took place again in her mind, she tried to straighten up abruptly and a cry of pain of her part pulled a grimace of pain to Jake devastated to see her in this state. The pain forced her to lie on her side. He sat down on the chair facing her and took her wrists in his hands, the palms of her hands being bandaged. In a last effort she had pulled as hard as she could on the suspensions that burned her palms before being ejected.

"You... You were able to eject in time. But the flames that had already reached the device burned your back.” She looked at him frightened, she didn't remember having the burning sensation in her back, maybe it had been because of the adrenaline. But if flames were so close to her to burn her, what about Billy?

The worried look she gave him made him understand what she was wondering and he shook his head silently. Tears began to stream down her face and she began to sob violently. Jake didn't know what to do, he leaned over and placed a kiss on the top of her head, a tear rolling down his cheek and crashing into her hair.

She wasn't sunshine anymore.

Her hard gaze met his, which she couldn't make out, was he sad? Sorry? Full of regret? All three at once?

"What are you doing here Jake?" She repeated wearily.

"I ... I don't know. This wasn't a good idea." He began to walk away with his hands in his jacket pockets.

"You know what wasn't a good idea?" He stopped short and lowered his head knowing very well what was coming next.

"That you're dropping us on this mission." He stared blankly at the ground. "That you leave me when I needed you the most after this."

"You were mad at me..."

"And you think that made it better?!" Her tone grew louder and more aggressive than she would have liked.  "I would have learned to get over it Jake, you made a mistake, maybe it would have made a difference if you had stayed, or maybe they still would have had the upper hand, maybe we thought there was no danger, there could have been no danger." He lifted his head and pivoted toward her. "But you left me alone after that. I needed you Jake."

"I was so angry with myself that I couldn't inflict my presence on you every day. I thought it would be better for you, not to have the face of the man who killed your best friend constantly in front of you."

"It wasn't you who killed him Jake."

"But it's my fault."

A whirlwind of emotions formed inside her. It had been two years since she had seen him, she was torn between giving him a slap, ignoring him, throwing herself at his neck, screaming at him, it was perhaps the difficulty in choosing between all these possibilities that nailed her to the ground and that she was unable to move. Not even taking a step back when he came closer.

"I'm so sorry. I feel so bad if you knew."

And she realized that she wasn’t the only one to have suffered these last two years. But she had been lucky enough to be able to surround herself with people to learn how to rebuild herself, had he been able to do the same?

She was struck by his reddened eyes and tired face features, never had she seen him like this, he who had seemed so strong with her in the times that followed, before he left, and now he had the face of a man crushed by remorse. He who always had a cocky look and a frank smile.

"I hope you can forgive me one day, because I can't." His voice became weaker and almost died out at the end of his sentence. "I lost you, and it's probably the biggest disaster of my life.” He took a step closer to her only being a small space away forcing her to raise her head to look at him. "I need you, do you think you can ever forgive me?"

When he saw her raising the arm he closed the eyes expecting to receive a deserved slap. But she didn’t, with an unexpected softness, she put delicately her hand on his cheek that she caressed with her thumb, wiping a tear which traced its way. He opened his eyes to see her showing a light smile, filled with sadness. He took her hand in his to deposit a kiss inside her palm. Then when she passed her arms around his neck to tighten him against her, he buried his face in her hair and she slipped a hand in his as one comforts a child.

Two years had separated them, and despite any resentment she might have had towards him, it was all gone in an instant. They were two beings in love and torn, who had suffered and who would have to learn to heal, together.

Apparently .. Enjoy, daddy seems to have a certain effect on some of you (I'm asking myself why 🤔). The next stories to come weren't about Cyclone but I might think of a changing plan .. I love writing on him especially in this way and if you love that too .. well I guess I'm going to post more about daddy Cyclone!

Is anyone interested in an Outlander fanfiction ? It's quite hard to find here and I’m finally currently working on one (with our delightful William Ransom). If it works, I'm thinking of doing one also about Lord John.

Please tell me ! 🥰