Warnings: mentions of car accident, injuries (minor), somewhat insecure reader?
Not beta read – hardly alpha read
Enjoy
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Your leg bounced anxiously as the phone rang and rang and rang.
Dang it.
This was the seventh person you’d tried and so far, no one was picking up.
Around you, the emergency room buzzed with nurses and doctors running to and fro and people in varying stages of injury.
You were lucky – the car accident you had just been involved with had only left you with some bruises and a wrist that the attending doctor had assured you was just sprained. You wore a cloth brace for ‘precautionary measures only’.
But now you really wanted to go home. Your car was a mess and had to be taken away by a tow truck- you needed a ride.
But so far, no one had answered your calls.
You flipped back through the unanswered calls and text messages and you sighed heavily.
You could try for a taxi but… you had one more option, though you debated the merits of calling him.
Maybe a taxi would be better?
But you really wanted someone you knew and could trust- your nerves were frayed and you just wanted to have someone else take over and let you just be.
You were also about three minutes away from tears, so there was that.
With a mental pep talk, it’s not like he was going to bite; the worst he could say was no- you could do this, you pushed on his contact name and held the phone to your ear.
It rang once, twice and before the disappointment could fully settle in your gut the line clicked to life with a brusk, “Simpson.”
You exhaled a bit shakily. He’d actually answered.
“Hello?” his voice came across the line gruffly and you closed your eyes, taking a deep breath.
“A-Admiral Simpson,” you stuttered out, pausing immediately after. You weren’t exactly sure what to say. ‘Hey, I almost died, can I get a ride?’ That probably wasn’t the best approach.
“Y/N?” Cyclone asked after a moment, sounding much more alert and invested in the conversation. “Are you okay?”
You mentally sent him a thank you.
That was as good a way as any to start your request.
“No,” you said after another moment of silence. “I mean, yes, I’m fine, for the most part, just bruised but I need a ride and no one else answered or I wouldn’t bother you and I’m really sorry but I didn’t know what else to do and I didn’t want to take a taxi but I can- that’d probably be better- I’m really sorry for bothering you—“
“Y/N,” Cyclone’s ‘Admiral Voice’ cut through your increasing panic and you snapped your mouth shut, wiping at the sudden tears tracking down your cheeks. You tried really hard to not sniff loud enough he could hear you -you didn’t want to seem weak around the unflappable Air Boss- but you didn’t quite manage.
Cyclone’s voice was much softer, but no less urgent when he asked you, “Where are you?”
“Hospital,” you croaked out, wiping away yet more tears.
You heard the sound of the admiral moving around and then doors closing and opening.
“I’m leaving Base and heading that way- what happened?”
“Car accident,” you said quietly, not really able to expand on that. It honestly happened so fast and you’d already given your report to the police and the doctors;you just wanted to go home.
“And you’re okay?” Cyclone pressed and you felt the knot of anxiety in your chest ease up a bit at the concern in his voice.
“Yeah,” you said softly, not able to cover up the sniff this time, “I’m fine. Just…”
“Shaken up?” the Admiral said softly and you gave a wet laugh.
“Yeah. Kinda dumb, huh? You guys fight in wars and I’m freaking out because someone smashed into my car.”
“No,” came the ‘Admiral Voice’ again. “It is not ‘kinda dumb’. There is nothing wrong with being shaken up by an accident, Y/N.”
“But,” you found yourself arguing, “you guys deal with accidents and crashes and battles all the time; you’re never shaken up.” Never mind that you weren’t actually military like they were.
There was an inelegant snort from the man in the other side of the phone.
“If you’ve gotten that from listening to Mitchell’s stories, you should know he makes at least 80 percent of them up,” Cyclone muttered and you couldn’t help the laugh, even if it came out a little more shrill than normal.
“That’s better,” the man said warmly and you felt that knot in your chest loosen a little more.
You’d spoken to the Air Boss on quite a few occasions when you’d crossed paths and he was a good conversationalist and had a dry sense of humor but you’d never been on the receiving end of his care.
It almost made the whole accident worth it.
Speaking of accident—
“Are you almost here?” you asked in a small voice, feeling a bit silly for being so needy, no matter what Cyclone said.
“Just pulling in,” he answered. You stood up from one of the plastic chairs in the lobby where you’d been turned out once the doctor’s released you.
“I can meet you out front,” you said quickly, ready to get away from there.
There was a pause and then, “You’ve already been released?”
You gave a soft huff, already feeling better at the idea of getting out of there and going home. “Yeah- there wasn’t much wrong with me. Got a brace and also a prescription for pain meds if I need them- that’s it.”
“A brace?” the Admiral’s tone had sharpened and you gave a small smile as you walked out the door, easily finding his pickup idling at the curb in front.
“You can see for yourself in a moment,” you answered and then hung up as his driver door opened and Admiral Simpson came around the front of his truck, eyes boring into you from behind classic aviators.
You shaded your eyes with your not-braced hand as he stopped right in front of you.
“Thank you for coming,” you said after a few moments of silence.
Cyclone gently took your braced hand, turning it slightly this way and that to look it over.
“Always,” he rumbled as he finally deemed your brace satisfactory and opened the passenger door for you.
You gladly accepted his help into the cab and then leaned back against the seat and closed your eyes as he shut the door after you.
The truck smelled like him and leather and you felt the last of the tension release from your shoulders.
You felt safe.
As soon as Cyclone got into the driver’s seat, he raised a hand to gently brush a few tear tracks on your cheeks.
“Alright?” he asked softly and you blearily opened your eyes.
“Yeah,” you answered back just as softly. “Just tired.”
Beau hummed, putting his truck into gear and slowly pulling away from the curb.
“You going to be okay tonight?” he asked after a few minutes of silence and you gave him a soft smile.
“Yes, thank you. I’m just going to take some pain meds and go to sleep. I’ll be fine on my own.”
Even though you wanted nothing more than someone to cuddle with and sleep next to. But you figured that might be a bit above the call of duty for the Admiral.
Besides, it’s not like you were attacked and were afraid or anything. Just shaken up and on an adrenaline high- a high that was quickly leaving you.
Cyclone glanced over at you briefly before looking back to the road.
“We need to go fill your prescription?”
You gave a small groan. Dang it. You’d already forgotten about that- Beau made you feel safe enough to relax and your tiredness came to the forefront.
“I have some over the counter stuff at home,” you said finally. You just wanted to go and sleep. “I’ll be fine.”
You could feel the raised eyebrows even though Beau wasn’t facing your way.
“Those aren’t going to be near as effective as what the doctor prescribed; you can stay in the truck and I’ll go in and fill it.”
You blinked over at him in surprise, though you really weren’t sure why. The man had left his job to come get you after all.
“You don’t have to,” you started but Cyclone’s look, even hidden behind his sunglasses, made you raise your good hand up in surrender. “Nevermind. Thank you, Admiral.”
The man huffed. “Beau or Cyclone, Y/N - not Admiral. The only reason I didn’t correct you when you first called was because I was a little preoccupied by the fact you had called at all. But I’d really rather you call me by my name and not my rank. I’d like to be more than that with you.”
There was silence in the cab of the truck after his declaration while you valiantly tried to figure out what exactly was going on. Maybe you’d hit your head in the accident? But no, they’d checked for a concussion at the hospital. Did adrenaline crashes include auditory hallucinations?
For his part, Beau was calmly driving, seemingly not bothered by the silence at all. But then, he was the Air Boss and probably dealt with more stressful and awkward situations than proclaiming intentions? feelings? and not having them immediately returned.
Not that you didn’t want to return them -hello, you weren’t blind and the man was pushing all the provider, protector buttons, but…what? Since when did he even remotely think of you as anything other than a friend of Maverick’s? (And it’s not like that relationship was necessarily a feather in your cap considering the love-hate relationship they had with each other – and Mav’s complete disregard for anything resembling rules and authority.)
The truck coming to a stop made you snap out of it and you looked around to see you were at one of the pharmacies in town.
Beau leaned over the console and looked over the rims of his sunglasses at you.
“Prescription, sweetheart?”
You automatically gave him the paper -now he was pulling out the pet names?!- and you just watched him in stunned silence as he exited the truck and headed inside.
What.
You pinched yourself lightly to make sure this was actually a thing. You winced. Yep. It was real. Huh.
Now you just had to decide what to do about it.
It wasn’t long before Cyclone was walking back out of the store (seriously, did Khaki always look that good?) with a bag filled what looked like a lot more than your prescription.
Curiously, you watched as he came around the passenger side and opened your door, putting the bag on the floor by your feet.
“For you,” he explained when he caught your eye. “Figured they’d help.”
He straightened up out of the truck and shut your door once again, heading back to the driver side, and you leaned down and looked through the bag.
Besides your filled prescription, there were Epson salts, Gatorades, a few different kinds of chocolate, a couple of ice packs and a heated blanket.
You looked at Beau as he got into the truck, eyes wide.
“Those things will help you the next few days,” the Admiral explained before you had a chance to even open your mouth. “The salts are for a bath and the ice packs and heated blanket for your bruises and sore muscles. However bad you feel now, once the adrenaline wears off completely and you sleep tonight, you’ll be stiff and feeling much worse tomorrow. Use those things and you’ll feel a lot better a lot quicker.”
You stared at him, blinking back tears. Honestly, if you hadn’t already been attracted to him, this would have sealed the deal.
“I-thank you,” you breathed, reaching your good hand over to grab his. “You didn’t have to, I mean, I really appreciate it, Beau. Truly.”
The man gave a small smile, his hand squeezing yours.
“I’m glad. Now, let’s get you home and to bed, sweetheart, alright?”
You murmured your agreement, still staring at him in wonder – no one had ever done something like this for you and it left you stunned and with a warm feeling curling in your chest.
Beau seemed to understand your fragility and kept your hand in his, running his thumb over the back of your hand as he drove down the road.
You shifted slightly in your seat to turn towards him, tiredly resting your head against the seat and closing your eyes, soft smile on your face. He really was wonderful.
“Go to sleep, Y/N,” Beau murmured from beside you. "We'll be at your house soon."
You hummed in agreement, giving his hand a soft squeeze before letting yourself drift off.
Such a wonderful man…
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You woke with a start sometime later, wincing as you accidentally put pressure on your wrist. You looked around in confusion – you were in your house. In your room. In your bed.
What…?
There was a creak in the hallway and you jerked your head over towards your door to see Beau fill the doorway.
“Ah. I was hoping you’d wake before I left. It can be disconcerting waking up alone after an accident. Especially in a different place than where you fell asleep.” He moved farther into the room towards the bed. “You okay? Remember what happened?”
You stared at him for a moment, mind racing. Remember – oh yes. The accident. And calling the Admiral. Who wanted you to call him Beau. And who bought much more than your prescription.
“You like me,” you almost accused him and Beau jerked in surprise at the random statement before barking a laugh.
“Yeah, sweetheart. I do,” he grinned, taking a seat on the edge of your bed.
You stared at him, not quite comprehending the ease of his agreement.
“Why?” you asked him, still confused.
“Because you’re you,” the Air Boss said with a shrug. “You’re smart, funny, gorgeous and you make me feel like I have a purpose outside the Navy. I enjoy the time we have together, even when it’s short conversations about the weather. And I even enjoy talking to Mitchell when he’s regaling me with stories of your latest escapades together.”
You looked at him carefully, seeing the open and honest expression on his face. You had no idea he saw you like that.
“I didn’t know,” you murmured and he gave a small smile.
“And now you do. If you’re agreeable, I’d like to do this in a way that would leave no doubt as to my regard for you; I’d like to take you on a date when you’re recovered.”
You found yourself nodding eagerly before he’d even finished his sentence.
“Yes -please,” you said quickly and he gave a soft laugh.
“Alright, sweetheart. I’ll plan something once you’re better.” He laughed louder at the pout that sprung up on your face. Forget being better - you were fine to go on a date right now!
“I’ll swing by with some coffee and breakfast tomorrow morning,” he compromised, standing up and then leaning down to tuck the covers up closer around you. “I’ll help you get better as quickly as I can and then we’ll have our date, okay?”
“Okay,” you grinned, snuggling down into your covers. Beau gave you a soft look, leaning in and pressing a kiss to your forehead.
“Sweet dreams, my girl. I’ll see you in the morning.”
