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Conference Room, NAS Miramar
Summer, 1986
The days following Goose's death passed by in a haze for Maverick. One moment, he would be clearing out Goose's desk, and the next he would find himself breaking down as he tried to hand the box of stuff to Carole. Classes and hops had been put on hold pending the investigation, which was somewhere between fine and infuriating, as Mav no longer had a dragon to fly. But his entire being still itched to get up into the air. Flying was his entire being, and had been since his first ride on a little training dragon back in flight school. Goose used to joke that Mav must've been part dragon.
Maverick blinked as he came back to himself. The fan overhead thumped slightly, reminding him of the Coast Guard dragon that had flown him and Goose's body back to shore. His eyes burned with the need for sleep. But that had been evading him ever since that first night. Instead, Goose and Reckless haunted his nightmares. He blinked again and forced himself to focus on the officers handling the inquiry.
Papers shuffled, and the commander leading the proceedings spoke. "This board of inquiry finds that Lieutenant Pete Mitchell was not at fault in the accident of July twenty-ninth." Maverick didn't respond. "Lieutenant Mitchell's record will be cleared of this incident and he is restored to flight status. These proceedings are now closed."
Mav just stared. They were letting him back up in the air? He almost couldn't believe the Navy would just trust him with another dragon. The accident had been his fault, after all. He should've ignored Reckless pulling him forward and instead backed her off. Maybe then she wouldn't be laying at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.
Flight Line, NAS Miramar
Summer, 1986
Maverick walked along the line of dragons, carrying his new saddle. The leather felt stiff in his hands, and just subtly wrong in a way he couldn't identify. He looked at the dragons part of him searching for the subtle shine of Reckless' matte gray scales. Instead he saw the pale yellow, mossy green, burnt orange, pale silver, and dark gray.
Marcus "Sundown" Williams was waiting for him at the very end of the line, one hand on the halter of a dragon with grass-green scales. He could see how Maverick looked at the other dragons on the flight line, as if searching for one in particular. Not only that, but the shorter pilot was oddly quiet, and nearly hunched in on himself.
Mav set the saddle down several feet away from the dragon and slowly approached. Sundown gently guided the dragon's head in so it could get Mav's scent.
"Her name's Summer," Sundown said softly, letting go of the halter. "With any luck, you'll be flying her on the regular. I know she's not Reckless, no dragon could replace her, but Summer could end up being a close second." He left pilot and dragon to get acquainted while he finished getting the harness settled.
"Summer, huh." Mav brushed his hand along the dragon's head. She nosed at his flight suit, either getting his scent or searching for hidden treats. He brought his hand up to scratch at the back of her head, getting a pleased rumble for his efforts. Two pairs of bright green eyes met for a long moment before Mav pulled away.
He set the new saddle onto Summer's back and started clipping it onto the flight harness. He flinched slightly when his hand brushed the ejection clips, but he fought down the hurt. It hurt slightly more when Mav had to pull out his pocket knife and poke two new holes in the stirrup straps, just so his feet could reach the irons.
Summer chased her quarry through the clear blue skies above Miramar, easily twisting and turning and rolling with every twitch of her new pilot's hands on the reins.
"Bogey at ten o'clock low. You've got the angle. Piece of cake," Sundown called. Sure enough, just ahead of them flew a smaller dark gray dragon.
The opposing dragon abruptly turned, sweeping around towards them.
Mav hesitated. He watched the other dragon's flying. Once again, something felt off. He pulled on the reins, forcing Summer hard to the right and nudged her to fly faster.
"Mav, what? Where are we going?" Sundown yelled.
"Didn't look good. It wasn't right."
Sundown let it go until they were on the tarmac and walking back to the hangar to debrief. "The hell did you mean, 'it didn't look good?'"
"Just that. It wasn't a good shot," Mav replied flatly.
"Jester was right there! Hell, he was leaving himself wide open for you to take the shot! Even Summer knew it was good!"
Mav spun around and got right up into Sundown's face. "I will fire when I'm goddamn good and ready," he spat, before turning back around and stalking away.
San Diego Airport, California
Summer, 1986
Pete Mitchell sat at the airport bar, facing the floor-to-ceiling windows with his bag at his feet and a drink in front of him. Outside, a massive Pacific Shortleg(1) let itself be guided by the ground crews to the terminal. It rumbled, the sound shaking the windows and vibrating in Pete's chest. He could see another Shortleg on the runway, flapping its wings and clearly eager for takeoff.
Maybe he could go commercial and fly the more docile passenger dragons. True, it would mean he'd never go supersonic again, and the larger breeds were nowhere near as clever as the fighter breeds he was used to, but he would at least be in the air on the back of a dragon.
USS Enterprise, Indian Ocean
Summer, 1986
Summer let out a low rumble and twisted her head around to nose at her pilot's foot. She could nearly feel what he felt just by the grip he had on the reins. Voices sounded from the comms. Maverick gathered the reins into one hand and petted her nose, listening as Ice and Hollywood found two Scalefoxes, which then quickly turned into four. Four on two? Shit, they're gonna need help.
"Two more! Two more contacts. Two seven zero at ten miles. We need some help here, Mustang." Hollywood sounded panicked over the radio. Mav could only listen as the six Scalefoxes hunted down Hollywood and Wolfman. He swore he could hear the roar as their dragon, the pale yellow Starlet, was shot out from under them.
Hands sweating in his gloves, Mav listened as the tower and ground crew got ready for him to take off. He squeezed Summer's sides with his knees and bent forward, Merlin doing the same behind him. A little ways away, the LSO raised his fist. Summer crouched and spread her wings.
The LSO dropped his fist.
Summer surged into a gallop, flapping hard. She dove from the end of the carrier, her claws pushing off from the deck. Once clear of the ship, she rocketed into the sky, headed for the battle.
As Summer dove in from the clouds, Mav watched the seven dragons. Even with the similar coloring, Mav could tell them all apart. The largest of the group was obviously Ice and Slider's dragon Snow. He watched Snow sweep into a perfect wingtip roll(2), with the six Scalefoxes following suit.
"Let's go, Mav! Dive in there and get those bastards!" Merlin called. Mav hesitated. " Come on, man, engage. Get us in there."
Mav shook his head and pulled Summer away. "It's no good."
"I knew it," Ice growled out, fighting to keep Snow away from the other dragons. Behind them, one of the Scalefox pilots let loose with his guns. "Shit!" Bullets filled the air as Ice swerved to avoid the stream. Snow roared as the rounds peppered his right wing.
Maverick ignored the sounds of Ice, Slider, and Snow fighting for their lives. He tuned out Merlin nagging him to get back in there. All he could feel was himself, Summer, and the sky around them. He
"Talk to me, Goose," he whispered softly. In the years and decades to come, Mav would swear that something changed in the air, as if he was answered. He pulled hard on the reins, twisting Summer around to dive back into the fight. "Maverick's engaged. Ice, let's get these bastards." Summer swept down and settled onto Snow's right side. Mav could see the blood streaming from the dragon's wing with every flap.
Mav pulled Summer back slightly. "Ice, take him hard left. Let's lock down the eastern section." The two dragons turned in perfect unison. Behind them, the enemy Scalefoxes bellowed and flamed. Mav swept Summer around, lining up a shot on one of the white dragons.
Merlin saw as a another dragon followed, lining up his own shot on Summer. "Break left! Break left! Chaff."
"Breaking left!" Mav pulled Summer away from their prey and hit the release on a bag of chaff. The missile dove into the cloud of particles and exploded.
Ice chimed in at that moment. "Two Scalefoxes on my tail, Maverick. I'm defensive."
Without even thinking, Mav pulled Summer around to the right and sped towards Ice. Before he could even reach the switch for the cannon mounted on the harness, Summer let loose a blast of flame at one of the Scalefoxes. The opposing dragon dove down and away from the fight to get away from the searing heat.
Ice pulled Snow up and around to get the other Scalefox. This meant Slider was able to watch a third Scalefox pull in behind Summer. "Mav! On your six!"
Mav glanced behind him, past Merlin's shoulder and yanked the reins hard left. The Scalefox chased, its pilot letting loose with the cannon.
Ice swept in and cut the white dragon off. "Fox one," he called smoothly, hitting the launch switch. The missile flew out from its housing under Snow's belly and streaked towards the Scalefox, which turned away at the last moment.
"Bandit, three o'clock high," Slider called. Yet another Scalefox dove into the fray, spraying flames.
Mav pulled around and dove in to help. He shot off a missile that took down the dragon, while Merlin called one pulling up on Summer's tail. Mav tightened his grip on the reins. "I'm gonna slow down, bring him in close."
"You're gonna do WHAT!?!" Merlin yelled, his voice nearly cracking on the last word. No way. There was no way in hell Merlin was going to participate in whatever stupid shit Mav had planned.
"Just trust me." Before Merlin could even respond, Mav pulled back on the reins, slowing Summer down and sweeping her up into a vertical. The Scalefox rocketed past under her belly. Mav then dropped her in behind the Scalefox and downed the white dragon with their second missile.
Summer pulled up on Snow's wing, both dragons flying straight and level for the first time in what felt like hours. Mav noted that Snow's bleeding had stopped sometime during the fight. "He up for a little fun?" he asked playfully, wobbling Summer's wings. His heart pounded in his chest and his veins were full of adrenaline, but Maverick had never felt better. "C'mon, I gotta have one." Even though Ice couldn't see it, he grinned at the other pilot. "Live a little."
Merlin sighed and tightened the straps keeping him in the saddle.
Primary Flight Control, USS Enterprise
Summer, 1986
The air boss was calmly sipping his coffee when the request came in.
"Mustang, this is Maverick. Requesting a flyby."
He sighed and set down the mug. "Negative, Ghost Rider, the pattern's full." Even as he spoke, there were still dragons launching from the deck.
"Mustang, this is Ghost Rider. Requesting a flyby for two." The air boss closed his eyes and massaged his temples.
One of the newer officers looked up from his work. "Who even is that guy?"
The XO fought a grin. "Lieutenant Mitchell. Likes to break at six hundred instead of three hundred knots. The air boss hates him. One time, he came screaming past the bridge at two hundred knots. Shook the shit out of the bridge. Johnson fell on his ass."
"Boss, you better clear out. We're five minutes out and this is happening!"
Every sailor who could lined the deck, searching the sky for the dragons. Even those technically on duty, crane their necks from their workstations, sweating in the heat and watching for the returning Broadwings. One man spotted them and shouted, getting the attention of the others around him. Soon enough, every man on the ship was watching.
Summer and Snow flapped in perfect sync, side by side. Their wingtips nearly grazed the waves below them. Water splashed up from the backwash as they passsed. Smoothly, the two dragons rose up just slightly. Snow rolled slightly to the left, Summer to the right. The entire carrier shook from their passing.
Snow landed first, clearly eager to have the vets tend his wing. Mav circled, watching the pale silver dragon touch down, before he was given the cue to land. Summer backwinged as she came in, her hind feet reaching for the deck. She touched down and galloped a few steps before Mav pulled her to a stop. The crowd around them cheered
As Mav climbed down from Summer's saddle, he could see the SAR fluttering down to land on deck. His heart strangely didn't ache at the sight. Instead, he joined in on the cheering, holding his helmet above his head.He
He didn't see Hollywood and Wolfman get off the rescue dragon, but sure enough, they ruffled his hair and squeezed him tightly. Slider swept in behind Mav and scooped the tiny pilot up onto his shoulders, hoisting him above the crowd.
Ice calmly walked over towards the cheering idiots. "YOU!" he yelled pointing at Maverick as Slider set the little menace down. Mav met him in the middle of the cleared space. "You are still dangerous." Ice smiled, his eyes crinkling at the corners. "But you can be my wingman anytime."
Mav grinned, green eyes bright in a way none of them had seen in a long time. "Bullshit. You can be mine."