The Good Ending

Chapter 20. I'm Sorry, Goose

A/N

This is our last chapter and I didn't wanna take away from the ending by putting in an authors note so I decided to put it in at the front. Thank you to everyone who has read this story so far and I hope that you've enjoyed them all. And even though this story is coming to an end, I have plenty of other stories I'm still working on if you like my writing and want to read more.

Also. I've been thinking of creating a discord server dedicated to story tellers and fan fiction writers to brain storm together. So if that's something you think you'd like, let me know and I'll post a link on my profile

Thank you all so much for everything <3

"I'm sorry, Goose. I tried." ~ P.M.M

Goose was standing in the control room, waiting to hear any other updates from the Commanche to come through. At this point, Goose had fought tooth and nail to be allowed to wear a headset of his own so he could communicate with his son eventually.

"Two Bandits have been spotted near by the F-14." Someone from the commanche spoke through the headset. Goose felt his heart rate pick up, knowing just how close his son was to danger.

Goose was leaning against one of the desks, looking at the screen in front of him as the Radar remained empty. Cyclone had given him permission to launch once the F-14 showed up on the radar, so he waited anxiously.

"Come on, Mav. Do some of that pilot shit." He mumbled under his breath as he continued to stare intently at the radar. He listened to the headset, waiting for updates yet it remained silent.

The silence was deafening to Goose, not knowing what the silence meant.

"We've lost one of the Bandits signal's. The other Bandit is right on the F-14's tail."

Goose let a slight bittersweet smile overcome his face. He knew that Maverick had been able to take down a Bandit, but another one was close behind him. He felt the same nerves that he felt when Maverick had flown the sim except this time, there was life threatening consequences.

He just wanted to hear their voices, hoping that maybe that would make him feel better. There still hadn't been any updates for what felt like an eternity even though it had only been about five minutes.

As long as Rooster's E-Sat was still showing up on the screen, Goose was okay. As long as he knew that his son was in fact alive, he could keep his cool.

Another five minutes or so had passed and still with no update and their F-14 still hadn't shown up on radar. Rooster's E-Sat was still present but Goose was starting to panic. There had been no word from anyone and he was starting to wonder if maybe that F-14 just so happened to be in the air and Rooster's E-Sat was a malfunction.

Just as Goose began to spiral and was ready to break down, the Commanche finally began to speak. "The signal for Bandit two is gone."

Everyone in the command centre began to cheer in excitement, knowing that their pilots were on their way back now. Goose dropped his head in relief, tears of joy welling in his eyes. He felt a hand being placed on his shoulder and when he turned around, he spotted Hondo giving him a reassuring smile.

"Mav, I got the radio on!" Goose whipped his head around to where the sound was coming from. It was his sons voice coming through the radio. He was alive.

"Outstanding!" Goose had never been so happy to hear his best friend's voice. The weight lifting off of his shoulders as their F-14 came into view on the radar. He looked over at Cyclone who gave him a nod of approval as he ran to where Hangman was.

"Do we have the go ahead?" He asked as Goose climbed into the back of their jet. The sounds of blaring alarms coming through the radio alerted Goose that his son was no longer safe.

"Yes! Now launch!" He said in a panic, watching as the canopy closed almost painfully slow as their jet was launched above the sea. He could hear the panicked voices of his friend and son as they avoided the missile that was launched at them.

"We're out of flares, Mav! What do we do?" Goose's heart clenched, knowing that they were in danger and there was nothing they could do save themselves.

"Go faster!" Goose was desperate at this point. He couldn't lose them, he just couldn't. Hangman knew that, and he was also scared but there was only so much he could do. "I'm trying!"

They could hear the panic in both Maverick in Rooster's voice as they tried to eject but it wasn't working. At that moment, Maverick accepted his fate as Rooster called out to him in a moment of desperation.

"I'm sorry, Goose. I tried." Maverick apologized to his RIO not knowing if he could hear him or not. He did everything he could to keep Bradley safe, yet it wasn't enough.

Goose had never been more relieved to see an old F-14 as the blaring sound of a target lock rang through their jet. He smiled as he watched the Bandit get blown into pieces. Rest in Peace to whoever was inside that, they were only doing their job.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your saviour speaking." Maverick let out a nervous chuckle at the sound of the cocky blonde's voice. The two jets were flying side by side, laughing as Maverick banged on the cockpit to get Goose's attention.

"Hey Hangman, you look good." Rooster teased and Hangman responded sarcastically.

"You two boys okay?" Goose asked as the two nodded in response. Although the four of them were wearing masks, it was easy to tell that each of them were smiling. Adrenaline was pumping through their veins as they all felt their hearts pounding in their chest.

Both of the jets made it back to the boat. Although Maverick's landing was slightly more rough after they lost an engine and their front landing gear. Once landed, a crowd surrounded Maverick and Rooster as they crawled out of the cockpit.

As Rooster was celebrating with his fellow Top Gun graduates, Maverick and Goose gave each other the tightest hug imaginable.

"We thought we lost you guys." Goose muttered as he thought about how close the two of them came to death.

"You should know by now I'm too stubborn to die." Maverick teased as the two of them pulled away from each other, Goose patting Maverick on the shoulder.

The two of them stood side by side as they watched Rooster interacting with Phoenix and Bob who were all excitedly sharing hugs and high fives. "You kept your promise." Goose spoke loudly so Maverick could hear him over the crowd. Maverick just nodded in response, a smile over taking his face as he stared at his nephew.

Rooster made eye contact with the two and began to make his way over to them. Goose met him half way, pulling his son into a hug and repeating over and over how proud he was of him.

Maverick and Rooster shared an embrace next as he thanked the younger pilot for saving his life.

"My dad would've done the same." Rooster said once they pulled away, motioning towards Goose with his head. At this point, each of the three men were in tears as they joined in a group hug, holding onto each other for dear life.

But of course, that's not how the movie ended. Goose never made it to graduation after his accident. This was just what the good ending would've looked like.