That Sunday Jade somehow managed to find a neurologist that was open on Sundays. They had accessed that Jade's concussion was clearly a stage four concussion. Jade had expressed the need to be healed from this to return to flight status for training and a vital mission. When the doctor asked how important this mission was, Jade answered life or death and that the Admiral could vouch for this. The neurologist concluded that as long as Jade did the most she could - by doing the least - she should easily be healed by then. After that it was just a matter of becoming fit enough - mentally - to get back in the cockpit. He even suggested that if worse came to worse float tanks could be introduced, due to the amount her brain would be thinking of these stressful topics, he suggested this might be just what an overworked Jade needed.
That was Sunday however, and today was Monday morning. Jade would directly be disobeying her doctor today and doing so until the trial was over. As a witness and victim of the incident, she must be there, along with Bradley to testify and listen to the proceedings. She almost must testify as Janson's wingman. It was summer now, so the whites had to be worn. Damn did the house full of pilots look fine as they all walked to the courthouse in their whites.
Jade and Bradley sat at the back of the courthouse, along with Pete, Jake, Emma, and Parrot. They all waited nervously, Bradley's hands over Jade's ears to block out the loud noises of the courtroom, opting eventually to put in some earplugs to mute the noise.
[I don't usually do Author's notes, but please please please understand that I am an English Major working through finals right now. So now that I know nothing about Law only a few terms, and I'm doing so much research for school as it is. This is my MY work I thought of that I somehow decided to share with you so please be kind and recognize that.]
Soon the court called upon Jade, "Your honor, as to relieve any pain they might be experiencing only just beginning the recovery from the consequences of this incident, we call Lieutenant Jade Nicolas Mitchell to the stand."
Jade stood up slowly and made her way to the front of the room. It was a slow process, she had to pause halfway up the aisle. The bruises along her side were easily forgotten about in the previous day's events, but her entire left side had been bruised. She was feeling that now. After pausing the second time, Norman stepped up from one of the isles and escorted her to the stand. They hurried along with the oath and allowed Jade to sit down.
The Lawyer - give Jade a break she knew how to fly a jet, not run a courtroom - began the questioning, "How are you, today Lieutenant?"
Jade cringed, the voice louder as she sat in the elevated spot, "I only just got out of the hospital... obviously not well."
The Lawyer - wasn't a mean one - she understood that Jade wasn't feeling well and to not press any argumentative calls, "I'm sorry to hear that Lieut. Mitchell, hopefully, we can get you to a quieter place soon. Answer my questions and we will do just that. Sound like a deal?" Jade nodded at this, lightly so as to not exaggerate the spinning already occurring. The lawyer continued, " Renegade if I may, is it correct that you gave Lieut. Janson your exact position before the incident occurred?"
Jade sighed, "yes, I did. My RIO can confirm."
The woman continued, "did you move from this positioning without alerting Janson?"
Jade responded, "No, the only difference was that Admiral Beau had dropped out, but my coordinates and positioning did not change, only Captain Mavericks. Once again, my RIO can confirm my coordinates."
The lawyer nodded at this looking at her notes before continuing, "Simply for the state of confirming, your RIO on this hop was who exactly? I see you don't normally fly with one"
Jade stated, "Lieutenant Bradley Bradshaw, ma'am. Callsign: Rooster. Top of his Top Gun class."
The lawyer continued, "Now Jade, did your father's positioning as the instructor of this Top Gun Class affects your standings there?"
Jade looked back at her father before answering, "No, it did not. He was unaware of the relationship until the moments during the crash I believe."
"You believe?" The lawyer threw back.
"Ma'am to say more would be hearsay." That was Jade's favorite word, so of course, she knew what it meant.
The lawyer laughed at this, " Even concussed you are still witty and attentive. I must commend you. Final question Renegade before I turn you over to the other lawyer, who if any in the navy were aware of your relation to Pete Mitchell?"
Jade scoffed at this, "The only ones who were aware at the beginning of my Naval career were, Commander Mike Metcalf. Callsign: Viper. - however, I was not aware of this until halfway through my career at Top Gun. The sole person who I knew was aware of the identity of my father was the late Admiral Tom 'Iceman' Kazansky. After his death, this knowledge was passed on to now Admiral Beau, and all the commanders at my flight school. Please bare with me as recalling names is very difficult at the moment."
The lawyer sadly let her head fall at this for a moment before facing the judge now, "No further questions your honor."
Another lawyer now walked up, he was a tall man, and it scared Jade. She was already nervous about this, she knew two things about a court. The word hearsay, and that this guy existed to make your day terrible. Her head was still spinning, so she was not surprised that she could not remember any names at the moment although she remembers them being introduced at one point in the trial.
This lawyer jumped right into the questioning, loudly into the mic might Jade add, she quickly covered her ears. The first question he asked was, "To your knowledge, Pete Mitchell did not know of your relation?"
Jade sighed, "If you're going to scream into the bloody microphone, please don't repeat the same question as before." Tears welled in her eyes from the pain.
The judge responded, "Sir, you can use a calmer and less harsh tone, Jade Mitchell please continue by answering the question. Let me know if the volume gets out of hand again in this process whether you are up here or not."
Jade took a deep breath and continued, "To my knowledge sir, that is correct. He did not know. It was covered up by the late Admiral Kazansky. My father's name was nowhere on any of my academy papers, anywhere. Younger pilots didn't recognize the name often, the different pilot cliques came in handy for once."
The lawyer continued without any of the kind remarks the woman prior to him had, "Why would Admiral Kazansky agree to cover this for you?"
Jade sighed, "There were multiple reasons. In many ways the man raised me, his signature erased the need for my father's on papers. However, he was the one to originally suggest it. From my understanding, it was to cover the pressure of having a flying ACE for a father, and to prevent what had happened to Captain Pete Mitchell in the academy when it came to the topic of his father Duke Mitchell, also a fighter pilot for the United States Navy."
The lawyer smirked, "the similarities to this crash and your father's back in Top Gun, do you notice them?"
Jade shook with anxiety, "I acknowledge them yes."
The lawyer continued, "Did you acknowledge them previous to the hop?"
There were tears streaking down her face, "Yes..." her voice shook, on the verge of breaking. Bradley and Jake kept a watchful eye on Pete, preventing Papa Bear mode as they had nicknamed it behind his back.
"And could you elaborate on those that you noticed?" The man smiled evilly - at least in Jade's mind. That was a little twisted now though, so who knew what he actually looked like?
"Sir, Bradley and I were the first similarity I noticed. Bradshaw as an RIO and myself as the pilot. This was Hop 31, the same as the previous incident you mentioned. That was on the ground though. I - I - I" She broke down right there and then like she never had before. The first time she really needs to look back on it and talk about it isn't in a safe space, but in one that Jade found to be very harsh.
The woman lawyer stood up then, "Your honor objection of the form"
The judge responded, " On what accounts?"
"Your honor this is harassment, aggressively pushing the trauma that occurred merely days ago. Purposefully pushing this topic is bad form" The woman argued hard for Jade, and Jade appreciated that so much.
The judge let it slide, motioning for Jade to try and continue, " The one, that hurt the most was... was when I got pinned forward. I couldn't eject and I - I... I only know it happened before because the - the only way I could hear my father's voice as a kid, was those damn recordings from the incident... I, I'm never afraid in the air, but at that moment. I have never hated flying in my life, but that moment."
The mean lawyer finally was done and now the woman was back to ask the final question, "Jade, I need you to work with me for just a few follow-up questions, can you do that?"
Jade said nothing but gave a thumbs up, the judge allowed this to count for an answer. The lawyer continued, " Jade, can you try to please explain why to your knowledge your father's case is of no importance to this matter?"
Jade sighed heavily, "Because it wasn't his fault. It was the jetwash's fault. It, it... he didn't kill Goose. He didn't kill my best friend's dad. The court to my understanding ruled that there was no way to prevent this simple, yet deadly accident."
The lawyer continued, "And are you aware that that specific accident that July, had occurred multiple times at Top Gun throughout its history?"
Jade drew a smile, this lady was good, "Yes, I was. I cannot recall the number."
The lawyer returned Jade's smile as she heard a defeated sigh come from the defendant's table, "Are you aware that actions that occurred this previous Friday were the first of its nature to occur at Top Gun?"
Jade's posture straightened, "Yes because one does not simply make that kind of mistake, this far in the game. Not at the bottom of the ninth inning."
The woman looked back at the judge, "You honor no further questions, and we'd like to have a break for the witness."
The judge responded, "How long?"
The woman replied, "We would like to ask that this witness not be recalled to the stand anymore in the following days of the trial."
The male lawyer replied now, "Your honor, may we approach."
The two lawyers now met in front of the judge. The judge agreed to not recall Jade to the stand. From there she was dismissed, and the trial proceeded.
----
The first day of the Trial had gone well, as had the other days within the two-week trial. All that needed to happen now, was for the verdict to be released, they had been working on it all week. It was now Friday the third week after the accident. All of the pilots, dressed in their uniforms the brown ones today, waited around Penny's house. Once Pete Mitchell got the call they would all be heading over to the courthouse.
Jade, Bradley, and Jake were laying on the bed in the guest bedroom. Jade's head had healed quite impressively. The noise sensitivity had gone down a lot, but not the light sensitivity. Jade was bored, so Bradley opted to read to her. Jake came along as well, he had become the newest addition the what now is a trio of friends. Bradley sat on one side of Jade, reading the book, and Jake sat on the other side.
Bradley eventually finished the book and sat it on the nightstand. Jade was once again bored and decided it was time to ask a random question. You see Bradley was used to this by now, Jade quite often simply asked a random question. Just out of the blue, out of context.
Hence how the conversation of Pete's sexuality came up after Jade questioned why the entirety of society believes Navymen (and women) are gays. Bradley stated that they are all hot, which made Jake question Bradley. Jade laughed while watching the two argue. However, when Bradley assumed that Captain Mitchell was very straight, this only made Jade laugh even harder. She covered her mouth to try and stifle the laughter "and, and you..." she took gasps for air between fragments of sentences, " You, you think, my father is a straight man?!" Jade calmed herself now, "Seriously Brad Brad, I'm sure he and Ice fucked at one point. Like I'm damn-near positive."
Jake quickly agreed with Jade, "Yeah man that look at the funeral was definitely not 'I'll miss your friendship and all' but an ' I'll miss getting railed by you and calling you to fix all my problems when I royally fuck shit up.'
Another voice erupted from the doorway, it was none other than Norman 'Stealer' Ray who only responded with, "I have no clue what I just heard, but I'm going to leave now." Phoenix then leaned in the doorway asking, "what's his problem?"
Jade looked at her, they knew each other well enough, they had gotten closer in the previous days being some of the only women in the house, "We were talking about how Ice and Mav definitely fucked at one point because his look at the funeral was apparently -"
Phoenix laughed, "The I'll miss getting railed by your eyes? Yeah, agreed."
Jade stood up now, "It's time to confront Pete Mitchell. We must know the truth! Onwards to... Down the steps!"
Jade, Jake, Rooster, and Phoniex now stood in front of Pete Mitchell, who was staring at his phone waiting for the call to come.
Jade started, "Father of mine I have a serious question for you... we all do."
Phoenix started, "We'll start out slow though, you like Men Mav?"
Pete laughed at this, "If you're asking if I've slept with men in my day, yes I have. Goose bet me to do it all the time in the bar. I made over a thousand that way. In fact, at one point he had to specifically state 'no men allowed' in the bets. Kinda funny if you ask me."
Jake went the next step, "We were thinking of a specific man in particular..."
Pete gave a look as if to ask who they were thinking of. Jade responded, "Tom Kazansky" Pete's face went blank yet tomato red at the same time.
They all now heard a shout from the kitchen, "Yes, multiple times. Didn't you see his eyes at the funeral?" This was extra funny because it was a very serious tone that came from none other than Mrs. Sarah Kazansky.
Pete Mitchell proceeded to hide into a throw pillow on the couch. Bradley threw his arm around Jake and Jade. Well, Jade was half horrified and half laughing her ass off. She did mentally high-five herself because she knew this information all along.
Pete was about to ask how the topic even came up but quickly got the long-awaited phone call. All of the pilots made their way to the courthouse.
----------
The court gave their verdict, "For the incident that occurred three weeks ago on Friday afternoon in the airfield of the Weapons School also known as Top Gun, with all the evidence provided, we have concluded that the incident was an act of arrogance on behalf of Lieut. Jared Jansen. Callsign: Hawk. The actions were easily avoidable and were done out of an act of arrogance to show off. The incident was also intentional, seeing the direct disobedience of the orders given. As a result, Lieutenant Jared 'Hawk' Jansen is dismissed from Top Gun and the United States Navy. He is officially and permanently grounded thus not returning to flight status. As for Lieutenant Jade Mitchell, Callsign: Renegade, flight status is to be returned immediately as soon as proper clearances are given from a medical professional. Finally, as for Lieutenant Bradley 'Rooster' Bradshaw, fight status is also immediately returned. This case is closed, and this court is dismissed. Thank you for your time."
Jade and the others - classmates and Dagger Squad- all went to the bar that night. Penny had made sure that they were the only ones at the Hard Deck that night. They kept it quiet and actually put a movie on and projected it onto one of the walls. Well, it wasn't much of a movie, more like video diaries from Maverick's Top Gun class. After the two weeks of trials, and the iminate doom resting over their heads on the upcoming mission, Pete thought the pilots just needed a drink and some light-hearted fun.
By the end of the night, Penny was pulling out extra blankets and pillows. All of the pilots had fallen asleep. She was making sure each had a pillow under their head and a blanket covering them. Penny smiled as she walked closer to Pete. He was passed out against a pillar by the piano, Jade was asleep on his shoulder. Jade needed proper rest if she was going to be cleared by the doctor in the next few weeks, however, Penny thought this moment was too sweet to wake either of them up. Penny covered them with a blanket and went to add more money to her fiance's tab.
[Arthors Note: for a timeline of the court trial -> crash occurred Friday afternoon. The trial went on for the next two full weeks. The verdict was delivered on Friday afternoon. If you're curious they took a break and didn't review until the next work week had started. Since someone was losing their flight status, they took longer to finalize their decision. It was a very serious topic. Just give me a break, I wrote this during fall break and have no motivation to fully learn how a court works. Thanks, see ya later aviators.]