I have the right to this 10

Chapter 10: Reactions 2

Summary:

    "They can't reverse the Termination of Parental Rights, but they can cause problems. It's procedural to contact biological parents. They'll inform them that California gives them the right to challenge the adoption. I don't want to risk this dragging on, or worse, leaking."
    Tiffany lets out an incredulous snort.
    "I'm with our blonde on this one, Sah," Dustin says. "Did the Lennoxes look like innocent little doves to you?"
    "No."
    "No," he repeats. "They're a couple of bastards who got rid of their son because he didn't fit the role they assigned him in their perfect family. They're the ones who have the greatest interest in this being resolved quickly and quietly."

I have the right to this 9

Chapter 9: Revelations

Summary:

    "Good morning, Daggers," he exclaims, his eyes shining, somewhat maniacal. "I have some really fun exercises for you today."
    The captain (future rear admiral, says the scuttlebutt) ignores both the moans of fear and the exclamations of celebration and goes to put the graphics of his new maneuvers on the screen.
    In the back of the classroom, Emily leans into Callie's shoulder.
    "You sure the COMPACFLT is in Hawaii?"
    "Oh, yeah! His well-fucked face is different. He's happy, but it's for something else."

I have the right to this 8

Chapter 8: Reactions 1

Summary:

    "We raised you honestly, Brig. We were who we were. But those kids... growing up with so many lies. I don't want that for Pete! You saw how fragile he is."
    "Iceman's in Hawaii most of the time," Brig argues, skipping the fact of his presence almost every night at dinner via video conference. "Besides, I don't think Mav would let him..."
    "Mitchell? You expect him to defend you from Iceman? He's his puppet, always has been. He looks at him, and the rest of the world disappears. I can imagine it: he'll say Pete is too young and doesn't know what he wants, that it's temporary, and we shouldn't encourage him. He'll say a thousand things before accepting a trans child into his traditional home, into his—he almost spits out the word—respectable family."

I have the right to this 7

Chapter 7: Acceptance

Summary:

    "Oh, Ice! He's going to do it," Pete announces, clearly happy.
    "You think?"
    "It seems. His face…"
    An alarm sounds on his phone, and Jake sees his dad requesting a video call. He accepts it and looks into his eyes.
    "I don't want Mav to be the only one who sees you at this important moment."
    Jake feels his stomach drop, but he nods.
    "Come on, give it here," his father asks.
    He hands him the phone. Mav switches the camera to the back and raises the device to chest level.
    "Okay, now tell us what you want, son," Pete encourages him, smiling.

I have the right to this 6

Chapter 6: Discoveries 2

Summary:

    Variations of the same humanoid figure are everywhere, dressed in a sort of armor with strange lumps or accessories, different in each model. What's most significant for Brig are the colors: there's a lot of black and gray, but all the models have elements of metallic blue, either lighter or darker, thanks to silver accents.
    He looks at his father, who's clearly connecting the dots between Dunia's bloody drawings and this workshop. He looks at Mrs. McKinnon, his most innocent face in place.
    "Did you do this?"

I have the right to this 5

Chapter 5: Discoveries 1

Summary:

    "But fear will pass, I promise. Now, your grandpa Leo will give you a cookie." Leonard opens his eyes, amazed. Indeed, he has an oat and chocolate cookie in his pocket, the dessert from lunch he forgot to eat in the rush between errands and shopping. He passes it by without saying a word. "I promise you, by the time you're done eating it, you'll start feeling better. As soon as you get out of the car to go to your friend Zack's house, you'll feel right as rain. You'll remember you don't believe in any of the nonsense Jenny scared you with. That's all made up, remember?"

I have the right to this 4

Chapter 4: Negotiations 2

Summary:

    San Diego, California

    "I'm here, I'm here, son." It's nice to be able to say it, say it to Jake, "I'm sorry."
    "There's nothing to apologize for. I robbed you of the opportunity to make eleven calls like this. I'm the one who owes you. I promise it won't happen again. Okay?"
    Tom smiles, excited by the promise but unable to tame his strategist side.
    "Don't promise things you can't control. You'll be a dad in less than a month, and your time will no longer be yours."
    Jake giggles.
    "I notice you are very excited about the prospect of becoming a grandfather, Admiral Kazansky."

    Salt Lake City, Utah

    "Mr. Lennox called us today at eight," Elul reports, sounding disgruntled. "After a nearly fifteen-minute tirade, in which he told us, in much more detail than we've told you, about his experience last night, he asked when we could close the deal."
    "Close the deal? You mean the adoption?"
    "Yes." It's clear the lawyers also understand the inhumanity of the term, but they prefer to focus on the benefits for their clients. "He said he'd sign anything you wanted on one condition: that Dunia never return to Utah."

I have the right to this 3

 Chapter 3: Negotiations 1

Summary:
"I thought," and she tries hard not to let her bitterness show, "that active-duty military personnel couldn't adopt. Something to do with children's stability and safety."
Neither Ina nor Mavdad pays attention to her, but her brother raises his face. His happy expression disappears for a second, and his face twists into a mocking, defiant grimace.
Icepop looks at her from the screen with narrowed eyes and a slightly disappointed expression.
"There's an exception for adoption by blood relatives, of course," the admiral replies coldly. Then, in a much warmer voice, he joins the chorus of congratulations. "Congratulations, son. I'm sure you'll do well."

I have the right to this 2

Chapter 2: Resistance

Summary:
"Your parents love you, Jake," Brig replies. "They love you just the way you are, not like other families that..."
Jake suddenly remembers why his boyfriend isn't by his side, comforting him and protecting him from the disgusting obligations of biological reproduction.
"What did your brother want?"
"The same as my father twenty years ago," Brig replies in a venomous tone. 

I have the right to this 1

 Chapter 1: Demands

Summary:

Jake is wrong about many things in his gloomy musings, of course. One of these horrible falsehoods could have been disproved if only he'd been willing to use the phone. Because his boyfriend isn't too busy to talk to him from across the country. In fact, Brigham Lennox wishes with all his heart that a call or text would give him an excuse to escape the office for a few minutes, to breathe air untainted by the tense interaction he finds himself in.

VARIOUS DOCUMENTS 8

 Chapter 8: Top 10 Moments from Tom Cruise's Wired Interview

Summary:
WatchMojo.com, December 23, 2019
He's been one of Hollywood's biggest stars since the 1980s and continues to thrill on the big screen. His performances have spanned several genres, and he's played everything from a dapper hacker to a Vietnam War veteran to a hitman, a vampire, a sports agent, a loudmouth movie executive, and a superspy. But his real life seems to be even more surprising than his characters. This is WatchMojo.com, and today we’re bringing you our picks for the most revealing moments from actor Tom Cruise's much-talked-about Wired Autocomplete interview, as well as several details that have emerged in the weeks since the "Heat" and "Mission: Impossible" star broke the internet.

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FIVE TIMES PLUS ONCE 6

Five times the past came back to bother them, and once it gave them happiness

Chapter 6: 

When Mike T. Barnow asked Elizabeth McCord (again) to be reasonable

Summary:
In 2018, Sarah submitted a request for a posthumous presidential pardon for Duke Mitchell. In March 2020, the file landed on the desk of President Elizabeth McCord.

-------------------------------------------------

Part 3 of The Lies We Told Each Other

Fandoms: Top Gun (Movies), Madam Secretary

Relationships:
Sarah Kazansky/Tom "Iceman" Kazansky/Pete "Maverick" Mitchell, Elizabeth McCord/Henry McCord

Characters:
Tom "Iceman" Kazansky, Pete "Maverick" Mitchell,
Sarah Kazansky, Elizabeth McCord, Henry McCord, Jay Whitman, Mike Barnow, Ellen Hill, Olivia Mason, Gordon Becker, Ephraim Ware, Hugh Haymond, Hank Nolan  

Additional Tags: Crossover, 5+1 Things

VARIOUS DOCUMENTS 7

Chapter 7: Tom Holland and Glen Powell on the production of "Top Gun Maverick" (2021)

Journalist: Do you have any funny anecdotes about the production?
The actors look at each other with a knowing expression.
Holland: Shall we tell about the waitress?

--------------------------------------------

Part 5 of: The Lies We Told Each Other

Fandoms: Actor RPF, Top Gun (Movies)

Characters: Tom Cruise, Tom Holland, Glen Powell

Additional Tags: Fake interviews, Movie Industry, Entertainment Industry

INDEX: https://palabraspulsares.blogspot.com/p/various-documents-lies-we-told-each.html

--------------------------------------------

Journalist: Do you have any funny anecdotes about the production?

The actors look at each other with a knowing expression.

Holland: Shall we tell about the waitress?

Powell: Well... (with a falsely reluctant expression) It's good publicity, right?

Holland : (laughing) Yes, I'm sure you want to tell it because it's good publicity. (looks at the interviewer) Well, it's a studio filming day. As usual, there's a buffet table to the side and a couple of waitresses on duty. We are reading our scripts, but one of the actors says, "I'm hungry," and goes to get food.

Powell: We really weren't paying attention at the time. Until Tom arrived.

Holland: Tom is a guy who is super aware of his surroundings, like Ethan Hunt, you know? We? Not so much. (Powell shakes his head in agreement) We were working on an intense scene with Alison Brie, who plays my sister Suzanne, but Glen had asked his PA to let us know when the director arrived.

Powell: My PA says he's coming. We turn to greet him. Tom arrives, all smiles, but he stops dead, turns his head towards the buffet table, and... I swear his face changes in an instant.

Holland: Yeah, he went from hugs and hearts to (he snaps his fingers) where's my gun? All eyes turn, and we see that this actor has one of the waitresses cornered against the wall and saying something to her. We couldn't hear him, but his expression was super nasty. The girl is silently crying as she nods with a defeated expression. It was…

Powell: It was horrible to watch. Tom didn't hesitate, he went there, pushed the actor away, stood as a shield in front of the girl and oh! He told him all kinds of things. You have no right to treat anyone like that. Who do you think you are? I'm going to help her file a harassment lawsuit. I don't want you in my film. I'm going to get you blacklisted from Hollywood. You're going to have to do deodorant commercials or go play a stupid white man in Bollywood films, you bastard.

Holland: It was epic, really. I have never before seen a film director jump like this to the defense of a service person. They don't defend their actors from abuse, and she wasn't even on the film's staff, but for Tom, that wasn't important. He sees a person in trouble and jumps, like, like…

He looks at Powell, unsure.

Powell: Like a terrier, small and cute until you mess with something he considers his. I swear, I thought he was about to attack the actor because the guy didn't seem embarrassed or anything. He just endured the scolding with a severe face. When Tom gets tired of yelling at him, the man answers, "Thank you very much."

Journalist: Thank you very much?

Holland: Yes, and continues, "Thank you very much for defending my cousin like this. But I was scolding her because she didn't go to our grandmother's birthday last week. I think I have the right to that, right?"

Powell: But Tom didn't let himself be embarrassed. He immediately asked, "Did you offer to pay for her ticket?" The colleague was taken aback. "Pay for her ticket?" "Yeah. You are a famous and well-paid actor, and your cousin is a waitress. If you want to ensure that she goes to family gatherings, help her." The actor shook his head with a smile, "Grandma lives an hour south of Los Angeles."

Journalist: Whoops?

Holland: Not at all! In that moment, he showed that he is an actor capable of improvising under any circumstance. He turned to the waitress, said in a fake whisper, "Girl, you're on your own," and walked away as if nothing had happened.

INDEX: https://palabraspulsares.blogspot.com/p/various-documents-lies-we-told-each.html

VARIOUS DOCUMENTS 6

 Chapter 6: Justin Hartley is Colter Shaw in "After the Winter" (2019)

Summary: Excerpts from a promotional interview with actor Justin Hartley about his work on the film "After the Winter"

--------------------------------------------

Part 5 of: The Lies We Told Each Other

Fandoms: Actor RPF, Heat (1995), Tracker (TV 2024)

Characters: Tom Cruise, Milo Ventimiglia, Justin Hartley

Additional Tags: Fake interviews, Movie Industry, Entertainment Industry

INDEX: https://palabraspulsares.blogspot.com/p/various-documents-lies-we-told-each.html

--------------------------------------------

 

Please, Justin, tell us how you found out about the “After the Winter” project.

Well, one afternoon in June 2017, Milo called me, Milo Ventimiglia, who plays my father in "This is Us", and he asked me without saying hello or anything.

“Justin, do you know how to surf?”

I'm confused, you know? What kind of question is that? So I say.

"To surf? Well, more or less. Let me think, when I played Oliver Queen I learned not to fall off a board. But it was more than ten years ago. I'm not…"

Milo interrupts me, all nervous.

"Oh shit. Oh, hell. You have to learn. I don’t care what you’re doing, go to your personal trainer tomorrow morning and tell him to connect you with a surf coach.”

He's talking all fast and nervous, which is very unusual for him, you know?

“Milo, Milo, calm down. Why do I have to learn surfing?”

It occurred to me that since Milo is a producer of "This is Us", maybe there are some ideas for the series' second season. After all, my character, Kevin Pearson, is an actor; they can do anything with him. So I asked him.

“Hey man, does this have to do with Kevin?”

“No, no,” he answers immediately. “Tom is looking at new people for a film and he called me to ask if you knew how to surf and I said yes.”

I think it is a great opportunity. I immediately start thanking him.

"Man, thanks. I won't make you look bad. Tomorrow I'll start surfing. Is he working in another sports drama?"

There is an awkward silence. I get a little scared. Had I said something inappropriate?

"What are you talking about?" Milo finally asks.

"Well, about the film. You just told me that Tom Ackerley, the producer of "I, Tonya", asked you about me."

More silence. I'm really starting to freak out.

“No, who talked about Tom Ackerley?” he says finally. “Tom, Tom Cruise called me to ask if you knew how to surf.”

And the phone fell out of my hand.

A week later, my agent received the script for "After the Winter." They wanted me to play Colter Shaw. I read the script, Shaw is a tracker, a private detective specialized in missing persons, who moves around the country in a trailer and likes to surf. I fell in love.

 INDEX: https://palabraspulsares.blogspot.com/p/various-documents-lies-we-told-each.html

ROOTS 17 Final

 Chapter 17: Eyes Wide Shut

Summary:

Javier looks at him, intrigued. He realizes there's something else Jake hoped he'd understand without words. Is the key supposed to be in the photos? He looks at them again before following his friend through the kitchen, and he doesn't see anything extraordinary: an unconventional family, but do conventional families exist outside fiction?
-------------------------------------

Part 4 of: The Lies We Told Each Other

Fandom: Top Gun (Movies), Thunderheart (1992), Madam Secretary

STORY INDEX: http://palabraspulsares.blogspot.com/p/the-lies-we-told-each-other-4-roots.html

University City, San Diego, Thursday, November 12, 2019

 

They continue through the kitchen and onto a large wooden terrace that Bradley, Jake, and Sam cross without stopping to go down to the patio. Like Sarah said, there's a icebox refrigerator just to the right of the back door. Phoenix, Payback, and Omaha leave their beer contributions there. This serves as an excuse for the entire squad to stand with their hands resting on the veranda and admire the massive courtyard of the Kazansky-Mitchell residence.

The perimeter is surrounded by tall fruit trees and shrubs with evergreen foliage that isolate them from prying eyes. Almost at the back is a lit grill, from which comes the delicious smell of meat cooking on charcoal. In the center is a long table covered with platters of food of various styles and origins: guacamole, tortillas, toast, potato salad, rice, macaroni and cheese, pico de gallo, cheese squares, and other things in small portions. Also, several jugs of drinks of different colors, water, and a couple of bottles of red wine. At each end of the table is a stack of plates, cutlery, and napkins.

The rest of the patio is occupied by six sofas facing the buffet table. They are spacious; each comfortably fits five or six people. In front of each couch are small coffee tables for food and drinks.

There are a dozen people between the grill and the sofas. They know some of them.

Rooster went to sit next to Sarah Kazansky. She extends an arm to hug his side while chatting with a couple. The group does not know Cougar and his wife Vivian, but Natasha's trained eyes do realize that they are rich people by the quality of their clothes.

Samantha Kazansky goes to the grill, where Sean and a petite woman with indigenous features cook meat and sausages. Seeing the familiarity with which she puts her arms around the unknown woman's waist and rests her chin on her shoulder, Yale feels his heart break a little.

Jake heads to another couch, where Admiral Kazansky and Captain Mitchell talk with another legendary Navy figure: Commander "Merlin" Wells and a woman who must be his partner from how their hands are clasped. To the surprise of his colleagues, Jake does not sit on the couch end, next to his father. Without saying a word, Maverick and Iceman make space between them. Jake sits down. The admiral turns his head to look at him tenderly and says something that the squad cannot hear, but it makes the blonde swell with pride.

"That is…?"

"Yeah."

"Did Hangman just…?"

"Yeah."

"I don't know if I can survive this."

"I need a beer."

"I something a little stronger."

Yes, they definitely need alcohol to deal with this because… What did the captain invite them to? They never imagined being in a situation like this, so the phrase “a dream come true” does not apply either.

Mitchell turns to watch his squad join the meeting. He sees them frozen on the terrace veranda, to his surprise and concern.

"I think we fried their brains, Ice."

The admiral does not need to turn his head to know what his husband is talking about.

"Take care of it," he says, pulling Jake tighter against his torso. "After all, they are your aviators."

Merlin makes a mocking sound, and Madelaine -his second wife- giggles. It's true: Pete has been praising the merits of his squad in the half hour they've been talking.

Iceman continues his conversation with the couple while putting one arm over his son's shoulders and massaging his skull. Jake rests his head on his dad's shoulder and squints, enjoying the physical contact. Maverick makes a slight, disgruntled noise but gets up and walks towards the stairs to the terrace.

In the eyes of his Daggers, Maverick looks heroic in those worn jeans and the white T-shirt where his abs are visible (absolutely unacceptable for a man of almost sixty years old) as he does in full uniform.

Damn, Payback thinks, I want to reach his age with half that style.

"So you're here."

"Thank you for inviting us, captain."

Pete nods and smiles at Bob.

"To be honest, it was not my idea. We don't usually celebrate Thanksgiving," the group raises their eyebrows in surprise as one. "Sarah is of Siuox origin. Jake's mother was, too. For indigenous people, there is nothing to celebrate about the arrival of the Mayflower. But Ice," he points to the couch, where the commander of the US Pacific Fleet has Jake in his arms, "said he wanted to meet you in person. We thought it would be a good opportunity. We also invited some friends. Please don't stay there. Go down and settle in one of the sofas. Phoenix, Bob?"

The couple immediately stands firm.

"Yes, sir?"

"Just Mav, please. Wolfman and Hollywood want to talk to you about your stunt on the first training day."

Natasha and Bob exchange shocked looks. Wolfman and Hollywood? The legendary aviators who are now legendary stars of aerobatic shows?

"With us?" he croaks, nervous.

"Yeah, they haven't arrived yet. They went to get some kind of tacos at a super specific place in San Diego. I don't know too much about it," he shrugs. "But I'm telling you. Eat now because when those two catch you, they won't let you rest from asking questions."

The pilot and her SWO take the steps to the patio like someone on a sacred mission.

Pete turns to the rest of the group with a slightly embarrassed expression.

"I hope seeing Sean in charge of the grill doesn't worry you too much. I promise he knows what he's doing. His only talent is not doing dramatic scenes at funerals."

"Uncle Mav!," a female voice interrupts behind the group. "You will never learn how to break the ice gently."

When they turn around, they see an African-American man with white hair. His left hand rests on a cane, and the other is on a woman's shoulder. She is in her twenties.

"Hello," she says "I'm Elsa Williams, this is my father, Marcus."

"Vice Admiral Williams, sir!" they say at once and salute.

Maverick can barely contain his laughter. Elsa rolls her eyes. Marcus momentarily steps away from his daughter's shoulder to give them an informal salute.

"Sundown is fine for today, lieutenants," he says. Then he fixes his lively eyes on María Celeste. "Mav, is this her?"

"Yes, meet the engineer María Celeste Machado."

Marcus holds out his hand, smiling.

"I have wanted to meet you for a long time, ma'am. I see there's still room. Would you please sit with my daughter and me?"

Javier and María Celeste cannot hide their astonishment, but they follow Williams as he slowly descends the steps and heads to the nearest sofa.

"Uh, that one doesn't stitch without thread," Maverick comments.

He looks at the rest of the group with an amused expression.

"Feel free to eat and talk."

And he returns to sit next to Jake.

Yale stuffs his hands in his back pants pockets and looks at the yard, unsure. Samantha Kazansky is there, so far away and so close at the same time…

Finally, Billy's voice brings him out of his gloomy reflections.

"Guacamole and whiskey?" he proposes.

"Yes, please," Halo begs.

The six troop down to the buffet table.

After getting generous portions of all kinds of hors d'oeuvres (who said you can't eat dumplings with red sauce?) they go to one of the two still empty sofas. Yale takes great care to appear to sit in the spot closest to her purely by chance. He's only interested in the end of the couch because he's from Florida and is closer to the only heat source on the patio: the grill.

Sean Kazansky ignores them, but his sister is much kinder and moves away from the petite woman to face them.

"Do you already know Bradley and Jake's squad, misún?"

He grunts and shrugs. Sam rolls her eyes, exasperated.

"Lieutenants Fitch, García, Vikander, Bassett, Avalone, and Lee meet my brother, Second Lieutenant Sean Kazansky." Then she pulls the woman's hand to make her move away from the grill for a moment and looks directly at Yale. "This is my girlfriend, Elia Eagle Bear."

Logan brings the glass of whiskey to his lips and closes his eyes. He feels exposed like he has an open wound, and someone was touching it with a cotton ball soaked in alcohol. He's only met her twice. Are his feelings so pathetically obvious?

While the rest of the group tries to be less conspicuous by eating their hors d'oeuvres with the best manners, Fanboy takes advantage of the friendliness to make small talk.

"Miss Kazansky?"

The nickname makes Elia let out a short laugh.

"Sam, please."

"Sam, yes, of course. You're not in the Navy?"

"Ugh, no! My three brothers are enough. I went with the other side of the family. Mom Carole was a nurse, and my iná is a midwife. So I studied medicine at the University of San Diego."

"Iná?"

"It means mother in Lakota," Elia explains. "Mrs. Sarah is an Oglagla citizen."

"Oh yeah. The captain told us something about that," Billy nods. "That you don't celebrate Thanksgiving because Admiral Kazansky's wife and Jake's mother are of indigenous origin."

"To avoid confusion, growing up we got used to calling Carole Bradshaw, Mom, and my mother, Iná," Sam explains.

"And what did you call Admiral Kazansky and Captain Mitchell?" asks Payback, interested.

His WSO gives him a grateful look. He was dying to ask but didn't want to seem too eager.

"Oh! Icepop and Mavdad, obviously."

Payback nods with a forced smile. Obvious? No, not at all. Ingenious, yes, but that is not obvious at all.

Still, there is a significant absence in the yard.

"Do you know where Brig is?" Halo asks.

"Icepop sent him to pick up a couple of guests from the airport," answers Sean Kazansky while twirling some sausages.

Omaha takes advantage of the fact that the boy finally speaks to try to pull his tongue.

"Is it true that you have been flying since childhood?"

"My first time was in one of the Cessna 152s at Wolfman and Hollywood´s place, in Nevada, when I turned ten," confirms the youngest of the Kazanskys. "Same as Jake and Sam. We also had a flight simulator, the US Navy Fighters 97. Brad, Jake and I even forgot to eat on Jane's F/A-18 missions."

"Oh, yeah, I remember that one," Halo's eyes become dreamy. Next to her, Omaha nods emphatically.

They embark on a discussion about fantasy video games versus simulators of "realistic" situations.

"Grand Theft Auto is…"

"A shameless glorification of crime," Brig interrupts in a cheery tone as he approaches.

Although four more persons follow him and sit on the last empty sofa at the other side of the grill, the group only pays attention to their colleague. Sean steps away from the grill and hugs his brother-in-law with a mocking expression.

"Come on, admit that what bothers you is being unable to beat me," he turns to the squad. "Don't you know? He has never been able to win a game against me, not even when I was a child."

"I beat you where it matters, little blonde razor," Brig replies affectionately.

Sean wrinkles his nose at the demotion of his callsign.

"Pure infamies and slander, adjunct professor."

"Children, manners," a deep and amused voice stops them.

Payback, Fanboy, Yale, Fritz, Omaha, and Halo straighten their backs involuntarily. They know that voice because they passed through the great base in Norfolk at different times in their lives. They exchange frenzied glances. Vice Admiral Kerner is here, too? They turn slowly and see that, yes, the famous Slider is looking down at them from his impressive height. A woman with auburn hair stands next to him and smiles softly at them. She rests a hand on the vice admiral's back with the familiarity that implies long-standing intimacy.

"Hello. You're Mitchell's ducklings, right?"

"Yes, Vice Admiral Kerner," they respond in a poorly organized chorus.

The reaction provokes amused waves of laughter around the yard.

"At ease, lieutenants," the giant replies, his eyes shining with amusement. "I expected more resistance from Maverick's squad."

"Rick," his companion says his name in a way that is both a gentle scolding and a reminder.

"Right, right. I forgot. Lieutenants, meet my wife Suzanne," the woman gives them a slight nod "and Senator Charles Piper. A Democrat, but he's one of the good ones."

Piper rolls her eyes but doesn't seem really offended.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you, lieutenants," he says with a smile that doesn't reach his eyes. "We are friends of Maverick and Ice, so we have heard a lot about you."

"What you are is stingy bastards, taking Brig as a driver," Sean snorts. "Couldn't you rent a car at the airport like everyone else?"

Sam looks at Halo, raising his eyebrows as if to say, "Do you see what I have to deal with?" and cuts her brother.

"Sean, take these sausages to Uncle Sundown," she orders in a soft voice that does not accept a reply.

Although he grumbles, the youngest Kazansky takes the plate and heads to where Sundown converses animatedly with the Machado couple under his daughter Elsa's watchful eye.

Sam turns to the squad.

"You must excuse him. He is still getting used to the idea that Jake is back. I think it feels a little…territorial."

Fanboy risks a quick look at Iceman and Maverick's couch. Yeah. Hangman is still between them with a relaxed expression, his head resting on the admiral's shoulder. Kazansky is talking about something that makes Mrs. Wells laugh while he caresses the back of his neck with languid movements as if petting a giant cat.

"Yes, we understand," he says slowly and takes a sip of beer to avoid saying something inappropriate.

In fact, he feels like his entire world has been turned upside down with this family, but he's sure that Jake's return to this house is just the tip of the iceberg.

If you had asked him yesterday what his favorite theory was about the origin of Jacob "Hangman” Seresin, Mickey would have answered without hesitation that he was betting on Kazansky's bastard. His admiration for Mitchell has led him to search for records of his career. Locating photos of Maverick means seeing photos of Iceman. He found it very curious that the Kazansky of twenty years ago bore more physical resemblance to Jake than to his own son, Sean. But he didn't tell anyone, not even his pilot. One does not spread such rumors about one of the most powerful men in the US Navy. He doesn't want to end up carrying loads to the Arctic, thank you very much.

Now, they come here and are told, with unexpected honesty, that Hangman is the mysterious Jake Mitchell. Jake indeed has Maverick's eyes and nose, and his tendency to challenge authority, but otherwise...

Mickey looks up from his plate and meets Harvard's serious face. His dark green, moss-like eyes seem to want to pierce him. He suddenly remembers everything he speculated about Maverick and his brood during training for the Mission. He remembers that Brig had been with Jake since the beginning at the USNA.

"All this must seem hilarious to you, right? You were hearing everyone wondering where Jake Mitchell was for years."

He must have said it a little more forcefully than he should have because the rest of the group falls silent, and Payback puts a hand on his thigh.

But Brig shakes his head gently.

"Not at all."

He looks like he will say something else, but instead, he turns to Sam.

"Can you give me some sausages? I want to go sit with my parents."

Elia nods silently and serves him.

Brig walks to the other side of the courtyard, where Hollywood and Wolfman are interrogating Phoenix and Bob. He sits on the end of the couch next to Leonard and hands him the plate of sausages. The man takes it while still paying attention to Natasha, who explains how they almost escaped Maverick on the first training day. Brig lets himself be carried away by his colleague's expressive voice and smiles when he realizes that part of her exceptional performance was due to pure panic.

"... and then I thought, do it slow, Nat. If not, you'll be out of the ballroom before the party really gets going. And I did like this," she moves her arms as if giving the rudder a sharp tug.

"And I almost puked," Bob interjects.

"And I hear on the radio that Maverick says, "Good move, Phoenix. I like your style." And I almost fainted."

"Ah!" Maverick exclaims from the other side of the table. "I knew that I saw that plane shiver a little."

"Let the girl tell her story in peace, midget."

Pete lets out a contemptuous growl and turns to Slider with mocking eyes.

"At least I fit in all airplane seats."

Slider smiles at the answer. After so many years, the meetings of the '86 Squad are not complete without a verbal duel between the two. But this week has been so emotionally charged that he wasn't sure Maverick was in the mood for it.

"At least I can afford airplane seats with extra legroom."

"Oh! Now you have to pay for your plane tickets? Cougar doesn't love you anymore?"

"It's called integrity, Maverick. Of course, you don't need it because you only think about how to fly faster."

"At least I haven't forgotten how to fly."

"I remember perfectly. I have my license up to date."

"Really? I have a simulator in there that..."

"No one is going to play video games at my barbecue," Sarah Kazansky interrupts like a whip.

Both men look at her surprised but without the slightest intention of challenging her.

The first to react is the captain.

"Of course, dear. Slider and I just…" he looks scared at his friend.

"We let ourselves go," the other finishes in a voice more humble than that of a midshipman facing an admiral.

She makes a little noise of agreement and concludes the matter.

"Uh." Halo looks at Omaha. "Any conspiracy theories for this?"

The pilot shakes his head, too stunned to speak.

Taking advantage of the fact that his buddies are rebooting their brains after seeing the aviation legend and the legendary iron fist of Norfolk being controlled like a pair of toddlers by Sarah Kazansky, Fritz gets up and walks to the far end of Slider, Suzanne, and the senator's couch. He rests one hand on the arm of the sofa, crouches down to look at its occupants, and says.

"Hello. I just wanted to say that I really admire your work."

Milo lifts his head from Charles's shoulder and stands slightly to face him. His brown eyes are cautious. Fritz notices how the senator tightens his grip around his waist and vaguely wonders if he crossed some imaginary line by addressing Ventimiglia directly. After all, Vice Admiral Kerner did not introduce him.

Billy doesn't blame them for trying to avoid being noticed: it's been a challenging year for the actor. The success of "This es Us” is undeniable, but his personal life has made even more headlines. Nor is it a small thing: divorcing Alexis Bledel after fifteen years to start a relationship with a Democratic senator twenty years older.

Milo Ventimiglia is no longer the beautiful and slightly dangerous boy Rory Gilmore fell in love with, nor is the nurse Peter Petrelli, always amazed by the world of mutants. Not even the energetic and reasonable LT Connor "Stone" Portland from Top Gun, the fictional alter ego of his current lover. Under the weak winter sun, his expression lines on the forehead, crow's feet, and slight circles under the eyes are evident. He looks like a worn-out, brooding version of Jack Pearson.

"Thank you, Lieutenant Avalone," Milo finally says with a crooked smile. "I also admire yours."

Billy shakes his head from side to side with a slight smile.

"Na, what I do is complicated but precise. What you do, however... you become another person every time. That horrible mobster you played in Wild Card... that was awesome, Mr. Ventimiglia."

"Oh! So you were one of the dozen who saw that film," his voice is dry, but his eyes shine with amusement.

"My family is from a town in the fuck end of Kentucky, we're going to see whatever they're showing at the local movie theater, as long as it has shots," he explains with a smile.

"Then I guess you're not watching This is Us.

"They don't; I do." Seeing the actor's incredulous look, he adds, "Didn't Mr. Piper tell you? In the Navy, we love weekly series; it gives us something to talk about."

"Boy!" Kerner interrupts in a severe tone. "You can't reveal all our secrets. They're not married yet."

"Too late, Slider." Admits the senator with a perfectly contrite voice. "I have told him everything."

"Everything!?" Asks a frantic voice from the other side of the patio.

Milo looks at Wells defiantly.

"Yes, he told me everything. Even," he pauses dramatically, "that."

Maverick looks at his husband, scared.

"Ice," he moans.

But the admiral is not intimidated.

"Prove it," he says to the actor.

Milo raises an eyebrow, leans forward, and says in a clear voice.

"Wolfman's favorite film is Home Alone."

"Lie!" Leonard shouts, but his son starts laughing so hard that he falls from the couch.

Yale purses his lips and digs the nails of his left hand into his palm in a desperate attempt to contain his own laughter as he extends his right hand to point at his squadmate on the ground.

"I think that's all the confirmation we needed, sir."

"Come on, honey, calm down." Rick puts a hand on his husband's shoulder between laughs. "You knew that one day it would come to light, right?"

Wolfman collapses on the couch, defeated.

"I need a drink. You, Fritz," he looks at him smiling. "Since you started all this pining for Milo, give us a round of that famous whiskey of yours, eh?"

"Right away, sir."

While Yale and Fritz serve shots of the famous liquor, Javier leaves his wife in her enthusiastic conversation with Sundown about engines and efficiency and heads to another couch.

"Hey, Jake," he says, somewhat tense.

The blonde turns his head to look at him without leaving Kazansky´s side.

"What's up, Javi?"

"Could you show me the bathroom?"

His friend makes a noise that is half mockery and half disbelief. Well, yes, the excuse is poor, but it's not like he has much to work with. Still, he congratulates himself because he doesn't shrink under the brief glance Kazansky gives him. The admiral seems more amused than offended, but Javier cannot forget the power that man has. The blue-gray eyes return almost immediately to Jake, questioning.

Jake feels the body next to him tense. Even though they knew this was inevitable, his dad can't help but worry. He gives him a reassuring look and slowly pulls away from his embrace.

"Sure," he says and gets up.

Reaching the kitchen door, Jake grabs two bottles of beer from the cooler while looking meaningfully at his friend. Javier sighs and nods. He didn't expect them to believe his excuse either. They enter, but Jake decides it is better to continue to the living room to be sure they will not be heard from the patio. After all, this is just for Javier. He stops next to a sofa and rests his hips on the backrest while he hands one of the beers to his friend.

"Well, do you want to do the interrogation standing or sitting?"

Coyote purses his lips and looks doubtfully at the furniture around him. It is clear that this is not a space decorated for social functions but rather a warm, authentic family room.

"Yes, let's sit down," he accepts.

Jake takes a wide armchair, and Javier sits in front of him on the center of a three-seater sofa. They leave the drinks on a low table next to them.

"So..." he looks around again, still incredulous. "You grew up here?"

"Yeah. We moved shortly before I turned three. We used to live on the Miramar base, but I don't have many memories of that."

"Were you happy? With…" he can't stop his voice from shaking a little. "Kazansky?"

Jake lets out a short, light laugh.

"A lot. He is the best dad in the world." He stops and narrows his eyes with a concentrated frown as if looking for a better answer. "Well, maybe not the best," he admits, "but he did his best. Without a doubt, he is one of the most sacrificing fathers I know."

"Sorry, I'm confused, Jake. Didn't you tell me that Mitchell is your father?"

"They both are." He raises an eyebrow questioningly. His friend sighs and explains. "They are Navy aviators, Javi, and when I was a child, Icepop, I mean, Kazansky, was in active combat too. So, neither of them was home much. Mama Carole and Iná Sarah decided to live together so they could support each other. So we had like, rotating father figures? One time Icepop, one time Mavdad. It was unusual, but it worked," he grimaces as if remembering something unpleasant. "... more or less."

"More or less?"

"I was happy here, but out there? Not always. Once, at an event at Naval Base San Diego, I overheard someone call me the Kazansky charity case. Because I was Mitchell's brat, trouble was in my blood, right? I guess some people assumed that Icepop was trying to save me from my father and from myself."

"But then, why did you leave? Why all this… theatrics of using your mother's name?"

"What I told you, that this family was full of secrets? That's true. Restricted access to the internet, checks for hidden microphones once a month, background checks on the families of our friends from school, and training on what to do in case of kidnapping." He lets out a bitter laugh. "As a child, I thought that was just how everyone lived." His voice becomes thoughtful. "Considering that we grew up among the elite of the Department of Defense, it is possible that many of the families we interacted with lived that way too. I don't know."

"But all that doesn't explain..."

Jake shakes his head as he takes a drink to cool his throat.

"Wait, I still haven't gotten to the real secret, or secrets. The first was, as I already told you, my father's sexual orientation. I grew up with DADT. It was not a subject for the dinner table time, but echoes of the cases reached us. It wasn't about homophobia... explicitly. Hollywood and Wolfman were always close, and not my parents or uncles would have allowed an inappropriate comment about them." Javier is urged to bite his lips when he understands his friend calls the famous 86 Squadron uncles. "But you know that children create their own deductive chains. I was convinced that we were a law-abiding military family and, therefore, we had to be heterosexual, you understand?"

"Oh, and then you found out that your father..."

"Yeah."

"… but if you too…"

"At that time, I was in a closet deeper than Narnia, Javi. You saw me at the academy, with the ease that I told you that I was not gay."

"Right."

"So I had this monumental fight with him at Kazansky's study, and all my years of resentment exploded like a bomb. Like many children of separated parents, I believed that my absent mother would be better than the father I had, but Mavdad never wanted to tell me who she was. I told him not to come any closer unless it was to reveal Rachel Seresin's identity, and we stayed in that awful limbo to which I dragged the rest of the family."

"And he finally told you?"

Jake's expression turns melancholy.

"When I realized that we were on a suicide mission, I admitted to myself that, really, I didn't care. At the same time, my father begged me to return home in exchange for the truth. Kazansky used his power to declassify my mother's file."

"Declassify?" Repeats Javier, surprised.

"Yeah. It turns out that Rachel was a CIA agent, classified shit until no one knows when. She died in a super secret black op. How do you explain that to a child?" He shrugs and looks at the wall full of photographs. "I wouldn't know how. No wonder my father didn't want me to know."

"Wow." Its all Machado can say after his friend's story.

To hide his shock, he grabs the beer, walks to the wall, and looks at the photos again. There is a story there—a story of love and shadows that dates back to 1994 or further.

He realizes he's not as surprised to see the captain, Bradley, and Jake in casual attitudes. The bizarre to him is seeing Kazanky so distant from his strict martial image. In one photo, he wears shorts and holds little Sean's hand while Maverick holds the boy's other hand. In another, he is lying in the sand while hugging his wife with Jake and Sam - ten or eleven years old - on either side. In a third, he smiles at the camera, his eyes hidden behind dark glasses, while he raises a football above his head that Bradley and Maverick are trying to reach. Almost at the beginning of the wall, there is one that especially catches his attention because it is very conventional but also intimate: Sean Kazansky's first birthday. The child is very small, so he sits on his mother's lap in front of a table with a beautiful airplane-shaped cake and a single wide candle in the center. Jake and Bradley are to the right, and Sam and her father are to the left. His friend and Kazansky's daughter have swollen cheeks, surely they were given the task of blowing out the candle instead of the baby. Bradley smiles from ear to ear, and the future admiral has a happy, exhausted expression.

Javier takes a deep breath and turns to Jake.

"So Maverick's secret boyfriend is also in the Navy?"

Jake nods with the slightest smile.

"Of course."

"So the real reason for this invitation is so that he could meet us."

"Yeah."

Jake finishes his beer, sets it aside, rests his elbows on his knees, intertwines his fingers, and rests his chin on them. He looks at Javier with a calculating expression.

"What?"

But Jake shakes his head and stands up.

"It doesn't matter. Let's go back, or Uncle Sundown will have convinced your wife to join some Navy R&D project, and you'll only arrive to have a say in the color of the house you'll be assigned."

Javier looks at him, intrigued. He realizes there's something else Jake hoped he'd understand without words. Is the key supposed to be in the photos? He looks at them again before following his friend through the kitchen, and he doesn't see anything extraordinary: an unconventional family, but do conventional families exist outside fiction?

Arriving at the patio, María Celeste is very excited about Sundown. Javier gives his wife an affectionate squeeze on the shoulder and decides to go in search of meat.

The atmosphere is relaxed on the two sofas flanking the grill. Fritz and Milo Ventimiglia started some light pop culture conversation that the Daggers aren't afraid to engage in. They do not press the actor about details of his industry. It is a simple exchange of film and television preferences about the titles that formed them. The fact that three people sharing their memories are almost twenty years older enriches the experience.

"Hey, Javi. Did you see Danger Bay in Texas?"

He snorts and rolls his eyes.

"Ah, because up in the mountains of Kentucky, they have more civilization than we do on the outskirts of San Antonio." He sits cross-legged on the grass and raises his beer. "Of course, I saw Danger Bay!"

"It must be the foreign series with the most reruns on American TV." Halo speculates.

"It could be." Nods Omaha.

Payback opens his mouth to say something else, but a squeal from another couch stops him. All eyes go to where Vivian Cortell and Sarah Kazansky hug each other and smile like happy, mischievous girls. Cougar looks questioningly at Ice, who gives the slightest nod. The brunette smiles with some melancholy.

Elsa Williams, Madelaine Williams, and Suzanne Kerner almost ran to the couch with shocked expressions. They lean over Sarah Kazansky and begin a whispered conversation, interrupted by occasional squeals of enthusiasm, which the rest of the yard watches with growing concern.

Natasha leans forward so she can address Brig directly.

"Do you have any idea what's going on there?"

Her squadmate gives her a calculating look but does not respond. However, to increase Natasha's intrigue, he turns to Rooster.

"Bradley?"

The other exchanges a quick glance with Maverick and smiles, amused at his friend.

"Do you like weddings, Nat?"

"Well..." She doesn't really know what to say to the unexpected turn. "Like everyone else, I guess."

"Mark your agenda. My father," he gestures towards Maverick, "is finally getting married. Iná Sarah and Sam are going to plan the wedding."

"Excuse me?" Vivian Cortell asks with a threatening expression.

Bradley shrinks in his seat.

"I mean," he is quick to correct with a strangled smile, "they're all going to plan the wedding."

"And it will be great," says Elsa Williams with a dreamy expression. "I can already see the headlines."

"But the idea is..."

Sarah Kazansky silences her (future) ex-husband with a single glance.

"I told you," Sarah declares in a steely voice, "that the Benjamin family won't beat us in this."

The other four women nod vigorously.

Most of the men present shrink in their seats in solidarity with Tom, except Pete, of course. Pete thoroughly enjoys this whole business of planning a new coming out even more scandalous than the one he had with Top Gun.

"So take care of your work, darling, and we will take care of the wedding."

Ice and Sarah lock eyes for a few seconds, but he finally looks away and nods, defeated. She smiles victoriously and stands up with a haughty gesture.

"Come on, I want to show you some ideas I was working on with Sam."

The five women go to the house. Ice sees them go frightened. Pete and his brood give them an amused gaze. The rest of Squad 86 is frankly worried. And the Daggers are completely confused by all of this.

"You're not going?" Yale dares to ask Sam.

"Nah. Now comes the nostalgia festival. When I got married in the eighties this. When I got divorced in the nineties, that. I've had this idea for floral arrangements for twenty years. My thing is 21st-century technology: the website, the invitations, that kind of thing.

Elia snorts mockingly. Her girlfriend raises an eyebrow.

"What?"

"You've also been imagining that wedding for years, don't deny it."

Sam shrugs.

"Not as much as them." She abruptly changes subject and attitude. "A hamburger, Lieutenant Lee?" She asks with lowered eyelids and a cocked hip.

He swallows dryly and looks fearfully at Elia, but the other woman seems to find her girlfriend's antics amusing.

"Sure," and he offers his plate.

Back to his wife, Javier things about the entire exchange with growing confusion.

That Sarah Kazansky and the other women of the 86 Squadron want to plan Maverick's wedding doesn't surprise him. After all, they have known each other for about thirty years. What seems incongruous to him is that Admiral Kazansky tried to intervene in those plans. If Maverick, the interested party, did not attempt to stop these women in their competition with the Benjamin clan, why would Iceman do it? It's not like the wedding involved him directly.

Right?

Unless…

Oh!

He looks at María Celeste. His wife's panicked expression tells him that she has reached the same conclusion.

Javier looks for the rest of the Daggers.

Across the yard, Omaha's face is slightly green, and Fanboy is whispering something to his pilot with frantic gestures. Payback's face goes from disbelief to disdain, and he seems to seek to confirm his point by staring at the couch Kazansky and Mitchell occupy.

Javier also turns his attention there, desperately hoping all this is a mistake, a misunderstanding.

He knows (he doesn't have to look around, he can feel it) that his wife, Phoenix, Bob, Fanboy, Yale, Fritz, Omaha and Halo are doing the same thing: they are looking for material evidence that their deductions are wrong. Jake has gotten up to grab something from the table. Iceman leans towards Maverick with a slight smile and uses his fingers to smooth out a strand of his hair.

The gesture is casual, intimate, and unequivocal.

The lack of reaction from the rest of the 86 Squadron is the final nail in the coffin of their sanity.

Javier Machado closes his eyes, swallows dryly, and fumbles for his wife's hand.

María Celeste is breathing hard, and Sundown's snide laugh is like a drill in his head.

He hears his captain's voice from afar.

"I think we broke them this time, Ice."

Kerner's response also feels like something from far away.

"Na. A round of whiskey, and it will be as if nothing had happened. If you want, Yale, I'll tell you about when I found them..."

"A round of whiskey, please!" Natasha cuts him off.

 

THE END

 

STORY INDEX: http://palabraspulsares.blogspot.com/p/the-lies-we-told-each-other-4-roots.html

VARIOUS DOCUMENTS 5

 Chapter 5: Tom Cruise & Val Kilmer Answer the Web's Most Searched Questions

Summary:

WIRED’s Autocomplete Interviews. YouTube, November 15, 2019.
“Hello. I am Tom Cruise.”
“And I am Val Kilmer and we´re doing a Wired autocomplete interview.”
They both smile.
Autocomplete suggests the most common searches on the internet.
“Let´s go.” Cruise looks slightly tense.
So WIRED asked Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer the Internet´s burning questions ahead of After the Winter´s premier.”
"After the Winter is the very long-awaited sequel of our 1997´s movie Heat” explains Kilmer.
“It will be in theaters this Christmas.” adds Cruise.
“Because it´s a family movie.”
Cruise looks at Kilmer stunned. Then to the camera with dazed expression.
“Sure! What he said.”

--------------------------------------------

Part 5 of: The Lies We Told Each Other

Fandoms: Actor RPF, Heat (1995)

Characters: Val Kilmer, Tom Cruise

Additional Tags:
Fake interviews, movie industry gossip, coming out

INDEX: https://palabraspulsares.blogspot.com/p/various-documents-lies-we-told-each.html

WIRED’s Autocomplete Interviews. YouTube, November 15, 2019.

 

“Hello. I am Tom Cruise.”

“And I am Val Kilmer and we´re doing a Wired autocomplete interview.”

They both smile.

 

Autocomplete suggests the most common searches on the internet.

 

“Let´s go.” Cruise looks slightly tense.

 

So WIRED asked the stars of After the Winter the Internet´s burning questions

 

Kilmer looks off-screen, supposedly to the team, with his fingers already in the tape covering the first question.

“You guys ready?”

 

Panel 1 Val Kilmer

 

Where did Val Kilmer grew up

I grew up between the San Fernando Valley in California and New Mexico. Lots of contact with nature.

 

Where did Val Kilmer meet his wife

“I developed a teenage style crush on Joanne Whalley after seen her on stage at London, playing Dewey Dell in “As I Lay Dying” at the Cottesloe Theatre, in 1985. I carried the torch, pinning.”

“It was sad and funny to see.” Cruise says giggling, with a kind expression.

“Then, we met while working together on the film Willow, in 1988. She played warrior princess Sorsha, and I was Madmartigan, a mercenary that discovers romantic love and parental love at the same time. I made a fool of myself several times, until she realized I was madly in love with her and madly sad after losing my brother. So, she gave me time to get my act together.”

 

Where did Val Kilmer go to school

“In 1978 I was accepted into the Juilliard School's Drama Division, I´m a member of Group 10, the tenth graduation, from 1981. I was eighteen years old when left my house and got a bachelor diploma, so, I think it counts as going to college?”

 

What really happened to Val Kilmer

Kilmer raises his eyebrows, stares straight to camera with seductive pose.

“Well… I got sick and then got better.”

 

Panel 2 Tom Cruise

 

Can Tom Cruise really sing

“Well yeah. I mean, I did all my singing in Rock of Ages, so yes, I sing.”

“I see him do it.”

 

Can Tom Cruise rock climb

“Yes, I trained for a long time, many years actually, in rock climbing. I used to go with you.”

“Yes, we did. We should do it again.”

 

Can Tom Cruise play guitar

“I love playing guitar and the uke. I definitely need more practice, but I enjoy playing guitar.”

 

Can Tom Cruise hold his breath for 6 minutes

“Yes, I can hold my breath for six minutes. You were there when I was doing it.”

“You were in the tank in the studio in London. You´d swim back and forth in the bottom of the tank like four or five laps.”

“McQ ideas!”

“I´d be up on the surface with googles watching him. I wasn´t even working in the movie.”

“No, right, you were in London with your Mark Twain play.”

“Yes, but I wanted to watch Tom Cruise hold his breath for six minutes.”

Tom laughs.

 

Panel 3 Val Kilmer

 

What was Val Kilmer´s last movie

“Before the cancer diagnosis, my last movie was 2014´s Tom Sawyer & Huckleberry Finn, directed by Jo Kastner. After that, I made my third tour with the theater play Citizen Twain, saw you hold your breath for six minutes, and returned to my wife and children. After I recovered from cancer, I made The Super, a 2017 horror movie. My character is involved in black magic and other evil stuff.”

“I didn´t watch it. Sorry.”

“It´s okay. You were busy. So, this year we finally reunited with Michael Mann and made After the Winter, a sequel to Heat. I play Chris Shiherlis, boyfriend of Tom Cruise´s Charles Polesti.”

Cruise snorts.

“More like husband, at this point.”

 

What was Val Kilmer´s famous line in tombstone

“The line is “I’m your huckleberry”. I did not say, “I’m your huckle bearer.” In the context of the movie, “I’m your huckleberry” means “I’m your man. You’ve met your match.”

 

What was Val Kilmer´s best role

“Uh! That´s a hard one. I would say that the hardest characters I had played were Chris Shiherlis in Heat, Jim Morrison in his biopic, and William MacPherson, in Conspiracy.”

“I liked Conspiracy. The thing you did with your body to mimic the artificial leg.”

“My hip wasn´t happy, let me tell you. But Morrison got really inside me, it was difficult to let him go after.”

“It looked like you had a good time filming Heat.”

“Yeah, but the guy is an addict, always about to fall of the wagon, and madly in love. It´s a difficult character.”

 

What was Val Kilmer´s diagnosed with

“I was diagnosed with invasive ductal carcinoma, a type of breast cancer. Since breast cancer is unusual in men, it a was late diagnose. Almost too late.”

 

Panel 4 Tom Cruise

 

What was Tom Cruise first movie

“The first movie I worked at was Endless love, by Franco Zeffirelli, starring Brooke Shields and Martin Hewitt. Most people remember it for the song. Diana Ross and Lionel Richie sang a hit. The first character I truly feel like mine was David Shawn in Taps.”

 

What was Tom Cruise real name

“Thomas Cruise Mapother IV”

“It sounds like an aristocratic name.”

“Meh. Lack of imagination, nothing more.”

 

What was Tom Cruise´s first wife´s name

“My first wife was Nicole Kidman. Great Australian actress. Check her work!”

“You know?” says Kilmer thoughtful. “I suspect that question refers to Mimi.”

“Mimi Rogers? We were never…” he seems to realize something. “Oh!” Cruise looks at the camera. “No, Mimi Rogers and I are only friends. I had a terrible personal loss in 1987 and she is a fellow member of my church. The church assigned her as my mourning companion. It was necessary, I was really, really wounded,” he looks briefly to Kilmer, who gives him a sad smile. “In 1989 my therapist said I was out of depression and the church relieve her from the mission.”

 

What was Tom Cruise´s big break

“Usually, critics say it was Risky Business. I feel that I broke from the pack in The Outsiders, you know? Working with Coppola puts all of us in the map.”

“Nah, I was told by a very reliable source that your butt dance in Risky Business was paramount to your career.”

Cruise covers his face with a hand while laughing.

 

Panel 5 Val Kilmer

 

Is Val Kilmer still alive

He smiles to the camera.

“Yeah.”

 

Is Val Kilmer married now

“I am, lucky me! Joanne and I married in 1989. We divorce in 1996. In 2005 she decided I had grown enough to deserve a second chance. We have been together ever since.”

 

Is Val Kilmer still acting

“Again, yeah. I stop to deal with cancer, of course, but here I am.”

 

Is Val Kilmer´s son an actor

“Yes. Jack is an actor. He had work mostly in short films. Last year he was in Lords of Chaos. He played a fictional version of Per Yngve "Pelle" Ohlin, a Swedish musician, lead vocalist and lyricist of the Norwegian black metal band Mayhem.”

“So, he played this Pelle Ohlin character like you played Jim Morrison?”

“I mean…” Kilmer seems shocked by the question. “Jonas Åkerlund isn´t Oliver Stone,” he smiles awkwardly to the camera.

 

Panel 6 Tom Cruise

 

Why is Tom Cruise always running

“I´m usually in a big hurry to get places, lots to do in the day.”

“But not when you are Charles Polesti.”

“No. Charles Polesti is a sophisticated guy. He never runs, except...”

“Except for Dominik, of course. It makes me jealous.”

“Don´t be silly Chris. I love you too.”

 

Why is Tom Cruise always named jack

“Because is easy for me to remember and for others to remember. So, makes it easier for the crew and the director.”

 

Why did Tom Cruise become a director

“I just love movies and I wanted to make movies. I remember as a kid I used to create characters and write skits and did outrageous physical stunts.”

“I can only imagine what would be for your mother. Just look out the window while you’re doing the dishes and there´s your seven-year-old son like trying a stunt and breaking an arm or a leg.”

Tom laughs.

“You say that because you had that experience.”

“Yes, but I was twenty-five, an actor used to crazy things going on, and you still scared me to death. You were injuring yourself all the time.”

“My mother most definitely had incredible patience. Then, one day you send me a book you said it would be a great movie. I agreed with you but couldn’t find a director to do it. After another frustrating rejection I thought, well, I´ll do it myself.”

 

Did Tom Cruise really hang off the plane

“Yes, I did hang off the A-400. I remember the second take, actually, I got hit by just a little, little, rock. I mean, it must have been about that big and, honestly, it was like getting hit by a bullet. But the thing I was most concerned about was the fuel. You know, the fumes from in the air that was hitting me, particularly on them when we were taxing on the runway because it had nowhere else to go. It´s quite an adventure. Don´t necessarily recommend it for everyone.”

Val snorts. Tom ignores him.

 

Panel 7 Val Kilmer

 

Does Val Kilmer have cancer

“No anymore. I am happily cancer free since 2016. It was a brutal process, but here I am.”

 

Does Val Kilmer sing in the doors

“Yes, I do. I have a vocal register very similar to Morrison´s. I was fascinated by domestic video cameras at the time and wanted the role, so to convince Stone that I was right for the role, I made an eight-minute audition video, singing and looking like Morrison at various stages of his life. After I got the role, I lost weight and spent six months rehearsing and meeting with Morrison´s colleagues.”

“I remember when Stone got the Doors to hear your recordings of the songs they will use in the film. They could not tell whether it was yours or Morrison's voice.”

 

Does Val Kilmer have a daughter

“My beautiful Mercedes. Smarter than her dad. She is actress and producer.”

 

Does Val Kilmer sing in top secret

“Yes, I do. To this day I have difficult explaining Top Secret plot or genre. I play an American rock star way out of touch with political reality, and he sings to save his life.”

 

Panel 8 Tom Cruise

 

Does Tom Cruise see suri

“Yes, of course I see her, she is my daughter. Katie and I share custody and arrange Suri´s schedule in each house to support each other careers.”

 

Does Tom Cruise have kids

“Yeah, I have three children: Isabella Jane, Connor and Suri.”

 

Does Tom Cruise have a girlfriend

“No.”

 

Does Tom Cruise have an Oscar

“I have two Oscars, actually,” he is clearly proud. “The first was in 1998, for my role of Charles Polesti in Heat. Thanks to Michael Mann, the amazing cast and crew. The second was the 2017 Best Movie Oscar for Top Gun, that I directed.”  

 

Does Tom Cruise own a p51

“Yes. I love flying and bought a P-51 Mustang plane a few years back.”

 

Panel 9 Val Kilmer

 

Val Kilmer movies

“A lot?” he laughs. “I honestly can't tell how many out of the blue.”

 

Val Kilmer Batman

“I made Batman Forever in 1995. It was the third movie of the character. I took the torch from Michael Keaton, but the experience wasn´t very happy.”

“That´s an understatement. You would call almost every night to complain.”

“What can I say? Schumacher and I had creative differences. The suit was torture. The script was silly. I had started full of joy, thinking of playing my childhood hero, but the magic, the dark thrilling aura Tim Burton had put in the first two films had evaporated under Warner Brothers greed. Halfway through filming just I give up and just did it like a TV soap opera. Which, for my eternal confusion, became sort of iconic.”

“Yeah, that thing you do with your hands in your waist.”

 

Val Kilmer Tombstone

“Tombstone is a western I made in 1993. An estrange experience because the first director was fired and we end up in a four hands directorial arrangement between Kurt Russell, who had never directed before, and George Cosmatos, the director assigned by the studio. Kurt Russell plays Wyatt Earp, and I was one of his sidekicks, Doc Hollyday. It was a great movie, with Sam Elliott, Bill Paxton, Powers Boothe, Michael Biehn, and Dana Delany. It was a gamble. In those days, the western was supposed to be dead, and the script overall tone was grim. Is not a happy ending epic western. But people like it.”

 

Val Kilmer height

He seems honestly dazed for the first time.

“People goggles the most bizarre things. I´m five feet and twelve inches. For our international audience, that´s one hundred and eighty-two centimeters.”

 

Val Kilmer doc hollyday

“Well, Doc Hollyday is the character I played in Tombstone. He was a real person, John Henry Holliday a dentist, gambler and gunfighter, close friend of Wyatt Earp. He was diagnosed tuberculosis in his early twenties and lived around fifteen years with the disease. In my take on the character, I gave him a genteel Southern accent and some arbitrary pauses in the speech, because he was always out of breath.”

 

Panel 10 Tom Cruise

 

Is Tom Cruise married

“No, I´m not married now.”

 

Is Tom Cruise a pilot

“Yes. I fly airplanes. I´m a multi-engine instrument-rated commercial pilot.”

 

Is Tom Cruise in tropic thunder

“Yes. I play Les Grossman, a studio executive. He is bald, fat, ill-tempered, profane, loves to dance and sexually harass his clients. He is a monster.”

Kilmer gives Cruise a knowingly look.

“You know? Now you can say it.”

Cruise raises his eyebrows, surprised.

“You´re right!” He looks at the camera very seriously. “I based Les Grossman in Harvey Weinstein.”

 

Is Tom Cruise gay

Cruise looks dumbfounded to the panel, then above the camera, to the team. Kilmer shakes from poorly contained laughter.

“I told you about this,” he says, clearly amused.

“Yeah, you did,” admits Cruise staring at the panel in disbelief. “But I didn´t believe you.”

He looks out of camera again.

“You didn´t like…edit it?”

Off-screen voice.

“No, mister Cruise. It´s the real Google autocomplete question.”

Cruise shakes his head, clearly upset. Kilmer looks worried now.

“If you´re uncomfortable…” but Cruise speaks before he can finish.

“I´m not gay. I´m bisexual.”

 

Is Tom Cruise dating anyone

Cruise sights.

“Not a surprise at this point. Yes, I´m dating again after seven years. He is very smart and very sweet.”

“I like him. He makes you happy.”

Cruise rolls his eyes, but smiles.

“He doesn´t need more ego boost, Val.”

 

Panel 11 common

 

Are Val Kilmer and Tom Cruise friends

“Yeah. We had been friends since… 1983. Wow, it´s weird to say it aloud.”

“You were doing All the right moves, in New England.”

“Johnstown, Pennsylvania, yeah.”

“And my brother was a producer assistant there. So, I was waiting for the Top Secret´s principal photography to start and went to visit him. He knew I had liked The Outsiders, like, a lot, and offer to introduce us.”

“We had dinner in my hotel room, because it was supper late.”

“Terrible dinner. Wonderful conversation.”

Cruise shrugs.

“Story of my life with your family.”

They look at each other and laugh.

 

Val Kilmer and Tom Cruise kissing in Heat

“That isn´t a question,” states Cruise.

“It’s a reference,” Kilmer says while he nods. “We do kiss in Heat. I mean, we were playing a couple in the honeymoon phase, so, yeah, we kiss and touch a lot.”

 

Val Kilmer and Tom Cruise relationship

Cruise looks kind of confused. Kilmer giggles.

“I mean, we´re friends? Is this related to people googling if I´m gay?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

Cruise shakes his head.

“Man, this is so weird.”

 

Are Val Kilmer and Tom Cruise lovers

Cruise swallows dry and looks at the floor. Kilmer answers looking straight to the camera.

“No, we play lovers in Heat and our new movie, After the Winter, but we are not lovers. Never been.”

Cruise seems to recover and raise his head.

“That would be super awkward. Considering I was your brother-in-law.”

Kilmer smiles.

“And my wife would be very annoyed,” he throws away the last panel.

Cruise hums.

“My boyfriend would be to. But Joane liked the movie?”

“Yes, definitely. She and I love playing dramas and deep, complicated characters. And the thing I loved in Heat, and now in After the Winter, is the interest first and foremost in character development.”

“Val,” he smiles “you are obsessed with Shiherlis and Polesti´s story. You annoy me, your wife, your agent, my agent, Michael Mann, our friends, and everyone in Hollywood for literally nineteen years, until we made a sequel.”

“I wanted to work again with you and Michael,” he looks to the camera. “When you are with Tom Cruise in a movie you know you´re gonna get something incredible from it. Always.”

“That´s what we try. We just want to entertain you. That really is the purpose so, you know, we hope you came to see After the Winter. The long…”

“Very long-awaited sequel,” cuts Kilmer.

“... of Heat. After the Winter will be in theaters this Christmas.”

“Because it´s a family movie.”

Cruise looks at Kilmer stunned. Then to the camera with dazed expression.

“Sure! What he said.”

 

INDEX: https://palabraspulsares.blogspot.com/p/various-documents-lies-we-told-each.html

ROOTS 16

Chapter 16: Bloodworth  

Summary:

"Of course! It's just that..." he sighed. "It's been a long day and... Look, I really don't want to have this conversation on the phone. Can we meet on Monday?"
"No tomorrow?" he sounded obviously disappointed.
No, Jake decided. I need a little more time to know what lies I will tell you.
Ice reaches for the folder he had left on the table.
"I know Brig is waiting for news, you have to say something. You saw how well our family did with the "it's a military secret" excuse. Here's Rachel Seresin," he hands him the folder.

-------------------------------------

Part 4 of: The Lies We Told Each Other

Fandom: Top Gun (Movies), Thunderheart (1992), Madam Secretary

STORY INDEX: http://palabraspulsares.blogspot.com/p/the-lies-we-told-each-other-4-roots.html

 

 

University City, San Diego, Sunday, November 17, 2019

 

"May I?" he asks while tapping his knuckles on the open door a couple of times.

Jake turns around, surprised.

"Dad?"

His expression exudes tenderness and surprise at the term. Then, he seems to realize how vulnerable he looks and looks away for a moment. When he looks at him again, his face is more controlled.

"I brought you something," and he raises one hand, holding a folder.

"Its not... You don't have to bring me anything to come to my room. Come in, please."

He moves his desk chair beside the bed and makes an inviting gesture. He then sits on the bed. Kazansky enters slowly, his eyes carefully fixed on the floor. He leaves the folder on the table and takes the place his son offered him.

Jake realizes something.

"Why did you stop coming here?"

The man looks at him, surprised again.

"I don't know…"

"Please don't lie," he cuts him off, exasperated. "I think that after yesterday's confessions, you can tell me all the other truths, right? You stopped coming into this room when I was about five or six years old. I know. I never gave it much thought before, but now I realize it is contradictory: You always looked for excuses to be close to me, but that," he points to his door, "was like a glass wall."

His dad bites his lips, sighs, and seems to come to a conclusion.

"It's because of Rachel's photo," he finally admits in an embarrassed tone. "I couldn't stand seeing myself like that... crossdressed."

Oh! It's precisely what he imagined, but not for the reasons he thought: his dad didn't mind him talking about Rachel because she was his love rival, but because it was his past. What did that girl tell him that was the word? Yeah! Deadnaming. It is a specific type of violence against trans people: using their birth name and not their true identity. Of course, Jake didn't know it. He was a child, and he acted in good faith. But his insistence on finding out about his (supposed) mother forced the rest of the family to play along. Mom Carole, iná Sarah, and his father did know that mentioning Rachel hurt him, but they couldn't do much either. Jake looks around and feels the bitterness like a blow to the chest. How many more little details hurt his dad all these years?

"I'm sorry."

"It's alright…"

"It's not alright! Stop saying it's alright! You are the backbone of this family, and we have treated you like shit."

"It was necessary," Ice stops, thinks a little. "Jake, you have to understand that you were not the problem. You were a child. Brad, Sam, Sean, you, it wasn't your fault. Neither do your mothers or your father. It was I who decided to pursue a career in an institution that denied my existence. Yes, it hurt me that you talked about Rachel like someone real, but it's a sacrifice I was willing to make for you." He takes his hand and shakes it affectionately. "You're my son, Jake. That's how it works."

Jake opens his mouth to say something else but thinks better of it and closes it. After all, it's true: they won't get anywhere if just remembering all the mistakes they made.

"Okay," he concedes resignedly, "but you have to promise that you won't let anything pass from now on. I want you to be happy, dad," he concludes a little anxiously.

"Just hearing you call me dad is a great help. Now, what I came for. Have you talked to Brig yet?"

Jake makes an uncomfortable face.

"Yesterday, yes. It was complicated."

Complicated is an understatement. 

After crying for a while in their reunion hug, father and son had calmed down enough that the family could start to discuss their plans for the future. They were told of the veiled offer to Ice to be Secretary of the Navy in President McCord's second term and of their divorce, retirement, and marriage plans.

"Yes," Mav said with a dreamy expression, "I will go from being a lover to a trophy husband."

Sarah rolled her eyes mockingly.

"Sure. Because all these years you were taking advantage of him while I raised the children and scrubbed floors, right?"

"Just like that. He even gave me a hangar in the middle of the desert to…"

"Don't mention your sex life again, Mavdad!"

"Seriously, what went wrong with you little brother?" Jake complained. "I've never seen a straight guy so sensitive."

"I have a theory." Bradley proposed. "When my mother died, you were three years old. After that, Icepop went to Maryland, and Mavdad stayed here. You two," he points to Sarah and Pete, "were pretending to be friends, so your interactions were intentionally distant. You grew up seeing a couple who didn't show physical intimacy, Sean, and you got the idea that your kuŋkákepi were asexual beings. Any evidence to the contrary short-circuits your brain."

Sean tilted his head and frowned thoughtfully.

"It could be." He finally admitted, turning to Jake. "Can you give me your therapist's number?"

The family burst into laughter.

After that, it was Bradley's turn to announce that he, too, was leaving the Navy and proposing to Blue. There was a round of applause, congratulations, and -of course- variations of "it's about time."

"From secret lover to Prince Consort of White Pearl," Sam said slowly, mockingly, with arms raised. "You are certainly marrying up."

Bradley stuck out his tongue at her. She ignored him to ask what was truly important.

"Do you think Megan and Harry will go to the wedding?"

But the older brother just shrugged.

"A state marriage, eighty percent of the guest list will be decided by the chancery."

"Well, I'm going to tell you something that neither the White Pearl Foreign Ministry nor Elizabeth McCord's White House will decide: Elia and I want to have a baby."

That sparked another round of congratulations.

Finally, they went down to dinner with light hearts but exhausted bodies. Saturday had been a rollercoaster of emotions.

When he returned to his room, Jake found a single message from his boyfriend: "36 hours." How long it had been since he heard from him. He called him immediately. Brig answered on the second ring.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, yes. You?"

"Worried about you, nothing more," he paused briefly, "and tired of being at base, really."

"Don't they let you out?"

Jake became suddenly uneasy. Had something happened that made them need the squad again?

"Calm down, love. I just don't want to go anywhere without you. On the other hand, I have Omaha and Halo trying to soothe me," he explained without hiding his amusement.

"Soothe you?" It couldn't have been anything bad if Brig laughed, but it was definitely strange.

"Yes, they think you left me for Bradley, or for Mitchell."

"Oh! Well, they are wrong," now it's Jake who giggles. "Do they think my name is Hangman for nothing? I do things in a big way. I left you for Admiral Kazansky and Captain Mitchell."

Brig let out a cry of false outrage.

"Really?"

But he didn't last more than a few seconds before he started laughing. It was a light, contagious sound. Jake could imagine him flopping onto the bed and settling against the headboard.

"So you fix things with them."

"Yeah."

"And they told you the truth about Rachel," because Brig never loses sight of his interests.

"They told me, and it is…"

Jake stopped mid-sentence because he didn't know what to say. He didn't want to lie to his boyfriend but couldn't betray his dad's trust either.

"It's complicated," he admitted with a sigh. "More complicated than I expected, and definitely a matter of national security."

"So Rachel was Mossad?"

Of course, Brig didn't mean it, although in the long nights he listened to Jake guess about Rachel's identity, they imagined all kinds of scenarios, from architect to beauty queen.

"No," he was glad to be able to tell him something with confidence. "That I can assure you: no foreign intelligence agency was harmed during the conception of this aviator."

"Good."

"I want to tell you," he assured him, suddenly afraid that Brig would distrust his honesty, "but it can't be over the phone."

"It's okay, love. The main thing is that you are sure they told you the truth this time."

"Oh, yes, it was the truth. It's such a bizarre story that they couldn't have made it up."

But as he said it, he realized he couldn't tell him the truth. His dad never told Wolfe and Hollywood that he was trans, so he wouldn't be able to now... He is proud of his father and his dad, but it seems like he will never be able to brag about it outside the narrow framework of his family.

"When are you coming back to Miramar?" Brig suddenly asked.

That took him by surprise.

Return to base? To what? He has a home in San Diego and a desperate need to catch up with his family. It would be better if Brig came to stay in University City during the bye weeks, right? The bed and wardrobe in the room are clearly for two people. But he can't make that decision on his own.

"I don't know," he finally admitted and decided to go with half the truth. "It's been eleven years since I hugged

them, Brig."

His boyfriend noticed the hesitation in his voice.

"Jake, are you really okay?"

"Of course! It's just that..." he sighed. "It's been a long day and... Look, I really don't want to have this conversation on the phone. Can we meet on Monday?"

"No tomorrow?" he sounded obviously disappointed.

No, Jake decided. I need a little more time to know what lies I will tell you. Oh! So this is what his dad was talking about. Now that he knows, he is obligated to keep the secret. He is forced to lie. Maybe when his dad retires for good, in ten or fifteen years, but not now. Definitely not now.

"No. Monday."

"Okay. But at least send Javier a message. He is worry too."

"Okay, as soon as we finish talking."

He hung up, sent a message to Javier, "I'm fine, reconciliation underway," and fell onto the bed. The euphoria he felt had evaporated. Instead, the weight of what he had just learned was beginning to settle on his shoulders.

He slept badly. When he woke up, he did not remember the plot of his nightmares, but the bitter taste of fear was in his mouth. He managed to go to breakfast pretending to be well. It was seven in the morning, and only the men of the family were in the kitchen.

All conditioned to get up early by the Navy.

Breakfast was lovely, with his parents smiling and touching him affectionately. They were always very tactile in their family, and Jake had missed that.

Now, his dad is in his room and stares at him with blue-gray eyes, like the winter sea. It seems to him that he can see through all his doubts and lingering questions.

"Complicated." Kazansky repeats his son's last word with a sympathetic tone. His eyes become evocative. "I remember my first date with your father, I didn't know whether to sabotage everything or give him a chance."

"Did you get to first base?"

"Of course not. We went to eat pizza, and he told me I had cheese in the corner of my mouth. He tried to wipe it off with his thumb."

Jake covers his face in embarrassment.

"How cheesy."

"My reaction was cheesier. I leaned back and started to stutter," he smiles, Jake can tell that the memory still amuses him. "Luckily, he is Maverick. Always ready to improvise. Without changing his expression, he offered me a napkin and invited me to Thanksgiving dinner a week later. There, we had our first kiss."

Jake stops laughing because he suddenly realizes where his dad wants to go.

"And when did you tell him...?"

"Almost three weeks later. Slider realized I was trying to break up with Mav and came down from Coronado to shake me. He told me that, for once, I should risk being happy."

The mention of Kenner makes Jake sober again.

"I owe an apology to Slider and Cougar, right?"

"Yeah. Slider also owes you one," his tone is final. "What he said at the funeral was outrageous. You have never stopped being our son, Jake, you never will stop being our son."

"You didn't stop being my dad either. I tried," he admits in a regretful voice, "I swear I tried, but your genes are strong. Seeing things around me and starting to organize them in my mind is simply instinctive."

"You also fly like Mav."

"Have you seen me fly?"

"I have read the reports and seen recordings." he admits. "Since you graduated you have been very coveted, you know that? The insufferable Koehler couldn't stop bragging."

"My commander on the USS Eisenhower?" Jake has a distant memory of the man. He doesn't remember talking to him, even though he spent more than a year on that damn ship.

Ice nods.

"I know you didn't want me to get into your life, Jake. You had good reasons for it, but… You are my son."

He suddenly looked embarrassed.

"Dad... what did you do?"

"Koehler wanted to separate you from Brig. I don't know how he planned to do it, but he told me it was the only way to make you tougher. I couldn't allow it. You love each other. I consoled myself by thinking that if you already hated me, it didn't matter if I pulled some strings.

"So those two places in VFA-151 Vigilantes..."

"Yeah. Gregory Huffman was indebted to me."

"Indebted to you?" he repeats, bewildered. "What do you mean? Shouldn't it be the other way around? You indebted to him for receiving me?"

"Of course not! Everyone wants you, Jake. Human resources almost had to beat commanders aside with a stick when they were deciding which squadron to send you to in the fall of 2013. Two years later, the predictions had been exceeded. But I chose the USS Stennis because Huffman has no patience for bigotry of any kind."

"And no one suspected that you were interested in me like that? Out of the blue?"

His dad's face turns sly.

"Could I have made it seem like I was doing Wolfe a favor?" he says with false innocence. "My interest was Brig and you, the bargain I used to make the offer attractive."

Jake opens his eyes in surprise. It would never have occurred to him that Brig is also technically a nepo-baby. Thinking about his boyfriend reminds him of the awkward conversation that awaits.

"About Brig. We're supposed to meet tomorrow. I came here straight from the boat and he's anxious."

"I can understand that," the father nods. "Don't worry, your iná cooks for battalions."

"I don't understand."

Kazansky looks at his son with concern. Did he cross any boundaries without realizing it?

"Didn't you just say that Brig will come tomorrow?"

"No."

He swallows dry.

"Okay." He tries not to let the disappointment show too much. "Of course, you have no obligation to bring him here." He forces himself to smile. "Surely you are not interested in having sex almost in front of your kuŋkákepi's room. Of course, you can go back to Miramar with your boyfriend, Jake," but he can't help but show how much he needs him. "Will you at least come to dinner later this week?"

"No! What are you talking about? Of course I don't want to go back to the base housing, dad. Who in their right mind goes to in base housing when they have a home?"

They look at each other in disbelief. Ice sighs and massages the bridge of his nose.

"I think I got ahead of myself again, right?"

"Yes, by far." Jake takes his hand. "You owe me eleven years of hugs, dad, I'm not going anywhere. Relax, okay?"

"I'll try."

"About Brig, I was thinking of seeing him in a cafe in San Diego, but I didn't know if I could bring him here."

"Of course you can bring him! That boy loves you, he is welcome. When your iná redecorated," he makes a gesture encompassing the room, "she did it thinking that you would come with Brig. We know that you... Look! All the walls are soundproof, okay? Your privacy is guaranteed." He notices a look of discomfort on his son's face and hastens to add. "You can bring anyone else, too."

That last clarification doesn't make Jake happy. His dad's awkward, supportive performance only reminds him that he must also come clean with his family. But first things first.

"The problem is that I don't know what to tell him. Brig knows I came to demand the truth about Rachel, and now..." He drops his head in defeat.

"That's what I came to talk to you about," Ice says, reaching for the folder he had left on the table. "I know Brig is waiting for news. Eventually, you'll have to tell other people, too. Machado and Vikander are interested in your family, too, although for different reasons. I don't want to force you to lie, son, but..."

"I will never reveal your secret," he quickly assures him.

Ice nods, his eyes shining with trust and affection.

"I know, but you have to say something. You saw how well our family did with the "it's a military secret" excuse. Here's Rachel Seresin," he hands him the folder.

Jake opens it curiously. It only contains one page. It looks like a summary of a file. In the upper left corner, the seal of… the CIA!? Yes, according to the title of the page, it is the summary of one Rachel Sophia Levoi (alias Rachel Seresin) file, a CIA agent killed in the line of duty.

Born: March 17, 1960, Los Angeles, California.

Death: July 11, 1997, Paris, France.

Most significant physical features: 1.72 meters tall, blue eyes, blonde hair

Recruitment: Filed during the last year of high school. Invited to an Agency-funded university in the summer of 1977. Hired upon graduation (summer, 1981).

"The CIA really has a recruitment program through a private university?"

Tom shrugs.

"You think convincing people to run around the world lying is easy? They have an even worse reputation than the Marines."

Jake snorts and keeps reading.

Excels in: costumes, accents, marksmanship.

Relatives:

Mother: Karin Kowalsky (1940-1989)

Father: Samuel Seresin (1940-1967)

Siblings:

1) Raymond Sean Levoi (March 17, 1960). University of Oregon (1981): Major in Political Science, minor in Criminology. FBI Academy at Quantico (1982). Agent specialized in covert missions. They have maintained minimal contact since 1977. Contact in case of emergency.

Added 1987: Agent Levoi was recruited by agents of the Aboriginal Rights Movement (ARM) and betrayed by the United States government. NEVER CONTACT.

2) Thomas Seymour Kazansky (March 17, 1960). Notes: Adoption closed at birth through the Sisters of Charity at San Vicente Medical Center in Los Angeles. He ignores the existence of Raymond and Rachel.

Added 1987: Tom “Iceman” Kazansky is one of the Navy's best aviators. It stands out for its respect for the rules. He is expected to progress as an officer. Contact in case of emergency.

Son: Jacob Raymond [covered in black ink] (April 1, 1991). Notes: The father was assigned full custody [covered in black ink]. NEVER CONTACT.

Instructions in case of death: cremate and scatter ashes in the Pacific Ocean.

The rest are paragraphs that supposedly summarize her years of work for the agency. There is more black ink than words, but that doesn't matter.

Jake closes the folder and puts it aside.

"Do I want to know why the Sisters of Charity managed secret adoptions?"

Ice makes a gesture of disgust.

"You already have enough nightmares."

He nods.

"So you're my uncle? My mother's twin? Isn't that a bit over the top?" Jake smiles. "It's almost like a Days of our Lives, Dad."

But Ice's eyes are serious.

"That rumor that you are the product of a Pentagon experiment?"

"Yeah?"

"They didn't tall it to me as a joke, but as part of an attempted blackmail. They threatened to reveal to Sarah that you were my son and Pete had only signed the papers." He raises a hand to stop Jake from speaking. "I didn't tell anyone. It was nothing I couldn't handle, but… are you aware of how similar we are, physically?"

"Well…"

"A lot. You also have a strong resemblance to Sean. So, I want to put an end to that. We deny the rumor by confirming that we are family. Period."

"Okay," Jake agrees with a nod.

After all, his dad has defied the limits imposed by the Navy and the Pentagon for over forty years. He can trust his judgment.

"And then we have Brig. Wait, let me finish talking, or we'll go back to the mess we made a few minutes ago. It's not good to have secrets in a relationship. They poison the air, son. You guys have been together for a long time," Jake feels himself blushing. He thinks it depends on how you count it, "and it is a stable, solid relationship. I want you to decide if you will tell him the truth," he puts his hand on the folder, "or the whole truth."

Jake's eyes widen, surprised.

"Wolfman and Hollywood don't know."

"And I don't plan to tell them," Ice nods, "but they're my friends. Brig has been your partner for eleven years. It's different. I want to rebuild our relationship, Jake, but not by sabotaging your love life. If you want to have someone to brag to that you are the son of the two best pilots in the Navy," he winks, "I'm not going to stop you."

"Thank you. I think... I'm going to call Brig to come over right now."

"Perfect," Ice stands up. "I'll tell Sarah that we'll have someone else for lunch."

 

University City, San Diego, Monday, November 18, 2019

 

"Dad, father, iná, sister, brothers. I think it's time for me to be honest with you, too. For a long time, I have hidden this part of me, and I believe that I can't be less after all the honesty and courage that Icepop showed us a few days ago. I am asexual. That means that I don't feel a physical attraction to people, and that sex actually seems dirty and meaningless to me. Before you start with the questions. Yes, I am in a relationship with Brig. I'm asexual, not aromantic. No, that has nothing to do with you having to leave, Dad, or my other childhood traumas. Being asexual is as normal as being bisexual, or trans, or straight. I was born like this. I don't need to change, or heal, or find a good sexual position. I want you to accept me like this. I don't want you to act different around me now, except for one thing. I really want you to stop making jokes about my sex life with Brig. They make me feel very uncomfortable," he stops to breathe and dares to look at his audience. "What do you think?"

His boyfriend looks at him from the bed with a frown. Jake, sitting bolt upright at his desk, holds his breath.

"You sound a little desperate."

Jake exhales, doubles over a little, and desperately runs his hands through his hair.

"Really?"

"Yeah. Why do you talk about how something could," makes air quotes with his fingers, "cause your asexuality? Your family is like, the last of the families that would try to cure you of anything related to sexual preferences, Jake."

"But no one else is..."

Brig moves to the edge of the bed and takes his hand.

"And that doesn't matter. In fact, I don't understand why you want to do this whole coming-out thing. We're together, Jake. They accept us as a couple. What we do or don't do in bed is no one's business. What does it matter if your sister...?"

Jake glares back at him.

"You think I should just let it pass? That I don't care? I care a lot. I want my sister to stop making jokes about our sex life. They sicken me! But it is more than that. I want my family back. At least in my home, I want to be seen and respected for who I am, not who they imagine me. Every time I say that society's obsession with sex creeps me out, they look at me in disbelief. When I deny being attracted to famous people, Sam says I'm a prude. They think I purposely shunned you all these years. And it's not just about misunderstandings or bad jokes. It's about being seen, Brig, about not lying by omission or letting them fit me into their idea of me. I don't want to be invisible!" he collapses after the tirade, puts his head in his hands, and adds softly. "My sexuality is part of that."

Brig looks at him dumbfounded.

"I had no idea you cared so much."

Jake shakes his head gently. His eyes wander around the room, uncertain.

"I didn't care until... do you have any idea what it was like for my dad? Living more than half of his life pretending, even inside his house. He let me call him Rachel, monster, child robber. All to keep the fiction that he was cis. I can see how it has hurt him, Brig, and I don't want that for myself," he looks into his eyes without trying to hide his fear, "or for you. I don't want to get bitter and hurt you. I want an oasis, a haven, a safe harbor where I don't have to pretend that my love for you is measured in orgasms or kisses."

"OK." his boyfriend nods, "That is an excellent out of the closet speech."

"The what now?"

"Nothing about you being normal. Okay? Nothing defensive. You state this is your identity, and you want the family to recognize and respect it. That is all. If they want to learn, they can type asexuality into Google. You don't have to justify yourself, Jake. To anyone."

 

Daggers Squad WhatsApp group, Tuesday, November 19, 2019

 

Fanboy: Did you see his email? 🤩

Fritz: Seriously, Garcia, you have to calm down.

Fanboy: 😜 You're married, I'm not.

Fritz: Fitch! Hold him.

Fritz: Or you'll lose your WSO to sexual harassment charges.

Payback: 😒

Payback: At least you only see these texts.

Payback: I live with him.

Halo: For real, Garcia, you're too old to have a "gay awakening" or any of that shit.

Bob: Sexuality is fluid, people can realize the diversity of their feelings at any time in life.

Halo: 🤦

Phoenix: I have no idea what to get.

Fanboy: nsjfdvln sdlnscjkls

Payback: Nat, you can't drop bombs like that.

Payback: He threw his phone on the floor and ran to get the laptop to reread Maverick's email on the big screen.

Fritz: Doesn't it say to just bring our “wonderful personalities”?

Bob: I already told her.

Bob: He's our CO, and we don't have to get anything.

Bob: She doesn´t believe me.

Omaha: Isn't anyone going to mention the elephant in the room?

Rooster: Don't get anything, Nat.

Hangman: Elephant? I thought it was a Thanksgiving barbecue.

Halo: Neil is deep with another of his crackpot theories. Where are you, Seresin?

Hangman: Right now, in San Francisco.

Hangman: We must celebrate we're alive!

Omaha: It's not a crackpot theory, it's a possibility.

Rooster: 👀

Payback: Hey, Seresin, do you know the area where the captain invited us?

Hangman: Yes. Good slopes for cycling. 😂

Rooster: 😒

Rooster: and you say it

Bob: Did you wear a helmet and safety accessories?

Hangman: 😏

Hangman: I'll tell you when we meet.

Rooster: What possibility is cooking in your brain now, Omaha?

Rooster: = crackpot theory

Omaha: Do you think Maverick is married?

Fanboy: He's not married, he doesn't wear a ring.

Coyote: He told us he had four children.

Yale: 🤣

Yale: Education in Texas is really BAD.

Yale: Machado doesn't know that you can make babies before your wedding night.

Yale: 😜😜😜

Coyote:🖕[3 😱, 2 🔥]

Hangman: WOW. Calm down Javi. [8 👍]

Harvard: Not married, but as if he were.

Harvard: They have been together for more than 30 years.

Phoenix: The perks of being a nepo-baby.

Fanboy: 😭😭😭😭😭

Halo: Is it just here or...?

Payback: He went to hide in the bathroom.

Harvard: 🙄 I agree with Fritz, you have to hold him.

Bob: People process loss at their own pace. We must respect García's mourning.

Halo: 🤦

Yale: I don't think that applies to breakups with imaginary boyfriends, Bob.

Yale: Especially if the imaginary boyfriend is 30 years older and your CO.

Phoenix: I still feel like I should get something. My mother raised me well.

Hangman: Beer.

Hangman: Corona.

Omaha: 😮

Phoenix: Thanks, Hangman.

Omaha: How do you know that?

Hangman: To become a high-ranking officer, you must pay attention to details.

Hangman: 😎

Rooster: Really?

Rooster: [gif of a wolf in sheepskin]

Phoenix: Hey, nepo-baby, have you been to Maverick's house?

Harvard: Of course.

Fanboy: Of course?

Harvard: 🥱

Harvard: Top Gun? Anyone?

Phoenix: 🙇

Phoenix: Some parking advice?

Harvard: 🤔

Harvard: There is free parking nearby, on Governor Dr and Genesee Ave.

Harvard: From there, it's 10 min walk to the house.

Bob: If there will be beer, we should agree on designated drivers.

Halo: 👍

Halo: I propose Fanboy [8 👌]

Hangman: You're evil.

Hangman: 😘

Hangman: In favor.

Fanboy: Et tu, Reuben?

Payback: 🤷

Coyote: I can be a designated driver. [7 👍]

Hangman: 😢

Hangman: I was planning to get you drunk so you would sing.

Coyote: 😅

Coyote: Sing with María Celeste.

Coyote: She doesn't need alcoholic courage [5 🥳]

Bob: I don't drink. [9 👍]

Payback: Do you want to trade WSO, Trace?

Bob: 😲

Fanboy: 😱

Hangman: 😆

Fanboy: 😡

Bob: 😨

Hangman: That's why I fly alone. The drama outside the cabin.

Omaha: Sure 🙄

Omaha: [gif of two planes in cobra maneuver] [2 🤐 1 🫣 3 😜]

Phoenix: No, thank you.

Harvard: 😆 [Hangman 🤨 this message]

Rooster: 😅

Phoenix: Hangman, stay away from Rooster.

Phoenix: Your cynicism is rubbing off on him.

Harvard: 🤣😂

Hangman: I won´t be active for a while.

Hangman: I must research how to get rid of a body in the desert. [3 😬, 2 🔥, 1 💣]

Yale: Oops.

Fritz: Sorry for the delay.

Fritz: Was checking the reserves.

Fritz: We will bring 3 bottles of whiskey. [6 👏]

Fritz: Omaha, weren't you saying that Hangman was done with Harvard?

 

Dana Bowers Viewpoint (Vista Point), San Francisco, Tuesday, November 19, 2019

 

Jake gives his boyfriend one last handshake and gets out of the car with a determined step. For a few hours, he was in a cocoon of Elton John´s music, which accompanied them during these hours of travel, and jokes from the squad's WhatsApp group. He had a great time sending messages from his phone and Brig's while his boyfriend was driving.

Now, it's just him and his mistakes.

Although it is Tuesday afternoon, the Golden Gate observation deck is overflowing with tourists. No one pays him any attention as he approaches the two men, pretending to look at the statue of the lone sailor.

"Mr. Cortell, Vice Admiral Kerner," he greets formally.

Cougar lets out an exasperated growl. Slider gives him a clearly irritated glance.

"Do you expect me to call you Lieutenant Seresin?" he snaps.

Jake sighs at the hostile tone and forces himself to be patient. He went on the eight-hour road trip; he's not coming back before settling this.

"I don't know," he admits. "Last time we met, you didn't even use my name, I was just Brig's boyfriend."

At the mention of the funeral, Kerner's face softens. His features reflect some shame.

"Yeah. Not one of my best moments. I was on the edge that day."

"We were all like hell that day," Cortell intercedes. "Too many things have happened in a very short time," at Jake's confused look, he gestures with his hand as if removing invisible objects. "Don't worry, you'll catch up. You have a speech prepared, I assume?" he says in an uninterested tone.

It's the nonchalance of the phrase that convinces Jake that this is important, very important to them.

"Yeah. I have it. But first, I would like to know why I was summoned here."

That they wanted to see him on neutral ground did not surprise him. The location did. They were both invited to Thursday's barbecue at home, so they will come down to San Diego tomorrow. He could even imagine it as a power move by Cortell, who lives here because he is a top executive at United. But Slider shouldn't even be on the Pacific coast: he has been working in DC for two years.

The two men exchange a look. Jake can recognize a bit of knowing melancholy in their gestures. He understands that this place has a special meaning for them. Finally, Cougar talks.

"The first air carrier Tom was assigned to left this bay in the fall of 1982. I meet Slider here through a mutual friend."

"He set me up with a whore," Kerner growls.

Cortell shrugs.

"I have friends in many places, it is one of my skills. I wanted to know what kind of man he was, if he would take good care of his pilot, or may betray him when things got thought."

He looks at him knowingly, and Jake understands what he means. He can't imagine what would have happened to his dad if he had been discovered in the eighties. Jail? Hospital?

"I told him not to worry. That his boyfriend would return safely from Japan." Slider says mockingly.

"You said that?" Jake is frankly horrified. He turns to look at Cortell. "What did you answer?"

"As appropriate, I punched him in the jaw. I then explained that I loved Tom like a brother and just wanted to be sure that he wouldn't try to get into his pants."

Slider lets out one of his usual contemptuous grunts.

"I have never understood this thing about liking men, really. We are all…" he opens and closes his hands, unable to verbalize it. "Women are the most beautiful thing in the world," then adds something else in a low, thoughtful voice, as if it was something that has always bothered him. "Lesbians have an unfair advantage."

Cougar ignores him and continues his story.

"When they returned from the first deployment, it was Slider who called me. I flew here from Chicago. He wanted to talk about… well, Ice."

"The only trans people I knew were on Castro Street," Kerner moves a hand vaguely towards the city, "and Tom looked nothing, not at all, like those people. Tom was not a clown nor a madman. He was, is, a man like few others."

Jake grimaces at the implied comparison, but the vice admiral shrugs.

"It was the eighties. I won´t apologize for my language. Anyway, Ice is a pilot like few. I wouldn't betray him because he had a hole instead of a stick between his legs. I never betrayed him."

From the look he gives him, Jake understands that he was the only reason Kerner considered doing it. What could it have meant to these two men to see him go? How tempted were they, especially in the early years, to give him a shake and tell him the truth? No wonder they were so aggressive. The helplessness they must have felt!

"So, this place became our place to talk about Ice," Cougar finishes. "It seemed only right that everything ended here," and he fixes his eyes on the statue again.

That's his cue, right?

"Yes, it's fair. Uncle Cougar, Uncle Slider, I want to apologize to you. I misjudged you. No. That's not fair. I judged you well: you were loyal to my dad even when I acted like an insufferable stubborn. I didn't know how to appreciate what I had, and I hurt him in the process. I thank you, also, for taking care of him when I couldn't. I promise you that from now on, I will be by his side. I will be the devoted son he always deserved."

"Damm right, he deserves it." Cortell nods, clasping his hands behind his back, and tilts his head slightly to look at him harshly. "Ice only deserves the best."

His jaw is tense, his lips are tight, and his eyes… Oh! Jake feels very sorry for this man who has loved his dad for so long without expecting anything in return, but also admiration.

Slider's voice interrupts his thoughts.

"Nice speech," his face still expresses the same disapproval of the last decade. "But I prefer actions, Lieutenant Seresin. How do you plan to be the son he deserves?"

This is a test, of course. Jake can't predict the future, only do better.

"We have agreed that I will be his nephew in public. I don't plan to skimp on my displays of affection. About everything else, I will listen to him, trust him, and honor him wherever I go."

Slider still stares at him intensely as if undecided about believing him.

"Ron..." There is something resigned, almost sad, in William Cortell's tone.

Finally, Kerner shakes his head and snorts.

"Don't hurt him again, Jake. He couldn't stand it," he says in a demanding, almost agonizing tone.

It is precisely the exact phrase his iná used a few days ago when he returned home.

"Of course."

"Okay," he admits reluctantly, "then I guess we're at peace."

"I'll see you at the house on Thursday," Jake says goodbye and walks towards the car.

Brig is sitting on the car's hood, arms crossed over his chest, swaying gently to something in his headphones. He stops the music with quick gestures when he sees him approaching and opens his arms.

Jake dives into the hug without hesitation.

"All good?"

He nods silently without removing his face from the crook of his boyfriend's neck.

"I saw what you did on the squad's WhatsApp."

Ah! Bless Brig and his incredible ability to distract him.

"Yeah?" he says with false innocence.

"I think we should give them some proof that you didn't bury me in the desert. Or Omaha will have a stroke or something."

"Okay."

"So, Castro Street?"

"Okay."

 

University City, San Diego, Thursday, November 21, 2019

 

The parking lot of the mall Harvard directed them to is almost full because it is Thanksgiving, and, of course, everyone has last-minute shopping, but they find three spaces relatively close to each other. Rooster is waiting for them, leaning on the trunk of a stunted tree that grows on the sidewalk of Governor Dr. Is easy to recognize him: he is wearing one of his usual Hawaiian shirts over a dark T-shirt and jeans. He smiles when he sees them approach.

"I see you didn't get lost," he says in greeting.

"No," Natasha denies and hugs him.

Maybe she puts a little more than her usual force into the squeeze, but she hasn't seen her friend since they separated on the dock. Fuck good manners.

"Well, let's walk."

The area changes as soon as they cross the traffic light at Governor Dr and Genesee Ave and enter the residential area that opens to the north. There are only houses here. As it is a holiday, the sidewalks are full of people walking from one place to another, preparing their dinners or family gatherings.

Javier and Maria Celeste carefully study the neighborhood. Jake is Captain Maverick's son, and they go to his house. Does that mean this is where he grew up? Most of the people they see are white, but they notice some Latino and black families. Of course, it is an affluent area.

The whole group realizes this slowly and begins to exchange uneasy glances. This site seems to be way beyond Maverick's capabilities.

"So... has Maverick lived here for a while?" Payback dares to ask when they have already been walking for five minutes.

Rooster giggles in amusement.

"We moved in March 94."

"We?!" Phoenix looks at him in amazement.

"You really didn't pay attention to the film." Rooster complains, but his voice is amused. "Let's see, Fritz."

"Yeah?"

"What does Wolfe's book say about the relationship between Maverick and my father?"

"Well…"

The man wrinkles his forehead as he strains his memory. He shifts the bag where he carries the whiskey bottles from his shoulder and mutters a few things in a very low voice. He raises his surprised eyes to Bradshaw.

"He's your godfather."

Bradley nods and smiles slightly.

Javier and his wife exchange confused looks.

Omaha makes an "I told you so" gesture at Halo. She rolls her eyes. Her pilot said they were ex-lovers, so he was not right, not even close.

Phoenix's eyes widen, unsure whether she should feel admired by her friend's discretion or offended by his lack of trust.

Bob frowns, trying to fit this into what he knows about them.

Fanboy wants the earth to swallow him. The things he said about Maverick in front of Bradshaw! Payback tries to comfort him by patting him on the shoulder.

Yale doesn't even flinch.

Bradley continues talking as they round the final bend.

"After Hoop 31 and Goose's death," he notices that Bob is looking at him strangely, but he won't call him father. He can't, "my mom decided to stay in San Diego. Maverick felt guilty, so he stayed close. A few years later their own children were born." he deliberately ignores Fanboy and Omaha's gasps of surprise. "So eventually, they decided to pool the resources of several families to buy a house where we could fit comfortably."

"So, you grew up in a kind of commune?" Yale asks.

"No," he answers quickly, although it would have been an exciting possibility, "only in an exceptional family." he stops, bows, and opens the gate with a flourish. "Come in."

But the group is frozen on the sidewalk. Rooster invites them into the biggest house on a street full of big houses.

"This is a fucking mansion," Omaha gasps.

The spell is broken when Sarah Kazansky appears on the house's doorstep. She wears a long, wide, beige dress and a dark blue apron that adjusts it to her body.

"You made it!" she greets them with her arm raised. "Come up, come up."

The Machado couple is the first to walk through the garden. Natasha stays last, giving Bradley a questioning look.

"What are you not saying?"

He is tempted, yes, but the way Icepop planned it is much more fun.

"I promise you it's good."

She snorts but nods and heads to the portal.

"Nice to meet you, María Celeste. Jake has told me a lot about you," Sarak Kasanzky says.

She barely keeps her formal smile.

"Only good things, I hope."

"Of course." Sarah moves away from the Machados and raises her voice to address the entire group. "Normally, I would tell you to go directly to the patio walking around the house, but it is November. We organized an area for coats and purses in the dining room. So please continue through the living room and into the kitchen. Don't worry about the shoes, we put a silicone cover to protect the wooden floor. Lieutenants Trace, Fitch, and  Vikander, you can leave your generous contributions of beer in the cooler that you will see just outside the kitchen on the back terrace. Lieutenant Avalone, my husband is eager to try your family's whiskey, but please don't let him overdo it. Do you understand?"

Fritz looks at her with wide eyes of surprise and hesitation. Who should he obey, the Commander of the Pacific Fleet or the Commander's wife? But Sarah doesn't wait for him to decide. She gives him a shark-like smile and nods to make it clear that, in reality, there should never have been any doubts about who has greater authority in the matter.

"I'm glad we understand each other, Lieutenant. Bradley, did I miss something?"

Her eldest son comes to her side in two strides and smiles at her, amused.

"No. I think you covered it all."

"Good. Then, at your own pace, follow the yellow rubber road," she says, heading towards the back of the house.

They can see a path of horrible bright yellow rubber squares arranged on the wooden floor of the mansion. It is half a meter wide, crosses the hall, and continues to the right until it gets lost in a curve that must lead to the dining room and kitchen of the house.

Bradley stays with his squad, which is moving slowly because the yellow path follows the living room wall, and (as planned) they begin to stop to look at the myriad of family photographs. Despite the reception, they are clearly surprised to see the wedding photo of the Kazansky couple next to…

"Is that Maverick's wife?"

"Wow! The captain picked up a model? Neat."

"Thank you, Payback."

"You're welcome?" He replies, confused, to Rooster.

"That's my mother," he explains. "Kazansky and Sarah, Mav and my mother married on the same day. At Miramar Base, in fact."

Omaha opens his mouth to ask something else, but a squeal from Natasha cuts him off.

"Bradley, did you play baseball?"

"Yes, in the little league."

"What position?" Bob wants to know right away.

"Second base."

The Machado couple goes ahead. They are looking for another person in the photos, and it seems to them that they found him.

"Is this Jake?" Coyote asks, pointing to a photo of the family hugging on Wolfe and Neven's porch in the spring of 2001.

Bradley looks at them, surprised. Their kuŋkákepi are easily recognizable. He, too, since he was already seventeen. But he didn't expect them to recognize his misun there, when he was only ten years old. Javier and Maria Celeste look at him with distrust and curiosity. He still smiles. That weekend at Fyrosity Vegas Skytravel will always be a fond memory.

"There I was with my siblings. The twins were turning ten, and the youngest was six. We traveled to Nevada because the twins' birthday gift was flying for the first time."

Javier narrows his eyes, frustrated, because that's not what he asked. He has a silent conversation with Maria Celeste while the rest of the group comes to analyze the photo.

"It's true that he looks a lot like Seresin."

"Yes, but polite and without his insolence."

"Flying for the first time at ten years old? Wow, that's starting early."

"Why are Kazansky and his wife there?"

"Where are Kazansky's children?"

"Are those three your mother's children too?"

Bradley only directly answers the last question.

"No, my mother had died in '98. Cancer. I was his only biological child."

Then he tilts his head and smiles.

"But for you to understand the photo, I must explain something first. I told you this house was a collective project. Sarah Kazansky and my mother realized that everything would be easier if they supported each other while Maverick and Iceman flew around the world. With my father's pension and their four wages, it was a feasible project. So, I grew up as an older brother to Samantha and Sean Kazansky. They are the girl and the youngest boy in that photo."

Fritz slaps himself in the face. He seems desperate for a drink of his family's whiskey.

"Are you like Iceman's nephew?" Natasha groans, again torn between feeling betrayed and hurt or amazed and happy.

"And the other child?" Coyote insists.

Bradley looks to the kitchen, makes a small gesture with his eyebrows, and extends one arm.

Jake takes a deep breath, pushes himself away from the counter, and walks toward him. He doesn't dare to look at the rest of the squad until he feels secure in the weight of his c'iyé's arm on his shoulders.

"The other child is me, yes."

"This is my brother, Jacob Raymond Mitchell. After an epic tantrum, he decided to reject the family legacy and rise on his own merits, using his mother's last name."

The squad looks at them in silence, stupefied. Only the sounds of the patio, which come muffled by the distance and the wall, enliven the scene.

"You're both like the archetype of nepo-babies," Bob muses, looking at the house, the photos, and the pair of brothers leaning on each other casually.

"I almost forced you to discuss your parents' sex lives," moans Fanboy, a little green.

"You really broke Samantha Kazansky's heart, huh?" Coyote sighs.

"But Maverick never..." It is evident that Yale is thinking about the weeks of training, about the inhumane decision to force a father to send his children on a potentially deadly mission.

"I was right!" Omaha raises a fist in victory. "This is the laboratory, and you are the result of being educated by Maverick and Iceman. It's not genetic, but it's pretty close."

Jake lets out an amused chuckle. If they knew. Instead, Halo makes an irritated growl and slaps him on the head.

"Will you stop it with your conspiracy theories? They have shared something important with us. Show some respect." she looks at Jake seriously. "This means that you reconciled or something like that. So, should we start calling you Mitchell?"

Jake feels himself blushing at Halo's quick generosity. He shakes his head softly.

"It would be too confusing right now. Jake is fine at the moment. My family and I... are," he glances briefly at Bradley, "working out stuff. Rebuilding bridges."

She nods, understanding.

"That's hard, but I'm glad you had the opportunity."

"I guess seeing the face of death puts things in perspective, huh?" Natasha understands.

"So true," Bradley confirms.

But as she listens to her friend, she realizes she can't imagine it. She thought Maverick and Rooster had fallen, and the pain was paralyzing. They were just her commander and her friend, and she didn't know what to do or how to look forward. What must the two of them have felt, thinking that they had lost their father? She told Bradley to leave Maverick behind, for heaven's sake. Then Hangman, helpless on the Roosevelt deck, had to listen to her saying, "Impact on Dagger Two." Natasha doesn't remember how she got back to the ship. Only the conditioned reflexes from her training allowed her to navigate, like a zombie, the absurdity that the world had become in just a minute.

That's what she felt, the subordinate, the friend.

No wonder they spend their time sequestered during the return trip.

"Well, I think you can go down to the patio now."

"Wait a minute!" Bob stops them. "Why did you say that Jake and Samantha Kazansky were twins?"

"Because we were born on the same day, just eight hundred miles apart," explains Sam, crossing the room toward the group.

Like her mother, she wears a long, wide, raw cotton dress with Lakota motif embroidery on the neck and sleeves. Her dark hair falls in soft curls above her generous bust.

Yale gasps, seeing her so close. That is precisely what happened to him during the funeral.

Sam gets between Jake and Brad and puts an arm around each of her brothers. Look at his c'iyé.

"I guess the big reveal has already happened?"

"Yeah, " Bradley nods.

She gives them a calculating look.

"Just for your information, we have closed-circuit security. There is a camera in front of you." She moves her head upward, vaguely indicating one of the partitions in the room's ceiling. "So, tonight, we will eat popcorn and enjoy your faces when you find out everything."

Her smile turns fierce, like her mother's when she warned Fritz that he better control Admiral Kazansky's access to his famous whiskey.

Yale feels his knees go weak. He definitely needs his WSO's whiskey because he's screwed. He remembers Sean "Knife" Kazansky's murderous looks at those who looked at his sister at Commander Metcalf's funeral. And now Rooster and Hangman will join him in guarding her?

Sam takes her brothers by the hand.

"Let's go," and she walks towards the kitchen door.

The group follows without questioning her authority.

"Does that mean there are no more surprises?" asks Maria Celeste, uncertain.

Hangman turns to smile at her and winks in amusement.

"With this family? You never know."

 

STORY INDEX: http://palabraspulsares.blogspot.com/p/the-lies-we-told-each-other-4-roots.html