A/N: This is part 2 of Bradshaw's Date with Mav's reaction!! Hope you enjoy this one as much as the last :)
***
The look of bewilderment on Jake's face was something Bradley would never forget. Maverick had been hounding Hangman all day to the point where others were starting to feel bad for him.
The group of them were sitting in one of their debriefs, where Mav was currently picking apart Jake's near perfect run. Phoenix leaned over to Rooster and asked if he knew what was going on. The smug look on his face told her everything she needed to know. "What did you do, Bradshaw?"
Bradley was enjoying every second of today and would continue to enjoy it for many days to come. "I didn't do anything. Hangman decided it was a good idea to take my sister out on a date last night."
Bob choked on his water when he overheard what his teammate had said, drawing attention to the three of them. Hangman turned in his seat to see what was going on, but the second his eyes landed on Rooster, everything clicked. Phoenix leaned back in her seat and shook her head, "You're in for it now."
Bradley didn't care in the slightest how Hangman felt. He was getting everything he thought he deserved. Mav dismissed the group but asked Jake to stay behind. The others walked out sending him looks of encouragement, knowing whatever conversation they were going to have, wasn't going to go in his favor.
Jake remained in his seat in the front row, waiting for Maverick to explain what was going on. The look on Bradley's face gave him a small insight to what this was going to be. He had hoped his teammate would leave personal business outside of work, but clearly that was asking for too much. It was karmas way of slapping him in the face.
"I'm going to come right out with it. Just because Bradley can't do anything about it, doesn't mean the same rules apply to me. That's my Goddaughter and you better treat her a hell of a lot better than you cover your teammates out there. That girl is something special and you best believe I won't be the only one keeping close tabs on you."
All Jake could do was nod his head. He didn't know if he was talking to his captain or Pete Mitchell and any comment he wanted to say wouldn't go over well.
"For as long as you date her, expect every day to be like this. You will see no special treatment and will continue to be pushed harder than everyone else until I see you are good enough for her. Do I make myself clear?"
Jake let out a slow breath, "Yes, sir."
Maverick dismissed him, but called out when he was near the door of the room.
"Oh, and Lieutenant, Admiral Kazansky sends his best."
Just as Jake thought it couldn't get worse, his body seemed to freeze at those last words. He had always wanted admirals to know his name, strived for it, but not like this. This was an abuse of power and there was nothing he could do about it but swallow his pride.
Jake was fuming as he made his way back into the locker room. While most of his teammates figured it was because of how Maverick made him look today, it was actually for a whole different reason.
The moment he walked through the door, all conversations stopped. Word had gotten around of what happened and opinions were formed because of it. But no one was dumb enough to say those opinions out loud to either guy.
Jake looked around the room until he spotted the one guy that was slowly pushing him over the edge. The cocky smirk was normally seen on the blonde pilot, but in this case, the roles were reversed, and Bradley was racking in every ounce of discomfort that was coming from him.
It didn't take a genius to know Jake was furious. His usual slicked back hair was sticking up in a few places where he had run his hand through it. His cheeks have a slight pink tint to them that for once wasn't because of the California heat. But what really stood out, was the silence. Jake was always quick to run his mouth and had a comeback for everything. So, when the pilot stood there and stared at Bradley, the others knew things were about to get ugly.
"Do you get off on the fact that you're messing with your sister's life?" Bradley's smirk quickly fell when he heard the question directed at him.
"Excuse me?" Jake took a few steps towards him, making Coyote and Bob shift towards them in case they needed to break anything up.
"Because your sister told you to back off, you went and ran to Maverick about it, knowing he would be pissed. Well congratulations pal, Maverick is going to keep pushing me until I walk away. But for once did you ever think how your sister would feel if she found out what was going on?"
Bradley stood up now, fists clenched as he tried to keep his anger in check. "Are you threatening me?"
Jake let out an unamused laugh, "And here I thought I was the most self-absorbed person in the room. This isn't about you. Hell, this isn't even about me. Your sister told me last night that it was one of the first times where she felt happy and could let go of the past for a few hours. Being back here hasn't only affected you, she lost her dad too. Her mom lost her husband in the same damn house ya'll are staying in. While you went off into the Navy, she was the one who stayed back and took care of her.
"Did she ever tell you the number of stories your mom shared with her about your dad? About Top Gun and how much he loved flying with Maverick? Those memories have stayed with her to this day, making the move out here so damn hard for her. But now you have some personal vendetta to make sure my life is nothing but hell. Did you stop and think about how she would feel if I walked away because I didn't want to deal with all this bullshit?"
Jake's face was now red with rage, whole body tensed. He kept trying to put himself in Bradley's shoes, but he couldn't see himself doing this to one of his sisters. Not when the price was this high.
Bradley on the other hand had lost most of his color. He had zero idea his sister was unhappy following him out here and had only wanted to look out for her. He knew how ruthless Hangman was in the skies, but he didn't think to separate that from his personal life. Yeah, the speech he gave that night had him second guessing a few things, but Jake was known to be a smooth talker. How was he supposed to know if he was telling the truth?
"And I hate to tell you this but I'm not giving up that easily. It's going to take a hell of a lot more than Maverick telling me how to be better or Admiral Kazansky making his position known. Your sister is worth putting up with all of this and more. So do us all a favor and get over yourself."
Jake grabbed his stuff out of his locker and slammed the door, not sparing anyone a second glance. The room was silent. Nothing could've prepared any of them for what just happened. Natasha glanced over at Bradley and saw how defeated he looked. The once gloating man was long gone as he processed everything that was said.
Bob went over to him and gave his shoulder a quick pat. A small show of support but he then proceeded to walk out of the room. Everyone slowly followed, not sure what else to do. Jake Seresin was always the villain of the story. No one ever questioned that. But today, roles were reversed, and the once golden boy of Bradley Bradshaw had now been painted as the new antagonist.
His phone started to vibrate, and he looked down to see that you were calling. After a few breaths to calm himself down, he answered.
"Hey, so I know you weren't too thrilled about me going on a date with Jake. But I really appreciate you at least letting me leave the driveway last night. I promise he was the perfect gentleman. Even let me talk him into stopping for ice cream on the way home. Something you never let me do. Also, he told me how great of a teammate you are." He snorted when you said that last part.
"Good try. I know he would never say that." Your laugh on the other line confirmed that.
"It was worth a try. Anyway, I made dinner if you want it. I thought maybe we could stay in and watch a movie tonight. My way of saying thank you for not being psycho about all this." Bradley shook his head knowing he was in fact acting like that.
"Yeah, that sounds good. I have to talk to Mav really quick and then I'll be on my way home." He had grabbed his stuff and slowly made his way out of the locker room to Maverick's office.
"Oh, tell him I said hi and that he owes me dinner. I convinced Penny to give him a second chance. Tell him not to mess this one up. I can only work so many miracles." Bradley smiled as he sat across from Mav.
"I'll let him know. See you in a few." He hung up and sighed. Mav was sitting at his desk with a knowing smile on his face, making Bradley feel even worse about the situation.
"A few things. First, I'm going to need you to lay off on Hangman. I appreciate you making him sweat a bit, but Y/N seems to really like him, and I don't want to ruin that." Maverick nodded his head and sat back in his chair.
"Are you sure? Ice and I had a whole good cop bad cop thing planned out. He was going to be the bad cop because he just has this stare that seems to pierce your soul. Used to give me nightmares back in the day."
Bradley couldn't help but chuckle, "Yeah, Mav. Thanks though. Also, she said you owe her dinner. Convinced Penny to give you a chance or something." He watched Mav's whole face light up.
"I owe that kid a whole lot more than dinner." He watched as Bradley stood up and make his way to the door.
"I know you may not like this, but she has to grow up some time. I'd rather it be here where we can help her if she falls than halfway across the country. Seresin has his work cut out for him, but I think he's a good choice for her. Cut yourself some slack though. She's a lot like your mom in the sense that no one is going to stop her from doing what she wants."
Bradley offered him a small smile and walked out. Maverick waited a few minutes to make sure he was gone and pulled out his phone to text Ice.
"The kid said to lay off, but what he doesn't know won't hurt him."
A/N: Thoughts? Likes or dislikes? I love hearing from you all! :)