#tw plane crashes

[indieyuugure]

Was actually (90 percent sure) I was able to date when Indie TMNT started!

Between the detail of a plane ‘falling out of the sky in a hellacious ball of fire’ the fact the year is 1996, and the fact I watch too many plane crash documentaries for me to be comfortable with getting on a plane, this was enough for me track down the exact plane crash-TWA Flight 800, which you guessed it, crashed on a Thursday. Specifically Thursday July 17th 1996.

So if we go to next Thursday…

Then I can say the comic starts on July 24th, 1996

Aw man, you’re REALLLLY close! But actually it’s a different flight he’s referencing.

The one he’s referencing was actually two months prior to the one you’re talking about. Here’s the Wikipedia article about it

The crash made national news, it’s definitely not as big as the one you’re referencing, but it was bad enough that the airline basically went out of business because of their bad reputation and ended up taking on the new name AirTran Airways.

This crash happened on May 11, 1996, which is why it’s still fresh in Donnie’s mind, but note that Raph is referencing that last week was about gang violence, not plane crashes, which given this calendar:

Means that probably most of the news from the 12th to perhaps the 14-15 were of this event. I would assume that the news cycle of this would be shorter since it took place in Florida, whereas they’re hearing this in New York. (If any of you actually experienced watching this on TV I would be fascinated to hear both how it was reported and how long until the News lost interest)

So if we say that after that calmed down and the news went back to its typical types of reports, that means their birthday is probably somewhere between the 20th-31st.

Now, it’s kinda tricky for you to be able to know which date I picked unless you say that Raph is referring to last Thursday as “Today is Thursday and seven days ago was Thursday” (or you wait until the end), but as the author I will tell you it’s May 23rd.

Great detective work!! This is pretty vague information to go off of and I’m quite impressed with how much you research you did!

Good question! :]

[buddiekinard]

Roy/Jamie: Jamie is set to fly out to go visit some friends in another country. Roy sees him off. Then a few hours later the news says that Jamie's plane crashed only Jamie wasn't on it, he switched with someone else. Jamie's totally oblivious, his phone's switched off, Roy thinks he's lost the love of his life. How will things get resolved?

Love the idea of Jamie doing a nice thing by stepping aside on an overbooked flight to give someone else his seat so he can hang out a bit longer or whatever and not even saying anything because he doesn’t think about it. Maybe he thinks Roy isn’t that serious and he’ll just call when he gets where he’s going. Even when hes gotten off his flight to find out the plane crashed he’s too busy thinking about his own mortality and how close that was and how much luck he had to call. He doesn’t even consider that Roy thinks he was on the plane!!!!

Meanwhile Roy is freaking out at home waiting to hear if anyone survived and if Jamie is okay and Jamie calls from his destination hours and hours later like it’s no big deal and Roy absolutely wants to murder him but also is so desperately glad he’s alive and maybe he’s like “i fucking love you you idiot” and it’s the first time hes said i love you and jamie is stunned but happy and kind of reeling from the day he’s had. Whatever he’s flown away for doesn’t even feel like it matters because he wants to be home.

[karrnal]

Chaos and Serenity (MH17 Plane Crash Victim)

[aeirithgainsborough]

YELLOWJACKETS: 110. Sic Transit Gloria Mundi ➙ 204. Old Wounds ➙ 206. Qui ➙ 209. Storytelling

[tsukiran]

best offer ー brazil!hinata shoyo x reader angst/comfort

"Wait for me?"

His words rang in your ears as soon as you heard of the news. His friends reassured you over and over again. Even banned you from social media momentarily. Just until the news is clear.

You're waiting at an airport in Sao Paulo, as what he had planned weeks ago. Both about to do your Europe trip with his friends waiting in the starting city of your itinerary. Both about to spend your anniversary vacation. Both about toー

Your sob seeped through your system as your anxiety heightened.

"Have you checked your baggages?"

"Yes baby. A check-in baggage and a carry on. 10 sets of outdoor clothes. 3 of formal, rest are casual."

"Your toiletries?"

"We're sharing our toiletries for over 4 years already, baby." You heard his deep chuckle. "That's not gonna change until I die okay?"

What happened? Shoyo, just pick up..

"Bakayama and Oikawa-san's gonna get me if we're a flight late and not together. Wait for me, okay?"

Shoyo's supposed to be plane crashed somewhere enroute Sao Paulo. He was from an away game and just last night he told you about their win and coming home to your arms. He's a flight late but it didn't matter now. Sao Paulo's volleyball star all-rounder Hinata Shoyo is believed on board that crashed plane and all of the state is already on fact checking. It's been 2 hours.

You jumped upon your phone ringing, fidgeting hands pawed at Kenma's video call.

"Breathe." He said over the line after talking over calming you. "He's fine. Shoyo's fine. Trust me."

You nod, then sobbed, phone on your forehead as you broke down. Familiar voices were calling you on the other line easing your tension but heck, you can't as long as Shoyo's not here with you right now.

"Can't we go to Sao Paulo, Kenma? Yn's alone."

"Kenma, you can finance us."

"I already booked tickets for me and Iwaizumi-san."

"What about us!?"

"Yn needs calm people right now."

"Iwa-chan! We are calmー"

"Yeah right."

You tuned them out. You can care less who's gonna be here. All you wanted was Shoyo.

A chilling hour passed before the Brazil media went into a rushing chaos. You thought it was someone else they were waiting but when you saw a bright orange disheveled hair weaving across rows of media, you broke down again and got rooted in your place.

But you waited. You waited for him to reach you in your spot.

He ignored all of the media and when he spotted you, he dropped everything and directly made a beeline to you, crashing your head to his chest, comforting arms around you. Your arms may be crashing his torso right now but you don't care. He's here already.

"You're late, Shoyo."

"Well," His sniffles were audible along with his hoarse voice, all above his chuckle. "Plane's rude, baby. Left with me still in the toilet seat. And you forgot to mention my charger and wallet. When we settle down for our flight to Italy, I'm sorry but we have to reorganize my stuff."

You buried your face in his chest further, chuckling and crying. "Thought you're gonna make me wait forever."

He kissed your crown, above all the noise of the media and their flashing cameras. "Will never gonna happen. I have to have you with me all the time from now on. What do you say?"

Honestly? That's the best offer he gave you. But you have to give him a mouthful before that for being so clumsy.

quick whip after the plane crash in Sao Paulo yesterday. my condolences to all grieving families. will include you all in my prayers tonight.

ran2024. hearts and reblogs are appreciated.

[staud]

And which do you choose? Surrender? Or escape? ⌖ idea from this brilliant anon

[smallscreensource]

Yellowjackets (2021-). Storytelling.

[aceofwhump]

Nate Mann as Robert "Rosie" Rosenthal

Masters of the Air 1x09

[total-drama-brainrot]

Total Drama AU/Headcanon: Where everything is the same, except Noah is just as crazy/insane as Izzy and Eva, but he's much better at hiding it (with a sarcastic calm personality) ... Only Izzy, Eva and Owen know his true unhinged colors (and that's why they get along with him so well) .../// Duncan briefly saw it during the Total Drama Island Special Finale, when Duncan grabbed Noah's leg, but Noah escaped, and we didn't see HOW Noah escaped... In this AU, Noah bit Duncan's hand then gave Duncan a silent psychotic grin, which shocked Duncan and gave Noah time to escape (Noah basically pretending the bite and grin never happened) ... In TDWT, imagine if Alejandro ever found out that the sanest one on his Team is only PRETENDING to be sane! 😅

I've seen that one Scary!Noah AU floating about in the main tag lately, and I love the concept. There's so much that could be done with having someone like Noah (scarily smart, mostly motivated by either spite or The Bit, nerfed by his own laziness/apathy/hubris) have the added bonus of Going Apeshit sometimes. Either as a treat to himself, or as the natural consequence of his hidden nature.

It's like that "Izzy Isn't Crazy" theory, but in reverse. "Noah Is Crazy, He's Just Good At Masking".

In this AU, he and Izzy would get on like a house on fire.

Like recognises like, after all; Izzy would clock him as just as unhinged as herself at their first meeting, and probably confront him about his 'game plan' at the first chance she could (maybe that's why she was so quick to swap with Katie? A bid to get herself on the same team as Noah?). Noah would try to deny it at first, because he's supposed to be the 'lazy genius'- slipping from his allotted persona this soon into the competition would jeopardise his strategy!- but Izzy would reassure him that she can practically smell the crazy on him.

He'd live up to his title as 'The Schemer', by means of plotting pranks and other such events with Izzy. She'd use her status as the overt crazy girl to pull them off, and Noah would either help behind the scenes to abate his hunger for chaos, or live vicariously through Izzy's blatant mania whilst revelling in the fact that their plan(s) play out perfectly every time. Imagine how much better Izzy's bear suit prank would've been with a man on the inside- and now imagine how much better it would've been if Noah pretended to get eaten/mauled by bear!Izzy (using smuggled ketchup packets and A Lot Of Screaming to convince the Gophers of his demise)! (He'd play off the incident by blaming the whole thing on Izzy- saying she was the one who used the ketchup, and his screaming was just him being Rightfully Terrified of being eaten. Gotta keep up the charade!)

No one would suspect him either! Who would ever assume that slothful, apathetic Noah who complains about the trials and tribulations of 'hard work', 'effort' and 'physical activity' could be a friend and an accomplice to the unstoppable force of nature that is Izzy? He's always too busy shoving his nose into his book to ever consider befriending the crazy girl, there's no way Noah would even tolerate her! (/s)

I think he'd eventually reveal his true colours to Team E-scope plus Owen once their friendship is cemented off-screen. Noah isn't the trusting type (I'd clarify, but I'd end up writing a whole unrelated essay- maybe another time) and he's habitually secretive- his non-answers in the WT Character Interview and his Sierra-given title of "The Man of Mystery" attest to this- so he'd need to know that his friends are really his friends before letting himself be vulnerable/transparent with them, since any 'friendships' made on Total Drama always run the risk of being a ploy/fake. It is a social game, after all.

As for the Duncan Incident. Having Noah bite people is going to turn into a running gag for me at this point, because it's so fucking hilarious to imagine him in a scenario where he's forced/pressured into violence and immediately starts chomping down on someone. This weasel boy wasn't built for punches and kicks but On God can he use those pearly whites to cause some damage. (The human jaw has a surprisingly strong bite force. Noah absolutely knows this.)

I'd also like to suggest that Noah rips himself out of his cargo shorts after biting Duncan, leaving the punk with a bleeding handful of nerd shorts and an open wound for his troubles. He'd already let go of Noah by that point too; it's hard to maintain your grip on anything when you've got a manic bookworm tearing away at the tendons in your hands. So he's just sat there, terrified and concerned, nursing the throbbing, sluggishly bleeding bitemark on his hand and wondering how Noah managed to contort his usually stoic facial features into a grin so wild and feral.

And Noah races back to Izzy and Eva, face and teeth splattered in Duncan's blood, sans cargo shorts. Neither of them question it; Izzy has an idea of what he's done, since Noah's smugness levels have risen at least three tiers and he's smiling almost contentedly to himself, and Eva has learned how to Mind Her Own Business when it comes to Izzy and Noah's eccentricities (though she often shoots inquisitive looks towards Noah's red-painted face).

Then in World Tour? Alejandro is suffering. Noah's the only person on his team who isn't lacking braincells and/or completely unhinged (or so he thinks), and as such he's the latino's only lifeline to sanity on the forsaken jet. So when Duncan returns in London and seems scared of the harmless bookworm? That's concerning.

Assuming that Noah's a wee bit more savvy in this AU thanks to his subterfuge experience in Island, he probably wouldn't be as outwardly apparent in his distrust of Alejandro during the challenge- either that, or he'd be enjoying torturing Tyler too much to think about how much of an eel Alejandro is. So Alejandro wouldn't have any reason to want to eliminate him, if anything he'd be motivated to keep him around, if only to act as a buffer between himself and the idiocy of Team Chris.

Duncan's re-introduction and allocation to the team would be Alejandro's first inkling into the fact that Noah is more than he seems. When the delinquent is ushered to stand next to Alejandro and Noah, his pupils contract into pinpricks or terror, and his attention flickers between the aloof cynic to his side and an oval-shaped scar on his hand. The cynic shoots Duncan a friendly smile (Alejandro ignores how the smile doesn't quite reach Noah's eyes) and the punk turns sheet white.

Alejandro doesn't know what to make of it.

[beatendeadcourier]

Honestly how didn't he get caught sooner when he went out as the devil guy

He's SOOO obnoxious he literally ate a guys arm in public

I love how goofy he is tho <3

[was jamming out to little shop of horrors theme song it really helped me get into the vibe to draw this]

[bloodymarymorstan]

Was actually close to tears a few minutes ago thinking about the helicarrier scene in TWS so now I need to talk about it. When Steve orders the helicarriers to be destroyed when he’s still on board, he is 100% expecting that he is not gonna make it out of there but he knows without a doubt that he would rather die than leave Bucky behind again, even if Bucky has no idea who he is and is actively trying to kill him. Steve blames himself for Bucky having died the first time and for what happened to him after, and even if he doesn’t realistically believe that there’s a way for either of them to get out of that situation he’d rather they go down together this time than keep living with that guilt (and also living without Bucky). But then, even though he probably doesn’t think there’s a way out, he still can’t help but try to get Bucky back. He frees Bucky because he can’t bear to hear him in pain and drops the shield because he would literally rather be beaten to death than hurt Bucky anymore than he already feels he has. That is literally the most gut-wrenching romantic shit I have ever seen, how do people not realize that they are in love???

[one-time-i-dreamt]

Michael Jackson crashed a plane through a building and started performing on the wing of the burning plane while I was a dragon riding an even bigger dragon and watching him preform.

[object-vault-9]

Week 78

//severe object injury later on

.

.

(some time later)

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

He passed out before he could correct them, Hehe it is then (In game they're actually named Hehe)

[thisisyourauthorspeaking]

How To Write A Plane Crash

So. Your blorbos are on a plane, and something horrible needs to happen during that flight for the plot to move forward. Let's talk about it first.

- Does it even need to be a crash?

TL;DR: Plane crashes are very rare, and most of the time, when something happens, the solution is to Just Land The Plane.

First things first, consider why exactly this plot calls for a plane crash. Are you killing off a character(s)? Does the cast get stuck in the wilderness? Is it a canon event?

If it isn't something to that tune, then some possibilities that may better suit the plot include:

Diversion, where the airplane lands at a different airport because it can't land at the originally planned airport for any number of reasons. There is no imminent danger to anyone on board. Think weather along the route, emergency at the airport, weather at the airport doesn't allow a safe landing, etc.

Precautionary landing, where the crew decides to land the plane at the nearest practical airport to avoid a risky situation from developing further. There is still no danger to anyone on board, but there's a situation which may cause problems, such as an unusual indication on one of the instruments, strange noise, or deteriorating weather.

Emergency landing, where there is an imminent danger and the plane needs to be on the ground as soon as possible, be it an airport or not. Contrary to popular belief, the majority of emergency landings are completed with no injuries or deaths to anyone on board. Situations which call for an emergency landing include malfunctioning equipment, power loss, engine failure, onboard fire, violent passengers, or any other dramatized, scary-sounding "plane problem". More on this later.

Still want it to be a big, fiery crash that kills people and traumatizes the survivors? Onward!

- Why is the plane crashing?

TL;DR: Unexpected situation + human error = plane crash.

Air travel is, statistically speaking, the single safest mode of transportation on the planet. You're more likely to die in a traffic accident during the drive to or from the airport.

The single most common cause of fatal airplane crashes, regardless of the type of airplane, is human error. The average airliner has tons of redundancies, safety systems, self-tests, and fail-safes that all have to go wring in order for a mechanical issue to be the sole cause of a plane crash.

The most common phase of flight where an airplane crashes is either just after takeoff, or just before scheduled landing. It's rare for a crash to happen during cruise.

Yes, Boeing has these safety systems too - the airplanes themselves are very well-designed; the reason they're falling apart is due to humans cutting corners during manufacturing.

Some fatal crashes determined by investigators to be caused primarily by human error:

Air France Flight 447, although initially caused by an issue with the airspeed sensor, became a fatal crash when the pilots grossly mishandled the situation and caused the airplane to enter an aerodynamic stall, where it then hit the ocean.

KLM Flight 4805 and Pan Am Flight 1736, where the captain of the KLM flight began takeoff under the mistaken belief that he was cleared to do so, and subsequently crashed into the Pan Am flight, which was cleared for takeoff from a crossing runway at that time.

N3590T, a twin-engine private plane, where the pilot attempted to fly around a thunderstorm without understanding the limitations of the airplane's weather information display, nor grasping the true severity of the weather.

Notice a common theme among the incidents I posted - the incident starts with a minor hiccup, such as a sensor icing over, fog being too dense to see the other plane, or weather popping up along the route of flight, but the true cause of the crash is the pilot's failure to properly handle the situation.

This is how almost every fatal crash happens, and this is why a huge part of flight training revolves around drilling emergency situations into your head. My instructors did it to me, and I am doing it to my students. Because of this training, so many minor issues are prevented from ending in tragedy, but humans are not infallible - that is when incidents like these happen.

- "But that sounds like a hand-wave! Are there any freak accidents that kinda work?"

TL:DR: The things that cause full-blown plane crashes usually don't make for a juicy, dramatic headline.

Okay, we can work with this. Freak accidents are fun to write, but also exceedingly rare.

First things first: For the love of whoever's up there, DON'T use any of these reasons for a plane crash (unless you pair it with human error, but this section is for if you think human error is boring):

Turbulence: No properly-designed and tested airplane can be brought down solely by turbulence; the engineers know that turbulence is a thing and build the airplanes to handle it unscathed.

Mid-air collision: If the airplane is flying under instrument navigation, and in controlled airspace, it is ATC's sole job to make sure this doesn't happen, and it's almost impossible for an airliner to be involved in one given all of the safeguards in place. Of the mid-air collisions that do happen, most of them are at low altitude, near airports, and between small propeller planes.

Engine failure: Airplanes are perfectly capable of flying with one engine out of commission, and even with both engines gone, it's still perfectly possible to glide down to a safe landing spot. (NOTE: This situation may work if it's a small propeller plane, like a Cessna or a biplane. Even then, it should still be combined with another risk factor such as nighttime, flying in/over clouds, over wilderness/open water, etc.)

Engine fire: Although this warrants an emergency landing, the airplane's systems are fully capable of containing and putting out the fire before it spreads to the rest of the airplane. Looks scary, but once the fuel is shut off and the fire suppression is doing its magic, it just becomes a game of limping to an airport.

Terrorism/Hijacking: No. There's a big fuck-off bulletproof door between the crew and the rest of the cabin, and it can only be unlocked from the cockpit. (I'll save my rant about the TSA for another post.)

Now, let's talk about some incidents that were not preventable by crew action:

Flight control failure: United Airlines Flight 232 is a flight in which a freak mechanical failure caused simultaneous failure of all three hydraulic systems, resulting in a complete loss of steering control. 2/3 of people onboard survived, but this was only due to emergency management far beyond what any pilot trains for, and the help of an off-duty pilot traveling as a passenger.

Explosive decompression: In an explosive decompression, the pressurization system has failed, and it's typically accompanied by a large hull breach. The part about this scenario that makes it especially dangerous is the fact that at the altitude commercial airliners cruise at, the pilots may have 8 to 10 seconds at most to don their oxygen masks. If they fail, then there is nobody flying the plane.

Inflight wing separation: N106ER, a single-engine trainer airplane, lost a wing during final approach to an airport when practicing landings. The investigation concluded that this happened due to repetitive stress on the airplane's hull, which progressively worsened and was not able to be detected during annual inspections or preflight safety checks. IMPORTANT NOTE: THIS CANNOT HAPPEN TO AN AIRLINER - THEY ARE DESIGNED TO MUCH HIGHER SAFETY STANDARDS

All of these incidents were freak accidents that are, by their nature, unpredictable and not preventable. Therefore, I emphatically advise you to either a) stick to the human error formula above, or b) send me an ask with as much detail as you can, requesting information as to if or how it can be made believable.

Happy writing!

[black-tea-brown-eyes]

OF PLANE CRASHES, DROWNING, AND ACCEPTANCE OF DEATH.

Black Hole - boygenius, Last Words of a Shooting Star - Mitski, Afraid of Heights - boygenius, Sidelines - Phoebe Bridgers, Plane Crash Blues (I Can't Play the Piano)

[a-reader-and-a-writer-for-all]

Zipper (Part Two)

Whumptober 2022: 31. Bedside Vigil Fandom: Top Gun, Top Gun: Maverick, Jake "Hangman" Seresin, f!reader Word Count: 4203 TW: Angst, Plane Crash, Hospital, Life Support, Bruises Note: Thank you to @loverhymeswith and @green-socks for looking this over for me! 💕 Part One, Part Two

Jake crept back towards the common area, his head ducked low in shame. He was hoping to sneak in with as few people seeing him as possible given the embarrassing way he left. Just stormed off without his phone, his keys, anything. And from the second he stepped foot off the base, he knew he should turn around and go back to you. He was hurt by what you said, but he had hurt you first. And if he was being completely honest with himself, you weren’t wrong. 

During training, he was so focused on being the best or proving he deserved one of the spots on the mission, that he often didn’t think about any of the other pilots. And while he was never paired with you since the teams were always comprised of a single and double plane and you both flew solo, he honestly wasn’t sure how he would behave as your wingman. 

Part of him wanted to swear up and down he would never leave your side. Yet, he knew if he saw an opening, there was a chance he would take it regardless of the position it put you in. And he tried to tell himself it was just because this was training and no one was really in danger and all the “kills” were meaningless, but would he really fly any differently in a real-life scenario? He wasn’t sure and that thought made him feel sick to his stomach. So, he had stayed away until he finally thought he could face you again.

It was now almost midnight so he thought he could avoid any confrontation until the morning. But as soon as he opened the door to the mess hall, he knew he was in trouble. Every member of the team was currently scattered around the room. Coyote was looking intensely out the window. Fanboy and Payback were huddled in the corner looking anywhere but at Jake. Bob sat at one of the tables with his head in his hands. Phoenix was next to him with her hand on his shoulder and Rooster sat staring blankly at his helmet. Everyone was here…. except you. You must still be upset about the fight that morning and decided to skip whatever was going on here.

The air in the room felt tense and foreboding and Jake wondered how much trouble he must be in. But he put on his usual cocky grin, trying to hide some of the anxiety coursing through him, and he said, “Hey! What’s up, guys?”

But no one responded. No one would even look at him. As he took a few steps further into the room, Jake began to feel the hair on the back of his neck raise as he got a better look at everyone. Even with his head down, Jake could just make out tears forming in the corners of Bob’s eyes. Rooster’s knuckles were white with how tightly he was gripping his helmet and what Jake originally took as a blank expression now looked more haunted and distraught. Rooster finally dragged his eyes away from his helmet and glanced at Phoenix.

The two pilots seemed to come to some silent agreement before Phoenix slowly rose to her feet and took a step toward Jake. “Hangman….” She paused.

Jake waited for a moment but when she didn’t continue, he scoffed trying to break the tension. “What? Seriously guys, what’s going on?”

“We tried to call you but you never answered your phone,” Bob whispered, still staring at the floor.

“I forgot it in my room when I left,” Jake snapped, finally realizing this was more serious than him just missing training. “Now what the hell is going on?”

Phoenix took a deep breath and then said, “It’s Zipper. She…. she was in an accident during training this afternoon.”

All the blood rushed from Jake’s face as an icy chill swept through his body. “No…. that’s not possible… she wasn’t even scheduled to be in the air today.”

“You weren’t here so someone had to take your place in the single plane. She volunteered.” Rooster’s voice was not full of the hostility it usually held when addressing him. Instead, it was flat, emotionless with no accusation in his words, as if he was too numb to blame Jake at the moment.

“Is she….” Jake could barely think the word let alone speak it.

But Phoenix shook her head. “She’s alive… but just barely. They’re doing what they can for her but it’s still touch-and-go.”

Jake collapsed back into a nearby chair as he tried to grasp what he was hearing. He took a few deep breaths as he tried to calm himself before he choked out, “What happened?”

“It was just a series of terrible accidents. The plane malfunctioned, and she tried to bail out.” Phoenix paused as her voice wavered slightly. “The seat ejected but the parachute cord was tangled around the casing so the chute wouldn’t open. She finally managed to unravel the cords and release it, but by that time, she was just too close to the ground. Bob and I were flying with her, and we saw the whole thing.”

“Wait, you and Bob…” A sickening thought suddenly occurred to him. “Whose plane? Whose plane was she in?”

Phoenix and Rooster exchanged a somber look before Phoenix finally whispered, “Yours was already fueled up for the day and ready for takeoff.”

It should have been him. He should have been the one who spun out wildly, who had to frantically scramble to free his chute, who was currently fighting for his life. Yet, because he had been his typical asshole self, the woman he loved had suffered his fate instead.

He shot to his feet, a wave of anxious energy surging through his body. “I–I have to see her! Where is she?”

“She’s in the hospital a few miles off base. I can drive you.” Rooster offered.

Jake nodded. Normally, he wouldn’t have lowered himself to accepting help from Rooster, but any sense of superiority he normally felt over the other pilot was gone in an instant. Their petty fighting didn’t matter anymore. The only thing that mattered to Jake Seresin at that moment was laying in a hospital bed and he just prayed he got to you before it was too late.

As Rooster drove, he tried explaining the details of your condition, yet all Jake heard was “minor burns, broken bones, and punctured organs”, “multiple surgeries”, “machines breathing for her”, “medically induced coma”. 

This couldn’t be real, it just couldn’t. This had to be the team’s sick, twisted idea of revenge for him bailing out on training today. But then he flashed back to Bob struggling to hold back tears or the tremble in Phoenix’s voice while she explained, and Jake knew this was really happening.

Realizing Jake wasn’t really comprehending anything he had just said, Rooster added, “She’s going to be okay. She’s strong. Honestly, I think she’s the strongest out of all of us.”

“I know,” Jake whispered. “I’ve always known that. So why didn’t I ever tell her? Why was the last thing I said to her about how she wasn’t good enough? Because it’s not true. It’s never been true. I just…. I’ve never been able to find the right words with her. Do you know I never even told her I loved her until last week?”

“Really?” Rooster asked in surprise. “Haven’t you two been like a thing for the last two years?”

“Yeah. We agreed to be exclusive when we left Top Gun the last time but with both of us stationed in different parts of the world– I don’t know. It never seemed right to say it. But the other day, she was just so beautiful and I had forgotten what it felt like to have her in my arms and it slipped out. I was so terrified of what she would say but the smile she gave me when she said she loved me too….” Jake closed his eyes and let his head thump harshly against the window. “Goddamn it, I love that woman. I need her to know that. But now, the last memory of me she might ever have is one of me walking away.” 

Rooster glanced over at him but then quickly looked away, clearing his throat. Jake knew he saw the tears rolling down his cheeks, but he didn’t care. Let Bradshaw think whatever he wanted of him. As long as you were okay, he didn’t give a damn what anyone thought of him anymore.

They rode in silence the rest of the way. Once they arrived at the hospital, Rooster slowed his Bronco to a stop out front. Shifting uncertainly in his seat, he asked, “Do you want me to go in with you?”

The pity in the other man’s voice was almost too much for Jake to take. But instead of giving his typical snarky response, Jake just shook his head.

Rooster nodded. “They said she’s in room 627.”

Jake thanked him and got out of the truck. But just as he was about to shut the door, he paused. With his back still towards the other man, he said, “Rooster…. I know this has to be hard for you because of what happened to your dad. You didn’t have to drive me here. You didn’t have to… to be so nice to me. Especially after what I did yesterday. But I appreciate it.”

There was a pause and then the other man grunted, “Yeah, well, despite whatever differences we might have, she would want you here. And after what happened…. This is the only thing I can do to help her right now, so I’m doing it.”

Jake nodded slightly. “You’re a better man than me, Bradshaw.” He closed the door before Rooster had a chance to respond.

Jake got lost twice trying to locate your room and even once he found it, he almost went past it because he didn’t recognize the person laying in the bed.

He had to swallow the sob that immediately formed in his chest when he realized it was you. He could barely see your face behind all the various machinery, equipment, and tubing that was currently keeping you alive. And the parts he could see were swollen and bruised.

Clutching at the door frame, he had to steady himself as his knees began to give out. This couldn’t be happening, not to you. This had to be some sort of nightmare or hallucination or something. Maybe he drank too much at The Hard Deck and passed out. Or maybe his plane had crashed and this was some weird Twilight Zone coma dream.

And yet, he couldn’t escape reality. It was you in that bed. And it was all because he had stormed off and left you to clean up his mess, just like he always did.

Slowly, he approached the bed and lowered himself into the chair next to it. He couldn’t bear to look at your face, not this close up. So, instead, he stared at the floor as he whispered, “Zips… I’m so sorry. I should have been here. This should be me lying here instead of you. You were only in my plane because I was being a complete jackass. I should never have left. The second I did, I wanted to run back and scoop you into my arms and beg for your forgiveness.” 

He finally forced himself to at least look at your hand which was wrapped in layers of gauze with tubes and wires poking out. “And now I can’t even hold your hand without being afraid I’ll hurt you.” Jake buried his face in his hands as he tried to fight back the tears that were once again forming in his eyes.

There was a soft knock at the door and Jake’s head shot up to see his flight instructor standing in the doorway. He started to stand at attention, but Maverick motioned for him to remain seated.

“I’m not here as your superior. I’m here as a friend.” Mav smiled softly. “How is she?”

Jake swallowed thickly. “She’s, uh, she’s not good apparently. I-I just got here and haven't talked to the doctors yet, but Phoenix said she’s supposed to pull through. But I don’t know… it all looks so bad.” Jake hung his head, trying to focus on the tiles on the floor as a way of keeping it together, but it wasn’t doing much good.

Mav sighed. “She did everything she could when things went wrong. Honestly, I don’t think I could have done better.”

“But she shouldn’t have been there in the first place. It should have been me.”

“You’re right. It should have been.” Jake’s head snapped up at Maverick’s words but before he could say anything, the man continued. “You were scheduled to fly today and you didn’t, so she took your place to help her teammates. And no matter what anyone tells you, how it wasn’t your fault, how you couldn’t have known, how it was just an accident, you will never forgive yourself for what happened today. I don’t say this to place blame or judgment, I’m saying this from experience. This moment will change you as a pilot and as a man forever. Just make sure you take away the right lessons from it.”

“What are the right lessons?” Jake asked.

“Only you can figure that out. But try to learn from this, don’t let it destroy you.”

Jake hesitated but then asked, “You say you’re speaking from experience, sir. Do you mean what happened with Bradshaw’s father?”

Maverick sighed as he ran his hand over the back of his neck. “I don’t know if Bradley wants people to know this, but I think it’s exactly what you need to hear right now and it’s as much my story as it is his father’s.” Maverick walked over and settled into one of the chairs along the far wall.

After another deep breath, he continued, “Goose was more than just my RIO. He was family to me. But I didn’t listen when he told me I needed to be a less reckless pilot. That I needed to stop trying to prove myself to everyone every time I climbed into the cockpit. But I didn’t listen to what anyone had to tell me. I thought I was the best and needed to make sure everyone else knew it too. So, I took risks I shouldn’t have and did things that put a lot of people in danger, not just me. And one day during practice, I was goading another pilot to stand down so I could take the shot and win the fight. But I was too close and when he was finally forced to bail out, we got caught in his jet wash. Both of our engines flamed out and we had to eject. But the canopy didn’t open correctly and Goose…. He didn’t make it.”

The older man leaned his head back against the wall as he closed his eyes and Jake could tell he was reliving that horrible moment again in his head.

“I was cleared of all wrongdoing and his death was ruled an accident. Even Goose’s own family– Rooster– didn’t blame me for what happened….. but I did. It might have been an accident, but I still put us in that position in the first place. And if I had just done my job like I was supposed to, he never…” He softly shook his head. “My point is, I almost quit. Well, in fact, I did quit. But I had people there to support me and help me find my way back. And I’m trying to pay it forward and be that for you.

“Yes, what happened was an accident. Yes, you’re always going to blame yourself anyway. But Hangman…. Jake…. she wouldn’t want you to give up because of this. She would want you to get back in the air and do your job. However, when you do, don’t forget why you weren’t in that plane today. Remember those reasons and do something to change them in the future. I’m not saying I was less reckless after what happened with Goose, but I did learn to look out for my fellow pilots and that it isn’t always about me when I was up in the sky. Maybe that’s something you should think about too.”   

Maverick got to his feet and took one last look at you laying in the bed. “You can stay here tonight, but I expect you to be on time for training in the morning. We’re already a pilot down and we’ll need everyone to be on top of their game. Do you think you can do that?”

For the first time, Jake looked at your face. It was bruised and broken yet it was still the woman he loved. You were here because you refused to let your team down, how could he do any less?

“I’ll be there, sir. And I’ll be ready.”

Jake couldn’t believe it had been over a week since your accident and three days since he last saw you. It had torn him up inside to leave you behind, yet he knew you would have never let him hear the end of it if you woke up and found out he had abandoned his post– his team– to stay with you instead of going on the mission. So, he left.

Maverick had been chosen as team leader and he selected Rooster as his wingman. Before your accident, Jake would have been furious and filed a claim of favoritism or preferential treatment but now, he reluctantly had to admit the other man was the better choice. Even if Jake’s head had been fully on the mission and not partially back in a hospital room on the other side of the world, the success of this mission depended on teamwork and trust, two things he had lacked up until now. So as much as the rejection had stung, he accepted it. But it all worked out in the end. The mission was a success, everyone made it back alive, and he had even gotten to play a part in it after all. 

But now, all he cared about was seeing you again. 

However, as he stepped out of the elevator and headed towards your room, Jake turned the corner just in time to see two doctors leaving room 627 wheeling out large pieces of equipment. He was too far away to hear what they were saying, but one of them shook his head sadly as he stared at the floor. 

Jake took off running, his heart pounding in his chest as the fear of what he would find when he reached your door threatened to overtake him. He couldn’t remember a single time in the air he had been more terrified than he was at this moment. And when he burst through your door, he almost collapsed at the sight before him.

You were sitting propped up and most of the machines had been removed including the ventilator, which meant you were now breathing on your own. But best of all, you were staring back at him with slightly glazed eyes (probably from all the pain meds you were on), and a soft smile spread across your face as you recognized your visitor.

“Hey…” Your voice was faint and raspy after so long without use. Of course, having tubes shoved down your throat for the past week hasn't helped either. Your skin was still sickly looking, and you still had casts and bandages over large portions of your body, but you looked so much better than you had the last time he had seen you.

Jake swallowed heavily before he managed to whisper, “Hey. How are you?”

“I hurt…. everywhere. And I can’t really move too much between the broken bones, casts, or stitches, but I guess it’s better than the alternative.” Your eyes darkened for a moment and Jake knew you were thinking about how close you came to not being here at all.

Slowly, he began approaching your bed. “How long have you been awake?”

“Two days but they just took the ventilator out yesterday. It hurt like hell.”

“Why didn’t anyone tell me?”

“They contacted Maverick, but I asked him not to tell you. I didn’t want to distract you from the mission.” You gave Jake a warm smile as you said, “And I guess it worked. I hear you’re a hero. Though I always knew that.”

Jake shook his head as he stared down at the floor. “Nah, Mav and Rooster are the real heroes. I just swooped in to save their asses at the end.”

“Wow. Giving the credit to others? Who are you and what have you done with the man I love?”

Jake’s eyes snapped to your face. “The man you–? Still? Even after everything I said to you? I was afraid–”

Your soft chuckle cut him off as you rolled your eyes. “It was a fight, Jake. Sure, your words really hurt me, but if I was going to call it quits the first time you said something rude or insensitive, we wouldn’t have made it past our first date.”

“Am I really such a jerk?”

“I would say jackass, but not all the time. And usually not to me, though you can have your moments. But that’s okay. Because you’re my jackass.” You tried to give him a wide smile, but it caused you to wince in pain instead.  

Jake sat down by the bed as he shook his head. “You shouldn’t be here. None of this should have happened. You don’t deserve it.”

Your hand slid over and gently rested on top of his. The gauze was still there but most of the tubes and wires had been removed. Curling your fingers weakly around his thumb, you managed to give it a slight squeeze. “Jake, it wasn’t your fault.”

“I was supposed to be in that plane, not you. If I hadn’t stormed off–”

“Then you might be laying in the morgue instead of a hospital bed. Or you might have realized something was wrong and landed before the engine blew up. Or you might have crashed into Phoenix and Bob and taken them down too. Or, because of this, there might not have been anyone there to save Maverick and Rooster. There’s no point in thinking about what if’s because we’ll never know. We’re both still here. That’s all I care about.” Jake could tell you meant that, but the forlorn look on your face as you glanced away made him realize there was more going on.

“There’s something else. Something you’re not telling me.”

You shook your head softly. “It’s nothing. We can talk about it later.”

“No, it’s obviously really bothering you. I– I want to help.”

“Jake…. You can’t fix this.” Your voice suddenly grew thick with unshed tears, and you tried to pull your hand away, but Jake held it firmly in place.

“Baby, what is it?”

You took a shuddering breath before whispering, “They told me it’s highly unlikely I’ll ever be able to go up in a fighter plane again. With the G’s… my heart and lungs were too damaged. They won’t be able to handle it.” You let out a strangled sob as tears welled up in your eyes. “I’m grounded. Permanently. As soon as I’m out of the hospital, they’re taking my wings and medically discharging me from the Navy.”

Jake couldn’t believe it. Flying meant just as much to you as it did to him, and he couldn’t imagine his life without it. “Zips–”

But you shook your head, tears finally cresting over your eyelids and trickling down your cheeks as you cut him off. “That won’t be me for much longer. Civilians don’t need callsigns.”

Jake cupped your face in his hands as he used his thumb to wipe away your tears, “Hey, no matter what happens, you’ll always be my Zipper. Okay? No one can take that away from you.”

You nodded, your tears beginning to flow faster. But when you looked at him, Jake only saw adoration shining in your eyes. “I love you, Jake.”

“I love you too, Zips. I love you so damn much. And we’ll figure this out, okay? Together.”

As you smiled at him, he leaned over and placed a gentle kiss on your lips. There had been times over the last week that he feared he would never be able to kiss you again, and that even if you pulled through, you wouldn’t want anything to do with him after the way he acted. And he wouldn’t have blamed you. 

He had been acting like an arrogant, spoiled little boy for far too long, and with the struggles and obstacles that lay ahead, you needed someone better. And he could be better. He could be the man you needed. Because Jake loved you with all of his heart, and he was never going to leave your side again. 

Taglist: @valoraxxx-blog, @m3laniehearts, @autumnleaves1991-blog,  @rule107, @vintageleather, @impossiblebagelcowboyfreak, @slutforadambanks, @americaarse, @reneki, @ynbutbetter , @sugarcoated-lame, @imagineadream, @sadpetalsstuff, @salty-thembo, @rachelizabethgraham, @duckandrobin, @queenbbarnes, @grincheveryday, @uselesslyromantic, @choochoo284, @littlebadariell, @blue-aconite, @thescarletknight2014, @dempy, @nik2blog, @dumb-fawkin-bitch, @shirley2996, @kkrenae