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It was his first deployment after being adopted by Iceman and Maverick, (Pops and Dad, Bradley took to saying after their reconciliation,) and safe to say it was a change.
It’s hard going overseas when you have people to miss.
He sits at an empty table in the mess hall, when someone places their food in front of him
A guy sits down, the same rank as him, he notices.
“…Hello?”
“You’re Hangman, right?”
“Yeah.” The guy grins.
“Nice, dude! I’ve been bored as hell on this carrier, but you and I are going to have some fun. ”
“And what kind of fun do you think you can provide me with?”
He smirks. “Wanna find out? Billy Avalone, callsign Fritz.” He holds out his hand to shake.
Jake takes it, smiling. “Well howdy there, Fritz.”
“So you think you can keep up with me, Avalone?” He crosses his arm as they walk to preflight.
“I know I can.”
“Holy shit, Fritz!” After touching down, Jake feels euphoric.
Every dangerous move he pulled, Fritz was right alongside him. He handled the plane like it was a piece of paper and Fritz was an origami master.
Fritz grins smugly from where he starts walking to the lockers.
“You have to tell me where you learned how to do that kind of flying!”
“Oh I’ve been flying since I was young in the south, my uncles would take me flying into storms, and I loved it so I kept doing it before joining up.”
Hangman probably has stars in his eyes, but he couldn’t care.
“You are going to be my new best friend.”
Fritz smiles as they enter the locker room.
Thought you were bae but you were just fam (what does this mean???) (don’t worry about it dad)
GUYS
Brad-Brad: what is it
one of the pilots on this carrier is now my best friend
Brad-Brad: im telling Javy you said that
MavDad: who’s this friend?
his name is billy avalone
callsign fritz
he’s the first to actually keep up with me and he’s so good
and the best part is
HES A DAMN STORMCHASER!
MavDad: damn! holy shit really? i need to meet this kid
IcePops: Oh my god.
Brad-Brad: he sounds… nice
He’s so cool
I’m going to have so much fun on this deployment
Over the months, Fritz and Hangman have been pranking the carrier, buzzing the tower, and being all around menaces to everyone onboard.
It’s amazing.
They’re hanging out on the deck when Jake turns to him.
“How did you know about me? When you came up to me, I mean.”
“Oh, I’ve heard about you from other guys on carriers, most CO’s hate you.”
Jake snorts. “For good reason. I’m not the best team player, as everyone tells me.”
Fritz shrugs. “Well, you’re a team player with me.”
“Because you’re cool.”
He smiles. “I guess they’re mad that they aren’t cool enough to be on your wing.”
Jake grins at him.
“And today, there was a small storm, and our CO was going to have us not go up, but Fritz was like, ‘let me go up, I know how to fly in these conditions’ and when the CO wasn’t letting him go up without a wingman, I obviously volunteered, but I haven’t flown in that weather before, so I was a bit scared, and he said ‘just worry Jake, just trust me.’ And it was fun!” Jake’s been talking to Bradley on the phone for an hour now, and after greetings and how are yous, the subject has remained fixed on Jake’s new wingman.
Jake may not be aware of it, but Bradley sure is.
“Hey, Jake. You seem awfully close with this Fritz.”
“Well I mean yeah, he’s my wingman!”
Iceman and Maverick look up from where they cuddle in bed.
Mav glances at him. “Did you feel that?” Ice nods.
“Huh.”
Bradley sighs. “Jake, just, look closely at your relationship.”
Jake makes a face, pulling the phone away from his ear to side eye it.
“Are you trying to tell me I’m in love with Fritz???”
“…Well maybe the fact that you think that’s what I’m insinuating should be cause for concern.”
Jake blinks.
“Okay it’s been an hour since we started talking and I think someone’s calling me byeeeeee!”
Jake pulls the phone away from him.
“Did he just hang up on me?”
Not much changes between him and Fritz after his call with Bradley. They have their fun, getting yelled at by their CO’s, flying fast and dangerous, and Jake is happy.
But all good things must come to an end.
Jake’s deployment is over in 2 weeks, and while he can’t wait to see his friends and family, he doesn’t want to leave Fritz here alone.
And some other people that don’t like them snark about how the CO’s must be crazy if they ever let him and Fritz on the same carrier again. Which sounds awful.
Never seeing Fritz again? Never getting to fly with him again? That’s something he’s currently awake at night dreading.
He’s hilarious, he always has Jake’s back when other pilots try to shit on him, he’s always ready to pull whatever move Mav tells him about, and everytime he’s bored he goes to find him-
Oh fuck. Okay maybe he’s just a tiny bit in love with Fritz.
He gets out of his bunk to go call his new brother.
“I told you so.”
“Shut the fuck up, Bradley.”
“What do I do? This is something that impacts my life severely.”
“…Tell him?”
“I CAN'T DO THAT! That would be terrible!”
“Why would that be terrible?”
“Because if he rejects me I have to stay in the carrier with him for 2 weeks!”
“And if he doesn’t?”
“Then in 2 weeks I’m probably never going to see my new partner again! It’s truly a lose-lose.”
“…”
“…Bradley?”
“You need a medical professional. TELL HIM.”
“Ugh, you aren’t helping me. I’m gonna call Mav.” He immediately hangs up. Dialing up Maverick.
“…Hello?”
“Hey MavDad!”
“Oh, hey Jakester! It’s late where you are, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, but I have a problem, and your dumbass son Bradley wasn’t any help, so I thought I’d ask you.”
“Oh, did you finally find out you’re in love with Fritz?”
Jake pauses. “How did you know I was in love with Fritz?”
“Oh, sugar. You reminded me of myself when I was a Top Gun instructor. Carole was almost going crazy with all the ‘Ice told me this’, and ‘Ice did that’. It was very interesting seeing you pine over your friend.”
“Oh. Well, do you have any advice?”
“Well, I was also scared of getting rejected, so I decided to just wait it out until one of us got reassigned, or one of us died.”
“Oh my god, really?”
“Yeah. The thing is, apparently however much I thought I was being subtle wasn’t enough, and I was accidentally giving Ice…hints, I guess.”
“Hints?”
“Yeah, that was the word Ice used. So he came up to me and was like, ‘you like me?’ And I was like ‘yes’ and he said ‘me too’ and we kissed!”
“That can’t be what actually happened.”
“Well…maybe not in those exact words. But mostly.”
“So, what you’re saying is I should give him hints?”
“…Yeah! I guess that is what I’m saying.”
“Actually, that may be a great idea! If he doesn’t notice I don’t have to worry about us getting together and then never seeing each other again!”
“…Woah, woah, woah! What do you mean never seeing each other again?”
“Well the carrier’s been saying that it would be a miracle if we were ever assigned to the same carrier or squadron. And one of our superiors agreed, so there’s basically no chance we’ll ever see each other again.”
“I…don’t think they can just do that.”
“…Really?”
“Well, I’m not sure, but they might just be gossiping, Jakester.”
“Oh. Well I’m not going to get my hopes up.”
“Sure hun. Have fun on your last 2 weeks now.”
“Hey Billzy!” Jake sits next to Fritz in the mess hall.
“Hey Jake. Hey, you want those olives?” He points to Jake’s tray.
He sticks his tongue out. “Ew, take them. I hate olives.”
“Really? I love them.” He side eyes Fritz.
“What’s wrong with your taste?”
“What’s wrong with my taste??? I like you as a best friend, and if my taste is bad, what does that say about you?”
“It says that people can redeem themselves. Which you have, by being my wingman and eating my nasty olives.”
Fritz laughs, smiling softly at him.
“Hey, Fritzy, what’s your type?”
“My type? Oh, I haven’t really thought about it.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, it’s hard to have a type, being pansexual and desperate.” Jake inwardly cheers.
“Oh yeah, I’d bet. I’m not any better, being bisexual and desperate.”
Fritz knocks their shoulders together. “Well I guess we’ll both be having trouble, then.”
Jake blushes. “Yeah, I guess we will.”
So he’s
really
bad at giving hints. And he’s leaving in 2 days.
What does he do!? He’s basically pulling his hair out.
He has one last resort. He picks up the phone, dialing a number.
“Trace.”
“Phoenix, I need your help.”
“What did you do now, Bagman?”
He breathes in and out deeply. “I fell in love with my friend on a carrier and my deployment is ending in two days and people are saying that we won’t be assigned together again which basically means I won’t ever see him again and I want to tell him but I’m worried he will reject me and also that he feels the same and we don’t ever see each other again and Bradley was no help and Mav helped some but not enough and I’m panicking! ”
He inhales as Nat takes it in.
“…Okay.”
“Okay?”
“Yeah, okay. First off. If he likes you back, that’s a good thing. And if he doesn’t like you back, you could probably get Admiral Kazansky to assign you on the opposite ends of the world.”
He sits up straighter. “Hey, yeah! I got an Admiral that adopted me!”
“Yeah, you do. Now go get your man.”
“Yeah! I’m going to go get my man!” He ends the call with newfound confidence, going off to find Fritz.
He finds Fritz in his bunk, waiting for him.
“Hey Fritz, I was just looking for you!”
“I have something to tell you, Hangman.”
“Um…Okay?” If he says he never really liked Hangman anyway now that he’s leaving and he wont ever have to see him again, then he’ll be pretty devastated.
“…I…I like you, Jake.” Oh holy shit!
“… What !?”
“Uh-I’ve like you for a while, but I was perfectly fine being your wingman, but I didn’t want you to leave me here not knowing if you liked me back, so if you don’t, that fine, you can leave, I just thought it would be nice to face the music and tell you.”
“…Holy shit! ” Jake will take this to the grave, but he actually starts fucking laughing.
Billy looks at him like he’s crazy, which, honestly? He might be at this point.
“…Jake?”
“I-I’m sorry, it’s just that, I was looking for you so I could tell you that I liked you.”
“Really?!”
“Yeah! I was scared we’d never see each other again because our superiors hate us, so I never told you!”
“Hey, don’t worry about those assholes, they just can’t handle how good we are together.”
Jake smirks. “Together? I like the sound of that.”
Billy scoffs. “Get over here, wingman.”
Jake laughs as he basically tackles Fritz, both of them giggling as he sends them to the ground.
Jake pushes himself up so he’s above Billy.
He smirks. “I’m at your 12.”
Fritz rolls his eyes, smiling as he tugs him down into a kiss.