Viper came out and over to us. We looked at him. "Maverick, I want you in the air today. You'll be with Sundown. Be there in 10 minutes." He told him. "Yes, sir." Mav said. Viper walked off. Maverick looked at me, I smiled at him and cupped his cheek, "You got this, okay?" I told him as I kissed his cheek. He sighed and nodded. We walked in the building hand-in-hand, Viper stopped me. "Midnight, I need to talk to you." Mav gave me a small smile, I gave him one back. "Yes, sir?" I asked. "I know he's going through a lot right now, but he's one of the best pilots I've seen. And I'm just trying to help him." Viper said. "I know." I said quietly. "I know it's not easy to get back up there after something like this happens. But I'm glad he has your support." He said. "Always, sir." I whispered with tears in my eyes. He squeezed my shoulder and nodded. He walked off. I sighed deeply and leaned against the wall. I cried softly to myself. My RIO came over. "Midnight?" He asked. I wiped my tears and looked up. "Are you okay?" He asked me. I sniffled, "Yeah, I'm okay. Thanks for asking." He hugged me, I hugged back. "No problem. If you need anything, you know where to find me." He said. I nodded.

Maverick was in the air with Sundown. "Come on, kid. Get in there. Engage." Jester said. "You've got a bogey at two o'clock." "Take the shot, kid." "You can engage any time, Maverick. Where are you going?" Sundown asked. "It doesn't look good." Mav said. "What do you mean? It doesn't get to look any better than that." Maverick and Sundown got out of the jet, Mav walked ahead of him, Sundown behind him, "Hey, man, we could've had him." Sundown said. I was standing by my jet. Maverick grabbed Sundown, "I'll fire when I'm good and ready, you got that?" He let him go. "He won't engage." Jester told Viper. "It's only been a few days." Viper said. "You know, he just might not make it back." Jester said. "Keep sending him up." Viper walked off. Iceman walked over to me, I sighed. "I know you probably hate me." He said. "I don't hate you, Ice." I said. "I really do feel sorry for Mav. I can't imagine losing someone like that." Ice told me. "Go tell him you're sorry then, Ice. He could use a friend right now." I said. He nodded. I walked off to my room. Mav was in the locker room, Ice walked in. "Mitchell? I'm sorry about Goose. Everybody liked him. I'm sorry." Ice walked out. Mav walked out with his bag. Wolfman saw and came knocking on my door. I opened it, "What?" I asked. "I just wanted to let you know that I saw Maverick walk out with his bag in hand." He told me. I sighed. "Oh, no." I whispered. "Where do you think he is?" Wolfman asked me. "I think I have an idea. Thank you for letting me know." I smiled softly. He smiled back. "No problem."

I walked out and headed to my bike. I headed to the airport. I saw my boyfriend's bike, I parked mine beside it and walked inside. I saw him sitting at the bar, walking over to him, I stood behind him. "Excuse me, you wouldn't happen to know where my boyfriend is, would you?" I asked him. He turned to look at me. "Would you like some company or no?" I asked. "Please." He pointed to the seat beside him. I sat down, a waiter came over to me, "Um, just a water, thanks." I told her. I put my hand on his back. "Mav, you know you're not alone, I'm your girlfriend, I'm here for you. You can talk to me, you know that, right?" I said as I put my hand on top of his. "I know I can. It's so hard right now." He said softly. "Baby, I can only imagine what you're going through, but I'm trying my best. I knew him for a while, too. He became like my big brother. So I may not understand fully, but I can understand some of how you feel, Mav." I whispered. He squeezed my hand and looked up at me. "I know. It's just after that blow up with Sundown, I thought to myself, 'Do I really belong here. Am I good enough' I don't know why I came here, maybe I was gonna leave, but then I thought about the one person who I'd do anything for." He reached his hand up to cup my cheek. "And thought, 'I can't leave her alone out there' I knew you would come and find me, baby." He rubbed his thumb underneath my eye.

A tear fell down my face, he wiped it. "We're in the Navy together, I could never imagine leaving you and letting you go through it alone. Not after all we've been through. With that being said, it's good to see you." He chuckled softly. I scooted my seat closer to him. "It's good to see you, too, baby." I smiled softly. "You do know though, that none of this is your fault, right? You're one of the best pilots the Navy's got. I know it's hard to go on, but I believe you can. I'll help in whatever way I can. You're the best of the best, Mav." I held his wrist. "No, we're the best of the best. You and me, baby. I love that you believe in me so much. I appreciate that." He said. I shrugged, "I've seen what you can do and I know you can come back from this." I told him. He held my face in his hands and rested his forehead against mine. I held his wrists and closed my eyes. "I love you." He kissed me softly. "I love you, too." I kissed him back. "I've been thinking about talking to Viper for a while now, will you come with me?" He asked and smiled softly at me. "Of course I will, Mav." I smiled back. He got up and extended his hand out to me, I put my hand in his, he lifted it to his lips and kissed the back of it. He pulled me up and we walked out together. "I'll meet you at your place." He said. I nodded. We both got on our bikes and left. He followed me back to my place. I parked my bike and went to sit behind him on his. I wrapped my arms around his waist tightly giving him a hug from behind. He put his hands on mine and rubbed them softly. "Ready, sweetheart?" He asked. "I'm ready, baby." I said. We headed for Viper's.