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 two

Pete had been surprised to see Penny at the bar after his first debriefing with Cyclone and Warlock, even more surprised to learn she owned the bar as well, but knowing who her father was, he also knew she couldn't keep away from that life herself even if it was just to entertain naval officers.

She was always the one, even when they first met, when he was fresh out of the Naval academy and was flying his first jets, he knew she was the one.. It was a feeling, when he looked into her eyes, he could see a future, a future he so desperately wanted but at the same time was scared to have. It's why he always kept his distance because as much as he wanted it, he knew she deserved better than him.

It's why he always chased after women for one night stands or short flings because he couldn't stand to admit that he deserved a life of love and happiness. When he met Charlotte Blackwood, he thought he was in love, but it was nothing compared to the way he felt for Penny. Charlotte and he parted ways shortly after his two month stint as a Top Gun Instructor had come to an end, last he heard, she had a really important job high up in Washington working in the Pentagon, and was married with a couple of kids but he hadn't ever heard from or seen her again himself.

His grief over losing Goose and trying to come to terms with it torn them apart because he wouldn't accept her help at that point. He wasn't ready to accept anyones help, it was something he still struggled with even today, but back then Charlotte saw it as something personal why he wouldn't let her help him through this and it created a lot of tension along with the fact that she had to leave for Washington as she got the promotion she was after with his intel about the MiG sighting. It didn't end badly for them, they just both realised they were in a different place in their lives and that it was never going to work.

Seeing Penny there in that bar, it made all those feelings he always managed to suppress come right back to the surface, and made him realise what an idiot he was for leaving her all those times before. He wanted to make amends and do things right this time, It's why he offered to help her with sailing the boat to the yard, and then took her on a date after his beach football game with his students, which ended up with her letting him in that night.. She had always been the one, and while he had always had a major commitment phobia in the past, this was about righting those wrongs and making things right this time.

He didn't expect to see her again, she had been pretty strong about that the last time he left, so now… It felt like he was being given one last chance and he knew he needed to prove to her that he could and would stay this time. That this was different to the the last times he had come back. The sex was amazing as always but it was finally getting a chance to talk, and be close in that way as well by opening up, telling her about Rooster, and what he had done.. He could tell she didn't judge him for that and was just being understanding and trying to help him come to terms with it. They both came to the realisation that they didn't have easy choices to make when it came to the children they were raising, Penny having a similar feeling with letting Amelia make her own mistakes and decisions from time to time.

He heard Amelia's words when she said simply, "Don't break her heart again", and it nearly broke him to know he had been the one to cause so much pain to both Penny and Amelia.

If Rooster was like a son to him, then Amelia was like his daughter. He spent so much time whenever he could with Bradley, trying his best be a father to him, and he knew he hadn't done it right, and wished he could change the past, but he knew all he could do now was try too mend what was broken, and that started with him doing as Ice said, 'It's time to let it go'. It was a hard task, he had spent his life flying up there like he was flying up there with a ghost, first his father's ghost and the his best friends. It's why he tried even harder with Amelia. She might not have been his daughter either but he knew what happened, knew her father had cheated on her mother and didn't want to step up and be a Dad to her, so he tried to fill that gap in her life, taking her to father/daughter dances, and going to her dance recitals, and watching her softball matches, looking after her when she was sick, just generally being a Dad to her so when he heard her say those words to him, he read between the lines she wasn't just talking about her Mom, but about herself as well.

Hearing Rooster's words about how he didn't have a wife or kids to grieve for him when he burnt in, he knew he was just trying to get a rise out of him, because at the end of the day, he knew Rooster would mourn him.. He also knew Penny and Amelia would as well, but it still stung a little. He had spent his life doing the only thing he knew how to.. Being a naval aviator. So knowing what he knew about Top Gun being his last post, and that now Ice had passed and couldn't help him anymore, he was more than ready to make good on his promise to Penny that he wouldn't ever leave them again.

Having that conversation with her, in his dress whites, he had done this so many times before, but unlike before, if he made it back alive, he would be returning to Penny and Amelia, there was not a chance he wasn't going to come back to them and make amends with Rooster if he happened to survive the mission.

Feeling her arms wrap around him on the beach as he told her about his assignment and that he had been named team leader, He buried his head in her shoulder, hearing her whisper in his ear.

"𝑊𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑃𝑒𝑡𝑒, 𝐽𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑡𝑜 𝑢𝑠 𝑠𝑎𝑓𝑒".

It disheartened him to hear that Penny and Amelia had gone on a sailing trip and that their return date wasn't known.. He felt like this time perhaps Penny was the one leaving him, so he returned to the Move Desert where he used an old Navy hanger to restore his planes, bikes and cars, but at least he had Rooster with him this time, helping him restore his P-51 Mustang plane, but then he spotted Amelia, and he couldn't help but smile as she gestured to where her mother stood near her car parked just outside the hanger.

Taking her up in the plane, he felt a natural high he hadn't experienced in a long time, there was time to talk and work out their lives, but he knew that the beginning of their happily forever after needed to begin with them in the air where he always felt the most free. Rooster offered to stay on the ground with Amelia, the two talking and comparing notes on their time with Pete, but for the first time, Pete felt at peace with his life, and where he was.. He would always carry Goose around with him, but he now no longer carried the guilt around with him. He had his little family, Penny, Amelia and Rooster, splitting his time in North Island training the newest Top Gun recruits and spending time with his family, and restoring his planes and bikes in the Mojave desert.

Author's Notes:

I hope you all enjoy this one. I am going to continue this story, I kind of just wanted to give a bit of background on Penny and Pete and get into their heads a little bit about how they were feeling seeing each other again. I'll pick the next chapter up after they land from their flying in the p-51, and maybe even do a little Rooster and Amelia scene where they are talking while Penny and Pete are in the air flying. I'm sorry it's taken a bit of time to write this next story, but it came to me quite quickly once I began writing. I realised we didn't know much about Amelia's father and what happened between him and Penny so I thought I'd come up with my own thoughts about it. I also touched on Charlie and what happened between her and Maverick and where she was in her life now. I'll be continuing my Top Gun stories as well as I don't think I'm gonna get sick of this movie and the stories it has to tell and the potential for a lot of character development for some of the characters for quite a while.