Bradley had forgotten how chaotic a dinner at the Kazansky house could become. One might assume that a dinner with one of the highest-ranking officers in the Navy would be formal and calm, but the assumer would be wrong. Kazansky mealtimes were always energetic and oddly unpredictable. Maybe if Tom had his way, they would be more regimented but having three active kids that had grown into equally active adults with two of those having their own kids had ruined that.

"Thanks, but I can't eat anymore," Bradley said over the laughter and chatter, holding up his hands in defeat as Miss Sarah tried to hand him a second helping of a cake the grandkids had helped her make. It was confetti cake with more sprinkles than icing. "I'm stuffed."

While delicious, he wasn't sure his arteries could take more sugar after his first slice.

"Aw, c'mon, Bradley, who doesn't want more cavities?" teased T.J. "And the kids worked hard on it."

"I already had a piece," Bradley said, rolling his eyes at his former partner-in-crime.

He and T.J. were only a year apart in age, and they had gotten into so much trouble when they were younger that he was sure there was an unofficial Naval file on their younger selves somewhere. T.J. still liked to give him shit sometimes, especially now that he was the "mature one" with a family.

"You don't want the cake?" Sassy asked. She had migrated from the kids table to the regular table and claimed half of her cousin Nora's seat. "I made it real good. I used all the icing and every sprinkle."

"You can't say no to that," Miss Sarah said. She placed the slice of cake in front of Bradley. A clump of sprinkly icing fell off onto the plate.

"You're going to make him explode, he'll eat it out of obligation," Kate said. Reaching over, she picked up the plate, leaned across the table, and put it in front of her brother. "He's already had two hamburgers and a hotdog. Plus the cake. Because he's a monster."

"Hey…" Bradley glanced down at Kate, who grinned up at him. He loved the mischief in her eyes.

"It was a small piece," Miss Sarah said with a warm smile.

"I'm super grateful, Miss Sarah, but Kate's right. I think I reached my limit."

"So the human vacuum has a limit, good to know," T.J. said, grinning. He dug a fork into the piece of cake. "Do you remember that time when you ate ten popsicles in like five minutes?"

"You dared me to eat every flavor," Bradley said, smirking back, "I've never had such bad brain freeze."

It had been a somewhat miserable experience, and he hadn't made it through all of them. Good thing too. He was half-sure he would've exploded from popsicle intake.

"He didn't even say you had to eat them all at once," Kate said, making a face. "Or how fast."

"I can't help it, I'm competitive."

"I don't know where you all got your popsicles, we only had about six flavors where I'm from," Dot's husband said with a laugh. He was a nice guy and flexible enough to deal with Dot's take-charge-every-time personality. She was formidable and tough and she did like having things her way. Always had.

Bradley looked over at Miss Sarah. "Can I help clean up or anything?"

"No, that's why we have grandchildren," she said, glancing over at the older ones, who began to sink down in their seats.

At the end of the table, Tom nodded toward his wife, agreeing. He seemed tired but content.

Around the table, people began to get up, reaching for empty plates, condiment containers, and platters. Miss Sarah put her hand on Bradley's arm as she passed by him. "Early morning tomorrow, right?"

"Very early," he replied, "But if it's okay with you, I'm going to borrow Kate for a while."

"No way, she has dishes to clean," T.J. said, grabbing Kate in a headlock. He ruffled her hand, getting a scowl out of him. "You can't use Bradley as an escape!"

"Watch me," Kate said. She reached a hand out to Bradley as T.J. loosened up.

Smirking, he took her hand and pulled, bringing her toward him. As T.J. let go, Bradley kept walking, his hand tightening around Kate's. "I'm taking her. Consider it a kidnapping, if you want."

"Hold on, before you commit this crime," Kate said, slipping her hand out of his. Quickly, she went over to her dad and kissed him on the cheek. "Don't work after dinner. Take it easy."

Tom waved her off. Bradley could see the concern pass over her face before she masked it, covering it up with the easy smile of hers.

Together, they left the house in his Bronco. Night had fallen, sending stars scattering and a cool wind coming in from the ocean. She settled into the seat like she was coming home, instantly taking off her flip-flops and putting her feet on his dash.

"Are you going to stick them out of the car, too?" he asked, teasing. "Go full beach bum?"

"Probably."

Her hand played on the wind as he sped up past the speed limit, racing down the sea road. The radio was already on an oldies station. The Beach Boys were singing about Key Largo and Montego, and he could feel more of his banked anger drift away. He knew seeing Maverick tomorrow would stoke his fire back up. It'd be like throwing gasoline on his grudge.

"If you glare like that too much, your mustache will freak out and run away. Like a scared caterpillar."

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

"It's just…" Kate held her pointer finger up under her nose, mimicking his mustache. She began to inch her finger off her face. "I don't hate it. But I'm allowed to not like it."

Reaching out, he batted at her finger, and she laughed, pressing up against the passenger door to get away from him. Oddly enough, he wanted to grab her and pull her back toward him. Or hold her hand. He rubbed his cheek and focused on the road.

He drove out of the city while the radio and Kate's presence soothed him. The Bronco whipped around curves and ate up the straightaways. Kate didn't ask where they were going. He appreciated her willingness to tag along for a ride to nowhere in particular.

Slowly, the atmosphere in the Bronco began to change. It was a feeling he was picking up from Kate, something worse than how he furious he was about Maverick. Whatever she was feeling was growing and crashing against him, building like waves.

After another fifteen minutes, he pulled off the road in front of a beach access sign. He climbed out and Kate did too. Kate led the way down the access. Bradley had to stop to yank his shoes off, and she left him, her footprints sliding into the sand.

As he put his shoes to the side of the path, he turned and watched her as she stopped in the middle of the empty beach. She looked up, her long curly blond hair catching in the wind as she crossed her arms over her chest.

He walked over to her, and she whirled toward him. Her arms weren't crossed; she was hugging herself. In the dim moonlight, he could see tears glinting in her eyes. Bradley's hands went toward her. "Katie—"

"What're you going to do about Maverick?" she asked, blinking rapidly. That couldn't be what was wrong. "You're going to have to work with him."

"Why are you crying?" He wrapped his fingers around her upper arm, holding her so he could watch her face.

She shook her head. "Nothing—I don't want to talk about that. I want to talk about Mav."

"I don't," he said. He ran his knuckle under her eye, gentle, as a tear escaped. "Tell me why you're crying, Kate."

Kate rubbed her hand across her eyes, forcing a hollow laugh. "I'm just emotional right now. Leave it." She stepped toward him. "Please? Talk about how mad you are Mav. Or talk about your friends. Or anything."

Bradley frowned. He didn't want to talk about any of that anymore, he wanted to help her. To ask if this was about Tom. He knew it was about her dad. He pulled her in and wrapped his arms around her, bending a little to put his chin to the top of her hair.

But. She had asked him for a distraction, and he didn't think it was right to push the issue right now. So he gave her what she wanted. "Bob needs a callsign."

That got a startled bark of a laugh out of her. "What?"

"Bob, the new guy? Phoenix's WSO?"

"Yeah, Mickey mentioned that Bob was his callsign. Not really very original."

Mickey… "How do you know Fanboy, anyway?" he asked, giving her another squeeze before stepping back. "You guys seemed friendly the other night."

"Oh, I was visiting while he was in the program the first time," she said, "We watched three different Star Trek movies with Reuben. It was an experience."

"Yeah, now his callsign works," Bradley said. "That's why Bob needs a better one."

"Maybe he likes Bob. It's better than Hangman," Kate said, twisting her toes into the sand. She spun around and started walking toward the water in a diagonal. Bradley bent down and rolled up his pants, still trying to walk and ended up skipping a bit as he hurried to catch up with her.

"Anything is better than Hangman," Bradley growled.

"He's not always terrible," Kate said, rolling up eyes. "He's only really awful half the time."

"And the rest of the time?"

"Decent to acceptable," she said, lifting her chin. The tears were gone. "Dad likes him."

"How?" Bradley asked, baffled. "Why?"

"He's an amazing pilot, and he'd be an excellent one if he wasn't such a self-centered asshole in the air," she said, shrugging. "Dad likes good pilots. But I'm forbidden from dating him."

Bradley's foot went down hard on the sand. "That came up?"

"Apparently he asked my dad if he could ask me on a date," Kate said airily, like it didn't matter when it definitely did. "Dad said no. If he abandons people in the air, he'll abandon a girlfriend on the ground."

"Yeah, yes," Bradley said firmly. He couldn't imagine Kate dating Hangman. His brain hummed when he tried to think of what he would do if they dated. Nothing, because Kate was an adult—who could make her own decisions—he would hate it.

"So. Maverick."

She had circled back around to that topic of conversation. The waves lapped at their feet, seafoam clinging to the shadowy sand.

"I'll manage," he said, forcing himself to not grit his teeth.

"It's going to be really dangerous, isn't it. They wouldn't have brought together so many of you if it wasn't. Or called in Mav."

He glanced down at her. Her ocean eyes caught the moonlight as she met his gaze. His silence was the best answer he could give her.

"Thought so." Kate looped her arm through his as they walked. "Just…pay attention to what Mav says, even if you hate every second. He knows things."

"You make it sound like he's Obi-Wan Kenobi. Or Yoda."

"More like an alternate universe non-crispy Anakin," she said, leaning against him. "Anger leads to the dark side or something."

"You're the worst at movie quotes."

Kate huffed. "Look, don't come at me, I'll throw you right into that ocean right there…"

Bradley laughed, tilting his head back. "I'd like to see you try."

As she grumbled and fussed at his side, her mood lifted, he tightened the lock he had on her arm. If he could keep her here, in this happy bubble, he would. But those emotions she was trying to dodge? She couldn't keep them at bay forever, and he wanted to be there for her when she had to work through them.