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Ice stood in front of the mirror in his bathroom, his hands gripping the edges with fingers curling into the marble. His head slowly lifted to gaze at himself in the mirror, seeing the haunted glow behind his eyes. His veins were bulging from his temple, twitching with each breath that he took. Teeth gnashing together, Ice’s head bowed forward as he heard his father’s words ringing in his ears.
“I didn’t raise my son to be some kind of freak. Get the fuck out of this house and don’t you ever come back!”
Ice groaned as he lifted his hands and ran his fingers through his hair.
“You think you can just act however you want? Not in my house, and not with your mother present! I won’t have you bring this sin into our home.”
The rubbing grew harder, fiercer, as Ice panted while he rocked back and forth.
“You’re nothing but a failure and you’ll always be a failure. Let the Navy chew you up and spit you out.”
“I’m going to be an Admiral one day,” Ice pipped up as he lifted his head upwards to stare at himself in the mirror once more as though he was speaking to his father. “I’m going to make something of myself.”
Hot breath stung Ice’s nose as he felt his father lean forward, and for a moment he was still the scared 18 year old kid standing in front of his father, who was an inch away from lashing out at him. “You will never be an Admiral. You will never be anything! And if you ever think of dragging this family down with you, I’ll put you in the fucking ground.”
With a scream, Ice shot out a fist and collided it with the mirror. The sound of glass shattering echoed around him and he felt pain spread through his fist, and when he looked down, he saw blood gushing from his hand. The pain quickly faded to numbness as he continued to stare at the now shattered reflection in front of him. He stood to his full height and looked at what was left of the mirror, wishing that it could’ve been his father standing in front of him with Ice’s hand through his face instead of through the mirror.
“You think you can fucking say something like that to me and there’s no consequences for it? That you can leave me when I needed you, and then come back after all this time? What the actual fuck?!”
“Ice?”
Ice let out a soft yelp as he turned with his back to the sink, feet shuffling as they stepped over the tiny pieces of glass shards.
The sound of frantic footsteps echoed as they drew closer until the bathroom door was being forced open. The man in question gasped as he took a step forward only for Ice’s eyes to flash in warning.
“Ice,” the man questioned, voice suddenly hoarse.
“Get back,” Ice commanded with his bloodied hand flexing in front of him. “Stay back, Maverick!”
Maverick raised his hands in a show of surrender and nodded hesitantly, clearly debating whether or not to listen to Ice or not. “Okay, okay, I’m backing up. I won’t come any closer, but I can’t leave you alone here....not when you’re like this, alright? I just need to make sure you’re safe.”
“Safe,” Ice huffed out with a dangerous laugh. He lifted his uninjured hand and threaded it through his fingers to force his hair back. “Safe....what a joke.”
“Ice?”
“You know what my Dad said to me when I first told him that I wanted to one day be an Admiral, way back when I first joined the Navy?”
Maverick shook his head slowly.
“Told me that I would fail, and that if I did I better not ‘embarrass the family name’.” Ice began to laugh once again, which turned into an almost low whine. “And then that if I ever did that he would bury me....put me in the fucking ground if I remember his correct terminology.”
“That’s definitely messed up, Ice.”
“It is, isn’t it?! Like who says that to their chid?”
“I’m not sure, honey. People who really shouldn’t be parents.”
Ice leaned even harsher against the edge of the sink until it dug into his mid thigh. “And now they want to act like they’re so proud of me for being considered to be an Admiral? Who does that?!”
Maverick visibly winced as he ran his hands over the backs of his hands as he tried to come up for a thoughtful response. “I don’t know.”
“They tossed me out, left me alone to my own devices.” Ice pulled back and began to pace in the small space, sending pieces of broken glass sliding across the floor. “Told me I’d never be anything without them. Now they have the audacity to try and come back after all this time, claiming how proud they are of me.”
Maverick’s brow furrowed as he looked up, tension clutching at his chest. “Ice, I’m so sorry.”
“He told me I was useless, weak....a coward! And not to mention what he did when he found out I’m into guys.” The sound that came out of Ice next was enough to make Maverick want to rush forward immediately and pull him into a firm hug. It was only understanding exactly what that would do to Ice that kept him from doing so.
“He hated me. He always hated me and now that I’ve accomplished things, on my own mind you, now he and my mother want back in. They think now I want to have anything to do with them?” Ice reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone before tossing it in Maverick’s direction.
Maverick reached up and caught it easily and instinctively began to scroll through Ice’s messages until he landed from one with just a number, who he was able to figure out was Ice’s father right away.
“Your mom and I are so proud of you. Give us a time and place and we can sit down and talk things through. We miss you, Tommy,” Maverick read, feeling suddenly very nauseous. He set the phone aside, unsure of what he could possibly say to Ice to make it any better.
“They didn’t miss me when I used to cry myself to sleep and wonder how they could possibly hate their child so much. No.....they didn’t miss me when I became an aviator or moved up the ranks. It was only when they found out that I am being considered to be an Admiral that they suddenly want back in. They would never have done that if I was still a Captain.”
“Ice—“
“They don’t get to talk about my life, my accomplishments, and say that they’re proud of me. They weren’t in my life up until this point. This is my accomplishment! They don’t get to be proud of me; they weren’t even fucking here! This is my accomplishment, not theirs! They don’t have a right to say they’re fucking proud of me when they have made it perfectly Goddamn clear what they really thought of me.”
Maverick didn’t even realize that he was crying until he felt moisture run down his cheeks. He didn’t immediately wipe them away, body still rigid as he faced Ice. “They don’t deserve you. They never have and they never will.”
“I never hated them,” Ice continued with tears beginning to roll down his cheeks and drip onto his shirt. “But they hated me, more than anything.” He swayed where he stood, bloody hand going limp at his side. “How can someone hate their own child?”
Maverick suddenly surged forward and wrapped his arms around Ice as he fell, slumped in exhaustion to the side. Maverick struggled to keep him upright, grunting with effort as he crouched down before setting Ice down against the wall after he brushed his hand over the floor to push all of the tiny pieces of glass towards the tub. He managed to fold in beside Ice, a hand rested on Ice’s chest to feel his racing heart.
“Oh, Ice,” Maverick sighed as he reached under the sink to one of the shelves and pulled out a hand towel. He expertly grabbed Ice’s fist and pulled it close, wrapping it delicately while trying to apply as much pressure as he could without causing Ice anymore discomfort. “That okay?”
Ice tipped his head back to gaze upon Maverick, his silver blue eyes like shards of fractured ice when he looked to Maverick. “M’not a failure.”
Maverick’s eyes widened in shock. His hands reached out as he pulled Ice’s head close gingerly and hugged him to his chest. “No, you’re not! You’re one of the most successful people that I know. You’re smart, kind, funny, and so much more. Anyone who can’t see that is an idiot.”
Ice pressed his face into Maverick’s shirt, tears beginning to soak through it. “Sometimes I wish that I had never been born!”
Alarm surged through Maverick, piercing through his heart as though he had been stabbed by a knife. The anger and horror began to fade, giving way to deep rooted concern. Ice had never expressed any suicidal ideation like this before, even during the darkest of times, and Maverick would be lying if he said he wasn’t terrified of what Ice may do now when he was left alone.
“Hey, hey,” Maverick snapped as he wrapped his arms around Ice and gave him a nearly bone crushing hug. “I’m not going to listen to any of that kind of talk. You’re Iceman, a fantastic pilot and an even better man. That bastard that raised you doesn’t get a damn say in that. Fuck, you’re the best of us, Ice. That is something to live for, isn’t it?”
Ice’s own heart ached when he heard the pain behind Maverick’s words. He wasn’t trying to be manipulative, that much Ice was positive about, it was just the pain of Ice’s own words taking over. Maverick had never been the best with expressing his feelings as Ice was, and would often lash out when frustrated or distraught.
“I know. I’m sorry,” Ice mumbled.
Maverick instantly felt ashamed and rested his chin on top of Ice’s head. “You don’t have to be sorry. You have every right to express how you feel. I just wish that I could take this pain away from you.”
Ice wrapped his own arms around Maverick, exploring his back muscles with his fingers just like the hundreds of times he had done so prior. Maverick’s strong heartbeat kept him grounded, and focused on the here and now.
“You never have to so much as think about your parents again if you don’t want to. We can block their numbers and lay low for a bit,” Maverick offered. “Though, I would love to see the look on your father’s face if you suddenly announced that you had no family and that they were dead.”
“Maverick!”
“What? It’s just an idea.” Maverick chuckled as he pressed a kiss to Ice’s forehead. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding. But it’s always an option.”
Ice rolled his eyes while still remaining pressed against Maverick. “Do you think I’m going to be an Admiral?”
“Of course you will! There’s no one else that deserves it more than you do.”
“Now that may be a little much.”
“Still true to me.” Maverick’s gaze flickered down to Ice’s hand, that was steadily bleeding through the towel. “Do you think that I can have a look at your hand? Just to make sure that we don’t have to take a trip to the hospital.”
Ice wrinkled his nose at the mention of a hospital as he pulled his face back from Maverick’s chest. He lifted his hand slowly and grumbled at how the once white towel was now saturated dark crimson. “It’s not that bad.”
“I’ll be the judge of that.”
Maverick peeled them towel back from Ice’s hand, fighting to ignore the sharp intake of breath Ice took in when the fabric brushed his exposed flesh. Maverick leaned forward with eyes squinted as he raised Ice’s hand to the light, turning it over and squeezing each finger in turn.
“What are you doing,” Ice questioned as Maverick turned his hand over palm up.
“Checking for anymore glass.” Once Maverick was sure that Ice’s hand was free of glass, he patted Ice’s leg. “Stay right here.”
When Maverick made a move to stand, Ice reached out and grabbed his wrist, nearly pulling Maverick back down on top of him. Maverick reached out his other hand to brace himself against the wall so he didn’t fall over.
“Ice, I’m going like two feet. You can still see me.” Maverick kissed the top of Ice’s head and brushed his sweaty hair back.
Although still clearly reluctant, Ice released his grip and waited as Maverick straightened and walked to the linen closet to pull the first aid kit out. He undid the latches and opened the top, grabbing some gauze, Neosporin, and bandages. He didn’t think that he would need anything else as Ice’s hand was clearly swollen, but the lacerations weren’t anything that he needed to worry about too much as they didn’t need stitches.
After grabbing the items, Maverick sat back down beside Ice and began to use the gauze to clean up the blood, using delicate touches though Ice hardly reacted to them.
“You’re a lot better at this than I am.”
“Better at what,” Maverick asked as he unscrewed the cap to the Neosporin.
“Patching me up. I was never really good at doing it myself.”
Maverick stifled a sigh. “You used to have to deal with your own wounds yourself? Was this when you were a kid?”
Ice nodded as Maverick began to smear the Neosporin on a couple of the longer scars. “Yeah, especially when my father’s Navy friends would come over. I was meant to be seen and not heard. If I ever broke that...well....I’m sure you can guess what happened next.”
Maverick wiped them remainder of the Neosporin from his fingers on the bloody hand towel and reached for the bandages. He began to wrap it around Ice’s hands, feeling the flex of Ice’s muscles as he struggled to find a comfortable position he could hold his hand in.
“Remind me to kick your Dad’s ass if I ever meet him,” Maverick grumbled as he finished bandaging up Ice’s hand and secured the bandage with a safety pin. “Won’t hurt anything, besides his face. Yeah....a good punch to the face would make me feel better.”
Ice chuckled softly, reminding Maverick of the task at hand and pulling him out of his violent daydreams. Maverick shook his head to clear it and lifted Ice’s bandaged hand, running his thumb over each knuckle while meeting Ice’s eyes.
“What,” Ice questioned fearfully.
“You know I’m proud of you, right? Like super fucking proud of you.”
“You’re just saying that.”
“No, no, I’m not,” Maverick explained, hurt evident in his voice. “I mean, I’ll still be just as proud of you if you don’t make Admiral this time, but your entire life you’ve dedicated to the Navy and have helped so many people. How could someone not be proud of you?”
Ice looked away to disguise the blush that crept onto his cheeks. “You’re just saying that because you’re my husband.”
“Hurtful! When have I ever said something that wasn’t genuine?”
Ice rolled his neck to the side to look at Maverick through the corner of his vision. His eyes said everything, and although they had been together for many years, Maverick still broke down when he saw them.
“Okay, that’s not true, but about this I’m 100% serious.” He reached up to take Ice’s face in his hands before pulling him close. The two kissed with Maverick depending the kiss and using his tongue to explore every crevice of Ice’s mouth, drinking in his lust and love for the man. It wasn’t until Ice had to break off to breathe that Maverick released him, hands still on either side of Ice’s face, just enjoying the feel of his skin against his fingers. “I love you.”
Ice grinned. “I love you too.”
Maverick dropped his hands and thought for a moment, a gleam of mischief lighting in his eyes. “You said that you parents didn’t approve of your sexuality, right? And that they would be pissed to know you’re married to another man?”
“Yes, that’s true.”
“Well.....” Maverick trailed off and walked his fingers from Ice’s taunt abdomen to his belt and unclasped it before gingerly pulling it from the loops of his pants. Once the belt was removed, his cupped a hand over his crouch.
Ice took in a shaky inhale, feeling warmth already starting to pool in his stomach.
“I say we push that narrative even further,” Maverick growled as he rolled over to straddle Ice’s lap, rocking back and forth while adding just enough pressure to a certain area. “What do you say?”
Ice tipped his head back against the wall, feeling his dick starting to get hard. “I-I think it may just be what the doctor ordered.”
Maverick nearly purred as he leaned forward and began to leave love bites on the side of Ice’s neck.
“Excellent.”