#with the kazansky mitchell grandparents

[sassenach082]

This is probably kind of thinking wayyyy too in the future, but I was reading about Bill and Eleanor and thinking about the parts with Ellie and Bradley and it made me wonder — if you envision Hangster having kids, what kind of grandparents do you think Ice and Mav are like?

Oh, Hangster will be having kids, never you worry. Mav and Ice are going to be the most annoyingly doting, take-your-kid-flying-at-three-whoops-Jake-said-I-could, spoil them rotten, sugar them up and send them home grandparents who also take them on vacations for a week, grandparents.

[compacflt]

what dog would icemav get?

im guessing no mangy devil chihuahuas or rescues (compacflt can't be seen with anything but a purebreed) golden retriever might be too on the nose, how about a malinois or a german shepherd maybe an english bulldog (ugly)

idk. i don’t really have a dog in this fight (i don’t care) (pun intended). but it definitely would have to be like a Real Dog. yeah nothing smaller than 70 lbs. a Real Dog. other than that i don’t have any opinions. could be a mutt or a rescue! but it would have to be, you know, handsome and upstanding and like, a Real Dog that you can, like, do stuff with. it is very cliche and on the nose and maybe im only saying this bc i, like, don’t care at all about dogs but ice does seem like the white lab/golden retriever guy and mav strikes me as a german shepherd guy. there are many reasons i don’t think they would ever have a dog (what would they do with the dog?) but not being able to agree on the breed might be one reason they never get a dog. arguing and bickering etc

[baby-girl-e]

Christmas Tree Farm

Characters - Iceman x Maverick, Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw

Summary -  Maverick and Ice have their first Christmas with Bradley after Carole’s death. Just a couple of new dads doing their best to raise a happy kid. 

Word Count - 3.5k

Warnings - Canon- Character deaths; Mentions of period-typical homophobia

A/N - Sorry for the wait on this one, I started it a while ago and then life happened you know? I hope this one is happy and Christmas-y enough for you, I added a sprinkling of fluffy angst because I can’t help myself! This is also my first Kazansky-Mitchell-Bradshaw family fic so let me know what you think!

Without further ado... Christmas Tree Farm based on the song by Taylor Swift

It was the first Christmas that Maverick had Bradley since Carole died. He would’ve taken the kid to his grandparents house but for all that he tried he just couldn’t get in touch with the Bradshaws. Carole’s parents had been dead for longer than he’d known her, but he always knew that Nick’s parents were around and had spoken to them many times before he had died. The number he had for them, that he wrote down at her funeral, was right but he got their machine every time. With no call back he just had to assume they were out of town. He didn’t dare to think it was because they were ignoring him, how could they possibly not want to be with the coolest kid in the universe on Christmas?

So here Maverick was, standing in the middle of Target staring at the coats looking clueless. Bradley had outgrown his last one and Ice had insisted he needed a new one before they went to the Christmas tree farm the next day. He reminded his boyfriend that they still lived in San Diego and it didn’t get far below 50 degrees fahrenheit, especially not in the middle of the day. Ice had lovingly reminded him that not everyone was raised in the midwest and that this kid went from living in Texas to living in California and wasn’t used to the cold. 

“Need some help?” A kind looking lady pushing a shopping cart with what looked to be a kid Bradley’s age next to it, noticed his confused gaze. 

“Oh, um I’m fine I just have no idea what I’m doing here.” He thought he may as well be honest with the stranger.

“How old is the kid? I’ve had a few myself.” 

“He’s uh six.” Wow, time flew. It felt like just yesterday Nick had handed him a tiny bundle that just blinked up at him, unknowingly looking at his future pseudo father. 

“Well then he’s probably the same size as Matty here. What size did you last get him?” He internally winced at that. He didn’t check the size on the one that didn’t fit and he wasn’t the one that bought it for him, Carole was. 

“I don’t know, this is my first year as his dad.” She gave him a weird look and he decided to add more to make himself not sound like a dead-beat. “His parents and I were best friends, his dad died two years ago and his mom this summer. So now he’s mine.” 

She gave him a sad look and boy was he sick of those. It wasn’t her fault, what else was she supposed to do when told that story? It’s the polite thing to do. 

“Oh I’m so sorry. Do you at least have your wife around to help?” He almost laughed. No, but he had an Ice. A boyfriend that stuck by his side through thick and thin and god was he so damn lucky. He didn’t have a wife, but he was better so Maverick found himself agreeing. 

“Yeah I do. She’s usually better at this stuff but she’s working late.” He really had to keep the laughter at bay by referring to Ice as his wife. He couldn’t wait to tell Tom about this later. 

“Well not to worry I can help. Does he look about the same size as Matty?” 

“Yeah I think so. I would’ve brought him but he was just having so much fun at his friends house.” It was actually the Metcalfs but how was he supposed to say he didn’t want to stop listening to Viper explain the mechanics of an F-6? Weird kid. 

“Oh I understand, I won’t shop with the kids if I can help it. He’s usually a size 5-6, a little tip is that they’re sized with the same number as the ages so if they’re average sized then you should be safe. For coats however I always go a size up so that it at least lasts for two seasons. Shoes are kinda similar, but you don’t want to go too big or he’ll trip.” 

Really he should’ve been writing this down, but he’s a pilot for god sake he can remember stuff.

“Oh thank you. I’ll have to remember this for when we need to get him new shoes. I don’t think he will for a while.” 

“Of course, we parents have to stick together. Maybe bring your wife next time so it’s less painless!” He’s one hundred percent sure his ‘wife’ would have wanted to be here today but the Navy didn’t give time off for clothes shopping for the kid you and your secret boyfriend share. Maverick was only here because he wasn’t yet trusted to do the paperwork side of TOP GUN. 

“She’ll be here next time I’m sure. I’m not usually allowed to even do the grocery shopping let alone this. I don’t know why she puts up with me.” He laughed as he said it but it was true. He didn’t feel like he deserved him at times. 

“I’m sure love has something to do with it. Good luck!” And with that the nice stranger left him in the coat aisle gaping. 

Eventually he picks what he thinks might work, a hat and gloves that match, and heads back to their little house. When he gets home he calls Ice to check in and also to see if he’ll pick Bradley up from the Metcalf’s. 

“Kazansky speaking.” Maverick had to stop himself from giggling at his deep voice, it never failed to make him swoon. 

“Hey babe, how’s work?” Pete could hear a sigh of relief over the phone, probably because he’d been expecting it to be a work call.

“It’s killing me baby. Just a few more minutes and I’ll be home free.” The way Tom had drawled through baby was making him sweat. 

“I’ll have dinner ready when you get home if you want to swing by the Metcalfs on your way and grab baby goose?” Viper and his wife had long since found out about their relationship, Pete accidentally using babe in the workplace, but they never bat an eye. After Pete’s inevitable breakdown his fathers former best friend reassured the couple that their secret is safe with him and if they’re comfortable they could come to Sunday dinners with his wife and really be a real couple. Small mercies. 

“Why in god's name is he at the Metcalfs without you?” 

“Because I had to grab something from Carrie after work and Bradley wanted to come. Mike was telling him about some F-6 and it was like pulling teeth getting him to leave. They offered to keep him until you got off so I said yes. I’m telling you Tom our son is so weird.” 

Our son slipped out of his mouth like it was the most natural thing in the world. Maybe it was, Pete quite liked the little family he had made for himself. 

“Well that’s because he’s been spending too much time with you. I say we switch places and see which dad he takes after.” It seemed Tom thought it was natural too. Pete didn’t want to erase the kids memory of his real dad, but he also didn’t want him to grow up without one like he did. 

“You’d love that wouldn’t you? Just go get him and get your ass home so I can finally kiss you. I’ve been dying to since you thought it’d be fun to chew on that stupid pen.” The worst part about working with your secret boyfriend was for sure the whole keeping your hands to yourself part. 

“That got you going huh? Maybe I’ll keep it up.” He could practically hear the smirk. Oh god. 

“Not unless you want to be slapped with a DD. Good god I’m hanging up, Love you.” 

“Love you too.” Tom was laughing through his words but then the line went dead. Pete couldn’t help but laugh too. God he loved that man. 

///

About an hour later Pete could hear both keys jingling in the lock and a small six year old voice chattering on about some plane. He was still in the kitchen when the door opened and heard Tom remind Bradley to take off his wet shoes before he came flying in to say hi to him. 

“Pete! Hi!” The little boy was jumping up and down practically begging to be held. 

“Baby goose I just saw you a few hours ago, you can’t have possibly missed me already!” He was hugging Bradley tight as Tom came in and pressed a small peck to Pete’s lips. 

“I don’t care I missed you!” He was wiggling to get down already and Pete obliged. He called out to the boy to go wash up so they could eat and he heard something that sounded like “okay'' before he disappeared to his room. 

Pete shook his head at Tom before striding over to where he was drying his hands. He immediately took his face in his hands and kissed him. Resisting Pete was futile and Tom kissed him back with an urgency he was still getting used to. 

They made a point to not kiss in front of the kid, no more than a small peck, but with him distracted they took advantage of the moment. As they pulled back they mumbled greetings before Pete retreated back to putting dinner onto three plates. 

“Glad you’re home Tom. I missed you.” Tom blushed and set two out of the three plates on the table. 

“And you gave Bradley a hard time for missing you? You’re impossible Pete.” 

He just smiled and shrugged his shoulders. “Can’t help it.” 

Once they get Bradley downstairs and eating Pete starts to notice Bradley seemed like something’s on his mind. Just picking at his food and being abnormally quiet. Tom picks up on it too because he gives Pete a look before addressing the kid. 

“Everything okay baby goose?” They were already worried about raising him, so anytime something went wrong they were both panicked. 

“Yeah, can I tell you guys something?” He looked up to them with wary eyes and Pete felt his insides freeze. 

“Anything Bradley you know that.” Tom reassured him.

“Well, this morning in class my friends were talking about their dad’s and I don’t know, I just wish I could talk about mine.” They looked at the kid concerned, they knew they’d have to talk about this eventually but Pete wanted to avoid it as much as possible. 

“Well you know you have a dad, he’s just not here.” The kid looks sad still and Pete looks to Tom for some assistance. Tom’s at just as much of a loss.

“I know, but I don’t know how to tell the other kids that. Would it be okay… Maybe…” He didn’t seem to be able to get out the words. Tom stepped in. 

“It’s okay kiddo, take your time.” Neither had been prepared for parenthood, least of all Tom. He had resigned himself to a life without kid’s a long time ago. 

“Do you think it’d be okay if I called you guys dad?” 

Tom looked to Pete, like he did in most situations, and Pete looked pale. He never wanted to replace Nick, but Bradley really did deserve to have a dad. 

“Oh baby goose, of course that’s okay. But you remember what we talked about with Tom right? That people can’t know we love each other like your parents did.” Bradley nods enthusiastically.

“I remember. But I can still call you dad?” Bradley looked so hopeful but not quite so sure of himself. Like he didn’t know that these men would give him their kidney if he asked. 

“Absolutely Bradley. Just as long as you don’t tell people you have two dads, at least for now that’s okay. Tom?” Pete wanted to be sure that he was also okay with it, it’s not like Tom had planned on kids so early into a relationship. 

“It’s okay with me buddy. I’m honored that you see me that way. Now go clean up and we’ll watch a Christmas movie?” 

He nods again and runs up the stairs leaving his dad’s flabbergasted but deliriously happy in the kitchen. They were a real little family and damnit if they weren’t both over the moon about it. 

///

The next day comes quickly, especially when they’re woken up by a little boy jumping on their bed. 

“Dad! Dad! We’re getting a Christmas tree today right?” It seemed Bradley wanted to start calling them dad asap. It might get confusing really fast if he doesn’t find another term to call one of them. 

“We are buddy, but we have to be patient and get decorations for it first. Your dad and I only have a few things.” He tried on the name himself and Pete was rewarded with a glowing Tom even this early in the morning. 

“Okay, I’ll go get ready then. But you need to hurry, not wasting time kissing. Yuck.” He makes a face and collapses into giggles when Tom does exactly what Bradley had requested they not do. 

It takes them record time getting Bradley out the door that day, normally having to stop for about a million things but it seems like the kid moved like lightning when he had something to look forward to. He did look cute all bundled up in his new coat, even if he’d have to take it off the minute he got into the car and into his carseat. 

They went straight to Walmart to find ornaments and lights and were delighted to walk right into them when they walked in the door. Bradley picked out a set of shiny red ones and even found an F-14 one. Perks of living right near a Navy base. 

“Dad! Look, it's the one you fly right?” He had made the mistake of grabbing an F-15 Eagle before and received a long lesson on who had better planes, the Navy or the Air Force. 

“That’s right Bradley, put it in the cart.” He did so and scampered off. Pete leaned in close to Tom to whisper to him after. 

“I hope he finds another name for one of us. We can’t both be dad, I’m already confused as to who the hell he was just talking to.” Tom laughs and nudges Pete along the aisle. 

“I’m sure he will. I wouldn’t mind being called Pops. I’m sure you two can find a joke in there somewhere.” He smiled and winked at Pete before turning towards the ornaments, not missing Pete’s lit up face. 

“I love this so much more already. Ice-Pops. That’s amazing.” Tom was laughing too but slowed when he stumbled upon a first christmas ornament. It was pretty generic looking, a tree with a banner below that stated “Our First Family Christmas 1988”.

“What about this one Pete? I know it’s not our first Christmas but it is as a family.” Pete takes it from his boyfriend to examine it. 

“It’s perfect Tom. I love it. Should we get one to commemorate our first christmas?” He turned to find another generic one and saw the perfect one. A red heart decorated with snow and candy canes, a similar banner but this one stated “Our First Christmas”. 

“I could write 1986 on the back? What do you think? Too obvious?” Tom examined it much like Pete had before placing it in the cart. 

“Anyone who doesn’t know about us will not be invited into the house during Christmas time I assure you.” Tom sounded so sure of himself that Pete left it there. They rarely had guests anyways. 

Eventually they get Bradley to decide on a star and the rest of the trimmings before Tom tells Pete to go out to the car with Bradley while he purchases the items. They wanted to get to the Christmas tree farm within a reasonable timeframe to maybe try and beat the crowds. They both so desperately wanted this to seem as normal as possible and with lots of people around they’d have to go back to pretending to just be wingmen and not lovers. 

As Tom pulled into the lot Bradley was screeching his excitement. “Dad!! Look there it is!!” 

“Which dad are you talking to kiddo?” They just needed some clarification already. 

“Both of you now, but I think I’m going to call Ice pops. You know, like the Ice cream?” He was giggling and Tom had a smug look on his face. It seems like great minds think alike. 

“I love it, baby goose. Let’s go choose our tree shall we?” Bradley was back to screeching and Pete couldn’t unbuckle him fast enough. 

The kid ran into the farm with his dad’s in tow, Tom by the hand, and ran right to the tallest one he could find. 

“This one Pops! This one.” He was jumping now, pointing as he went. 

“Kiddo that won’t fit in our living room, let’s look for a shorter one, yeah?” He re;ented fairly easily for his age and was quickly bounding over to the next one. 

He searched every row, multiple times too, looking for that perfect tree. Pete and Tom just looked on, hoping he’d settle on a decently sized and priced one soon. Eventually he did and it was Tom’s turn to get the attendant to wrap it up for them. 

Sooner rather than later it was strapped to the car and they were on their way home. Once they got there Tom started up on making soup to warm the chilly boy and Pete figured out how to get it set up and looking nice. 

Looking into the living room Tom couldn’t help but tear up. He really never thought that anything like this could ever happen to him, least of all with Pete. When he saw Pete’s plane fall into that flat spin back in 1986 he really thought that was it. That he’d never get the chance to tell Pete how he felt. And moreover, after learning of Nick Bradshaw’s passing he thought Pete would never be the same. 

Later, when Pete had admitted his feelings for him and all seemed right he still had a hard time believing it. Just when he had thought that maybe, just maybe they’d be okay, Carole Bradshaw had followed her husband. This was it, he thought. Pete is going to raise Bradley and Tom was going to become just a past fling, it wasn’t like he was going to have time for a relationship and a kid. But here he was. Watching the love of his life wrap lights around a Christmas tree with a child that calls him ‘Pops’. 

Later after the kid was in bed, tree decorated and Christmas movies watched, he and Pete sat on the couch basking in each other's arms and the glow of the fire. 

“Hey Tom?” Pete was quiet, not because he needed to be but because he didn’t want to disturb the peace they had found. 

“Yeah baby?” Tom was drawing idle patterns on Pete’s arm, also not wanting to disturb the peace. 

“I love you.” It was so simple, but Tom really wasn’t sure he would ever get used to it. 

“I love you too. You know I bought something after you two went out to the car.” It was random but it was in a small bag a couple inches away from him and he couldn’t help himself. 

“Oh yeah?” Pete turned slightly towards his partner and raised him a curious brow. 

Tom pulled the bag towards where they sat and pulled out a small sprig of mistletoe. Pete blushed and shook his head in laughter. 

“Babe, you know you don’t need that to get a kiss right?” He was already inching impossibly closer to Tom, hoping he knew where this was going. 

“I know, I just would like something to remind you. Maybe we can keep it up year round.” He was teasing Pete but it seemed he was growing impatient. He grabbed the plant from Tom and held it above their heads before pulling him into a hard kiss. Tom was kissing back in record time and they sank into it. 

Kissing wasn’t a new concept to them, obviously, but every time they did it never failed to make Tom’s heart flutter. Pete pulled away and set his arm down around Tom. 

They breathed heavily into each other's mouths and Tom broke into a smile. Pete was smiling too by the end and then they were laughing. This was comfortable, this was love. 

“Merry Christmas baby.” Pete had caught his breath enough to squeak the words out. 

“Merry Christmas Pete.” he hoped and prayed this was the standard for the rest of his Christmases. He finally had everything he ever wanted, a family.

[bearsinpotatosacks]

A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

They went back to silence as Mav sobbed. He wanted to crawl into Ice’s arms again, pretend that none of this had happened and that Bradley was just celebrating graduation at a friend's house. But the other knew he and Ice weren’t there anymore. Bradley was god knows where and Ice had just admitted that he didn’t trust Maverick anymore. There was no one left now.

~~~

Maverick tells Ice about Carole's wishes for Bradley's future and they make a plan. But will the cracks forming in their relationship be able to withstand the oncoming storm?

Words: 8112

This is also on my AO3, this is also from my post I made previously, thanks for all the encouragement

Stepping outside, the fresh summer air pierced the thick clouds of grief he’d been suffocating in all day. Funerals were never easy for him even though he’d been to far too many. He didn’t remember his dad’s but had vague memories of empty rooms and a deep sense of shame to grieve a man who was a supposed traitor. His mother’s had been just as quiet. The Mitchell’s weren’t a large family. His grandparents were dead or too frail to care for him after his parents died.

There hadn’t been many for a while after that. He’d hoped he wouldn’t have to don his funeral clothes until he was old and grey, or until he was the one being mourned, if there was anyone to mourn him at all. 

Then, Carole’s father died and he adorned his stiff black suit once more. That familiar itching feeling as he stared at the mourners. People stared back. He was there for moral support and hadn’t met many of the Edwards, that being Carole’s maiden name, family and it showed. The well fitting suit seemed to swallow him as he stared back at them all. A child in an adult’s body. A wolf in sheep’s clothing.

Goose’s had been agonising. He didn’t have enough rank to warrant the full shebang. He’d only reached Lieutenant Junior Grade, one rank above an Ensign, a fact that played around in his head like a broken record, one that he just couldn’t process, the pill he couldn’t swallow, how little life Nick Bradshaw had lived and how it was all his fault. He hadn’t even reached twenty-six.

Yet again, after that heartbreak, he’d begged the stars above, prayed to a god he didn’t believe in to make sure he wouldn’t have to go through that again. Well, either he had bad karma or maybe God just didn’t like him, because here he was again. Heart broken and bleeding in front of him on the floor. Morose laughter echoing in dark rooms behind him. And that sinking feeling that he didn’t belong here, that he’d done something so wrong that he should be laughed out the door, swallowed up whole into hell. 

He’d wished he’d been the one to get terminal cancer most nights, just so Carole could be here instead. She’d know what to do. She’d put her life to good use instead of pissing off Admirals and getting his guardian angel, Captain Thomas Kazansky, soon to be Vice Admiral Kazansky if he carried on the way he was going, to save him. Bradley would be better off with his mother around, not some half-father, half-uncle that he was trying to be- and failing.

He collapsed on the front porch of Carole’s mother’s house. In all the chaos of navy life and his grief for Goose, he almost forgot she had a whole family out there that loved her. Although, her mother wasn’t in the best health, Parkinsons had taken control and she now had a carer living with her at all times. Carole and her sister, and the brother that was off galavanting somewhere, they never knew, didn’t have the money to put her in a home so relied on the generosity of the local hospice. 

This meant that Bradley’s Nana couldn’t care for him, and his aunt was too far away, living in Houston, for him to live with her. That, and the fact that Carole had ensured Bradley was left in Pete’s custody after she died. She’d left that in her will, her swoopy handwriting, smudged with tears, writing:

To my darling Pete, I leave you all of Goose’s belongings, that ceramic chicken you made me buy for the garden, and Bradley. 

You’ll need each other more than you know. And there’s only one person I know who will finish raising him the way I want.

With some help from Ice and Viper, now retired, he got himself placed as a test pilot in Kingsville, as close to a commuter’s job that Mav would ever get. He’d be starting in a few weeks, after the mourning period had gone and Mav was in need of something new to distract himself with. And he’d now be a full-time parent to Bradley.

Bradley. 

He heard him in the company of the various other ‘86 Top Gun Graduates. Slider, with his new wife Siobhan by his side, were telling him about his stories as a commercial pilot. It was a path most Naval Aviators took after a while of combat, it kept you in the air, and the paychecks and good views were an added bonus.

That kid was struggling so much Mav didn’t even know where to start. He had experience, of course, but his parents had died before he even really understood the concept of death. Bradley had been lucky enough to only be four when his dad died. Carole’s death had been different though.

There hadn’t been much escape, except school. When Maverick was away, Bradley found himself caring for his mum and himself despite her insistence that she was still capable enough. He was sleeping in her bed now, wrapped in Carole’s grandma’s quilt that still had a strange mix of Carole’s floral perfume and the clinical stench of the hospital.

Mav wondered what form his grief would take. It had already started to form as Carole got closer to the end. He was careful, every action took thought because he now knew, in such an intimate way that no child should ever have to know, what death was. Yet, he was also angry.

Although it was now his summer break, he’d be entering his Sophomore year of high school in September, in his last few weeks of school Carole and Mav had received a few phone calls about Bradley getting into fights. Some kids were being cruel, as kids could be, about his dying mother and something must have snapped within him. Apparently his friends had to drag him off one of the tormentors just to get him to stop. 

Mav didn’t really know what to say to discipline him. That’s where Carole and Ice had stepped in. It was right that he defended his mother, but perhaps he shouldn't go as far to almost give the kid a brain injury. Bradley was getting tall, he was the best batter in his baseball team already, and was growing up strong. Maybe he didn’t know his own strength sometimes.

The deck creaked as someone else joined him. He knew the footsteps in an instant and some part of the knot in his stomach eased. It was Ice.

“How are you doing?” He asked

Mav looked at him as he sat down. He sighed and leant into Ice’s touch. It was second nature to go to him. He let him guide his head down onto his shoulder and closed his eyes.

“Yeah, that was a stupid question,”

Mav pulled away and let his head drop into his hands as a whine escaped him. He didn’t know how he could cry any more but he did. Hot tears ticking his cheeks and making his hands slimy.

Ice rubbed his back, “Come on, talk to me.”

He’d gotten better at comforting him after that time in the lockers after Goose died. They knew each other better now and Ice knew that if not prompted, Mav would rather keep everything inside. All the bad feelings were easier to deal with when you didn’t have to deal with them.

“I’m not cut out for this.” He said simply.

“For what?”

Mav looked up and let Ice follow his gaze to look at Bradley. He was laughing through tears.

“Carole made you his legal guardian for a reason, Mav, she trusted you with him, she knew you’d look after him,”

“But I can barely look after myself!”

Ice shook his head and let out one of those half laughs you do to make a point rather than to laugh at anything, “You’d always do anything for that boy, you wouldn’t let anything happen to him.”

“That’s what I’m worried about.” 

“What do you mean?”

Mav thought back to Carole’s last days. The raspy sound of her breathing and the click of the life support machine. She was barely lucid, high on so many pain meds that in the end she’d thought he was Goose. But in the chaos and pain, she’d made him make a promise. And he couldn’t say no. 

“Carole asked me something, before she-.” He hesitated on that last word, it didn’t feel real yet. “-before she died.”

Ice went to say something else but he just held up a hand. He was still processing it all. Just saying it made him feel guilty, like it was a secret he wasn’t allowed to tell anyone.

“She made me promise to make sure Bradley didn’t fly.”

Ice wasn’t surprised by a lot, or at least he knew to hide it well. Mav knew his poker face when he did but right now it was too slow. His brows furrowed as he ran a hand through his hair, sans iced tips that he’d had when they’d met eleven years ago. 

“W-why would she do that? It’s all he’s wanted to do his whole life.”

Mav knew why. He remembered every time Bradley mentioned how one day he’d fly and how Carole had gripped something nearby, knuckles white. In hindsight, he could see all the signs so clearly. Her smile fake, not reaching her eyes and barely covering up the fear. And it was fear, not anxiety. Pure fear. The kind that only came from losing someone so close to you and possibly losing another to the exact same thing. 

“She doesn’t-didn’t want Bradley to die the same as Goose, couldn’t lose him too, not after what happened to his dad,” he said.

“But, that was because of a technical fault, by the time Bradley’s trained they may not even be using F-14s anymore!” 

Ice rarely raised his voice, too. It would be concerning if Mav didn’t know why he was doing it. It hurt him too, what he’d have to do. Part of him was just as confused, the other part, though, was on Carole’s side. He couldn’t live with himself if anything happened to him. He had to stop himself from wrapping him in bubble wrap some days. He had some of Mav’s qualities that he wished he didn’t.

“You can’t deny she’s partially right, though?” Mav insisted, he wouldn’t have Carole’s memory ruined.

“I guess, I’m worried for the kid too but to stop him from flying all together?”

Mav shrugged, “You can’t deny that he’s not ready.”

“I can’t,” he said, his voice low. “But to stop him entirely, not give him a chance to grow and get himself ready?”

“He’s already changing, Ice, it’s hard to think he was the same kid who was so excited to see the vultures at San Diego Zoo,”

They both laughed at the memory. They were visiting Ice in the summer of 1994, just after ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ came into effect and they were all celebrating Maverick and Ice being allowed to show their love.

“Yeah, he spent ten minutes just staring at them.”

“And it’s just as hard to think that he was the same kid in that car accident after they won their baseball league, calling for Carole and seeing his dad.”

Mav had barely been consolable when he’d heard about that. He was somewhere in the middle of the Pacific Ocean when it happened. Luckily, the higher ups were understanding enough to give him a week to be there for him. Seeing Bradley, who was already looking so much like his dad, in that hospital bed with all those wires had almost killed him off. If Carole hadn’t needed him he probably would’ve, but she’d needed his strength to carry on, so he was there, every time.

“But he’s getting careful, considerate, he knows how close the line is and he’s making sure he doesn’t cross it,” he said. “And that’s good for most jobs, but if he wants to be a Naval Aviator, he can’t live like that, and I fear it’s only going to get worse as he learns to live with this grief.”

“Then you talk to him, maybe if he knows, then he can work on it and be the best Aviator he can be.”

“Don’t you think I’m going to try that!” Mav snapped.

Ice held up his hand in innocence then pulled Mav back in for a hug, “I know you will, you won’t stop trying until you get the outcome you want, I know you,” he lay a kiss on his forehead, so gentle it was like a ghost. “I’ll help you with anything, you know that, right?”

He nodded. Closing his eyes, he appreciated the darkness behind his eyelids. The sun had started to peek through the trees and it was getting unbearable. Everything was already too much and now he had to do this.

“I know,” he whispered. “I just know I’m going to lose him.”

“Maybe there’s a way that you won’t.”

“I mean, I can hope but-”

Ice shook his head and lay another kiss on his hair, “No buts, we’ll figure this out, we’ve got time yet.”

“Yeah, at least we’ve got that.”

~~~~

“I just can’t believe it’s all sent off, it doesn’t feel real,” Bradley said from the kitchen table. 

Mav chuckled and did his best to hide the growing fear in his eyes. Despite all his efforts over the years to try and divert his passion away from actual flying, Bradley still hadn’t caught on that they didn’t want him to fly. He’d only just applied to some normal universities instead of putting all his hopes on getting accepted into the Naval Academy.

And why shouldn’t he? He had recommendations from some of the most commended Naval Aviators still in the Navy. Hollywood, Wolfman, Chipper, Sundown. He’d asked him and Ice too, but they’d made some excuse of them maybe being too close and the navy perhaps seeing this as favouritism rather than an actual recommendation. That was bullshit, of course, Iceman was a Vice Admiral and the Navy’s posterboy for just about everything. Anything he put his name to got done, everything he touched turned to gold.

“I know, chick, how about you go and call your uncle Slider? I’m sure he’d want to know all about it.”

“Okay!” Bradley said and ran upstairs to use the landline.

He had to get him out of his hair for a moment. He hadn’t been able to stop him from applying, so now he had to do something he wished he hadn’t needed to do. He’d have to pull his papers. 

Ice entered the kitchen, came up behind him and snaked his hands up his sides. Kissing his hair, he turned him around, placed down the knife he was using to chop and changed his focus to his mouth. His hands came up to stroke his cheeks, Mav placed his hand on his and sighed as he kissed him. He loved those “Honey, I’m home kisses”.

“So, he still applied, then,” he said, his voice not showing the excitement most people thought they’d be feeling. 

He had some business in Texas. Now he had the authority of an Admiral, the Navy was throthing at the mouth to give him all sorts of important things to do and places to go. Luckily, he’d used this interest in himself to make them let him stay with them for a while. Mav was testing the new F-18 jet, one that Bradley would hopefully never fly- no matter how much he needled him for top secret info over dinner. 

“What are we going to do then? Hope he gets rejected?” Ice sat down at the table and pulled a chair out for Mav.

Mav took it, staring at his hands as he came to the conclusion he’d wished he never had to come to. Ice gave a weak smile as he lay his hand on his. He always seemed to secure and put together, coincidentally like a block of ice, but he knew that he wasn’t always. Yet, right now, he preferred to pretend he was just as strong as he was making himself seem.

“We can make sure he gets rejected.”

“What? Pull his papers?” 

Mav couldn’t get the words out to speak. If he did now he’d burst into tears. He wanted the earth to swallow him whole, he deserved nothing more.

Ice let out a whistle, “That-that’s going to take a lot of explaining, to the Navy and to Bradley, I mean, that conversation is going to be tricky to get right, to make him understand what his mum wanted.”

“That conversation won’t happen.”

Sitting back in his chair, Ice was confused again. His hand drifted from Mav’s to cover his mouth.

“You’re not going to tell him at all?” He said, his voice was barely audible, a soft whisper. “You’re just going to make him believe he’s not good enough? Mav you can’t do that.”

“What? No, I wouldn’t do that to him.”

“Good,” Ice deflated. “Because for a second there I thought you weren’t going to tell him about Carole at all.”

Now it was Mav’s turn to be confused. How couldn’t Ice get it? He was a smart man, why couldn’t he just get it?

“I’m not.”

Ice almost jumped backwards. His confusion turned into a strange mix of disbelief and rage. He’d never seen him like this. In every argument and spat he kept his cool and made sure not to say anything he’d regret, it pissed Mav off a lot whenever they came to a head. He was a bit of a hot head, he knew that, and when angry, lost control of what came out of his mouth. 

“But, how? How can’t you tell him? She's his mother, he deserves to know,” Ice said, raising his voice. “ What, do you think his own mother didn't know what was best for her son?"

Ice screeched his chair across the floor as he splayed his hands out in front of him. Mav did the same. His rage was starting to rise now, breath coming out through his flared nostrils as his hands began to shake. He had to be careful now, had to make sure he didn’t say something he didn’t really mean.

"I'm not saying that and can you stop putting words in my mouth!”

“Then what are you saying? Because from here it sounds a lot like you’re going to lie to the kid!” Ice spat. “Because you're the one saying you're not going to tell Bradley what his mum wanted for him, which he should know, it's his future that we’re meddling with.”

“Meddling? Is that what you think this is? Meddling like we’re playing a game? Is his life a game to you?” Mav had to try hard not to raise his voice too much to alarm Bradley.

“No, is it to you?”

“No.”

“Well it sure seems like it is.”

Mav clenched his hands into fists. He tried to take deep breaths but his vision began to get clouded by anger. Ice seemed to be too. He almost never snapped like this.

“It’s his life, Mav, I understood if you’d let him know it was Carole, be honest, but not telling him that really makes it seem like you’re playing with him.” Ice heaved, getting mad in a way he’d never seem him. “It’s his future you’re messing with.”

"I know that, you think I don't know that? That's exactly why I'm doing this, because Carole's his mum and I don't want to ruin that for him."

Mav thought back to when he found out his dad died. It was so far off and faded he was confused if it was real at all. He remembered thinking his dad was a hero, knowing it deep in his gut in a way he couldn’t shake. Then he’d been told what he did, and his image of his hero of a father was shattered by the apparent knowledge that he was a coward, a traitor, a deserter who didn’t deserve remembering. He couldn’t let Bradley go through that too.

"What will you say then? What will you tell him?" Ice said.

"That's he's not ready,” Mav replied like it was obvious. “It's not a lie, we both know he's not, we both want to protect him.”

“I know we do, but this isn’t the only way and that is not the only reason why, so why are we going to lie to him?” Ice smacked his hand against the other, as if being physical would make his point come across more.

"Stop making me out to be the bad guy here!"

"But it is a lie!” Ice shouted, fully shouted, loud enough that they both knew Bradley would hear, when he spoke next, Ice had lowered his volume. “Tell me, honestly, if Carole hadn't made you promise not to let Bradley fly, would you still be doing this?"

Mav looked away. He knew the answer and hated the almost smug look on Ice’s face when they both realised it.

"Exactly.” Ice said, this time with a glimmer of something else in his voice. “You're going to lie to him and sow seeds in his head that he's not good enough when he is.”

So that’s what this was about. Ice had opened up to him about his family life. From the outside, it seemed perfect, parents, sister, even a dog. They’d grown up in the suburbs outside of San Diego living on the wages of a two star Admiral. To anyone outside it was everything a child could want.

What you didn’t see from the outside was the expectations of his parents. He couldn’t just have a high GPA, it had to be perfect. He couldn’t just take one AP class, he had to take them all, couldn’t just be in the debate club, he had to be president. Even when it came to his naval career, his dad made sure he knew that he had to fly the best, fly the most accurate, be so technically perfect that no one was even close to comparing with him. It was only in meeting Maverick that he started to break free of that restrictive life, while still keeping with it in his form, of course.

That must be why he was so insistent that he doesn’t meddle. He doesn't want Bradley to have that life, not like he had it. What he couldn’t see was that this was nothing like that. He wasn’t doing this for his own enjoyment, if he hadn’t promised, he wouldn’t be doing this at all.

"But we both agree that he's not ready, so why is me telling him that sowing seeds of doubt?" Mav said.

He thought of all the years he was kept in the dark about his dad. He wished people had told him the truth instead of just treating him like shit without actually telling him what they meant. He’d had to learn his father was a traitor by himself, and had to wait even longer to find out the truth. If he could just make Bradley see that everyone was trying to protect him, then he wouldn’t be left strounging for answers like he was.

“Because you’re still not telling him the truth! You’re only doing this to make yourself feel better, to make you think you’re doing the right thing for him and not yourself!”

“How am I doing this to feel better?” Mav pushed into Ice’s space, all his focus was going into not escalating this further than it had to go.

“Because you’re controlling everything, telling Bradley a half truth so you don’t feel bad for not doing what Carole wanted.”

Mav snapped at that. He was sick of this. Fuck his focus, he hadn’t been this mad in a while, not for good reason anyway. And here was Ice acting all high and mighty, as though he hadn’t helped him do this, as this he hadn’t had just a big a role in this as he had. And he said he was doing all this to make himself feel better.

“I’m doing all of this for Carole!” He forced himself not to scream that, because maybe if he yelled then Tom would get it. “I’m not telling him it was her so he can still have her. I thought you got that but I guess you’re too dumb for that.”

Ice smacked his forehead and laughed. It was cruel. His smile was like a shark. They were back at Top Gun, back in those locker rooms with that petty rivalry and strong emotions. At least this time it was over something worthwhile. 

“I should’ve known you’d regress to insults, I expected more from you, thought you might be mature but no.”

He could kill him right now. He was seeing red and might just go too far. If it hadn’t been for Bradley upstairs, he did everything for Bradley these days, he might actually commit murder.

“Just stop acting so high and fucking mighty and maybe I won’t have to.” He seethed through gritted teeth.

“I I I, you’re making this all about you and you know what,” Tom lent forward, they were glaring directly at each other now. “I’m fucking sick of it, sick of you making this seem like this is what Carole would want, that she’d want you to mess with her son’s life instead of just doing what she said, that she’d want you to ruin her legacy all in the name of making yourself feel better.

“Well fine, but I’m not going to be a part of it, not anymore.” Ice spat. 

He walked into the hallway to grab his coat off the hook. He hadn’t even taken his shoes off yet. With a strong movement, he yanked the door open and stormed out into the yard. Pete followed without question. He wasn’t just going to leave this there.

“You’re already a part of it, you’ve been helping me this whole time,” Now they were outside, Pete felt he could shout like he’d been wanted to this entire time. “Ever since you became an Admiral you’ve been acting like you’re the king of the fucking world, well maybe the Navy thinks that, but you know what Tom?”

He seemed taken aback by him using his real name. They only ever used their proper names when something was serious. 

“What?”

“You’re not.” 

He could slap him right now, his hands were itching to, it was the same rush he got to push it further. This had already escalated, what harm would going a little further do?

“And stop pretending like you know what Carole would’ve wanted, you two weren’t that close, you’re just using her to hide your own guilt and then pushing that I’m doing the same to make sure you have someone else to blame.” Mav stepped back and swung his arms out. “Well fine, go and do that, but know that you didn’t know her at all, there’s a reason she made me promise to do this, because she trusted me, she trusted me to do the right thing, and she obviously never told you because she knew you’d mess it all up.

“You’ve always been like this, always been high and mighty with some other thing to blame, your dad, the Navy, it’s never you. You act like you’re this gift from God when you’re really this pathetic suck up who pushes people away instead of taking a single goddamn risk in his life.”

Pete didn’t even know where this was coming from. He didn’t believe it. He knew he didn’t and Tom knew. Sure, if it was fourteen years ago, back when they first met, sure, but not now, not after all they’d been through together. But Pete just wanted to see if he could finally make him snap. He wanted that high and mighty attitude ripped off his face.

“So yeah, maybe I’m not going to tell him, and maybe it’s kind of shitty, but you know what? At least I’m trying something, at least I’ve tried everything I can think of to make what Carole wanted come true. Because that’s what I do, I reach out to people, even if the rules say I can’t or shouldn’t, I do that because I know there’s something more than the rules.

“You’ve never cared for anyone that much. I thought you did but I guess not, because otherwise, you’d be here with me, you’d do this with me, but I guess you’re still that ice-cold robot I thought had changed for me,” he lowered his tone. “But I guess you change for no one.”

Tom held his hand on the door of his car. There were tears in his eyes and Pete instantly went cold. He’d done it again, opened his big stupid mouth and taken things too far. He wanted to take it all back but knew he couldn’t.

“Alright, Pete.” He said, and Pete could tell he was trying his hardest to keep his tone level. “If that’s what you truly think then I should go.”

His chin wobbled. Tears were running down his face. He reached out for him but stopped himself.

“You know I didn’t,” he whispered.

“Then maybe you shouldn’t have said it.”

Tom turned around and got into his car. He didn’t slam the door. There were no rude gestures and no physical violence. Just a lump in Pete’s throat that he couldn’t budge and a great wash of guilt he wanted to be clean of.

Bradley must have come outside as Pete watched Tom go. He had Carole’s grandma’s quilt wrapped around him again, he always did when he needed comfort. 

“What was that about?” He said.

“Nothing you need to worry about,” he whispered through the tears. 

“Are you sure? It sounded pretty big.”

He racked his brain for an excuse, a lie to make sure Bradley didn’t find out now, “It’s been building for a while, Ice is an Admiral now, he has responsibilities and can’t just be my wingman, I guess I didn’t take it as well as I thought.”

Bradley stared at his hands as he wrapped them in the quilt. He stretched it around Mav. 

“Is there anything you want me to do?”

“No, chick, it’s not your responsibility.”

Bradley stared at him. He could see Goose in that stare, all the times he knew he was covering for his insecurities and wouldn’t let it slide. However, there was also Carole, and how she saw through and dealt with his bullshit no matter how many times he screwed things up with another Admiral, or Penny Benjamin.

“How about we get pizza instead of you cooking?” Bradley suggested.

Mav sniffed and wiped the tears from his face, “I think that’s a good idea, you go and decide what we’re having.”

‘I guess Ice is just another Admiral I pissed off,’ he thought as he followed Bradley inside.

~~~~

The silence in Ice’s office was deafening. Maverick knew the words but couldn’t get himself to say them.

Ice had Bradley’s application in his hands. He had his future in his hands and they both knew this could only go one way. 

“So, are you going to-” Mav started.

“Yes.”

They weren’t looking at each other. Maverick wished it was different. God, how he regretted saying those things. He’d give anything to be being chewed out for a stupid stunt than to be treated with Ice’s silence. It was worse in every conceivable way.

“I wouldn’t know who else to turn to,” he said. “No one else knows.”

He waited, then added, “No one else understands.”

Ice shuffled the papers into a neat pile and placed them on his desk. He picked up one of the pens laid in straight rows in front of him and noted something down on a piece of paper. This paper got added to the pile with a paperclip and put back into the folder it came out of.

“Once I send this,” Ice said. “He’ll be rejected.”

Finally, he looked at him. His blue eyes were soft like the summer sky, the wrinkles forming around them lax.

“There’s no turning back once that’s done,” he lent forward, it almost seemed like he was going to reach out and take his hand. “Are you going to be alright after this?”

Mav stopped for a second. His eyes widened and his body froze. He wasn’t expecting that.

“Of course, why wouldn’t I be?” Even he didn’t believe that.

“I know how much Bradley means to you, and doing this, it will push him away,” he said the next line impossibly soft, like they were whispering in bed together and not sitting in a stuffy office. “I want you to be okay.”

Maverick gulped. He couldn’t reply, couldn’t because then he’d burst into tears. They hadn’t talked much after their fight, and by much he meant at all. The only time they’d talked in the last month was Ice calling him to say he’d been given access to Bradley’s papers.

“You know I will,” he sniffed and huffed out a fake laugh. “I always land on my feet, right?”

Ice sat back. A shade of disappointment crossed his face.

“Right.”

Maverick saw this as his cue to leave. The atmosphere around him was getting even thicker, you could cut it with a knife.

He had to get back to Bradley anyway. He was staying with his aunt over the winter break and Mav needed to be back in time for the new term to start. Taking care of Bradley had been the only thing that had stopped him after this sort-of-breakup. 

Ice stopped Mav by holding onto his jacket. His face was earnest and heartfelt.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I-we both said things we didn’t mean, right?”

Mav nodded. He hoped he’d ask if they could start again, but to no avail. Ice nodded and his shoulders seemed to loosen where he sat. His hand let go of his sleeve as Maverick headed for the door.

“His graduation is on June 6th,” he said. “Thought you might want to be there.”

Iceman nodded, “I’ll make sure to.”

There was nothing left to say. So Mav turned around and walked out with little hope in his heart for the months to come. The clock was ticking, he was running out of time and he could already hear each second passing by.

~~~~   It was a bright early summer day. They’d had the ceremony, had the pictures and were now milling around on the sports field. Bradley was deep in conversation with Ice, who’d flown in especially from San Diego just for this. They’d gotten back on terms again. No dates or kisses but close enough that Mav could see them getting back together in their future.

Their plan had worked, he sounded so maniacal saying that, and Bradley’s letter had come back saying ‘Rejected’. He didn’t understand, of course, he’d had all the recommendations, had the perfect grades, was captain of the baseball team and hadn’t gotten into fights, apart from a few around Carole’s death but the principle was lenient on discipline for those. All Mav could say so far was that it was lucky he’d applied to other schools. He couldn’t tell him, not yet.

He overheard his and Ice’s conversation now.

“So, which school did you go with in the end?” 

“Oh, Virginia,” Bradley said. “Political Science.”

“Interesting, well you’ll do excellent at anything you set your mind to, you know that, right?”

Bradley looked down at where he held his cap in his hands. He couldn’t tell if it was the memory of his and Mav’s fight that was making him awkward, or the sadness he still carried from being rejected from the Navy.

“Yeah,”

“And don’t get yourself too worked up about your application to the Naval Academy, okay? They rejected your Uncle Mav and look at how he turned out,” Ice glanced at Mav as he drifted by.

“I can still join OCS after college, though, right?” Bradley said. “I could’ve joined straight out of high school if I wanted but my guidance counsellor thought a break at college might help me rethink.”

“I think they’re probably right.”

Mav wandered off to the refreshments to get another drink. He’d have to tell him soon. He’d have to before he left for college because he wouldn’t have him going around thinkin he wasn’t worthy. This meant that this was probably his last day with Bradley, at least for a while. There was a chance he’d understand, that he wouldn’t cut him out of his life, but he knew deep down that was close to impossible. 

Far off, he looked at Ice and Bradley again, standing much closer than before. Bradley was lent down close to Ice as he spoke in his ear. He couldn’t see Ice’s face from here, and was too far away to hear but by their stances he knew it was serious. 

His stomach dropped. Ice wouldn’t tell Bradley for him, would he? What if he told him about Carole? He wouldn’t ruin everything he’d planned, right? Right?

Then Bradley stepped back. His brows furrowed as his eyes widened. Ice turned his gaze to the ground as Bradley’s head snapped to Mav. By the look in his eyes, he knew. Knew about Mav pulling his papers and knew he hadn’t told him yet. He looked ready to pounce as the confusion on his face swirled to anger.

Luckily, or unluckily, he was pulled away by one of his friend’s mums. Mav heard the clock in his mind stop. The alarms were going off as he hurried to his bike to head home. He wasn’t running, he told himself, he just needed a few moments to think of what to say. 

He waited for over an hour for him to come back. He turned his tie in his hands and wished he and Carole had swapped places. She wouldn’t have messed everything up like he had. Bradley would still have someone alive to take care of him, he’d still have someone to trust.

The slam of the door told him who it was. He didn’t have to get up to know. He knew by the footsteps, by the creaks of the floorboards and the shuddering breaths in the air. 

He forced himself to look up at Bradley and knew he’d run out of time.

~~~~

A car pulled up as dusk was falling. He only looked up out of some blind hope that it could be Bradley, that maybe he changed his mind and was coming back to him. No. That wasn’t his car. He should’ve known, some of the things he’d said, dear god, they hurt.

He knew Bradley didn’t blame him for his dad’s death but hearing him say those words cut deep. It cut even worse when he’d said Carole would’ve been ashamed. If only he knew, he couldn’t, but part of him wondered if it would’ve been easier to just tell him everything. But then all his work would’ve been for nothing.

Instead of Bradley, it was Ice. He walked simply over to him and joined him on the porch stairs. They didn’t speak for a while. They watched dusk fall below the trees, and the fireflies dance around the sky. Lights turned on in other people’s houses. Fireworks sparked in the distance as cars pulled into driveways.

“Are you going to say I told you so?” Mav said.

“No.” 

He couldn’t hold back the tears anymore. A great sob left him as he shuddered down and collapsed over his bent legs. Ice went to grab him but Mav pushed him off. There was no rage in his heart, not like the last time he was here, but a gaping disappointment instead.

“Did you have to tell him?” He pleaded.

“It was already his graduation and he didn’t know,” Ice’s voice drifted off. “I wasn’t sure whether you were going to tell him.”

Mav scoffed, then sobbed again as he looked up at the stars, Bradley was probably doing the same. He wished he knew where he was to comfort him.

“I told you in our fight that I would,” he sniffed.

“I know, I know, I guess I just didn’t know whether to trust you.”

They went back to silence as Mav sobbed. He wanted to crawl into Ice’s arms again, pretend that none of this had happened and that Bradley was just celebrating graduation at a friend's house. But the other knew he and Ice weren’t there anymore. Bradley was god knows where and Ice had just admitted that he didn’t trust Maverick anymore. There was no one left now.

“I know this isn’t the best time but I wanted to make something clear, before I go back to San Diego,”

“And what’s that?”

“I think we should break up.”

Mav laughed, honest to god laughter, “Haven’t we already?”

Ice looked down as he made his way down the stairs. That may have been cruel of him. Ice just stood there like a kicked puppy, maybe he was hoping for a different answer.

“Okay, then, just wanted to make it clear,”

Mav wanted to say something snarky, something like “Or to rub salt in the wound”, but last time he’d let himself blab hadn’t turned out okay. He decided to restrain himself. He didn’t need something else to feel guilty about.

As Ice slowly made his way back to his car, it must be a rental, Mav stood up. There were still tears dripping down his face. A mushy feeling of guilt sat like a rock in his stomach. It probably wouldn’t move for a while.

“Have a safe flight,” he called.

“I will do, if you’re not flying the plane,” he called back.

Mav laughed a bit, so did Ice. But he knew one joke wouldn’t fix anything. He watched him drive away as nighttime set in. He was in for a long night.

~~~~

Five years. That was the last time he saw Iceman. Five whole years. 

They flew by, though. After the tragedy of Bradley’s graduation, he was finishing his first year of the Naval Academy now meaning that all of Mav’s efforts had been in vain and he hadn’t stopped him flying at all, Mav had gone headfirst into missions.

He’d reconciled with Penny for a while, before pissing someone else off and getting sent to Iraq. Ice hadn’t helped him with that one, he hadn’t heard from him at all, in fact. He’d heard that he was now a full one-star Admiral, in charge of Top Gun which he found ironic in some kind of way, but nothing from the man himself.

That was until a week ago. Ice had access to most records if he asked nicely enough, and he knew that he always asked nicely, and found out that Mav was stationed somewhere in California as a test pilot. From there, he must have found his landline number and given him a call.

Mav had just come into the hangar, he still didn’t believe he lived in a hangar now but there you go, when the phone rang. To say he was overjoyed was an understatement. The only person he had in his life was his Warrant Officer, Bernie “Hondo” Coleman, but no one else. Bradley had sent the ashes of every card he sent back to him. And it had been radio silence from Ice, so to hear from after all these years had put a spark back in him that he’d known was missing.

He knew it may be foolish, but he couldn’t help but wonder why now? Why did he contact him now and not, say, when Bradley graduated college? Mav had been there, even if he got the cold shoulder each time. The part of him that still loved Ice, it hadn’t died like he thought it would, was jumping for joy and screaming that it was because he still loved him. And he couldn’t help but believe it. 

That’s why he’d come all the way to San Diego on a Wednesday morning to have brunch. So he could see if they still had a chance. He didn’t want to sound too desperate but he hoped with all his heart that they still had a chance.

Then the door jingled as the man himself walked in. With someone else on his arm.

Who was that? He took them both in, waving albeit a bit confused, and tried to pinpoint her to no avail. She had dark blond hair in neat waves around her head, her brown eyes sparkled with a smile. Ice was linked with her, arm in arm. Mav noticed how close they were, hip to hip, shoulder to shoulder. They were close like they used to be, like they were when they were in love.

“Ice, it’s been a while,” he said, holding out his arms for a hug.

“It has, it has,” Ice said. “A bit too long if you ask me, all that fighting, well, I don’t think it was worth five years of silence, especially not with you going through such a hard time.”

Mav smiled. That was his Ice. The Ice that cared, the one that worked so hard to play by the rules because he knew that they were there to keep people from being hurt. This was his wingman, back again.

“Oh, I almost forgot-”

Ice pulled away from the hug and put his arm around the stranger, at least to Mav, next to him. There was something in the way he looked at her that rang alarm bells in his head. His hand held her waist so delicately, with so much care that it had to mean something. She held him back with just as much sincerity.

“Mav, this is Sarah, my fiancée,” Ice said.

Fiancée? No, no, no. Not fiancée. That would mean that Ice had moved on, and there was no chance for them. Why had he come here again? Why did he put his heart on the line for someone who had already broken it?

Alright, Mav, the voice in his head thought, it sounded just like Goose, it always did, you’re forty-five, not fifteen, hear the guy out. 

“Fiancée, huh?”

“Yeah, he only proposed a month ago, it still doesn’t feel real,” Sarah said, with a completely normal amount of happiness in her voice that Mav still felt was completely unnecessary, like she was trying to hurt him more.

“Well, congratulations,” he managed to say.

“Thanks,” Ice said, “That’s what I reached out to you for.”

Mav felt his world shatter more than it already had. He had to nod and pretend that there definitely wasn’t a tornado destroying his insides at this very moment.

“Well, it’s great news, am I getting an invite or is this just to gloat?” He made a joke, somehow but his heart was breaking with every word.

“That’s kind of why I asked you to be here in person, not just on the phone or on an invite.” Ice smiled at Sarah, he could see the love in his eyes. “I came here to ask you to be one of my groomsmen.”

Groomsmen? He couldn’t just nod along in the crowds of people that there would no doubt be at this ceremony, Ice was a popular guy, but he had to stand up there with him and pretend that he was perfectly okay with it? What did he say? How could he say yes? How could he say no? Was there even a correct answer for this-

“Of course!” He heard himself say. “Anything for my wingman.”

Mav plastered on a smile as a server came their way and led them to a table. Ice and Sarah made all the subtle actions a loving couple made, ones he’d seen Goose and Carole do, ones he knew they’d done when they were together, all while his heart was breaking. Not for the first time, he wished it was Goose or Carole in his place, wished he could swap places and be in heaven for the day, although he knew he wasn’t going to heaven. 

He gulped, he didn’t think he was going to get through this.

If you follow me, then you'll know this started as a post, then I basically live-blogged me writing this in a day. You heard that right, a day! I'm very impressed with myself!

There are some lines that I love: "A wolf in sheep’s clothing" "Prayed to a god he didn’t believe in" "It sounded like Goose, it always did"

Also the line "in the end she’d thought he was Goose" when Mav’s thinking about Carole's last days, is a reference to my fic 'Halfway to Heaven'. Give it a read if you like angst like this.

Thank you everyone who encouraged me writing this and thank you for reading!

Also thought I might tag the people who left comments on the original post and the liveblogging one because the response did give me a kick in the arse to write it (I'm also off work so that helped too lol): @vote-4-crow , @gracie81 , @saengak , @sliderkerner , @calkale , @vex-glitch , @aquwalawa , @misunderstood-with-ideas, @caveiratimida

[whiskeyswriting]

You’re Still The One

| Song: You’re Still The One by Shania Twain |

Jade smiles as she looks up at Ron while they dance. “Happy anniversary my love.” He smiles down and pecks her. “35 years and you still haven’t fed me to the cows.” Jade laughs. No matter how many days or years pass, Ron will always be as handsome as the day she first met him. They have endured heartache of losing a child at birth, seen part of their property go up in flames, and had a health scare. Despite all the adversities they have overcome, Slider and Whiskey always relied on each other. They loved becoming surrogate parents to their friends’ kids, and eventually to be seen as grandparents. As the song for Jade and Ron came to an end, Caroline Bradshaw, Hadley Garcia, and Olivia Seresin all rushed to dance next with Slider. As soon as he started dancing with them, the Seresin twin, Nathaniel and Marcus, along with Mitchell Bradshaw come to ask Jade to dance. Slider and Whiskey’s eyes catch over the children and they mouth ‘I love you’ to each other and continue celebrating their love with their family,

- -

Cowboy AU 🏷️ List: @askmarinaandothers @bayisdying @breadsquash @callmemana @dragon-kazansky @callsignscupcake @callsignthirsty @cycbaby @luckyladycreator2 @gracespicybradshaw @mischief-siriusly-managed @starlit-epiphany @heyriojude

[broketraveler87]

Instead of writing chapter 07 of The Parent Trap

I made notes about the Top Gun High School AU

Length of story: Nine Chapters

A Chapter for Each month of the school year

Junior Year of High School (2003-2004)

Characters

Pete Maverick Mitchell

Broken a few bones from last Deployment

Unable to fly due to injuries

Asked by Viper and Jester to take over JROTC while recuperating

Admiral Benjamin agrees

The Kazansky’s

Tom Iceman Kazansky

Admiral in charge of North Island

Biological father of Jake Seresin

Had no clue till the kid was dropped on his doorstep

Babcia and Dziadek

Iceman’s Parents

Throw themselves into being grandparents

Even if the only grandchild in fifteen

Sarah

National Geographic Photographer

Only Lives with Ice because she’s never home long enough to get her own place

Rolls her eyes at the insinuation from her mother she is becoming an old maid.

The Bradshaws

Nick Goose Bradshaw

Air Boss and Head of Top Gun

Two Star Admiral

Carole Bradshaw

Beat Ovarian Cancer

SAHM

Loves it

PTA President

NAVY Spouse President

Bradley Bradshaw

A full course load of AP and International Baccalaureate classes

Co-Captain of the Varsity Baseball

Pitcher

Already being scouted by MLB

Co-Captain of the JROTC

Best Friend: Natasha

Jake Seresin

Texas Born and Raised

Raised by a Single Mom

Who put herself through college and Law School

Married a Partner at her Firm when Jake was in Middle School

Thought her boys got along until her new husband starts beating the shit out of Jake when he comes out as Gay

Mom sends him to California to live with his Sperm Donor while she divorces his ass

Lacrosse Player

Extended Family

Grandparents

Viper and Jester

Retired Navy

Teaches JROTC

They move in together after the death of Viper’s Wife

Jester has a heart attack which will take months of recovery

Flyboy Uncles

Ron Slider Kerner

Rear Admiral

Goose’s Second in Command

Eats baby Pilots for Breakfast

Rick Hollywood Nevans and Leonard Wolfman Wolfe

Admirals

Commanders of Pearl Harbor

Marcus “Sundown” Williams

Retired Naval Aviator

Texas Ranger

Helping Elizabeth Serisen get her soon to be ex husband sent to prison

The Dagger Squad

Natasha Phoenix Trace

Set her hair on fire at a house party Freshman year

JV Co Captain

Dating Bobby Floyd since freshman year

Bobby Floyd

A full course load of AP and International Baccalaureate classes

Debate Team

Swim Team

Callie Halo Shu

Angelic face, devilish mind

Her and Maverick have never met by design

JV Soccer Team Co Captain

Ruben Payback Fitch

Makes bets he can’t win

Dating Mickey Garcia

Wrestling

Mickey Fanboy Garcia

President of The Anime/ Comic Book Club

Cheerleader

Billy Avalon

Swim Team

Brigham “Harvard” Lennox

Harvard or Bust baby

A full course load of AP and International Baccalaureate classes

Linebacker Football

Logan “Yale” Lee

Yale bound

A full course load of AP and International Baccalaureate classes

QB Football

Crushing hard on Brigham

Neil Omaha Vikander

Transfer from Nebraska

Wrestling Team

Javy Machado

Childhood friend of Jake Seresin

Moved to San Diego in Middle School

Track and Field

[roadtogracelandx45]

Chasing Angels Masterlist

crossed posted on AO3-

Maggie Jo Bradshaw- Rooster's little sister- info

Thomas James Kazansky - Iceman's oldest son- info

Abigal Carole Kazansky- Iceman's oldest daughter/ Rooster's on again- off again girlfriend- info

Allison Marie Kazansky- Iceman's youngest daughter- info

Jefferson Roosevelt Kazansk- Iceman's middle son info

Charles Peter Kazansky- Iceman's youngest son- info

playlist

mood boards

pinterest

At First Sight- summary Maverick Mitchell didn't think anyone would make him want to stop flying until the day that Maggie Jo was placed into his arms. And he realizes that the two Bradshaw kids are the two that could make him stop.- one shot

Snap Shots- series of one shots based throughout the years of Maggie's life that won't fit into the series directly.

Father-Daughter Dance- Summary: Maverick always have a gift for swooping in when the Bradshaw kids need him. And after getting a almost heartbreaking phone call from Maggie, he takes leave and shows up just in time for the father- daughter dance and - one shot

Little sister- Summary Bradley always wanted a little brother, he didn't think he could handle sisters. He had seen too many girl cousins to know they were trouble. Maggie was a surprise and he makes a promise to Goose that he would always take care of her - two shot

The Golden Child and the Mistake- Summary: Carole Bradshaw is going to her death bed thanks to two forms of aggressive cancer and her family comes in and tries to change everything that her kids are use too. Thank goodness for Maverick and Iceman, they step in when they really need it - long story

One , Two, Three , Four,

Chasing Angels- Summary: Maggie is following her older brother Bradley into the Naval Academy where she realizes that she had a lot to live up too. Not only by her last name but her relationship with Admiral Kazansky. And there is Jake Seresin, the man that she seems destined to be with her rest of her life - long story

Dance- Summary: In their 3rd year at the academy, Jake needs a date for his brother's wedding and invites his best friend Maggie along. After one too many tequila sunrises they finally admit the feelings that been bubbling up under the surfaces - story within a story

21 disasters- One shot based on Maggie's 21st birthday

Kept Secrets- Summary: Jake and Maggie try and keep their relationship quiet while Rooster finds trouble in the form of Abigail Kazansky and a pregnancy- two shot

Big Sister and her boyfriend- Before their academy graduation, the midshipmen are able to spend time with their families and Jake is talked into town with Maggie and her youngest brother Charlie

Like Fathers Like Daughter- Summary: Maggie and several others were called to Top Gun and she proves just how much she is like all of her fathers.- long story

Wingman- Summary: I originally wrote this having them not stationed in California but I changed my mind.

Maggie is assigned to a new squadron not far from where her boyfriend is stationed and she is hooked up with one of their friends from the academy and all hell breaks loose.

- one shot

Amongst the Clouds- Summary: Maggie is surprised that she is recalled back to Top Gun along with her now fiancé and several others that they knew, including her older brother who she had a falling out with the year before. And her godfather, someone she never thought she would see again. And it's all for a suicide mission- long story- set during Top Gun Maverick

Gone Ballistic- one shot set during Amongst the Clouds and before Iceman dies- Its suppose to be the happiest day of their lives and it all it takes is on visit from grandparents that they have seen in years to bring everything up side down.

one shots that will be take place after this story

Taken-summary The Maverick Squadron has another mission, its said not to be as dangerous as the others, until Maggie and Coyote get shot down between enemy lines and they have to stage a rescue mission - long story

Blue Eyes- Maggie and Hangman get the surprise of a lifetime after Maggie is told it would be very unlikely that she would be able to get pregnant

One shot

Three Times They Almost Kissed and the One Time They Did. short story- summary coming soon

Other Fandoms masterlist

[allxthingsxglxtter]

Look who just woke up- is that JAY HERNANDEZ? No, I must have been mistaken, that’s PETE "MAVERICK" MITCHELL from TOP GUN. I heard he is 40 and stuck here just like everyone else. Even in the 20’s, they still give off a FLYING FASTER THAN HE SHOULD, DEDICATED TO PERFECTING HIS SKILL, LONE WOLF  impression. They’re known to be quite CHARMING, but have a tendency to be RECKLESS on their bad days.

Gender/Pronouns

He/Him

How long have they been in Sydney?

He only remembers being in Sydney about two weeks

Job

Captain in the Australian Military (whatever position lets him fly)

Which suburb do they live in?

TBD

Memories of their real life :

Pete doesn’t have many memories of family if he’s being honest.  His died died when he was just two in Vietnam, leaving his mother to raise the rather feisty boy on her own.  She did her best, telling him stories about his dad and what a great pilot he’d been, despite their assumption he’d crashed while at war.  And it was in those early years Pete decided he was going to fly just like his Dad, be an even better pilot and make him proud.  He remembers his mother’s laugh, how her smile made him feel.  And he remembers her funeral, when he was  thirteen.  Left in the care of his last remaining set of grandparents, his mothers parents.  Pete also remembers the lesson he learned that day:  The only constant in life is that everyone dies.  Everyone leaves.  One way or another.

Admittedly Pete was a nightmare growing up, difficult and defiant, but brilliant.  He focused on what he needed to do and kept himself out of trouble enough to get into the Navy the moment he turned eighteen.   His goal is to be a Top Gun pilot, but he knows he’s gotta be selected, earn his way there.  While in training he meets and starts flying with his RSO, Nick Bradshaw.  They hit it off right away, and worked well together.  Nick worked with Pete’s reckless flying, and when they were assigned their first squadron they got their callsigns; Maverick and Goose.   

It wasn’t long after that they got their shot, sent off to Top Gun to train.  It was intense, but Mav loved it, meeting other great pilots as well as his direct competition, Tom Kazansky, AKA Iceman.  Did they have incredible sexual tension and Pete think Ice was hot?  Absolutely.  But everyone had thoughts like that, and nothing was ever said.  Mav just enjoyed the mini family he was apart of, Goose and his wife Carole as well as their son Bradley was Mav’s whole world.  He flirted and dated girls, ofc, but the Bradshaws were always the most important part of his life.  They were his something permanent, Mav excited to spend at least the next few years flying with Goose and being a crazy uncle to Bradley.

He’d forgotten the lesson. Everyone leaves.  One way or another.

During a training flight, he and Goose’s plane had a flameout, and Goose died while ejecting from the plane.  He was cleared of responsibility officially, but that didn’t mean Pete didn’t blame himself.  He would for the rest of his life, but he did his best to be there for Carole and Bradley.  He loved them both so much, even if he worried he wasn’t doing enough.  Wasn’t enough, because he hadn’t had a father of his own.   He and Tom became close friends, even as Ice moved forward in his military career and Pete stayed a Captain.  He wanted to keep flying, and he knew if he was promoted to far he’d be out of the air.   Did he unintentionally make Ice’s job difficult?  Absolutely, because he was reckless and defied authority constantly.  But, he always delivered results, and was right whenever he argued.  

Life was going alright, Bradley working to be a pilot like his dad and Mav, and while the thought of losing him just as he’d lost Goose was terrifying, he knew he couldn’t stop him from following that path.  That changed when he found out Carole was dying,  and when he went to see her for what turned out to be the last time, she made him promise to pull Bradley’s application to the Navel Academy.  He hated that request, even if he didn’t think Bradley was ready yet.  But, he did it, kept his promise and pulled the papers, which then led to a confrontation with Bradley after Carole had passed.  He could’ve told him, confessed the promise he’d had to make and keep.  But Pete couldn’t do that to Carole, not wanting her son to resent her for anything.   So he took the blame, took Bradley’s anger, and then, like with everyone else...Bradley left too.  They didn’t talk for years, and Mav knew he was unlikely to ever be forgiven for what he’d done.  

Life kept going, the one person Mav had left to be close to was Ice, though mostly just through messages and emails.  Ice had his own family, and Pete knew he was enough trouble for the other as he was.  When he was ordered back to Top Gun to instruct, he never imagined he would be instructing Bradley, now known as Rooster.  The squad was a good one, each one of them impressive and talented, but Mav worried for each one, the mission incredibly dangerous and it became clear his supervisors expected some if not most of them to die.  He was scared for Rooster and the rest of these kids, but worried his personal connection would hinder their success.   And then Tom wanted to talk.   Finding out Ice was going to die shattered him, and when he was gone soon after...Pete nearly quit.  However, he knew Ice had trusted him with this one last mission, and he couldn’t let him or Rooster down in the end.

He’d never been more relieved when he was named team leader, glad that he would be taking on this risk as well.  And taking Rooster on as his wingman was because he knew he was ready.  He also didn’t expect to come home from this one, determined that if anyone was going down it would be him this time.  The mission went smooth at the beginning, but when Rooster ran out of flares in the escape with missiles on his tail, Pete didn’t even have to think about it.  Putting his plane in-between Rooster’s and the missile, Maverick was shot down and knew he’d end up dead.    That is until Rooster came back for him, getting himself shot down in the process, and Maverick realized he’d never been more scared.  

Finding Bradley alive was such a relief, but he knew they could still die at any moment.  It was pure adrenaline that got them to that hangar, and the fact that that F-14 even flew was definitely pure luck.  They made it in the air, and somehow, with Hangman coming in clutch...they lived.  Not a one of them died, and Mav had hope things could be alright.  That he and Rooster could heal their relationship and be there for each other.  That was the hope that filled his heart when he lay down to sleep that night.

And then he woke up in a bed he didn’t recognize, in an entirely different time and place with no idea how he got here.  Or how in the hell Iceman was alive, in bed with him. 

What was their fake life like?

Pete’s fake life wasn’t much different than his real one.  Losing his parents from a young age, raised by his grandparents, went into the military and loved flying.  Where it diverged is when it came to meeting Iceman.  Somehow that tension actually became something between them, the friendship turning into a romance, and Pete had just turned 22 when he and Tom got married.  Mav was happy, the two of them understanding each other, and before too long had passed they started adopting kids. He loved all 6 of them, even if he worried about messing up, but Ice was always there.  Steady, and smarter than he was, and that panic quieted.  They’ve been married 18 years, and Mav’s never been happier.

[boasamishipper]

jewish iceman kazansky headcanons

but you don’t look like a jew! is the statement that follows iceman kazansky for most of his life. the goyim who say it always look some mixture of surprised, uneasy, and mildly curious, like he’s some kind of unknown specimen at the zoo. he’s never treated the same after they find out. the nicer ones walk on eggshells around him and glance at him when they think he can’t see; probably searching for some semblance of jewish features in him (or checking him for horns). the other ones don’t talk to him or fully trust him again. he can’t really say he gives a damn.

(but you don’t look like a jew!, coming from other jews, is a benediction, a blessing, not surprise. his grandmother used to get tears in his eyes when she said it. when they come for us, she said, god be willing, they might ignore you.)

ice’s paternal grandparents boris and rachel immigrated to the united states during the start of the soviet era, from a russian town razed by pogroms (and no longer exists on a map). boris got sick at ellis island and never fully recovered; rachel worked long hours sewing dresses at a garment factory to support her husband and her three children. they attended synagogue every week and she saved for weeks to bake challah on shabbat, just like her mother did before her.

ice remembers listening to his father’s stories about growing up in the tenements. how he used to get so angry whenever he’d hear charles coughlin preaching on the radio, or the right wing mocking fdr’s ‘jew deal,’ but rachel kazansky would always stay calm. why are we here, then? he would demand of his mother after she told him to calm down. why are we here if they don’t want us here? if they don’t trust us? rachel kazansky set down her spoon and stared him down. here is just talk, lyubimyy moy, she would say quietly. america is better than where we left by far.

ice’s sister is born nine years after the holocaust, and ice is born five years after that. ashkenazi jews name their babies after those who have passed, and with so many people dead (relatives, friends, siblings, from gas chambers and death marches and mass graves), there are too many names to choose from. ice’s mother, who ice’s grandmother still calls that shiksa in private, mostly affectionately, chooses their names instead: taylor michelle kazansky for her great-grandmothers, and thomas james kazansky for her great-grandfathers, respectively. rachel kazansky calls it a blessing in disguise, especially when ice and taylor grow up and take after their mother. look at them, she used to say. relieved, sad, and proud. no one will be able to tell.

the one and only time ice gets in trouble in school is when he snaps at mark wilson for making fun of sam friedman. what’d you expect? mark had sneered. jewboy needs to learn his place. (as mark wilson later learned, it was hard to sneer around a broken nose. and a black eye.) ice is set to be suspended until commander bill kazansky of the united states navy walks through the doors and asks (ice cold, quiet, calm) the principal to explain why his son was in trouble for standing up for someone. ice’s suspension gets pushed back to an after-school detention, and ice’s dad takes ice out for ice cream.

in hebrew school, the rabbis teach them about heroes, about good and evil, how to survive in a world that refused to have you. “the wise man is the one who foresees the consequences,” rabbi schapiro tells his class, quoting the talmud, and ice takes the quiet intelligence of the words to heart.

their family’s reform and pretty secular, all things considered: they exchange gifts on hanukkah, only attend synagogue on the high holidays, don’t actively keep kosher, don’t get bar/bat-mitzvahed, and so on and so forth. ice’s relationship with god and religion is complicated; taylor has no relationship with god and religion at all. his grandmother doesn’t mind as long as he promises to remember who he is and always ask questions. 

bill kazansky never got into the united states naval academy because of his “antecedents” - otherwise known as the double shame of being the son of immigrants and having a jewish last name. when ice gets his acceptance letter, he almost tears it up, but decides against it. he’ll show them they were wrong to ever cast aside his father by becoming the best student (and the best pilot) they’ve ever seen -- and takes a certain, perverse satisfaction from going to shabbat dinners at the campus rabbi’s house.

in 1977, the ccar (the reform movement’s rabbinical council) decides that in judaism, one is only responsible for religious obligations that one can freely choose to fulfill; thus, since homosexuality is not chosen, its expression cannot be forbidden. ice comes out to his family in 1981, when he’s 22 years old. his grandmother doesn’t bat a lash, and instead asks when he’s going to bring a nice jewish boy home instead of a nice jewish girl. ice doesn’t cry, but it’s a near thing.

don’t tell anybody you’re one of us, tom, bill kazansky tells him. not unless you trust them. promise me that, son. bill kazansky, who spent years having people call him that fucking k*ke kazansky behind his back, would know, and ice promises.

but you don’t look like a jew! says bill cortell with wide eyes, after ice tells him that he doesn’t really celebrate christmas. ron kerner smacks bill on the back of the head and tells him to shut the fuck up. he and ice become fast friends after that.

ice speaks fluent english, conversational russian and spanish, and only knows insults in yiddish -- all of which he’s tempted to say whenever maverick mitchell (an oysshteler if ice has ever seen one) does something stupid, either in the air or on the ground.

after goose dies, after the funeral, after placing a few smooth stones at the base of goose’s tombstone, ice goes to synagogue for the first time in years and says the mourner’s kaddish for goose. jews don’t believe in heaven or hell, but he hopes goose is in a better place now anyway.

david ben gurion once said that a jew who doesn’t believe in miracles is not a realist, but ice isn’t quite ready to accept that maverick mitchell flying to his rescue after five migs come out of nowhere counts as a miracle. (what does count as a miracle, in his opinion, is that his feelings for maverick get enthusiastically reciprocated after painful months of shoving them down -- and ice has never been happier to be proven wrong.)

ice doesn’t tell maverick he’s jewish until after they get together -- and even then, he’s nervous because this is the best thing that’s ever happened to him and he doesn’t want maverick to look at him with disgust and ask him where his horns are. maverick thinks it’s cool and pesters him with questions. (so why are the matzah balls separate from the whole matzah anyway? he asks, genuinely curious. god mav you’re so fucking stupid, ice says, and kisses maverick until they both run out of air.)

(when ice introduces mav to rachel kazansky, who’s in her early nineties but no less sharp and proper, she sizes him up with the cool assessing gaze that ice inherited and says, are you jewish, maverick? when maverick admits he isn’t, she gives a long dramatic sigh and shakes her head. oh well, she says dryly, almost perfect.)

[roadtogracelandx45]

All in Heartbeat| Top Gun/ Top Gun Maverick | 1 of 3

@luckyladycreator2 @prettyinpayne

Masterlist

All In A Heartbeat 

Summary: All it took was 2 seconds for a distracted truck driver to blow through the red light and slam into Charlotte’s vintage convertible and flip it over several times. Leaving both Charlotte and Bianca in critical condition. 

IceMav

Past Mav/Charlie

Rated M for language and graphic descriptions of car accidents and surgical stuff 

          Also I don’t know much about surgeries or how things are done in the OR. I am taking what  I learned from watching ER and Chicago Med. 

~*~

All it could take a millisecond for everything to change in someone’s lives and that millisecond happened on the first day of summer vacation for Bianca Kazansky, Charlotte Blackwood the woman that carried her for Iceman and Maverick had picked her up to go to the bookstore  and hang out for awhile. 

It was a tradition that they always did. And it gave the girl a break from spending most of her free time with her grandparents and great grandfather, who told a lot of horror stories about Russia, Germany, and the world wars.  That was something that Bianca needed to hear until she was a lot older, like she was in her 20s.  

Charlotte was shaken out of her thoughts when Bianca’s voice asked, “Charlie? Were things always this strange between Dad and Mav?” Charlotte glanced at the girl who was seated across from at the small diner they visited frequently. “You mean the on and off, hot and cold?” Bianca nodded her head brushing some of her hair behind her ear as she did so. 

“Yes, it has always been like that. Maverick was very unstable and out of control when we first met him. He felt like he didn’t need to prove himself, he was already the best of the best.”  

Bianca’s mouth twitched like it was going to form a smile but fell quickly. 

“Did he take off again?”

 “Yeah, left yesterday before I got up for school. Didn’t bother to say goodbye.” Bianca refused to let Charlie see how truly upset she was by his leaving. “He was like that with me when Goose died.” 

The girl perked up a little bit, she had heard the stories of Goose and Maverick and their shenanigans and was curious.  Goose was the one subject that was rarely spoke about in the Mitchell-Kazansky household. And Bradley, Goose’s son didn’t remember much of him either and shut down when he was mentioned. So Bianca kept her curiosity to herself, which was one thing she was never good at.   

“Maverick is never good at staying in one place. This is the longest he has been settled in. That’s because of you and because of Bradley.”  

Bianca nodded her head and took a sip of her drink. 'Are you leaving back to the academy too?’ For the last several years, Charlie had been teaching at the Naval Academy and came back to California during the summer breaks.

 “At the end of next week. They want me back sooner, they have a bunch of new cadets coming in. Did you decide on what you want to do when you grow up?”  

Bianca was turning 14  on the 17th of that month and was going into high school in the fall. And Charlie wanted to try and be there for her as much as she could. 

“Yeah, I want to go to the academy, and I think I want to be a lawyer.” “No Aviation for you?” The older woman questioned. “It's a harder program to get into and I don’t want to live up to my dad’s name ya know? Or Duke’s.”  Duke was Maverick’s father that disappeared on a mission and it was a long standing scandal making the Mitchell name not the best.  “Never say never kiddo, I think you are too much like both of your dads to stay grounded.” “That’s true.” Bianca agreed, “I do have a fall back plan just in case I can’t get into the academy.”

 Charlie raised her eyebrow in question. “Berkley and law school. I am not going to get my hopes up with the academy.”  The blonde smirked, she knew that Bianca was too much like her and too much like her fathers to give up a dream.  Especially one like the Naval Academy and the pilot program. “Come on kiddo, lets go to the book store and get you some summer reading so your great grandfather and grandpa do scare you to death with their war stories.” “But sometimes Charlie, I like the scary ones.” Bianca grinned as she pulled out several bills from her wallet and dropped on the table. 

~*~

Because of the light rain that they had, Charlie left the top on her convertible, making it more confined which she didn’t like but she had Bianca with her and she wouldn’t risk her getting sick over anything in the world. She may not have legal claim to her, that fell to Iceman and Maverick, but she did have that motherly instinct towards her. “There is this book I want to read about World War 2.” Bianca commented as she pulled out of the parking lot, “It's about the parachute infantry.”

 Seeing the look on Charlie’s face, she laughed, “I saw something on HBO about it and it got me curious.” Curiosity killed the cat and in most cases it could be the best of her. That's how she learned about Duke, at least the stuff she could do without having clearance for anything. 

“Well, let’s see what we,” the rest was cut off by squealing of brakes and Bianca screaming as the truck came closer and closer to them. Not sure what else she could since it was already on them, Charlie took her hand in hers and squeezed it. Once the truck hit the passenger side the car flung around in a circle so the front was pointing towards the direction where they had come from. Bianca’s screams of terror were the last thing that Charlie remembered hearing as another car slammed on its breaks trying to aviod the accident and smashed into the front of the car. The driver of the truck got out of the cab quickly and dialed 911 to come to the scene. 

“Charlie!” Bianca shouted as she tried to remove her seat belt from her lap, ‘Charlie! Wake up! Please!”  

“Hey sweetheart it's going to be okay.” The truck driver said, peering into the window at her, “The paramedics are on their way. And they will get you and your mom out of here.”  Bianca didn’t even register the comment, she was too busy trying to pry the seatbelt off, her fingers bleeding from the shattered glass that laid on her lap, her vision had started become blurred with blood for the open wound she had on top of her head along with the bits and pieces in her neck.  “Ice.” She muttered as she stopped pulling as hard on the seatbelt. “I am sorry?” It wasn’t the truck driver, it was an EMT. “I want my dad. He is a commander with the Navy.” She said, ‘your dad’s name is ice?” A fireman asked, distracting her from the noises of the jaws of life. “It’s his call sign. He is a pilot.” She started to fade a little bit from the pain and from the blood loss. 

“Hey, what’s your name?” The fire fighter asked again, pulling her attention back to him. 

“Bianca. Bianca Kazansky.”  The man’s eyes went wide, his brother served in the Navy and was a pilot with them and told him about Commander and how ice cold he was. Never showing any emotions except for when it came to his daughter. “Hey Bianca, sweetie, keep your eyes open.’ He said, her eyelids were fluttering, getting heavier and heavier with each one. “Bianca!” He called snapping his fingers by her ears, she glanced at him once more and then fully closed her eyes.