THE NEXT MORNING, SKYE WOKE UP ITCHING TO FLY. HER PLANS WERE ALL STOPPED SHORT WHEN SHE ARRIVED AT THE BASE to find everyone else packing up their things. "what's going on? mission cancelled or something?" she asked sarcastically.

phoenix shook her head with a playful smile. "no. we're gonna play beach football."

"again?" skye piqued, remembering the last time they'd played football at the beach. 

"get your flight suit off and get athletic wear on!" was the other woman's only response, jogging away to talk to fanboy. 

skye shook her head, moving down to her locker to see what clothes she may have stored there. luckily for her, she had put a nike sports bra and a pair of nike pros in there just in case. she thanked her lucky stars for it before changing clothes and throwing her black undershirt on over it. 

katia had already headed out with bob and phoenix, who were giving her a ride pretty much everywhere while her motorcycle was getting some repairs. skye was, then, by herself as she walked out of the locker room, lowering her aviators to her nose. 

"pick it up, riot!" she heard, and she rolled her eyes at her father.

"is this football game your bright idea?"

"yes, actually." he replied, not offended in the slightest. "we need to become more united as a team."

skye nodded. "i'll take your word for it."

maverick fondly shook his head before pulling his daughter in for a side hug. they drove their motorcycles side by side across the beach, eventually pulling into the lot at the hard deck. the mitchell's were the last of the group to arrive, looking out at everyone else running around.

there wasn't any method to their game at that point, and it appeared to just be a gleeful rooster running around with a football in his hands. he was doing everything to avoid getting tackled by the guys, or to get smarted by katia and phoenix, who were smaller and faster than him. 

coyote eventually bear hugged him into a tackle, sending them both flying into the water with a laugh. rooster stood back up, immediately making eye contact with skye. he smiled at her behind his glasses, extending his hand in an excited wave.

she awkwardly waved back, watching as the rest of the crew turned to see her and her father standing together. "you two mitchell's gonna join us?" rooster called.

"just enjoying the view!" she teased back.

rooster shook his head, a laugh escaping his lips. "yeah, yeah."

skye took the black shirt off, leaving herself in just nike pros and a sports bra. she then left her combat boots by her motorcycle, opting for the barefoot approach that everyone else was taking. "jorts!" she announced, looking down at rooster's clothing choices.

he laughed. "what about it?"

"you're like a middle aged father of two." 

"you know, skye, some women find that attractive." he replied.

she chuckled. "the only man who can pull it off is adam sandler." 

rooster was about to reply when maverick moved to the front of the group. "good morning, aviators!" he introduced. today, we're going to be playing dogfight football."

"dogfight football, sir?" payback questioned.

"you're going to be focusing on offense and defense at the same time, just like a dogfight." maverick smiled.

katia tilted her head. "sir, i barely understand normal football. you're gonna have to be a bit more specific." 

skye chuckled. "in essence, if you don't have the ball, get it. if you have the ball, don't let anyone take it from you."

the blonde nodded. "okay, got it." 

the group divided into hypothetical teams, which felt redundant given that everyone was going to be playing every position. nonetheless, hangman and fritz became the captains of the respective teams. 

hangman's team became yale, harvard, payback, phoenix, and skye. team fritz took bob, coyote, omaha, katia, and rooster. 

skye pointed across the group at katia, who laughed before pointing back. "you're going down, havoc!" 

"you sure about that, riot?"

the brunette smirked before getting into her temporary position behind hangman. "set, hike!" hangman tossed the ball and she immediately caught it, making a sprint to the other side of the beach.

coyote was immediately on her, quickly gaining speed in an attempt to tackle her. skye looked around for help, her eyes landing on phoenix, who she threw the ball to. phoenix was fast, and she sprinted to what they assumed was a field goal. 

"yes!" skye cheered, putting both hands in the air and high fiving phoenix with them. 

the game continued, and quickly everyone had completely forgotten to keep score. it was every man to himself after a couple goals were scored, and all teams had been forgotten. 

skye was standing close to rooster, who was trying to stay open for the ball. he was taller than her, and when the ball moved their direction, he assumed he had it in the bag. skye, however, intercepted it. she almost fumbled it in shock before making eye contact with rooster, who was already smiling and moving to tackle her. 

she sprinted across the beach, laughing as he followed her, quickly matching her speed. some people started cheering for her, while others cheered for rooster, resulting in both of their egos raising as they attempted to outrun the other. skye then tossed the ball in the air, letting out a laugh as it fell into the confused fanboy's hands.

he was immediately tackled, but he didn't seem upset about it, a smile still on his face. hondo had been the referee for some time, but he'd sat out after the game started becoming much more chaotic. this included the addition of another football, which hangman insisted would "make it more fun." 

skye was taking one of the footballs from payback after he fumbled it, laughing at the annoyance in his glare back at her. "dad!" she called, throwing it to him across the beach.

everyone then turned to maverick, who they hadn't known was a part of the game. they were all then running after him, and he laughed as he ran as fast as he could to get out of their way. 

maverick continued to play with them for a while, and eventually he lost track of his footing and slipped onto his back with a laugh. skye was surprised to see rooster move over to him, reaching out a hand and helping him up. 

"that's a good sign, right?" she whispered to katia, who only shrugged. 

the group had entirely stopped caring about the logistics of the game at this point, and were just messing around and having fun. hangman tossed a football behind him, and the guys around him all fell down as if it was a bomb. 

skye was laughing with bob and fanboy about something payback had done when she looked over to see rooster. he had jumped up for a celebratory chest bump with coyote, but he dropped out of it, making eye contact with her through his glasses and doing some sort of body roll to impress her.

she flushed red, shaking her head as if it would make it seem like she hadn't been staring at him.

maverick soon jogged away, and everyone booed at him. "the old man's out!" 

almost immediately after maverick quit the game, one of the footballs ended up in bob's hands. he seemed completely shocked by this until everyone started yelling for him to run. his eyes still wide, he listened, running to the proper field goal. 

everyone immediately cheered for him, and rooster was quick to hoist him onto his shoulders. bob was still holding the football in his hands, a smile on his face. 

"bob! bob! bob! bob!" the group shouted as they crowded around him. 

hondo soon became the middle of the circle, and everyone laughed as they tackled him to the sand. after that, skye decided she was done with the game for the day.

"you leaving, mitchell?" she heard, turning over her shoulder to see rooster.

"not yet. wanted to say hey to penny first." 

rooster shook his head. "no, we're not done yet, you can't leave."

"calm your feathers." she teased. "i'll stay. nice body roll, by the way."

skye felt an immense sense of satisfaction as she saw rooster's cheeks turn pink with embarrassment. "you saw that?"

she laughed. "was i not supposed to?"

"it looked good?" 

"shut up." she rolled her eyes, grabbing her t shirt and putting it on over her sports bra. she sat down in the sand where she could still view the game, and he immediately sat next to her. "i thought you were still playing the game?"

he shook his head. "no, i'd rather sit here."

"you're difficult, you know that?" skye smiled, looking out at her friends. "are you feeling better?"

rooster nodded. "yeah, actually. just.. you know. a lot going on."

"are you worried about the mission?" she asked.

he thought about that for a second before shaking his head. "no. i don't think so, at least. i'm just worried he won't pick me to go on it. cause.. you know. naval academy."

"are you still upset about that?" skye chuckled before becoming more serious. "well, i guess.. you know that i think you're qualified for it. especially mores than the other options. but if he doesn't pick you to go on the mission, then at least you'll be safer."

"and having less fun." rooster pointed out.

"but safe." she argued. 

he shrugged. "i guess you're right. i just.. i just don't have a lot to come home to, you know? i mean, i fly because i love it. and i fight to serve the country and to make my old man proud. but.. at the end of the day, i don't have that thing that keeps me from being reckless." he chuckled. "i say as if i'm not talking to a mitchell, the inventors of reckless."

skye laughed at his joke before shaking her head. "i get what you're saying. i guess i just.. don't think it's true."

"what do you mean?"

"well.. if nothing else, if you come home safe, you get to listen to music with me and go on drives with me. you know?" she tilted her head. "that's what helps me. knowing that i get to come home and be with you, and katia, my dad.. it keeps me grounded." 

rooster let this sink in for a moment before nodding. "thank you, i hadn't thought of it that way. you're really smart, you know?"

she smirked. "yeah, i know."

"okay, wow, i won't compliment you ever again." he teased. 

skye chuckled as she playfully shoved his shoulder. "you remember the last time we were sitting here? after the previous football game?"

he nodded. "vaguely. i remember i was asking you about your tattoo." 

"mhm." she hummed. "and you said that we should get matching tattoos."

rooster pretended to have forgotten. "did i say that?"

"i remember it distinctly." skye told him. 

"the offer still stands. i say we get matching dinosaurs." 

skye quirked a brow. "dinosaurs? what does that have to do with anything?"

"dinosaurs." he replied with a shrug, having no further explanation. 

she laughed. "okay. we'll have to keep brainstorming it, then." 

they sat there talking for about another hour, telling some of their favorite stories from their time away from each other in their squadrons. when the sun had begun to set, skye put her shoes on and said goodbye to her father and penny. 

rooster had insisted to drive her home, but skye had replied with just as much stubbornness, telling him that she needed to feel the wind in her hair. he eventually gave in, making her promise to drive safe. 

skye arrived home after katia, who'd gotten her typical ride with phoenix, bob, and fanboy. "hey, i'm home!" she called.

katia was sitting on the sofa, and looked up. "hey, did you have fun?"

"yeah! it was great. did you have fun?" 

the blonde nodded. "yeah, yeah. it was fun."

skye turned, her brows furrowing in concern. "are you okay?"

katia looked down at her hands. "i, um.. i was wondering if i could talk to you about something."