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Part 2 of An Endless Road to Rediscover
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Published:
2025-05-27
Updated:
2025-08-14
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2,387
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3/?
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Bring Home the Boys

Summary:

Ethan Hunt spends some time with his brother, naturally this means meeting his brother’s classmates.

Or, “oh my god, why are there two of them”- TOPGUN class of ‘86

Notes:

Timeline notes:
I moved mi:1 up 10 years so now it happens shortly before top gun, Ethan and Mav are both 24

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Chapter 1: Goose, Ice, and Slider

Chapter Text

Ethan follows closely behind his brother as he weaves his way through the crowd of the O Club, nimbly dodging dancing bodies. “We’re looking for a tall guy,” Pete yells over the din of the crowd. “He’s got this awful mustache and he’ll either be wearing his dress whites or an eye searingly ugly Hawaiian shirt!”

 

“I’ll keep an eye out!” Ethan shouts back. “But well,” he gestures around the packed bar. “We’re not really the best height for this!”

 

Pete sighs in commiseration. “I swear everyone I work with is a tall motherfucker,” he says loudly, and then mutters “where’s Slider when you need him.” Pete continues shoving his way towards the bar. “And you’d think there wouldn’t be as many pilots over six feet as there are, because cockpits don’t have that much leg room,” he says to Ethan absently, still scanning the room, “but no, it’s me and like two other guys at TOPGUN that are under six feet.” 

 

Ethan gets it, he really does. 

 

Ethan hums in acknowledgment as he trails behind Pete to the bar. Pete’s face brightens, and he grabs Ethan’s arm. “It’s Goose!” He points at a man standing a couple of feet away from them, leaning against the bar. And sure enough, the shirt the man is wearing is covered in a pattern of bright yellow hibiscus flowers against green leaves and a truly eyesearing shade of orange background. 

 

“Goose!” Pete calls, one hand latched firmly around Ethan’s arm, the other waving frantically at the other man. Ethan lets himself be dragged in the direction of his brother’s RIO, shaking his head in vague amusement.

 

Goose’s head whips around, and his eyes widen in shock as he takes in the sight of his pilot dragging an exact copy of himself through the bar. “Mav!” Goose waves. 

 

Pete and Ethan reach the bar, and Pete drops Ethan’s arm and brushes a shoulder against Goose’s side. “Hey, honey,” the taller man says as he wraps an arm around Pete’s shoulders in a brief side hug. “You gonna introduce me to what I am assuming is your twin, and not the government deciding to clone you?” 

 

Ethan laughs and holds out a hand. “Ethan Hunt,” he says as Goose shakes his hand. “And if anything, Pete’s a government clone of me. I’m the older one,” He adds in a faux whisper.

 

A puzzled look crosses Goose’s face. “Nick Bradshaw, or Goose,” he says as Pete interrupts. “By three minutes!”

 

“And I’ll hold those minutes over you forever,” Ethan responds.

 

“Wait, hang on,” Goose interjects, nipping the coming argument in the bud. “Sorry if this is too nosy, but Hunt?”

 

“I took the last name of my adoptive parents,” Ethan says. He notes the two men making a beeline to where they’re standing. The men are both wearing dress whites, as opposed to Goose and Pete who went with civies that night. 

 

Goose nods in acknowledgment. “Yeah, ok.” 

 

The two men finally reach them, and the taller one slips beside Goose, leaning against the bar. The shorter one, blond with frosted tips, Ethan notes with amusement, looks between Ethan and Pete, before finally deciding to shove himself between them. They’re now in a little huddle, and Ethan suppresses his instinct to get his back against a wall, instead of to the room like it is now.  “Hey Goose,” the taller man says, then jerks his head at Pete and Ethan. “Mav, other Mav.”

 

“Slider,” Pete returns, “I thought something smelled bad in here.” The blond snorts as his friend rears his head back in mock offense. Goose laughs, a loud honking sound, and slaps Slider on the back. 

 

The blond man leans closer to Pete and elbows his side gently. “So, you gonna introduce us?” he says, and Ethan raises his eyebrows as Pete leans in closer. In the brief time Ethan’s had to reacquaint himself with his brother, Ethan had noticed that Pete doesn’t really enjoy physical contact that he didn’t initiate himself. And yet he didn’t move out of the other man’s reach, he leaned into it, in fact.

 

“Yeah, yeah,” Pete huffs and playfully shoves at the other man’s arm. “Slider, Ice,” he waves a hand toward his brother, “Ethan.”

 

Ice sighs in exasperation. “Tom Kazansky, callsign “Iceman.” He then points to Slider. “Ron Kerner, callsign “Slider.”’ Ice turns back to Pete. “And that’s how to do a proper introduction, Maverick.” Ethan’s lips quirk up as Pete bats at Ice’s shoulder in offense.

 

“Ethan Hunt,” Ethan says in return. “Pete and I are twins.”

 

“No shit,” Slider mutters and Goose jams an elbow into his ribs. 

 

Ice’s head cocks. “Hunt? Not Mitchell?” He asks.

 

Pete laughs a little, and Ice turns and shoots him glare. “Sorry,” Pete says, holding his hands up in surrender. “Goose just asked the exact same question before y’all showed up.”

 

Ethan shrugs. “I don’t mind. Long story short, Pete and I got separated in foster care, I got adopted and took my adopted parents’ last name. Pete did not.”

 

“You were in foster care?” Ice turns to look at Pete incredulously.

 

Pete returns the look and gestures to himself. “Orphan.”

 

Slider sighs. “The only thing we know about your family is that your dad is dead, Mav.”

 

“Oh,” Pete says, looking taken aback. 

 

“Do you just not tell people anything about yourself, Pete?” Ethan asks, amused. Pete is so close lipped, he might have missed his calling as a spy. 

 

It’s ironic that Ethan, the actual spy, has told his brother’s coworkers more about Pete than Pete himself has told them. A little sad too, Ethan realizes. 

 

“I mean, Goose knows all of this,” Pete says, faintly embarrassed. 

 

Goose laughs. “Yeah, but that is from years of piecing together little random pieces of information you let slip.” He slaps Pete on the shoulder. “You don’t really talk about anything personal, Mav.”

 

Ethan whistles. “Betrayal on all fronts, Pete.”

 

Pete turns big, puppy dog eyes on Ethan. “You’d never do this to me, right?”

 

“I don’t know,” Ethan hums, “you did try to attack me with a phone book earlier.”

 

“Yeah, well, you deserved it,” Pete says, attitude switching on a dime. 

 

Ethan laughs, genuine happiness filling him. Jim’s betrayal and the deaths of his team still weigh heavily on him, but he’s glad to have Pete back. 

 

The thought stops Ethan in his tracks. Damn it, Kittridge was right.

Chapter 2: Viper+Jester

Summary:

Viper yawns and takes a sip of his coffee that he’d been clutching as he continues walking, then chokes.

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Viper will blame having to be at the administrative building at truly an unreasonable time on a Saturday morning for his initial reaction, when Jester inevitably asks. 

 

He wasn’t expecting Maverick to already be there, in uniform, leaning over the front desk, muttering curses to a man beside him and filling out forms simultaneously, when Viper walks in. “Maverick,” he greets with a nod, and Maverick looks up from paperwork about to salute when Viper waves him off. The other man turns and Viper nods at him too. “Maverick.”

 

Viper yawns and takes a sip of his coffee that he’d been clutching as he continues walking, then chokes. He swiftly turns back around, and sure enough, his mind hadn’t been playing tricks on him, there’s two Mavericks, both staring at him with the same look of amusement. Or, his eyes narrow, remembering the fact that Duke Mitchell actually had two sons, Maverick and his twin brother. 

 

“You doing alright there, sir?” Maverick asks tentatively. 

 

Viper coughs a little, to dislodge the lingering feeling of choking on hot coffee. “Yes, thank you.” He responds. “I wasn’t expecting to see you here this early, and on a Saturday, no less.”

 

Maverick shrugs and says, “Yeah, Ethan got in late on Friday and didn’t tell me he was coming, so I didn’t have anything filled out for his guest pass.” He takes a moment to shoot an indecipherable look at his brother, who is wearing the same look Duke had when pretending to be innocent.

 

“Hey,” Ethan says, nudging Maverick with an elbow, “I didn’t want to ruin the surprise.” 

 

“It was a pretty good surprise,” Maverick relents with a smile. “Anyways, Ethan, this is my CO Commander Metcalf. Viper, my twin brother, Ethan.”

 

“It’s nice to meet you,” Viper reaches out to shake Ethan’s hand, noting the calluses. “Though I have to ask, how did you get on base if Maverick didn’t know you were coming?”

 

Maverick freezes, smile fixed on his face, but Ethan just laughs. “Oh, I had some help.” Mischief glinting in Ethan’s eyes. “Don’t worry, I didn’t sneak on base or anything like that. That’d be crazy.” Maverick’s smile takes on a strained edge.

 

Viper narrows his eyes at Ethan. Knowing some of the MPs, it would not surprise him if they thought Ethan was Maverick and just waved him through. Ethan seems like he absolutely would take advantage of that. Viper should probably be more concerned about base security, in retrospect. 

 

“Right,” Viper replies, voice full of skepticism. “Just make sure to get those forms filled out correctly, Maverick.” 

 

“Yes, sir,” Maverick answers.

 

“Now I have a meeting to get to, but you boys stay out of trouble,” Viper says, making eye contact with Maverick. 

 

Ethan grins, the same shit eating smile that Maverick gives Iceman before pushing all of his buttons, and slings an arm over his brother’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, Commander Metcalf! I’ll make sure Pete behaves!”

 

Maverick lets out an offended noise, and turns to smack Ethan playfully. “Excuse me?” He says, voice full of mock outrage. “If anything, I’ll make sure you behave.”

 

“Great,” Viper interrupts their squabble, “you’ll both be responsible for each other’s actions. Maverick,” Maverick looks back over at him, “I’ll see you Monday.”

 

Maverick nods. “Yes, sir.”

 

 

Viper looks at his watch and sighs, it’s not like Jester to be this far behind him, but he has a sneaking suspicion on what held him up. They still have some time before they’re late for their meeting, but Viper still hopes that Jester gets a move on.

 

Jester rounds a corner, looking harried. “Glad you made it alright,” Viper says, amused. “I take it you had the unwelcome wake up call that Maverick has a twin?”

 

“I don’t know if the base will be standing on Monday,” Jester huffs. “Those two are too similar.”

 

Viper hums, and after a moment says, “Y’know, Duke always said that Pete was the calm one?” Viper goes to open the door to Admiral Johnson’s office.

 

Jester freezes. “Viper, you bastard, you can’t just drop that and expect me to do my job afterward! Maverick, the calm one?”

 

Viper is still stifling a laugh when he opens the door.

 

“Hey, Ethan?” Maverick says after Jester hurries away and Maverick finally finishes the application for a guest pass.

 

“Yeah?”

 

“You never told me how you actually got onto base,” Maverick continues, eyeing his brother. Maverick knew, obviously, that Ethan had snuck onto base, but it was a busy night and he forgot to get the details out of him.

 

Ethan shrugs. “It wasn’t that hard. I just rolled under a car at the gates and clung to the undercarriage as it went through.” 

 

Maverick looks at his brother incredulously. “And no one saw you?”

 

Ethan smirks. “Come on, Pete, I’m a spy. I’ve snuck into way more secure areas than this.”

 

“Okay, Mr Super Spy,” Maverick laughs. 

Notes:

Whooo, this chapter gave me fits.

Duke: Pete likes to climb trees and Ethan bit someone at daycare! I love my kids so much!

Viper, 20 years later waking up in a cold sweat: if the one that liked to climb trees turned out like this, what is Ethan like??

Chapter 3: Interlude

Summary:

Maverick faces the rest of his class

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

It’s very obvious that Slider and Ice did not keep Ethan’s existence to themselves when Maverick and Goose walk into class Monday morning. The entire class- even the teams that keep to themselves for the most part,like Psycho and Cowboy, and Crush and Broadway- is huddled around Slider and Ice’s desk. A sudden hush falls over the group when they notice Maverick had walked in. 

 

Maverick whistles sarcastically as he and Goose stop by the group. “Wow Goose, the fastest thing in the Navy, Scuttlebutt.” 

 

Goose lets out a theatrical sigh, playing off Maverick’s attitude. “And here I thought y’all were better than this.”

 

Ice shrugs, an unapologetic look on his face. “Didn’t know Mav was keeping the twin thing secret,” he replies.

 

“Yeah,” Slider cuts in, “Goose has been talking nonstop about his family coming to visit, and yet, not a peep out of Mav.”

 

“Okay, in my defense,” Maverick starts, throwing his hands up placatingly, “I didn’t know Ethan was coming.” 

 

“That does not change the fact that you have a whole ass twin, that you told no one about, Mav,” Hollywood interrupts. “And here I thought we were becoming friends.” He sighs dramatically. 

 

“Yeah, Mav,” Wolf tacks on, “I talk to you about my family. Hell, even Ice has mentioned his sister. I know you have this lone wolf shtick going on, but this is a bit excessive.”

 

“Hang on, guys-“ Goose starts, before being interrupted.

 

“Look,” Maverick cuts in, feeling a bit harassed, “shit happened, and this is the first time I’ve seen Ethan in twelve years. Forgive me if I didn’t think my long lost twin brother was relevant before he showed up.” Maverick was aware that Wolfman and Hollywood didn’t really mean anything by the interrogation, but that didn’t keep the defensive edge out of his voice.

 

Hollywood whistles. “Damn, I’m sorry Mav. Didn’t mean to dig into a sore subject.”

 

Maverick shrugs. “It’s fine, and hey,” he grins, “if one of y’all had a twin that suddenly showed up, I’d be a nosy asshole about it too.” 

 

“Wait, hang on,” Wolfman says, his brow furrowed, “how did he know where you were if you guys were out of contact for 12 years?” 

 

“Oh yeah,” Maverick waves a hand nonchalantly, as he makes up a story on the spot, “Ethan has a government job out in Virginia, apparently someone ‘recognized’ him.” Maverick lies, hoping he remembers to fill Ethan in on his made up life.

 

Iceman looks at him, intrigued. “Yeah? Where does he work? I’ve got some family out that way.”

 

Maverick sweats. “Uh, Department of Transportation,” he says, hoping that’s obscure enough. “He’s like an intern traffic analyst.”

 

Iceman sits back, looking mildly disappointed. “Yeah,” he sighs, “no one I know would know him.”

 

Maverick lets out a small sigh and sends a mental apology to Ethan. But hey, pretending to be interested in traffic is not the worst thing Ethan has had to do. Probably. 

Notes:

I had to bring back the traffic analyst job from M:I 3, I think that scene was so funny.

Also, sorry that this chapter is so late

Notes:

This is early movie so Mav hasn’t really opened up to any of his classmates, and no one knows anything about him lol.

Also, Ethan “my whole team died like 2 weeks ago and I was betrayed by my mentor, but I’m well adjusted and fine :)” Hunt

Ethan calls Mav Pete, because that’s his brother, but he’ll call goose, ice, and slider by their callsigns because that’s what Mav calls them.

Mav refers to himself as his callsign because him being a pilot is the most important part of his identity, in his eyes.

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