Stars - Iceman (Top Gun)

Sixteen

Pete walked into the shower room about 30 minutes later. He saw Tom and Sarah crying and holding each other close. They broke apart at the sound of footsteps coming towards them. Both of them looked up at Pete with bloodshot eyes, tears still flowing down their faces. (Tom was crying because Sarah was, not so much because of Nick, as we see in the movie.)

Sarah's voice was still mostly gone, but she managed to croak out an "I'm so sorry Pete... Goose was- is still a great man..." She stood up and hugged him, trying to comfort him. The sympathy she felt in her heart for Goose was tremendous, as she saw him as a brother. She broke down again and pulled away from Pete.

She grabbed Tom's hand and walked out the door. Before she got too far, she heard Pete's voice. Tom kept going, he knew it wasn't for him.

"Sarah... come with me and Charlie... we are going to the main building to pick up Goose's things..." he said in a shaky voice, slowly breaking down.

"Of course..." she answered back, going to the locker room to change into her tan uniform. She was violently shaking at this point, dreading the idea of having to see Carole. Even though she wasn't the one flying the plane, he was still her responsibility, and she felt as if a fraction of her soul was gone, like Nick. With her tan uniform on, she walked outside and met Charlie and Pete.

Charlie drove them to the main building, and she stopped in front of the entrance. Sarah was still not in the right state, but she knew she had to do this... for Nick.

"I think maybe it's my fault..." Pete sighed. "No.... I don't know what the hell went wrong..."

Even though Pete had his aviators on, she could feel the tears forming on his face as he said that. It broke her heart to see him like this.

"I'd like to help..." Charlie spoke up. "I know it's difficult."

Sarah started silently crying again in the backseat. She couldn't take this. I have to be strong.

Pete opened the door and paused. "God, I want him back..."

He stepped out of the car and Sarah opened her door and got out too, joining him. She wiped the tears from his face, trying to comfort him before they walked inside.

"I'll be here if you need me, okay?" Charlie promised him. He nodded and made his way towards the door of the building.

"I'm sorry..." Charlie said to Sarah before driving off. Pete called for Sarah and she went to him, standing in front of the door.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Sarah asked him slowly.

"I have to. It's my duty..." Pete replied, and they both went into the building. He grabbed a small box to put Nick's belongings in.

They walked to the place where everything Nick had earned during TOPGUN sat neatly on a table. Sarah could feel herself breaking down again, but she held back her tears. Pete put an arm around her to comfort her, trying to stop his tears as well.

Sarah saw Nick's dog tags, aviators, papers, patch, and other important possessions. Pete picked up the papers, a remorseful look on his face.

"He was my responsibility..." Pete said in a shaky voice, his hands trembling as he tried to pick up another memory of Nick. He managed to take the picture of them out of its place and put it in the box. Sarah watched this happen, not moving, because she was there for support.

Pete took Nick's dog tags and slowly rubbed his thumb over them, trying to gather his memories of the two of them together. He tried to hold himself together. Sarah looked at him and hugged him. He wrapped his arms around her and sighed.

"Promise me you'll never leave me..." His speech was muffled.

"I promise," She replied, slowly rubbing his back.

They broke apart and Pete resumed looking through the memories of Nick. He finished adding more to the box - pictures, papers, his aviators - and went to the door to the main waiting room. Carole and Bradley sat there. Carole had her head down and Bradley was playing with toys, oblivious to the fact that he would never see his father again...

Pete put his back against the door, composing himself, trying to find the right words to say to Carole. He took a few deep breaths, turned around, and walked in. Sarah stayed behind, but as Carole looked up, she noticed her and told her to come in. She stood beside Pete, not knowing what to say.

"God, he loved flying with you Maverick..." Carole started, her tear-filled eyes looking at Pete. He stood there, not saying a word. Carole stood up and hugged him. She started to cry as they let go. "He would have flown anyway without you... he'd have hated it, but he would have done it."

Pete couldn't form words and instead looked at the box, showing it to Carole. She turned to Sarah, the tears falling from her face. "And Sarah... he thought of you as a sister... he loved you as a friend..." she covered her face and walked out, breaking down.

Sarah stood there with Pete, both of them crying at this point. They couldn't stop, the memory of Nick burned in their minds - Pete holding him as he floated lifelessly in the sea, and Sarah watching as the water was stained green - and nothing could bring him back.

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Sarah sat in the back of the room as Pete stood in front of the Board of Inquiry to account for Nick's death. She covered her eyes, not wanting to see this happen. Finally, the council gave their verdict.

"We find that the F-14 flat spin was induced by the disruption of airflow into the starboard engine. This disruption stalled the engine, which produced enough yaw rate to induce a spin which was... unrecoverable. There was no way Lieutenant Mitchell could either see or avoid the jet wash which produced the engine stall. Therefore, the Board of Inquiry finds Lieutenant Pete Mitchell was not at fault for the action of 29th July, Lieutenant Mitchell's record will be cleared of this incident, Lieutenant Mitchell is restored to flight status without further delay. These proceedings are closed," They finished, and Pete walked out of the room.

Sarah followed him and they headed to the locker room together. "Get him up in the air, soon," She heard Viper tell Jester. To her, that was a bad idea. It had only been a few days, and he was not ready to fly again. They both sat on the bench, not saying a word, wishing for Nick to come back.

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This chapter was emotionally hard to write... I cried and I want Goose back too...