hard deck ≫ top gun: maverick

XI. GOOD INTENTIONS

Dr. Hackett raised the beer in her hand. "You already did."

"Well, can I buy you the next one?"

Summer's lips twisted up into a smirk. "What are your intentions, Lieutenant?"

Bradley snorted and put his hands up defensively. "My intentions, Doc? What, do you think I have bad ones?"

"Not bad ones exactly. Just ones I'm wary of."

"Indulge me just this once, Doc," he said, giving her his best attempt at puppy dog eyes, which really just meant his brown eyes stared down at her with a sad kind of intensity. "Didn't you hear the news?"

"What news, Rooster?" Summer replied coolly, taking a sip of her beer.

The confident smile on his face wavered for just a second. Even drunk, he couldn't fully hide his fear. "Well, it seems I've been selected for that little old mission."

He watched as her amused smirk fell, replaced instead with a look of shock, a look of concern. He'd assumed she would have heard the news by now. Guess word didn't travel as fast around a Navy base as he thought it did.

"Really?" she finally said, forcing a smile that was a fraction of the one he'd put on her face only moments ago. "Congratulations?"

He shrugged. "I guess that's the word."

The news had come in that afternoon. The mission was being moved up, and Captain Mitchell, Maverick, would be leading it. Upon hearing that news, Bradley figured he was definitely out of the running. He'd been as surprised as everyone else to hear that Maverick had selected him for the mission.

"Who else?" Summer asked in a low voice, looking over his shoulder at the other pilots, who were drunkenly celebrating near the pool table.

Bradley wasn't sure if he was supposed to share that information, but Dr. Hackett would find out soon enough. "Phoenix, Bob, Payback, and Fanboy. And Mav."

The doctor's eyebrows went up and she cleared her throat. Bradley watched as her gaze drifted from the pilots towards the bar, where her friends sat. "Oh God. Joey."

Bradley had heard an inkling of a rumor about Phoenix and Dr. Hackett's friend, and based on Summer's reaction, he guessed it was true. "She'll tell them eventually," he whispered, watching as Phoenix made her way over to Joey, the latter of whom wrapped their arms around the pilot, pulling her in for a tight hug.

Dr. Hackett took a long swig of her beer, draining nearly half of it, before turning towards Bradley again. "How about those other beers, Lieutenant?"

He offered her his arm and she took it, and they made their way back towards the bar.

"Well, well, well," Summer's friend, the one Bradley now recognized as Joey, exclaimed loudly as he and the doctor approached the bar. "Look who it is. Doctor Hackett and her favorite patient."

Dr. Hackett quickly pulled her arm from his, and Bradley's smile brightened as he noticed the flush on her cheeks. "Is that true, Doc? Am I your favorite patient?"

"I'm afraid I can't answer that question," Summer replied swiftly, downing the rest of her drink. "HIPAA and all."

He ordered them two more beers and they settled in at the bar.

"Do you remember that day when you all came to town," Summer said to Bradley, leaning into him as they talked. "And you played the piano in here?"

A smile crossed Bradley's face. "Yeah. 'Great Ball of Fire.'"

She nodded. "I've seen a lot of pilots come through here, Rooster. I've seen every trick in the book. But I haven't seen that."

He shrugged. "Well, maybe I'm not like the other pilots."