For anon and @sunflowergurl98
Request; hey! can I request a mav fic where he sees reader flirting with another guy and he gets jealous and confesses how he feels! tysm 🤍 + Could you possibly write a maverick fic where the female reader is one of the mission candidates and is also Bradshaw? 💕
Warnings; bradshaw!reader, i suck at flirting and writing jealousy so it’s really not the best lmao sorry!
Kinda unhappy with how this turned out especially with how similar from my last fic this one feels like. Again, I’m sorry!
Growing up, you always heard stories about Nick Bradshaw and how he was dedicated to his life as an aviator. One of your biggest regret in life was that you did not remember him- you were too young when he died during a mission.
Bradley, who happened to be a couple of years older than you, would tell you all the stories he heard about his dad, stories that had been told by Nick’s best friend- Pete.
You had met a few times in the past, mostly when you were visiting your cousin and he would be there or would show up to check on Carole and Bradley.
It was no surprise when you told your family that you would join the navy too, following Nick and more recently, Bradley’s footsteps. When you told your cousin you were going to join the navy, he was thrilled and said, half-jokingly, that maybe one day you would be on the same squad.
While the two of you would have loved that as you had always been close, and even if you couldn’t see each more much anymore- there weren’t many chances that you would actually work together one day. But that was until you were called back to Top Gun.
Not only you were going to see old friends again, but you would also work with your cousin- you had no idea what that mission would be but you were impatient to learn more about it.
____
Unlike your cousin, you weren’t late to the rendez-vous at the Hard Deck for the reunion before truly going back to Top Gun. Everyone was around the pool table, as you weren’t interested in playing, you proposed yourself to go order some drinks which everyone agreed on.
At the bar, you didn’t expect to see a familiar face you hadn’t seen in a long time- Pete. The last time you had seen him was when you graduated Top Gun and being aware of what had happened between Bradley and him, you weren’t sure where to stand.
It didn’t concern you, of course, but Bradley was your family and having his back was what seemed to be logical- on the other hand, you could understand why Pete did what he did, he wanted to protect Bradley, so he wouldn’t get the same fate as his father.
Sighing, you set your thoughts aside for a moment and sat on the still next to him, “ Captain Mitchell.”
“ Y/N?”
“ Indeed,” you flashed him a smile, “ it’s been a while, mav.”
“ It has been too long. How are you doing?”
“ Great, feels weird to be back here. What about you? Are you being called back too?”
“ What makes you think that’s the case?”
Chuckling at his question, you ordered the drinks to Penny before answering him, “ come on, I’m not this naïve- the best pilots to ever graduate Top Gun are being called back and you’re back in town.”
“ I almost forgot how smart you are. I’ve been asked to get you all ready for the mission.”
“ Well, I’m sure Bradley is going to be thrilled when he sees you.”
Maverick rolled his eyes at your sarcastic comment- Bradley being called back aswell was going to make the situation more complicated, or interesting, “ trust me, if I had been given the choice I wouldn’t have been the one to teach you.”
“ You’d rather fly than teach, I know.”
As you were about to pay Penny for the drinks she had just finished serving, she told you that you didn’t need to pay as Pete was going to pay for everyone drinks for not respecting Penny’s rule to not put the phone on the bar.
Giving him a pat on the back, you grabbed your friends drinks, “ see you tomorrow Mav and thank you for the drinks.”
Not long after you got back to your friends, Bradley- also known as Rooster, finally showed up. Seeing him wearing one of those hawaiians shirt, you smiled to yourself, he hadn’t changed one bit.
The evening was definitely one to remember- after playing at the pool table for a while, Bradley sat down in front of the piano and started to play one of his favorite songs- Great balls of fire.
You couldn’t remember how many times you two sang this song in your childhood and teenage years, in a way, it was your song- and this evening, you had a blast singing it again after a while.
———
The following day, the vice-admiral Simpson and the rear-admiral Bates explained what the secret mission you had been brought back for was- a mission where the chances of all coming back alive were basically non-existent.
When Maverick entered the room to present himself as your instructor for the next couple of weeks, Bradley turned his head to your side and shot you a confused look as if he was asking you if you knew- you only shrugged as a silent answer.
Once the plan for the training was set up, Maverick challenged all of you to try to shot him down in the sky- he wanted to see what you could do and evaluate what your weaknesses and strengths were.
It came to no surprise that you were teaming up with your cousin- as the two of you would take your shot at Maverick last, you took the opportunity to remind Bradley that for the sake of this mission he needed to put his bitterness aside.
After all, it was almost a suicide mission, no one needed bitter feelings to compromise that said mission, “ Bradley please, don’t do anything stupid alright? It’s just a test.”
“ I don’t see what you’re talking about.”
Hearing this answer, you shot him an annoyed look, now wasn’t the time for those feelings no matter how valid they were, “ I’m serious, don’t be stupid.”
“ I won’t be. I’m not going to ruin our chances of showing the others that we’re better than them.”
Playfully rolling your eyes at his comment, you knew it was mostly meant against Hangman since the two couldn’t get alone even in the slightest and most likely never will.
Putting your helmet on and securing it, you went to your jet and climbed on it- yours and Bradley’s turn was coming next. So far, everyone had failed to take Maverick down, and honestly, it wasn’t that big of a surprise. They had underestimated him even if to this day, he was still the best pilot Top Gun ever had in its program.
Once you were both in the sky with no real strategy other than trying to shot down Maverick as quickly as possible since the both of you knew what he was capable of- you listened to your target for the next few minutes list out the rules.
“ Good morning aviators, this is your captain speaking. Welcome to basic fight maneuvers. Today exercise is dog fighting- guns only, no missiles. We do not go below the Hard Deck a five thousand feet. Working as a team, you have to shoot me down, or else.”
You were amused that Maverick was repeating this as he had basically said the same things for the groups before you. Securing your mask on your face, you wanted to be ready before the start of the exercise, “ or else what, captain?”
It didn’t take more than a couple of seconds for the captain to show that he was ready to fight back as he appeared from nowhere and sped up in between yours and Rooster’s jets, pulling the two of you apart, “ i’ll shoot back.”
At the beginning, your cousin and you were doing well, even having an opening to shoot down Maverick but then, without an explanation, Bradley stopped communicating and went on solo to try to shoot down Maverick’s jet- causing the two of you to lose as well.
You were disappointed to say the least, you really believed that Bradley was smart enough to stay professional for the sake of this mission but it seemed like you had been wrong- when the day of the mission would come, it could cost the lives of the whole team.
____
After that incident during the exercise, you tried to talk to your cousin and you had plenty of times to do so since you had to fulfill your part of the lost bet but every time you’d try to talk to him, he just wouldn’t answer.
You knew he wasn’t angry at you but at himself and probably at Pete too, he was most likely blaming himself for failing the exercise, even if you would have probably failed anyways.
Ultimately, you gave up after a last reminder that if he wanted to talk, he could come up to you at any hour of the day or night and went to take a shower. As it was still quite early, some of the group had went to the Hard Deck while the rest stayed back at the base.
You chose the second option and just walked outside and got to the spot you used to go to back when you were in the Top Gun program- it was your spot, the place you’d go to when you wanted to cool down or simply watch the sunset.
During your time there, you never saw anyone come there, not even once- so when you saw someone already there when you arrived, you were taken aback, so much that it took you a whole minute to realize it was Pete.
Sighing, you ended up making your way to him and leaned against the barrier as well, you were both watching in silence the last jets land on the base for the night.
“ I thought you might have went with the others at the Hard Deck.”
“ Maybe next time- I wanted to have my moment here with the sunset.”
From the corner of your eyes, you saw a smile creeps on his lips, “ back when Top Gun was located in Miramar, I had my spot like this one.”
“ I’ll share my spot with you but only if it stays secret.”
“ That’s fine with me.”
While a silence settled between the two of you after this short interaction, it wasn’t awkward at all, it was comforting. That was until Pete asked you about your cousin,“ did you talk with Bradley?”
“ I tried but he didn’t say a word.”
“ He needs time to cool down.”
Shrugging, you were already getting tired of this situation and you didn’t need to be a genius to know that it wasn’t going to get better anytime soon, “ I know but still, I don’t know what to do to help him out.”
“ Only time will help. He’s still bitter and angry, it’s understandable.”
“ Why do you take it so well? It’s been years now.”
“ I knew he wouldn’t forgive me.”
Your body shifting on the side, you were now looking at your friend, confused by his words, “ why did you do it then?”
After a silence, he hesitantly gave you an answer, one that you didn’t expect in the slightest, “ I made a promise to Carole before she passed away. I promised her that I would not let Bradley get the same fate as Nick.”
Hearing this broke your heart but explained everything, Pete had sacrificed his friendship with Bradley to protect him and keep a promise. It made you remember how scared she was when Bradley first joined the navy.
You could remember how she cried at the thought of losing her son the same way she lost the love of her life. This revelation had shaken you up, mostly because it brought back memories but also because you were touched that Pete considered you as trustworthy enough to tell you this big of a secret.
However, you now wondered why he didn’t tell the truth to your cousin, it wouldn’t have fixed the relationship but would definitely improve it, “ why not telling Bradley now? I know he would understand.”
“ He can’t know, y/n- I don’t want him to be angry at Carole.”
“ You’d rather take the risk of him not forgiving you?”
“ Yes, without any hesitation. I owe that to Carole.”
That sentence alone was enough to understand his true motive, even after decades, he was still blaming himself for his best friend’s death, “ what happened wasn’t your fault, you know that right?”
“ It was- Nick died because of me. Taking the blame so Bradley doesn’t know it was Carole’s wish isn’t too much.”
“ Mav, it’s not fair. Carole told me what happened, it was not your fault!”, taking a step towards him, you wrapped your arms around your friend- it was the first time you hugged him, but you could tell he needed it, “ your secret is safe with me, I won’t tell him.”
“ Thank you.”
____
A lot had happened in the last few days, the training was rough and exhausting- almost scary at some points but what was bothering was the atmosphere in the team. Bradley couldn’t get along with Hangman, and since the latter had blown up your cousin’s secret, it had gotten worse.
On your side, you were more lucky since you were getting along with everyone, even hangman no matter how much he could piss you off, he was still fun to be around.
You had grown really close to Pete since he told you his secret, and you would be lying if you didn’t admit you had a crush on him. Now, you weren’t delusional, you didn’t expect to have a chance with him for a lot of reasons.
One, he was your instructor. Two, he was quite older than you. And three, he would probably be weirded out if he learned that you had a crush on him since you were Bradley’s cousin.
Having a crush on him wasn’t something you had chosen and let’s be honest- he was an attractive man, not to mention how badass he was. You weren’t the first, or the last, to be attracted to him.
Today was different than the previous days, you wouldn’t be flying to train, instead, the plan was to memorize the path for the mission and every obstacles you’d have to avoid, and the afternoon you’d go to the beach and have a volley-ball session.
You weren’t sure if this had been approved by the admiral or any high authority but you didn’t mind in the slightest, the training was intense and pressuring- having an afternoon to decompress was more than welcomed.
At the end of the day, you had even more fun than you expected and everyone was pleasantly surprised to see bradley and hangman getting along- it was thanks to the thrill of the game, but still, it was an improvement.
After a few sets, you all had stopped keeping up on the points and just enjoyed the moment. It was the first time since you all had been called back that the atmosphere was this light, it was good to see that even Pete was having fun.
Your favorite moment of this afternoon was probably when you scored for the first time and Coyote lifted you on his shoulders to celebrate- while you had been laughing the whole time, you thought that you were both going to fall head first in the sand.
When this enjoyable afternoon was over, you all decided to stay at the Hard Deck for a drink and eventually have dinner. Just like the evening when you had all been reunited, most of the group was gathered around the pool table to play.
Only Pete and you weren’t playing but you were sitting right next to the group so you were still part of the different conversations going around.
For part of the evening up until now, you had been flirting here and there with Coyote, while you weren’t interested, you wanted to forget about your crush and growing feelings for Pete, sadly it wasn’t working yet.
You wished you’d be flirting with him instead, that way you would actually be invested in it but you still believed you had no chance with him and you had to wrap your mind around this fact.
From what you had noticed, Pete had been rather quite this evening, which didn’t feel like him. You wondered if something was wrong with him or if he was simply tired after this long day.
Snickering at how Hangman missed his turn at the pool table, you got up on your feet to go refill the glasses of everyone who had emptied their drinks.
While waiting for Penny to refill the drinks, you sat on one of the stools in front of the bar. You smiled hearing in the background your friends laughing at a joke, until you saw Pete sitting on the stool next to you.
“ Coming to help?”
“ Indeed.”
“ What a gentleman you are, Pete Mitchell.”
You watched him smile at your comment, but he was quick to drop to a more serious face, “ can I ask you something personal?”
Playfully squinting your eyes at him, you tried to understand is suddenly serious face,“ sure, what’s up?”
“ Well, you don’t have to answer if you’re not comfortable with my question but, are you and Coyote seeing each other?”
“ What? No! He’s my friend, that’s it.”
“ You two seemed to flirt a lot for so called friends.”
“ And what? Are you jealous?” of course, when you asked this, you were joking, there was no way he was jealous- yet his silence was telling otherwise, “ wait, you’re jealous?”
“ Would that be so bad?”
“ I don’t know, why would you be jealous? Honestly, nothing will ever happen between Coyote and me if that can make you feel better.”
Pete shrugged, you could tell from his body language that he was embarrassed, “ I guess, I would’ve liked to take his place.”
To say that your heart was racing at this revelation was an understatement, you couldn’t believe what you heard, “ do you mean it, like really? Because if you’re making fun of me, that’s not cool at all.”
“ I would never do that, y/n.”
“ I trust you, then. Alright, I guess it’s my turn to be honest, uh?” sucking in a deep breath, you closed your eyes for a second, mentally getting ready to reveal your little secret, “ I think I’m catching feelings for you, like I already have a crush on you but it’s becoming more.”
As Pete listened to you, he ended up putting his hand over yours which definitely made you feel better, “ I feel the same exact way.”
“ So, what now? And what about Bradley?”
“ I think I’d like to give us a chance, I’m convinced it can work out- if you want, of course. And as for Bradley, he already hates me, so that won’t change much.”
