Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It starts in the summer of 1967. Pete’s a kid sitting at the kitchen table covered in watercolors. 

She loves to paint and draw and get dirty and play and live. Her Mama is constantly exasperated by her, but after 5 years, no longer surprised by the hellraiser that is Patricia - “Pete, Mama” she insisted one day. “Like Spiderman, we share a birthday” - Mitchell. Her Daddy thinks she’s funny, always laughing at her when she comes back from the playground covered in dirt and mud and whatever else she can find.

Her Daddy is her hero (she likes him more than Spiderman but don’t tell him that or it’ll give him a big head (or so Mama says))

He’s in the Navy and flies Planes which is so cool and yes Bobby cooler than your stupid dad and who asked you anyway?

He goes away a lot, but he always comes back and gives Pete a big hug and a kiss (and also toys but don’t tell Mama or he’ll be accused of spoiling her (or so Daddy says))

Her life is pretty great. Mama and Daddy love her more than anything and love each other just as much. Their days together are filled with laughter and joy. They’re a small family, just the three of them, but Pete wouldn’t change it for the world. 

She loves her Daddy, and Mama is pretty great too. Pete’s under the impression that her Mama is the prettiest girl that ever lived, because that’s what Daddy says and he’s always right. He tells her so every time he comes home, and every time he goes away.

“I love you, I’ll be home before you know it.”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep Duke Mitchell.”

“Oh honey, I’ll always come home to the prettiest girls that ever did live,” he says with a wink to Pete who’s hugging his leg in see you soon (never goodbye, he promises). She giggles up at her Daddy, who’s smiling and making her Mama blush and swat at him playfully. 

It’s a perfect moment, saturated with all the love and warmth that surrounds and fills them up every day. Pete’s young, only 5, but she knows she’s lucky. Not everyone gets this, these halcyon days. So beautiful and lovely, it makes the world around her seem more vivid, more colorful and perfect. 

She paints with the water colors her Daddy brought her, the last time he came home. Trying to capture her days on the pages she ripped out of an old notebook she found. Splashes of blues and greens and reds. All of it drips with the brightness of life that lives inside her.

There’s a knock at the door.

Mama stops humming, turns down the radio, and puts her sewing to the side. Smiling at Pete, she goes to greet whoever’s at the door. 

Pete stops. Something has changed. Some fundamental thing has shifted in her universe and she knows that right now, she needs to stop. She needs to stop and look around her. Freeze this moment in time, capture it in her memory forever so that she can pull it out in the future, like a faded photograph and remember . 

The curtains are white in the window over the sink. They flutter peacefully in the breeze. The sky beyond is an idyllic blue, it’s midday right now. Mama should be making lunch soon. The radio is playing a different song now. All You Need is Love by the Beatles fills the room.

Her watercolors have stained her hands and arms, probably her face too. Her painting is a simple one today. It’s of them, her little family. Daddy left two weeks ago, and though she’s always strong when he goes away, she counts the seconds until he gets back. Pulling her up into his strong, safe arms, swinging her high over his head, letting her fly just like he does. He promises to fly for real with her one day. They’ll be each other's wingmen, he says. 

“If anyone can do it Pete, you can. You’re as good as any boy, maybe even better. It won’t be easy, but you’ll fly Pete, you were born with wings, it’d be a shame if you never used them.”

She’s staring at the watercolors, dreaming of flying, when her Mama comes back in the room to yank her out of the sky.

After that, the color drains away from her little world. 

All her paintings just look muddy now. Everything is less vivid and the brightness within her has dimmed. Mama tries, until she doesn’t. Pete hears her crying at night, hears her curse God and even Daddy. 

“Give him back!”

“Take me with you!”

Pete knows she’s not supposed to hear. Not supposed to know just how bad Mama is. But it’s kind of hard not to know when Mama just kinda stares off into nothing. Her once lively presence is now dull and ugly. Pete never thought she'd see her Mama as anything less than beautiful.

But Daddy’s dead, and Mama’s ugly. 

They exist like this - because this isn’t living, it isn’t - until Mama gets sick. 

Pete’s 7 now and she’s made her peace with the world. Her Daddy lied to her, promised he’d come back, promised he’d fly with her, promised a lot of things. Her Mama is empty and hardly speaks to her anymore. Just sits in her room all day playing the song she and Daddy had danced to at their wedding. It’s awful.

Pete’s ok with it.

Mama getting sick doesn’t really change much. She’s been sick for a long time, only now it’s something the doctor can actually diagnose. He tells them she doesn’t have long, and Pete’s ok with it.

Mama loves her, in her own way, and Pete loves her back. But it’s better this way. They spend a little more time than usual together, waiting for Mama to go. Things are different, as much as they remain the same. So when the day finally comes, and Pete buries her Mama right next to Daddy (just the tombstone, they never got his body back), Pete’s ok with it.

She doesn’t cry at the funeral. She saves her tears for when she’s alone, and then weeps for the life she lost 2 years ago, on that hot summer day.

Patricia Mitchell is put into foster care at age 7, but she’s been an orphan for a while now.

Pete’s 12 now and she’s been to so many different homes she can’t remember them all. She’s a tough girl, and she isn’t stupid. She knows how dangerous foster homes are, and if she slips up something awful could happen to her. Kids go missing all the time, and no one really looks for them. Girls mysteriously end up pregnant after being alone with one of the boys, or even the foster father. 

Pete sees the look in those girls' eyes, and she knows that she’d rather go missing.

But life isn’t so bad. Sure she bounces around a lot, but she doesn’t mind. She’s seeing a lot more of the country than she ever would have thought. She’s brighter now. What was once a flame is now a fire. She’s even regained a bit of color in her world thanks to one of the other kids at her current foster home.

His name is Bradley, he’s 4 and the cutest thing Pete’s ever seen. He took an immediate shine to her the moment they met, and they’ve been inseparable since. Bradley toddles after her as fast as his little legs can carry him wherever Pete goes, and she wouldn’t have it any other way. 

Their foster mother is actually one of the better ones, maybe because she only has 3 kids living with her currently. Jeremy is 17, and his birthday is right around the corner. He stays in his room whenever he’s not at school or the gas station where he works. Pete’s been here for a year and a half, her longest stint yet, and she swears Jeremy has said 10 words to her maybe . 

Lisa, their foster mom, gives Pete a small allowance if she does her chores, and Pete blows all her money on Bradley. She’s recently bought him a nice set of watercolors. She had loved painting when she was younger, and now with little Bradley, she feels she’s ready to start again.

Bradley gets paint everywhere the first time and it’s the maddest Pete has ever seen Lisa. After that, Pete does her very best to ensure they don’t suffer a repeat performance. 

Pete and Bradley spend all summer playing and painting and thriving, and she’s finally living again. She loves that kid more than anything, and as soon as she’s 18, she’s gonna adopt him. Lisa has already promised to help her out with the process. Pete had hugged her tight and thanked her over and over again. In that moment, she was flying again.

So you can imagine her feelings when Bradley’s mom came to get him back. 

Bradley’s mom, Jessie, had lost custody of him when he was 2. She had been addicted to drugs and more worried about her next fix than about her baby. A neighbor noticed her neglect and called the cops. Bradley was whisked off to foster care, and Jessie to jail. Now, 2 years later, here she was, standing on Lisa’s front porch with a CPS agent, and smiling gently like she wasn’t ripping Pete out of the sky.

Lisa was surprised, but happy for Bradley. Pete considers her a traitor.

In the end, there was nothing to be done. No matter how hard Pete begged or cried nothing changed. They packed Bradley’s clothes and toys, stowing them away in the trunk of the car Jessie had shown up in. It didn’t matter that Bradley didn’t remember Jessie, that he was scared and wanted to stay with Pete. That he screamed and cried and ran to her begging her to pick him up and hold him. The adults just sighed and took him away. 

Later, after Pete had stood outside long after Jessie’s car, and little Bradley had disappeared from view, did she finally go inside. She didn’t respond to Lisa’s questions, she couldn’t even look at her. The anger and hurt inside Pete was still too raw. She ignored Lisa and went upstairs to the room her and Bradley had shared.

It was like he had never been there at all. All his clothes were gone, his toys, the few he had, were all with him and Jessie, going to who knows where. All Pete knew was that he wasn’t here . 

Anger and grief welled up inside her so fast it would have concerned her any other time. All she could see was red, all she could do was cry. The room seemed to spin, the ground seemed to sway. Pete opened her mouth to scream, to cry, to beg, to rage, she didn’t know, she didn’t care.

Then she saw it, and she stopped. There, on Bradley’s side of the room, on his dresser, was the one thing of his that still remained. 

They had left his watercolors behind.

Pete hounded Lisa for any and all information she could get on Bradley, which admittedly, wasn’t much. She didn’t stop painting like she had last time she’d been torn out of the sky. No, Bradley was still out there, and she’d see him again one day, she knew it. And when she did, she’d show him all the watercolor paintings she’d made.

Life wasn’t great, but it was ok. Pete was ok. 

11 months after Bradley left, Pete had turned 13 and was dreading the start of school. She didn’t do well in a school environment (she had a hard time sitting still, to the surprise of no one). Pete was out in the yard tinkering with Lisa’s car, it needed an oil change and Pete was actually good with machines, understood them better than people sometimes, when Lisa came out and called her inside.

“Pete, I- I’m so sorry, I don’t know how to tell you this.”

In the time Pete had known her, she’d never seen Lisa cry, So the sight of her breaking down into sobs was alarming to say the least. 

“Jessie, she- well she fell off the wagon, she went out and got high and left Bradley alone…he went out for help after a while they think, and got into an accident. Pete, oh god I’m sorry, he’s gone sweetheart. Bradley’s gone.”

Pete wanted to cry, but the tears wouldn’t come. Bradley, little Bradley, with his big brown eyes and cute little dimples and chubby cheeks was dead. Gone in a fucking instant because his drug addict mother had left him alone and got him killed. She and everyone else had come into Pete’s life and ripped that little boy out of her arms and said it was better this way. Well now he was dead, gone, snuffed out. He had probably been scared, had wondered where his mama was, where Pete was, and had gone looking. He had probably been hungry and cold, when he should have been with Pete, here in this house with her and their watercolors.

Distantly, Pete recognized that she was moving. Up the stairs, into her room and over to her dresser. She gently went and picked up her watercolors, then turned around and went back downstairs to the kitchen, where Lisa was still sobbing.

Pete threw the fucking watercolors in the trash.

Lisa cried harder. 

Pete couldn’t find it in herself to give a fuck. 

Pete considered running away a couple times over the years. She hated Lisa. Hated how she trusted her, how she had given Bradley away, hated the way she cried when Bradley died, as if it wasn’t her fault. Most of all, Pete hated how she didn’t hate her. For a while, Pete had, she honestly had. But Pete wasn’t stupid, and she knew it hadn’t been Lisa’s fault. That she had no choice. So Pete had forgiven her, even when all she wanted to do was hate her. 

So yea, Pete was a mess, and had wanted to run away from everything, From Lisa, from this house, from the watercolors Pete had dug out of the trash the same night she threw them away, from the memory of Bradley, from herself . 

But she stayed. She toughed it out and planted her feet and fucking stayed. She had a new mission in life. 

Bradley was dead and never coming back, but she’d never forget him. She loved him as much as she did the days she'd lost him. And she was going to go out there and live for him. For her father, for her mother, for herself. She was going to see and do everything they never had the chance to.

She’d take them with her, through life. To the sky and beyond.

Watercolor tears and all.

Chapter Text

Pete turns 18 in the spring of 1980. Bradley’s been gone 5 years at this point, and she still finds herself looking for him. She’ll hear a joke, or see a toy and all of a sudden she’s 12 again, chasing Bradley around Lisa’s front yard. The pain of losing him is just as fresh as ever, when she remembers that Bradley isn’t there anymore.

Pete’s made her peace with Lisa, and their relationship isn’t as rocky as it once was. After Bradley, Lisa stopped fostering kids, and adopted Pete. Maybe she did it because she knew Pete blamed her. Maybe she blamed herself and couldn’t move past it. Or maybe she did it because she loved Pete and wanted to apologize by giving her a permanent home. Pete didn’t know, she never asked. The answer wouldn’t have brought Bradley back, and Pete didn’t need another reason to be angry with Lisa.

On her birthday, there’s a cake and a small gift. Lisa had bought her a pair of aviator glasses, just like the ones her Dad used to wear. It soothes something in Pete, knowing that Lisa supports her dream, doesn’t call her stupid or crazy like all the other people who doubt her. Pete will go to the Navy. She’ll earn her wings and make her Dad proud. 

Pete’s older now and she knows more of what happened to Duke Mitchell. Knows that the Navy says he’s a traitor to his country and he left his wingman behind. She knows that these things are unforgivable, both as a soldier and a pilot. Pete knows that she’ll have to work three times as hard because she’s a woman, and her Dad is a notorious example of what not to do. Yea, Pete knows all of this.

It doesn’t faze her in the slightest.

She’ll go to the Navy and become the best damn pilot they’ve ever seen. Pete’s going to show those boys how it’s done, and she’s going to do it her way. No highway option. Pete Mitchell has a fire in her that can’t be snuffed out. Dimmed? Sure, it’s happened before. But never extinguished. Pete was born with wings and the stars in her eyes and the sun in her smile. 

If the Navy closes the door in her face then they better be prepared for her to break a window, because Patricia “Pete” Mitchell is a goddamn Maverick.

Pete’s 18, going on 19, when she meets Carole Winn and they take to each other like ducks to water. Pete’s currently stateside and is on the way to earning those wings. She’s at a local dive bar when she overhears a conversation between the ugliest guy she’s ever seen, and what she assumes is a model, the woman’s that pretty.

“How about we go back to my place after this? I’ll show you a real good time Sugar, I promise.” This is accompanied by a wink which makes Pete gag from 10 feet away. How the model doesn’t throw up given the closeness between the two, is a mystery to her.

“I’m not interested in you taking me to bed, stud. I’m afraid you’re just gonna have to find someone else.” 

Jesus, even this woman’s voice is pretty. Pete feels self conscious just by existing near her. Don’t get her wrong, Pete knows she’s a hot piece of ass, but she’s no angel walking the earth like this other chick.

“Aw come on honey, don’t be like that…” The ugly bastard moves to grab Pete’s dream girl (if it wouldn’t get her ass thrown out of the Navy, Pete’d be on that like white on rice) and she decides to step in.

“Look fuck face, she said no. Now be a big boy and get lost before you start something you can’t finish.”

The pair turns to face her. The woman looks relieved and a touch amused, but the guy’s scowling before he catches sight of her, and outright laughs in Pete’s face (she knows she’s on the shorter side but come on). Bastard McFuckface stops laughing and tries to compose himself.

“Oh Doll there’s more than enough of me to go around. No need to get jealous. How about we all go back to my place? I’m sure you two could have a lot of fun.” Ugly Shit Stain (ok she really needs a name before she runs out of insults) leers at her, his eyes flicking back and forth between her and Angel McModel. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to guess where his thoughts are. Honestly, Pete can’t say she’s opposed to the idea of her and the pretty blonde getting to know each other like that. But The Phantom of the Opera over here (she’s kinda proud of that one) is decidedly not invited.

“Dude, your face is my new sleep paralysis demon. I know I’m out of your league, and she ,” Pete gestures to the beautiful women that’s now looking at her with laughter dancing in her gorgeous blue eyes (Pete really needs to reign it in, her own subconscious is embarrassed), “is so far out of your league you’re not even playing the same sport.”

The guy gets so red Pete almost wants to ask if he needs an ambulance.

“You little bitch, who the fuck do you think you are?”

Leatherface (really grasping at straws here huh, Pete?) makes a grab for her, but Pete survived basic and the US foster care system, and nimbly dodges out of the way. She’s rapidly running through plans she can use, hoping this doesn’t get back to her CO’s, when the ugly fucker (she tried) takes a wild swing at her. It might just be the absolute worst punch ever thrown in the history of mankind, and Pete’s honestly kinda dumbstruck by the sheer awfulness. This proves to be a mistake on her part, because even though this guy isn’t Muhammad Ali, he’s built like a brick shithouse. 

He must have at least two brain cells to rub together because he decides to take advantage of her shock and charge her. Pete knows she can’t dodge him completely this time, and braces herself to be hit by the human equivalent of a dump truck, when all of a sudden Mr. Hyde (she gives herself a mental fist bump) goes down like a sack of potatoes. Pete looks behind the now limp body, to see Angel McPretty standing behind him holding a fucking brick . 

If Pete had been born a man she’d drop to her knees and propose (she still might honestly).

“Well, he was a bit of an asshole wasn’t he?” The woman says

“That’s putting it lightly. Thanks for saving me from death via adult male gorilla.”

The woman throws her head back, her golden curls catching the light and making her glow. Sue her, Pete’s got a thing for blondes.

“Pretty sure I should be thanking you honey. Why don’t we get out of here and find something to eat, my treat.” 

Pete is but a woman meeting an angel, of course she goes. After that, Carole Winn (she finally got her name and was only mildly shocked she wasn’t an actual angel from God) and her are thick as thieves. For the next couple weeks while Pete’s stateside, they’re stuck to each other like glue. Pete even gets a couple kisses after one memorable night of drunken shenanigans, but unfortunately Carole’s straight. Fortunately, Carole lets her down easy and doesn’t have a problem with Pete being into men and women, and she promises to stick with her no matter what.

Pete’s still not unconvinced of Carole’s angel status.

Pete is 20 when she finally earns her wings and meets Nick “Goose” Bradshaw. 

It doesn’t matter that she graduated at the top of her class, passed with flying colors and proved she was the best. None of the men wanted to fly with her. Pete went through RIO’s like she was getting paid to do it. She tried not to let it get to her, honest, but when you spend years trying to prove yourself and earn your comrades respect, only to be told that they still don’t trust you because you’re a woman or because your Dad went missing over enemy lines, it stings.

Pete had cried over the phone to Carole after the 5th RIO had requested a transfer. She had waited until she was sure no one was around, then cried like it was going out of style, wishing Carole was there to comfort her in person.

“I know sweetie, I know. It’s not fair and it sucks. But you can’t let them get to you. That’s what they want, Pete. You gotta square your shoulders, and hold your head high. I’ve seen you do it before. I know you got a heart of gold and a spine of steel. Just hold on babe. Someone’s gonna come along and see what I see, and all this shit is gonna look so stupid. Just hang on ‘til they get there, Pete.”

“God Carole, marry me.” Pete sniffed. Carole was right, she always was, and Pete loved her fiercely for sticking with her through all her shit. Carole knew everything about Pete, and could read her like the back of her hand. After 2 years of friendship, nothing was a secret. Pete had even told her about Bradley, had sobbed on her shoulder like a fucking baby on the anniversary of his death over these last two years. She was completely convinced that Carole Winn was a Goddess amongst mere mortals, and Pete was just lucky to be loved by her.

“Now Petey Pie, you know the answer to that,” Carole laughed. “You feel better sweetie?”

“Yea babe, I’ll be alright, just one of those days.”

“Good, now dry your eyes, splash some water on your face, and show those boys who’s boss.”

Pete let out a long loud laugh, letting it fill her up from the inside, making her feel lighter than she had in a while. 

“Yes, Ma’am!”

Three days later, Pete was assigned Nick Bradshaw as her new RIO. After being dismissed by every RIO who came her way, Pete wasn’t expecting much. Maybe this guy wouldn’t outright scoff as if her very presence offended him (RIO #3 had been a world class douche). So when she actually met Nick Bradshaw, she was pleasantly surprised to say the least.

She spotted her CO talking to a tall, lanky guy and after spending months on a ship, she knew everyone on board. This guy was new, and that could only mean one thing, Bracing herself, she walked over to the two men.

“Maverick, perfect timing, meet your newest RIO Nick Bradshaw, call-sign Goose.”

The new guy turned to face her and his eyebrows rose to his hairline. Here we go again. Remember what Carole said, Pete. She took a deep breath, stuck a big smile on her face and stuck out her hand in greeting.

“Hi, I’m Pete Mitchell, call-sign Maverick, I’m your new pilot.”

Goose just looked for a second, and Pete was already preparing for a lecture on why women shouldn’t be allowed in the Navy, let alone be allowed to fly, when he suddenly grasped her hand in a firm shake.

“I’m Nick, but call me Goose like the man said. Well Maverick, when I was told my new pilot has gone through a lot of RIO’s, I’ll admit I was wary. Never heard of a guy going through that many that fast. But now I think I understand and I have something to say to you.” 

Oh Jesus Christ, here it comes. Pete was fighting the eye roll with everything she had. Just another sexist prick who couldn’t respect women if his life depended on it. Funny how they were happy to flirt with her but couldn’t show her any modicum of basic human-

“You’ve obviously been intimidating everyone with your height and muscles. Probably threatened to kill them all and throw the bodies overboard if they pissed you off. Well Mav, you’re gonna have to try a lot harder if you wanna scare me off. I’m like gum on your shoe, never gonna get rid of me,” Goose interrupted her thoughts with a grin.

It was Pete’s turn to raise her eyebrows. This guy was going off script, and didn’t seem to be fucking with her. Damn Carole, right again.

“You got me Goose. I’m just too much to handle for these boys.”

Goose threw his head back and cackled. “Oh Mav, we’re gonna have a lot of fun together.”

Goose was right. They did have a lot of fun together ( Too much fun if you asked their CO). They just seemed to click. Whatever Pete did in the sky, Goose adapted to it and they quickly formed a bond only a pilot and RIO could understand. As much as they may have pissed of their CO’s, they were able to slide by because everyone was just happy that they found a guy who didn’t hate Pete on sight. A month into their partnership, and it was as if they’d known each other for years. Pretty much everyone was done with them. Pete didn’t give a fuck, she hadn’t been this happy in years.

It was right before their shared shore leave when Nick Bradshaw and Pete Mitchell cemented themselves as permanent fixtures in each other's lives. Pete had already made plans to meet up with Carole, and Goose was tagging along because he, like Pete, didn’t have any family. After their daily hop, they were walking towards the mess when Goose asked a question.

“Heya Pete?” He hadn’t called her Mav or anything similar since their first week together. He had seen how she didn’t like it, and had stopped referring to her as it without questioning her.

Pete hummed in acknowledgement, but truly her mind was on dinner. She nearly ate shit right there in the hallway when the next question left his mouth.

“Why don’t you like your call-sign? What’s wrong with Maverick?”

Pete swung her head around so fast she almost gave herself whiplash. “Huh? What are you talking about dumbass?”

Goose rolled his eyes. Pete always deflected by insulting someone, he knew this like he knew Pete Mitchell was the best damned pilot in the Navy.

“You know what I'm talking about, shit head. I kept meaning to bring it up, but the timing was never right. I noticed you didn’t like Maverick in the first week of meeting you. Just curious as to why, is all.”

Goose was a lot more observant than Pete gave him credit for it seemed. He kinda reminded her of Carole in that sense. God, she hoped they got along. It’d be terrible if the two most important people in her life hated each other's guts.

“My CO in flight school gave it to me. He was a sexist jackass and tried to get me to quit every fucking day. I don’t know where he got it from, but the way he said it made me so fucking mad. Like it was an insult, like I was just a stupid little girl playing pilot. Just started to hate it I guess.”

Goose’s mouth pulled down into a frown as he shook his head and sighed. He hated that Pete wasn’t given the respect she deserved, just because she was a woman and what had happened with her dad. Neither of which she could change or control.

“Pete, you do know what Maverick means don’t you?”

It was Pete’s turn to frown. Why the fuck did that matter? She asked him as much.

“Pete,” He said with the same fond exasperation he always did when she pulled a truly insane move in the air. “Maverick means that you don’t act like they expect you to. They want you to be this cute little housewife that stays home and pops out a kid every couple years and rubs their feet when they get tired. You ,” He poked her with his pointer finger, “are perhaps the craziest son of a bitch who ever joined the Navy, and definitely the best pilot to ever fly in it. You’re not what they expected, not someone they can control and label. That CO of yours was a jackass, no question, but he wasn’t wrong . You, my friend, are a Maverick through and through, and there’s nothing wrong with that.”

Pete stared at Goose with wide, shocked eyes. Few people in her life had ever loved and defended her like Goose did. Her dad, mom, Lisa, Carole, and now Goose. Only a handful in all her 20 years. And only Carole had ever given her a speech like that. Pete felt the laughter bubbling up out of her. Throwing her head back and letting out a howl, she smiled so bright it rivaled the sun.

Goose looked at her in amusement. God she was stupid, what had she been worried about?

“Carole’s gonna love you.”

Mav, because after a speech like that , how could she not go by Mav, is right. Carole does love Goose and they get along great.

She just didn’t know it would lead to this.

This being the middle of the night at a house Carole rents, walking in on her two best friends doing the devil’s tango. Mav had wanted to snuggle with someone (she’s a very tactile, touch driven person) and had decided Carole was her teddy bear of the night. She and Goose were practically siblings and constantly showed physical affection, but cuddling your fully adult brother when you’re a fully adult woman in the middle of the night was just a tad too much even for them.

So she left the comfort of Carole’s guest room and traveled to the couch to tell Goose that he could sleep in her bed for the night. When he wasn’t there, she had assumed he was in the bathroom or something. Well, you know what they say about assuming.

Mav had opened Carole’s door with all the innocence and ignorance a sister can have about her pseudo brother’s sex life. At first, she didn’t know what she was looking at (screw you she’s not a virgin, it’s the middle of the night her brain is still half asleep). But when she heard a loud moan. then Carole's whimper of “Oh, Nick,” then saw with her own innocent eyes the lily white ass of one Nicholas Bradshaw did it finally click in her head that her best friends were apparently getting along very well.

“Oh my fucking God!” Mav screamed, trying to both slam the door shut, cover her eyes, and erase the last 30 seconds from her mind all at the same time. The two heathens on the bed sprang apart like they had been zapped, and turned to look at her with horrified eyes (the audacity truly, Pete was the one that was going to have to get a therapist). 

“Mav, what are you doing in here?!” Goose shouts while desperately trying to conceal the family jewels. Mav is definitely getting a therapist. 

“What am I doing? What are you doing dick face?!” Oh god, shouldn’t have said dick. Even therapy can’t help her now. She’s well and truly traumatized.

“Don’t talk about my dick, dumbass!” 

“I wasn’t talking about your dick, stupid! I called you a dick, there’s a difference, dick!”

“Stop saying dick!”

“Why are you yelling at me? You’re the one canoodling my best friend!”

In a bizarre turn of events, Goose brings out the puppy dog eyes on her. “I thought I was your best friend?”

“Goose, buddy, I love you, really I do, but if we’re going to have a heart to heart and define our relationship, your dick needs to not be out! ”

“Oh fuck, sorry,” Goose says as he suddenly remembers he’s buck ass nude in front of god and country. Fuck therapy, give Mav 10,000 volts straight to the head.

Carole, who looks like Christmas morning (Pete really needs to find some other tall, attractive blonde to drool over if Goose and Carole are a thing now), just laughs.

Pete’s 21, on the verge of 22, when Carole tells them she’s pregnant. Mav’s ecstatic because holy shit Carole’s pregnant. She’s going to be the most kick ass aunt to ever walk to earth, holy shit! She leans forward toward the ship phone her and Goose are sharing to ask questions, to congratulate her and Goose, to squeal in joy like the child she secretly is, when Goose hangs up the phone.

Mav can only stare in confusion before she realizes what Goose just did. Anger, white hot and dangerous consumes her. Nicholas Bradshaw better have the golden goose of reasons for hanging up on Carole, or Pete Mitchell is going to prison for homicide. 

Goose looks down at what can only be described as rage incarnate, which is enough to snap him out of his own stupor. 

“Oh my god what did I do?”

Mav is going to prison. Hopefully Carole’s sweet enough to  bring the baby by to visit her.

“You got the most wonderful, beautiful, amazing woman in the world to fall in love with you and your stupid ass mustache and when she told you she was pregnant you hung up on her. I hope you’re ready to die, Bradshaw.”

Any other time Mav would have found it funny, if not concerning, the way all the blood in Goose’s face drained. As it is, right now she only feels murderous.

“No Mav, no, not that. I meant oh god I just hung up on the most wonderful, beautiful, amazing woman in the world after she told me she’s gonna have my kid, and I’m a fucking idiot who needs to call her back but can’t get my hands to stop shaking enough to dial.”

Goose doesn’t know it, maybe suspects but doesn’t know, that he just saved his own life. The anger and subsequent murder plans leave Mav as quick as they had come, and she re-dials Carole’s number so the little family can properly celebrate their numbers growing from 3 to 4.

Pete is 22 when Carole Bradshaw nee Winn (official as of 6 months ago) goes into labor. 

Mav drives like a woman possessed, breaking every traffic law she’s ever heard of (and even some she hasn’t) to get Goose and herself to the hospital before the baby is born. They had just stepped off the ship and called Carole up when the woman herself had answered.

“Hey Carole, Goose and I just docked, and we’re heading home-”

“That’s great Mav! But my water just broke so if you could find the time to stop by the hospital that’d be great! ” And the call had abruptly ended.

Mav had grabbed Goose by his shirt collar and ran with him over to Bill Cortell’s, callsign Cougar, car. Mav knew Cougar had just had a kid with his wife the previous year, and unlike so many others, he wasn’t a complete douche. After hurriedly explaining the situation to both men (she had kinda forgotten to tell Goose what the fuck was happening) Cougar lent them his truck, making Mav promise not to wreck it and to return it in the next couple of days.

Mav gets to the hospital in record time. No seriously, if this whole naval aviator thing doesn’t pan out, she’s got a future in NASCAR. Goose makes it through the doors first (damn his long legs) with Mav herself not too far behind him (she ran track in high school), and after getting directions from the cute receptionist ( focus Mav) the two of them careen through the hallways towards labor and delivery.

They make it right before Carole starts pushing, and on some level Mav is glad to be here with her family experiencing this with them. On the other hand she really could have gone her whole life without seeing the business end of Carole push out a human. Oh god if Mav ever has kids the guy better be an absolute smoke-show if she has to go through that. Thankfully it’s over pretty quickly. Mav’s pretty proud of Carole for surviving that, and of Goose for not fainting. The newest member of the Bradshaw family is here. And it’s a boy.

They take turns holding the little guy, with Carole first, as is her right, and Mav last. Now Mav may be biased, but she’s 99.9% certain this is the cutest baby to ever exist. He’s got a tuft of blonde hair, chunky pink cheeks, and a beautiful pair of brown eyes. He’s perfect.

Mav’s still holding baby Bradshaw when Carole and Goose decide to emotionally nuke her. 

“Mav,” Goose says, prompting her to glance at him for a second, before her attention is once again on the baby. “We talked it over, a lot actually, and we love you so much. You brought us together, gave us a family, and there’s no way we can ever express how much you mean to us. Carole was the one to suggest it, and I agree. Mav…Pete. We wanna name him Bradley, if it’s ok with you…”

Time stops.

Mav had been staring at the baby the entire time Goose was talking. She had been looking down at this perfect, beautiful little boy when she heard the name of another little boy. One she had loved and lost so long ago. 

Oh Bradley…

The tidal wave of days long past hit her with the force of 2 G’s. Meeting him, playing with him, loving him. It’s been so long, she can barely remember what he looked like, his face now softened and blurred with time. She remembers that she used to pick him up and swing him around, just like her father had once done with her. The weight of him so familiar in her arms she was sure she’d never forget. Now it’s distorted, like looking through the ripples of time, trying to recall a dream. The pain is still there, but it too has lessened into a dull ache. Her love for him, her grief, is still strong, but time has allowed her to heal as the memory of him blurs into a watercolor haze.

This boy isn’t him, will never be her Bradley. She doesn’t want to weigh this baby down with all the grief she still holds inside her. Some part of her still looks for him in Lisa’s house, when she finds the strength to visit. No, she doesn’t give her consent as a way of holding on to old ghosts. She does it to honor Bradley, and the time they shared. 

Mav can’t find the right words to express her gratitude, her overwhelming love for Nick and Carole Bradshaw, so she sticks to her strengths, and cracks a joke.

“I can’t believe you two are naming your kid Brad Brad. Only an hour old and already he’s got his work cut out for him.”

Goose howls of laughter fill the room next to Carole’s soft giggles and Mav’s silent joy. 

Pete is 24 when her CO Stinger tells her she and Goose are going to Top Gun.

Fucking finally.

Chapter Text

Pete’s been in the Navy for 6 years, and during that time she’s had a lot of asshole CO’s. High ranking men looking down at her because she’s a woman running with the boys. Pete’s heard every insult under the sun directed at her and, in recent years, Goose.

“Give it up Mitchell, you don’t belong here.”

“Who’d you fuck for your wings? Must have been an Admiral. Always knew you were a slut.”

“You and Maverick seem close, Goose…tell me, what’s she like in the sack?”

“Ain’t no shame in getting some this far from the little lady, man.”

“You walk around here like you’re the shit, but it’d be so easy to hold you down and show you exactly where you belong, you little bitch.”

Yeah, Pete’s heard it all. From questioning her skills in the cockpit to rape threats. It doesn’t get easier to hear them, and Pete’s always cautious when on board a ship full of men. They hate her on principle, but Pete’s the only woman here, which makes her a target. She had made the mistake of letting her guard down once, and she wasn’t about to slip up again.

It had been RIO #4, Jeremy “Kermit” Dawson. Pete had instantly disliked him, even before he opened his mouth. She moved to shake his hand, and he grabbed it, twisted it so her palm was face down, and bent to place a kiss on the back of it. 

“Woah, what the fuck are you doing,” Pete said, jerking her hand back and swiping it on her flight suit.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to offend you. My mama always told me I had no restraint around a beautiful woman.” Kermit had said with a wink and a flirtatious grin. As if that wasn’t the biggest red flag Pete had ever heard.

“Well on this ship I’m not a beautiful woman, I’m a pilot. Don’t pull that shit again, got it?”

He had the decency to look embarrassed at the very least. “I’m so sorry, I got it. Totally won’t happen again.”

Pete still didn’t like him, but so far he hadn’t refused to work with her outright. Maybe he was just nervous? She’d give him another shot, but just one. She took a deep breath, and gave him a polite smile.

“Ok, good. Let’s start over. I’m Pete Mitchell, call-sign Maverick, and I’m your new pilot.”

“Well nice to meet you, Pete. I’m Jeremy Dawson, call-sign Kermit. Looks like I’m your new RIO.”

Pete hadn’t extended her hand again, and neither had he. Baby steps from here on out. After an awkward first meeting, Pete had been surprised by Kermit. He didn’t question her every move, and seemed to actually respect her. Pete usually trusted her gut, it’s what made her the best, but all evidence pointed to Kermit being a good guy, if a little forward. 3 weeks into their partnership and Pete felt like they were on their way to being good friends. Kermit still flirted with her, but it was light and he backed off when Pete said to. 

They were walking to the mess after their daily hop, and Kermit was goofing off. He had grabbed her aviators, the ones Lisa had gifted to her on her 18th birthday, and held them above her head. Pete, being 5’4, didn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of reaching them, as Kermit was a good 6’0. 

“Come on Pete, reach , you can do it!”

“Kermit, stop dicking around, it’s been a long day and I’m hungry.” Normally she’d try and entertain his antics in hopes of fostering a strong friendship, but right now all she wanted was food, a shower, and her bunk. Kermit usually pouted, but ultimately backed down when she told him to. So it surprised her when he just shook his messy dark curls and took off running down the hall. 

“Nope! If you want them back you’re gonna have to catch me!”

Pete was now well and truly pissed. She took off running after her rogue RIO, not realizing that they were heading away from the mess. It was dinnertime, everyone was probably already there. Pete saw Kermit take a hard left a couple feet in front of her and vowed to rip him a new asshole. 

“Dawson! You’re a fucking dead man you son of a-” She abruptly cut off. Kermit had led her into one of the more abandoned areas of the ship, and had waited until she followed him into a room before he shut it behind her. Alarm bells were ringing in her head. Get out get out get out .

“Dawson, you have about 3 seconds to open that door before I fucking kill you.”

The RIO just smirked at her. His once warm brown eyes were now filled with malice as he slowly approached her. “Now Pete, let’s not be like that. You and I both know I’m bigger than you. And seeing as I’m in front of the door, you’re shit out of luck. How about this? You get on your knees like a good little girl, and maybe I’ll let you out after.” His hands had moved to cup himself through his uniform slacks as he leered at her with lust and amusement.

Pete was mentally beating the shit out of herself. She knew that he was a creep, but she let herself be taken in and pacified, in hopes that she’d finally found a RIO. And now here she was, trapped in a room with a guy who wanted to rape her. Well if he thought she was gonna give in to him, let him use her, violate her, then he had another thing coming. Pete would rather die than give into any man. If this is when she burns in, then Jeremy fucking Dawson is coming with her.

“You’re dumber than you look if you think I’d bend over just ‘cause you asked me to. You want me? You better come and get me, you motherfucker.” Pete planted her feet, and raised her fists in preparation for him to charge her. She didn’t have to wait long. Dawson was confident of his ability to overpower her, and she knew that if she gave him the chance, he’d easily pin her. So when he rushed her, she faked right, and used her superior agility to dodge him and went left instead. He stumbled a bit, giving her the chance to move behind him, and kick his knees out from under him.

She could have made a break for the door, but there was no guarantee she’d make it their before he caught up to her, and turning her back to him was suicide. Dawson was on his knees for now, but was quickly moving to get up. Pete saw her chance and jumped on his back, winding her arms around his neck, she applied pressure hoping to choke him out. If she could knock this asshole unconscious, she’d be able to haul ass out of the room towards the mess without worrying about him following her.

Dawson panicked for about 10 seconds, flailing his arms around wildly. After that, the stupid son of a bitch must of remembered he was in the Navy, and had gone through combat training. He rose shakily to his feet, and Pete tightened her legs around him in an effort to stay on him. He was noticeably struggling to breathe now, and if she could have seen his face, Pete would have noticed how red it was. 

Just a little longer, Pete. Don’t let up, you’ve got the upper hand. 

Dawson must have thought so as well, because he spun around so his back, and therefore Pete, were facing the wall. Quickly backing up, he slammed himself against it, trying to knock her loose. Pete felt the air leave her lungs in a whoosh. Her head had flung back and smacked against the steel of the ship, and it took everything she had to keep her hold on him. Dawson kept ramming her against the door, but Pete just tightened her arms and legs and held on. If she let go, he’d be able to restrain her and do whatever he wanted. Losing this wasn’t an option. 

Dawson must have realized her resolve, because in a last ditch effort to free himself, he reached his arms back and clawed at her face. If she wanted to retain the pressure on his neck, she didn’t have a lot of wiggle room to work with, forcing her to endure his panicked clawing. Pete felt his nails catch on her skin, felt the blood he drew run down her face in small rivulets. He managed to catch her eyebrow, masking her vision in red.

His movements start to slow, and Pete feels the strength slip from his body as Dawson finally loses consciousness. She follows him to the floor, still maintaining her hold around his neck, ensuring that he’s not faking her out. Once she’s sure that he’s down for the count, Pete releases him and jumps away as if he burned her. Holy shit.

Pete doesn’t know what to feel. Dawson betrayed her trust and tried to assault her. They had fought, and she had won against a man twice her size. Shock, anger, and victory course through her with the strength of a hurricane. Holy shit!

Pete knows she needs to get help, even if the only thing her CO’s do is give him a slap on the wrist, no way in hell is she flying with him ever again. She knows that a majority of the men here won’t believe her, won’t care that she was almost violated in the worst way someone can be. But hopefully she can request a different RIO ASAP…then again she’s already gone through so many. More than any man has…what if they force her to choose? Fly with Dawson, her would be rapist, or turn in her wings. Oh god, she can’t lose her wings. Not when she just got them. But can she really get in the cockpit day in and day out, with her back to the man who attempted to assault her? What the fuck was she going to do? Oh God-

Pete had rushed over to the door while she wrestled with her thoughts. Flinging it open and preparing to sprint to relative safety, she almost ran smack into someone. There, standing outside the room, was a man she’d never seen before. He was only a couple inches taller than her, bald, and had a stern look on his face. A quick glance at his uniform confirmed his rank as a Commander. His eyes widened in shock at the sight of Pete, who no doubt looked like hell with her hair and uniform in disarray and blood running down her face. 

“Sir- I-I can explain!” Pete practically yelled in his face.

The man studied her with a puzzled gaze, before glancing over her shoulder into the room. He obviously saw Dawsons limp body on the floor, because his eyes once again widened.

“I hope you can, Lieutenant because this looks like a fucking shit show.”

After explaining what happened between her and Dawson, Pete was fully prepared to be reprimanded. Are you sure that’s what he meant? Did you lead him on? Are you lying? Endless accusations thinly veiled as questions meant to fluster and embarrass her. Well fuck you, Pete knew that Dawson was the scum of the earth and no hard-ass CO was going to convince her to change her mind.

She was prepared to argue right here in this hallway with a commanding officer, all the while covered in blood and mad as hell. So you can imagine her surprise when Commander Jardian, based on his name tag, looked down at Dawson in disgust. 

“This son of a bitch is gonna wish he was never born after I’m done with him. I have to say I’m shocked you were able to overpower him given the fact that he’s built like a bear. Well Lieutenant, let’s get you to med bay.”

Pete stood there in absolute shock. Her jaw was taking a vacation to the floor, that's how flabbergasted she was. He believed her? Did she hit her head harder than she thought?

“Sir…you believe me? Like actually?”

Jardian looked up at her with something like sorrow in his eyes. Pete might’ve been concussed so she wasn’t willing to bet on it.

“Yes, Lieutenant, I believe you. Now move your ass to med bay, I’ll take care of this sack of shit,” He said with a sharp kick at Dawson’s limp form. 

To her eternal embarrassment, Pete felt her eyes grow hot with tears. She had been betrayed by a man she though was her friend, almost sexually assaulted, won a fight a la David vs Goliath, and the thing that brought her to tears was a Commanding Officer believing her. 

“Thank you sir, really, thank you.” Pete had had a long day, she couldn't have stopped her voice from shaking if her life depended on it. Commander Jardian regarded her with something like respect in his eyes (again, she was definitely concussed because no way )

“Don’t mention it, and call me Stinger, kid.”

Pete doesn’t know all the details surrounding Dawson leaving the ship. She knows that Stinger raised all hell for “insubordination and inappropriate conduct” but ultimately, Dawson was only transferred with a slap on the wrist. Honestly, it was better than Pete had been expecting. Turns out Stinger was their new CO on the Enterprise, and he was a no nonsense son of a gun. He didn’t care who you were or where you came from, as long as you did your job right. He never treated Pete like a delicate flower after what had happened. No, he saw her as a good pilot, with a wild streak a mile wide. He didn’t let her get away with her bullshit, but he never looked down on her.

He was the best CO she ever had. 

After that, Goose happened, then Carole and him popped out a kid and life was great. Goose eventually found out about what happened with Dawson and boy oh boy was he pissed. 

“He should be dishonorably discharged! He should be rotting in prison or fucking dead! What the fuck!”

“Yes, Goose. My thoughts exactly. But nothing we can do about it. He’s still out there being the worst, and we’re here being the best.”

“God Mav if I ever see that waste of fucking space I’m gonna kill him.”

“Not if I beat you to it, buddy.”

But time went on, and when Pete was 24, Bradley Bradshaw had just turned 2. He was a perfect mix of his parents, with Goose’s sense of humor and Carole’s angelic looks. Mav doted on him and spoiled him rotten to the never ending amusement of Carole and Goose.

Mav’s life was going great, so it didn’t hurt as much as it once would have when Stinger told her that she and Goose weren’t chosen for Top Gun. 

Top Gun was the dream. The best of the best, all fighting for the trophy that proved who was the better pilot. Mav wanted it so bad it was a physical ache. But she knew that getting there was the issue. Her entire career was sprinkled with sexism. Almost all of her CO’s snubbed her when they got the chance to. Stinger wasn’t like that, and she knew it. So when she asked him why Cougar and Merlin were picked over her and Goose, she did so calmly.

Stinger, never one to sugar coat, answered her honestly.

“When I was told to choose someone from this Squadron to send to Miramar, you were my first choice Maverick. Cougar’s a good pilot, but he’s too cautious, he lacks that edge. You’re better than him, even though you constantly pull things that would get you killed if you were any less skilled. You crave these men’s respect, even if you wish you didn’t, and it causes you to fly by the seat of your pants. You wanna prove you’re better than them, and you take risks no one else would. I don’t know if that’s what makes you better than Cougar, or if it makes you a liability. But I knew that you deserved to figure that out yourself, so I chose to send you. The very next day I was told to choose someone else. The brass took one look at your file, saw your name and gender and said no. I’m sorry Maverick, but they’re never going to let you win.”

Stinger’s voice held no pity. He knew she wouldn't appreciate it. On some level, she knew they’d never let her go to Top Gun. Never run the risk of her winning. A woman beating the men? How embarrassing. No, Mav wasn’t surprised in the slightest. She calmly thanked Stinger for his honesty, and turned to leave the confines of his office…Goose will want to know, and she should call Carole too.

Before Mav opened the door, she stopped and turned back to face Stinger. He was right about her, she did pull some pretty stupid shit in the air. But he had put her name forward, and that meant more than he could know.

“Sir, you’re right. I do crave their respect, even though I know I shouldn’t. I don’t need to prove to them that I’m better. The knowledge that I have yours is more than enough. I’ve never respected anyone like I respect you, Sir. I want to thank you for trying, it’s more than anyone else has ever done for me.”

Stinger looked at her the same way he always looked at her. The same way her father had looked at her when she truly impressed him. Pete never had to earn Stingers respect, she had in the moment he saw her standing over a man she’d beaten, covered in her own blood with a fire burning in her eyes. 

Top Gun is only a week away, and Mav has made her peace with it. She’s not mad at Cougar or Merlin, they’re a good team, and if she can’t go, she’d rather it be them. Neither of the two men have ever talked down to or insulted her. They weren’t best friends by any means, and maybe they were only civil for civilities sake, but it was miles better than others. She’s rooting for them to win.

It’s late afternoon, the air is thick with humidity as the summer sun slowly sets. Mav is on her last hop of the day, right on Cougars wing. The pair of them are just about ready to head back towards the Enterprise when the radio crackles to life. 

“Ghost Rider, this is Strike. We have unknown contact inbound, Mustang. Your vector zero nine zero for Bogey.”

Goose is quick to inform Mav of the bogey’s position, “Contact 20 left at 25 , 900 knots closure.”

Mav’s surprised to say the least. A bogey this close to American air space? Something’s going on here. She and Cougar quickly work out a plan to deal with the unknown aircraft, hoping to scare him off. But the plan quickly falls apart when they run across a second bogey. 

“Holy shit, there’s two of them!” Maverick quickly maneuvers out of the path of the two bogey’s coming straight at her. 

“MIG 28’s! No one’s been this close before!” Goose exclaims.

Cougar’s going to Top Gun in less than a week, Maverick has faith in his ability as a pilot, which is why she breaks away from his wing and goes after MIG 2. Her gut is telling her that these MIG’s aren’t looking to start a fight, and Mav knows Cougar can handle himself in scaring his own MIG off.

Maverick can hear Cougar and Merlin over her radio, and she’s keeping an ear out for any serious trouble, but she’s got her own MIG to deal with. 

“I’m going for missile lock, let’s see if we can scare this guy out of here.” Come one lock up baby…lock up… ”I got him locked! Bingo.” Well that was ridiculously easy. Mav relays her success back to Mustang, and then hurries over to Cougar who’s freaking out. The MIG manages to get a lock on him, which honestly is a little disheartening for Mav. This is the guy that’s going to Top Gun instead of me? It’s unfair, Cougar is a good pilot, but Mav’s no saint. 

“This bogey’s all over me! Do I have permission to fire?” Cougar asks, panic filling his voice. 

“They have a missile lock and they’re in perfect firing position…let’s get down there and help him Mav,” Goose says, his words tinged with worry. But Mav trusts her instincts, and she knows that this guy isn’t going to fire.

“I think he’s just trying to piss us off or he would’ve fired by now.”

Suddenly Cougar’s voice fills her ears, his tone even more panicked. “Maverick! Get down here and get this asshole off me!” He snaps. Mav can’t blame him for being scared, this is a scary situation. But she can’t help the exasperation that rolls through her. Cougar is a naval aviator and he’s going to compete in the Top Gun competition in a couple days, he could try and keep calm instead of immediately losing his shit at the first sign of danger. 

“Easy, Cougar,” Mav soothes. “I’m right above you, I’ll get him off your tail, just hang on.” Mav knows she can’t shoot the bogey, but that doesn’t mean she can’t fuck with him a little bit. In a truly insane move, Maverick flips her plane upside down, and brings it within 2 meters of the bogey. She can literally see the other pilot’s eyes widen as he looks up at her and Goose. God, she impresses even herself sometimes.

Because she’s a little shit at heart, Mav flips the guy the bird and grins at him from behind her mask. “Greetings!”

“Watch the birdie!” Goose says, right before he snaps a picture of the coolest thing Mav has ever done. The brass is crazy not sending her to Top Gun, maybe she should mail this photo to Miramar as an application.

Her and Goose are buzzing with joy, and she feels like a King.

Of course that’s when Merlin’s worried voice fills the cockpit. “Guys, that MIG really screwed him up, I don’t think Cougar can make it back.” Luckily, Mav hasn’t isn’t very far from them, and she’s able to direct Cougar as best she can back to the ship. 

It’s a rough landing for him, and the sun has long since set. She should have flown back a while ago honestly, but she’d be damned if she left those men up there all alone. She’ll take whatever lecture Stinger wants to give her. Mav knows she did the right thing, trusting her gut. In the end, she got them all back, safe and sound, even if she didn’t follow the rules of engagement.

Stinger’s pissed to say the least. He rips her and Goose two new assholes each. 

You never leave your wingman, Maverick!

What the fuck was the move you pulled with the MIG? Show me the textbook that says you can do that. (This is said with anger, but also the tiniest under tone of a man impressed).

Mav expects to be grounded for a week at least, and she’s ready to accept her fate. She hadn’t followed the rules, but she doesn’t regret going with her gut. Stinger looks like he’s about to blow a gasket when Cougar bursts into the room. All 3 occupants look at him in shock. Cougar is usually so composed, if a bit timid, but right now his face is flushed and he looks like he’s gonna be sick. He glances at Stinger and Goose, but when his eyes meet Mav’s, she sees a resolve within them she’s never seen before.

Cougar holds her gaze her what seems like an eternity, before he nods his head, and turns back to Stinger. “Sir, I’m turning in my wings. When I was up there, I realized that I can’t cut it. I panicked when I should have stayed calm. I completely froze, letting the MIG get behind me when I knew I could have outmaneuvered him. Maverick was easily able to get a lock on her MIG, then picked up my slack, potentially saving mine and Merlin’s life. She’s the better pilot, and she deserves to go to Top Gun, Sir. There isn’t a better pilot in the Navy than her.”

Maverick cannot believe this is happening. This is like the pilot equivalent of a wet dream, having a rival admit that you’re not only better than them, but the best? Maverick’s transcending this mortal plane of existence she’s so happy.

Goose lets out a whoop, and claps Cougar on his shoulder. Mav can’t hear what he’s saying over her own heartbeat. She’s turned to stare at Stinger, who’s already looking back at her. Their eyes lock, and Mav can feel herself holding her breath as she waits for his answer.

“Cougar, you’ve been through an ordeal, you should head to med bay. Goose, make sure he gets there.” It’s not a question, Stinger’s tone holds no room for argument. Still, she senses Goose’s hesitation and Cougar’s confusion. They too, want to know his answer. But Mav can see in Stinger’s eyes that his next words are for her ears only.

A beat. Then the sound of Stinger’s office door opening and closing as the two men follow orders, and leave.

Stinger continues to stare at her, Mav continues to stare back. After a small eternity, he finally speaks.

“I told Cougar that he was my second choice of candidate. He wasn’t surprised that you were my first. Whether they admit it or not, everyone on board this ship knows you’re the best pilot here. Reckless and batshit insane? Yes. But you fly circles around their heads, and they hate you for it, Maverick. Maybe not Cougar, he’s a good man like that. But the rest of them are watching your every move. They’re waiting for you to fail, even just once, so they can snatch your wings and shake their heads at you, like you’re the foolish little girl they see you as. They’ll holler and scream that they knew you were a fake or a fluke or whatever they dismiss you as. They’ll all sit around laughing as you come crashing to the ground, and they won’t be there to help you back up. You’re a hell of a pilot Maverick, maybe even too good. But you’re a woman, and your family name isn’t the best in the Navy. You fly by the seat of your pants when you should be tip-toeing around here like a scared cat. You’re a mystery to me, a human contradiction.”

Stinger pauses, allowing Mav the chance to speak.

“I know, Sir. I know they’re all waiting for me to slip up and the second I do, I’m dead in the water. It’s been like that for almost my entire life, I’m used to it. I’ve come this far, and I intend to go farther. I refuse to be what they want me to be. I’m not a scared cat or a little girl playing pilot. They can hate me all they want, they’re ones with their eyes glued to me. I’ll be more careful from here on out, for Goose and myself, but I refuse to change who I am to fit their expectations of what a woman should be. I am who I am, Sir.”

Maverick feels as though her spine has been replaced with a metal rod she’s standing up so straight. She feels that familiar fire blazing within herself as she meets Stinger’s gaze with conviction.

A small, proud smile crosses his face. “And who is that, Lieutenant?”

Pete squares her shoulders and announces with all the confidence she possesses. “A Maverick, Sir. And the best damned pilot in the US Navy.”

Stinger shakes his head and huffs a laugh. “The sky is blue, the grass is green, and you, Pete Mitchell, are a goddamn menace. I’ll make some calls, see what I can do to get you and Bradshaw over to Miramar. You’re dismissed”

Pete feels a smile burst across her face, and only just manages to stop herself from screaming at the top of her lungs in pure joy. She nods her head and moves toward the door, before Stinger’s voice stops her on last time.

“Oh and, Maverick? Good luck, and give ‘em hell.”

“Thank you, Sir. And you can count on me.” And with that she’s out the door like a shot, racing to tell Goose the good news. She doesn’t have to run very far, or at all really, as both Goose and Cougar are standing not 5 yards from Stinger’s office. Goose straightens up from where he was leaning against the wall and shoots her a look that screams ‘ well?’ . Mav just continues to grin her megawatt smile, and it’s all the answer he needs before he’s picking her up and spinning her around.

“Holy shit! We’re going to Top Gun! We are going right, Mav? You’re not fucking with me? Because if you are, I'm gonna call Carole and tell her you made me cry.”

Pete rolls her eyes as Goose sets her down to look at her, his hands still clasping her upper arms. “Yes, dumbass, we’re going to Top Gun. How we’re getting there and what reaction we’ll be met with remains to be seen, but we’re going.”

Goose lets out another whoop of joy and rushes off to go call Carole and tell her the good news. Mav makes to follow him, but before she can, she catches sight of Cougar, who’s still standing there looking at her shyly. 

“I-I just wanted you to know, I mean every word I said in there. And I’ve meant them for a long time now. At first, I’ll admit, I doubted you, but it didn’t take long for me to realize who was the better pilot. I wanna thank you, for sticking with me up there when you could have left me and Merlin behind.”

Mav shakes her head. “I did leave you behind. I did the one thing I swore I would never do. I left my wingman. I wasn’t thinking that it might be dangerous. I just assumed they wouldn't fire and abandoned you. It doesn’t matter how good of a pilot someone is, I should never have done that, and I’m sorry Coug.”

He smiles down at her and gives a soft laugh. “Yeah, maybe you shouldn’t have left me, but I shouldn’t have frozen. I just kept thinking about my son. He’s 6 months old and I haven’t even seen him yet, and all of a sudden being a pilot wasn’t worth it anymore. I wanted out of that cockpit, Mav. And in a way, I’m glad those MIG’s showed up. Because now the better pilot is going to Top Gun, just like it should be.”

“You’re good enough to go, Cougar. I’ve seen how skilled you are.”

He shakes his head in a firm no. “Those other guys would have chewed me up and spit me out. I’m good, but my heart’s not in it, not anymore. And I’ve been watching you fly for a long time now, Mav. You deserve this more than me, more than anyone.”

Pete had never been particularly close with Cougar, but in this moment, she loved him like a brother. She had his respect, and she hadn’t even known it. Thanks to this man, she was given another chance at Top Gun, and she was determined to take it.

True to his word, Stinger makes a few calls and pulls a few strings, and Mav and Goose get orders to haul ass to Miramar, California for Fighter Weapons School. They arrive at 2 A.M the night before training starts, and they had been instructed to report directly to Commander Metcalf’s office at 0800. They only get about 4 hours of sleep, but Mav and Goose are too excited to care. They made it, they’re at Top Gun.

Commander Metcalf is a tall, lanky man in his late 50’s. To his credit, he doesn’t laugh Pete out of the room, but he does stare at her in confusion. 

“I was told a Lieutenant Bill Cortell was the pilot being sent from the Enterprise. You don’t look like a Bill to me.” 

Damn, guess Stinger didn’t have time to inform the instructors of the change.

“No, Sir, I’m not. I’m Lieutenant Pete Mitchell, call-sign Maverick. This is my RIO Lieutenant Nicholas Bradshaw, call-sign Goose. Lieutenant Cortell turned in his wings a week ago after an incident involving 2 MIGS. We’ve been selected to replace him.”

Metcalf raises his eyebrows and remarks, “You don’t look like a Pete either.”

Mav feels her cheeks heat up a bit. “It’s short for Patricia, Sir.”

Metcalf nods and his gaze feels like a physical weight on her body. “Mitchell huh? As in Duke Mitchell?”

Contrary to a minute ago, Mav now feels all the blood leave her face. “Yes, Sir. He was my father.”

Commander Metcalf looks at her for a few seconds more, each feeling like an eternity to Mav, before he nods his head and turns back to his desk, relieving Pete of his heavy stare.

“Well the first class starts soon, but we need to get your paperwork in order, so unfortunately you two will miss it. I’ll give you the rundown myself later. Your other instructor, Lieutenant Commander Heatherly and I usually give the incoming pilots a lecture, so don’t worry about missing anything important. Now, let’s see, I assume you have some paperwork with you from your CO aboard the Enterprise. Stinger isn’t it? We’ll have to get your names put on a plane and-”

It’s a long day of paperwork for Pete and Goose, and it sucks that they don’t meet the rest of the class, but who cares? They’re at Top Gun!

The next day, Pete is up before her alarm, she’s so excited. Her and Goose are sharing a little bungalow that was assigned to them, same as all other pilots and RIO’s. She gets up, showers, gets dressed, has breakfast, and is in the process of washing her dishes when Goose stumbles into the room looking like death warmed over. They didn’t even go out drinking last night, what the fuck?

“Goose, buddy, I know you’re not a morning person but damn. You look like shit.”

The only reply he gives is flipping her the bird as he pours a cup of coffee then chugs it. Disgusting.

“I’ll live a thousand years and never know how you drink that crap. It’s so bitter.”

“You’re just a pussy, Pete.” Are Goose’s first words of the day.

“ You son of a bitch, get over here!” She chases him around the kitchen and through the small house before he escapes into the bathroom to shower. Whatever, Goose can suck a dick, Mav’s still on cloud nine.

They arrive on base 30 minutes early, and are immediately ushered back into Metcalf’s office. Oh god not again .

“Sorry you two, but there’s a couple last minute things to go over. The rest of your class is getting ready for the first hop, and you’ll be joining them shortly, don’t worry. Now here I have some things for you to sign..”

Pete’s not even sure she wrote actual English or just scribbles she’s so amped up. Come on come on come on… Finally, an hour and a half later, she and Goose are free to change into their flight suits, then haul ass towards their plane. All the other students are finished with their hops against Commander Heatherly, otherwise known as Jester, and apparently only one guy got a lock on him. Mav isn’t sure if she’s more impressed by Jester, who managed to evade the Top 1% of all Naval Aviators, or by the guy who actually beat him.

Maverick and Goose are in the cockpit in record time, and before she knows it, they’re in the air trying to get on lock on Jester. The man is good, great even. But Maverick didn’t get here by being anything less than fucking amazing, and she doesn’t let up. Goose and her work like a well oiled machine, but Jester still manages to evade them.

“Come on, Mav, do some of that pilot shit.”

“I got him, I got him, ok here we go...”

“We’re going ballistic, Mav, go get him!”

They stay right on Jester’s ass the entire time, but can’t get tone. Maverick’s starting to get frustrated, when Goose points out that Jester’s going for the hard deck. Oh fuck no. Some other pilot already proved that Jester could be beaten, there’s no way in hell Maverick isn’t nailing his ass to the wall. She directs the plane in a steep dive, and Goose informs her when she’s right above the hard deck. She waits for Jester to move right above her, then pulls up, forcing him to maneuver up and away from her, directly into missile range. The high pitched noise of a confirmed lock is the best thing she’s ever heard. 

“Jester’s dead!” Goose shouts, vibrating in excitement.

Maverick unclips her mask and lets out a laugh. She spins the plane around in circles, and lets her joy consume her. She feels lighter than air, and has the sudden itch to live up to her call-sign. She wants to buzz the tower. 

Goose must sense her intentions, because he suddenly stops laughing. “No, Mav. This is not a good idea.”

“Sorry, Goose, but it’s time to buzz the tower.” Pete goes to do just that when Stinger’s voice fills her head.

“ They’re waiting for you to fail, even just once, so they can snatch your wings and shake their heads at you, like you’re the foolish little girl they see you as.”

She had promised herself to be more careful. Not to please the brass or lessen the whispers that followed her. But for herself and Goose. If she had been a man, or if her father had been a better one, then maybe she’d have the luxury of doing stupid shit like that. But she was a woman in a man’s world, and she couldn’t afford to screw up. Not when she was finally here, at Top Gun. Pete had sworn to never change herself to conform to others expectations of her. But maybe it was time to acknowledge her own faults. Pete had been skating on thin ice her entire career, she couldn’t afford to fall in now over a stupid urge.

“You’re right, Goose. It’s not worth it.” And with that she turned back to base.

Pete exited the plane and headed toward the hangar to finally, officially, meet Jester. Lt. Cmdr. Heatherly was slightly younger than Cmdr. Metcalf, or Viper, and was a good half foot taller than Maverick (which isn’t saying much). He was mostly bald, with the little hair he did have graying on the sides, and yet he wasn’t unattractive. He greeted Goose and her at the hangar’s entrance.

“Maverick, Goose, we meet at last. I’m Lieutenant Commander Heatherly, but you can call me Jester when we’re in the sky.” His eyes focused on Pete, and she felt that same heavy feeling she got when Viper looked at her. It wasn't malicious, but rather curious, if a bit unnerving. 

“That was a risky move you pulled out there Lieutenant. You almost broke the hard deck. I’ve got to admit, I’ve never seen anything like it. You sure do live up to your call-sign.”

Maverick didn’t know if he was insulting or complementing her. His tone gave nothing away, and he continued to stare at her, waiting for her response. Well, if his goal was to intimidate her, he had better try harder. Pete straightened to her full height of 5 ft 4 in, and met his gaze with her own.

“It’s only risky if you don’t know what you’re doing. I know what I’m capable of, and I know few can say the same. You’re right when you say I live up to my call-sign, and I’ll take that as a compliment.”

Jester held her eyes for a moment more, searching for any sign of false bravado, and found none. He gave a short nod and Pete swore she saw the corner of his mouth twitch, before he schooled his expression.

“You’re a good pilot, Mitchell, or else you wouldn’t be here. But be warned, you’re not the only one to get a lock on me today. I look forward to seeing you two compete against each other. I’ve kept you from your showers long enough, you two are dismissed.”

With that, he walked off to who knows where. Maverick felt the energy leave her as the last two days finally caught up with her. She turned to Goose, who actually looked more tired than her, and they shrugged at each other. 

“I’ll wait for you outside the locker room if I finish before you. I’m the only woman here while you have to go and fight for a stall amongst all the other guys, so you’ll probably take longer. See if you can find out who the other pilot is that got a lock on Jester, will you?”

“Yea, I was thinking the same thing. I’ll try not to take too long, see ya in a bit.” And then they parted ways. 

Exactly as she suspected, there was no one else in the women’s locker room. In fact, Pete wouldn’t have been surprised to find out she was the first woman to ever be in there. She quickly stripped out of her flight suit, and hurried to rinse off. Flying was fun and all, but no one liked to be sticky with the sweat caused by the California summer heat. The water was refreshing and she was tempted to linger, but ultimately the thought of a nap in her bed won out. Goose and her were probably going to go out tonight to celebrate their win, and she didn’t wanna be dog ass tired by 9 P.M.

Maverick brushed out her long dark hair, threw on her go-to civilian clothes of jeans and a white tank top, and left to go wait on Goose, who took the longest showers known to man. She had been content to wait for him, but after 15 minutes and no sign of him, her patience was wearing thin. Pete pushed herself off the wall beside the men’s locker room, and went to crack the door open. 

“Goose! What the hell is taking so long! You better not be combing that stupid mustache of yours!” Pete yelled into the room. All noise in the room died as soon as the men inside heard her voice. Pete heard one of the men whisper a faint, “ what the fuck?” .

Guess Goose didn’t tell these guys who his pilot was.

“I’m coming woman! Beauty like mine can’t be rushed!” Goose yelled back at her, either oblivious to the silence now echoing throughout the room, or just didn’t give a fuck.

“Your wife is the only beauty you can lay claim to, asshole! Now hurry up! Winning takes a lot out of a girl!”

A now louder, “ What the fuck?!” reached Mav’s ears before the noise suddenly resumed with a vengeance, as the men scrambled to get dressed and get outside. Not a minute later, Pete backed up as the locker room door was thrown open by a tall, lanky blonde guy. 

“Holy shit! You’re a girl!” He said with wide, disbelieving eyes.

Pete raised her eyebrows, not the worst way she was ever greeted. “No shit Sherlock. I’m Maverick, and you are?”

The guy rubbed the back of his neck as his cheeks pinked. “Leonard Wolfe, or Wolfman. I’m a RIO. Sorry about that, obviously you know you’re a girl. It’s just that, well, we thought Goose was messing with us. You see, some of us knew him back at the academy and he’s always been a real jokester.”

Pete liked this guy. He seemed genuinely sorry and well, she always trusted her gut.

“Don’t sweat it. I know how Goose is. Been flying with him for 4 years now. Man would crack a joke at a funeral if he thought it’d get a laugh.” 

Wolfman threw his head back and laughed, just as more men flooded into the hallway. Goose was leading the charge, and made a Beeline for her.

“I told you guys my pilot was a woman. Sorry for taking so long, Mav. I’m ready to head home for a while.” Goose moved to throw an arm around her shoulders and steer her outside. They made it all of two steps before they were surrounded by men. 

“Did you really win?” One of them asked. He was blonde, but shorter than Wolf.

“Yep,” Pete said, popping the ‘p’. “Are you the other guy who won?”

The man laughed, and Pete decided she liked him too. “No way, Jester got me and Wolf here in 30 seconds flat.” Ah, so this guy must be Wolf’s pilot. “No, Ice and Slider are the other team that won. I’m Hollywood by the way,” He said with a wink. Normally, this would irritate Pete, but she could tell that Hollywood didn’t mean anything by it. Have I entered the Twilight Zone? Where are all the sexist pricks?

Pete was then introduced to the rest of the nicest group of pilots that ever existed. Chipper and Sundown were very nice, if not overly friendly like Hollywood and Wolf. Those two were like golden retrievers on a sugar high. She wanted to be best friends with them.

Then the locker room door swung open for the final time, emitting two new men into the hallway. Both of them were way taller than Maverick, like Goose level tall, but that’s not what caught her attention. No, that was the smoking hot blonde that came straight out of her dreams. Holy shit.

Hollywood, bless him, snapped Pete out of her lust filled haze when he called her name. “Maverick, meet Iceman and Slider, the other guys who won.”

The two men were already looking at her. The taller of the two, Slider if Hollywood’s gesturing was accurate, was staring at her in curiosity, before turning towards the hot blonde, Iceman, and then rolling his eyes. Ah, this concludes our latest episode of the Twilight Zone, as we have now returned to reality. Figures. 

To his credit, Ice didn't look back at his partner, and instead held her gaze with his own. Pete didn’t know what he was looking for from her, but she wasn’t about to let her intense, immediate attraction show. She flashed him a bright, confident smile and stuck out her hand.

“Hi, I’m Pete Mitchell, or Maverick, Goose’s pilot. I hear you’re my competition?”

The guy just continued to stare at her in silence, before his taller friend stepped in. “Nice to meet you. I’m Ron Kerner, call-sign Slider, and this guy,” he jammed his thumb into Ice’s sternum, effectively snapping him out of his one sided staring contest, “is Iceman.”

The tall, handsome blonde finally moved to shake her hand, before realizing Pete had already dropped it after he took too long. “Tom Kazansky, pilot. Sorry, it’s been a long day.”

Pete didn’t know what to make of this guy. Usually she could get a read on people and figure out if they wanted her dead or not. This guy was a total mystery. Him not replying to me unless forcibly prompted isn’t a good sign though…  

“Yea, I get it. Well it was nice to finally meet all of you. I’ll see you guys tomorrow in class,” Pete said, before turning away with Goose. They’re once again stopped before they reach the exit. This time, by Slider.

“Why not come with us to the O club tonight? We’re going out for drinks to celebrate our win, and the rest of the guys are gonna be there too. You’re welcome to come, seeing as you’re a part of this class and you won your hop.” Ok, so Slider is giving more mixed signals than a broken traffic light.

Pete looks up at Goose, who shrugs beside her. Up to you, Mav. These guys have been nice to her so far, and she already likes 4 of them. This is a perfect opportunity to get a better read on Ice and Slider while also celebrating her and Goose’s win.

Turning back to the small group of men, Pete gives a laugh and a smile. “Yea, we’ll be there.” Hollywood and Wolf give loud cheers as Sundown and Chipper express their congratulations on the win, and promise to be there to celebrate. Ice has gone back to staring at her, and Pete’s leaning towards the side of wants her dead . Slider has a smirk on his face as he turns from her to Ice.

She and Goose are finally allowed to leave, but not before she hears Slider let out a cackle. Oh god they’re going to try and kill me.

Chapter Text

The O Club is loud and packed ass to ears. Mav would have gotten swept up in the crowd if not for Goose’s tall, lanky frame forcing people to part for them. It sucks being 5’4, and even when she wears heels, like tonight, Pete still isn’t able to move more than a couple inches without assistance.

Mav and Goose had gone home, and immediately went to sleep. Pete, at least, had made it to her room. Goose gave up two steps past the front door, and decided the couch was good enough. They’d slept for about 4 hours, before Mav had woken up to use the restroom and saw that it was already 7. The other guys hadn’t set an exact time to meet up, but Pete didn’t want to be labeled a flake.

Mav had flown through the house at Mach 2 trying to wake Goose up and get herself ready. There had been a debate over whether or not to wear their uniforms, but after being in them for the first half of the day, then a flight suit for the second, neither of them were keen on the restrictive clothing. Goose had thrown on his nicest pair of jeans and a truly horrendous Hawaiian shirt, while Mav had gone with one of two dresses she had received from Carole just yesterday.

It was the height of Summer in Southern California and Mav was a grown woman going out for the night. She wasn’t exactly looking to hook up with someone, but she’s been stuck on a ship for 6 months before coming here, and she’d never run the risk of a sexual relationship while deployed. But here? Well a girl has needs.

Pete had chosen the sexier dress over the more family-fun sundress. Carole knew Pete couldn’t walk around in anything too revealing, so the dress itself was pretty tame, just tight. It was a beautiful lilac color that complemented her tan skin, courtesy of being in the sun most of her career. It had two thin straps that tied behind her neck, and it clung to her curves and made her ass look fantastic if she did say so herself. The dress came a little past mid-thigh, and was the perfect combination of sexy and sophisticated. She paired it with simple strappy heels that matched the dress (Carole Bradshaw was a saint), brushed her hair and put on some lip gloss, and was out the door with Goose trailing behind her.

Mav knew she looked good, and looking at the other club goers, she was glad she’d for-gone the uniform. Most Sea-men would have worn it in an effort to get laid, but Pete knew that her in a uniform was like a flashing neon sign to every prick within a 100 mile radius. She was here for a good time and to get to know her fellow classmates, not to be subjected to endless lectures on a woman's place in society. 

Goose easily located the others, using his height to peek over the crowd, and the two of them were soon greeted by an enthusiastic Top Gun class. 

“Mav, Goose! Glad you could make it! We were worried you guys got lost,” Wolfman shouted over the noise of the crowd. Mav was finally able to move from behind Goose, and actually see the other RIO. Wolf’s gaze slid from Goose to her, and she saw his eyes widen in the dim lighting of the club. Ok, maybe she looked better than just “good”.

“Damn Mav, you sure clean up nice.” 

Wolf reminded Pete of someone, she just couldn’t put her finger on who . Normally, when a guy commented on her appearance, it was with an undertone of lust or accompanied by a leer. Wolf, however, didn’t seem to be interested beyond a basic appreciation and understanding that Mav was a beautiful woman. Huh, maybe he’s married? That hadn’t stopped other guys, but she knew at least some men loved and respected their wives. Goose was a shining example. Ever since he and Carole had met, Nick hadn’t so much as looked at another woman with anything beyond polite interest.

Pete laughed gaily, tossing her long dark hair behind her. “Aw Wolf, are you sweet talking me? What would Hollywood say?”

She had meant it as a joke, but the flash of panic in the RIO's eyes was unmistakable, and suddenly Pete was 13 again.

It had been about 2 months after Bradley died, and Pete had been haunting the halls of Lisa’s house. She only went to school most days to get away from the memory of him. Her grief was consuming her heart, while her anger was poisoning her mind. If Pete wasn’t sobbing into her pillow, then she was lashing out at anyone who dared to breathe next to her. Lisa was noticeably at the end of her rope with Pete, and after one particularly bad day in late October, Lisa had sent her on a walk with a stern warning to cool down before she came back. Pete had been mad as all hell, and slammed the door shut on her way out.

Her anger had quickly evaporated, replaced once again by grief. It didn’t matter how far she went. That house and those memories followed her around everywhere, chained to her like Marley’s ghost. Pete could feel them dragging her down, threatening to drown her. But still, she tried to relieve herself of the weight, if only for a moment.

Pete hadn’t even realized her feet had taken her to the gas station, the one where Jeremy, the other boy Lisa had fostered, worked. Jeremy had turned 18 almost a year ago, and though Lisa offered to let him stay, he had moved out the very next day. Jeremy and her had never been close, just two lonely kids fighting to survive a cruel system. When Pete had talked to him, he had been kind, and a little shy. They probably could have been friends, but Pete had been so caught up in Bradley, she hardly gave Jeremy a second thought.

Well Bradley was gone now, but Pete knew Jeremy had stuck around town trying to earn some money. She thinks she remembers him saying that he’d found a roommate to live with. Lucas something. They’d met at school and apparently liked each other enough to co-sign a lease. Maybe Pete could stop by, see if Jeremy was working today.

She hoped he knew about Bradley. Pete couldn’t be the one to tell him, not today, not ever.

Pete took a deep breath and opened the door. The inside was nice and clean, if a little worn with time. Pete turned towards the registrar, but there was no one there. Maybe they’re in the back? She called for help, but no one showed up. That’s weird. Pete waited for another 5 minutes, before deciding the check outside, maybe someone had gone for an extended smoke break. It was getting late, and the town they lived in was small and out of the way. This was one of two gas stations, with the other being on the opposite end of town, so Pete didn’t blame an employee for taking a long break. 

Walking out the front door and turning the corner, Pete could hear strange sounds coming from the back of the store. It sounded…wet? And reminded her of when Bradley would smack his lips after Pete snuck him some candy behind Lisa’s back. She continued to approach, wondering if she should just leave it be and come back another day for Jeremy, when curiosity got the best of her, and she peeked her head around the corner. 

Well Jeremy was working today. Or at least, he should have been, because right now he had some guy’s tongue down his throat. Pete’s nose scrunched up as she watched the two older boys suck faces. How could anyone like that? Jeremy and his, well let’s say close friend, pulled apart for air and suddenly it was Pete who couldn’t breathe. The way those two looked at each other…she knew that look. Had seen it on her parents face every time they were reunited after dad came back from a long deployment. She saw it reflected back at her in the mirror, when Bradley had still been around. That look that said a thousand words without a single sound.

Oh. There you are. I’ve been looking for you.

Pete knew that look and now, it seems, Jeremy knew it too. She had known that look twice in her life, seen it with her parents and then with herself and both times it had been snatched away. Love slipped through her fingers like smoke, leaving her shattered and filthy each time. She hoped it didn’t do the same to Jeremy.

Pete must have made a noise, because the two boys sprung apart like they’d been burned as they turned to look at her. Jeremy paled, making his red hair and freckles stand out unflatteringly. The other boy looked about two seconds away from bolting, but he reached out to grasp Jeremy’s hand in a bone crushing grip. Wherever he went, he was taking Jeremy with him, that much was obvious. 

“Pete- I- This isn’t what it looks like! Me and Lucas,” oh so this was the roommate. Guess they got along better than Pete thought, “we were just- uh- messing around?” Jeremy was such a shitty liar. Messing around? Did he think Pete was an idiot?

“No you weren’t. You guys were making out like it’s an Olympic sport and you’re going for gold.”

Jeremy looked pained while Lucas stood up to his full height and squared his shoulders. “What if we were? What are you gonna do about it?” His voice would have been intimidating, if not for the way it shook at the end. He was terrified of her, and what she could do to them. Pete read the paper, she heard the stories. Knew that boys like Jeremy and Lucas were killed all the time, and no one gave a damn. Before now, Pete had never really thought about it because why would she? It didn’t affect her, so it wasn’t her problem.

In that moment, Pete Mitchell hated herself.

She was exactly the type of person she hated. Someone who turned the other cheek, looked the other way. The type of person who only cared about their own life, their own struggles, and damn everyone else, but had the audacity to turn around and cry that no one cared about them. Pete had her own problems, more than her fair share, but that was no excuse. She had let herself be consumed by them, and forgot she wasn’t the only one who needed help. Standing here, behind a small town gas station in front of two boys who’s greatest crime was loving each other, she decided to grow up.

Her parents were gone, Bradley was dead, and she and Lisa couldn’t be in the same room as each other without the tension threatening to suffocate them. She could fix that last one, right after she fixed this.

“I’m not gonna do anything. You guys haven’t done anything wrong except be absolute morons who make out where anyone could come across them. Seriously, behind the gas station? Save it for when you get home, because I know you two dumb fucks live together. God, I thought you graduated with a 4.0 Jeremy, but here you are in front of God and country, with your dick practically out.”

Jeremy looked scandalized while Lucas let out an ugly snort before throwing his head back and howling. “Jesus F-ing Christ! The mouth on you! You didn’t tell me you lived with a sailor, Jer.”

Jeremy just huffed and rolled his eyes. “Pete’s not a sailor yet. And she doesn’t even wanna sail , Luke. No, Pete Mitchell over here wants to fly ”

It didn’t escape Pete’s notice that Lucas had never let go of Jeremy’s hand.

Pete snapped back to reality. She hadn’t thought about that day in years. 

She wanted to reassure Wolf that her lips were sealed, that she’d protect him like she protected Jeremy and Lucas, the two men who moved out to New York when Pete was 16. She hadn’t heard from them since, but she hoped they were happy and safe. 

But Pete had only met Wolf today, even if he did remind her of Jeremy, making her feel like she was reuniting with a long lost friend. She shook off the sudden onslaught of days gone by, and hurried to put Wolf at ease.

“Sorry about our lateness, we fell asleep as soon as we got back. It’s been a long couple of days and it just kinda caught up with us. Is this the whole group tonight?” Pete motioned towards the booth they were standing in front of, where Goose had gone to greet Chipper and Sundown.

Wolf looked relieved at the topic change. “No, Slider and Ice are here, they just went to get us more drinks from the bar. And you’re not that late, we’ve only been here for an hour, and me and ‘Wood can go all night. Same can’t be said for Ice or Sunny, they’re a bunch of grandmas, I swear!” Wolf huffed a laugh, just as Pete sensed someone coming to stand next to her.

She turned and craned her head up (seriously why even wear heels, these guys still towered over her) to see Slider wearing an amused expression. “I don’t know about Sunny, but if you get enough drinks in Ice he’s a wildcat. Man had an incident back at the academy, and swore off hard drinking forever. I see our two other winners showed up. Hey Goose!” Slider nodded his head in greeting at the other RIO, who was showing Sundown a picture of Carole and Bradley that he always kept in his wallet (the sap). Goose looked up at them and flashed a smile, before turning back to Sunny, as Chipper looked on in amusement. 

Slider’s attention focused on Mav, and she saw one of his brows rise, a strange glint entering his eye. “Nice to see you, Mav. You look good tonight.” Ok, consider her officially freaked out. The second time a guy had commented on her appearance tonight, and neither of them had given her the creeps. Slider had said it as if he found something funny about the situation, but Mav couldn't figure out what. 

“Thanks, man. Didn’t feel like wearing a uniform to a club. But I can see that me and Goose are the only ones of that opinion.” It was true, all the other guys were wearing pristine white uniforms, even Hollywood, who had apparently struck out with the pretty blonde at the bar and returned to the booth with an over-exaggerated pout.

“What can I say, chicks dig the whole ‘Naval Aviator’ thing,” Slider said with a wink. So far, Pete liked Slider, and was willing to put their earlier meeting out of her mind and start fresh. She went to ask him where his pilot was, when the tall glass of water himself, appeared on Slider’s opposite shoulder.

“You left me back there with all the drinks, asshole. Where the fuck did you-” The pilot cut himself off after catching sight of Mav. If she hadn’t been so busy appreciating just how good Ice looked in uniform, then maybe she would have seen Slider’s face break into a shit-eating grin.

“Sorry, Mr. Iceman. I saw Mav and Goose here walk in earlier, and came over. Well really, I saw a pretty woman and made a Beeline for her, before realizing it was our fellow winner, and therefore our biggest competition. Now use some of those manners your mother taught you and say ‘Hi’, Kazansky.”

Slider might have rubbed her the wrong way earlier, but after deciding to trust her gut and give him another chance, Pete could appreciate his compliment. It seemed as though flirty was his default, and as long as it didn’t turn into sexual harrassment, then Pete didn’t have a problem with it. She was slowly warming up to the giant RIO. It was his pilot, who still hadn’t said anything to her, that she was wary about. Smoking hot or not, Pete wasn’t going to quietly put up with sexism. She’d give him a chance, but only one. Noticing he was still carrying the drinks, Pete attempted to break the ice (pun intended).

“Here, let me help you,” Mav moved to lessen his load. He must have got some for everyone, barring her and Goose, and it was a miracle he made it to them without any help. “You know for all your talk of manners, Sli, you sure do seem to be lacking in the area. What kind of man leaves his wingman out to dry?” She teased, as her hands brushed against Ice’s. The other pilot’s face reddened, before he abruptly ended his silence.

“You did.”

Pete blinked at him in confusion. “ Excuse me?”

Slider’s eyes widened in shock as he turned to face his friend head on. Ice either didn’t notice or didn’t care, as he continued to open his mouth and effectively ruin Pete’s good mood. 

“I heard about Cougar. I knew him back in flight school…he was a good man.” Mav was flabbergasted. This guy’s talking about Bill as if they’d all just come from his funeral.

“He still is a good man.” 

Ice’s face reddened again (seriously Mav was starting to think this guy had a medical issue). “Yeah, that’s what I meant. I was talking about the fact that he was the one that was supposed to be here, but turned in his wings a week ago after running into some MIG’s. I heard you were his wingman, and left him to show off.”

Slider looked like he wanted to slap Ice into next week. Pete decided Slider was an okay guy, but his pilot was a world class douche. It sucked because now Slider and her couldn’t be friends, on account of Ice evidently hating her guts, and Mav was rapidly developing a mutual feeling.

“Well seeing as you weren’t fucking there , and you have no idea what I did or why I did it, maybe you should keep your comments to yourself. But just for your information, Cougar was doing just fine.”

Kazansky (because Iceman was actually a cool call-sign and this prick didn’t deserve her respect) glared at her. “Uh huh. You know I seem to recall another ‘Mitchell’ leaving their wingman, you wouldn't happen to know him, would you?”

This motherfucker. “You already know the answer to that, Kazansky . I’m more than aware of what my father did, and I’m telling you right here and now that you don’t know shit about me. Yea, I left Cougar, but that’s all you know. Why you’re getting your panties in a twist over this is beyond me. You obviously have a problem with me, and it’s not hard to guess why.”

The noise of the club hadn’t lessened, but Mav could tell the rest of the guys were watching the heated exchange between her and Ice. Slider seemed to be torn between watching them, and something over her shoulder. Mav guessed that Goose was probably as pissed as she was at the blonde pilot, and Slider was keeping an eye out in case her RIO decided to turn this into a  physical fight. When Goose got mad, he gave off a truly sinister vibe, so Mav couldn't blame Slider for being cautious.

Kazansky looked puzzled, before what she was implying seemed to register. “I don’t like you because you’re dangerous, Mitchell, not because you’re a woman.” Mav’s eyes rolled so hard in her skull, it’s a miracle they didn’t get stuck.

“Oh no. How will I ever cope? The great Iceman doesn’t like me!” Pete injected every bit of ‘sarcastic bitch’ she could muster into her tone. “Well newsflash buddy, I couldn’t give less of a shit what you think of me. I’m here to win, not kiss your ass. But you know what, you’re right, I am dangerous. Take a good look asshole, because I’m the best there is.”

Pete’s gaze was locked with Ice’s. In the back of her mind she could hear the whisper of tone. The handsome blonde (god why did he have to be a dick? He was exactly her type) stared back at her. Green fire clashed against ice blue and Pete inwardly cackled. He thought she was dangerous now? 

He hadn’t seen shit, yet. 

After their little showdown, Mav and Ice’s respective pilots had separated them. The night had continued, with Pete getting to know Hollywood and Wolf a bit better, but the fun atmosphere was gone. Her and Goose stayed for another hour, but quickly left after they finished their drinks. The rest of the group had dispersed shortly after, not wanting to be hung-over during class tomorrow.

Mav and Goose finally had the chance to scope out the rest of the class, but the only real competition was Ice. Pete may have hated his stupid, pretty face, but she had to admit that his skills in the air were impressive. In the way that machines were impressive, at least. Ice was better than everyone else here, barring Mav, but he flew like a robot. He had no imagination, no passion. It made Mav want to cry thinking about flying like that all the time . Did the man not know what fun was?

Her and Goose had also met Charlie, their TAGREP. Pete was starting to think there was a conspiracy against her poor little bisexual self, because god damn . Her weakness for blonde’s was quickly turning into a full blown disability. It was like her own little version of purgatory. On one hand you had Ice, who Pete could actually get with, but he was such a dick Mav wanted to slap him. On the other hand you had Charlie, who was actually nice to Mav and appreciated the presence of another woman, but who could get Pete kicked out of the Navy in flat fucking second. This was all a set up constructed by the brass, she was sure of it.

At least Charlie had believed her about the MIG, because no one else had. Not even Hollywood and Wolf, which ok, if Mav hadn’t been there she wouldn’t buy it either. A MIG-28 in a 4-G negative dive? What were you smoking, buddy?

But Mav and Goose saw that shit with their own eyes, and had the polaroid to prove it. Fuck you, Ice.

Charlie had been skeptical, Mav admitted, but she hadn’t outright dismissed her. And after Mav produced the photograph, it was all Charlie wanted to talk about.

“You were really in a 4-G, inverted dive with a MIG-28! I have top-secret clearance, how did I not know about this?” Pete laughed at Charlie’s expression. She looked torn between amazement and shock and Pete kind of wanted to kiss her. 

“Guess the Pentagon doesn’t tell you everything, Misses Top-Secret Clearance,” Pete teased. The MIG talk had come up earlier that day in class, with Charlie talking about the limitations for both the enemy's aircraft and their own. When Charlie had said that a MIG-28 wouldn’t do a negative G pushover, well it was Pete’s duty as a pilot to set the record straight. Her declaration of not only seeing the MIG-28 do exactly that, but also of her own plane being inverted and no more than 2 meters away from the MIG, had garnered a mixed reaction.

Hollywood and Wolf didn’t look convinced, but they didn’t accuse her of lying. Chipper and Sundown looked dubious, but interested. Even Jester had rose an eyebrow but kept silent.

Ice had actually called bullshit because he was trying to get Pete to kill him. If he kept it up, he’d get his wish, and Slider would be in need of a new pilot.

After that, Jester had announced it was time for their first hop of the day, and the men had gone to their locker room while Mav had a weird moment with Ice in the hallway. Whatever, the guy had a screw loose or something. The hop had been easy, and Mav had gotten a lock on the other pilot, Yankee, in under 5 minutes. Unfortunately, so had Ice, and they were tied for 1st place. Mav contented herself with the fact that it was still only week one. There was plenty of time to clip Ice’s wings.

Now she was in the locker room, having showered and was putting her uniform back on for the post flight briefing. To her surprise, Charlie had been waiting for her after the hop, and had asked to see the polaroid. Goose usually kept all the pictures he took, but Mav had begged for it and then enlisted Carole’s help when he wouldn’t give it to her. Goose may have been able to resist Mav, but it would be a cold day in hell before Nick Bradshaw didn’t cave under the force of nature that was his darling wife.

Charlie rolled her pretty blue eyes at her and went back to cradling the photo like it was baby Jesus himself. “I’ve got to show this to the class. I know they didn’t believe you, and I wanna prove to them that you were telling the truth. I-I know how hard it is running with the boys…” Charlie’s voice tapered off at the end as she continued to stare down at the photo. Only now, it seemed to be an excuse to avoid Pete’s eyes.

 In a different universe, Charlie and Pete are together, and so deliriously happy it makes everyone else sick. But here in this one, there’s no force in the world that could convince Pete to give up her wings. Falling in love with Charlie just isn’t an option, so Pete resolves to nip this in the bud before she breaks her own heart.

“Trust me, I get it. We’re two women in a man’s world, and if we’re not being harassed then we’re being doubted. Even when we’re better, we’re never enough. You can show them Charlie, I don’t mind. Gotta remind these boys who’s the boss, right?” Mav said with a wink, causing Charlie to grin and giggle cutely from behind her hand.

God, maybe in another life, huh?

Charlie and Mav are the first ones to arrive at the post hop class. They’re there to go over what everyone did in the air and how to improve and blah blah blah. Mav knows her hop was damn near perfect, if a bit unorthodox, and she’s currently tied for the win. Add to that the fact that Charlie is going to be showing everyone the polaroid Goose took, well it’s safe to say she’s a little excited. Top Gun is going great , and not even the Iceman can bring her down.

Finally after what feels like years (seriously, no one takes longer in the shower than men in the Navy) the rest of the class files into the room. Goose comes to take his seat beside Mav, and shoots a questioning look at the excitement she wears. He knows they had a good hop, but it wasn’t anything extraordinary. Mav, being the little shit she is, keeps her lips sealed and turns to face the front of the room, where both Viper and Jester have joined Charlie. 

“We’ll have a post flight briefing after every hop,” Jester announces. “Some will be like this, in a classroom setting, others will be private and with one of the 3 of us,” he gestures between himself, Viper, and Charlie. “Now to start, Hollywood, Chipper, you two competed in the air today with Hollywood being the victor. Let’s review what happened-”

Mav kind of zones out after that. She’s always had a hard time paying attention in class, to the eternal suffering of her teachers. Mav is smart, no doubt, but getting her to sit still is like asking Goose to shave off his mustache. Never going to happen. She’s snapped back to reality when her RIO’s elbow suddenly introduces itself to her ribs.

“Maverick, Yankee, you two had the quickest hop of the day, clocking in at 4 minutes and 17 seconds, with Maverick as the victor. Yankee, what happened?”

“I lost sight of Maverick, Sir. We started off on each other's wing, and after breaking away, I eventually managed to get behind her. I attempted to get a lock on Maverick, when she flew directly into the sun, effectively blinding me. Maverick then took advantage of this, and reversed our positions, managing to get a lock on me quickly.” Yankee says with a calm, relaxed voice. He doesn’t seem interested in making friends, but he’s not outright hostile like some people.

Mav had used that particular trick a couple of times in her career, and it had yet to fail. She heard Hollywood whistle at Yankee’s description of her win, and couldn’t help but beam with pride. 

“We’ll work on what to do in case an enemy aircraft attempts to do the same, and how to avoid falling for tricks like that. Good job to both of you,” Viper says. He’s been quiet most of the class, but now he’s looking directly at Mav with a, dare she say it, proud expression. That’s a little weird but I’ll take it.

Evidently Mav had missed Ice’s review because Jester moves to conclude class. “That’s it for the day, dis-,” He’s cut off by Charlie, who’s stepped forward, clutching a small square in her hand.

“Sorry, but before we all leave, I have something I’d like to say. Earlier today, in the pre-flight briefing, I made a mistake.” Charlie moves towards the projector at the back of the room, turning it on as she asks for the blinds to be drawn and the light turned off. “I told you that a MIG-28 was incapable of doing a negative G pushover, and I’m here to correct that statement. Before today , we thought MIG-28’s had a problem with their inverted flight tanks, but this piece of evidence says otherwise.”  She places the photo face down on the projector, then there’s a pause while the men try and figure out what they’re looking at. Mav bites her lip in an effort to conceal her grin before the room erupts into noise.

Holy shit! You actually did it!

Fuck me, she wasn’t kidding…

Maverick you are the craziest son of a bitch I’ve ever met.

Hollywood and Wolf rush over to her and Goose like they’re fans meeting celebrities. Mav loves them both so much already and she’s only known them for 2 days. Suddenly, Viper’s voice cuts through the noise of fully grown pilots squealing like little girls.

“Maverick, what are you doing? ”

Pete’s confused, she hadn’t been doing anything no one else was doing. Then she catches sight of where Viper is looking and feels her face flush. Oh, I forgot about that…

The rest of the class takes a closer look at the photo displayed across the wall, and then Wolf howls.

“Oh my god, are you flipping him off?!”

Pete blushes harder, but her joy can’t be contained, spilling out of her through a bright smile and exuberant laughter.

“I prefer to think of it as keeping up foreign relations.”

This causes the rest of the room to join in with Wolf’s hysterics, even Viper and Jester, who shake their heads and try to hide their smiles. Pete looks over at Goose, who’s narrating the story behind the picture as best he can, given most of it is still technically classified. She’s glad that her and Nick got to come here, if only for this moment. Mav turns away and catches Charlie’s eye through the crowd of overly excited pilots. Charlie’s grinning at her, and shoots her a wink when she meets Pete’s gaze. It’s a perfect moment.

And if she had looked at him, Pete would have seen Ice staring at her with wide eyes and parted lips, and recognized the expression he wore.

After all, she’d seen it before.

Chapter Text

They’re about half way through Top Gun when Pete finally starts to understand Iceman.

But before such an understanding can occur, Pete and Nick are invited to a beach day by Hollywood. The other pilot has managed to rope most of the class into going down on the upcoming Saturday, and the two of them are quick to agree to it. Carole won’t be coming to visit until next week, so Maverick and Goose are eager to fill the time with fun, instead of moping around all weekend waiting for her and Bradley. The little family hasn’t seen each other in months, and they’re all anxiously counting the seconds until they’re reunited. 

So when Saturday rolls around, Pete and Nick pack their things and drive down to the beach. The weather is perfect for it, but it’s a summer day in Southern California so that’s to be expected. Pete would have preferred to take her beloved bike, but that’s back in Texas with Carole, so she contends herself with the car Nick and her had rented. When they finally get there, they’re immediately assaulted with the joint forces of nature that are Hollywood and Wolfman. 

“Hey Mav! Goose! Get over here!” The blonde pilot yells from where he’s standing next to a beach volleyball court. “Ice and Slider have been whoopin’ everyone’s asses all day. Figured if you could take them in the sky, you can knock them down a peg here too.” 

Wolf had run over to Pete and Nick the second he saw them arrive, and was helping them carry their stuff while begging Pete to play a round. His call-sign may have been Wolfman, but right now he was giving Pete some serious puppy-dog eyes. 

“Alright, alright, we’ll play. Quit your pouting, Wolf, you’re not as cute as you think.” Pete rolled her eyes and laughed as Hollywood let out a whoop and Wolf grinned at her agreement.

“You’re right, I’m cuter.” Wolf shot her a wink. 

“You’re uglier than shit, Wolf. Now are we chatting or playing?” Slider called from where he and Ice stood on the other side of the net. Hot damn. Pete knew those two were attractive, but seeing them sweaty and without shirts was as close to a religious experience as she was willing to get.

“Keep your panties on, Kerner! We’re coming, just gotta get our clothes off!” Goose hollered from where he was currently taking off his sweats to reveal his board shorts underneath. Pete moved to do the same, including her top, leaving her in black athletic shorts and a white tank. Her actual swimsuit was on under this, and she was glad to rid herself of one of her layers in this oppressive heat.

“Sure you wanna play with the boys, Maverick? Might get hurt, you know,” came from the stands behind Pete. She rolled her eyes and didn’t even have to turn around to know who it was. The prick had been passive aggressive towards her ever since Charlie had shown the class the polaroid. 

“Thanks for the concern, Hayworth,” Pete replied sarcastically. “But you shouldn’t underestimate me and Goose here,” She turned to face him, her face adopting a faux thoughtful expression. Pete tilted her head and tapped a finger against her lips. “Huh, that might be why we’re so far ahead of you in points. What do you think, Goose?”

Her RIO looked at her with an overly shocked face, forcing Pete to contain her giggles. “Great balls of fire, I think you’re right, Mav!” The duo turned back to Hayworth, call-sign Bones, with identical smirks on their faces. Bones glared at them, his face contorting into a sneer, before turning to face the other bane of Pete’s existence.

No, not Ice. That guy may have a stick up his ass the size of the Enterprise, but he wasn’t someone that caused the hair on the back of Pete’s neck to stand up. Hayworth, or Bones, was a tall, skinny son of a bitch who was jealous of Pete’s superiority in the air, but was ultimately all bark and no bite. No, the guy who Pete was actually wary of (she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of being afraid of him, not even in the safety of her own subconscious) was Bones’ pilot, Chase “Church” Warren.

Warren seemed to hate Pete from the second they were introduced. He constantly made comments about her skill, her gender, and everything else he could possibly think of. It didn’t take a genius to figure out how he got his call-sign, especially when he went on religious rants about a woman’s rightful place in society. Pete got the vibe that he wasn’t just talking about her military career. It seemed that Warren, or Church, thought women were naturally subservient to men, and belonged in the kitchen or better yet, the bedroom. The way his eyes roamed her body, feeling like a physical touch, whenever he went on yet another sexist spiel, made Pete want to claw them out of his head and feed them to him. Of course, there wasn’t anything she could actually do about Church. The bastard may have been a creep, but he wasn’t an idiot, and was always careful to catch Pete alone before harassing her.

Goose knew, and so did Carole, but neither of them could do anything to help. Her RIO couldn’t be with her every single minute of the day, no matter how much he wanted to protect her. And Carole was so far removed from the situation it was laughable. So Pete dealt with Church by simply walking away from wherever he had managed to corner her. Her fists clenched so tight, she could feel her nails digging into her skin hard enough to draw blood. It helped to ground her and keep her hands at her sides, and not wrapped around Church’s throat. Pete wouldn’t let this asshole, no matter how spine-chilling she found him, get her kicked out of Top Gun. She hadn’t come this far to only go this far. 

Church’s eyes were locked on her from the moment they’d arrived. After pissing off Bones, Pete’s own gaze had slid to the left, catching the other pilot’s. She felt a chill go through her, and couldn’t help but feel that Church had a lock on her, the sound of confirmed tone ringing in her head.

Pete was snapped back to the present when Goose threw an arm around her shoulders, steering her away from Church and his menacing stare. “Come on, Mav! Let’s show these guys just how well you can ‘play with the boys,’” Two of Goose’s fingers curling over the last part as he snickered. God, what would I do without you.

They’d finally taken their positions on the sandy court, mimicking Ice and Slider. “Because we had to wait on you two, we’re serving first,” The giant RIO announced. Seriously, the man was huge. It’s a miracle he fit in the cockpit. 

Pete grinned through the net at the other team and teased, “Aw where are those manners you’re constantly bitching at Ice about, Sli? Haven’t you ever heard of ladies first?” Slider snorted and rolled his eyes at her, his mouth opening to shoot her a, no doubt, pissy reply when Ice beat him to it.

“Like you’d ever want us to treat you like a lady.” The handsome pilot said as he spun the ball on his finger, waiting to serve. He was right, but Pete always found it fun to rile him up.

“As long as you don’t treat me like a whore, I really don’t give a fuck, Kazansky.” Just as she predicted, Ice’s face reddened. A combination of the summer sun and embarrassment leaving him doing his best impression of a tomato.

“That’s not what I meant.” Pete threw her head back and laughed. This guy is too much fun to piss off. 

“Sure, man. Now why don’t we cut the shit and serve before our RIO’s decide to kill us,” She gestured to where Goose and Slider were standing looking exasperated. Come to think of it, those two always looked like that when her and Ice talked to each other. Guess they were tired of their pilots' endless bitching at each other.

Ice turned sharply on his heel and marched over to the end of the court, before finally opening the game with a killer serve. Pete hated that the other pilot was so good at everything, it made her attraction to him that much harder to control. Seriously, was this guy mad in a lab? Is he incapable of fucking up? Was Ice secretly the Terminator come to kill Pete before she could win the Top Gun trophy?

In the end it didn’t matter what Ice was, he wasn’t going to beat her in the air, or on the ground. His serve was good, great even, but Pete had always been athletic and on top of track, she’d played volleyball in high school. She wasn’t tall enough to be a spiker or blocker, but that didn’t stop her from being named MVP two years in a row. Just as the ball comes sailing to their side of the court, Pete throws her entire body sideways in a dive, managing to wedge her hand under it, keeping it in play.

Pete may not be able to go for the kills, but she made up for it by being a kickass libero. Not many balls got past her back in high school, and even though she hadn’t played in years, Pete was determined not to let the other team get an easy win. If they wanted to beat her, then she was going to make them work for it.

Goose had foregone the set, and had spiked the ball right after Pete’s save, awarding them the first point of the match. Pete springs to her feet just in time to catch Slider’s look of shock. 

“What’s with the face, Sli? Cat got your tongue?” Pete teases as Goose cheers along with Hollywood, Wolf, Sunny, and Chipper who are losing their minds in the stands.

The RIO shakes himself out of his stupor, angling his head down to gaze at the sandy floor. “God, he’s so screwed,” Slider chuckles. He’d said it quietly, and Pete’s pretty sure she wasn’t meant to hear it. Her brow furrows in confusion. 

“Who’s so screwed?”

Slider’s head snaps up so fast that Pete inwardly winces in sympathy. “What? Oh, no one. Nothing, let’s just keep going.” The tall aviator whips around to face his pilot, who’s glaring so hard it honestly surprises Pete. Is he really that mad that we scored?  

Goose has just returned from his mini celebration with the other guys, when Pete tells him about the weird encounter. Nick snickers at her as he catches the ball Ice throws to him, as it's his turn to serve. “Are you sure he was glaring at you, Pete?” She huffs at her unhelpful RIO.

“Of course, dumbass, who else?” 

Nick just pats her head and sighs, as if she’s a particularly stupid child. “Oh honey, it’s a good thing you’re pretty. I’ll explain it to you when you’re older.” This asshole…

“Fuck you, Goose. Just serve the damn ball.”

They end up playing 5 sets against Ice and Slider, with the other two just barely snagging the win in the final one. Pete and Nick had won the 1st and 3rd sets, with the other two going to their opponents. The final set had been a full blown war, going well into overtime as each team tried to gain a two point lead and end it once and for all. In the end, Ice spikes the ball on Goose’s side of the court, and the RIO isn’t fast enough to block it. 

The win goes to Ice and Slider, but it’s hard to celebrate when you’re gasping for air after a strenuous hour of physical activity in the California summer heat. Some of the others had dispersed around set 3, including Church and Bones to Pete’s eternal relief. Hollywood and Chipper, along with their RIO’s had stayed the full game and cheered them on. Pete doesn’t know where those four have been her entire career, but she’s glad they’re with her now. 

All four of them are making their way off the court in search of water and shade, when Pete hears the most wonderful sound in the world.

“Mav! Mav! I’m o’er here!” Screams little Bradley Bradshaw, running as fast as his little legs could carry him. All exhaustion leaves Pete in an instant as she takes off in a dead sprint towards the little boy. 

Pete and Bradley collide at Mach 2 as she swings him up in the air and spins around. “Hey little man! What are you doing here? Where’s your Mommy?” Pete absently listens to Bradley’s long and excited retelling of his adventure as she searches for Carole. Finally, a flash of blonde at the corner of her vision, and then Carole Bradshaw emerges from the crowded beach, golden and beautiful. Pete’s got Bradley on her hip now, and moves to intercept Carole, but Goose beats her to it. Looking at the way those two light up as they’re finally reunited after so much time apart, Pete can’t help but feel an inner longing. She wants what they have, what her parents had. Pete loves Bradley more than anyone else in the world, just as she did the other one, but the empty hole in her heart that aches for a partner, an equal, has yet to be filled. 

Carole and Goose are laughing and kissing, looking every bit as in love as they’ve always been. Deciding to give them a bit of privacy, Pete turns her attention back to Bradley as she rejoins her other friends.

“And then- then we came to the beach and, I saw you and- and I missed you Mav,” Bradley sniffled, his arms tightening around her neck as he buried his little face in her shoulder. “Missed you and Daddy. Don’t like it when you go away. Mommy says we have to be strong. I try my hardest, Mav, but- but I really really missed you, Mav. Did you miss me?” Pete feels her heart melt at this sweet little boy. She’d tear the moon out of the sky if he asked for it. Pete hates the sound of his tear filled voice, wishing he could always be happy and smiling up at her.

Bradley has peeked his head out from its place in her neck and is looking up at her with big, watery brown eyes. His blonde hair shining in the sunlight, making him look as angelic as his beautiful mother. Pete shoots him a megawatt grin, bouncing him on her hip.

“Of course I missed you, baby Goose! I bet I missed you more than you missed me,” She teases and brings their faces closer together to rub her nose against his, making him giggle in delight.

“Nuh-uh Mav, I missed you this much,” His little arms stretch as far as they can go, trying to prove her wrong. Pete laughs, her joy too much to contain now that her little family is once again together. She’s finally rejoined the group of curious aviators, looking at her and Bradley in favor of ignoring the two love birds a few feet away. 

“Who’s this little guy?” Sundown asks, stepping forward to greet the littlest Bradshaw, who’s once again hiding his face, but this time in shyness. Pete reaches up to card her fingers through his golden hair, gently swaying from side to side in an effort to soothe him.

“This is Bradley, Goose’s son. That beautiful woman over there is Carole, his wife. They were supposed to arrive next Saturday, but evidently decided surprising us was too much fun to pass up.” She softens her voice as her attention turns back to Bradley. “These are my friends, baby Goose, they fly planes like me and your Daddy. You wanna say ‘Hi’?” Pete gently urges the shy little boy.

The men offer Bradley warm smiles as he picks his head up slightly so he can see them. “Hi,” he gives a little wave, offering a timid smile in return. The men all take turns introducing themselves, trying to coax Bradley out of his shell. Hollywood and Wolf are the most successful, and put the little boy at ease quickly. Pete suspects that the fact they’re both children themselves, or at least act like it, has something to do with it.

Slider moves to offer Bradley a hand shake, making him giggle. “Hey kiddo, the name’s Ron, but you can call me Slider.” 

Bradley scrunches his little button nose. “That’s a silly name. Wolfman is cooler.” Slider guffaws as Wolf snickers and gives Bradley a high-five. The little boy gladly accepts, before turning to face the only person he hasn’t met.

“I like your hair, it’s spiky.” Bradley says, with all the bluntness only a toddler can have.  

Ice, who had been quietly observing them (seriously for such a good pilot the man sure zoned out a lot) offered the cute little boy a soft smile. Fuck, he looks good when he does that. He should do it more. Like all the time. Preferably when he’s looking at Pete.

“Thank you, Bradley. My name is Iceman, but you can call me Ice if you want.” The handsome son of a bitch says kindly, once again sending Pete into a flat spin as she reminds herself that no matter how cute Ice is, and boy is he cute , his personality leaves something to be desired. He hasn’t said anything disparaging about her father again, and he’s never implied that her being a woman was an issue, but Pete still gets the feeling that Ice doesn’t like her.

Bradley’s eyes widen and his mouth forms an ‘ O ’. “That’s so cool. Better than his.” The toddler points his chubby finger at Wolfman.

Wolf, the big baby, pouts and begs Bradley to change his mind, but the toddler remains firm. Ice is now the second coolest pilot. Hollywood raises an eyebrow.

“Who’s the coolest then?” 

Bradley rolls his eyes, and somehow even that is adorable. “Mav, duh.” 

Pete feels herself smirk at Ice in victory. The other guys laugh and agree, Mav is the coolest. How did we not guess? Of course, Bradley, you’re absolutely right.

Bradley, pleased with their agreement, turns back to Pete. He looks up at her with those big eyes of his, and she knows that whatever he’s about to ask is definitely happening. She couldn't say no to him if her life depended on it. “Mav, can we swim? I wanna swim. Mama said I could, and it’s so hot. ” He pleads, bottom lip jutting out. 

Pete pretends to consider it, just to tease him, before nodding. “Alright little man, you got it. Here, let me get my clothes off and we can go.” She sets him down on the sand, where he’s immediately distracted by Hollywood and Wolf, as Chipper and Sundown supervise. Slider and Ice have both turned around to grab their waters, still tired from the strenuous game. Pete’s not really paying attention to them as her focus remains on Bradley, but she swears that Slider seems to be teasing Ice about something. She can’t make out his words, they’re too far away, but that’s definitely humor coloring the handsome RIO’s voice, and Ice’s shoulders are sloped as he hangs his head. What the fuck’s got his panties in a twist? They won the game. 

Pete decides to ignore it. As much as Ice tends to piss her off, and vice versa, he’s not the worst guy she’s run across in her career. He’s an uppity prick and stiff as a board, but Ice has never treated her as anything less than a true rival, their fight in the O Club aside.

Pete has removed her tank and shorts to reveal a simple one piece swimsuit. She’d kill it in a bikini, but Pete would rather not be stared at by Bones and Church thank you very much. Carole and her had bought this suit a couple years ago, right after the Great Canoodle of  1984 as Pete so lovingly calls the night her best friends scarred her for life. Carole had to convince her to buy it because Pete thought it made her look like a lifeguard, on account of it being a vibrant shade of red. But the lovely blonde had insisted that it complimented the pilot’s tanned skin tone perfectly, and as the years have gone on, it’s grown on Pete. 

She stores her clothes with the rest of her and Goose’s stuff, and waves over to her friends who are still wrapped in each other's embrace, to point to Bradley and the ocean. The couple waves back, gesturing that they’ll join them soon, and Pete's grin widens. It’s a beautiful day. The sun is shining, the sky is blue and clear of any clouds, and the ocean glistens in the distance, beckoning Pete to come cool off in its refreshing depths. 

Scooping a giggling Bradley up from where his new friends were distracting him, Pete kisses his chubby rosey cheeks, and then they’re ready to go. The raven haired pilot hears the other 4 follow behind her, evidently they could all use a swim to wash away their sweat. Pete’s still focused on a shrieking Bradley, wiggling in her arms excitedly. She doesn’t know how Carole knew to find her and Goose here, she’ll ask her later, but Pete’s glad they’re here with her on this picturesque day.

As the pilots and RIO’s journey down to the water, accompanied by the sweetest little boy in the world, Pete hears Slider let out a howl of laughter. 

“Oh you’re so screwed.”

After a long, wonderful day splashing around with the others and tossing a squealing Bradley between them, Pete and her family say their goodbyes and return to the bungalow she and Nick share. Bradley passed out in the car not five minutes after they left, and Pete couldn't help but coo over how cute he was from her place in the backseat with him. Carole and Nick were upfront, their fingers intertwined as he drove. 

“Hey, Carole?” She whispers, not wanting to wake the toddler currently clutching Pete’s hand like a teddy bear. 

“Yes, honey?”

“How did you know where we were? You guys weren’t supposed to be here until next week.”

Carole lets out a giggle, glancing at her husband who Pete can see has a giant goofy grin on his face. “Oh, Goose, I thought you told her.”

Nick snickers, “I was gonna, honest! But Pete’s been moody all week waiting for you guys. I’m your husband and I swear she was worse than me! Decided you needed a little surprise, Mav.” Her RIO shoots her a wink through the rearview mirror. Pete would hate him if she didn’t love him so much. He knows how much she missed Carole and Bradley around this time every year. Summer was never easy for her…

“You’re a dick, Bradshaw. If you weren’t a part of the greatest package deal in history, I’d kick your ass to the curb,” Pete teases. The three of them giggle, trying to stay quiet lest they face the terror that is a sleepy Bradley.

“Oh yeah? Who’d fly with you if you got rid of me? Slider?” Nick snorts. If he were anyone else, and they weren't closer than siblings, Pete would deck him for poking fun at her RIO insecurity. Truth was, Pete never really got over all those rejections. She had healed with time, but the scar was still there, aching on those bad days when she felt low. They were few and far between, but Pete was only human, and sometimes her confidence failed her.

But not today. Not when her family was together again after 4 months apart and had spent all day at the beach. When Pete had got to play and snuggle Bradley all she wanted, and after Carole finally detached herself from Nick and the two best friends had embraced, catching up on their lives. Sure they talked over the phone, but it wasn’t the same. Having them in front of her and being able to hug and hold them was second to none. Today, Pete was sky high, flying without ever even touching a plane.

Pete smirked. “Slider would be a great replacement. He’s about as tall as you, but he's nicer to look at than your ugly mug.”

“First of all, rude. Second, what makes you think you could get him away from Ice?” Nick questioned.

“Why my feminine wiles of course. Haven’t you been listening to Church? It’s how I’ve gotten this far. Obviously I’ll seduce Slider away from Ice and we’ll be the best pilot/RIO duo in history. Easy peasy.” Pete shrugged before breaking out into another round of giggles with Carole as Nick scoffed.

The blonde had turned fully in her seat to face Pete, amusement still present on her lovely face. “I don’t know, Pete. Are you sure it’s Slider you wanna seduce? What about that handsome pilot of his. Iceman, was it?” 

Pete felt her face flush. Damn her, she knows me too well. “Why on earth would I want to do that? Just because he looks like my fantasy husband, doesn’t mean I like him. Ice and I are rivals, nothing more. Come on, Carole, I told you about him over the phone.”

The other woman rolled her eyes, as if Pete was being purposefully ignorant. “That was before I actually saw the two of you interact. You sure you’re not reading him wrong, Pete? Because where I’m sitting that boy is 100% prime time in love with you. Can you honestly say you don’t feel the slightest bit of something for him? Has he really been that awful to you?” Carole no longer looked amused, concern filling her pretty blue eyes. 

“Well…no. He’s not acting like Bones or Church or anything like that. But you’re wrong, babe. Ice doesn’t see me like that. He’s always staring at me with this really intense look, like he’s got a problem with me. He said he didn’t have a problem with me being a woman, and he hasn’t said anything else about my dad, but my gut tells me that he’s holding something back. I just don’t know what .” Pete says. It’s true, Ice hasn’t been completely terrible towards her, but she doesn’t get him. He treats her with respect, but she knows in her heart of heart that there’s something he isn’t saying. Ice has got a problem with her, Pete’s sure of it.

Carole shakes her golden head. “You know him better than I do, Pete, so I won’t argue with you too much. Still, the way he was looking at you…Just try not to write it off as only rivalry, okay?” She pleads.

Pete sighs. She can never deny Carole anything. Like mother like son, huh Pete? “Okay, I’ll try and be more open towards him. But he’s still my competition before anything else. I’m not gonna roll over and show him my belly just because he might feel something for me. If anything's gonna happen, it’s gonna happen after I’m holding that trophy. See if you still think he likes me then.” Pete says, snorting at the end. Call her jaded, but in her experience men don’t like it when women are better than them. Pete winning that trophy is bound to kill any feelings Ice might have for her, she’s a thousand percent certain.

Carole seems to accept this answer, knowing how stubborn Pete can be when she’s made up her mind about something. “That’s all I’m asking for, Mav.” She turns back around to face her husband, a flirtatious smile blooming across her face. “Hey Goose, you big stud…” 

Nick has pulled onto their street, their temporary home coming into view. He grins, big and bright. “That’s me, honey.”

“Take me to bed or lose me forever!” Carole says, just as they pull into the driveway. Nick shuts off the engine and practically leaps out of the car. He sprints, gangly limbs flailing in his haste to reach Carole’s door on the other side. Throwing it open he reaches inside, scooping a giggling Carole into his arms. 

“Show me the way home, honey!” 

Pete’s heart is full of love for them, even as it aches in longing. One day, that’ll be me. One day, someone will look at me like that. 

But for now, she lets them go. They know that she’ll take care of Bradley for the night, get him changed and put to bed. Pete exits the car, going to gently take the little boy in her arms and head inside to do just that. Nick and Carole’s laughter a beacon in the night, leading her home with them.

After one of the best weekends of her life, Monday rolls around and it’s back to work. Ice and Maverick are still neck in neck, neither willing to let up and lose their shot at the trophy. Today, she and Goose are scheduled to team up with Hollywood and Wolfman against Jester. Maverick and the other two have grown close over the weeks, so she’s looking forward to an easy hop.

The weekend had been great, and the Bradshaw's had done their best to distract Pete from the upcoming date. The anniversary of her father’s death had been just before Top Gun, and Bradley’s was just around the corner. Summer was never easy for Pete, and she was eternally grateful Carole and Goose had surprised her, successfully alleviating her grief, if only temporarily. Time helped lessen the pain, but Pete suspected she would always feel their absence like a phantom limb around this time of year.

Maverick was on her way to class, having forgotten something in the car and gone back, as thoughts of Bradley and her father distracted her. Which is probably why she didn’t notice Hollywood and Wolf going at it until she was practically on top of them. 

Pete felt an involuntary gasp leave her lips, causing the pilot and RIO to spring apart, turning to stare at her with wide, horrified eyes. Woah, deja vu.

But unlike Jeremy and Lucas, these two men didn’t stick around to chat. Hollywood took off running, while Wolf stood frozen. The loveable RIO was pale and shaking, looking like the ground had just fallen out from under him.

Pete lifted her hand, slowly moving forward to assure him of her discretion. I won’t tell anyone, I’d never…

Wolf snapped back to himself, jerking away as if Pete had struck him. He spun on his heel and took off in the same direction as his pilot and, Pete guessed, lover.

Well, shit.

Maverick had tried to talk to Leo and Rick (because using their call-signs, even subconsciously, didn’t feel right in this context) but the two avoided her like the plague. Pete felt like she had a bright red ‘A’ stitched onto her clothing, that’s how well they ignored her. Goose had caught on to the tension between them, and had questioned her. But Maverick wouldn’t tell him. It wasn’t her place, her right, to out them. Not even to Goose, who didn’t have a bigoted bone in his body. 

The situation continued all the way up to their shared hop. Short of cornering them in the men's room, Maverick was out of ideas on how to force them to talk to her. It was with a heavy, and nervous, heart that Maverick entered the cockpit with. Let’s just get through this. I’ll talk to them after and explain that I get it and I’ll never tell. God, please, let us get through this. Let them believe me. I can’t lose them when I’ve only just found them…

Maverick and Hollywood have flown together before, each time filled with quips and laughter among the four of them. If you had asked her after their last hop if she ever thought Rick and her could be anything other than good together, Pete wouldn’t have hesitated before dismissing the notion point blank. Maverick and Hollywood worked well together. They weren’t the best wingmen to ever exist, but they got along and had an ease with one another from the start. Maverick didn’t want to lose either of the men over this. Not when this whole situation was just a giant misunderstanding.

From the jump the air is ripe with tension. Goose doesn’t know what’s going on, Maverick is stressed the fuck out, Wolfman is as silent as the grave, and Hollywood only speaks when absolutely necessary, and even then his sentences are short and clipped. It’s her worst hop since coming to Top Gun, which is saying something since she’s also been Church’s wingman a couple times. 

They manage to get on Jester’s ass pretty quickly, but Hollywood must be distracted by what happened earlier, wondering if Maverick is going to get him and Wolf thrown out on their asses, which she wouldn’t and he would know that if he would talk to her . He’s riding Jester’s tail but can’t manage to get a lock. Mav’s starting to regret letting him have the lead, if only because every minute they’re in the air her anxiety kicks up a few notches. Her heart is somewhere in her stomach when Viper’s voice comes over the radio.

“Good morning aviators, the temperature’s a hundred and ten degrees…”

“ Holy shit, it’s Viper!” Wolf finally ends his own personal edition of the silent game. 

“No shit, Wolf. And here I thought it was God.” Maverick snarks. She doesn’t mean to be a bitch, especially not when their friendship is hanging by a thread right now. But the anniversary of Bradley’s death is looming over her like her own personal boogeyman of memories, Church and Bones have been steadily increasing their intensity towards her, and now her precious new friendship is on the rocks. Maverick’s perfect weekend feels lightyears ago instead of a measly 12 hours.

“Okay let’s all calm the fuck down and get our heads in the game. We got Jester, so let’s just stay on him.” Comes Goose’s placating voice from behind Maverick. He doesn’t know what their problem is, but he’s doing his best to fix it.

Unfortunately Maverick isn’t in the mood to be placated. This whole thing is ridiculous and if they would only listen to her, the could have wrapped this hop up a long fucking time ago. But now Viper’s here and Hollywood still hasn’t gotten a goddamn lock.

“Come on Hollywood, move it or lose it.” That’s about as nice as Mav’s capable of being right now, and it obviously only serves to piss the other pilot off further.

“If you’re so impatient, Maverick, then why don’t you go after Viper. I’ll stay on Jester,” The blonde pilot all but hisses. Maverick has never heard Hollywood speak to her with anything other than respect and kindness. It hurts more than she thought it would to hear his voice filled with anger and contempt.

 Later, she’ll get upset. Probably go home and sob into her pillow, or on Carole’s shoulder as the blonde pets her hair and assures her that everything will be fine. Later, Maverick will allow herself to cry over Rick and Leo and the evident end of their friendship, over Bradley and her father, and everything else that’s weighing her down, trying to drown her. Later, Mav will fall apart, hoping to be pieced back together by the kind, gentle hands of the Bradshaw's.

Bur right now she just gets mad. 

“Fine,” Maverick bites out. “I’m going after Viper, Goose, get me eyes on him.”

“No, Mav. Don’t leave Hollywood, we’re his cover,” Goose urges, a slight tinge of panic coloring his voice.

“Goose, Hollywood’s okay. I want Viper. ” Maverick snaps. She can practically feel Goose bristle from his place behind her. Her RIO puts up with a lot of her shit, but he’s never been one to let Maverick walk all over him. Then again, she’s never tried to.

“Stick with Hollywood, Mav.” Goose’s tone is full of warning. But he might as well not have said anything at all, for all that Maverick listens to him. She peels off Hollywood’s wing, leaving the other pilot on his own. Maverick’s about to snap at Goose again, when she spots Viper in her peripheral vision. 

“There he is, 3 o’clock low. Stand by, Viper’s coming down.”

“Holy shit, I can’t believe we’re doing this,” Goose whispers, voice dripping in exasperation.

Maverick can hardly see past the red that colors her vision. Can’t hear due to the pounding of her heart. Can’t think past Hollywood and Wolf and Bradley and Dad and Church and Bones and oh god, oh my god.

She manages to shove her panic down, staying on Viper’s ass for a good couple minutes, determined to nail him to the wall. She wants to walk away from this hop with a win, because Mav’s got the feeling it’s the only one she’s likely to get today. 

Maverick’s sure she’s about to get a lock, when the sharp sound of confirmed tone fills the cockpit. What the fuck? She turns around just as Goose’s “Shit! There’s Jester!” hits her ears. Maverick can’t believe it. She was so sure Hollywood had him. Goddammit!

“The defense department regrets to inform you that your kids are dead because they were stupid,” Comes her RIO’s voice from behind her. 

God fucking dammit.

Pete’s sitting outside the men’s locker room waiting on Nick. She just got her ass chewed out by Jester, and all she wants to do is apologize to her best friend and go home. Pete’s disappointed with herself. She had promised to never leave her wingman again, no matter what. But all it took was a little stress and a couple of words for her to break that promise. Pete knows she screwed up, she doesn’t need anyone else telling her so.

Of course that’s when Tom Kazansky exits the locker room to do exactly that.

At first, he just stands there silently. Staring at her from where Pete’s slumped against the wall. Then he opens that pretty mouth of his and pisses her off all over again.

“Maverick.”

Pete raises an eyebrow. “Iceman.”

He pauses for a moment, seemingly deciding if he should engage. He comes to a decision quickly though. “I heard about what happened.”

Pete rolls her eyes at his disappointed tone and doesn’t respond. Anything she said would only irritate him further, she’s sure. Hopefully ignoring him will make him give up and leave her alone to her pity party.

Seems like Pete used up all her good luck over the weekend because Ice keeps going. “You keep saying that I have a problem with you. Well you’re right, I do. Only, it’s not your flying like you think. It’s your attitude. I don’t know what went down between you and Hollywood, but that’s no excuse. You may not like the guys you’re flying with, they may not like you, but you never leave them.” Ice tells her, as if Pete didn’t know that. Who the fuck does he think he is? Looks like even Carole could be wrong because Ice is looking at her like she’s gum on the bottom of his perfectly shined shoes. 

“You think you know everything, don’t you, Kazansky?” Pete snarks, beyond tired of this little game of theirs. Any other day she’d be happy to go back and forth with him, get him all riled up. But today has been one gigantic fuck up after another and the last thing Pete needs is the righteous Iceman giving her a lecture.

Ice obviously can’t read the fucking room, or maybe he just doesn’t give a fuck, because his nostrils flare in agitation as he replies. “No, but I know this.” He runs his fingers through his damp hair, flattening down the spikes. “I don’t get you Maverick. You’re undeniably skilled, and really the only competition for me here. But every time I think I’ve got you figured out, you turn around and pull something like this. You fly like it’s you against the world, like you’re up there all alone with no one to worry about but yourself. It’s as if you don’t know that the entire Navy is here to back you up…” Ice sighs frustratedly. 

Pete can only look up at him in shock. Does he seriously think that about her? About everything? Her mental picture of Ice is finally coming into focus. Pete rises to her feet as she prepares to set a few things straight. Ice has a good 8 inches on her, but Pete isn’t intimidated in the slightest as she stares directly into his ice blue eyes.

“You’re right Ice, I shouldn’t have left Hollywood, and I do fly like I’m all alone up there. But newsflash asshole, that’s because, usually, I am. You said that I have the entire Navy ready to back me up, but that’s not true. I don’t expect you to understand, because how could you? You’ve never been doubted on your skill or had your orders questioned because of what’s between your legs or who your father was. I bet Slider was your first RIO and you guys were great friends from day one. I bet you’ve never been harassed or groped or almost assaulted while deployed. I bet you never once had to worry that someone was going to follow you into the shower or corner you in the hall. Never had to fight a man you trusted because he locked you in a room with him and threatened to rape you. Or had to worry about being believed afterwards. Terrified that they’d all call you a liar, a slut who led him on then refused to put out. I bet you never had to consider if you’d rather lose your wings or fly with someone you knew didn’t have your back. You don’t get me? Big fucking surprise.” 

Pete pauses, the anger leaving her body, replaced by embarrassment. She hadn’t meant to tell him that. But the notion that he could possibly understand her, could apply his own experiences to hers, was laughable. Ice could never truly know what Pete went through, and she’d never want him to. She wouldn’t wish her reality on her worst enemy. Ice may have been a jackass, but her enemy, he was not. 

Pete’s eyes had fallen to the floor after her outburst. She could feel exhaustion deep in her bones, but she wasn’t done. Once again raising her gaze to meet his shocked eyes, she continued. “I shouldn’t have left Hollywood, I know that. And I’m sorry I shouted at you, it’s not your fault, none of it is. But you acting like we live the same lives, as if the rules don’t apply differently to us, is hilarious. You don’t get me, Ice, and you never will. But I think I finally get you.”  

Pete wasn’t mad at Ice. Some part of her was even glad they’d had this conversation, because now it all made sense. Ice had seen her as just another pilot. One who flew by the seat of her pants and damn anyone who couldn’t keep up. Looking at it from his perspective, Pete would have hated her too. 

“The Navy may have your back, but they don’t have mine. I went through 5 RIO’s before I was assigned to Goose, and each one hated me in different ways.”

Ice, who had been staring at Pete as if he’d never seen her before, opened his mouth to…apologize? Call her a lying bitch? Pete didn’t know, and right now she didn’t care. This entire day had been an emotional bitch slap straight to the face. All Pete wanted to do was go home and sandwich herself between Carole and Bradley and forget that she had to come back here tomorrow and do it all over again. She raised her hand, effectively cutting the other pilot off before he had even started.

“I don’t need your pity or accusations or whatever. Please tell Goose that I’m waiting outside by the car for him. See you tomorrow, Kazansky.” And with that Pete brushed past the handsome blonde without a backwards glance.

She makes it all the way to the parking lot before deciding that God doesn’t exist, and if he does, he hates her, because waiting in the parking lot are Rick and Leo. Evidently the world isn’t done emotionally destroying her day.

They’ve obviously been waiting for her, hoping to catch her alone. Earlier, all Pete wanted to do was have a big heart to heart and reassure the two men of her friendship and silence. She had wanted to tell them their secret was more than safe with her and she loved them like the brothers she never had, but earnestly wished for. But after her confrontation with Ice, Pete couldn’t find it within her to do any of that right now. 

Wolf moves to speak, but like before, Pete doesn’t give him the chance. “You guys are two of the stupidest sons of bitches I have ever met,” Pete whispers, mindful of the delicate nature of their conversation. “Not only did I catch you playing tonsil tennis on base, but you ran away before I had a chance to say anything. You’re lucky that I’m not a fucking bigot because otherwise you two would be shit out of luck. I get why you were scared, I do. I’m not mad about that even though it hurts, because I know we haven’t known each other for that long and you didn’t know if you could trust me. But I’m telling you here and now that you can. I’ll take this to my grave, not even Goose will know if you don’t want him to. I love you guys, and I’m proud to be your friend and wingman. Now, are we cool?”

Hollywood looks shocked to the very core of his being while Wolf tears up and gathers Pete in a firm hug. Pete feels her own eyes fill with heat as she tries to keep it together. She can’t help but let out a shaky sigh when she feels Rick slide his arms around her and Leo. It’s been a shitty day, and the strength of their embrace is the only thing keeping her together right now. 

“Of course, Pete. We’re cool, we’re better than cool. Thank you, thank you, thank you,” Leo sobs into her shoulder. She doesn’t want to, but Pete knows they’re already pushing their luck, so she gently extracts herself from their arms. A watery smile dances across her face as she looks up at them.

“Don’t thank me, I haven’t done anything another decent human being wouldn’t have done. I’ll see you guys tomorrow, yeah?” Pete can’t help but ask hopefully, still fearful that they’ll pull away from her and their friendship. This time it’s Rick who responds.

“Yeah, Pete, we’ll see you tomorrow. Go home and get some rest, you deserve it after today.” The blonde pilot smiles warmly at her. Pete doesn’t know much, but she knows that from this day forward, they’ve got her back, just like she has theirs. Pete nods, hurriedly wiping her tears when she hears Nick call her name as he exits the building.

“Yeah, you too, okay? And don’t expect me to go easy on you, I’m still gonna whoop your asses,” She teases, earning a snicker from Leo and an eye roll from Rick. 

“Sure, hotshot.”

The pair turn to leave, enough space between them as to not arouse suspicion of the true nature of their relationship. Pete’s heart breaks for them.

Nick finally reaches her side and moves to unlock the car. “Ready to go home, Pete?”

“More than you know, buddy. More than you know…”

The duo get in the car and drive off as the summer sun sets in the distance. This time of year is always hard for Pete. Filled with painful reminders of days long past, and people long lost. She had been hoping that Top Gun would be able to distract her from the ache of old wounds, healed, but never forgotten. Instead, it seems as though this summer is bound to be ripe with both joy and sorrow. 

As the light fades around her, Pete can’t help but hope that the worst of it is behind her. The anniversary of Bradley’s death is coming up soon, but Pete knows that she can handle it as long as she doesn't have to face another emotionally draining day like today. Please, let this be all there is. I’m tired, I’m barely holding on. The sun has set, a cold blanket of darkness settling in. 

Pete can’t help but think of it as an answer.

Chapter Text

Pete considers taking a page out of Hollywood and Wolf’s book, and avoiding Ice. She hadn’t meant to tell him about Dawson, however vague the story had been. Pete doesn't want Ice to look at her differently, like she’s fragile. She hadn’t realized how much she appreciated the other pilot treating her as a rival, an equal, until she was suddenly at risk of losing it. If he starts treating her like a china doll Pete’s going flip her shit. Her plan of flat-out avoiding him sounds more and more tempting as time drags on.

But no. She’s not going to do that. Pete knows that her experiences, even the one with Dawson, don’t make her weak. Nothing that’s happened to her is her fault, and she shouldn’t be embarrassed because of it. Pete survived a shitty childhood, full of grief and loss, then clawed her way through basic and flight school. She’s faced endless harassment from her superiors and fellow aviators and still made it to Top Gun. Ice may not have all the facts of her life, but he’s at least got a better idea of it. If he starts to see her as weak, or someone to take pity on, then he isn’t worth her time. 

Pete doesn’t need pity, she needs respect.

Ice said it himself. She’s his only real competition. Their conversation (more like Pete ripping him a new asshole) doesn’t change anything. They’re still rivals, equals in the air. And some part of Pete knows that the blonde isn’t like that. He won’t see her as lesser than before, different maybe, but not weak. Ice’s dislike for her stemmed from his ignorance. Now that he’s got a better insight on Pete’s reality, maybe they can start being more amicable towards each other. Perhaps even friends.

But first, Pete’s got to open the door.

She’s standing outside the classroom with Goose’s steady presence beside her. After yesterday, they’d gone home and only after Bradley went to bed, did Pete tell the remaining Bradshaw's what had transpired. She left the specifics out of it, not willing to out Rick and Leo. Pete had just said there had been a misunderstanding before class that day, and it had bled over into their hop. Nick hadn’t been surprised, after all it was kind of hard to miss the tension between the 3. It was only after Pete had relayed her confrontation with Ice that he and Carole looked shocked.

“Wow, I got to say I didn’t really think of it like that. I always thought he was more frustrated with himself…” Goose trailed off in thought, leaving Pete confused. Why would he think that?

“Why would he be mad at himself? He’s top of the class after today. If anything he should be fucking ecstatic that I messed up.”

Nick rolled his eyes. “Seriously, Pete? How do you not get it yet?” 

Pete flushed, angry at his exasperation, and was about to retort when Carole jumped in. “That’s not important right now. We should be focusing on what this means. Pete, you always thought Ice had a problem with you, but now we know that his problem is with your attitude. It seems like he’s so non-sexist, he’s accidentally forgotten that you’re a woman in a way.”

Nick scoffs. “Oh believe me, Ice definitely knows Pete’s a woman, honey.”

Carole swats his arm with an eye roll of her own. “That’s not what I meant. I meant that Ice only sees Pete as a fellow pilot and forgot that others see her as a female pilot. Seems to me like he never considered that Pete here might be treated differently from himself.”

Pete, who’s been trying to absorb the onslaught information, decided to interrupt before the couple can keep going. “Yea, I figured the same right after he said it. In a way I’m happy that he never saw me as anything other than competition and not as a…I don’t know…fluke? Like, Church and Bones see me the way everyone else does, as a woman who doesn’t belong in the Navy, let alone the cockpit. But Ice just sees me as a prick who leaves their wingmen. So point for him I guess.”

“Saw you. He saw you as a prick. After the speech you gave him today, I doubt he’s thick enough to keep thinking that. Guess we’ll find out tomorrow.” Nick sighs, looking as tired as Pete feels. It’s been a long day, and they lost the lead on Ice and Slider. 

Carole, the angel she is, had sensed their exhaustion both physical and mental, and ushered them to bed. Pete barely had the energy to walk down the hall to her room, and she was asleep before her head hit the pillow.

Now, they’re standing here and Pete’s trying to convince herself that no matter what, she’s going to be okay. If Ice decides to pull that stick out of his ass and they become friendly with one another, great. If he’s decided that Pete is overexaggerating or that she’s a lying bitch, fine. Doesn’t matter to Pete. 

Except, it does matter, because even when Ice and Pete were bitching at each other, Pete had been happy. They called each other out and pushed each other to be better, the best. They were true rivals, and Pete didn’t want to lose that. If Ice decided she wasn’t worth it anymore, that they weren’t equals, then Top Gun was about to become a lot more depressing. She was still going to win, Ice’s respect notwithstanding, but she’d rather him congratulate her, not call her a cheating bitch.

Maverick was shaken out of her internal war with herself when she felt Goose’s hand clap her shoulder. It grounded her, reminded her that Goose had her back, come hell or high water. Squaring her shoulders, she pushed the door open and walked inside.

Almost against her will, Maverick’s eyes searched for Ice. He was sitting in his usual seat, towards the middle of the room behind and across from Mav’s. Slider was with him of course, with an arm thrown over the seat. The gentle giant of a RIO was the one to spot her, and Maverick saw his head nod in their direction. She saw the way Ice’s shoulders tensed, before turning to face the door. When their eyes finally met, green locking with blue, the air in Maverick’s lungs evaporated . 

Ice’s gaze held nothing but respect. The previous disdain for her was nowhere to be found. He looked apologetic perhaps, but not pitiful or angry. He offered Mav a short nod and small smile, and all she could do in response was grin. She hadn’t realized how much his opinion meant to her. Despite her critiques of his flying style, Maverick knew that Ice was a fantastic pilot. Steady and patient where she was forceful and fast. We’d make a good team… 

Oh fuck. Oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck

Maverick knew she’d found Ice attractive from day one. He was tall, blonde, handsome, and had a killer smile. The few times they’d actually had a conversation that didn’t involve insults, Pete had found him funny and charming. She’s spent weeks now watching him fly and interact with the class, making sarcastic comments under his breath. But it had all been overshadowed by the feeling of dislike Pete could feel towards her. Now that she knew the truth of his opinion, and after her clarification of it, followed by his small, barely there smile, Pete was coming to a few realizations herself.

Son of a bitch. I like the bastard. Fuck.

Her and Goose had taken their seats now, and Ice had gone back to listening to Slider. Maverick was mentally slapping the shit out of herself for not realizing this sooner. God it was like her own little version of foreplay oh my god Pete. Maverick looked up, hoping to ask for her RIO’s advice on the issue. Unfortunately she didn’t get the chance to. As soon as their eyes met, Goose’s face went red as he burst into laughter, unsuccessfully trying to hide it behind his fist. 

“Figure it out, did ya, Mav?” Goose had seen the greeting between the two pilots, and obviously figured out the source of her internal panic.

“Fuck you, Bradshaw.”

Goose just laughed harder.

It was about a week after Pete discovered her feelings for Ice. And not just, ‘I wanna climb you like a tree’ feelings. No, Pete had full blown ‘I wanna go on a date and hold your hand feelings and laugh at your stupid jokes’ feelings. Ice had been nicer toward her, but no less competitive in the air. It was the best of both worlds and they even had an upcoming hop together. 

The only problem was she was sure he didn’t feel the same. Despite Carole’s earlier contradictions, Pete just didn’t see Ice as having similar feelings for her. He treated her like everyone else. He was friendly and they were slowly moving past cold hostility towards warm comradery, but that didn’t mean anything. The two of them had finally reached an understanding, and Pete wasn’t going to let her little crush on the guy get in the way of their budding friendship or the trophy.

Pete had relayed this to the Bradshaw’s earlier in the week. Carole had breathed a heavy sigh before gently patting Pete’s hand. “If that’s how you feel, babe, I won’t argue. Even if I think you’re being an idiot.”

Nick had flat out refused to speak to her for the rest of the day. It had taken Carole giving him an earful before he repeated his Wife’s sentiment. Pete had been confused, and a little hurt by the RIO’s actions, but after he apologized she decided to let it go. Men could be so confusing.

Pete liked Ice, she knew that. She respected his skill in the air and was thankful that he’d always held her to the same standard as he would any male pilot. But there was something holding her back. He respected her, yes. But did he truly trust her? Could he honestly look her in the eye and put his faith, his life, in her hands? They’d never flown combat, had never been in anything but a controlled environment together. 

Pete liked Ice, could maybe even love him, but their tentative friendship was too new. She didn’t truly know him, didn’t know if he trusted her. Respect was nice, and Pete was glad to have his, but it didn’t mean shit when you were up in the air. Pete respected Cougar, but she didn’t trust him to have her back. It wasn’t a slight against the kind pilot, but the honest truth. Pete saw how Cougar had panicked with those MIG’s, and knew that he couldn't cut it. And Cougar, Bill, knew it too. 

Ice respected her. Pete liked him for it among other things. But if it was ever going to work, she’d have to have his trust as well. And besides, it’s not like Ice actually felt the same, right? Pete was confident she’d get over this crush soon, right after their upcoming hop.

Tuesday July 12, 1986. Hop 31

Top Gun is coming to a close, graduation is next Friday. Pete has managed to tie with Ice again after her incident with Hollywood. Today, her and the handsome pilot are wingmen up against Jester. Pete and Ice have stopped bitching at each other over every little thing, and have settled into their roles as supportive rivals. They’re still pushing each other every day, fighting for the chance to be named ‘Top Gun,’ but now their ribbing is more teasing, underlined with a mutual respect.

Maverick and Goose are scheduled for a quick pre-flight briefing, then their shared hop. But things start to go wrong right from the start, when Viper tells them in pre-flight that Yankee is out sick today, and his hop partner is going to be joining them and Ice today.

“Who’s joining us, Sir? And won’t it be unfair, 3 against 1? I know Commander Heatherly is good, but Ice and Maverick have already gotten a lock on him individually.” Goose questions. 

Viper nods his head in agreement. “That’s exactly why I’ll be joining the Commander against you today. You and Ice are at the top of the class, and this will give you a chance to work together and try to plan accordingly around a 3rd party. Can’t make it too easy for you two. As for the other pilot, Lieutenant Warren will be joining you.”

Maverick feels her heart drop to her stomach. Church is flying with them today? Fuck. 

Church and Bones had actually gotten worse over the past couple weeks. Transitioning from snide comments and weird religious lectures in the hall, to outright glares and even a couple of shoulder checks when they caught Maverick alone. She hadn’t told Goose, knowing that if he found out they were actually physically touching her, he’d lose it and end up arrested for first degree murder. No, it was better to just get through the next two weeks and then never have to see Warren or Hayworth again…hopefully. It was the Navy after all, and Maverick didn’t get to choose who she was stationed with. 

She didn’t know what had pissed them off recently. In fact Maverick had even gone out of her way to avoid them after Carole and Nick had begged her to. They didn’t want her getting hurt, and wanted Maverick to avoid unnecessary stress with the anniversary of Bradley’s death a month from now. 

Exactly a month from now actually. Bradley died on August 12, 1975 when Pete was 13. Now she’s 24, and Bradley’s been gone for almost 11 years. She’s missed him longer than she’d known him, longer than he’d even been alive. 

Pete can’t recall his face, not exactly. It’s blurred, the colors that made him up have smudged and run together. If she focuses, she can almost remember the bright blue of his eyes…or maybe they were green? It kills her, the knowledge that she’s let him fade with time, when she had sworn she’d never forget him. But the years have worn the memory of him down, smoothing out all the harsh edges. Now, when she thinks of Bradley, she sees the 2 year old little boy with the big brown eyes and golden hair. The one who knows her as ‘Mav,’ not as Pete.

Pete will carry the pain of August 12 with her for the rest of her life. But part of it is now directed inwards, at her diluted watercolor memory.

So Maverick is hoping against hope that Church and Bones will cut their shit out, at least for today. The presence of not only Goose, but Ice and Slider as well, should be enough of a warning for them. She straightens her shoulders and rises to her full height, preparing to address Viper.

“I’m sure Ice and I will figure out a plan. Thank you for informing us, Sir. See you out there.” 

Viper has an odd look on his face. He seems to be searching for any sign of discomfort in Maverick’s face. Honestly, if she thinks about it, Viper has been paying her special attention since they got here. Nothing too noticeable, Goose didn’t suspect anything after all. But Maverick could sense it. 

She liked Viper, the older pilot was polite but firm to everyone and seemed to genuinely want to teach the aviators he was sent. He never singled Maverick out to mock her like so many of her previous CO’s. He respected her as a skilled pilot and awarded her the points she deserved. Still, Maverick got the feeling that he was holding something back. Sometimes it seemed as though Viper wanted to tell her something, but in the end he always directed the conversation towards class or a hop. If Maverick had any energy to spare outside of Top Gun, Ice, Church, or the upcoming date then maybe she would have questioned the old man. But as it is, she’s stretched so thin right now that even the thought of confronting and potentially angering Viper was exhausting. Maverick figured that graduation was right around the corner and after that it didn’t matter what her CO had to say. She had a trophy to win.

Viper must not have found whatever he was looking for in Maverick’s expression, because he pursed his lips before giving Goose and her a short nod, dismissing them quickly.

Goose managed to keep quiet long enough for them to round the corner down the hall from Vipers office before speaking.

“You gonna be alright, Mav? I know you and Ice are better now, but Church is a jackass. I just want you to know that no matter what, I’m right there with you. I’ve got your back, buddy.” Her RIO clapped her on the arm, their eyes locking. Maverick smiled. God, what would I do without you? 

“I’m good, Goose. Honest. I’m not gonna let those two chuckle-fucks get to me, not when we’re this close to winning. We may not be besties, but I know Ice and Slider won’t let them get away with their shit. We’ve got this, man.”

Goose bites the inside of his cheek, brown eyes dark with worry. “I trust you, Mav. But just let me know if you want me to fake an epileptic seizure to get us out of this. We’ve got plenty of time to catch up to Ice if we sit this one out.”

Maverick snickers at her ridiculous RIO. “You’re not even an epileptic, dumbass.”

Goose’s eyes roll so hard it’s a miracle they don’t get stuck like that. “That’s why I would fake it, shithead.” 

They actually have to stop so Maverick can catch her breath from laughing so hard. 

The hop starts out perfectly fine. Maverick might even go as far as to call it boring.

Ice and Slider are their normal composed selves while in the air, the only difference Maverick can see is that Ice is more friendly than hostile. They’re right on each other's wing preparing for Viper and Jester to make an appearance. The handsome blonde looks over to her, blue meeting green.

“You ready for this one, Maverick?” Ice’s tone is full of mirth. His emphasis on her call-sign makes Pete think that Ice is trying to tease her. She grins back at him, 5,000 feet in the air and feeling lighter than a feather. Maverick doesn’t know how or why, but being up here with Ice and fucking around with each other is helping her relax.

“Just a walk in the park, Kazansky .” She hears Ice huff, probably exasperated with Mav’s insistent use of his last name instead of his call-sign. She doesn’t think Ice wants her dead anymore, and she respects him more now. But it’s still fun to rile him up, if only so she can see him try to bite back a smile at one of her jokes. He’s got a drop dead gorgeous smile. Gorgeous face really…Woah girl, reign it in. You got a hop to win.

Their banter is cut off sooner than either would have liked by Church. “Are you done flirting with Ice, Mitchell? In case you’ve forgotten, you’re supposed to be his wingman, not his-”

This time it’s Church who’s interrupted. But instead of Maverick ripping him a new asshole, it’s the other 3 men. Slider sounds disgusted with the mediocre pilot’s very presence. But Goose and Ice just sound pissed.

“Shut your fucking mouth, Warren. I swear to God, I’ll-” Comes her RIO’s enraged voice. Maverick would be attempting to calm him down, remind him that she can defend herself even though she appreciates the sentiment. But right now she’s blushing so hard her face feels like it’s on fire. Her heart is somewhere in the vicinity of her stomach as she prays Ice doesn’t read more into Church’s scathing comment. Damn him, I don’t want Ice avoiding me or treating me different just because I have a stupid little crush on him. Goddammit...I’m gonna fucking kill you Warren. 

Goose is stopped from threatening Church’s life by Ice himself. “ Enough!” Comes the frigid command. “Church, please try and restrain yourself from making such disgusting comments. And may I remind you that it was me who engaged Lieutenant Mitchell first. Why you felt the need to target her is beyond me, but it stops right now. Are we clear?”

Maverick can practically hear Church’s teeth grinding together. He may hate her guts, but it’s no secret that he and Bones respect Ice. To be called out like that must be humiliating to him. His response is taking a bit too long, when his RIO decided to make himself heard for the first time today.

“Sorry, Kazansky. He didn’t mean to-” Bones’ high reedy voice rattles in desperation, trying to placate Ice and cover his pilot's ass. Unfortunately the blonde isn’t in the mood for bullshit because he doesn’t give Bones the chance to finish.

“Warren can answer for himself, Hayworth. I’ll ask again, are we clear? Or should I request a meeting with Viper once we’re back on the ground? I’m sure he’d be very interested to hear what you had to say.” Ice’s voice is absolutely glacial. He’s obviously dead serious in his threat to bring this to their CO, and it seems Warren knows it.

“Crystal, Kazansky. Won’t happen again.” Church doesn’t apologize to Maverick, but small victories. Ice doesn’t seem pleased with this, but he doesn’t get a chance to bring it up before Jester is  shooting by their position. 

“Let’s get our heads in the game, gentlemen. We can work our shit out later. Ice, you’ve got the lead. I’ll cover you and Church will keep an eye out for Viper. Got it?” Maverick says. Her tone brooks no room for argument, and the men can tell. They all give their agreements before Ice and Mav split off after Jester, leaving Church to search for Viper.

“When you find Viper, report back and rejoin us on Maverick’s wing.” Ice instructs as he moves to tail Jester. Church gives a clipped, “Copy,” before he and Bones fall silent. Maverick is on Ice’s wing, having given him the lead as both a subtle thank you, and so she could compose herself. 

Now don’t get her wrong, Maverick was perfectly capable of putting Church and any other sexist dick in their place. She didn’t need anyone defending her honor or some shit, even if it was someone like Nick or Carole who she loved. But listening to Ice rip into Church with such chilling authority really did it for Pete. If she thought Tom Kazansky was hot before, he was a fucking inferno now. Fuck…remember the trophy Mav. You can’t jump his bones just yet…maybe after graduation… Pete wasn’t shy. She was secure in herself enough to ask a guy out first. Really the only thing she was risking was her own hurt feelings if he didn’t feel the same. But what about their newly budding friendship? Fuck why does this have to be so complicated?

Ice was right on Jester's ass now, with Maverick right beside him. Her angle was perfect and if her wingman hadn’t been in the way she could have gotten the shot already. 2 weeks ago, Maverick would have snapped at him, demanding he get out of her way. But that was before their hallway confrontation. They’d reached a better understanding of each other in that time. Ice finally got why she flew the way she did, and Maverick finally knew why he didn’t like her at first. They still had a ways to go, but it was something.

“Ice, I’ve got the angle. I’ll give you 2 more minutes to fire, but after that you need to clear the way. Okay?” Maverick was extending an olive branch here. This was their first time flying together since that day, and before then they’d been at each other's throats while in the air. This was Maverick’s chance to see if their new found comradery extended to the cockpit as well.

Ice grunted, he was pulling a hard angle right now and it didn’t look comfortable trying to sustain it. “I can’t get the angle, I’m too close for missiles, switching to guns.” Maverick breathed in through her nose and out through her mouth. It was hard letting an opportunity like this get away. Jester was right there. But this was about more than her skill and desire to win. Despite Ice’s misconceptions about the Navy’s attitude toward her, he was right about something. Maverick may not have a lot of pilot’s ready to back her up, but she had some. She had Ice, Hollywood, and even Cougar on her side now. She didn’t have to do everything alone anymore. Maverick didn’t know if that would still hold true in an actual combat situation, which is one of the reasons she was still internally holding back on Ice, but right here right now, she had his respect, and he had hers. She needed to give Ice the chance to take the shot, he deserved that much.

Maverick gritted her teeth and swallowed her pride. Ice could do this, and she could prove to him that she was a good wingman, just in case he had any lingering doubts. The other pilot's voice broke her reverie. “I just need another 20 seconds then I’ve got it.” Maverick didn’t reply, too busy trying to reign in her own burning desire to swoop in and take the shot. God this is the worst kind of edging. And no one was even naked, this blows…

Just when Ice’s time was about to run out, Slider let out a whoop of joy over the radio. “That’s a lock! We got tone! Jester’s dead!” The big RIO cried out. It was bittersweet for Maverick. On one hand, she wanted the kill for herself, on the other, she was glad Ice had gotten it. This was a show of mutual respect on both their parts and now their relationship stood on a firmer foundation. Ice slowed down, allowing Maverick to pull up next to him, blue and green meeting once again. 

“Nice job, Kazansky! Drinks are on me tonight!” Maverick grinned over at the blonde and his RIO. It was a little hard, but she swore she could see bright grins on the men's faces. She laughed, that familiar feeling of sky high happiness overtaking her. Flying in more ways than one.

It happened in the blink of an eye. She saw the panicked expression on Ice’s face, as both Slider and Goose let out shouts. 

“Maverick, move! Get out of the way!” 

“Mav, watch out for Church! He’s-”

Maverick whipped her head around just in time to see Church approaching from the other side. He was coming in at a fast, awkward angle and she knew that if she didn’t move right the fuck now, Church would crash right into her and Goose. Only problem was Ice was on her left and Maverick didn’t have time to dive steep enough to evade. 

Ice seemed to realize this as well, because he suddenly broke off her wing at a sharp angle, leaving Maverick room to follow and avoid Church’s approach. She quickly peeled off after the blonde, and just barely managed to dodge the pilot who for some reason hadn’t warned them of his return. Maverick opened her mouth to tear Church and Bones two new assholes each, when she felt the plane shake.

“We got caught in Ice’s jet wash!” Goose yelled, sounding more scared than Maverick had ever heard him. It froze the blood in her veins, but Maverick couldn’t afford to panic as she fought to regain control.

“Shit! Hang on, Goose!”

“Mav, we got a flame-out! Engine one is out! Engine two is out!” Maverick fought with everything she had as the plane started to descend in a flat spin. Oh my god. Oh my god…

“Goose! I’m losing control, I’m losing control!” Mavericks blood had thawed, now pumping through her, hot as fire, burning her, consuming her. Oh my god. “I can’t control it! It won’t recover! Shit!” Her voice broke at the end, portraying her fear to her RIO, her best friend. 

“Mav! This is not good! This is not good!” Nick screamed. Pete was still attempting to recover, but she knew it was a lost cause. They were going down and there was nothing they could do to stop it. Oh my god.

“Mayday! Mayday! Mav’s in trouble! She’s in a flat spin and heading out to sea!” Pete heard Ice’s panicked tone in some distant part of her awareness. If she could focus on anything other than the all consuming fear and her worry for Nick, then she would have noticed how absolutely terrified the other pilot sounded. 

“Altitude 8000! 7000!” Goose cried. Oh my god…

The flat spin had pushed Maverick forward into the window, no longer able to move, taking any possible chance at recovery with it. “6! We’re at 6, Mav!” Goose let out small pain filled whimpers, clawing open Pete’s heart with them. Oh my god.

“I’m pinned forward, Goose! I can’t reach the ejection handle!” The plane spun faster and faster, the air filled with the sound of splitting wind as they plumatted towards earth. “Goose, you’re gonna have to punch us out! I can’t reach the ejection handle! Eject, eject!” Maverick screamed. She didn’t care if she sounded like a scared little girl or what the others thought of her panicked voice. Oh my god. Oh my god.

“I’m trying! I’m trying!”

“Eject! Eject! Eject!” 

Goose continued to cry out in pain, the force of the G’s pressing down on them both, collapsing their lungs, stealing their air. Finally, the RIO managed to grab hold of the ejection handles behind his seat. “I got ‘em!” Pete wanted to cry in relief. 

As he moved to pull them, she was struck by a memory of her flight school CO. He had warned them about flat spins like this, and the dangers of them…something about…”The canopy! Watch the canopy!” 

Suddenly they were airborne. Maverick spun widely through the sky, trying to get her bearings. Where’s Nick? Where is he? A flash of red out of the corner of her eye, Goose’s helmet. Their parachutes deployed then, allowing them a gentle descent into the frigid ocean. 

As soon as her feet touched water, Maverick unclipped her harness, releasing the parachute, and swam towards the limp body of her friend. Oh my god. No, please no. Not him. Not today of all days.

Nick wasn’t moving, and some distant part of Pete pointed out that for all the death that had plagued her in her younger years, she had only ever seen one person die. Her mother she had played witness to, but that death had been slow, allowing Pete the time to come to terms with it and say goodbye. And as painful as it was to admit it, Pete hadn’t been close with her mother towards the end of her life. Not as close as she was with Nick… oh my god…

Pete finally reached Nick, latching on to his leg and turning him over so his face wasn’t in the water. “Goose! Goose! Oh, no!” She pulled his body on top of her, both of them now facing the same blue sky that they’d just come crashing down from. Pete supported his limp body with her own, floating like they taught you to in basic. 

There was blood on Nick’s slack face, running down in numerous small rivets, staining his entire face, including that stupid mustache of his. “Oh, no no no no no no!” Pete screamed. “Nick, please don’t do this! Come back! What about Bradley, Nick? Or Carole? Or me? Nick? Nick!” She sobbed, her tears streaming down her face, moving to join the cold depths of the ocean that embraced them. 

Pete had her face buried in Nick’s neck, cursing herself for ever thinking she could fly without consequences. Hadn’t the universe shown her again and again that Pete only had wings so she could fall? Pete was the reincarnation of Icarus, destined to fly only so they’d burn up, burn in, and come crashing back to earth. Desolate. Devastated.

Pete held on to Nick’s body, determined to never let go. Not of him, not of his memory. She wouldn’t let him fade the way she let Bradley. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry…” If her face hadn’t been pressed into his neck, Pete might have missed the vibration of Nick’s vocal cords as he tried to groan.

“P-P-Pete? “S cold…” It was barely a whisper, really a small gasp of air. But it was the best thing she had ever fucking heard.

“Nick? I’m here, buddy. I got you. I know it’s cold, I’m sorry. Medevac should be here soon, and I won’t let you go until then. You hang on, don’t give up. Bradley needs his dad, that’s an order, Bradshaw.” Pete dug her fingers into him, desperately trying to keep him awake. 

Nick groaned in pain. “Y-yes-yes ma’am.” His teeth chattered together and his face was pale as death, but his brown eyes found her green ones and filled with conviction. Slowly, weighed down by exhaustion and what was probably a serious head injury, Nick Bradshaw reached up one hand and found Pete Mitchell’s, squeezing it.

That was how Medevac found them 30 minutes later. Clutching each other as the ocean's waves crashed against them. Trying to pry them apart. Failing to do so.

Oh…Thank God.

Pete only lets go of Nick when the medics force her to. After that, everything is a blur, and she’s pretty sure she passed out at some point, because the next time Pete’s aware of anything is when she’s waking up in the hospital.

There’s an IV in her arm which isn’t a great sign, but after wiggling her fingers and toes and checking for any broken bones, Pete concludes that she’s ok. The IV must be because her and Nick were dehydrated as they waited for Medevac in the ocean while the summer sun beat down on them.

Oh god, Nick! 

Pete feels her heartbeat jump up into her throat, and the machine monitoring her vitals starts beeping like crazy.  A young nurse rushes into the room, and Pete doesn’t give her time to breathe before she’s grilling the startled girl.

“Nick Bradshaw, is he alright? Where is he? I wanna see him!” 

The nurse tries to calm her down, shushing her as if Pete’s a small child. It only serves to aggravate the pilot and the beeping increases, this time in anger. “Don’t fucking placate me, tell me where Nick Bradshaw is! Has anyone called his wife? Is Carole here? Son of a bitch… You’re obviously not gonna tell me. I wanna talk to Commander Metcalf. He’s here right?” Pete questions, still swinging between worry and frustration.

Another nurse peeks her head into the room. Before Pete can lay into her as well, she’s gone as quick as she came. Pete’s confused as well as pissed now. What the fuck- The door swings open, startling both pilot and nurse as Carole Bradshaw sweeps into the room, looking frazzled, but no less beautiful.

“Oh, Pete! You’re awake! Thank God!” The blonde rushes her, throwing her arms around Pete and crushing her in an embrace. Carole sobs into her shoulder, but it isn’t ‘My husband, the love of my life and father of my child is dead’ kind of sobs. More like ‘Thank Christ and all his angels you’re okay’ sobs. 

Pete clutches at Carole’s back, squeezing her with all the strength she can muster after the day she’s had. “Carole…Carole tell me. Is Nick…” Pete can't bring herself to ask her friend.  A minute ago all she wanted was to know, but right now, she’s afraid of the answer.

Carole pulls back, arms still wrapped around Pete. Beautiful blue meets anxious green. The blonde raises her hand and sweeps Pete’s hair away from her face. “He’s gonna be ok, babe. Doctors say he cut his forehead after his helmet split open when you guys ejected. He tweaked his neck and sprained his wrist, probably from pulling on the ejection handles too hard, but he’s okay, Pete. Nick’s okay.” 

Pete cries like she’s never cried before. She really thought she had lost him. Lost him to the sky like she lost her father. Lost him like she lost her mother. Like she lost Bradley…whose anniversary was exactly a month from now…

Fuck the number 12. 

Carole was only allowed to see her and Nick because she was Nick’s wife. Bradley was with his dad, waiting for him to wake up, and Carole had gone to get him so he could see that his Mav was okay. But before she returned, Viper walked in.

Viper had always been a steady, resolute fellow. He had flown combat in the Vietnam war, Pete had been sure nothing could shake him. Standing here in front of her, she has to do a double take. Outwardly, Viper is still the same. His uniform is pressed, nothing out of place. His shoes are shined and his spine is ramrod straight. 

But his hair is a little messy, his eyes a little wild, his face a little too pale. It shocks Pete. She knew Viper was a good CO, and that he respected her as a pilot, but to see him this shaken was surprising to say the least.

“Sir, are you okay?” 

Viper snorts, further convincing Pete that this is all just one big concussion fueled hallucination. “I should be asking you that, Lieutenant.” He sighs, suddenly looking older than he is. “I came in here to tell you that Bradshaw is fine. He won’t be able to fly for a while, probably be out for a month at least.”

Pete nods. “I know, Sir. Carole, Goose’s wife, was here a minute ago and told me. I-I thought he was gone, Sir.” Her eyes fill with heat and she desperately tries to fight back her tears. “When we landed in the water, he wasn’t moving and I thought…I saw the blood and…” Pete can’t manage to finish. The fear, the pain of losing one of her best friends, her brother, was still too raw. Even if Nick was only down the hall, and apparently fine. For a moment today, Pete had been sure she’d never see him again. Never goof off in the mess. Never pull another crazy maneuver only they could do. Was sure that she’d have to face Carole and Bradley, still just a baby in Pete’s eyes, and tell them Nick wasn’t coming home. The tears fell, raining down her cheeks as the day's events caught up to her.

Viper moves to her side, his hand a calming presence on her shoulder as Pete sobs quietly. “There’s nothing to be ashamed of, Maverick. That spin was hell, it would have shook me up. This won’t be your only accident, you will have to eject again over the course of your career. You can count on it.” Viper’s voice is firm, but not unkind. He’s only speaking the truth, straight from the mouth of a pilot who's seen combat and come out the other side.

Pete sniffs, her tears subsiding. She wipes her cheeks with her hands and replies without looking up. “I know. Thank you, Sir.” Viper’s hand leaves her shoulder. Pete sees his hand form a fist out of the corner of her eye. Finally feeling calm enough to do so, she raises her head to meet his gaze. “Sir? Is something wrong?”

The older pilot’s lips purse. “I don’t know if now is the best time to tell you, but you deserve to know. There’s going to be an investigation, Lieutenant. The brass wants someone to blame.”

Pete’s heart sinks to her stomach. “They’re going to take my wings, aren’t they, Sir. They’ve finally got me where they want me…” She says the last part to herself, but Viper still hears. 

“No, Maverick. That’s not going to happen. Commander Heatherly saw the whole thing and he’s adamant you’re not at fault. Kazansky and Kerner are raising hell as we speak, trying to clear your name. In fact, they’re blaming the incident on Warren. Now I don’t know what happened because I didn’t see it, but you’ve got good men backing you up. The brass won’t take your wings without a fight, Maverick. You were born to fly, that much is obvious. Be a shame to ground you.” Viper says, voice full of conviction. 

Pete can hardly breathe. Not only does she have three men fighting in her corner, but Ice and Slider are advocating for Warren to be punished. The details are a little hazy, everything had happened so fast, but Pete’s pretty sure it had been Church’s fault. The shithead hadn’t announced his approach, and had come in too fast at an odd angle, forcing Pete to maneuver out of the way and into Ice’s jetwash. That son of a bitch. 

Pete wants to tear the IV out of her arm and go track down Warren and Hayworth and kill them. She’s raising her hand to actually do it, when the last part of Viper’s speech hits her. The anger leaves as quick as it had come, and Pete gives a small sniff as the tears return, this time in happiness.

Viper looks at her oddly. “Are you okay, Maverick?”

Pete huffs a little laugh as her eyes continue to water. “Yes, Sir. It’s just something you said, that I was born to fly, reminded me of my father. He used to say something similar, that’s all.”

She knows that Duke Mitchell is a bit of a taboo subject in the Navy, and bringing him up to her CO probably wasn’t the smartest move. But Pete had survived a flat-spin out to sea today, so sue her if she doesn’t give a fuck right now.

She’s wiping her tears, trying to reign in her hysterical giggles when Viper decided to drop the emotional equivalent of a bomb on her. “I know, he used to tell me it all the time.”

Pete’s head whips up so fast she almost gives herself whiplash. Distantly she’s aware of her gaping mouth and wide eyes, but she doesn’t care about that. “You knew my father, Sir?”

Her CO gives a small smile, his eyes taking on a faraway look as he remembers days gone by. “I flew with him. VF-51, the Oriskany. You’re a lot like he was. Only better. Like he always said you would be.” Viper tells her, causing Pete’s eyes to heat up all over again. Thank god for the IV because I’m losing fluids like I’m getting paid to do it.

“Duke was a natural heroic son of a bitch.” Viper comes back to himself, angling his head down to hold her gaze. “I don’t know what you were told about his death, but listen to me. He did everything right. What I’m about to tell you is classified. This could end my career, but you deserve to know, Maverick.” He takes a deep breath, calming himself, before flipping Pete’s world on its head.

“We were in the worst dogfight I had ever dreamed of. Bogies like fireflies all over the sky. His F-4 was hit, he was wounded, but he could have made it back. But he stayed in it, saved 3 planes before he bought it. I know what they say about him, and I wish I could tell everyone the truth. That your father, Duke Mitchell was a hero. That he saved my life. But the battle occurred over the wrong line, and the State Department decided to make your father a traitor after all he’d done to be a good man.”

Pete had always known that her and her mother were never given the truth of what happened that summer day in 1967. Had known in her soul that her father was neither a traitor nor a coward who abandoned his wingman. But to hear he was a hero, that he’d died so others might live, knowing what it would mean…it was beyond gratifying. Words couldn’t express the level of her gratitude towards Viper right now. But then again, Pete had always been a more tactile person. 

She swung her legs over the side of the bed, and rose on shaky feet. Pete was exhausted, tired like she’d never been before, but still she stood. Viper was staring at her in shock, looking as though he was debating ordering her back to bed. But before he could, Pete stuck her hand out. 

“Thank you, Sir. For both my father and me. Thank you.” 

Viper’s hand clasps hers in a firm shake. “He’d be proud of you, Mitchell. Not a doubt in my mind.”

Pete’s grin could light up the entire west coast. She wants to hug him, but decides that may be going too far, when the door once again opens. A tiny blur makes a beeline for Pete, crashing into her with the force of 2 G’s.

“Mav!” Bradley Bradshaw screams, clutching at her legs as his little body shakes with sobs. 

“I’m okay, baby. Everything’s going to be okay. You wanna hug?” Pete asks, tone gentle as she combs Bradley’s golden blonde hair with her fingers. The toddler nods, still too upset to speak. 

After Carole and Viper exchange greetings, the blonde woman moves forward, scooping her son up so Pete can get back into bed. As soon as she’s ready, Pete reaches for Bradley, the little boy already reaching his arms for her. They lay there, wrapped around each other, breathing each other in. Carole pulls up a chair, holding on to Pete’s spare hand as Viper makes his exit. Goose is still sedated, and together the rest of his family waits for him to wake up.

Laying there with her nose buried in Bradley’s hair, breathing in the scent of his shampoo as Carole laces their fingers together, Pete finally rests.

Viper wasn’t lying about the investigation. Pete gets grilled for hours after the hospital discharges her. Nick has to stay an extra day for observation, then he’ll be coming home and probably face questioning himself. 

Carole can’t be in the room while the investigators go over Pete’s story again and again and again. But the blonde stays in the house the entire time. After the men call it a day and leave, having not found any holes in Pete’s story, Carole comes sweeping into the living room where Pete sat exhausted.

“Viper said that Jester, Ice, and Slider were in my corner. That they were even trying to prove Church was at fault. But I don’t know, Carole…it seems like the brass is determined to pin this shit on me. My back’s to the wall here, babe. I don’t know what to do…” Pete sighs. Graduation is in 10 days, but it's looking like she won’t be there. The Navy is gunning for her wings, and Pete’s helpless to stop them.

“Pete Maverick Mitchell! What the hell is a matter with you? The Pete I know would be fighting tooth and nail against these jackasses, but you’re sitting here looking like you’ve already lost! Pull yourself together woman! You hear me?” Carole commands, hands planted firmly on her hips and a fire sparking in her lovely eyes.

Pete’s gobsmacked. She’s known the beautiful blonde for years at this point, and she’s never talked to her like this. Then again, Pete’s never felt so defeated before. “Carole, we got to be realistic. I have nothing that proves Church and Bones have it out for me. I never reported anything to Viper, and they'll say Goose is biased and will do anything to help me. Ice and Slider are trying, but their line of sight was blocked by my plane. They only saw him a split second before Nick did, and the brass will blame us for not paying attention to our surroundings. If I had more, a reasonable defense for why Church and Bones hate me so much, beyond run of the mill sexism, then maybe we could link the accident to them. Say that they wanted me to crash or eject. But how the fuck would we even find evidence, if there’s any evidence at all?”

Carole’s grin is full of teeth, blue eyes sparkling with mischief. “Charlie. We call Charlie.”

They call Charlie, who Pete had introduced to Carole after the hop with Hollywood. The two fiery blondes had hit it off right away, and Pete was happy to have girl friends. Don’t get her wrong, she loved Goose and all the new guys she’d met here, but there was something about another woman’s companionship and loyalty that was unmatched. 

The TAGREP hauls ass over to their little bungalow, arms filled with files. It’s probably classified information Charlie’s not supposed to take, but the blonde was smart and had copied the originals. Together, the three women sort through countless files, trying to find some connection between Warren, Hayworth, and Pete. Bradley spends his time coloring, napping, and pretending to read the files the trio had already disregarded. 

They go late into the night with Carole calling it quits so she can put Bradley down and get some rest herself. She’s got to be up early in the morning to go get Nick. Pete and Charlie both pass out somewhere around 3am. Classes had been canceled until Monday, the start of the final week, so the TAGREP had no qualms about staying up to help. 

Pete vaguely registers Carole checking on them a couple hours later, on her way to go get her husband. After ensuring that they were both in fact still alive, the blonde departs with Bradley. Charlie and Pete decide to sleep some more, after all they can’t look for clues if they’re dog ass tired. It’s only when the Bradshaw's arrive a couple hours later that they actually awaken. 

“Damn, Mav. You look worse than I do!” Nick teases. He’s the best damn thing Pete’s ever seen, and she jumps up from her seat to wrap her arms around him.

“Fuck you, buddy. Your dumbass scared me out there. Why the fuck weren’t you moving, huh?”

Nick is hugging her back, both immensely glad the other is alive and safe here, with their little family. They hadn’t been able to see each other before Pete had been discharged, and they’d run Carole rampant trying to get messages between them. “Doctors think the G force from the spin knocked me out. Couple that with a broken helmet and a cut forehead and it’s no wonder I looked dead.” He says it lightly, trying to make a joke out of it, but Pete sobs.

“Don’t joke about that shit, asshole. I really thought you were gone” Her voice comes out broken and shaky. Pete feels Nick rest his head on top of hers, his arms tightening around her frame.

“I’m sorry, Pete. I won’t do it again. I’m here, Mav, not going anywhere.” 

Carole and Charlie had left the room in order to give the pilot and RIO privacy. They knew that Pete and Nick were closer than normal best friends. The bond they shared was stronger than most, and they really did consider each other siblings. The two of them stood there, clutching each other tight, just as they had in the frigid water, waves threatening to separate them.

But they were here now, safe and warm. Together, as it always should be.

Pulling back, Pete wiped her eyes, smiling up at her best friend, her brother. “So, wanna help nail Church and Bones to the wall?”

Nick throws his head back in a full body laugh. “Oh Mav, you sure do know how to sweet talk me!”

The 4 of them gather around the little coffee table, pouring over information that might prove their theory. Warren and Hayworth definitely had it out for Pete since day one, but why. What had caused them to go so far as attempted murder? There wasn’t a doubt in anyone’s mind that they’d done this on purpose, but the full picture was just out of their reach. 

Two hours in, and Bradley had gotten bored with his coloring book. He’d wandered over to see what was keeping his parents and Mav so busy and decided to once again offer his services. He picked up a discarded file from the floor, big brown eyes pretending to read it. It was to his great childish delight when he finally found a word he knew.

“Kermit! Mama! Show, my show! Kermit and Piggy! Mama, Daddy! Look!” The toddler screeched, startling the four adults. 

“What baby? What is it?” Carole went over, scooping the excited boy up from the floor, file still clutched in his hand.

“Look! Look!” He waved it in front of her, trying to get her to read it.

“Why is he talking about Kermit and Piggy?” Nick questioned, confused.

“He’s been watching some old reruns of The Muppet Show, lately. But I don’t know why he’s….” Carole trailed off, her eyes quickly scanning the contents of the file. “Oh my god! Pete, look at this!”

The blonde tossed the paper towards Pete and Charlie who were sitting on the small loveseat together. The TAGREP caught it and the pilot leaned over her shoulder as they read it. “It says that Bones isn’t Church’s usual RIO. Some guy named Jeremy Dawson, call-sign Kermit. Apparently he got assigned to Warren a couple years ago after he was forcibly transferred off the Enterprise over misconduct. Says here that Dawson broke his arm and couldn’t come to Top Gun, so Hayworth was temporarily assigned to Warren. I don’t understand why-” Charlie is cut off as Pete and Nick both shoot to their feet.

“Oh my fucking god it all makes sense now!” 

“I’m gonna fucking kill them!” 

Carole looks victorious, Nick looks ready to commit a murder, and Pete just can’t believe it. Poor Charlie looks startled and confused, eyes dancing around the room trying to find some explanation. “Um, could someone fill me in? How is this relevant?”

“Kermit was one of my RIO’s before Goose. He was with me for about a month before he cornered me in a room alone with him. Fucker tried to rape me. We fought, I choked his pathetic ass out, and Stinger got him transferred off the ship in less than a week. Now we know that afterwards he was assigned to Church, and Dawson must have told him about me. Being the sexist sons of bitches they are, they bonded over their hatred for me. When Dawson got hurt, Church must have brought Bones in on it, and they tried to get me to quit Top Gun. Obviously it didn’t work, and after the tongue lashing Ice gave them in the air, they must have decided that I turned Ice, their lord and savior apparently, against them. I don’t know about Bones, but Church is so fucking delusional that he would actually try and kill me for embarrassing him. Fuck, this is crazy.” The pilot runs a hand through her hair, making it stick up at odd angles.

Pete doesn’t think she’s ever been this mad. Not only had Dawson tried to fucking rape her, he then went on and recruited another piece of shit in his vendetta against her. This whole thing is fucking insane!

Charlie obviously shares the sentiment, because she looks mad enough to spit fire. “Don’t worry about losing your wings, Pete. I’m gonna nail their asses to the wall, just leave it to me.”

“Charlotte Blackwood, you’re a fucking gem. I hope we’re married in another life.” Pete says.

The house fills with laughter, the relief palpable. Finally.

Charlie is true to her word, and soon Church and Bones are stripped of their wings and court martialed. There’s even talk of punishing Dawson as well. Pete’s testimony, combined with Stinger’s, along with the eye-witness accounts of both Ice and Slider are more than enough. 

It’s the cherry on top when Hayworth breaks down and admits that Warren had targeted Maverick, trying to get back at her. Pete almost feels sorry for the poor bastard, but then she remembers he helped try and kill her and her brother and she hopes he rots in hell.

The whole thing is over the day before graduation. In a show of solidarity, no one had participated in any hops, leaving the score the same. Viper and Jester still had to deliberate on who they would crown the victor, but Pete knew it was between her and Ice. She had lost some ground after the Hollywood and Wolf fiasco, but Pete had earned those points back fast. The exact score was unknown to the pilots, so it was still a mystery as to who would win.

Maverick, or Iceman?

It’s the morning of graduation. The entire Bradshaw clan had arrived, with Maverick and Goose in their pristine dress whites. Carole wore a beautiful patterned sundress and had dressed Bradley in a powder blue button down and jeans. They all knew that Maverick and Goose could be the winners, and they anxiously awaited the start of the ceremony.

Soon the rest of the class had arrived, along with their families. Once everyone was seated, Viper and Jester took turns talking about the importance of bettering oneself, how brave they all were for being naval aviators in the first place, blah blah blah. Maverick didn’t hear a single word, she was way too excited. She wanted that trophy more than anything. She’d be the first woman to ever win and be named Top Gun. Maverick was so close, she could almost taste it. 

She wanted her and Nick’s names on that plaque. She wanted to prove to everyone who ever doubted her that she was the best of the best. For her father, for Lisa, for Bradley, for herself. Maverick hadn’t let the world beat her, not as a child and not as a woman. She survived the death of her parents, of her best friend, the constant dangers of being a woman in the Navy, and she survived a fucking plane crash just last week. Maverick knew she was Top Gun, now all she needed was the trophy to prove it.

Like they were connected by some magnetic force, green met blue once again. Ice was a row in front of her to her left. He had turned his head slightly past Viper, who was gearing up to finally announce the winner, locking eyes with Maverick. They hadn’t been allowed to talk while the investigation had been open, and Maverick had been surprised by the depth in which she missed him. Maybe I like him more than I thought…

He was giving her a small smile, as if wishing her luck. Maverick grinned back at him, returning the sentiment. They had come a long way in such a short time. She hoped they would keep in touch after today-

“I’m proud to announce Tom Kazansky and his RIO Ron Kerner as Top Gun. Gentlemen, if you would.” Viper says, gesturing for Ice and Slider to come up to the podium.

Maverick feels her heart break. She had been so sure…Goose’s hand squeezes her wrist in understanding. He knows what this meant to her. Knows how devastated she must feel right now.

And she is devastated. But she refuses to let it show. If it wasn’t her, then Pete’s glad it’s Ice. He’s a good pilot, a good man. And seeing him standing up there smiling so wide his face looks like it might split, well…it doesn’t fix everything, but it eases the ache. In the end, Pete lost to someone she respected, and who respected her back. It’s enough…even if it hurts like a bitch.

The ceremony is over quickly after that, and Maverick moves to congratulate Ice and Slider, but their families get there first. She decides it’s for the best. She’ll talk to him in a minute, but right now she needs some air. Goose and Carole cover for her, and Pete slinks off into the surrounding building to lick her wounds and grieve her dream.

She manages to find an empty room, moving to stand by the window. The silence helps calm her, ground her. An hour ago Maverick was sure she’d win, that’d she’d be flying right now, sky high on her own joy. You’re an Icarus, Pete Mitchell. Flying too close to the sun, surprised when you get burned…

Evidently her escape wasn’t completely unnoticed, because the door opened, emitting Viper. The older pilot lets it shut behind him softly, and Pete can’t help the burst of panic that overtakes her. Objectively, she knows she can trust Viper, but her mind can’t help but remember the last time she was alone in a room with a man. Breathe, Pete. Viper isn’t Kermit. You’re safe here.

Viper must notice her panic, and doesn’t move to approach her. Instead he reaches behind him to crack the door open. It helps calm Pete, the knowledge that she could escape if she needed to. It doesn’t surprise her that the older man knew how to help her, he was there for every step of the investigation, and had been the one to tell her about Warren and Hayworth being ejected from the program, and soon the Navy. 

“Lieutenant. I wanted to talk to you privately about our decision to name Kazansky Top Gun.”

Pete feels embarrassed, her cheeks heating up. Did I really look that upset? Has he come here to comfort me like I’m a little kid throwing a tantrum? 

“You don’t have to explain, Sir. Ice is a great pilot, and I’m happy for him. If it wasn’t me than I’m glad it’s-” 

Viper cuts her off. “It was you, Maverick.”

Pete blinks once, twice, trying to process what he just said. “Sir?”

Her CO signs, wiping a hand down his face. “Commander Heatherly and I debated on this for some time, but ultimately decided to name you the winner. We have to inform the brass of our choice every cycle, and usually they don’t care. But after everything that’s happened…They weren’t happy to let you off the hook, Lieutenant. And they didn’t want to charge Warren and Hayworth, and now Dawson with conspiracy. But with the evidence we had and Bones’ confession, they had no choice. When we informed them that you were Top Gun, we were told to “rethink our decision.” I knew that if we insisted on naming you winner, they’d just come down harder on you in the future. I know how much you wanted this, Maverick, how much you deserved it. But it wasn’t worth your wings down the line. I’m sorry, kid, but they’re never going to let you win.”

Pete can hardly believe her ears. She and Goose were supposed to be up there, instead of Ice and Slider… Oh my god! Pete wants to scream in delight, in anger. She wants to run out of the room and tell Nick and Carole and anyone else who would listen. For a second, she almost does.

But she won’t. She’ll never tell anyone besides the Bradshaw’s. It’s beyond unfair, it should have been her, them. But it’s not, it’s Ice, it's Slider. Pete won’t take this win from them, it wouldn’t fix anything. 

“Thank you, Sir. That means a lot to me. You don’t have to worry about me saying anything to anyone other than Goose. I think he deserves to know, but that’s where it ends. I refuse to take this away from Kazansky and Kerner. They deserve the win as well. You have my word.”

Viper nods his head, eyes full of both pride, and sympathy. “You’re a better man than most, Mitchell. I don’t know very many people who would do what you’re doing. I know I said it before, but your father would be proud of you.”

Pete nods, green eyes wet around the edges. “Thank you, Sir. May I have a moment alone?”

“Of course, Lieutenant. I’ll see you out there soon, there’s one more thing to discuss.” And with that, Viper’s gone, the door finally closing behind him.

Pete doesn’t cry. She wants to, but she refrains. She won, even if no one else can know. It’s not the win she dreamed of, longed for, but it’s something.

It’s enough…it has to be.

Neither Viper nor Maverick had noticed another person standing outside the door, listening in through the crack.

Maverick quickly composes herself and rejoins the group. Ice and Slider are still surrounded by well wishers, but the crowd has lessened slightly. She moves forward, coming to a stop in front of pilot and RIO. Maverick decides to end this the way it began, with a handshake.

She grins, surprised by how easy it is, and sticks her hand out. “Congratulations, you guys. You deserve it.” 

Ice hasn’t stopped smiling for half an hour, but somehow he seems even happier now. His blue eyes dance with unrestrained joy as his smile softens into something more sincere and intimate. His hand grasps hers and Maverick has to fight off the shiver that threatens to show. “Thank you, Mav. I honestly thought it would be you towards the end there.” 

Pete fights to keep the heartache from her eyes. It was…

The handshake goes on for a beat too long, and it’s only after someone bumps into her that Maverick lets go, blushing. She turns to Slider in order to offer her congratulations and to move past the moment she just had with his pilot. The giant RIO is already looking at her with a small smile. But there’s something odd in his eyes…

Viper’s voice interrupts Maverick before she can continue that line of thought. “I hate to break up the party before it really gets out of hand, but there is work to be done. Some of you have to depart immediately, we have a crisis situation.”

Maverick sees Hollywood look up sharply out of the corner of her eye as the rest of them tense. Jester takes over, calling out the names of those chosen to leave. 

“Ice, Slider…Hollywood, Wolfman…Maverick.”

Pete’s surprised to say the least. She didn’t think the brass would give her the chance to fly so soon. There’s a small pang in her heart as she realizes that she’s the only pilot who wasn’t being joined by their RIO.

Viper must guess at her thoughts because he answers the unspoken question. “Maverick, you’ll get your temporary RIO when you get to your ship…And if you don’t, give me a call. I’ll fly with you.”

Maverick’s blown away. Viper, one of the best pilots the Navy has ever seen, just declared his faith in her. Had told every man here that he trusted her not only as a pilot, but with his life. There are no words to describe her gratitude for the man. All she can do is offer him a small smile and a quick nod. “Sir.”

Maverick had been hoping to talk to Ice more. To finally understand where they both truly stood with each other and see if there was something more than friendship between them. But it would have to wait until after. Right now, she needed to go tell her family that she was shipping out.

24 Hours later. The Indian Ocean.

Maverick is glad to be back on board the Enterprise, especially for this mission. She doesn’t have to work to defend herself against a jackass CO. Stinger is here, and though this isn’t exactly the moment to catch up, it puts her at ease.

They’re all gathered in the briefing room listening to Stinger explain the mission parameters. “The communications ship USS Layton has become disabled, and has wandered into foreign territory. Rescue operation is to begin within the hour. Your mission is to give air support to that rescue. There are MIG’s in the area and tensions are high. If you witness a hostile act, you will return fire. This is the real thing, men. This is what you’ve been trained for. You are America’s best, make us proud.”

Good ol’ Stinger, never one to sugar coat. 

“Ice, Hollywood. Sector 2. Maverick, you back them up with Merlin on ready 5.”

He’s met with immediate “Yes, Sirs!” and they are soon dismissed. Maverick moves to greet Merlin and ask after Cougar as they head toward the flight deck. She’s a little bitter about not being made Ice’s wingman. Top Gun or not, she was still technically second in the class, and lightyears better than Hollywood. She knows Rick and Leo are a good team, but it feels like a purposeful snub. 

Maverick is moving towards the door with Merlin when she’s frozen in place. “Excuse me, Sir?” Comes Ice’s voice.

She sees Stinger raise a brow. “Yes?”

From this angle, Maverick can’t see the blonde’s face, but his next words gut her. “This isn’t personal, but in regard to Maverick-”

He doesn’t get the chance to finish, Stinger cutting him off with a glare. “I can guess what’s on your mind, Kazansky, just get on it.” Dismissing Ice swiftly. The old commander had never been one to indulge other pilots who didn’t want to fly with Maverick. Finding them childish and just plain fucking stupid. It was one of the many reasons why he was Maverick’s favorite CO.

But she’s finding it hard to feel gratitude towards him in the face of Ice’s statement. Does he doubt her? She had thought that they were friends, that he trusted her skills. Was Pete right about him not being able to trust her with his life? Did Ice still see her as the pilot who abandoned their wingman?

Maverick is angry no doubt, but the hurt is far more prominent. She distantly hears Merlin calling her name, asking what’s wrong, but all she can focus on is the blonde pilot. He turns around to face his RIO, and their eyes lock. Pete couldn’t have hid her betrayed expression if she tried. I really thought he…

Ice must have realized she overheard him, because his beautiful blue eyes widened in panic. “Mav, I-wait. This isn’t what-” But Pete doesn’t want to hear it. She glares, turning on her heel and finally exiting the room. Merlin hurries after her, confused by her behavior. The gentle RIO knows Maverick well enough to not voice his questions though, and they continue to the flight deck in silence.

They’re about to turn the corner when she hears Slider’s voice. 

“Oh my fucking God, Tom.”

The plan goes tits up in under two minutes. 

Ice and Hollywood had attempted to identify the MIG’s, but they were quickly outnumbered. With multiple bogies in the air, it was a bitch trying to evade. Maverick heard the panicked voice of Wolfman over the radio, reporting that one of the MIG’s had a lock on them. When Ice confirmed that Hollywood had been shot down, Maverick felt a piece of herself go down with them.

They could have made it. Medevac is already on the way. Please, please God let them be okay.

Then Maverick was told to launch and get her ass in the fight. Ice was up there all alone against multiple MIG’s. She knew the blonde was good, great even, but even the best pilots had their limits. She could only pray that Ice lived up to his call-sign and kept a cool head until she got there. It didn’t matter what he truly thought of her, Maverick would be damned before she let him or Slider face an enemy alone.

“Maverick’s airborne.”

“Iceman, what is your position?” Merlin questions. She had flown with him before, and knew that the RIO was steady and reliable. Maverick would have preferred Goose, but she trusted Merlin to watch their six.

Ice quickly relays his coordinates as Slider continues to call out the MIG’s positions over the radio. It sounds like an absolute shit show. Ice is doing his best to try and even the odds a little more, chasing a MIG down attempting to get a lock. But he needs a wingman, he needs Maverick. 

She pushes the plane as fast as she can, determined to get on his wing and nail these fuckers to the wall. Slider reports that one of the MIG’s has fired, and Ice manages to evade, but he’s barely hanging on.

“Mustang! This is VooDoo 1, we are totally defensive! Launch the alert fighters!” Ice is struggling to maintain his calm, his voice coming out loud and panicked.

“Maverick’s supersonic, I’ll be there in 30 seconds. Hang on Ice, I’m coming!” Maverick pleads. No one else, I won’t lose someone else to the summer sky.

“Hurry! I’m engaged with 5, repeat 5! I’m in deep shit!” 

Her heart is pounding so hard she’s surprised no one can hear it over the radio. Finally, she gets eyes on the dog fight.

She was right, it is a shit show.

Maverick quickly reads the situation, and sees a MIG moving into firing position behind Ice. Oh no you don’t motherfucker. The bogies are all focused on Ice, who’s doing a fucking amazing job of evading them. They don’t notice her arrival, and Maverick takes the opportunity to move in behind the one on Ice’s tail. It takes her less than 5 seconds to get a lock, and she fires without a moment’s hesitation.

“I’m right behind you, Ice. I’m right behind you.”

She can practically feel the relief from the two men. Regardless of Ice’s true opinion on her flying style, she knows he’s thankful for the backup.

Maverick is proven correct once again. Her and Ice are fucking phenomenal together. The two of them manage to smoke 2 more MIG’s, leveling the playing field. She’s on Ice’s wing as they chase one of the remaining bogies down, when Merlin’s warning fills her ears.

“Maverick! We got a MIG coming around on our tail, we gotta get out of here!” 

She doesn’t even pause to consider her options. There’s no question, no alternative. “I can’t leave Ice.”

Merlin sounds panicked now as the MIG closes in. “He’s still coming around! He’s gonna get behind us!” His voice is pleading with her to break away, to evade.

Maverick holds firm. “I’m not leaving my wingman!” 

It doesn’t matter what Ice or anyone else thinks. Maverick won’t make the same mistake like she did before with Cougar, with Hollywood. She won’t abandon her wingman, no matter who it happens to be. Dawson himself could be in that cockpit and she’d fight like hell to get him home. Maverick is on Ice’s wing, and come hell or high water, that's where she's staying.

Fortunately, Ice finally manages to nail the son of a bitch they’re chasing. Unfortunately, more MIG’s have appeared and one of them manages to shoot the side of Ice’s plane. Slider reports that they're hit in the right engine, and Maverick’s vision bleeds red.

"I’m moving in, Ice. The bogie is still behind you, I’m maneuvering for a shot…”

“Shoot, Mav! Nail him, nail him!” Ice yells.

“Shit! Ice, I can’t get a tone!”

“Shoot, Maverick! I can’t get him off my tail!”

Maverick’s trying her best, but the MIG remains out of reach. It’s only when Ice reports that they’ve been hit again, does she decide to live up to her call-sign and pull a crazy move.

“Ice! On the count of 3, break hard right, you hear me? Break right on 3, 2, 1! Break Right!”

Ice doesn’t question her, for which she’s thankful, and her plan manages to get the MIG off his tail, but Maverick misses the shot. “Fuck! I’m going after him!”

“Don’t let him go, Mav! Go get him!” Ice tells her, and she breaks off once he moves to safety.

“Okay, here’s the shot….firing…Got him! Strike 3!” But there’s no time to celebrate. Her wingman’s voice crackles over the radio as he flies above her.

“Maverick, move! There’s a MIG on your tail, there’s a MIG on your tail!”

Son of a bitch! We got a problem here, we’ve only got one missile left.”

Merlin is proving that Maverick’s faith in him isn’t misplaced as he relays the bogies position to her. “I got him! He’s right between our tails! He’s firing!”

“Shit!” Maverick grunts, spinning the plan 360, barely managing to avoid being hit. 

“You haven’t lost him! He’s still with us!”

Maverick has had some truly insane ideas over the course of her career. But the one that enters her head now takes the fucking cake. No time like the present to show why they call you Maverick, eh Pete?

Merlin, bless him, points out that they’re losing speed. “What are you doing? You’re slowing down! You’re slowing down!”

She’s going to have to get checked for being an absolute lunatic because Maverick feels herself grin. “I’m bringing him in closer, Merlin.”

Merlin is going to be the one to drive her to the psych ward because he sounds like he thinks Mav’s out of her goddamn mind. “You’re gonna do what?”

Pete’s glad no one can see her expression because she feel positively feral. “I’m gonna hit the breaks, he’ll fly right by.”

While Merlin’s life continues to flash before his eyes, the MIG manages to get a lock on them. As soon as Maverick hears the high pitch ringing of confirmed tone, she pulls the break. “Now!”

Just like she planned, the MIG speeds by her as Maverick comes over the top of them. I’ve got you now asshole. She only gets a partial lock, but that’s all she needs. “I’ve got a good lock…Firing!”

The enemy plane explodes in a ball of fire, and Maverick feels delighted. “Scratch 4!”

Merlin sounds absolutely exhausted. Maverick can’t blame him, he thought she was going to get them killed at the end there. “Mustang this is VooDoo 3, remaining MIG’s are bugging out.”

They did it. They won.

Maverick can’t contain herself. She'd had a terrible two weeks, her best friend had almost died, Church was in cahoots with Dawson, the Top Gun trophy had been snatched from her by the brass, and she was back to not understanding Ice. Pete had been on her best behavior for a while now, Stinger's previous warning curbing her wilder side. But right now, she felt like living up to her call-sign, and there was nothing anyone could do to stop her. Damn the consequences.

“Mustang, this is Maverick, requesting flyby.”

“Negative, Ghostrider, the pattern is full.”

Mav grinned, letting out a laugh. Like that’s gonna stop me.

Her actions left Merlin confused. “Um, excuse me, something I should know about?”

Maverick didn’t answer him, he’d figure it out soon enough. As she eagerly approached the tower, preparing to deal with Stinger ripping her a new asshole, she saw movement out of the corner of her eye. Holy shit, no way…

Ice was there, right on her wing. His plane was smoking from the hits it sustained, but he didn’t waver from her side. Together, they buzzed the tower, and Pete determined that Ice was a confusing son of a bitch.

Soon they were landing on the carrier, quickly being surrounded by the flight crew. The air was filled with victorious cheers as Maverick and Merlin made their way down from the cockpit, feeling like kings. She shook hands and smiled at everyone, not a single person denying her congratulations. Maverick had barely rounded the front of her plane when Wolfman popped up out of nowhere and screamed his delight at her.

Thank you, God…thank you.

Hollywood and Wolfman were okay. They were wet from landing in the ocean, but there were no visible injuries. Mav felt like the piece of her heart had been returned to her as she was swept up in their arms. They each took turns lifting her off the ground, and if this were any other day and they were anyone else, she’d have killed them. As it was, all Pete could do was scream and laugh in joy.

After they put her down, Maverick saw Ice watching her. Green met blue. 

“You!” The blonde pilot pointed a finger at her, and Mav felt her blinding grin fade a little. What was he going to say? Did he still not trust her, even after all that? There was less than a foot between them now, and it hit her that they’d never been this close before. She couldn’t help but admire his handsome features as they gazed into each other's eyes, waiting for him to continue.

“You are still dangerous,” Ice all but whispered, his voice soft and amazed. Then a bright grin broke out across his face, reminding Pete of the sun appearing after a long, hard storm, stealing her breath away with the beauty of it.

I think I could love you…

“You can be my wingman anytime, Pete Mitchell.” This he said with conviction, his words carrying out over the noise of the crowd, making his faith, his trust in Maverick known to every man there.

Her answering smile outshone the sun itself in its brilliance. “Bullshit. You can be mine, Tom Kazansky.”

He threw his head back, letting out the most wonderful laugh Pete had ever heard, before sweeping her up into a bone crushing hug.

...I think I already do

Pete finds herself down under the flight deck a few hours after the mission. They’d all given their statements and wrote their reports. The feeling of victory was still strong among everyone, and Pete loved it, but she needed time alone to gather her thoughts. It had been one hell of a day.

But Pete isn’t thinking about the mission. She’s thinking about Ice…Tom. Earlier today she’d felt hurt and betrayed by his words, still does in fact. But after what he said on the flight deck, in front of everyone…God it was hard not to kiss him in that moment. Her heart had wanted to leap out of her chest at the blonde pilot, begging him to feel the same.

Pete’s never felt like this before. Her feelings for Ice were unmatched by everything else she’d ever known. She knew that if she could somehow see her own face when she looked at him, Pete would recognize the expression she wore.

The same look of love, of devotion that had graced her parents' faces. The one that she used to know with Bradley, and the one she knew now in the warm presence of the Bradshaw's. 

God, I love him. I love him, I love him, I love him….

Pete gazed out across the ocean at the darkening summer sky. Orange and pink were quickly overtaking blue as the day drew to a close. It was gorgeous, and she appreciated it all the more in her current emotional state.

“Mav? Can we talk?”

Pete gasped, spinning around to find Ice himself standing a ways behind her. He seemed nervous, a word she wasn’t used to associating with him. Speak of the devil and he shall appear. 

Desperately trying to calm her racing heart and blushing cheeks, Pete flashed him her signature grin. “Yeah, of course. We’re wingmen now, we can talk about anything.”

Ice moved to take the place beside her by the railing. He stared out at the waves for a minute, thinking. Only after he had collected his thoughts, did he give a small sigh and continue. “I want to explain what I said earlier. I know you heard me talking to Stinger, and I know how it looks. I wanted to tell you earlier, but there just wasn’t time.” He straightened from his position of leaning across the railing, turning his entire body to face her.

Blue met green, locked together. “Maverick-Pete. I tried to tell Stinger that it wasn’t personal, but I didn’t want Hollywood as my wingman. Rick is a good pilot, but you’re better, the best. I-I probably shouldn’t tell you this because you didn’t want us to know, but Slider overheard you talking with Viper yesterday at the ceremony. He heard about what happened, that you should have been Top Gun.”

Maverick’s eyes widened in shock. They knew? Slider overheard them? But how-the door. Viper left the door cracked for me. Son of a bitch…

“Ice, you have to believe me, I was never going to tell anybody. You deserved it just as much as I did and I would never take that away from you.”

Ice’s gaze is impossibly soft. “I know, Mav, Slider heard that too. He told me everything last night. God, I can’t believe you really weren’t going to say anything…Pete, the reason I tried to talk to Stinger today is because I’m tired of you getting snubbed. You deserved that trophy, and you deserved to take the lead today. I’m honored to call you my wingman, and my friend.”

Pete can’t help the way her eyes fill with tears. The man she loves is standing in front of her telling her everything she’s ever wanted to hear. Ice is like the pilot version of Prince Charming. She gives a wet laugh as she wipes at her eyes, trying to think of what she could possibly say back to him. But Ice isn’t done.

“And I wanted to ask for your forgiveness.” The blonde says in a rush.

Pete meets his gaze again, brow furrowed in confusion. “For what?”

Ice’s pupils are so dilated she can see her own reflection. A split second before he answers, Pete finally notices the look on his face. The one she knew so well...Wait a fucking second-

“For this.”

Ice’s hands cup her face, his palms big and warm as he guides their lips together in a soft kiss, testing the waters. Pete’s brain shuts down for a full 5 seconds, and she feels the other pilot start to pull away. Oh absolutely fucking not. She stretches up on her tiptoes, arms reaching up to wrap around his neck as she buries her hands in his thick blonde hair. It’s softer than I’d thought it would be. 

Ice doesn’t need more encouragement than that. His arms move down to wrap around Pete’s waist, lifting her clear off the ground as their lips meet with more force. She scratches her nails through his scalp and feels more than hears his answering groan. 

Pete can’t help but smile into the kiss, giggling at his reaction. Ice pulls back a little to catch his breath, before he dives back in, pecking her lips once, twice, three times.

“I was right, you’re still dangerous.” He grins, their lips brushing with every word.

Pete huffs a laugh, leaning back in for more. “Yeah? And what are you gonna do about it, Iceman?” 

“Not a goddamn thing” Ice says, before capturing her grin with a kiss.

There’s no more conversation to be had as the summer sun finally fades around them, leaving the two in their own private bubble as they finally come together underneath the light of the stars.

Icarus and her Wingman.

Maverick and Ice.

Pete and Tom.

At last

Chapter Text

Ice's POV is kicking my ass and I've discovered that it's going to take me longer than I thought. I'm gonna treat it as a multi chapter work and the first chapter should be up later tonight! It's going to be in the same collection but I don't know the title yet so come back later and please be patient! College work has been kicking my ass and I feel so bad about the delay!