𝐇𝐎𝐍𝐄𝐘 • ʳᵒᵇᵉʳᵗ ᶠˡᵒʸᵈ

chapter four.

chapter four — WASP
[ jasmine. ]
"hope is the only bee that makes honey without flowers." -robert green ingersoll.

i walked down the eerily quiet hallway out of the training facilities later that day with a duffel bag over my shoulder full of my uniform and my dirty socks, which now in sweatpants and a y2k crop top. what? i was off duty.

as i walked past mitchell's office, i noticed the door open and the man sitting at his desk, fervently scribbling down ideas on paper. i grabbed the doorway, "hey, cap." he practically jumped up at my voice, looking up at me with wide eyes. "jasmine ! come in, please, i want to talk to you." here comes the awkward talk. i did this to myself. i slapped the doorway and strolled in, falling back into the seat across from him.

he had never called me by my first name before.

"heated afternoon." "you can say that again. so, i'm guessing you heard from bob the news." "yep, officially have a wingman." "how does it feel?" i shrugged at the question, "weird. the plane is usually my safe space, and adding on another life is sort of... stressing." he slowly looked up from his folders, finding that the subject had come up. "believe me, i understand. i apologize about earlier, too. i hadn't known—" "don't worry, you couldn't have." i told him. it was true, what i said, too. he rested back into his seat and gazed at me.

"how long?" i looked up at the ceiling, calculating how long it had been since she had been gone. "just over three years, now." i answered. "how do you feel?" "okay. it's still hard to think about her not in my life anymore, and the guilt is horrible." "i know." he said, relating to me. i tilted my head, "yeah?" "yeah. 1986. during a training exercise." my eyes slightly widened at him, "training exercise?" "goose bradshaw. my best friend." "you mean..." "brad bradshaw's father." the name sounded familiar.

i rested back into my chair, pulling up a foot to place in front of me on my seat, "wow. explains why he hates you." "more to that story." he vaguely elaborated.

"what happened?" "story for another day," he waved off, "i don't blame you for today's incident." "really?" "completely coyote's fault. but, that's our little secret." i laughed, "you got it, captain." we sat in quiet for a second, until he looked back up at me. "you're strong, honey." "i have to be." i bluntly responded. "no pain, no gain." "never say that to me again." i chuckled.

"has any of your family been in the military before?" he asked me. "just my grandpa. he went to top gun, too." i exclaimed. "oh, yeah?" "yeah. sam wells." mitchell's eyebrows pulled together as he stared at me, "your grandpa is sam wells? merlin wells?" "uh huh, yeah." i nodded. "...damn it, honey, i know your grandpa." my eyes brows rose up, "really?" "we went to top gun together." "wow... you're old." "no, i'm not. your grandpa's just a young grandparent." "uh-huh."

it all clicked. i remembered the stories my grandpa used to tell me at bedtime when i would visit his house, about the men named goose and maverick. i thought they were just silly names he had made up.

i found myself tapping my fingers against the armrest, and i turn back up to stare at him. "...do you have a daughter, mav?" "no 'sir'?" i casually shrugged my shoulders again without an answer. he hesitated, "no, i do not." i nodded slowly. "why, do you?" he exclaimed. i scoffed out a short laugh, "don't wanna make you older. barely have a guy to make that happen, anyway. just like you don't have a woman to have grandchildren with." "not even bob?" i scrunched my eyebrows together, "...no?" "oh, well, never mind."

he looked away from me, avoiding eye contact, and i swiftly leaned forward, "what is it maverick?" "oh, no, nothing, just... nothing." "you're so bad at keeping secrets, you know that, mav?" i stated, snuggling back into my chair. "oh,, please, how do you know that?" "you look like you're about to combust, dude !"