TOP GUN: BACK TO MY ROOTS

DAY ONE

i woke up to the sound of dads alarm downstairs
"you up kiddo?" he yelled at me from downstairs
"yeah! when are we leaving"
i still didn't get out of bed, was i excited? yes, was i nervous as fuck? also yes
the ride there was silent, given it was only about a 20 minuet drive, dad and i usually talked, i think we were both just nervous, for multiple reasons.
when we got there neither of us got out
"nervous?" dad looked at me 
"no not at all, are you" i was being sarcastic
"oh no, no definitely not"
we both laughed
"you know he's gonna be there right?"
i looked over at him,
"yeah dad, i know"
i looked down playing with my fingers
"it's okay, everything's gonna be fine"
i looked over at him to meet his eyes, but he wasn't looking at me, his eyes were closed
"are you talking to me or yourself old man?"
"old man!?  i will have you know that i am still very young thank you very much!"
there was a slight pause before we both bust out into laughter
"okay let's go" i opened the door and jumped out the car
as we were walking in i saw uncle  ice's photo on the wall, under his Portrait was his name and the quote "god save us all", yeah, please do.

as we got to the entry way of where all the pilots were i notices cyclone speaking, i could see the back of jakes head, and brads, i took a deep breath and me and dad started walking forward
"your instructor, a top gun graduate, pete mitchell, callsign maverick"
everyone turned and looked at us both, jake gave me the most confused look.
"and his assistant instructor, and your personal medical specialist, Y/N Mitchell"
hales eyes went wide and he smiled
"no way" he whispered it but you still heard it
"hell yeah let's go" pheonix tree her fist i to the air, coyote yipped "finally we get to see fawkes in action,"
"okay okay, settle down, im just finishing explaining some things, so maverick, mitchell, take your seats" we did as cyclone said
dad leaned over to me "fawkes huh?"
"oh yeah you heard that? it's like a callsign, hangman gave it too me" i was looking at the ground not wanting to look up at anyone
"you don't want them knowing do you?" i looked at him confused "that im your dad? it's okay i get it, i want you to make a name for yourself, i don't want you to be mavericks kid ya know"
i smiled
"thanks dad"
"maverick your up"

after around an hour i was bored out of my mind listening to old boring pilot shit i already knew
i started to doodle on my page as dad talked, i got lost in thought
"would you answer that Y/N" i looked up at dad who was looking at me
"i'm sorry?" i laughed a little
"i was asking if you would answer lieutenant floyd's question" dad looked at me confused, honestly i was a little embarrassed so i tried to make the situation funny
"why? you don't know that answer?" i cocked an eyebrow at him
"do you?"
"i do!" i looked over at jake
"i believe bagman can handle this one mav" i looked back at dad and he rolled his eyes
"okay, lieutenant ser-"
"only the best pilots have been able to pull it off"
jake cut him off and gave this incredibly long and detailed answer, once he was finished talking dad spoke up
"i stoped listening about ten seconds in, although i'm sure you were correct"
we all laughed
"okay everyone, class dismissed i'll see you all tomorow bright and early"
dad seemed to be acting happy and cheery, probably because he thought he would be fired by now.
i felt guilty, i had been avoiding brads gaze for the last couple of hours, i couldn't bring myself to look at him
as i was packing up my stuff i saw a pair of boots approaching me, i assumed it was jake until i looked up to find bradley staring at me
"Y/N" he continued to stare at me, that's it? that's all he had to say? after 5 years this man decides all he needs to tell me is my name?
"is there something i can help you with, lieutenant bradshaw?" as much as i wanted to be  a bitch, i had to be nice, ad weird as it was he was technically my student
"uhm how are you" he said it as if he didn't think i was going to speak back at him
how was i? did he mean as in 'how have i been in the last five years?' or 'how have i been in the last week' i cocked an eyebrow at him,
"i'm okay"
i decided not to ask how he was doing, i didn't want to make small talk, i couldn't handle that rn
"that's good, i missed you" he missed me!? if he missed me then he should have called, texted, wrote a fucking letter! but nothing
"what have you been doing the last few years"
i just stood there, oh how i wanted to yell at him
"that's a lot to unpack, and i suggest if you want to be on good terms, you start by saying you're sorry" i started to walk off
"wait Y/N"
i ignored him
"hey you okay" jake was waiting for me at the entrance to the building
"don't ask"