Chapter Text
September 2016
Jake rouses to the low tone of his cell ringing. He can't imagine who would be calling him at two in the damn morning unless his Pops forgot about time differences again. Whatever the case, Jake slides out of bed and crosses the room to answer it.
"Mitchell."
There's a pause on the other end of the line, a breath, and then a man's voice says, "I'm looking for Lieutenant Jacob Seresin?"
Shit.
"This is he."
"We're calling to inform you that as of 1807 western time, Captain Pete Mitchell was listed as MIA following a crash in a classified piece of naval equipment. We are not at liberty to disclose more details at this time, but next of kin needed to be notified."
Jake sinks down to his bed, bracing himself there with a trembling breath. He glances at his watch, one dial set for his current location and the other set for home. Twelve hours: his dad has already been missing for twelve hours. It's not like it's the first time Maverick ever went MIA, but it's certainly the first that he was missing for more than a couple hours.
"Mm? Hey, man. Everything-"
"Not now, Javy," Jake whispers. Javy and he have been together on deployments for a few years now. When they met at the academy, he was the best friend Jake could've asked for. No one else ever put up with his bullshit the way Javy did. "Have they deployed search and rescue teams?"
The man on the line makes a noise of assent. "Yes. Unfortunately, the craft was airborne at the time of the crash. Sweep and recovery could take upwards of a couple days."
Mav talked Jake's ear off for hours about the Darkstar project. He would bet real money the Darkstar wasn't just "airborne." It was hurtling through the sky at thousands of miles an hour. Jake has clearance to know exactly what took place, courtesy of Uncle Ice since it's not that classified, but this guy likely isn't aware of that. He'll call Ice after this, so that way he doesn't have to put some poor desk monkey through the wringer demanding answers the way he wants to.
"I see. Thanks for the call."
"Of course, Lieutenant. That will be all."
The line clips off. Jake lets his phone fall into his lap and chews at the inside of his lip. He reaches for his toothpicks, ignoring the way his hands shake when he opens the box. Jake and Javy were supposed to be home from deployment next month, and now he's stuck here in the middle of nowhere while Mav is potentially wandering around lost somewhere in the US. Or even....
"Jake? You're making me nervous, man."
Jake rolls his toothpick between his teeth, biting down on it until the surface gives a bit and his nervous system twinges in protest at the slide of bone against wood. Not quite nails on a chalkboard, but good enough to settle him down for now. "My dad's MIA."
Javy sits up. "No way."
"If there was no way, then why did I just get a call from the Navy saying he was?"
His friend raises his hands in surrender. "Hey, take it easy, all right? I wasn't tryin' to pick at you. I just didn't realize he did anything dangerous in the military. It's not like you're rife with details on the guy, you know?"
"That's for my safety." Jake rolls his toothpick again. "He's been missing for twelve hours already."
The pause in conversation deadens the room and Javy swallows audibly. Jake takes a breath. Then, another one. His third one shakes, and in an instant, he's throwing the box of toothpicks at the door. They explode out of the thin cardboard in a mess of splinters. He lays back bed, trembling there for a long minute. If Maverick is anything, it's resilient, but a crash in the Darkstar would not have been pretty. Did he just lose his dad, too?
"I'm fucking stuck here, Javy."
"You always have someone to call when you need answers, though, don't you? An uncle, right?"
Jake glances at his friend, debating. Going on eleven years, they've been the best of friends, but how would Javy look at him if he found out Jake's source wasn't just some paper-pusher, but the COMPACFLT himself? Maverick and Ice have spent the better part of both their careers concealing exactly who Jake is to them to keep him safe, both saying they wouldn't mind if he did trust someone enough to let them in but warning him of the potential blowback. People might look at him and think he got where he is because of nepotism, not because of skill.
It makes Jake nervous just thinking about watching Javy's opinion of him spiral into the gutter, but Mav's always telling him that sometimes, trust is worth the risk. Jake wants to trust Javy, wanted to introduce him to his dad and uncles more than once, but will he understand?
"Javy," Jake starts, a little wary. "Can I tell you something I've never told anyone before?"
"Only if you're comfortable with that."
The words encourage Jake and he sits up in bed, flicking on the desk lamp and bathing the room in amber hues. Javy mirrors him. For the longest time, Jake chews his toothpick and works on how to even begin. "My uncle.... He isn't just some guy with access. He's...." Jake swallows hard.
Javy inclines his head, ever-patient.
Jake never gets a chance to finish the sentence, his phone suddenly jumping to life with a familiar ringtone screaming ' Cold as ice!' He picks up in an instant. "Did they find him?!"
"Hello to you, too, Tommy."
"Don't give me that bullshit. Where's my dad?"
Ice's silence speaks volumes and Jake cringes. He can see Ice raising his eyebrow at him from thousands of miles away. "I don't like your tone, young man. I can easily call back later if you're going to be cross with me."
"No, wait!" Jake begs, stalwartly ignoring the way Javy's brows shoot up at the desperate tone of his voice. "I'm sorry." Those surprised brows creep ever higher. "Forgive me." And higher. "It's good to hear from you, Uncle Tom."
"That's better. It's good to hear from you, too. Now, as much as I know you'll hate to hear this, I'm not calling with an update on Mav."
Jake deflates.
"I trust you've been apprised of the situation judging by the way you answered my call. I don't have many extra details to offer in the meantime, only that when engine failure occurred, he was traveling at Mach 10.4. Admiral Cain tried to scrap the program. Forced him to hit the next test point or else he'd shut them down. The.... The explosion is still all over the news. It was visible for miles."
"Mach 10.4?" Jake echoes, wincing when Javy gives a startled cough.
Ice, despite the undercurrent of worry in his tone, sounds outright dreamy. "It must have been one hell of a ride."
Jake tries to smile, but the tension in his face lets a sob slip out through his parted lips. "I'll bet it was, huh? Fuck, that'd be the way he'd want to go. Fastest man alive. Blaze of glory, miles high, and free."
"Hey. No, kid," Ice says, his tone admonishing and gentle all at the same time. "Don't go there just yet. Maverick is a stubborn little shit, and there's no power on this earth that could stop him from coming back home to you if he was able."
It takes a second, but Jake sniffs and composes himself. Ice is right—he usually is. Jake can't fall apart and lose his mind when no one knows anything yet. "Y-yeah. You're right." Jake considers who else might hear something about Mav, just in case. "Suppose anyone called the asshole?"
"I really wish you wouldn't call him that. Bradley is still your big brother."
"He hasn't tried to be my big brother in sixteen years. Dad is missing! He could be- and... and I don't even know if he'd care. Dad could be-"
"Take a deep breath. I know you're scared. Let's not discuss that now."
Even though the admiral can't see it, Jake nods and does as he's told. After a few more careful breaths, he looks Javy in the eye and says, "Thanks, Uncle Ice."
Javy blinks at him, then, after a beat, smiles. "That's cool as shit, man."
Jake's body relaxes. He doesn't know how he ever thought chill and easy-going Javy would turn on him, but now he can safely say his opinion of Javy was right. He returns his attention to the call, a nervous smile twisting his lips. "So, if you weren't calling about dad, then what are you calling for? I know you pay attention to the time zones better than he does, and you wouldn't call this late if something wasn't up."
"I was calling to give you a heads-up about your restationing."
"Restationing? But this deployment isn't over for another month."
"I'm aware. Special circumstances. You'll have your orders in a couple hours, so have your bags packed. Javy, too. You'll both be on the first flight back to North Island."
Jake blinks at that. "Seriously? Why?"
"I'm not at liberty to discuss it with you just yet. Just know that everything will be in order soon, and if I receive any updates on Mav, you'll be the first to know. You stay safe out there, kiddo."
"I will. Thanks, Ice. I'll see you soon. Love you."
The laugh Ice gives is a little rusty, a sign of both emotion and nerves all in one. "Love you, too, Jake."
They end the call and Jake waits in silence for his best friend to say something. Javy stares at him for a long while, head tilting in that listening way of his despite that fact that neither of them are saying anything.
"This explains how you got that one CO that felt up Halo booted so fast."
Jake shrugs, heat creeping up his neck. "That was nothing."
"Obviously."
"He doesn't let me get away with shit if that's what you're thinking-"
Javy shoots him a look. "Please. I knew that wasn't the case the second he wouldn't let you spout off whatever you wanted just because you were freaked out. Honestly, I was impressed more than anything. Never seen anyone get a handle on you that fast."
"He's got nothing on my dad."
A curious arch of Javy's brow says all he needs it to. "I feel like it's strange that I now know who your uncle is, but not your dad."
"My dad is.... He's Maverick."
Javy's eyes widen. "Admiral Kazansky's wingman is your father? Shit, man. No wonder you can fly. You've practically got jet fuel in your blood, don't you? Are even half the rumors about him true?"
"Probably." Jake tries hard not to preen under the praise from his friend. He really does.
"But no one knows about you?"
"I wouldn't say no one, but it's definitely not a long list. I get a lot of my looks from my mother, so it's not really obvious to people if we hang out in public." Jake motions to his eyes. "These, I get from him. My smile, too, and my ears a little bit."
Javy's expression quirks. "You know, I don't think most kids pay that much attention to their ears to know that."
Jake flushes a little. "I just.... I was always trying to see him in me." His smile fades out of existence and he sobers, snapping the toothpick in his mouth in half and spitting it out. He'll pick it up later. "Now, I don't even know if I'll ever see him again, but I can't do anything until tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?"
"Oh, right. Pack your bags, Javy. We're headed to North Island. Ice said orders were coming down the grapevine in a couple hours, and then we'd be on the first flight out of here."
The words get Javy out of bed. "Must be pretty damn important if they're pulling people already deployed."
"Must be. Ice didn't tell me anything."
They set to work, Javy packing their sparse belongings while Jake plucks each and every one of his toothpicks off the floor. The housing may be temporary, but that doesn't mean Jake will leave a mess for someone else to clean up.