writings and stuff

Red, I’ve been called back to Top Gun. Guess I’ll be seeing you before Christmas after all.

You stare at your godfather’s message, worrying your lip, wondering what the hell the Vice Admiral was up to. You’d received a similar message from your brother a few days ago, telling you he was being assigned to North Island for a brief stint. It was the first text you’d received from him in months. And the day after, Bob had called telling you the same.

Under any other circumstances, you would have been elated to have your favourite boys all in town but you were starting to feel like this wasn’t going to be an assignment you were going to be happy about for any of them.

“Fuck,” You murmur, sending a reply to Maverick, realising he and Bradley were probably going to bump into each other while they were here.

“Oh, fuck,” You repeat out loud, remembering that you had never told Maverick and Bradley you had been seeing someone and now they were going to have to meet Bob for the first time as your fiance.

You smile as the crowd’s cheers die down and Bradley fidgets with his sunglasses.

“Should’ve been a performer, Rooster,” You say, catching his attention.

He blinks, surprised to see you here at The Hard Deck. “Y/N.”

You roll your eyes and throw your arms around him. “You’re an idiot. I’ve missed you.”

You feel him relax and hug you back. “Yeah. Missed you too.”

Things had never been the same between you ever since Maverick interfered with your individual plans to join the academy – Bradley perpetually angry at the fact that you’d so easily forgiven Mav after you graduated. 

“What’s done is done, Bradley!” You’d shouted at him, the first Christmas you’d had without your mom. “Alright? I reached out to him because he’s one of the only family we have left. And what he did was shitty–” “Shitty? He ruined our lives!” “How did he–” You frown at him. “We still became pilots, Bradley.” “Years later than we could have been! He’s not family to me, Y/N, and if he’s coming here, I’m fucking leaving.”

Over the years, the shouting matches never eased in intensity when Maverick was the topic and it was probably for the best that you were all stationed in different locations. But what you told him was true. You missed the hell out of him.

“How’ve you been?” He murmurs, pulling back to look at you. “North Island treating you alright?”

You shrug, “Can’t complain.”

“C’mon, come meet the others.”

You recognised a lot of the faces around the pool table as you walked towards it, having crossed paths at some point over the years.

“Well if it isn’t Bradshaw number two,” Hangman says, straightening up from the table. “You here for the mission as well, beautiful?”

“You know very well that I’m not.”

“Mm. Still don’t know why you chose Seahawks over strike fighters.”

“I’ll let you know next time I prevent one of your carriers from being obliterated by a torpedo.”

“She’s got you there, Bagman,” Phoenix butts in, leaning on her cue stick impatiently. “Hurry up and take your shot already.”

As the group settles into different conversations and Hangman and Phoenix into their match, you sidle over to Bob who had been less watching the game at the pool table and more watching you.

“Floyd,” You greet, trying to bite back a stupid grin.

“Bradshaw,” He nods, the corner of his mouth quirking up a little.

You lean on the beam beside him and sigh, “This is going to be harder than I thought.”

He looks over at you. “Yeah?”

“Yeah. I wish I could just kiss you right now.”

He snorts, turning his attention back to the table. Or trying to, anyway.

“Steady, lieutenant,” He murmurs with a smile. “You already had your way with me this morning.”

“Oh now you’re just being unfair, bringing that up,” You bump his shoulder, trying to ignore how much you wanted him all over again. “I need a drink.”

“You knew.”

You look at your brother, your annoyance already rising. The moment you saw him storming towards you, you knew what he was going to say.

“You knew he was coming,” He continues. “And you didn’t even tell me.”

“What would you have done? Tell the Vice Admiral you’re not coming back to Top Gun because you’ve got a life-long grudge against Pete Mitchell?”

“It would have been nice to have gotten a heads up! That’s all!”

“I’m not responsible for mitigating whatever is going on between you and Mav, alright?” You tell him. “I only found out a few days ago that he was coming, let alone why he was here. Cut me some slack.”

Your brother glares at you for a beat before scoffing and walking away.

“Sweetheart?”

You hear the familiar drawl from the front door and call out to Bob, your voice muffled by the pillow. A few moments later the bed dips and you turn your head to see him sitting on the edge, smiling fondly at you.

“How was your first day?” You ask wearily.

“Interesting. Maverick’s going to be our instructor - but you already knew that.”

You hum. “Rooster gave me a piece of his mind this afternoon for not telling him.”

“Would it have made a difference if you did?”

“Who knows,” You sigh. “I just… I feel like we’re mad at each other more than we’re not and I hate it.”

The bed dips again as Bob lays beside you and pulls you into his embrace. You snuggle against him, your head resting against his chest.

“I really want to tell him - the both of them - about us,” You say quietly. “And I have to tell Bradley before I tell Mav or else…”

You lift a hand and mimic an explosion with it. Bob chuckles and takes it, threading his fingers between yours.

“Don’t rush it,” Your fiance tells you, lips brushing the crown of your head. “You’ll find the right moment eventually.”

You prop yourself up on your elbow to look at him. “I love you, you know.”

He smiles, propping himself up as well so his lips are inches from yours.

“I know,” He murmurs, before kissing you senseless.

“Training looks like it’s going well,” You say to Maverick, finding him and the team on the beach. You had to admit you were envious of them, after your long day of being on the base.

“Well, nothing like dogfight football to bring everyone together.”

You watch as Rooster hoists Bob up on his shoulders and you feel a pang of emotion seeing the two of them like that. This is what you’ve always wanted – you, Rooster and Maverick in the same place, Bob being brought into the fold like he always belonged there. You’re annoyed at yourself for not doing more to make that happen.

“Red? Redwing.” You’re jolted out of your thoughts at Maverick’s voice. “You okay?”

You nod, turning to face him. “You can’t tell me anything, can you? Who you might pick?”

From what you’d gathered from the tidbits from Bob and Maverick and gossip around the base, it was going to be one of the most high-stakes missions they’d ever attempted. And that did not sit well with you at all.

“Afraid not. Sorry, Red.”

And you know the apologetic look in his eye is for more than not being able to tell you the mission detail. He was going to pick Rooster. Only time would tell if Bob would be chosen, too.

“You got anyone in town you want contacted, Bob?” The medic asks, hovering over him.

Bob grimaces, knowing you’d kill him if he kept this from you.

“My fiancee, please,” He replies. “She’s here on the base. Y/N.”

“Last name?”

Bob glances over at the rest of the pilots nearby, knowing they were well within earshot.

“Bradshaw,” He tells the medic, shutting his eyes as if it would help detach him from the situation. He can practically hear heads turn in his direction.

“Bob–” He hears Rooster start but then he’s being wheeled away to the infirmary.

He thinks if the eject didn’t kill him, one of the Bradshaw siblings would.

-

All the questions building in Rooster’s mind as he strode towards the infirmary vanishes when he sees you sitting in the hall looking like you’d gone into shock. Immediately, his top priority becomes making sure you’re alright.

"They won’t let me in until they’re done checking over him,” You say when he sits down next to you, your eyes on the wall across the way. “I was about to fly out just now when Cyclone came over the comms and pulled me. I thought he was going to say one of you had fucking died.”

You choke at the end of your sentence and Rooster doesn’t hesitate to pull you into a hug.

“I can’t lose him, Roose,” You say into his jacket. “I can’t.”

“You won’t. He’s just in there for monitoring. He’s not going anywhere.”

You nod, knowing that, but he holds you for a long while, letting you sniffle against his shoulder anyway.

“I knew there was something between you and ol’ Bobby,” He eventually says, trying to lighten the mood. “You’re not very subtle, you know. Kept making eyes at him every time you were at The Hard Deck.”

You snort, leaning away from him to wipe at your cheeks. “I’m engaged to him, of course I’m going to be making eyes.”

Your expression goes sad again and Rooster prepares for another onslaught of tears but then you just look at him.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you,” You say. “I just kept trying to find the right moment but… it’s stupid now that I think about it. I should’ve just told you.”

“That’s on me, I think,” He says, giving you a rueful smile. “I haven’t been the easiest to talk to, these last few years. But I’m so happy for you, Red. Bob’s a great guy.”

“He really is,” You sigh, leaning back against your seat.

“Masterful WSO, too,” Rooster continues. “You know how to pick ‘em.”

“Can you believe of all the people I could’ve fallen in love with, I fell in love with an ace WSO?” You muse and he’s glad to see the light coming back into your eyes. “I take after mom too much.”

“That and Dad would never have let you live it down if you got engaged to a shit one.”

That elicits a watery laugh out of you but it’s a laugh nonetheless and Rooster smiles, feeling accomplished.

You feel like your heart is being ripped out of your chest at the sight of your boys, the three men you cared about most in the world, geared up and ready to go. You knew this was going to be damn near impossible. They hadn’t said a word about it but their actions these last few days said it all. They knew there was a chance they’d never see you again.

“I don’t care what it takes,” You tell them, trying to keep your voice level. “You all have to come home to me.”

You know they’re not stupid enough to make hollow promises and they don’t. Maverick steps up first to hug you.

“I’ll keep them out of trouble,” He says to you. “Don’t you worry.”

“You stay out of trouble too,” You tell him. “I’ll kill you if you’re not at my wedding.”

He smiles and gives you a salute before heading off.

“Don’t do anything stupid,” You say the moment Rooster picks you up in a hug.

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

He puts you down and you hate that he looks so solemn. You realise this is what you were always able to avoid. Always being stationed far from him, you never had to face the fact that you could lose him just as suddenly as you lost your mom and dad.

“Bradley–”

“Don’t cry or else I’ll cry,” He says, kissing your forehead. “Save the tears for your main man over here.”

You laugh wetly, meeting Bob’s gaze over his shoulder.

“I’ll see you, alright?”

You nod and watch Rooster go before finally turning Bob, not being able to help the tears stinging your eyes.

Stepping closer, Bob caresses your cheek and you lean into his touch, your brow furrowing slightly.

“Come home to me, Robert Floyd,” You whisper

“You know I’ll do everything I can to,” He murmurs, pressing a kiss to your lips and then another one. “I love you. So much.”

“I love you too.”

It’s dawn when you’re jolted out of your sleep by a hand on your shoulder. You bolt upright, your heart beating at the familiar silhouette at your bedside.

“Bob?”

“Hi, sweetheart."

You choke back a sob, flinging yourself into his arms. "You're back."

"We came in a few hours ago," He tells you. "Mav and Rooster said they'll stop by tomorrow."

You sob in relief and he wraps his arms around you. “Everyone’s okay?”

His mind briefly flashes with the memory of Maverick’s plane going down, then Rooster’s. Remembers the way his heart sank when Rooster’s voice crackled over the comms.

“Bob. Take care of her.”

He pushes the memory away, focusing on you instead. “Yeah. Everyone’s good.”

He knows you’ll find out soon enough the details of what happened but for now, he just holds you close and showers you with kisses, happy to be home in your arms.

End!

Message me about any of this pls <3 I feel like I have so much backstory for this Bradshaw Sister character, ESPECIALLY how she and Bob met and how like, in my head, they’d only been engaged like two and a half weeks when Bob got called back to Top Gun here. Might write about that too, tbh.

Here’s the scene run down, just to give some context:

Finding out Maverick, Rooster and Bob are coming down to Top Gun

Right after Rooster sings Great Balls of Fire

After Mav’s introduced to everyone as their instructor

Same as #3, just later

Beach football scene, my beloved

After the bird strike

Before they leave for the mission

After the mission