ℳ𝒾𝓇𝒶𝒸𝓁𝑒 𝒩𝓊𝓂𝒷𝑒𝓇 𝒯𝒽𝓇𝑒𝑒 | Top Gun Maverick

Chapter 16: I brought him home

The enemies were getting closer, and the beeping of the plane grew louder, yet everything seemed to be going in slow motion.

"Maverick! Mav!" Rooster's voice seemed distant. Muffled.
The enemy on their noses had thrown a missile. He could see it, heading towards them, and yet he did not move.

"Maverick, evade! Evade!" Hangman was shouting, but to him, it was like it was just a whisper.

"Maverick! On your right!" It was only when he heard the panic and pure fear in Rooster's voice that he regained control. He looked to his right to see the enemy firing another missile. That's when he realised that he wasn't going to make it out alive. Outrunning a missile with no countermeasures was hard enough. But two of them? That was nearly impossible.

Just then, as they prepared for the impact, the missile hit the one in front of them.
The loud noise making them all look towards it. Maverick could only see a black cloud of smoke before an aircraft flew right through it, clearing the view.
It had been the plane that was coming from the side. He wasn't attacking them.
"What the hell?" Maverick whispered to himself.
He watched as the plane manoeuvred back towards them, but instead of attacking them, he attacked his wingman.
The bullets hit the aircraft and then flew in front of it again. The other one started following it, and now it was a dogfight between them.

"What's going on? Why isn't he attacking us?" Rooster asked whilst following with his eyes, every step of the enemies' fight.

"Let's get back to the carrier, now!" Maverick did not waste any time. This was his only chance to make it back. He didn't care what was going on.

"I'll see you back on deck." Hangman spun the plane around and headed for the carrier.
Maverick followed right behind.
Once they could finally see it, Rooster felt more at ease but not Maverick. He was still paranoid, looking over his shoulder for any signs of attack. Today had been rough for him. He didn't even feel like himself at all. Right now, he felt like an empty shell, a cyborg with the only purpose of protecting Rooster, one of the very few people he could still have in his life.
Hangman was the first one to land the aircraft. Now it was his turn.

"Maverick is downwind. No front landing gear. No tail hook. Pull the cable and raise the barricade."He said on the radio.

"Foul deck! Foul deck! Raise the barricade!" The people on the carrier hurried around. Getting extinguishers, raising the net.

He went around the warship and got into position to land when an engine turned off unexpectedly.

"Please don't tell me we lost an engine." Rooster sighed, knowing the answer already.

"Alright, I won't tell you that."

"Ok!"

The landing was rough due to the lack of landing gear and the impact of the net stopping the plane so abruptly, but they did it. They had finally landed onto the carrier. They were safe.

"You good?" Maverick checked on Rooster, who was being awfully quiet for his liking.

"Yeah. I'm good." He groaned.

They took off their helmets and opened the canopy to finally breathe some air. That's when a wave of people came rushing towards them. Cheering and praising them.
Rooster waved his helmet as a sign of victory. Both of them smiled at the fact that they were there.
That's when Maverick's eyes saddened. They were there, but Emily wasn't.
They both jumped off the aircraft and into the crowd, cheering them on.
Hondo was the first one there, waiting for his friend. He practically launched himself onto him the moment Maverick's feet touched the floor.
Once Maverick broke the hug, Hondo placed a hand on his shoulder.
"I'm sorry about your daughter." He squeezed his shoulder lightly.
Maverick nodded to thank him.

He then looked towards Rooster. He was hugging Phoenix and the rest of his team. You could feel the mix of happiness and sadness from everyone.
But he couldn't help but smile at the sight of him being there.
"I kept the promise, Em. I brought him home." He whispered, looking up to the sky.
Whether Rooster hated him or not, he didn't care because at least he was there. He could visit him, he could hug him. Hell, he could even argue with him, and he'd still be grateful because at least he was there. He was alive.

"Captain Mitchell! Captain Mitchell!" His voice snapped him out of his thoughts. "Sir-" He started, but Maverick pulled him into a hug.

"Thank you for saving my life." He pulled away to look at him.

"It's what my dad would have done. It's what Emily would have done."

Maverick smiled, tears forming in his eyes. He pulled him into a tight hug again. But whilst they were hugging, Rooster spotted something with the corner of his eye. He looked up to examine it more, and his eyes widened.
"Mav!" He took a step back, and Maverick frowned in confusion. "There's a plane heading towards us." He pointed at it. His eyes never left the plane.

Maverick spun around.
"What the fu-" Realisation hit him. It was going towards them. "Everybody move! Move!" He shouted, waving his arms to indicate people to scatter.
People ran away from the runway in a hurry.

"Is he trying to...land?" Cyclone asked in shock, watching from the tower as the plane decreased in altitude.

"Looks like it." Warlock replied, he was as confused as him. "This has never happened before."

"Do we...stop it?"

"I don't see how we could do that, sir." Warlock side eyed him, and Cyclone gave him a 'touché' look as a response.

The plane landed abruptly onto the carrier. The tail hook caught one of the resting wires, but the left wing hit the plane that Maverick had arrived in, snapping it on the spot and making the plane turn. The people gasped at the hard impact, and some even flinched at the loud noise. They were convinced that the plane was going to go overboard, but instead, it stopped almost at the edge of the deck.
The 'crash and salvage team' used fire extinguishers to take out the fire in the right engine before the fire could spread and cause further damage to the rest of the aircrafts. The fire had been extinguished quickly, and the team backed up. Everyone was watching carefully, confused on why an enemy aircraft would be on their carrier.
Maverick had unconsciously put Rooster behind him, holding an arm out to keep him there. Rooster looked intensively at the plane. More importantly, he was trying to look at the pilot.
The cockpit opened, and the pilot was ducked down. Every person on that carrier held their breath. The only sounds they could hear were the waves crashing against the part of the hull that was above the waterline. The pilot wasn't moving, nor did he make a sound. Making everyone question whether or not he had survived the harsh landing.