Fly With Me // Bradley Bradshaw

Chapter Twelve

All the Top Gun aviators attended the funeral of Commander Kazansky. He was a Top Gun legend and everyone had the utmost respect for him. Sophie didn't know Iceman personally, but this funeral felt like a sucker punch to the gut. She knew he didn't die by going on a mission or anything even remotely close to flying, but she was staring death right in the fucking face. It terrified her.

All she could think about throughout the whole funeral was that it could be her in a couple of weeks. It could be any of them. Someone wasn't coming home.

Once the funeral concluded, Sophie beelined it towards her jeep. She came here alone; she didn't want to be around anyone at the moment. Hangman gave her a strange look. She had been acting weird since last night. He tried to ask her about it, but she was in no mood for talking. No matter what he tried, Sophie shut him down and told him to leave. He was worried for his best friend. He looked between Sophie and Rooster. They hadn't talked at all today, which was very unusual. They were normally glued to each other's hips. Something was going on with her and he suspected it had something to do with him.

Hangman claps Rebound on the shoulder, grabbing his attention. "What the fuck happened between those two last night," he points to an already driving away Sophie and Rooster's sulky retreating body.

He shrugs his shoulders, "Man, I couldn't tell you. She got jealous last night when she saw some woman flirting with him and then she tried to get back at him. It was very messy."

Well, that explains Sophie trying to take him home last night, something that threw him completely off guard. They had moved on from that part of their lives a long time ago. Jake gives the man a dubious look, "Jealous?" His words come out in a questioning tone, not quite believing what he'd just been told.

He nods his head. "Yeah. There's something else going on with her. I just can't pinpoint what it is." They make their way to the parking lot along with everyone else, stopping in front of their own vehicles.

"There has to be," Jake agrees, "Sophie doesn't get jealous; it's not like her. Especially over Bradshaw. He never gives her a reason to be."

"Hey, I know that and you know that. She doesn't want to talk about it though. I went over to her place last night and she wouldn't even let me inside."

Hangman shakes his head and bids Mark goodbye. He couldn't understand what was up with Sophie. She was shutting out the three closest people in her life right now and no one knows why. He hadn't seen her like this since...her dad died and then it clicked for him. The irresponsible drinking, trying to start fights with people she loved, and wanting to be alone. He had seen it all before.

***

Hangman walks into Hard Deck after spending his day off doing his own personal training. He wanted to relax a little before really kicking it into high gear for these last few days of training before the mission. He ordered himself a beer from Penny and looked around the room. Sophie was nowhere in sight. He sighed; he had hoped he could have a conversation with her before they got on the carrier. She was in full-on Razor mode right now and he needed to talk her down.

She was closing herself off to everyone in her life, just like when her dad died. The biggest, most dangerous mission of her life is in a couple of days and she was terrified of death. He knew this. He'd give her space until she was ready to talk about or he felt like he needed to step in and pull it out of her. He just hoped it'd be before they shipped out.

He went up to Coyote, shaking his hand. He was in the mood to win some money against his fellow teammates tonight. Jake gave everyone his signature smirk, "I've got fifty bucks to whoever can beat me in nine-ball."