Work Text:
Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell wakes up on the 29th of July, 2023, 59 years old, covered in a cold sweat and very disoriented.
He tries to stumble out of bed, but his limbs seem just slightly off, not quite cooperating the way they should. He trips and stumbles, one foot tangled in his sheets, head spinning.
He lands on the floor, before deciding to take a moment to catch his breath before he hurts himself. His eyes squeeze shut as he tries to figure out what woke him up so roughly. Nightmares, he’s used to, and it’s not uncommon for him to wake up in a cold sweat with a scream or a name on his lips.
But waking up this disoriented and uncoordinated? That’s not normal for him. He’s a naval aviator, he needs to always be sure of where he is and what he’s doing with his body at all times. It’s never been something he’s struggled with before, even on the worst nights.
After a few deep breaths, Maverick finally feels calm enough to open his eyes.
Then he squeezes them shut again.
Fuck no.
His eyes blink open, blinking at his surroundings in disbelief.
He’s finally cracked. He’s gone insane.
He looks around at the room he remembers distinctly, just like the rest of the building that he stayed in as temporary military housing.
The building he stayed in during his and Goose’s time at Topgun.
He stares, losing track of time, cold sweat making his skin clammy and sleep shirt cold against his suddenly burning skin.
He stumbles to his feet and into the bathroom he once shared with Goose.
He stares at the mirror.
Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell wakes up on the 29th of July, 1986, 23 years old, covered in a cold sweat and very disoriented.
“Mav?” A knock comes at the bathroom door.
“... Goose?” His voice comes out small and shaky, entirely unlike himself.
“Mav? Honey, you alright in there?” Goose’s voice is significantly more concerned now.
Maverick sinks to the floor, only noticing the movement by the sudden biting cold of the tiles on his knees.
“Alright, I’m coming in.”
The door creaks open, and the face of a dead man appears.
Maverick can only stare in unadulterated shock.
“Mav?” He sits down slowly on the cold tile next to him, looking at him with such pure concern that Maverick feels a tightness in his chest even past the numb shock clouding his thoughts.
“Wanna tell me what’s going on in that head of yours?” Goose asks gently, so gently. When was the last time someone spoke to him like this? The thought hits him hard, and he succumbs to the growing pressure in his chest and behind his eyes.
Maverick, the only American Ace of the 21st century so far, bursts into tears.
“Mav? Oh, honey.” Goose shuffles closer, “Can I touch you?”
Maverick nods with a choked sob, all but collapsing in his dead best friend’s arms.
And god, when they wrap around him, that pressure and comfort he remembers perfectly and will always associate with his brother, he can do nothing but melt into the warm hold.
He’s not sure how long he spends like that, shaking as he sobs uncontrollably in his dead brother’s arms on the cold bathroom floor, somehow 36 years in the past.
Eventually, though, his sobs turn into sniffles and he slowly pulls back from Goose’s arms. Not away, he’s not sure he’s strong enough for that yet, but back just enough that he’s no longer entirely collapsed on him anymore.
“What day is it?” His voice scratches painfully, and he swallows dryly. Goose goes to get up, but Maverick holds fast.
“You need water, I’ll be right back.”
“No. Day.” He insists.
Goose sighs. “It’s Tuesday.”
“Date.” Maverick presses.
“The 29th. Pete-”
“Of July?”
“Pete, are you feeling okay?”
“Nick. Is today the 29th of July?”
“Yes, but-”
“We have Hop 31 today.” Maverick says slowly, trying to come to terms with it.
Today, both 36 years in the past and around 5 hours in the future, his brother died in a training accident.
Maverick is one of the best naval aviators of his time. And he’s nothing if not adaptable.
Maverick commits this moment to memory.
Sitting on cold tile, leaning uncomfortably against Nick, Maverick makes a silent promise. His brother will not die today.
__________________________
Tom ‘Iceman’ Kazansky wakes up on the 29th of July, 2021, 60 years old, covered in a cold sweat and very disoriented.
Tom panics when he realises that the relentless pain of his throat is gone and he can breathe easier than he has in years.
Tom panics more when he looks in the mirror and sees his 26 year old self, with his stupid frosted tips and all.
Tom stares at Slider, 26 years younger than he remembers him, and panics.
Tom doesn’t want to think about it. He permanently removes it from his memory and makes sure that Slider does the same.
What he can’t remove from his memory, however, is what will happen later that day. He can’t forget the panic in Maverick’s voice, the desperation in Goose’s, the sight of their plane spinning out of control because of his jetwash and his arrogance. The sick crunch he isn’t sure if he remembers from the actual event or his persistent nightmares.
Tom Kazansky panics.
Iceman doesn’t panic.
Iceman leaves for classes on the 29th of July 1986, 26 years old and as calm and collected as his callsign suggests.
As he walks through the Topgun halls and hears an echo of a honking laugh as he walks in step with his RIO, he makes a silent promise. No one is going to die today.
_____________________
The locker room before Hop 31 is tense for an unknown reason.
Or, unknown to most occupants.
Maverick can barely tear his eyes from Goose long enough to get himself ready for the hop, and is looking increasingly pale.
Iceman, on the other hand, refuses to look in the direction of the other two boys and won't meet anyone’s eyes, excluding Slider’s.
Both men are quiet, trapped in their own spiralling minds.
Both Sider and Goose are more cautious with their pilots as they get into the air.
“Scores are tied, time for the big one.” Goose reminds his pilot as they fly alongside Iceman and Slider.
The silence between the men stretches; their usual banter is noticeably absent.
It isn’t long before Slider spots the bogies “Contact, multiple Bogies. 165, 2 miles. Looks like they’re going away from us.”
Both pilots move towards the planes on autopilot, targeting one plane that splits off from the other two.
Maverick, just behind Iceman, is lined up for the shot, but Ice is closer. Goose talks into the comms; “Come on, Ice, get the hell outta there.”
His voice shocks the two pilots out of their autopilot movements. Maverick is lined up behind Ice, too close already. He immediately starts to slow down.
“Mav, what the hell are you doing?” Goose asks quickly, “We’re slowing down.”
Maverick doesn’t reply. “Iceman, hold your position.”
“I am, Maverick. Just move down a bit, nice and slow.”
“What the hell are you two doing?” Slider demands.
“Ice, don’t move.” Maverick’s voice is uncharacteristically serious, and the crack makes Goose nervous. He’s never heard him sound like this.
“I know, Mav.” He holds the plane steady, no longer even thinking about the Bogie plane. For all he knows, it’s long since flown off.
“I’m serious, I can’t-”
“I know.” Ice replies into the comms, not quite concentrating as he holds as steady as he can, terrified of swerving too far and getting the plane behind him caught in his jetwash again. The two RIOs are quiet, having realised that they’ve been left out of the loop of something but knowing better than to interrupt their pilots when they’re being this serious.
“Tom, you don’t understand-”
“Pete. I know.”
Silence over the radio.
“Oh.”
“Yeah. Just keep slowing down, angle downwards a bit. Let’s get out of this, okay?”
“Yeah. Okay.”
It’s quiet as they move, Maverick and Goose’s plane slowly distancing from Iceman and Slider’s as they pull away.
“Mav, that should be enough. I’m going to pull up slowly, okay? Don’t freak out.”
“Ice, it’s not safe yet.”
“It is. There’s more than enough distance by now. You will be fine.” He slowly pulls his plane up, listening intently to the radio. When nothing happens, both pilots breathe a sigh of relief.
“Thank god. Now what?”
“How about you explain what the fuck is happening?” Slider cuts in.
“Later, Sli.”
“No, no later, Ice. What is going on?”
“After this hop, I swear we’ll explain to you both.”
“I’ll hold you to that.” Goose grumbles. “You alright up there, Mav?”
“I’m fine.” His breathing is shaky but his flying is as steady as ever.
“Are you sure, buddy?”
“Later, Goose. Let’s just finish this hop and land, okay?”
“Why don’t we just land? I’m sure Viper will understand.” Ice turns his plane back towards base.
“What? Why?” Goose protests.
“He will not understand us just ditching a hop for no reason, Ice.” Slider states firmly.
“He will.” Maverick counters quietly, turning his plane to follow Ice’s from a distance.
Viper’s voice comes over the radio. “Look, lieutenants, I can’t claim to know what’s going on, but something up there has clearly gone wrong. You’re both cleared to land, the runways are clear.”
“Thank you.” Maverick breaths.
“Mav, you go first.”
He doesn’t protest, landing easily and climbing out as soon as he can to grab Goose by the waist and hug him like it’s the last chance he’ll ever have. Goose, for the record, just goes with it, tugging off Pete’s helmet because he’d forgotten and gently running his fingers through his hair the way he knows makes his little brother melt.
Ice is similarly frenzied as he rushes out of his own plane and across the tarmac towards the two, a confused Slider on his heels.
He wraps his arms around the two, Mav showing no signs of any inclination of pulling away from his brother any time soon, whispering a quiet but audible “Thank fuck.”
Slider stands a foot away, watching in clear confusion as his touch-avoidant best friend group-hugs his very disliked rival and friend-turned-friendly-rival. “Okay, what the fuck?”
“Not that I'm not enjoying this, but I have to agree with Sli here.” Goose stares at Slider in clear question over the other two’s heads, but Slider just shrugs. He has even less of a clue.
The other two don’t reply, but Ice pulls back after another moment. “Why don’t we get inside?”
Ice, walking alongside Slider, looks back at where Goose is trying to nudge Mav into moving. “You might need to carry him. He’s not going to want to let go any time soon.”
Goose stares at him with an indescribable expression, but concedes and lifts Mav into his arms. It’s telling when Mav doesn’t even react outside of burrowing his face into the crook of Goose’s neck, right next to his pulse point.
They run into Viper in the hallway. For all that Ice is living up to his callsign, Slider can tell that he’s really shaken by whatever happened in the air, if not as shaken as Mav seems to be. He motions for Ice to continue to the locker rooms with Goose and Mav and stays behind to talk to Viper.
“What happened up there, Lieutenant?"
“I’m not entirely sure, sir. Both Ice and Maverick were kinda quiet all morning, but one second the hop was normal and the next they seemed to completely forget about it. They were acting like we were in some kind of danger, but I couldn’t figure out what it was.”
Viper just hums, looking down the hallway after the three. “Well, they seem quite shaken by it. You’re sure you have no ideas?”
Slider shakes his head “Sorry, sir”
“Go get changed. And look after them, alright, son? You four are excused from classes for the rest of the day. I’ll talk to Kazansky and Mitchell when they’re feeling more up to it.” He doesn’t bother saying any more before turning and walking back the way he came.
Slider walks into the locker room to find an odd scene. Goose is sitting on the bench, looking confused and concerned but definitely fond, with a lap full of shaking Maverick. Maverick is clutching one of Ice’s hands, and Ice’s other hand is gripping Goose’s. He hesitates near the doorway. “Am I interrupting?”
Ice doesn’t look away from Goose and Maverick. “No. You were in the air with us.”
Slider doesn’t understand what that’s meant to mean, but doesn’t protest, going over and sitting behind Ice, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. This close, he can tell that Ice is also trembling.
“You two gonna tell us what’s going on?”
Unusually, Maverick looks over to Ice. Their eyes meet, and something is communicated between them that Goose and Slider are unable to decipher.
“Mav. It’s okay, alright? I can do the talking.”
Maverick nods as Goose and Slider look between the two in confusion. The two had been at each other's throats since they met, but now suddenly they’re having silent conversations and Ice is offering comfort to Mav which Mav is openly accepting.
“Correct me if I say something wrong.” Ice continues, surprising the other two more. “Last night I went to sleep on the 28th of July-”
“Okay? So did we.” Slider comments.
“You didn’t let me finish. I went to sleep on the 28th of July, 2021.”
All three of the others freeze, staring at him. Ice focuses on Mav, “Is that not what happened to you?”
Mav doesn’t talk, but moves his hand side-to-side in a so-and-so motion, before holding up 3 fingers.
“Kind of, 3?” Ice attempts to interpret.
Mav repeats the so-and-so motion, but this time holds up a series of numbers. “Two, zero, two, three… 2023? You went to sleep on the 28th of July, 2023?”
Mav nods. Goose seems to come out of his shocked silence. “I’m sorry, you’re saying you’re from the future? Like, proper time travel shit?”
Ice shrugs. “I don’t know why or what happened. It just happened.”
“So what the hell was that today then? I can’t think of anything in the future that would explain that, but…”
“Well, uh… During Hop 31, the first time, there was an accident.”
Goose tenses, realising the implications. He glances down at the trembling, silent man in his arms.
“It starts the same, but did you notice today when we were lined up, Mav behind us?” Ice looks at Sli, who nods. “Last time, Mav didn’t pull back and I didn’t move out of the way as quickly. I moved up and to the side, and you two got caught in our jetwash.”
“Shit…” Goose pauses, thinking through the consequences of jetwash. “But Mav was in 2023. We didn’t crash?”
“You ejected. Mav was only minorly injured. But the canopy was too slow. You hit it.”
Time stops around the four. You don’t survive hitting the canopy.
Goose is left reeling. The room melts away from him, leaving him alone and drowning in a fuzzy grey world. The buzzing in his ears quickly overwhelms him.
But something is touching him. Shaky but confident against the junction of his neck and shoulder. It squeezes gently and the buzzing decreases in volume. Something shifts in his arms, and with the buzzing gone, he can hear a soft humming in his ear, contrasting the harsh noise. He becomes aware of a person in his arms and holds on tight, tethering himself back to reality. He claws his way back to awareness with his little brother’s help.
Once he’s aware again, he takes a few extra moments to breathe and calm himself. He needs to be focused for this conversation. He brushes a hand through Mav’s hair, blinking his eyes back open to smile down at him gratefully as he stops humming. “Thanks honey.” Mav just sniffles and returns to leaning against him as much as possible, but his hand on his shoulder stays grounding. At least now he understands the sudden clingyness.
Goose looks back up at Ice, who’s slid closer to Sli and is now bundled under the larger man’s arm. “You saved me today.”
“We both prevented an accident that never should have happened in the first place.” Ice counters, and Goose concedes.
“Regardless, thank you.”
Ice just nods, gaze drifting down to Mav.
Goose follows his gaze, gently coaxing Mav into looking at him. “Thank you, Pete. You did it. I’m okay.”
Mav just trembles in his arms.
“I’m okay, I promise. You did it, you saved me.” Goose keeps reassuring him, understanding his little brother despite being unable to relate to what must be going through his head right now. It seems to do the trick, as Maverick moves up onto his knees to wrap his arms around Goose and hug him properly.
They stay like that for a few minutes, as the other two patiently wait. Goose whispers reassurances into Mav’s ear, as Mav lets himself dissolve into the overwhelming relief. They can hear them whispering to each other. It’s the first time they’ve heard Mav talk since before they landed.
Ice moves even closer to Slider, and the other man looks down at him in confusion, before a sad realisation crosses his face. “I die too, don’t I?” He whispers to his best friend.
Ice just nods sadly “We all do.”
“How?”
“We’re both admirals at that point. But your heart…”
“Oh.”
“I’m sorry, Sli.”
“Don’t be.” He pulls the blond closer, taking a deep breath. He looks back at the other two men. They seem to have slowed down by now. Mav is still bundled in Goose’s arms, but looking at Slider now with sorrowful eyes. Slider just nods in understanding, before meeting Goose’s eyes.
He sees himself reflected back. Relief, of course, that Goose is still alive. Scared for the future that Mav and Ice have seen and what it means for him. And scared for the two men in their arms, because these aren’t the men they know. Something has fundamentally changed in their brothers.
Ice turns to Mav. “You said you’re from 2023?”
Mav nods. “Yeah.” He stares at the bench.
“I wonder why you’re from further in the future than me.” Ice’s gaze is calculating, reading Mav like a book.
Maverick looks up. “Don’t do that.”
“Do what?”
“Try to make me say it.”
Ice lets out a low breath. “I die too, don’t I?” It’s not really a question.
Mav squeezes his eyes shut. “Mav, baby.” Both Slider and Goose jerk at the pet name, but are ignored. “What happened?”
“The cancer. It happened last year.”
Ice swallows. “Oh…”
Mav looks at him, then up at Goose. “Can I-?” Goose nods and Mav throws himself at Ice, wrapping his arms around both Ice and Slider. “You’re both gone.” He whispers softly, voice cracking with strangled emotion.
“I’m sorry, sweetheart. You know I didn’t want to leave.” Ice whispers back.
“Ditto, minus the sweetheart bit. Which you two are explaining.” Slider cuts in, creating a few wet laughs from the two and a honking laugh from Goose across from him.
The laugh seems to prompt Maverick into climbing back into Goose’s lap. He rests his head against the taller man’s chest like a child, but no one even thinks of teasing him.
He feels today has been enough to be able to seek this comfort. Especially when he’s grown to love and trust all of these men, albeit at different times of his life.
Maverick is surrounded by three dead men on the worst day of his life. He’s allowed this moment.