9059/Flying High

Flying High
Date of Scene:	03 September 2019
Location:	Eastern Seaboard
Synopsis:	Caitlin Fairchild gets some flying lessons from Carol Danvers.
Cast of Characters:	Fairchild, Captain Marvel (Danvers)

---

Fairchild has posed:
"I'm just... nervous," Caitlin admits. Fingers wring together and the redhead glances over her shoulder at Carol Danvers, next to her. "It just looks kinda... tiny."

The two women stand on an airstrip in front of a private hangar. Both are clad in flight gear; Caitlin in a jumpsuit bereft of military markings or insignia, but clearly surplus equipment sized for her. Tightly braided red hair hangs at the nape of her neck in a bun so as to allow her to don the flight helmet in her left hand. The single-seater aircraft in front of her stands on the tarmac, ready to launch with a touch to the controls. Even stationary, it glistens under the afternoon sun with all the tension of a hunting falcon.

"Are you sure I'm ready to try a stunt plane like this? I only got rated on props last year," she reminds Carol. "This is a lil' intimidating, I won't lie."

Captain Marvel (Danvers) has posed:
"Further," Carol says, stepping behind Caitlin and bringing her profile as level with hers as she can with the height differential.

"Higher," she adds, lifting a hand up in front of them both and pointing to the pale blue stretch of sky - cloudless and perfect.

"Faster," she finishes, giving the redhead a nudge in the back with her elbow to push her forward a couple of steps. A broad grin is on the veteran pilots face, looking at the stunt plane like an old friend she's been avoiding catching up with for far, far too long.

"If you want to fly, Cait - and I mean really fly? You never worry about the right time. You just worry about getting up there. As far as you can go. Push the limits. Skip along the atmosphere like a stone and go beyond."

She sighs, still smiling: "Besides, you can't do half as many loop-de-loops in a prop plane."

Fairchild has posed:
Caitlin whines a little and her head lolls at the nudge, but with a feigned adolescent resentment (mostly feigned) she starts forward towards the vehicle. "It's not the flying part that scares me, it's the *crashing* part that I'm worried about," she tells Carol. Caitlin opens the cockpit canopy and clambers into the nose of the plane, making it rock back and forth on the pistoned wheels in protest at the additonal weight. "So when I plow into a tree or something, I'm gonna be buried under a sign that says 'I Told You So'," Cait quips.

She grins at Carol. Hands spread and expand, illstrating a sign. "In big letters, on a banner at least five meters long."

She tugs the helmet into place, more for the sake of hosting the avionics than any need for safety. Cait's skull is as obdurate as steel. Faint lights flicker and flash as the visor's HUD comes online.

"Okay, I'm in. SIRIN, are we online?" she asks. Lights flicker as her portable AI unit intergrates into the system and acknowledges it to Caitlin.

"Okay. Well... no time like the present, right?" Eyebrows bob at Carol and Caitlin pulls the canopy shut, sealing her into the torpedo-shaped hull.

"<If I'm doing this more than once, then I'm *definitely* putting in an adjustable seat,>" she informs Carol over their shortwave. The engines hum to life and the thrusters start vectored motion as they come online.

Caitlin flashes a thumbs-up at Carol. "Lights are green, engines nominal, Captain," she says, affecting a Scottish accent. "Tower's given us clearance to depart."

Captain Marvel (Danvers) has posed:
"I'll be right there with you," Carol offers in her most soothing tone, "Well, I mean I'll be outside - but what other flight instructor can offer you that?"

The blonde plants her fists on her hips as she watches Cait climb into the plane, firing off a playful salute as the canopy seals shut and she gives her the thumbs up. She lifts the collar of her flightsuit, speaking casually into the receiver there.

"<Hey, these birds aren't made for warrior women of the Amazons,>" still grinning, "<And stop worrying so much about crashing. You'd come out of it without a scratch and you can just whiz kid up another, faster plane. That's what geniuses do, right?>"

As she gets the thumbs up, Carol rises a few feet off the ground and returns it with an emphasized nod of her head.

"<Alright, ace, get her airborne and I'll see you up there!>"

That said, she extends both arms out to her sides and rockets off towards the sky under her own power with nothing but a flutter of wind.

Fairchild has posed:
"<Yeah, yeah,>" Caitlin grumbles. She watches Carol take off, raising her voice slightly: "<Genius or not, I still have a mortgage and I don't wanna replace this!>"

"Okay, here we go," Caitlin mutters to herself. She settles into the seat and flicks a few switches, then presses power to the thrusters. The only warning is a faint hum as the generators kick into gear and then the plane's off like a loosed rocket and a yelp of surprise from the pilot.

The yellow and silver bird streaks skywards and banks sharply left towards the bay and the open ocean beyond. "Holy CRAPPLES this thing handles like a housefly!" Caitlin squeals. With a whoop of joyful tension she twists it through a barrel roll and banks sharply upwards to gain more altitude.

Captain Marvel (Danvers) has posed:
"<Then don't break it!>" Carol's reply is sing-song through the radio, her form already distant and turning faint circles in the sky high above.

As the plane takes to the sky, she dips down to match altitude with it and speeds up to fall into formation alongside it. She's all smiles - never more alive than when she's in the air, plane or no - and she peels off to one side as the fancy maneuvers are tried out.

"<That's the stuff,>" she encourages over the radio, rocketing upward on the same angle and giving the cockpit window and the pilot beyond a thumbs up, "<Take it easy. Keep an eye on the VSI - you're not gonna stall out, but you climb too fast you'll lose your sense of direction. Plus you can't enjoy the view.>"

Fairchild has posed:
Caitlin's eyes flicker to the few manual gauges, but the AI in her helmet feeds her a steady stream of useful data floating just below the various flight indicators. "The secondary generator's having a minor fluctuation. Looks like it needs recalibration; I'm adjusting the power feed to compensate," Caitlin informs Carol. Fingers fly over the controls and she grips the control stick once again.

The plane levels out and Caitlin dips the wings left and right, getting a better feel for how it responds. She shakes her head in admiration at the response from the vehicle. "Okay, I'm starting to see how someone could get addicted to air races. This is so much different than a Quinjet. Or a Javelin," she adds. "They're like... a boat compared to this."

She abruptly breaks their loose formation and tumbles sideways through the air with another gleeful cheer. "Time to enjoy the view later-- let's buzz the coastline!" she tells Carol, and plunges to earth with alarming speed checked only by a sharp change in direction at the last second. The thrusters ripple leaves in their wake and blast up a spray of sand on the mostly deserted stretch of shoreline.

Captain Marvel (Danvers) has posed:
"<Malfunctioning already, huh? Just remember it's not a test flight until you feel like the whole things going to shoot you off into orbit or explode out from underneath you. Welcome to the club, flygirl!>"

Carol laughs outside the cockpit window, although her receiver doesn't pick it up. All that can be seen is a broad smile and slight creases at the corner of her eyes. She reaches up to activate the transmitter again, "<The Quinjet's a school bus. Hats off to Tony for building a fancy ride, but nothing that was built to ferry the Hulk from Point A to Point B is going to move like one of these girls.>"

"<Yes! And here I was worrying you were going to play it safe! Perfectly level flying is a crutch!>"

Not to be outdone, Carol dips when Caitlin's plane does. She plummets face-first towards the ground, not only dropping through the air but actively powering herself towards the ground at the speed of flight. As she moves, the flight suit she wears begins to shimmer and change until suddenly it is the familiar red and blue suit of Captain Marvel. The red sash about her waist flutters furiously in the wind as she gets within several feet of the shoreline and levels off at a right angle, speeding out along the water.

"<Go get 'em, Maverick!>"

Fairchild has posed:
Catilin noses the plane down until she's chasing Carol's boots. Abrupt breathing comes across the receiver as if she's only just aware she's holding her breath. At this altitude, a bare nudge against the controls would bury the nose of the plane in the sand.

The vessel weaves carefully back and forth as Caitlin tries to match Carol's flight lead. It skims over a dune, dances a twisting path, and she pulls ahead to Carol's port side, cockpit even with Danvers' position.

And upside down.

"Smile!" Caitlin tells Carol and there's a sharp flash of light from the plane as she snaps a photo of the aviatrix. "Now I can say, 'I was inverted at the time'!" she delcares, and laughs gleefully at her own joke.

Captain Marvel (Danvers) has posed:
Carol responds immediately when she's told to smile, and the photo will show her flying on one side as though she were reclining on a couch. Her eyes are closed, her teeth are flashing white in a broad smile, her short blonde hair fluttering in the breeze, and her flat hand brought to her forehead in a salute.

'Greetings from the Danger Zone. Wish you were here!'

"<Wait, does that make me the MiG?>" Carol asks into her receiver, turning upside down alongside the plane to match Caitlin's fancy flying, "<Alright, straighten her up, hotshot.>"

Fairchild has posed:
"<Oooops,>" Caitlin squawks. Carol's instruction corrects some lateral drift in her yaw that could destabilize the plane, and she hastily orients herself properly to the earth and levels out.

"<I can see some things I'd do a little differently if I were building this from scratch,>" Caitlin informs Carol. "<I think the thrusters would do better if they were located furthur inboard. Better leverage. And the control flaps are really sticky. I've got this idea for a flexible membrane that'd replace a wingflap but I haven't really worked the kinks out yet. I might have to see if Mr. Stark will give me the budget to license the blueprints for this girl and let me run a project with the Avionics section. Whatcha think?>"

Captain Marvel (Danvers) has posed:
"<Just tell him you'll be making a jet faster than anything else out there,>" Carol answers, spinning around herself to match the plane's orientation, "<If it's bleeding edge and he's the only one with it? That's the way to his heart. Or, I guess, the way to his glowing chest power plant thing.>"

"<Only thing I ask is that you let me test her out when you've worked out enough of the bugs - not all of them, mind you. Being a test pilot's no fun if you don't have at least one catastrophic failure. I remember this one time, at NASA, I kept wanting to test the ceiling on this new bird ... >"

The smile on her face fades just a little, and she extends her arms out to jet up a few meters ahead of the speeding stunt plane.

"<Alright, Maverick! You're pretty good, but you're not a Jedi yet. I want to see some more stunts out of that stunt plane!>"