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Maverick was, IS and will always continue to be the living embodiment of his callsign. Which was the purpose right? Ice was cold and calculated, so why wouldn’t Maverick be on the more rule bending side of things?
Tom loved his husband dearly, but one thing that came along with marrying the man was being privy to his antics and being the first line of defense for the shorter man’s resistance.
A lot of times Ice loved to sit back and watch his husband make other admirals below him crawl in their skin, it was as if he had a secret weapon he could turn lose on anyone who pissed him off. But it was so much more than that, he loved the man beneath the ‘Maverick’ he loved the gentle mornings and his soft heart that couldn’t help but love everything it laid eyes on. Stopping to pet every stray cat they came across, telling them he loved them to be sure they knew that even for a moment they were loved and always will be. Making sure to dump out old water bottles from the back seat of Ices car on a tree or shrub rather than just onto the cement.
He was the biggest empath the blonde had ever met, and he was beyond lucky to call him his own. Most days with Pete were entertaining, surprisingly calm contrary to what one might expect being married to Pete Mitchell. Except for ones like today when the man couldn’t stay still to save his life.
Another ejection from his time being a test pilot for SkunkWorks landed him (no pun intended) in the Emergency room with a concussion. How it wasn’t WORSE Tom would never know. He wasn’t going to complain though, after a quick examination on base and a short drive back to their home on North Island he wasn’t getting Pete settled into bed for the evening.
“Sweetheart you’ve gotta keep your neck still, remember the doctor said she wouldn’t make you wear a neck brace so long as you promised to not twist your neck?”
“Ice, my love I’ll be fine! I’ve survived worse!”
“When you were 25, not when you were 65, come on Pete….” I’ve flashed him a sorrowful glance and the brunette conceded, taking a couple of Advil and resting his head back on one of their memory foam pillows.
“You’ve had a long day, let’s get some sleep yeah? Wake me if you need anything okay?”
Pete nodded gently at the words, keeping his head straight as he felt Tom curl around him, resting his head on his chest. “I love you, goodnight sweetheart” Pete ran his fingers through the messy blonde hair, no longer controlled with gel and hairspray, but fluffy and soft having been worn for hours. “I love you too, sweet dreams Dove…” Tom smiled into his chest before they both drifted off.
Thats when it all started, Tom awoke around 5am to an empty bed, not too alarmed at first but upon glancing over and seeing that their master bathroom door was open with the lights still off could only mean one thing.
“Damnit Pete!” He cursed, flinging the covers off of himself and almost jogging downstairs, which his knees immediately regretted but it was for a good cause so they could deal with it.
“Pete Mitchell-Kazansky! Where in the HELL are you!” He spoke, strapping on his stern admiral tone he used when things were serious, a tone that rarely found itself booming through the walls of their normally peaceful home.
Thank God the man’s bike was still out front, otherwise Ice might just lose his cool completely. What he found though almost made it worse. Pete was currently in their garage, leather jacket strapped on and currently lacing up his boots. Snapping his head up way too fast, wincing in the sharp pain that shot through his ear as he met his husbands eyes.
“Morning darling” the brunette smiled.
“ ‘morning darling’ my ass! Where in the hell do you think you’re going?” Ices stare could cut through steel. Luckily it ran through Pete’s veins.
“Just uhm….I-….grocery store?”
“Grocery store huh? With your helmet bag?” Ice cocked an eyebrow as he crossed his arms, leaning against the door frame, Pete glanced down at the green bag that soon betrayed him. “Wanna try again? Captain?” If Tom was bringing rank into this Pete knew he was serious, his ass was on the line.
Pete slumped over, resting his elbows on his knees as he massaged his scalp. “Fine…I got a call this morning, they need me to run a test on some adjustments they made for the NightHawk…” one good thing about having the highest ranking Admiral in the Navy as your husband meant that he usually knew more than Pete, so there wasn’t much he couldn’t talk about in terms of classification.
“You mean the plane that almost killed you yesterday? The one that landed you in the hospital? Oh but they made some ‘adjustments’ so all is safe now!” Ice used finger quotes around the last bit driving home his point of the idiocracy of that statement.
“Well yeah-….but”
“No buts, get your little ass in that damn house either in bed or on the couch or I’ll have half the mind to get your ass officially grounded for three weeks, I’ll override everything”
“Tom! You can’t-!” Pete looked at him through glassy pleading eyes. But Tom’s stare never wavered.
“Oh yes I can, your life is more important to me, now get in there before I drag you in there”
Pete’s eyebrows furrowed. Giving a snarky “yes sir” as he scoffed, kicking his boots off and grabbing his bag before pushing past Ice into the house.
“Ah! Keep the bag, I have an idea” Tom smirked.
And that’s what landed Pete on the couch, curtains drawn, Television off, laying down with his helmet on, pouting like a grounded teenager as his husband scrambled up some eggs with a piece of toast. Settling in beside him with a plate.
“Eat please, I’m going to go get dressed, I’ll be back down in 5 okay?” Tom placed a kiss on the man’s cheek and walked away. Leaving Pete in his light blue silence for a few moments as the sun began to come up.
When Tom descended the stairs again Pete couldn’t help but not look at him. Handsome and tall as he adorned his Admiral blacks, badges and medals pinned to his chest along with that same pair of golden wings he wore when he first ever encountered him face to face at Top Gun all those years ago.
Tom smiled at Pete’s oogling as he went to fix one of his cufflinks on his sleeve. “Mind giving an old man a helping hand with these?” Tom asked as he stepped towards Pete holding his epaulettes in hand.
“absolutely, I’ve always helped you with these…” the brunette smiled, all hostility between them seemingly gone as he slid them onto Tom’s shoulders, being rewarded with a few gentle kisses. “Once you’re all better you can help take them off again too” the now greying blonde winked, making Pete blush, even after 40+ years the man still made him weak in the knees.
“Did your food settle okay?” Tom asked looking down towards his husbands empty plate aside from a few pieces of bread crust. “Yeah, it was good, thanks Ice” he smiled, wrapping his arms around the man’s neck, feeling stronger arms find his waist, pulling him in.
“I’ve got a couple of meetings this morning but should be back around 13:00, think you can sit at home and actually relax until then?” Tom rubbed the man’s shoulders through the sleeves of his white T-Shirt.
“Yeah I can do that”
“Promise?” The blonde cocked an eyebrow.
“Scouts honor” Pete smirked, holding up his hand.
“Good, thank you” and with a final kiss goodbye Tom started walking towards the door. “I love you honey, seriously try and relax okay? And don’t try anything stupid, I’ll know if you do!” Tom laughed from the front door.
“And how in the hell would you know?”
“The force is strong with this one” Tom simply snapped back ‘matter of fact-ly’
Pete crossed his arms and rolled his eyes with a chuckle. “I should have never shown you Star Wars, you watched it ONE TIME!”
“This is not the Admiral you want to annoy, young Skywalker, I’ll see you after lunch! I’ll bring home some of that tortilla soup from the taco truck! Love you!” And just like that Tom was out the door. Not before Pete could yell back an “I love you too!”
Maybe Tom was right, Pete found his neck aching and head beginning to pound as he lay back against the couch, pulling his helmet off of his head and setting it on the coffee table.
“Maybe some tea would help” he thought aloud, standing but immediately being humbled by the lack of balance between his ears, sitting back down, swallowing the two pills Tom left on the napkin beside his water for him.
A nap should do it…..
Pete woke up an hour later feeling much better, much to the thanks of the pain medication.
Now he could finally get up and make some tea.
Pete was anything BUT patient, on the ground, in the sky, Hell even in traffic! The ticking of their grandfather clock coming from beside their hutch in the kitchen was driving him insane. He tapped his leg. Glancing at his bike keys hanging by the door.
“A little ride wouldn’t hurt….and besides, I’ll have a helmet on-“ he thought, sliding on his cowboy boots, slapping his jacket on over his shoulders and reaching for the front door handle. That was when he almost collided with a pair of glasses.
“Hey Mav!” the young man spoke, happy and giddy as ever. “Bobby! Hey buddy how’s it going?” Pete smiled, glad to see the boy. He loved all of the Daggers. “Wast expecting you today, figured you’d all be at the beach considering the weather and your leave!” Pete over exaggerated, trying to hide the dull throbbing pain that lingered behind his eyes.
“It is a nice day, but I figured I’d come see you, been a while since we got to visit”
“Well come on in kiddo” the shorter brunette smiled. Standing aside to let the young man in.
They visited for a while, sipping away at some tea Pete had made for the both of them as the pain worsened again, medication slowly wearing off.
“Excuse me for a second” Pete smiled, squeezing Bobs shoulder before heading into the kitchen, grabbing a couple more Advil from the bottle and throwing them back.
“You okay man? You don’t look so good?” Bob couldn’t hide the concern in his voice, and Pete could have sworn he seen a smirk. “Yeah I’m fine, just uh….hurt my ankle yesterday”
“Your ankle?” Bob didn’t seem convinced but he shrugged nonetheless and continued drinking his steamy beverage. “Well I hope you feel better soon”
Pete wanted desperately to go for a ride, clear his head, maybe the gentle rumble from his bike would help ease the pain in his neck. It was rather therapeutic.
“Well Bobby I don’t mean to push you out but I have some stuff that I need to take care of so….maybe we can all meet for dinner this weekend? Catch up?”
And Bob, ever the helpful one simply smiled. “I can help you Mav! Whatcha need done?”
“I can do it, really, it’s just-“
Bob let out a chuckle. “Say no more, Mav needs Mav time, good luck” the boy smiled, setting his cup in the dishwasher and adjusting his glasses before he headed out the door, before flashing him a “take it easy okay Pete?”
“What was all that about?” The shorter man questioned to himself, before shrugging and deciding to head out of the garage instead.
“Finally” he breathed, pressing the button on the clicker only to be met with Bradley’s Bronco parked behind his bike.
“What the actual fuck-“
“Hey pops” a voice spoke, causing him to jolt and snap his head around, making another burst of sharp pain dig into his eyes and ears. “Jake? What are?” The younger blonde that often reminded him of himself smirked, rolling his toothpick from one side of his mouth to the other in a show of confidence. He could out best him-….Pete still had it.
“Cmon Mav really?” Another voice interrupted, turning to see Bradley with his arms crossed stepping out from beside the vehicle.
“What are you two….come on guys!” Pete almost whined, making his head spin a little.
“Mav take it easy…slow down” Bradley tried to soothe, walking towards him like he was a stray cat, gentle and slow as to not spook him.
“Do you realize who you’re telling to slow down?” Jake chimed in. Closing in from behind the older man.
“Shut up Seresin!” Bradley barked back.
“Make me Bradshaw!” The two began to bicker.
“Oh you’d like me to wouldn’t y- DAMNIT!” Bradley cursed. Out maneuvering them on the ground came as easy as it did in the air when they were distracted bickering. Even with 20+ years of age on them and a concussion no one could outrun Maverick!
He bolted from the garage and made a break for his bike. Before he felt arms wrapping him up and successfully plucking him from the seat.
“Woah woah woah Mav! Stop flailing!”
“Hold him tighter!” Another voice chimed in.
“Put me down damnit!” Pete whined! Kicking and squirming to the best of his ability despite the grinding pain that now was getting worse from all his movement. Maybe Ice was right? No! He couldn’t allow himself to think like that right now!
“Hold still captain!” He heard Mickey almost giggle as he tried to restrain the man’s flailing legs.
Pete cranked his head as much as he could to see that Reuben and Javy were attempting to keep his top half still.
“Bradley! Jake! If you two are done with your lovers tiff I’d love you to open the door!” Reuben snapped, holding back a laugh as the two ran for the door, almost racing, everything was a competition with these two.
When Pete found himself through the threshold of his own front door again he looked around to see Natasha and Bob standing in the living room.
“How did you? What the fuck is going on! I’m ordering you to let me go lieutenants!” Maverick squabbled, groaning as his head felt like it was splitting in two.
“Sorry Captain, Admirals orders” Natasha smiled, “couch will be fine boys, thank you”
The three of them sat him down and Pete looked around to see Bradley standing guard by the front door, Jake by the sliding glass door that led to their Garden. And the rest of the squad all around his living room.
Suddenly it hit him. He groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Ice put you up to this didn’t he?”
“He may or may not have given us a call this morning when he left, saying you’d had an ejection yesterday and were supposed to be on bed rest for the week. So we decided since we’re all on leave we could spend it here with you pops” Jake smirked, to which they all nodded. “wouldn’t you all prefer to be with your families or something? I dunno, you’re young, you should be out at a bar-“
“You ARE our family Mav” he heard Bradley’s gentle voice come up from behind him, squeezing his shoulders. “You’ve always been
Mine….now you’re theirs too”
Pete wanted to cry, not because of the pain but for a completely different reason.
“Let us help you Mav” Mickey smiled, kneeling down beside the older man and nodding.
Pete finally caved, his husband combined with his group of wild pilots that he’d somehow managed to call his own made the legendary Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell-Kazansky concede.
He let out a sigh. “I guess it wouldn’t be too terrible to have you all here….” He chuckled in surrender.
They all looked to him with bright eyes.
Pete wasn’t sure when he fell asleep, wether it was after or during their game of Monopoly, but he still had his little metal game piece in his hand when he felt fingertips brushing away some pieces of hair from his face. Looking up to see icy blue eyes meeting his own. “Hey sweetheart, how are you feeling?”
Pete grumbled, sitting up from where he’d found himself asleep, head resting on Bradley’s leg as his own two legs were currently on top of Jake’s lap.
He looked around at the bunch of pilots that filled his living room, then smiling up at his husband. “Better” he half groaned as Bradley helped him keep himself straight on the couch inbetween his godson and (who he’d silently hoped) would come to be his son in law someday.
“Thanks for telling me you’d sent an entire squadron of bodyguards to make sure I stayed in bed by the way” he smirked, cocking an eyebrow. “Real smooth there”
Ice let out a hearty chuckle “told you I’d know if you tried to break the rules, you’re not as slick as you think Dove” Tom followed by placing a gentle kiss on his husbands forehead.
“Now I’ve brought home some late lunch so how’s about we all settle in with a movie and enjoy some food huh?” This was met with a gentle cheer from their daggers, all standing to head towards the kitchen. “Come on my love, I got your favorite” Tom helped his husband stand, before pulling him in for a proper kiss.
They both turned to see their squad of rowdy pilots staring at their display, all smiles and Maverick could have sworn he even seen Bob tear up. “You two are just so sweet!” He chuckled, removing his glasses to wipe away the fog.
The older men chuckled, smiling back at them as they watched Bradley throw an arm around Jake’s shoulder, giving him a squeeze. They sure did bicker alot but Pete would be lying if he said him and Tom didn’t do the same thing in their prime. Maybe it was the Mitchell-Kazansky-Bradshaw charm that turned competition into husbands. Who knows.
At the end of the day Pete was glad he had a busy house, with a loving husband and crazy pilots to come home to. He felt loved, even at his worst.
Pete was loved.