Hello and Welcome! I wish I owned it but I don't! I do own this story, however, my character, and anything I made up and add in!

Here is a Full Summary:

You know with Captain Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell, nothing is ever going to be dull...

Finley Austen is a friend from Bradley's flight school days and knows all about what happened with Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell. They reconnect when Bradley returns to San Diego which quickly leads to a meeting with his flight crew, including the infamous Captain Mitchell. However, the Pete she meets is much different than the one she's made up in her mind and based on what Bradley's told her. (MavXYoungerOC)

I've seen a few fics with Pete and a younger significant other and I think it's so cute. And I love young Tom, but I love older Tom too, so I kind of had to do this ;) I see the age gap between him and my OC being about twenty-five years, because she is close to Bradley's age, so about thirty-five.

Thanks and enjoy! :)

1. Old and New Friends

When Fin checked her phone following the buzz, she was pleasantly surprised to see a text from Bradley Bradshaw.

Brad: Hey! Guess where I am?

Fin: Hey stranger! Tell me!

Brad: San Diego!

Fin: No way!

Brad: Yeah way! For work.

Fin: Yeah I kinda guessed that.

Bradley: Haha. I'm meeting my flight buddies at the Hard Deck bar tomorrow night before training starts. Would love too see you/for you to meet them, but only if you want to.

Bless Bradley, he knew her comfort zones, especially when it had to do with crowds of people and those she didn't know.

Fin: Sounds like fun. Let's do it!

Brad: :D great!

Fin: :)

So six-thirty the following evening, after a good solid hour of marking exams, found Fin out on her front step waiting for Bradley. A jeep came around the corner and pulled to a stop in front of her house and a familiar tall figure emerged.

"Hey Fin! How are you?"

"Good! You?"

"Good! How are your folks?"

"You know, same old. Still want me back home." She looked up at him. "Have you gotten taller? I think you've gotten taller."

"Maybe you've gotten shorter." Bradley and all his tallness enveloped her in a hug. Bradley always gave the best hugs.

"So who am I meeting tonight?" she asked as they drove on towards the Hard Deck. She'd never been there before.

"Not sure, entirely. Some of us have been called back for special stuff."

"You mean special secret pilot stuff."

"Yeah, that."

"Okay, well then I guess it'll be a surprise for both of us."

Arriving at the bar, they found many people in uniform.

"There's your people," Fin said and they waded through the crowd towards them.

"Hey Bradshaw!" called a woman in uniform.

"Hey Phoenix."

"I didn't know you'd be here."

"Yeah I thought I'd surprise you."

"Huh." She leaned over the pool table and used the cue to bump him behind her. "Seems like I surprised you back. Nice to see you."

"You too. This is my friend Finley. Finley, this is Natasha, 'Phoenix'."

"Nice to meet you," Natasha said. She nodded to the three young men playing pool with her. "Reuben, Mikey, Bob. Payback, Fanboy, Bob."

"Bradley Bradshaw, as I live and breathe." A tall blond guy who had been playing pool addressed Bradley.

"Hey, you look good."

"I am good. In fact, I'm too good to be true." The guy's eyes landed on Fin. "And who do we have here?"

"This is Bagman," Natasha introduced.

"Finley, nice to meet you," she told him. There were some chuckles from the group. "What?"

"It's Hangman," the guy corrected, clearly unimpressed.

"Whatever." Natasha winked at Fin.

There was also Javy, or Coyote, Hangman, or Jake's, friend. The group seemed tight-knit and friendly already.

"Want to play with us?" Bob asked her.

"Oh, me? Sure, thanks," she said as Mikey held out a pool cue for her.

"Hey Bradshaw," Hangman leaned in. "What's the deal with your friend? Is she single?"

"Back off, Bagman. Cocky assholes aren't her type."

"But you two aren't a thing?"

"Not what I said. And none of your business." Brad knew there was some guy out there for Fin, and he was pretty certain it wasn't Hangman.

Suddenly, a loud ringing sounded throughout the bar, making Fin jump and mess up her shot on the pool table. This was followed by roaring cheers from the bar goers, including some of the pilots.

"Uh oh," said Phoenix. "Someone broke the rules!"

Fin didn't know what this meant, but it didn't sound good, at least for the rule-breaker. The poor soul was a guy who looked to be in his late fifties, wearing jeans and a leather jacket covered in patches. He was sitting up at the bar.

The bar goers started chanting: "Overboard! Overboard! Overboard!"

Fin didn't know what this meant either, but watched as three of Brad's pilot pals - Javy, Reuben and Jake - approached the bar. The bar owner gave them a nod and they picked up the guy, two carrying him by the arms and the other by his legs.

"Great seein' ya, Pete!" the bar owner called after them.

Fin's jaw dropped as they literally threw him out of the bar, tossing him out onto the beach.

"Thanks for the beers! Come back anytime!" Jake called to him and shut the door. And just like that the excitement was over and everyone was back to whatever they had been previously doing.

"What just happened?" she asked.

"He broke one of the rules, so he had to buy everyone a round," Natasha explained.

"Everyone? Everyone in the bar?" The bar was pretty packed tonight.

"Yup. And clearly he was tossed out."

"Yikes, that was a little much, don't you think?"

Jake shrugged. "Penny's orders." Fin took it that Penny was the bar owner.

She looked out the window at the guy who had gotten to his feet and was now proceeding to brush all the sand off himself - even from his hair. Poor guy. Sure it had all been in fun, but she felt a bit bad for him. Based on the bar's attendance tonight, that was going to be one hell of a tab. So she slipped away from the group and headed out onto the darkening beach where the guy was just leaving.

"Hey! You all right?" she called.

He turned and saw her standing there. "Oh, yeah, yeah I'm good, thanks." He seemed a little distant.

"Cool, just wanted to make sure. Never seen anything like that before."

"Yeah, thanks. Appreciate it."

"You shake my nerves and you rattle my brain

Too much love drives a man insane

You broke my will

But what a thrill

Goodness gracious, great balls of fire!" By the looks - sounds - of things, Bradley had gathered some of his pals around the keyboard and was singing, the music drifting from inside the bar and out into the night.

"Oh, I like this song," she remarked.

"Yeah, me too." But it didn't seem like he liked it. Now he looked not only distant, but troubled as well.

Well, she'd checked on him - now she figured she'd best carry on and rejoin the group. "Well, good night. Take it easy."

"Yeah... You too."

She turned and headed inside while, unbeknownst to her, Captain Pete Mitchell headed down across the dark beach, disappearing into the shadows, suddenly consumed by grief.

I love emotional Pete! I also have this habit of crushing on actors who are a good 20+ years older than me, and not usually ones my age, haha, one can dream! And Tom is certainly one of them ;)

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed this first chapter! :)