Callsign: Danger

Lieutenant Bradley Bradshaw, sweetheart.

"You know that it isn't gonna be easy, Lei." 

I sigh and sit back in my chair to look at him, "That's the point, Dad."

Dad put his tools down and raised his hands to his face, annoyed. "You never listen to me Leila, Top Gun is hard. Harder than anything you think you've done before."

"You did it. I can do it. I graduated from the academy, same as you, I'm serving on the same base you did. I can do this, please." 

His eyes softened, and he smiled. "That's my Lei, always willing to give it a go. I won't lie to you, Top Gun is going to test your limits, and after those 8 weeks, you're not going to be the person you thought you were." 

I nodded and stood up, grabbing my letter from the workbench. "I'll see you in 8 weeks Dad."

"See you then kiddo, give it hell." He pulled me in for a hug, resting his chin on my head. "I love you."

"Love you too, Dad. I gotta go, I gotta be at the base by six." I scrambled out of his embrace and almost jumped onto my bike. As I revved my engine I thought I saw tears coming out of my Dad's eyes. I headed towards the base, riding through the desert as the sun set slowly behind the dunes.

My Dad is tough. I grew up as an Air Force brat, obviously. My mom never seemed to be bothered by the constant moving and separation from him, I hated it. The days I did see him were the best of my life, the days spent with him and my Uncle Nick playing the piano at some military bar. My Dad was never the same after my Uncle Nick died, and it got worse when Mom got sick. 

I was 16 when Mom died, so Dad had to pause his active duty to raise me. I followed in his footsteps and applied to the U.S Air Force Academy, much to his disapproval. At first, he was angry, then just sad, and he went quiet. He was at my graduation, resentfully, but he smiled when my name was called.

When I started at the Academy I realised I had never known how much of a legend my dad was. The name Maverick echoed the halls of my classes and was uttered by my instructors, as I regularly heard Wait, Mitchell? As in Maverick Mitchell?  After graduating it seemed I could never live up to his reputation, I was even deployed to the same base he first was. 

But now, this was a new opportunity. For me. I wasn't going to let my dad get my glory. I got into Top Gun all on my own, at 23, my second year serving. I was going to make Top Gun my bitch, and graduate at the top. I knew I would. 

As I drove along the taxi strip towards the base, I saw a jet preparing for take-off. Shit.

I rode faster and faster towards the jet, praying I would flag it down. Flaggers ran down the tarp waving at me to stop and yelling, I rode on. I sped up and whizzed past them, circling back to face the jet's open back. A group of fighter pilots sat inside, gaping at me. 

"Lieutenant." A voice yelled. I hopped off my bike quickly and saluted. 

"Lieutenant Mitchell, I see you and your father share the same punctual qualities. You're late." Admiral Coin stood in front of me, eyeing me.

"Apologies, sir," I said.

"Just get on that jet Rio."

"Yes sir." As I stepped towards the jet, my bike collapsed behind me and I winced as it hit the runway. 

"Don't worry, Rio, we'll get her fixed up for you by the time you get back," An engineer winked.

"Thanks, Tank." I smiled weakly and walked with my head down towards the jet, duffel trailing behind me. 

As I sat, defeated on the carrier, I didn't take notice of who I had thrown myself next to. I turned to face a shoulder, and when I looked up, the shoulder belonged to a face. The face turned to look down at me and scoffed. 

"You're Maverick's kid, not what I was expecting."

"And who are you?" I glared back, arching my neck to look up at him.

"Lieutenant Bradley Bradshaw, sweetheart."