Stars - Iceman (Top Gun)

Seventeen

The next day, it was time to resume the normal hops. Sarah knew Pete was not ready to fly up there, because she felt the same way as him. Both of them did not want to fly, but Viper insisted that they go up in the air as soon as possible.

"Commander, sir!" Sarah stood at attention in front of him.

"What do you need, Riser?" Viper asked, waving for her to stand at ease.

"I don't think Maverick is ready to fly, sir. He is still mourning Goose, and his state of mind is not right, sir," She explained to him.

"No, we are going to resume sending him up there on a normal schedule. We are not changing his schedule at your request. You already asked enough of us this year," Viper said in a tone of finality.

"Sir, permission to ask another question," Sarah asked him.

"Granted, and this better be good," Viper sounded tired.

"May I be Maverick's RIO for this hop? I want to be there for him and Sundown may not exactly grasp why he is feeling this way," She asked, trying to get his approval so she could make Pete feel safe.

"Fine, but leave now," Viper waved her off.

Tom walked up to Sarah and hugged her. He didn't want to let her go up there, not after almost facing death and seeing someone die. He couldn't take her having those flashbacks up in the air.

Sarah tapped on his sides to make him release her.

"I'll be fine, okay? Stop worrying," she told him. "I have to go to preflight now."

"Okay..." he went towards the observation building while Sarah went to Pete's plane.

She sat down in the RIO's seat and watched as Pete walked up to the plane, a sullen look on his face. She knew he did not want to be here, but he could not just skip out on a hop like this. He stopped when he saw Sarah in the cockpit.

"Sarah? You're not supposed to be here, Sundown is my RIO today," he said, confused.

"Well, I asked Viper for a little change in the schedule so I could be your RIO, I hope that's okay," She explained to him.

"This is better than okay! Thank you so much," he moved to hug her then remembered that she was already strapped in. He sat in the pilot's seat and lowered the canopy.

"Between you and me... I'm glad you did this. I don't think Sundown would have understood the situation. You are the one who knows it the best," Pete whispered.

"Of course, now let's get out there and kick some ass! Just... take your time though," Sarah cheered, then whispered that last part.

Pete looked at the controls, starting to sweat. He suddenly got a flashback of Nick laying there lifeless, and blinked a few times, trying to focus. He slowly put on his oxygen mask and gave the signal for launch. Once in the air, he struggled to stay straight.

"It's okay. You can do this..." Sarah coaxed him. He leveled out the plane and stayed there.

"Come on kid, come on, get in there, engage," Jester said into the comm.

"You got a bogey at 2 o'clock low, Mav," Sarah reported to him. "You got the angle for it, whenever you're ready."

Pete broke right but she could tell he was struggling to focus on the situation. He followed Jester but didn't try to engage or take the shot.

"Come on kid, take the shot," Jester muttered into the comm.

"You can engage at any time," Sarah said slow enough but not enough to make him angry. He kept following Jester, until he broke right again.

"Are you okay, Mav?" She asked him.

"It's not good. It doesn't look good." He responded.

"It's okay, you tried your best, you don't have to take the shot if you don't want to," Sarah tried to calm him down.

They landed the plane and got out. She put a hand on Pete's shoulder. "You did great out there. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise."

"He could have taken the shot!" Sundown said behind him.

Pete turned around and grabbed him by the collar. "I will fire when I am good and ready! You got that?" He yelled, then let Sundown go.

"Come on Pete, let's go," Sarah guided him to the locker room, shooting an angry glance at Sundown. They walked into the locker room and sat down on one of the benches.

"I... don't think I can do this anymore. I'm quitting. Nick's.... death.... is causing me so much pain," Pete said, choking up.

Sarah slowly rubbed his back. "I don't want you to go, but I know what happened really traumatized you. It's okay, we will see each other soon. I know it."

Pete opened his locker and started to take things out of it. Tom walked in and Sarah sent him a glance that said "if you say one wrong thing, you are gonna get it!"

Tom opened his locker, put some stuff in, closed it, and then turned around to Pete. He was trying to form words but was struggling. "Mitchell..."

Pete paused, listening to what he had to say.

"I'm sorry about Goose..." another pause, Sarah knew he wanted to form the right words to not make him mad.

"Everybody liked him," he wanted to say more, but knew that he wasn't capable.

"I'm sorry," he walked back out, Sarah's glance changing to say "Thank you..."

Pete gathered the rest of his things and headed out of the room, leaving Sarah there. Wolfman peeked his head out from behind the wall and saw Sarah there.

"What are you doing?" He asked her.

"Well, I was watching Pete, but he left," she responded, looking at him.

He sighed. "I'll make a call."

He went to the payphone and dialed a number. "This is Wolfman, yeah, Maverick just quit." He hung up and walked out of the room, leaving Sarah alone.

Tom peeked inside, making sure no one was in the room, and then stood beside Sarah. She patted the bench beside her, inviting him to sit down. He gave her a side hug.

"I'm sorry about Maverick. I know you liked him," he apologized to Sarah.

"He had to do what he needed to do. It's okay, I know there is a chance he may come to graduation as a guest, let's hope," She responded.

Together, they both stood up and walked to their separate buildings. Sarah changed and laid in bed for a while. She eventually drifted off to sleep, dreaming.

"GOOSE! NO!! ICE, WE HAVE TO GO BACK AND SAVE THEM!"

She woke up in a cold sweat, the mental image of Nick forming in her mind again. She sighed, hoping that Pete was okay, wherever he was.

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I'm so so sorry for the late update today! I had a busy day but wanted to write something, so here you go...