Chapter Text
Maverick made his way through the hall, clad in his flight suit with his helmet at his side. Each step he took added more sparks of butterflies through his stomach. Goose was walking silently on his left side, a smile on his face despite the immense worry he was feeling.
"You sure about this, Mav?" Rooster asked, unable to hold his concerns. Last time Maverick had tried this, though he wasn't there to watch, he almost died. And lost communication for a while. So, Rooster was bound to get worried.
Maverick peered over at him, that same fearless look on his face as always. By now Rooster could see right through it. "Yep. Always."
Goose scoffed, showing his teeth in a grin, knowing damn well that that wasn't true. There were plenty of times he had had to calm Mav down before a flight, but it happens to the best of them. The noise made Maverick chuckle a little bit, but it didn't help with his anxiety. He was ready to fly the Darkstar, sure. That wasn't what he was worried about.
He didn't know what he was worried about, actually. The feeling was just there.
Before Maverick got into the SR-72 Darkstar, he turned, facing both Rooster and Goose and smiled, "See you soon." And he began to get into the aircraft, feeling both Goose and Rooster's anxiousness build as he did so. His heart was thumping too, but that was normal when you are about to be flying thousands of feet above ground. So, Maverick didn't worry too much.
One last glance towards the two behind him, and he slipped the helmet over his face, getting ready to fly the aircraft.
“You ready, Maverick?” Hondo asked through the comms, sounding worried and not at all enthusiastic about what Maverick had once again gotten himself into.
“I’m ready.” Maverick checked all of the controls before sitting back in his chair and letting out a strained sigh.
He had never felt like this in any of his other test runs with the Darkstar, so why right now? He had this bad feeling in the pit of his stomach that just wouldn’t leave him alone.
Maverick waited for the ‘Okay’ to start his left engine, then did the same to his right engine.
With both engines on and ready, he waited for his permission to take off, his hands shaking against the stick ever so slightly, not enough to interfere with his pilot skills, but enough to catch his attention.
He ignored it.
“Darkstar, you are ready for take-off.”
With a deep inhale, Maverick pushed the stick forward, his breath getting hitched in his throat as the force of the movement hit him.
His head thrown back against the seat, he kept the stick pulled back until his wheels were off the ground and he was in the air.
Though he could feel the jet moving, it really didn’t seem like it by the looks of outside. The sky was staying still, and so was time.
His breaths coming out in small grunts as the Darkstar climbed to a higher and higher speed every time he blinked, his eyes drifted to the sky around him.
A misty blue stared back at him, mixed with a light purple that seemed to fade in it. It was like a fantasy that no matter how many times he lived it it would never get old.
“How are you doing, Maverick?” Hondo’s voice asked through the comms, pulling Mav from his daze.
“All good here, Hondo.” Maverick answered, still watching the outside while flicking his eyes back to see just how fast he was going.
Rooster and Goose watched from the control room, Rooster’s arms folded across his chest as he kept his eyes on Maverick’s face which was shown on an ill-colored screen, anxiety climbing like there was no tomorrow.
Goose stood right next to his son, his hands shoved in his pockets as he, too, studied Maverick, hoping that he would listen to instructions for once and not have to eject.
But this was Maverick they were talking about.
The only feeling Mav had now that he was in the air and the jet was stable, was joy. He stared out at the blue around him, a small smile creeping on his lips as he did so.
There was nowhere else he would rather be. He felt a sense of belonging and felt like he was alive whenever he was in the air. It was just where he was meant to be.
But that sense of peace was soon wiped off the face of the earth when a sound echoed through the air, a loud boom that shot panic through everyone who heard it.
Hondo froze, staring at the screen that showed a wide-eyed Maverick looking down at the controls and trying to figure out just what that was. “Maverick, what was that?”
A woman in the room answered, “The left engine is on fire!”
Rooster’s arms dropped to his side, his heart beginning to pound as he stood there in silence, watching in horror as alarms started to go off, unable to do anything.
“Oh, god.” Goose whispered, standing up straight, his hands coming out of his pockets like he would have to use them.
Maverick swallowed thickly as he looked over his shoulder, his hopes that he wouldn’t see smoke or flames behind him were immediately crushed, and he knew that the only way out of this was to eject.