'Why do you hate me so?' He asked, a crestfallen look gracing his icy, unforgiving features.
"Simply because I was never yours."
Rivalry was all they shared at first. Unjust and unbothered egos colliding. But then it developed into something neith...
WE ARRIVED outside Viper's office and since the walls were quite thin, we heard shouting from inside. It was rather crude but to summarise, here's what was being said.
"NO IT'S NOT ACCEPTABLE! TWO OF YOUR SNOT NOSED JOCKEYS DID A FLYBY PAST MY TOWER AT OVER 400 KNOTS!! I WANT SOME BUTTS AND I WANT THEM NOW!!" A man's voice roared from inside.
"Yes sir, we understand and we will deal with this matter swiftly to make sure it doesn't happen again. Rest assured." Jester countered, calm and collected. This seemed to cool the other man's temper a little.
"Right well you'd better!" He commented, angrily before opening the door and colliding with a sailor who'd ever so kindly brought him some coffee. "DAMN IT! THAT'S TWICE! I WANT SOME BUTTS!" He yelled again, as stormed away down the corridor. My lips twitched and I had to try really, really hard not to make a dirty joke. Mav sensed this from beside me and grinned, only making it worse. Luckily before I could say anything of the sort, Jester poked his head out of the door.
"You may enter." He said. We nodded and went in, standing at attention in front of Viper's desk which was rather pointless if you ask me, considering that he wasn't even sitting; he was standing with his back to us, leaning on his palms which were placed on the windowsill, staring outside at the miserable, rainy weather which had appeared not long after our hop. It was beginning to feel more like England than America at this point.
"Gentlemen. You've had a hell of a first day, haven't you?" Viper asked rhetorically.
"Sir." My pilot said from beside me.
"The hard deck for this hop was 10,000 feet. You knew it, you broke it yet you proceeded to follow commander Heatherly below after he lost sight of you and called no joy." He paused briefly before adding "Why?" to complete his question.
"Sir!" My pilot said again. "I had Jest- I mean commander Heatherly in my sights, he saw me move in for the kill, he then decided to go below the hard deck in order to evade capture. We weren't below 10,000 for more than a few seconds, sir. I had the shot, there was no danger so I took it." Maverick finished, confidently.
"And you took it." Viper added calmly before turning round to face us and snapping. "Breaking a major rule of engagement!" We said nothing only stood there, at attention with our gaze focused front, feeling bad. From the corner of my eye, I could see Jester open his mouth to say something but Viper stopped him. "Lieutenant Mitchell, Top Gun rules exist for your safety and for that of your team. They are not flexible nor am I. Either obey them or you're history. Is that understood?" He sighed and sat back in his chair, rubbing his temple as if we'd given him a migraine.
"Yes sir!" Maverick stated. Although he wasn't letting it show in his expression, I knew that the talking to had hit him hard. "Dismissed, gentlemen." Viper breathed. As soon as we'd had the confirmation, we spun round on our heel (as custom) and stalked away. Shutting the door behind me, I started on Mav. "Really enjoyed that thanks a lot, Mav!" I remarked, sarcastically. He exhaled sharply, merely waving a hand in defeat. "Please don't start Goose, I'm sorry okay." I leant against the wall and ran a hand down my face, partly because I was hot and partly because I was so fed up. "Say, have you got the number of that truck driving school we saw on TV? Maybe I could learn to do that instead." I said.
Mav didn't answer me this time, instead his attention was fixed elsewhere; Charlie sitting in her office, typing up some reports. Maverick grinned at her. I threw my hands up in the air. Had he just completely forgotten the talking to (more like yelling at) we'd just been through?! I love this guy but sometimes he's insane I swear to God! As Mav walked away from me, I noticed Charlie's gaze follow him. I made a mental note not to tell him this for I had a feeling his mind was elsewhere and I'm willing to bet, it ain't with Charlie...
•Time skip to early evening/night where everyone is in their rooms•
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~PART TWO~
Maverick's POV:
THE TEXTBOOK slipped off my lap and onto the floor. I groaned and rubbed my eyes. The clock on the opposite wall displayed it to be that of 9 o'clock. I pulled myself up out of the armchair only to be met with the Goose staring at me blankly. Slightly confused and more than a little alarmed I gave him a wry smile and allowed myself to fall back into the chair I'd only just gotten out of. "Hey, Goose buddy what's on your mind?" I half grumped, half yawned.
"Mav, I came to talk to you about earlier." He replied. "Go ahead, I'm listening." I mumbled.
"You know when I first realised we were going to Top Gun, all I could think about was getting that trophy. But I gotta be straight with you Mav." He took a long pause, making me wonder weather he was about to come out to me or something. "Right now I just hope we graduate." He added, worriedly, biting his lip. It then felt like my duty to reassure him as his pilot.
"And we will don't worry." I said. Goose furrowed his brow in confusion (and I think a little bit of anger). "Yes but HOW? HOW are we going to do that if you keep pulling all these crazy stunts? And they end up getting both of us dragged in to the office! How?" He questioned. "Guess that flyby wasn't such a big hit, huh?" I half asked, half stated. Goose shook his head vigorously. "No, no it most certainly was not. Look man, I got a family to think about I can't afford to blow this." I nodded. "I know and I'm sorry."
"I know it's tough for you man. They wouldn't let you into the academy because you're Duke Mitchell's kid and all. You gotta live with that reputation, I get it. But it's like every time we go up there, you're flying against a ghost. In the nicest way possible, please cool it?" His eyes turned pleading as if it was the antidote to my stiffness and hard stare at him mentioning what he just had. I flexed my jaw. It was a sensitive subject considering that I didn't even know much about it and it wasn't one that was open for discussion. It happened. There was nothing anybody could do about it (classified or not). And now I was stuck living with his so called 'mistake' trying to move on with my life. I knew one thing about it though (much to everyone else's disapproval) and that was that my Father didn't do a dime wrong. Made no mistakes or nothing. He was a good man, and wouldn't blow it on some 'silly thing' people claimed him to have done right before it happened.
"You're the only family I've got left. I'm not gonna let you down and I promise you that." I said, firmly, able to push away my fatigue for a minute to make sure he'd understood what I'd just promised him. "Thank you." He said, a small smile tugging at his mouth. I yawned. "Now we've settled that, get outta here." I said, playfully. "Yes sir!" Goose mock saluted me and left my lodgings. I smiled to myself, knowing that I had a good friend in him and I was eternally grateful for that at least.
He would never leave me, or at least that's what I thought...
