This was a request I got from a friend, based on a scene in "Don't Look Back." Hope is 14. This one has a little bit of a different feel than my other one shots, but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. A couple of hidden Easter eggs included for my friends. Posting this on my birthday, 22 today :)

Fly Away With Me

"What the hell are you doing on the roof?"

Hope turned towards her bedroom window, startled to hear the sound of her dad's voice at midnight. The 14-year-old had said she was going to bed over an hour ago, but really she'd just been lying out here on the roof, staring up at the stars and thinking — about life, about school, about how everyone on the planet except her was probably at that grade 12 party right now.

"Nothing," Hope said quickly. "I just... I like it up here." She sat up and faced her dad. "I dunno, I just do this sometimes, come out and look at the stars. It's nice." She turned away again, back up at the night sky.

"Hope, is this safe?" Miles said.

"Yes, Dad. I've done it for years," Hope said. She didn't mean to come off so short, but she just didn't really feel much like talking right now— she was still a bit heated from the argument she'd had with him and Lola earlier. Hope rarely fought with her parents, but every so often they just... butted heads.

Like tonight, for instance. She'd been beyond excited to score an invite to the grade 12 party— she had her outfit on, her makeup done and her friends waiting outside. And what did Miles do? Shut the whole idea down completely. I know what goes on at these senior parties, Hope, he'd told her. Trust me. Hope had tried to get her mom on her side, reasoning that it was really just going to be a "small gathering of a few friends," but Lola didn't buy it either. You're only in grade nine— you're too young, both her parents said. Hope couldn't remember the last time she felt this frustrated with her parents. They were both being such hypocrites— as if her dad didn't throw ragers every weekend at her age, as if her mom didn't get pregnant with her in high school. But— Hope tried. You're not going, and that's final, Miles said. Hope had barely said two words to them since.

"Well," Miles said now, "just don't fall— wouldn't want to have to take you to the E.R. again like we did when your Aunt Frankie dropped you." He grinned, trying to get her to smile back— a peace offering. Hope just shrugged.

Miles sighed, waiting for Hope to say something. When she didn't, he crawled out the window himself. "Geez," he grunted, joining her on the roof, "how do you not throw your back out doing this?"

Hope finally smiled a little. "Guess you're just getting old."

"No way. I'm still the youngest dad at all those PTA meetings. Everyone else is a bunch of old farts." He paused for a second, glancing back and forth between the sky and his teenage daughter. "So.. you do this a lot? What do you come out here for?"

"I don't know," Hope said. "I just like looking up at the stars, I guess. I like trying to figure out all the constellations and stuff."

Miles laid back against the roof. "Oh, yeah? What's that right there, then?" He pointed to the sky.

"I.. think that's the Big Dipper?"

"Nope— it's the Great Square of Pegasus."

"The what?"

"It's one of the constellations in the northern sky— it was named after Pegasus from Greek mythology. I think Ptolemy discovered it."

"How do you know all that?" Hope said, more than surprised at her Dad's sudden expertise. She never pegged him for a science kind of guy.

"I got really into space as a kid," Miles said. "I used to check out a ton of books from the school library about stars and rocket ships and the moon." His face turned serious all of a sudden, and his eyes shifted away from Hope.

Hope was curious now, and a little worried by her Dad's sudden seriousness. He always kind of got this way whenever he talked about his childhood, like even seemingly good memories were painful for him. "Why were you so interested in it?"

Miles was quiet for a second. "Honestly? I wanted to fly away from home." He chuckled a little under his breath. "Seems kinda dramatic now, but as a kid, I really thought that was my only way out. I used to dream about building a rocket ship to fly away from my parents. Mostly from my dad." He sobered up all of a sudden, sitting right up and snapping himself out of it, like he was afraid he'd shared too much.

Hope scooted closer to her dad, her heart suddenly feeling heavy. She didn't know a whole lot of details about her dad's childhood, but she knew it was definitely different from hers. They were close with her grandma, but she'd only seen her grandfather on her dad's side a handful of times throughout her life. Hope knew there had to be a reason for that. Sure, her dad had grown up with money, and his parents weren't teenagers when they had him, but.. had he grown up happy?

"What was it like for you growing up?" Hope said. "I mean... you don't talk about it much. I've heard your pool party stories from Aunt Frankie and Uncle Hunter and I know you used to be, uhhh—" Hope paused, stifling back a small laugh. "A stoner."

Miles made a face, but laughed along with her. "Now, who told you that?"

"Aunt Zoe..."

"Of course she did," Miles rolled his eyes. He cleared his throat. "Well, okay, I grew up in that big house with your aunt and uncle. You remember grandma's old place? We used to live there when you were a baby. I guess I spent a lot of time doing normal kid stuff, going swimming, playing basketball, roughing around with the twins. But..." His expression grew serious again. "The older I got, the worse things got with my dad. He never really understood me. He didn't know what to do with me. I was like, well, I was the black sheep of the family."

Hope frowned— it didn't seem fair that her dad had gone through all that. "Did you... get into trouble a lot? When you were my age?" Hope hadn't even been grounded once.

"God, yeah. Once I threw a giant party just to piss my dad off. Invited the whole school—" Miles' face suddenly dropped. "But some bad stuff happened. Things got out of control really quickly and—" He paused. "Hope, I know you're growing up. And I know you're pissed at me for not letting you go to that senior party, but... your mom and me, we just want to protect you. You know that, right?"

Hope felt a lump in her throat. "Yeah," she nodded quietly. She kind of wanted to know more about what her dad was referring to, everything that had happened to him as a kid and a teenager, but now didn't feel like the time to push for details. She scooted closer to her dad. "Yeah, I know, Dad." She paused, looking up at the sky. "It's uh, kinda cool that we both like space, isn't it?"

Miles grinned. "Yeah. I'd rather you get that from me than some of my other genes," he chuckled. He was quiet for a second. "Hey, Hope?"

"Yeah?"

"Am I... doing alright as a dad? You don't want to fly away in a rocket ship, right?"

Hope squeezed his hand. "Dad! Of course not... besides, there's no WiFi in space." She smiled a little.

Miles smiled back and put his arm around her, breathing a small sigh of relief. His eyes lit up suddenly. "Whoa! Hope— look!" He pointed up to the sky. "It's a—"

"—Meteor!"

"—Shooting star!"

The two glanced at each other and laughed. "Well, go on," Miles said to Hope, arm still wrapped around her tightly. "Make a wish."

Hope closed her eyes for a second. She kind of felt like she was seven years old again, having her dad cover her eyes while she blew out birthday candles. "Okay... done!" She opened her eyes. "Aren't you going to make one too?"

"Nah.. why would I? I've already got everything I want." Miles grinned.

Hope shook her head, but couldn't help but smile back. Parents. "I think I'd better go to bed," she yawned. It was getting really late, and she had to be up for play rehearsal in the morning. She climbed back through the window, motioning for Miles to follow.

"Hope?" Miles said. He grunted as he climbed through the window back into her room.

"Yeah?"

"Don't ever tell your mom I let you go on the roof— she'd freak."

Hope laughed under her breath. "Obviously." She hopped into bed and climbed under the covers, reaching under her pillow for the hidden stuffed pony she'd had since she was a baby— she'd die if anyone knew she still slept with it every night. She glanced up at the ceiling of her room, eyes lingering on the glow-in-the-dark stars Miles had put up there when she was a kid. She was still kind of upset about the party, if she was honest. But she couldn't bring herself to stay mad at Miles for too long. "Goodnight, Dad," she yawned.

Miles tucked the blanket in, something he hadn't done since Hope was a little kid. "Goodnight, Hope. Love you 3000."

Hope shook her head. "Quoting "Avengers?" That's so... old," she laughed. That movie had to have come out when she was a baby. "But you too." She closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep. That night, she dreamt about flying through space— with Miles in the passenger seat, of course.