automatic stop, bradley bradshaw

epilogue.

AFTER YEARS, QUITE LITERALLY, OF THE WORLD'S GREATEST CASE OF MUTUAL PINING, bradley bradshaw and skye mitchell had finally managed to admit their feelings for each other.

their relationship had quickly become a focal point of conversation among their fellow top gun graduates, and the two would roll their eyes as their friends would hand each other stacks of cash that they'd bet on the fate of their love life. skye was always more annoyed by this than bradley was, and this was always made evident by his failed attempts to hide his smirk.

things were, in skye's eyes, absolutely perfect. she finally was with the undoubted love of her life. she adored waking up beside him, tracing the scars along his face and neck. adored feeling the annoying tickle of his mustache as he'd kiss her cheek or neck. the mundane things with rooster were all she thought she'd need for the rest of her life; and that was something she'd bet any amount of money on.

bradley also didn't have a single complaint. he loved to finally be able to say that she was his, to know that she had picked him to give her love to out of all of the other men she could've chosen. there was also an immense weight taken off of bradley's shoulders now that he and maverick had finally reconciled their differences. the two had come to develop a father-son relationship, and everything was perfect.

with the mission completed, the new couple were only given a week or so of their pure bliss before the reality set in that they would have to go back to work. thankfully for them, they were both stationed in virginia at the same base.

it wasn't any easier, though, to say goodbye to the rest of their friends. every single other member of their new "squadron" were headed to lemoore, california for their respective squadrons. as a final celebration, the group had all gathered for one last time at the hard deck.

at the end of their night at the bar, as the group began to all say goodbye, skye and katia both were nearly tackled by fanboy, who seemed near tears at losing them again. payback and coyote, less prone to physical affection, both gave the two women tight hugs, pretending that there wasn't any glassy shine over their eyes. bob was also hard to say goodbye to, as he had been a new friend of theirs. he made them promise to visit, to which they both agreed.

when skye turned to look to hangman, he was already looking at her. he gave her a tight-lipped smile, wordlessly moving closer to her. skye wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him down into a hug. "thank you." she said, feeling him squeeze her tighter.

"always." he replied, pulling away from the hug to smile at her. "you and bradshaw better hold true to your promise to bob and come visit little old us in california, okay?"

she chuckled. "of course we will."

"bradshaw." hangman then said curtly to rooster, extending a hand for him to shake. rooster, however, pulled the other man into a hug that seemed to surprise them both.

"thank you again." rooster said. "for, uh.. saving my life, and all that. and for being there for skye when i wasn't."

hangman smiled. "i'm really happy for you both. take care of yourself, man." they shook hands.

phoenix, who rarely allowed herself to become noticeably emotional, pulled both skye and katia into a group hug. "you two are the best friends i've ever had." she admitted. "and, goddamnit, i'm going to miss you both so much."

"phe." skye frowned, and the three of them held each other tighter. "lemoore is lucky to have you."

after some somber goodbyes, the group heard a distant thrill of piano keys. a smile spread onto skye's face as she scanned the room for the man who was sure to be behind the piano. rooster was sitting at the piano bench, aviators perched on his nose, smiling right back at her.