Two Ghosts (A Rooster/OC/Iceman Fanfic)

Epilogue - Alternate Ending

A/N - The alternate ending may be over, but I'm still not letting go of Iceman/Mongoose.

Mongoose sat with the rest of the parents as she listened to her husband give his speech. She played with the dog tags around her neck.

She still wore Rooster's, along with one of Tom's and one of Maverick's. It reminded her that no matter where she went, her boys were always with her. She didn't need to wear them anymore considering she hadn't been in the Navy since the birth of her and Tom's daughter (who was in love with Jake "Hangman" Seresin of all people), but it also felt wrong without them.

The graduates walked across the stage and the ceremony was soon over. Everyone was drinking champagne and saying their goodbyes as Mongoose pushed through the crowd to get to her husband.

There he stood in his Navy Whites as handsome as the day he graduated himself.

"Great speech, baby." She pecked him on the lips.

"Thank you, princess." He leaned in towards her ear. "Even though you've heard it before."

"Of course I've heard it before. You've only been practicing it for the last week."

"Aunt Noel!" they heard.

Bradley came running up to them.

"My, my, Bradley. Don't you look handsome!" Mongoose said.

Bradley blushed.

Mongoose refused to refer to him by his callsign, because in her mind he wasn't her Rooster. Her Rooster had been happy go lucky, but with a deep sadness running through him due to the death of both his mother and father. Mongoose made sure this Bradley grew up surrounded with love and support.

"Have you seen Mav?" Bradley asked, "I wanted to introduce him to someone."

Maverick had nearly pulled Bradley's academy papers, but Mongoose had talked him out of it even if it meant breaking his promise to Carole. She knew the way her Rooster had flown and he was the best of the best if not a bit overly cautious sometimes.

A voice called Bradley's name and he turned, smiling. A small brunette bounced over to him.

"There you are! Nyx and I were about to start celebrating without you."

"Sorry. Aunt Noel, Uncle Tom, I want you to meet Lieutenant Cali Stolberg. Callsign: Minx," Bradley said.

Tom let out laugh that he covered a cough when Mongoose elbowed him in the stomach.

"It is such an honor to meet you, Captain Kazansky! To be the first female Top Gun graduate! And of course it's an honor to meet you too, Admiral Kazansky! Bradley's told me so much about you!" Minx said.

Bradley smiled at her, a lovesick look in his eyes.

Mongoose's heart broke just a little because she remembered when her Rooster used to look at her like that. But unlike her, Minx returned his feelings in a timely fashion.

"Goose would be so proud of you," Tom told him.

Bradley smiled. "Thanks, Uncle Tom."

"We should let you spend time with your friends," Mongoose said.

Bradley hugged them both and disappeared into the crowd with Minx by his side.

Mongoose sighed, playing with her Rooster's dog tag.

Tom noticed the sad look on his wife's face and kissed her temple.

As much as she loved Tom, there were times where all she wanted to do was go back. Go back to her Rooster and fly with her squadron.

"She loves him," Tom said.

"She does. She'll make him happy. Happier than I ever could," Mongoose agreed, "Doesn't make it hurt any less."

"C'mon. I'm sure Mav is around here somewhere. I wanna rub it in his face that we met the girlfriend first."

Mongoose rolled her eyes.

The two wingmen still tried to one-up one another to this day.

Before leaving with Tom, Mongoose snuck one final look at Bradley and Minx.

They were laughing and smiling together.

She could never go back to being the Mongoose from before.

That Mongoose was a ghost. But she would always have another ghost haunting her.

Her Rooster.

A/N - And that's the alternate ending to "Two Ghosts." This fic was originally inspired by Harry's Styles' "Two Ghosts", but with the canon ending it takes on a different meaning.