𝕂𝕖𝕖𝕡 ℍ𝕚𝕞 𝕊𝕒𝕗𝕖

Chapter 23. Man Down

"Well then you're lucky."

Ava and Bradley were sitting in a room alone, waiting to hear if Bob and Nat were okay. Bradley was sitting down, looking into his lap as Ava rubbed his back. She was zoned out on the wall of pictures, her eyes settled on the class of 08. Her class.

She was smiling, she looked happy (and much younger) as she had her arm around Devons waist. Yet, she found herself content with where she was right now. Alone with the man that she'd grown to care for as she comforted him.

Ava's daze was broken by the sound of light footsteps entering the room. She turned her gaze towards the door, removing her hand from Bradley's back. He also turned his attention towards the door but quickly looked away when he saw Maverick step into the room.

"They'll keep Phoenix and Bob in the hospital overnight for observation." Maverick's voice was calm and quiet as he slowly made his way towards the pair. "They're gonna be okay."

Both Ava and Bradley felt relief at the Captains words, with Ava thanking Maverick and Bradley responding with, "That's good."

After taking in a deep breath, Bradley said something else that cause Ava to stare daggers at him. "I've never lost a wingman." There was slight malice behind his words, but not enough to be evident.

"Well then you're lucky." Ava spoke, causing Bradley to look over at her. There was sadness in her eyes and that's when he knew his comment had hurt her. He opened his mouth to say something but before he could, Maverick added himself into the conversation.

"Fly long enough, it'll happen. There will be others." Rooster scoffed at his response, causing Maverick to sigh and turn to walk away. But Rooster wasn't finished yet.

"Easy for you to say." Maverick froze, looking over his shoulder at Rooster. "No wife. No kids. Nobody to mourn you when you burn in." 

Maverick looked devastated at his words and Ava felt bad for him. She knew that he struggled with his Wingman's death almost every day. But he knew that there was no reasoning with Rooster when he was like this.

"Go home." Maverick finally responded after pushing down the tears that threatened to spill. "Just get some sleep."

"Why'd you pull my papers from the Academy?" Rooster asked, jumping out of his seat suddenly. "Why did you stand in my way?"

Ava flinched at Rooster's sudden outburst, flicking her gaze between the two as Maverick stood facing away from Rooster still.

"You weren't ready." He spoke over his shoulder, remaining calm despite Rooster's tone.

"Ready for what? Huh?" Rooster began to walk towards Maverick who had turn to face the angry pilot now. "Ready to fly like you?" He challenged, standing inches from Maverick now.

"No. Ready to forget the book. Trust your instincts. Don't think just do!" Maverick began to raise his voice slightly, staring up at Rooster who was a few inches taller than him. 

"You think up there, you're dead. Believe me!" Silence followed the Captains statement as Roosters angry voice lowered as he spoke his next words.

"My dad believed in you." Ava cringed, knowing where he was going to go with this. "I'm not gonna make the same mistake." 

And there it was.

Maverick felt a pang in his chest as heart clenched at Rooster's words. And thats when he knew, he'd lost Rooster for good. It didn't matter what he did, he screwed up, and he would never forgive him for it.

"Maverick!" Admiral Bates was standing in the door, staring at the duo. He motioned his head for the Captain to follow him, closing the door behind him.

"Are you kidding me right now, Rooster?" Ava spoke suddenly, startling Bradley slightly.

"Maverick will never forgive himself for what happened to your father. That was uncalled for." Rooster saw the hurt in her eyes and he knew that she'd felt the heat of his words as well.

Bradley sighed, shoving his hands in his pockets as he began to make his way towards Ava. "Ava, look-"

She put her hand up, stopping him from getting any closer. "Don't. Just don't." Her words were barely above a whisper as she looked away from him, avoiding eye contact at all costs.

The door in the room opened up again and Maverick stepped back in, looking even more distraught than before. His eyes were bloodshot and his cheeks were tear stained.

"Mav?" Ava began to walk towards the man in question, causing him to look at her. "What's wrong?"

"It's Ice." Worry overcame Ava's face at his words, tears forming in her eyes as he finished with, "He's... he's gone."

The tears fell but she wiped them away immediately, sniffling as she did so. "I'm sorry, Mav."

Maverick nodded his head a few times, knowing that if he said anything, he wouldn't be able to stop himself from crying. Bradley slowly made his way towards the two of them, stopping slightly behind Ava. 

"You two should go home, prepare for the funeral." That was all Maverick said to the two of them before turning and walking away. 

-

It was after the funeral, and all of the Top Gun graduates decided to head over to the Hard Deck to celebrate Tom Kazansky's life. But Ava wanted a moment to herself, to get a proper goodbye with the Admiral. 

She sat alone at his grave, not really knowing what to say. It was a fairly decent day out, partly cloudy with sun rays beaming through the clouds. Those sun rays hitting Ice's tombstone perfectly. 

"May I join you?" Ava turned to see the face of none other than Penny Benjamin and Sarah Kazansky standing behind her. Ava gave the two women a silent nod as they took a seat on either side of her.

"I miss him too. Don't worry." Sarah said, placing a comforting hand on the young pilots shoulder. Ava looked over at her, giving her a sad smile. She couldn't even begin to imagine how Sarah must be feeling right now.

Ava turned to look at Penny who was giving her a sympathetic look. Ava met Penny back when her and Maverick flew missions together and although the two of them hadn't really spoken since, she still appreciated the older women's attempt of helping.

Ava rested her head on Penny's shoulder as she wrapped her arm around the blonds waist, placing a motherly kiss on her forehead. "He'll always be watching you, Ava. Always."

-

A/N

I know we already had to experience this once in the movie but we gotta have it here too. But also, Ava's not too happy with her boy Rooster at the moment. Lets hope that the two lovebirds can figure they're shit out, especially because this stories almost over.

Let me know if you have any likes or dislikes and I'll try to add it into my next chapter. And if not, I'll update again in 2 weeks :)

~ J