Better be home soon

A Top Gun: Maverick Fanfiction

Pairing: Pete Mitchell and Penny Benjamin

Characters: Pete Mitchell, Penny Benjamin, Bradley Bradshaw.

Mentioned: Mark Peterson (Amelia's father - Name I created) Iceman, Goose.

Chapter three

Amelia's POV

Every time that Pete left, it wasn't just Penny whom was hurt, it was Amelia as well. Her real father hadn't really been there much for her and while her relationship with her Dad was getting better slowly, she still saw Pete more of a father figure than her biological father so whenever he left, it really broke Amelia's heart.

Her Dad hadn't really been a massive presence in her life, and now he lived all the way out in Hawaii with his new wife and family so it was really just her Mom and her, and so she really let Pete in and took to him early. Her earliest memory of Pete was when she was about two and a half years old and had fallen and scrapped her knee on the concrete ground in her backyard patio area and Pete had been the closest and had run to her and comforted her and made her laugh while her Mom cleaned the scrap and put a bandaid on it.

After that moment, Pete had been a fairly constant presence in her life for a while, he had been the one to help raise Amelia on and off over the years. She remembers that it was Pete who helped her learn how to tie her shoelaces and ride a bike without training wheels, who helped look after her when her Mom was at work and unable when Amalia had the chicken box and man who offered to take her to the father daughter school dance when he saw her crying in the backyard after her own father had told her that he couldn't make it.

So when she had said to him when she had caught him climbing out the window of her Mom's bedroom to 'not break her heart again', she was also referring to herself and to not break her own heart again well. It had taken a long time for Amelia to be able to put it behind her and just when she was beginning to feel happy and settled again in North Island, along came Pete again.

It was hard to trust him again but slowly over the few weeks he had been there, in his spare time he was spending as much time as he could with Penny and Amelia, even helping Amelia study and do research for an assignment, and while she hadn't been told a lot about why he was there, she knew that it was all need to know and that all she needed to know was he was here to instruct again at the Top Gun School.

It did blindside her when her Mom told her that he had to go on another dangerous mission, she could see how worried and stressed her Mom was, and so was she herself so she suggested they go on a sailing trip to take their minds off his mission, "I can't just take off now sweetie", she had told her daughter when she first suggested it, "I have the bar, and you have school", was her reasoning but finally she got her mother to cave and took off with her for a week or so.

"Do you think Pete will be okay?", Amelia asked her Mom as they were halfway on their journey and sitting out on the top enjoying the good weather. She was worried and while she had managed to try to put the thoughts away, and not think about it too much, she still was thinking about it every now and then, "I hope so sweetie", she sighed softly, remembering the last conversation they had before he left to go on his mission.

"Look honey, Pete is a great pilot, however, every mission is dangerous and there is a chance that he might not come home to us, but we just gotta think positive.. Hopefully by the time we get back from our trip, he'll be home". She had no idea if he had chosen Rooster, but she hoped and prayed they all came back safe and sound. The sailing trip had really done wonders for Penny because she had been able to disconnect from the world and just focus on sailing and spending time wit her daughter.

Amelia nodded her head, they had a satellite phone and their own cell phones with them, but being out in open water meant that their cell service didn't work as well and so they weren't keeping up to date with any kind of news at all which in a way was good because they didn't need to hear on line or through social media sites that things may have gone wrong.

Once they got home, and back on North Island, Jimmy had been the one to tell them that Pete had been in the bar a couple of weeks earlier to see them, and finding out through some contacts, mainly Rooster, they got the information for where Pete was living and went to see him, Knowing Pete had been to see her once he got back was all Penny needed to know, and she and Amelia headed to the Mojave Desert to go see him.

It was Bradley and Amelia left in the hanger when Pete took her Mother for a ride in his p51 mustang plane and Amelia was busy looking at all of Pete's photos when Bradley came over to her and handed her a can of coke, "Thought you might be a bit thirsty". She smiled as she turned and took it, "Thanks", opening it and taking a sip before moving to sit in one of Pete's chairs.

To say it was a little awkward was an understatement but she realised that her and Bradley had something in common, both were partially raised by Pete, "So, you and Pete, you go way back?", she asked as he sat in the chair opposite her, and reached for his beer, taking a sip of it, and he nodded his head, swallowing his beer before he answered. "Yeah, He and my Dad were friends, practically family and he was flying with my Dad when they had an accident and my Dad died.. Mav helped my Mom raise me, was always there for me", clearing his throat and then he continued, "We had a bit of a falling out, but we are reconnecting now".

She smiled softly and nodded her head as he continued, "I'm really glad that he has you and your Mom, I might have gotten angry a few weeks or so back, yelled at him and told him least he didn't have anyone like a wife or kid to miss him and mourn for him when he burnt in, but really, I was just angry with him, and didn't mean it". Amelia sat up in her seat a little more, looking at him curiously, "Have you told him that?", she asked him softly, giggling when he gave her a look, "I mean have you told him you didn't mean it?"

Shaking his head, he sighed softly, "Not yet I haven't", he lowered his gaze to the floor not wanting to meet her eyes. She could sense he was ashamed and knew what he needed to do, but just needed that small push, "You really should let him know, I know how you feel.. Mom and I have been hurt before by Pete, but at the same time, I do think he has changed, and matured a lot since the las time we have seen him.. Whatever issues you two have had, he is like a father to you and I think you need two need to talk it out".

She might be only a teenager but she was smart and he knew she was right and that he should talk to him about it, he looked back up at her and smiled softly, "How did you get to be so smart and mature?", he asked chuckling a little. "Don't worry, one day you will be too", she replied back in a playful tone.

Chuckling softly, he shook his head, amused, but then his tone took on a more serious tone, "I can sense that Man is gonna be around you and your Mom on a more permanent basis and I am hoping to be around Mav more as well, I want him and I to get back that relationship we had and so, if you want my number to talk or vent or anything, or you need help with school or issues with friends, let me know.. I know it will take time but I'd like to be there for you as well, be like a big brother if you are okay with that".

Smiling softly, she nodded her head a little more shyly this time, "I'd really like that.. It's nice to have a father figure around, but neither of us have ever had a sibling so it would be nice to have a brother to go to and feel like I can bond with and connect with, Thanks Brad, I appreciate that a lot". Amelia had a few close friends but she was always a bit of a loner, she didn't have a big group of friends especially since her and her mother had moved around a lot, it was all part of being part of the Navy family.

Even though Penny wasn't in the Navy, she always followed her own parents around wherever they moved until their deaths and then after their deaths was when she decided to buy the bar in North Island, and put down more permanent roots, but not wanting to stray too far from her Navy family. "How long do you think they will be out there?", She asked him softly, and he chuckled, Mav was a pilot and if he could live in their air, he would.. "My guess, till it gets low on fuel and he has to be forced to come back in.. How about I make you something to eat while we wait for them?"

Nodding her head, she stood up and followed him into the trailer that Pete lived in and he cooked some pasta for them both, making small talk and getting to know each other as Pete and Penny flew for a little while longer, Amelia finally beginning to feel like she fit in the world. Her own father and step mother and half and step-siblings might not want her, but she was finally ready to begin putting her trust in Pete and Brad to fill that void in her Mom and her life.

Author's notes:

I apologise for the delay in responses, it has been a bit of a busy couple of months or so for me so it's taken me a while to get back into these, but I am trying to get more done over the next week or so. I am so thankful for the response thus far and hope you do like this next chapter, it is Amelia's pov and the next chapter I think, I will have Penny and Maverick have a talk about what's going to happen and where his life is now and how they will move forward.

Serialwatcher:

Thank you, I am really glad I haven't disappointed thus far with this storyline and you like it. I am going to continue it, so thank you for your patience with it.

Amgjeep27:

Thank you so much, I am glad you have enjoyed it, and I do hope you enjoy this next chapter, it is light on Pete and Penny but I hope you appreciate the whole picture in that I gotta include Amelia and Brad in this as well since she is penny's daughter and Brad is essentially Pete's son/nephew.

Maria Medeiros2:

Thank you so very much. I understand your message very well, and thank you for reading it, especially if English is not your first language, I am glad you are enjoying it and hope you enjoy this next chapter as well. I am of the same thought, I always thought Charlotte was his one true love growing up as a kid but seeing Top Gun maverick has made me realise that it wasn't her and that it was always Penny even if she wasn't mentioned much in the first one.

Guest:

Thank you, I am so appreciative that you have read and enjoyed it.