The Captain's Daughter (Bradley Bradshaw)

Chapter 13

They all went to Commander Kazanksy's house for the dinner. It was a little more lighthearted than the funeral, everyone was mingling and smiling. Iceman's former backseater, he goes by Slider, showed up. Him and Maverick stayed close the whole time. Katie, Rooster, and the rest of their group stayed close by each other as well.

Maverick's POV:

I stood there watching Katie. There's so many things I wanna talk to her about, but I can't bring myself to tell her.

"That Charlie's daughter?" Slider asked.

"Yeah it is. She was born after we graduated Top Gun." I told him.

"She a good pilot?" Solder asked me.

"She's one of the best I've seen." I told him.

"She looks a lot like Charlie. But...she also looks a lot like you, Mav. Charlie didn't have dark brown hair and green eyes." Slider pointed out. He knew what I knew too without me even having to say it.

"Charlie found out she was pregnant a few months after we graduated." I turned to look at him.

"So...what you're saying is..." He trailed on.

"Yes, Slider. She's my daughter. Charlie left for Washington before I could even process the fact she was pregnant." I looked at him.

"Are you going to tell her?" He asked.

"I want to. But I've been so hard on her while training, because I can't have her going on this mission. She's my daughter. I can't have Rooster going either, because they're together. She'll hate me if he dies. He'll hate me more if he doesn't go, but really hate me if she goes and she dies. I wouldn't live with myself either way." I told him.

"You gotta talk to her, Mav. Did Charlie ever get married after she was born?" He put a hand on my shoulder.

"Katie said she never had a father. So I'm assuming no. Charlie told her that her father was dead." I shrugged.

"So she has never had a father figure in her life? Why did she say you were dead?" He asked confused.

"I guess she didn't want her to go looking for her father. Looking for me." I shook my head.

"Why would I need to look for you?" Katie asked as Maverick and Slider turned around.

"I'll leave you two alone." Slider patted his shoulder and walked over ti Iceman's wife.

I didn't know how to start the conversation.

"I've been meaning to ask you, Captain...why do you push me like you push Rooster? I wanted to ask you a few days ago, but Bob, Phoenix, and Coyote almost died, and then Commander Kazansky died. I wanna know why." She sat next to me.

"I need you to be good. Better than you already are. I've seen you fly. If you fly on this mission, you need to come back. For Rooster and for me." He explained.

"Why for you? What do you have anything to do with me?" She asked, getting annoyed.

"Your mother told you your father was dead right?" I started. She nodded.

"Why do you think I've kept tabs on you all these years?" I asked her again.

"He said he was friends with my mother. He looked after me for her, since she was far away and then she died. It was all for her." She said as i shook my head.

"Partially. Your mother only taught us." I told her.

"Now what is that supposed to mean?" She asked getting angry.

"He did it for me! For me. He did it so I could keep tabs on your career." I exclaimed.

"Why did you wanna keep tabs? That makes no sen-" I cut her off.

"Because that's what a father does when his daughter is following his footsteps and he didn't even know!" I finally said. The look on her face dropped.

"What?" She asked with a puzzled look on her face.

"I'm your father, Blaze. You mom and I were romantically involved when I was at Top Gun. She and I had a night together. She told me after we graduated that she was pregnant." I started to explain.

"That's impossible. She said my father died during a training exercise." Her eyes started to water.

"That was Goose. She used Goose's death to make sure you didn't come looking for me one day. Your mother had blonde hair and blue eyes. You didn't get the dark brown hair and green eyes combo from her. And as far as I know there was no one else after me." I continued.

"There wasn't ." She said quietly.

"That's why I've been so hard on you. You're too much like me, you just don't have the ego. And I need you to come back from this." I explained to her.

"You haven't been in my life for 35 years why do you want me to come back?" She shed a tear angrily.

"Rooster. I helped raised him when he was little. After his father died, his death was deemed an accident and I was cleared of any wrongdoing. I helped Goose's wife raise him. I haven't seen him since he left for the Naval Academy. He loves you too much. He'll never forgive me. He might never forgive me, but I want you to make it home so that he has you." I shed a tear thinking of him.

"Why didn't you stick around?" She had angry eyes.

"I didn't know about you. Believe me. If your mother had stayed or asked me to come to Washington with her, I would have. By the time I was ready to tell her I will be there, she was already gone. That's why when I told Ice about it, and he kept tabs on you. He became friends with Charlie to see how you were. I didn't come to see you, because I knew she would be furious." I felt so bad not being there for her.

"I don't know what to say." She was crying.

"Katie. I don't expect you to just forgive me for not being there for all those years. I hope you know I am sorry for not coming to see you. Or finding you after and telling you who I was. I want to be there as best as I can now." I looked at her sadly.

"Yeah. Well it isn't going to start today. You could have been there. You could have— you could have come found me." She turned around to leave.

"Katie! Katie wait!" I yelled as she walked through the groups of people.

Rooster looked at her and tried asking her what was wrong but she pushed him away. She had Payback take her home. Everyone who knew her looked at her abruptly leaving without a word. I wanted to have a relationship with her. I regretted not making it work with Charlie and having her raise Katie on her own. I was determined to make it work. But now I feel like she will resent me. She didn't before but now I feel like she will. For not being there. But for her, I wanted to make it work. Even if it killed me.