"What Am I To You?"

Retired

Ice walked down by the flight line. He leaned on his crutch as he went over to the F/18s. He ran his hand on the side of the jet.

He thought back to when he could fly. He was one hell of a pilot. He was good... but, it was in the past now.

"Reminiscing?" A voice said. Ice turned and saw Slider. Ice nodded and just looked back at the jet.

"Yeah... I Miss flying so much." He says as he continued to walk slowly down the flight line. Slider walked next to him, quietly.

"We've been at this for awhile huh..." slider said. Ice simply nodded and stopped walking. He turned and hugged Slider. Slider  hugged him tightly and teared up slightly.

"It's there any way you can survive this?" He said as tears filled his eyes.

Ice shook his head. "I'm sorry... no. My cancer..." he sighed and looked at the planes. He was hiding something.

"What is it?"

"My cancer has spread... I haven't told Maverick yet. I'm at stage 4. They said they can't gauge how much longer I'll be around. I'm sorry..." ice said as he teared up and held his head.

"I don't have the heart to tell Maverick... every time I look at him, he has this hope that I'll be okay. I don't want to take that from him."  Ice started to cry as Slider hugged him.

Ice hated this and where his life was going. "Maybe you need to be just positive as Maverick... that will probably help you in the long run."

Ice pulled from the hug and nodded slightly. "It's hard to be positive when you feel your body giving up on itself." He said sadly as he saw Maverick walking over with the Dagger Squad.

Slider saw him and looked at Ice. "Tell him your Stage 4. Tell them... they need to know. I'll call you." He waved and walked off as Maverick came over.

Maverick walked over to him. "You okay?" He just looked at him and broke into tears. Maverick was just confused, and hugged him gently.

"Hey hey... what's wrong?" Maverick asked worryingly.

"Im at Stage 4." He said quietly, it was just loud enough just for Maverick to hear. Maverick sighed and kissed his head.

"I figured..." he pulled from the hug and looked at him. "I still have that hope."

The group had no idea, but Maverick felt it was best not to tell them right now. Maverick turned and looked at them. "Alright! Dagger squad! Let's take a group photo with our strong retired leader!"

They all happily got into positions and Maverick prompted a camera up and turned on the timer.

3

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Maverick kissed Ices cheek as the camera took the picture which got a smile out of Ice.

The group all smiled happily and laughed afterwards. They all made fun of each other and their poses. 

Ice watched the group. Maverick looked at Ice and fixed his uniform. "When are you expected to... pass?" Maverick said as he looked at him.

Ice looked at him and then at Phoenix. "3-5 months. I probably make it to the max, but around the time Phoenix gives birth I should be gone." Ice said.

Maverick nodded and rubbed his cheek. "Well... we just have to live the rest of your life the way we should've."

Ice nodded and smiled at that. "Yeah. I kinda have a goal." He said. Maverick raised a brow.

"I'm gonna go for 6 months... just to spite the doctors." He said with a chuckle.

Maverick laughed.

"There's the Ice I know and love." He said with pure love in his voice.

"He's been just relaxing a bit. He's back though." Ice said with a chuckle.

"Maybe... I think he's just been here the entire time, I'm just seeing a new side of him." Maverick said.

"Dagger Squad! Let's go to the hospital room! Put a movie on of Ices choice, and spend time together!" Maverick said as he lead the charge.

Ice stood back and watched them. He smiled softly as he started to walk behind them, when suddenly Phoenix lagged behind and walked with him.

"You alright dad?" She said.

"Yeah... just tired. The cancer isn't helping, but just tired." He said as he glanced her.

"Enjoying being pregnant?" He asked her. She laughed and sighed. "Actually... I am. It feels great sometimes and sometimes it sucks." She said with a tired chuckle.

"I actually wanted to update you on something on my little babies." She said as she walked next to him. Ice stopped and looked at her. She turned and looked at him with a happy expression.

"Don't you mean... baby?" Ice said. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the ultrasound. It shows two babies.

"I'm having twins." She said as tears welled up in her eyes. Ice held the ultrasound and smiled.

"A boy and a girl." She said as she wiped her eyes. Ice hugged her and kissed her head.

"Congratulations... I'm so happy for you." He said. She hugged him back and then pulled back.

"Thank you. I can't wait for you to meet them." She said.

Ices expression changed slightly but then he smiled and took her hand into his free one, leaving his crutch in the other.

"I'll be there. Even if I have to fight for it. I wanna meet my two other grandkids." He said with a smile.

She smiled and nodded. "I look forward to it. I bet you and Maverick are gonna cry." She teased.

"Hey hey... I wouldn't say I would cry. I would just shed tears of joy and excitement. Oh I can't wait to see what a mixture of Bob and Phoenix would look like. I imagine an adorable mix."

She chuckled and nodded. "Oh I agree. These kids got the genetic jackpot!" She said proudly.

"Of course they do... the genes of hero's run through them." Ice looked at her.

"They're gonna be amazing."