━︎━︎━︎━︎━︎━︎━︎━︎━︎━︎━︎𝑹𝑬𝑩𝑬𝑪𝑪𝑨 𝑴𝑰𝑻𝑪𝑯𝑬𝑳𝑳✈︎
"Becca?!" I'm pulled out of my trance by my mom's voice. I turn in the swivel chair she has placed at the kitchen bar. "Are you going to answer my question?" I give her a confused look. Clearly I wasn't paying attention until now. What makes her think I know what she is talking about? "How did last night go?"
"It was fine. Saw some old faces." I turn back around. "Some very old faces." I mumble. I still haven't asked her about dad. I didn't know if she had seen him as well.
"You saw him didn't you?" She asks.
Well. Guess that answers that question.
"Dad?" I ask.
Her lips turn up. "I was talking about Bradley but that was my next question..."
"Why is he here?" I seethe. "And why didn't he tell me he was coming? I haven't seen him in almost two years!" But who's counting right?
Mom sighs, standing from her seat on the couch. "From what he told me, it was a very last minute thing. He got into some trouble and Ice requested that he come here."
"Kazansky?" I scoff. Of course he'd show up for his wingman.
"But don't worry Becca, I am positive you'll see him soon." She smirks. I furrow my brows at her, not trusting the sentences that just left her mouth. She grabs my keys and tosses them across the room to me. "We'll talk more later. You're going to be late." She states looking at the clock.
I catch my keys. I run my hands over my uniform. It feels good to be back in this bad boy. "Wish me luck." I sigh as I head towards the door.
To Top Gun I go.
***
"Good morning, C-Bomb!" Hangman calls out as I enter the room. "What happened to you last night? Couldn't hang?"
I roll my eyes. "I couldn't bring myself to watch you lose to Rooster. Far too painful." I wink at Bradley before taking the seat beside him.
"Haha very funny. I won by the way!" He hollers.
Phoenix scoffs. "Don't flatter yourself, Bagman. You only won cause Rooster was moping and bailed out after five minutes."
I look to Bradley. "Seriously? You let Crapbag win?"
"Stop it with the nicknames!" Hangman exclaims. Cyclone, Hondo, and Warlock enter the room and start talking.
"Why were you moping?" I ask quietly.
He shrugs. "This cute chick abandoned me at the bar.." my jaw drops. I'm not given a chance to reply to that though.
"Attention on deck!" A voice yells making us jump from our seats. "Morning, I'm Admiral Bates. You all may be seated." We sit down. "You're all Top Gun graduates." I sit up straighter in my seat as Admiral Bates speaks. "You are elite pilots. You are the best of the best. That's why we have brought you back. But that was yesterday." My smile fades a bit. "The enemy's new 5th generation fighter jet has leveled the playing field. Details are few, but you can be sure that we no longer possess the technological advantage. Success is now more than ever attached to the man or woman inside the box. Half of you will pass the elimination. One of you will be designated as the mission leader." Hangman looks back at Rooster in a taunting manner. "The remaining half will remain as reinforcements."
My stomach churns. This is going to be a tough mission. An unauthorized uranium enrichment plant was built in violation of numerous NATO agreements. The Pentagon wants it taken out, which is why we are here.
"Your instructor is also a Top Gun graduate." I perk up. I've been dying to know who was going to teach us ever since Phoenix was talking about it last night. "He has real-world experience in every mission aspect you are expected to master. His achievements are legendary. He is widely regarded as one of the best pilots this program has produced." I see Hangman turn in his seat, immediately scoffing and covering his face. "What he has to teach you may very well mean the difference between life and death." Our instructor walks by.
Oh my gosh.
"Introducing Captain Pete Mitchell. Call sign, Maverick."
Why is my dad here?!
I slide down in my seat. I just might vomit and I'm not even in the air yet. I feel Rooster tense beside me.
This is not good. This is very bad actually.
Maverick holds up a book, examining the room as he does so. "This contains everything they want you to know about the your aircraft. I assume you know the contents of this book, inside and out."
"That's right!" Coyote hoots.
Maverick quirks a brow at us before throwing the book in the trash bin. Interesting. "So does your enemy."
"Here we go." I sigh.
"Got something to say for the whole class, Miss Benjamin?" My cheeks darken as my eyes meet Dad's. He's definitely still salty with me.
When I told him I wanted to be a fighter pilot, like him, he was strongly opposed to the idea. So being my rebellious self, I sent in my papers using the name Becca Benjamin instead of Rebecca Mitchell. Dad didn't know I had made it through the naval academy until I graduated. Boy was he mad. He found it very disrespectful and he was appalled that I used my mother's maiden name. Which is probably why he's torturing me now.
I shake my head acting as if I hadn't said a word. "No Sir."
He turns his attention back to the class. "But what the enemy doesn't know are your limits. I intend to find them, test them, push beyond. Today we'll start with what you only think you know." He makes direct eye contact with me. "You show me what you're made of. Let's get started."
***
"Of all people! Why in God's name did they pick him?!" Bradley spits through gritted teeth. We head towards our aircraft.
"No idea." I mumble.
"Not only is he the douche bag that got my dad killed. He pulled my papers, he has also gotten into a crap ton of trouble on multiple occasions! How are we supposed to trust him?!" He exclaims.
"Just stay focused!" I grab his arm and force him to look at me. "We have to make it through this with no altercations." He nods and we start back towards the aircraft.
"Rooster?!" I hear Maverick yell from behind us. I stop. Bradley does not. "Bradley?!" He continues to ignore him."Lieutenant Bradshaw!"
Bradley sighs and turns to face him. "Yes, sir."
"Let's not do it like this. Please." He pleads.
Bradley just stares over his head. The height difference is quite funny. "Like what sir?" Pete gives him a stern look. "Are you going to wash me out?"
He looks between the two of us. "That'll be up to you, not me."
Bradley swallows hard, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down. "Can I go now?" Dad nods.
We turn to leave but I feel a tug on my arm. I turn back to Dad. Rooster gives me a look but I wave him off, leaving just me and him. Dad's eyes stay glued to Rooster as he walks off. "He still doesn't know does he?" I bite my bottom lip, shaking my head.
No one knows that I am the aftermath of a drunk hookup between Penny Benjamin and Pete Mitchell. As I mentioned before when I joined the Naval Academy I didn't want my name to be traced back to my Father's reckless behavior. Last thing I wanted at the time was to be compared to him. Another reason why I changed my name.
As I was saying, no one knows. Not even Rooster. You would think that I would've told him during the time of our two year relationship, or that he would've remembered me from years ago when our dads made us play together even though we were quite young at the time.
I wanted to tell him. I want to tell him.
But how do you tell the man you love that your dad is the same guy that pulled his papers and set back his whole career, not to mention the history with his father.
"You're that ashamed of me?" Dad's tone is somewhat serious, somewhat sarcastic.
I roll my eyes. "It's complicated."
"Because you made it complicated." He adds. I clench my jaw, it's too early to be fighting about this nonsense. "The longer you wait the worse it will be."
"Permission to leave, Captain." He says nothing. He just stares into my soul. I couldn't bring myself to hug him right now. He's my dad, of course I love him and I've missed him. Doesn't mean he isn't making me mad right now though. He turns and walks away.
I swallow and turn to head back to Rooster. I can feel a pair of eyes on me but I don't bother turning to see who was eyeing me as I walk towards my aircraft.
**
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