Danger Zone - Top Gun: Maverick

16. The Danger Zone

It was daytime now. Nova didn't get to wake up to a vibrant orange sunrise like she did the morning before, instead she was met with the cold, humid air off the freezing coast of Iran. How lovely. She wasn't required to be at the last briefing, so she made the choice to avoid it and help out on the tarmac to try and clear her head.

Everyone quickly got dressed in their flight mission uniforms and headed towards the tarmac to be briefed on the mission one last time. Cyclone went into depth explaining every aspect of the mission, and just how difficult it could be if something goes wrong. The more Rooster and the other pilots listen, the more dangerous it is starting to sound to them.

Bradley scans around the room for Nova, wondering where she is. She was for some reason thinking that the less she saw him and her dad that day, the easier everything would be.

Maverick zoned out during this time. He already knows every detail and doesn't want to hear it. He prefers to overthink the same thing he's been thinking about for the past six hours, but he is not close to being tired. Everyone is wide awake despite the lack of sleep.

Cyclone finally stopped talking and everyone on board let out a breath they didn't know they were holding. They were then released to get into their flight gear, and as they were walking out Maverick stops Rooster.

"Rooster." He lightly hits his shoulder with the back of his hand to grab his attention. Bradley turns around abruptly, not really expecting Maverick to want to talk right now.

"Yes sir?"

"Have you seen my daughter anywhere?" He asks, making Rooster wonder even more where she could be if Mav doesn't know.

"No sir, I was actually wondering where she is." He answers.

"Nova?" Phoenix turns her head at their conversation.

"Yeah." They both say at the same time.

"She's helping safety check the jets. She said something about needing to make sure nothings wrong or distracting herself." Phoenix informs them as they all grab their helmets and flight gear off the shelves.

"She needed to make sure nothings wrong? We've got a whole pit crew for that." Mav thinks out loud.

"She's probably just paranoid." Bradley assumes.

"Or she's gone clinically insane." Mav murmurs.

Nova reaches the last jet lined up on the tarmac, her father's. She read the name Cp. Pete "Maverick" Mitchell printed on the side of the F-18 and her stomach did a flip. She had already double checked everyone's jets and now she only had one left.

"Nov, I just checked this one. And the other four." Sam complains about her persistence.

"I'm just taking extra precaution." She shrugs, climbing up the ladder and examining the airframe and wings.

"Maybe try taking extra anxiety medication instead." Sam retorts, watching the girl check every corner of the aircraft like he did before her.

She ignores him and looks inside the cockpit, clicking the radio and gps systems on and off to make sure everything is connected. Jeremiah then walks out of the indoor portion of the carrier, standing next to Sam and tilting his head at the sight of Nova going crazy.

"Does she know that's not her job?" He rhetorically asks as Nova checks the back of the plane along with the engine.

"Well fueling didn't take long enough and she needed something else to do. She says you can never be too sure." Sam laughs.

"Alright. You were right, Sam, everything's functioning properly." Nova walks over to him while fiddling with the hem of her shirt in nervousness.

"And are you functioning properly?" Sam teases.