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 four:

It was later that night and Pete had finally landed, and they were back on solid ground. Amelia had fallen asleep on the small couch in the trailer and Brad had stayed out in the hangar watching some tv while he waited so that Amelia wasn't left alone in the hanger. Once he saw Pete and Penny come in, he stood up, and began walking towards them..

"I gotta head out and get some sleep, I'm meeting Natasha for an early morning breakfast date, Amelia's had dinner and has conked out in the trailer, I just thought I'd stay till you got back". As Pete got closer, he smiled and nodded, patting Brad on the back as Penny answered Brad, "Thanks Brad, I appreciate that".

Nodding his head, he began to pack up his things and grabbed his keys, and turned back around, "I'll text you Mav so we can do this again, I enjoyed today". Pete smiled again, and looked over at Brad, "Sounds good to me, we have a lot to catch up on still".

Once Brad had gone, Pete and Penny sat down to continue to talk, Pete's hand on Penny's knee as they gazed into each other's eyes, both wondering where to start. The time in the plane had delayed their talk, and so now this was really the first time they had spoken since before Pete when off on his mission. "So do you live here?", was Penny's first comment now they had gotten comfortable on the chairs, Penny taking a sip from her cup of coffee that Pete had made them.

He couldn't blame her for thinking that he lived here, since he had a trailer here and a lot of his personal belongings were here, "When I got shipped out here three years ago, I figured it was easier to stay here instead of trying to buy or find a place to rent". After that last mission, he decided that it was finally time to make a life for himself and he wanted to hold good to that promise he made to Penny about never leaving her again.

The Navy had allowed Pete to retain his rank of Captain in the Navy, however while he loved being in the Navy and flying jets, he knew that it was finally time to leave the Navy and walk away for good. He wasn't getting any younger and he wanted to settle down now that he had made amends with Rooster and with Goose's death. He had never allowed himself to move on after Goose's death. He had been vindicated by the Navy, but he still felt at fault for it and it took him all these years to finally begin to move on.

Pete knew they needed to discuss their relationship and what that meant, and what was going to happen, it had hurt when he had gone to the bar to see her after his mission was over to find her gone, but he knew that it was her way of not facing the very real reality that he may not have come home and he had to admit, it had been a close call. "So do you want to talk about the elephant in the room?", he continued, indicating he could sense the tension and almost awkwardness in the air.

"Jimmy told me you came by the bar, looking for me", she responded softly, her eyes still looking into his, and he could see the worry she had to deal with, the stress of not knowing if he would be coming home. While he hadn't specifically told her what he would be doing, he did tell her that he had been given orders to be one of the single seat aircraft to go on the mission. "I'm sorry I wasn't there.. I just couldn't sit at home worrying and stressing so we decided to go on a boat trip now that the engine had been fixed on the boat".

Not taking his eyes off hers, he found her hand and held it, squeezing softly, nodding his head in understanding. "I can understand that, well you will be happy to know that is something you no longer need to worry about". Her eyes went a little wide, showing a glimmer of hope behind those words. "You mean", her head tilted forward a little, brows raising, leaving him to finis the statement, "meaning that I am resigning my commission.

At that, her heart accelerated a little, goosebumps pricking her skin softly as she took in the realisation of what he had said. "And this is what you want?", she asked him cautiously, wanting to know that he did it because he wanted to, not because he was being forced out. Knowing she needed a little more reassurance, he leaned forward, and with his free hand, cupped her cheek in his hand, and let his fingers graze over her skin, "This is what I want", was his whispered response, before continuing on, "I told you I wouldn't ever leave you again, and I mean it.. It's time to finally start to live my life, be there for you, Amelia and Rooster.. It was a close call, that's all I can say, and now having you three in my life, I don't want someone have to come and tell you I'm not coming home".

Penny had been in love with Pete ever since she first met him all those years ago, and it was always hit and miss for them, but now, it seemed that the stars were aligning and they were able to be together after all those years. "What are you going to do with your life now? I mean flying is all you have ever known". Giving her that cocky smile of his that he was known for, he chuckled as he shrugged, "I'm sure I'll figure it out, I've got my civilian pilots licence, as well as my helicopter licence, maybe I'll start up a business in San Diego for tourists, take them around in the p51 or for chopper tours, and help you out in the bar of a night".

Moving closer together, their foreheads nearly touching as their lips got closer, "Sounds like you already got it figured out", she whispered back, closing her eyes for a moment to allow herself to think before closing the gap and kissing him softly, his fingers still tracing up and down her cheek as he deepened the kiss, sighing happily, "All I need to do is find a home to live and a hangar to store my plane, and all my stuff here", he added in that cocky voice of his as he pulled away from the heated kiss, her hand playfully smacking his arm, giggling as she answered, "You know that I won't have it another way, you are moving in with us.. know it's only small, but Amelia will only be at home for a couple more years and then she will be off to college, and there are plenty of hangar's in San Diego you buy that you can store your plane and everything else in here that is yours, and have it set up exactly as it is here".

Living with Penny and Amelia was exactly what he wanted, he knew he wasn't going have any children of his own, being the age that he and Penny were and that was fine with him, he always saw Rooster as a son to him, and Amelia was always someone he saw as a daughter as well, so he was more then happy with his little ready made family. He was happy to just settle down with Penny and maybe one day experience the joy of being a grandparent when Bradley had children or when Amelia was old enough to have kids of her own. "Sounds perfect", he spoke in a soft low voice which gave Penny shivers, tears filling his eyes as he said these next words, "I know I haven't said this enough over the years, but I love you Penny".

Sighing happily, despite all that they had been through, she knew deep down he loved her, but it was a wonderful feeling to hear it, "And I love you too Pete", was her soft response, smiling as she leaned in to kiss him again, "It's late", Pete whispered, "How about we lock up, head into the trailer and get some sleep, then we can start planning our amazing future more and let Amelia know", nodding her head, she agreed with him. Standing up, he held out his hand to help Penny out of her chair, and Penny moved her car in the hangar, and the Pete locked it all up, so they could head into the trailer.

He knew it had been a big day for Penny and Amelia, It was around a five hour drive from San Diego, and then he had taken Penny out in the p-51 mustang he owned, and it was now getting late, and he didn't want to wake Amelia now, but he was excited to share with her their news, and hoped she was happy as well with him moving in with her and her Mom.

As he walked into the trailer with Penny, he looked over at where his photos of Goose were, which he had included some photos of Ice and his family, he nodded, "Thanks Ice". It was Ice's encouragement in telling him he had to let go of the past, and now he was finally able to do that, he was finally able to truly start his life and he felt excited for once, not scared to be doing something different.

Author Notes:

Thanks for your patience, I hope you all enjoy this latest chapter of Better be home soon. The next chapter will be Penny and Pete telling Amelia about what was discussed in this chapter, and I might also include a B storyline of Phoenix and Rooster on their breakfast date as well. I'm really happy at how this story is going, and I'll keep it going for a while yet.

Maria Medeiros2:

Thank you, I am sorry it has again taken so long to update this chapter, but I hope you enjoy it. I do think Bradley acted immature in the movie at times, but I also think he matured over course of the film as well. I'd love Amelia to be Maverick's daughter, however at the same time, I would hate to think Penny new the whole time and didn't tell him, or was cheating on her husband/partner at the time with Maverick and she doesn't know who her real father is. I'd prefer thinking she tried to move on with someone else, got pregnant, and then it ended because well in my version, Amelia's father was the one who cheated and didn't want to know Amelia, but yes I do think Penny was always his one that got away, that was just out of his grasp till now.