I Know You ~ J.Seresin

3

"Okay, Okay, wait," Natasha says giggling as she puts her beer down on Tate's coffee table. The two sit on the floor of Tate's beach house while Bradley and Javy sit behind them on her couch.

"So you're telling me that, your father, and Maverick didn't get along? But now they're best buds?" She asks as she looks over at Tate confused. Tate nods as she puts her beer down. "They were a lot like Hangman and Bradley if I'm being honest. It wasn't until they two had flown together that they had amended their differences,"

That was true. But the other part is that her father knew how much Bradley's father meant to Maverick. And losing him the way he did was the worst pain Maverick had experienced. Her father couldn't imagine losing his partner.

That's when her father decided to ease up on the man, and they soon became close friends. Maverick, Iceman, and, Slider. The trio later became closer, but every time Maverick did something out of pocket, he was sent off on a different mission than the others.

Tate's father then moved up rankings, while Maverick only moved up to Captain. Her father surpassed him, and he started to help Maverick out of his terrible decisions, now that he had the upper hand to do so. But of course, his hellion of a friend could not stop getting into trouble.

Well, that was until Maverick and Ice had found out about Bradley's mother falling ill. Maverick had changed his behavior to be more present with the boy. He knew that he would not be able to live with himself if his best friend's son grew up without him present for a majority of his life, if not all of it.

Maverick never had kids of his own. At least none that he knew of. But he saw Bradley as his own. He saw Tate as his own. When Iceman had broken the news to his friend about his wife being pregnant with their first child, the two had grown closer.

So close, in fact, Iceman made Maverick the godfather of his eldest. Maverick had felt a little bit of pressure knowing that now he had to set a good example for the two kids as they grew up. He was close with the pair. They grew even closer when Iceman adopted Bradley as his own.

The three had a bond that could never be replaced.

But it was soon broken when Maverick did the unthinkable. Pull Bradley's papers for the Naval Academy. Tate's father knew the circumstances in which they were pulled but did not agree with the decision.

As the new legal guardian of his daughter's best friend, he believed Bradley was more than capable of taking care of himself and staying safe in the academy.

He wanted him to go. Not only because he knew that's what the boy wanted. He wanted Bradley to be like his father. But also, the idea of the best friends going together, gave Iceman a sense of ease, knowing they both would look after and care for each other.

Maverick, on the other hand, made a promise to Carole. How do you tell a dying woman no? How do you refuse her wish for her son to not end up like her late husband? He had hoped it would have knocked some sense into the boy, and hoped that he wouldn't apply again.

Oh, but he couldn't be more wrong when he saw Bradley had put in the application once again. This time followed by Tate's second application. He knew that there was no stopping him, especially if Tate was involved.

Now here were the two, in the academy together, sitting with their friends, drinking beer and enjoying every second of it since they had set foot on the North Island pavement nearly two weeks ago.