When Pete got called to Top Gun to "teach" he never expected to see his daughter and the boy- now man- who he considered his son to be staring down at him from the screen at the front of the room. It was hard for him to look at their faces. He hadn't talked to his daughter, Anne, since she graduated high school and hadn't talked to Bradley in even longer. Guilt flooded him when he looked at them, so he opted to look at the ground.
"Is there a problem, Captain?" Cyclone asked.
"You know there is, sir," Maverick responded.
"Yea," Cyclone mumbled as he enlarged the picture of Bradley. "Bradley Bradshaw, aka 'Rooster'. I understand you used to fly with his old man. What was his call sign?"
Pete still couldn't look at the screen. Bradley looked too much like his father. He took a breath and responded, "Goose, sir."
"Tragic what happened."
"Capitan Mitchell was cleared of any wrong doing. Gooses death was an accident," Warlock interjected.
"Is that how you see it Capitan? Is that how Goose's son sees it?" No matter how much time passed, the event still weighed on Pete, and Cyclone's harsh reminder definitely didn't help. Cyclone leaned forward again and this time, his daughters face was on the screen.
"Anne Mitchell, aka 'Free-Bird'. I heard they were going to give her your call sign but decided that was too cliché." This time, Pete looked at the screen. Seeing his daughter smirking at him filled him with pride but also an immeasurable amount of guilt. It didn't take a genius to figure out he was a bad father. He only hoped Anne would forgive him.
Pete turned back to the men and said, "With all due respect sir, I'm not a teacher."
"You were a Top Gun instructor before." Cyclone responded.
"That was almost 30 years ago. I lasted two months. It's not where I belong."
"Well then let me be perfectly blunt." Cyclone leaned forward in his chair. "You were not my first choice. In fact you weren't even on the list. You are here at the request of Admiral Kazansky. Now, Iceman happens to be a man I deeply admire, and he seems to think that you have something left to offer the Navy. What that is I can't imagine. You don't have to take this job. But let me be clear: this will be your last post Capitan. You fly for Top Gun or you don't fly for the Navy ever again."
Pete stood with his eyes on the floor. How was he going to teach the two people who hated him most? He took a breath as he walked out of the room.
Don't think... just do.
~
AN: Welcome to my new story! I hope y'all are as excited as I am because I have been sitting on this story for a while :3... I hope y'all enjoy!