Baby Mav

Maverick's Solution To Everything

Maddlyn sighed as she put on her sunglasses and got out of her father's car. She looked around and instantly glared at him.

"What?" He chuckled. "This is a great idea."

"This is a horrible idea," she mumbled as she followed him down the beach.

They set things up as they waited for the others to arrive. When they did, they instantly started asking Maddlyn questions.

"What are we doing here?" Phoenix asked under her breath.

"Maverick's idea," Maddy sighed. "He thinks it fixes everything."

"Thinks what fixes everything?" Payback asked skeptically.

"He calls it, Dogfight Football," she groaned.

"What?" Those around her asked.

"Combines offense and defense to build trust among trainees," Maddlyn said, mimicking her dad.

"Hey!" Maverick chuckled. "It really works."

"Not as much as he believes," Maddlyn mumbled.

"I heard that," he called over his shoulder.

"Remember when you tried to make me and the guys play it?" Maddlyn shot back. She hid her smirk when her dad cleared his throat and finished putting up the net.

"What happened?" Phoenix chuckled.

"They tried to tackle me," she explained.

"What'd you do?" Payback asked.

"Simple," Maddlyn shrugged, "I broke three noses, dislocated two shoulders, and fractured six ribs."

"Nice," Phoenix laughed as the girls high-fived.

* * * * *

After an afternoon of playing, the group was exhausted. They decided to sit around a fire and talk. The conversation was light and fun. Until. . .

"I gotta know," Hangman smirked at Maddy. "There are a lot of rumors floating around about your flight."

Rooster felt Maddy tense beside him. She glanced at her dad before looking back at Hangman.

"And?" She said, pretending not to care.

"I just want to know what really happened that day."

"Maddy, you don't have to," Maverick started to say.

"It's fine," she cut him off. "It's about time someone knew the truth. And besides, I'm damn tired of hiding it."

"Hiding it?" Rooster asked softly. Maddy gathered her courage, not entirely sure if she was going to be able to tell them the truth.

"The Navy wanted everyone to believe that the flight was this big heroic show," Maddlyn scoffed. "When in reality. . ."

"Reality?" Bob asked gently.

"It was a shitshow." Maddlyn looked at her father again before turning back to the group. "There were five of us; Johnson, Adams, Westen, Lucas, and me. They were all horrible, sexist pigs. They loved trying to shoot me down. I made sure they never could. I'd shoot them all down before they could even line up behind me."

"That's my girl," Maverick chuckled. He stopped laughing when Maddlyn continued.

"The flight was supposed to be simple," Maddy sighed, her tone changing. "All we were supposed to do was fly over a building that was where the enemy kept their supplies. We weren't supposed to make contact. It was just a flyover mission but it went terribly wrong."