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“Lieutenant Wolfe, are you still friends with Kerner and Kazanzsky?”
“Yes sir,” Leo nodded, stopping to face the commander. The man looked far too serious. “They’re on the Big E, sir, but they’re docking sometime tomorrow I believe. Rick and I are supposed to meet up with them in a few days. Is—is something the matter, sir?”
“It seems there’s been a bit of a cluster when it comes to the mail for the last few weeks. Kerner and Kazansky had several letters routed here by mistake. Some of them flagged as urgent. This isn’t following any type of procedure, mind you, but these boys have already waited several weeks for this shit. Hate to make them wait another month. Make sure they get them?”
Wolfman took the packet of envelopes he was handed with a slightly confused look. How on Earth did Ice and Slider’s letters end up on an entirely different ship?
“Leo, c’mon!” Wood urged from down the corridor.
The RIO tucked the envelopes closer to his form and hurried after his pilot as he traversed the narrow space.
“We’re gonna miss dinner if you don’t hurry,” Rick frowned, the pair moving quickly towards the mess hall. “What happened?”
“He gave me mail that was for Sli and Ice,” Wolf shrugged. “Not sure how the hell it ended up here. Said to make sure I gave it to them.”
“How the hell did we get their mail?”
“No idea—Smith was saying that some of them were red lined urgent too,” Wolf’s brow furrowed as he tried to flick through the envelopes one handed. “They—-shit all of them are from Mav, Rick—”
“He’s in Miramar, isn’t he?” Hollywood frowned. “What could he possibly need to reach them so urgently with?”
“I don’t know.”
Neither mentioned how their guts seemed to start churning.
Unfortunately, they didn’t have much time to dwell on the possibilities before they were being scrambled for an unexpected sortie, the letters tossed haphazardly into the bottom of Wolf’s flight locker.
********************************************************************************************************
“Hey, do you think we should read some of the letters?” Rick asked, toweling his damp hair roughly as they walked back into their shared accommodations. “I’m up for phone time in a few minutes. I was supposed to try and reach Ron to talk about our meet up plans—maybe I could pass the news along? Not that it gives them that much of a heads up but—”
“Do you think they want us reading their mail? Would you want them reading ours?”
Rick rolled his eyes. “I mean not necessarily the shit I’d be writing to you, Leo but I highly doubt Mav is sending sordid details over urgent lines.”
“You’re probably right,” the RIO shrugged, bending to grab the five envelopes he’d tossed on the bed. “Alrighty we have—let’s see—three for Ice, looks like one a week for the last few weeks? And two for Sli, each match with the second and third of Ice’s. The last four are flagged urgent.”
“I think we need to read them,” Rick decided. “Want me to do it?”
“I’ve got it—”
Leo slit open the first one to Ice, clearing his throat. “Tom—”
Hey—I—-I don’t even know why I’m writing. Not like you can do anything—and really I shouldn’t be bothering you guys but
I didn’t know what else to do–
Something happened.
Carole—-Carole is
dead
gone.
There was a car accident. Brad was with her—he’s—fuck it’s not good Tom.
I need—-
“Oh my god—the rest is all…fuck it’s all watered out—-Was Mav—I think he cried — fuck Rick what—”
Hollywood took the other letters out of his RIO’s shaking hands, tearing the second one to Ron open.
B—-B woke up finally.
Took him three days!
It was longer than I—-he’s still in the hospital. Get to take him home in a few days
if nothing else goes wrong.
I—I have to raise him now—I—-I’m not meant to be anyone’s PARENT, Ron. Fuck I wish you were here. I wish Tom was here. I wish
Carole was here
…stay safe, please. I can’t—I don’t know what to do—-
“Rick— Rick we’ve gotta—they’ve gotta know—” Leo’s eyes were wide as he tried to process what they’d just read.
Carole Bradshaw was gone . Bradley had been in the accident with her and had been hospitalized— and these letters were weeks old!
“C’mon, Leo,” Rick urged, snagging his RIO by the shoulder. “We’ve gotta get ahold of Ron.”
*************************************************************************************************************
“Lieutenant Kerner? Call on the line—you’ve got 10 minutes maximum.”
Slider nodded dutifully before picking up the handset. He brought it up to his ear with an easy grin, already pretty sure he knew who would be on the other line.
“So am I winning the bet or is Tom’s wishful thinking going to win out?” he joked.
/Ron./
“Hey I was right!” Sli grinned, leaning back slightly. “I knew Mav wouldn’t be calling this close to us docking, but you know Tommy. Always thinkin’ he’d—-”
/ Ron /
Cold fear suddenly lanced through Slider’s entire body, and he sat ramrod straight. “What happened? Where’s Leo? Are you two okay?”
/He’s right here with me. We’re alright, listen Ron there’s—-/
“For fuck’s sake, Rick, what ?”
/Carole Bradshaw is dead—-/
Slider covered his mouth suddenly, a pang tearing through his chest. “No!”
/She was in a car accident a few weeks ago. B was with her—/
“ No! Ri—-No no no, not B—-he can’t—What the fuck are you talking about?”
/He was in the hospital for a while—not sure all that happened but he’s apparently home with Mav now. It’s—- Pete’s a mess, Ron. Been writing to you and Ice, trying to tell you guys, trying to get help I think but fuckin’ mail got delivered to our ship—-I just—/
“He— why hasn’t he called us?” Ron felt a tear sting the corner of his eye, his chest clenching as he tried to process everything. “Fuck, Pete— and Bradley and—- Rick I have to go—I have to try and call him—maybe I can—- we’ll—”
/We’ll get a ride,/ Hollywood interjected. /We’ll be there as soon as we can, Ron, I swear. Tell him we love him—/
Slider quickly rehung the headset before turning back towards the sailor operating the phones. “I— please I have to make a call. That was one of my brothers—-my sister—-look she was in an accident a few weeks ago and she died. My—my friend has my nephew and the kid was in the hospital. I just—please can I just try and get the call to go through? See if they answer?”
“We have other—” the sailor gestured a bit helplessly towards the other sailors and aviators lined up.
“He can take my time,” Sampson spoke up suddenly. “Place his call.”
Slider rattled off the familiar numbers of Maverick’s housing, praying under his breath for the younger man to pick up.
/’lo?/
“Mav?! Pete—oh holy shit—”
/Sli?!/ Maverick’s voice was broken .
“Oh fuck—it’s—the letters—-they were delivered to the wrong ship. Rick just called—”
/C-c-c-care—-she’s—-/
“I know—I know, Mav—I— shit, I’m sorry—I’m so sorry.”
All he could hear was Maverick’s soft, hitching sobs.
“Is—Mav, is B alright?” Ron hated how his voice shook.
/He—he—he hasn’t spoken, R-Ron. He’s— he had a concussion and b-b-b-broke two of his little ribs—and—and his arm. But he—he won’t talk , Ronny— he—- he just sits there with tears on his face and I—-I’m not his mom , Sli—what the hell am I—-I don’t know what to do!/
Ron felt something in his chest crack. “Honey, I—-fuck, Pete, I’m so sorry… I’m so—we’ll be home as soon as we can, I swear. I’ll— we’ll be there tomorrow and we’ll—- we’ll take care of everything, together —”
/Sli—/ he whimpered.
“I swear—” Ron insisted, wiping distractedly at his face. “ Tomorrow…”
/Tomorrow/ Pete echoed.
“We love you, both of you, so much…. So do Rick and Leo…. we’re just… I’m just so sorry…We’ll get there as soon as we can. We’ll be there, just—-just hang in there, Petey. Hang in there—-”
/Love you too/ Maverick sniffed, taking in a shaky breath.
“Tomorrow,” Slider promised once more before setting the headset back on the stand with shaking hands.
He stood from the chair, his whole body trembling as he tried to process what had just happened.
“ Fuck —” he bit out, scraping his hands over his face.
He had to get back to Tom. They—-they had to get home— their boys needed them!
*****************************************************************************
”Tommy, hon, there’s nothing….we can’t do anything about it from here ,” Ron tried to soothe, pressing his thigh alongside his pilot’s until the blond stopped bouncing his leg up and down.
”We—-we weren’t there , Ron. We—-God, Bradley as with his mother—-and what—-did the hospital call Pete and then he had—-how awful must that have been? And we didn’t even know—- “
Ron sighed, leaning his head back against the bulkhead behind them. “I know.”
There wasn’t much else he could say.
Pete had been alone, dealing with this for weeks now. Weeks without them to help. Without anyone to help.
“What are we doing, Ron?” Ice practically whispered, looking around the plane at the other sailors and aviators being sent home for leave. “What are we—we don’t know how to—Mav’s gotta raise B now and we—-“
“ We are headed home to be there for people we love,” Slider answered firmly. “We’re going to take the next month and figure out how to best help them, together. If that means we put in for a posting closer or—-or if this is too much for Pete on top of everything then—-“
”I can’t just let them—-I’m not going to leave him, Ron.”
“I’m not suggesting that, Tom,” Ron soothed. “But we need to be there and do what’s best for both of them, for everyone… we just have to figure out what that is.”
“I just—I want to see them. I need to see them.”
Ron let his hand slip down the link pinkies with Tom.
“We will, soon. Very soon…”
******************************************************************************
“Ice— Tom— it’s late, we should—-we have a key somewhere in here, just hold on,” Slider tried to placate, digging frantically in his bag as the blond bounded up the front steps of Maverick’s housing.
Ice raised his hand to knock on the door, seeming to hesitate as he wrestled with the late hour.
The front door suddenly opened and a hand shot out to tangle in the front of his khakis, dragging him bodily inside the house. Slider quickly followed, closing the door behind them. As he spun back around, he felt his chest clench.
Maverick, usually boisterous, playful, hard to contain Maverick was openly sobbing in Tom’s embrace, clinging tightly to the other pilot, almost as if he expected to be torn away from them.
“Oh love,” Ice whispered wetly, his own tears trailing silently down his face as he held Mav just as tightly. “You’re okay—I’ve got you—“
Slider moved to press a kiss to each of the men’s heads before he quietly crept down the hall towards the bedroom. He wiped haphazardly at his own tears, dropping their duffles in the corner to deal with later.
A sudden something flew into Ron’s legs, latching on tightly as he let out a slight oomph. He reached down, hand instantly caressing the blond curls.
“Oh Brad, baby—-“ Slider easily swung him up into his embrace, holding the boy carefully against his chest.
Bradley’s small frame convulsed with sobs as he tangled the little fist of his uninjured hand in Ron’s dog tags. Ron covered his entire head with one of his large hands, tucking him into his neck as he shushed him softly. He could feel the little body flinching and whimpering as he cried and he remembered Pete talking about broken ribs.
“You’re hurting yourself, baby,” he said softly, pressing a kiss to the downy curls as he gently rocked them. “Need to try and slow down a bit, B. C’mon—- take a deeper breath. That’s it—-that’s my boy—-there we go—-good job, B.”
The boy’s breath hitched as he tried furtively to burrow closer to Ron, trembling all over.
“I’ve gotcha,” Slider promised softly, tracing lightly over his back.
“He—-he still isn’t t-t-talkin’,” Maverick suddenly spoke.
Ron turned to see Ice gently leading a pale and exhausted looking Maverick into the bedroom, both of them looking emotionally drained.
“He—“ Mav inhaled sharply, gaze suddenly turning downcast.
“He’s going to be okay,” Slider soothed, reaching out to run a gentle hand through Pete’s messy locks. “But everyone needs some sleep I think—need a little reset. Let’s—-let’s start with trying to get everyone some rest, okay?”
“You’ll stay?”
Maverick had never looked so young, so vulnerable .
“Of course we will,” Sli promised.
”Absolutely,” Ice nodded sharply.
He tugged gently on Maverick’s hand, leading the smaller man to sit on the bed.
The blond then went through the motions of stripping out of his uniform and quickly pulling on a pair of sweatpants. He pulled out a second pair for Slider and tossed them on the end of the bed.
“Here, Ron, let me take B for a second,” Tom whispered, holding his hands out for the boy.
”C’mon, big guy,” Slider coaxed the emotional kid, gently transferring him to Ice’s careful hold. “Go see your Ice Pop, huh? There we go—-“
Ron smiled warmly at both of them as he started unbuttoning his khakis. Bradley looked up at the pilot with wide brown eyes, almost as though he was trying to process everything that had happened all at once. His chubby hand came up to lightly pat the side of Ice’s face as he sniffed pitifully.
“Hey Baby Goose,” Ice greeted softly, pressing a kiss to his palm with a gentle raspberry.
To the men’s shock, Bradley let out a soft giggle before sobering and tucking himself closer to the blond.
“—-Lo Icy.”
All three men froze before Mav started softly sobbing once more.
Tom grinned warmly, pulling back a little to meet the boy’s gaze. “Hey baby—Love you, Brad—-you know that? Sli, Mav, and I all love you so much.”
The boy nodded slowly before curling back into Ice’s neck. He whispered again, so low it was barely discernible, but it was the best sound any of them had ever heard. “Loves you.”
Slider exchanged small smiles with Tom before he slipped into the far side of the bed. His long arms wrapped around Pete’s middle before he pulled him to lay tucked against his chest. He pressed another kiss to his forehead as Pete’s sobs slowly tapered off.
“We’ve gotcha love,” Ron said softly. “It’s going to be okay—-“
Maverick shuddered against him but tangled himself impossibly closer, soaking up every ounce of comfort he could from the taller man.
Ice slipped into the bed on the other side, carefully arranging Bradley on his own chest so that the boy wasn’t laying on his injured side.
It took a few adjustments, but soon the pilot/RIO pair had both Mav and Bradley snuggled between them, a blanket tucked around all four as they tried to offer what comfort they could.
Exhaustion eventually won out, sending the two younger individuals into deep but fitful sleep. Tom brushed an errant tear away as he tried to calm himself down. Ron’s steady hand grasped his suddenly, the RIO’s thumb rubbing soothingly over the back of it.
“It’s going to be okay, angel. We’ve got them.”
Tom nodded tightly, raising the joined hands to press a kiss to his back seater’s. “We’ve got them.”