Chapter Text
Coming back to Top Gun would change many things forever.
The sun was slowly sinking, inching closer to the water's horizon as the end of the day neared. Surrounded by lights, music, and a lot of different cars parked in front of the premises, the Hard Deck showed no signs of quietening down. As the day ended and the night began, the bar slowly awoke to life.
Being back felt strangely nostalgic as she trudged up the small, sandy path to the front doors. She had spent many nights in this bar while at Top Gun and even before then as a teen accompanying family and friends.
The doors creaked as they swung open, welcoming her in like an old friend. It wasn’t yet too full, the music of the jukebox still audible in between the chatter of customers and the occasional smacks from the pool tables in the back. It smelled like beer and sweat and so much like home. The bar became a second home to pretty much any aviator in their time at Top Gun.
“Ana?” Looking over to the bar in the middle of the room she spied Penny behind the counter, rag in hand and a smile on her face. It wasn’t the first familiar face she had seen since returning to San Diego but it surely was one of those she was the happiest about. Walking over to the bar, the two women shared an embrace over the counter.
“It’s good to see you again.”
“It is,” she agreed with a nod. “This place has never looked better. I like what you did with it.” That made Penny laugh and pretend to throw the rag at her.
“Are you trying to sweet talk me?” Ana laughed too and shook her head.
“Never.”
“So you are here for the special mission too?”
Raising an eyebrow, she gave a slight nod. “Yeah. How’d you know about that?” Whatever special detachment she had been called back for, the information was top secret. There was no way Penny would be able to know about it. She shouldn’t. Yet the question remained how she did know about it?
Penny glanced over to her left, nodding her head towards the counter. When Ana turned her head to follow, she understood. Maverick. Of course. Penny would know something would be up if he was there too.
Speaking - or thinking - of the devil, he looked up, as if he had heard them. More likely he had felt their eyes on him. He had always had a good sense for that.
Surprise crossed his face. Turning sideways and resting one arm on the counter she watched Maverick make his way over, just as Penny slipped away to serve some customers further down the bar.
“Teddie.” Holding one hand up, she stopped him from hugging her before he could even think about doing it.
“Hi Mav, it’s good to see you after such a long time. But can we act as if we don’t know each other that well?” She asked, glancing through the room. Maverick stayed still and silent for a moment before he nodded in agreement. Instead of a hug, he patted her on the back with a small smile.
“It’s good to see you, kid. You look good."
“You do too.” It felt strange to keep a sort of distance between them when all she wanted was to share a hug with him. She hadn’t seen Maverick in person in years. “Even though I’m sure I shouldn’t be so happy to see you back here. Makes me wonder what it means if they called you back too.”
Then there was that too. Whatever special thing the navy had in plan, calling Maverick back to Top Gun meant the stakes were much higher than she had anticipated.
Maverick only smiled at that. She knew that smile. The slightly embarrassed and strained one that stood in contrast with the way his eyes glinted with mischief. She knew that one well. So many times she had seen Maverick pull that face, most of the time in her father's company. This time however it felt different. More strained than anything else. She knew Maverick couldn’t tell her anything about it, not that she wanted to either. Whatever it entailed, tomorrow she would be briefed about it.
“I’ll see you around,” she told Mav. He went back to his previous spot and she turned back towards Penny behind the counter. However, someone was faster than her in addressing the bar owner.
“Penny m’dear. I’ll take another 4, on the old timer.” Hangman, ever so cocky, smiled over the bar at Maverick and tilted the opening of his empty bottle towards the man. It made her roll her eyes. She was well acquainted with Hangman’s antics, but they never not made her eyes roll. Penny glanced over at her briefly before she bent down to grab the new bottles, which was when Hangman noticed her.
“Now look who we got here,” he hollered, “Ghost. Didn’t think I’d see you ever again.” The grin with which he looked at her, gave her the urge to roll her eyes again. She barely held herself back but instead, she reciprocated with a tightlipped smile.
“Hangman,” she greeted him as well.
“Why don’t you come over with me. The others are at the pool table.”
Raising an eyebrow she looked past him. Just as he said she could see Rooster, Phoenix, and Payback there. In the corner at the other side of the pool table, she also spied Coyote and Fanboy with what looked like another aviator she didn’t recognize. Everyone was there. It surprised her to see them all together in one place and it made her wonder what the hell that mission was about.
Penny put the opened bottles of beer in front of Hangman before she turned around and put a fifth one in front of Ana. Cocking her head, she motioned for her to go with Hangman. Ana sighed before she grabbed the beer and took a swing. One didn’t argue with Penny and she did want to greet the others. Hangman was still standing at the bar, he had his head tilted to the side and watched her closely.
Pointing her open beer bottle towards him, she instructed: “Lead the way.”
Hangman grabbed the bottles and shot Mav a grin together with a quick “Much appreciated pops,” before he turned around. He marched towards the pool table with a confident stride, only looking back once to make sure she was following him. Ana did, weaving her way around other patrons.
“Ghost is that you?” Phoenix was the first one to spot her. She seemed surprised. Not to see her here but for her to accompany Hangman. The two female fighter pilots shared a hug and a silent conversation before Ana turned toward the others. Rooster was the next to greet her. He immediately pulled her into a hug the second Phoenix had let her go.
“Hey Teds,” he mumbled into her ear.
“Hey Brads. Long time no see. You doing good?”
“I’m good. When did you get here?”
“This morning. I made a quick detour to visit home before coming here.” She felt him nod against her shoulder before they pulled away. Coyote eyed her from the other side, giving her a short nod to acknowledge her presence before Phoenix pulled her attention away.
“Do you remember Payback and Fanboy?” “Of course. Hard to forget such charming aviators,” she joked, smiling at the pair of them.
“The sentiment can only be returned,” Fanboy told her with a grin.
“Very flattering of you,” Payback joked, causing her to laugh before she nudged both of them with her elbow. That’s when Phoenix pulled another person along. The man in service khakis she had briefly seen standing by Coyote.
“This is Bob, my new backseater.” The pride in Phoenix's voice made her raise her eyebrow before she examined the man before her. He was tall, had a pair of square glasses on his nose, and looked rather shy. Smiling at him, she held her hand out.
“Nice to meet you, I’m Ghost.” Bob fumbled to take her hand and shake it, stumbling over his reciprocating words before he smiled at her awkwardly. She could see why Phoenix had taken an instant liking to him.
“You know Bob’s giving you a run for your callsign. Be careful,” Payback leaned in and slung an arm over her shoulders, while Ana looked at him in confusion.
“He snuck up on Hangman and Coyote. They didn’t notice him being there the entire time.” Fanboy recounted excitedly how Phoenix had asked them about Bob and how neither had noticed him until then. Her snort of amusement quickly turned into snickering. She looked over at Hangman who was pretending to be busy lining up a shot. The way he glanced over at them, at her, however, told a different story. When their eyes met she raised an eyebrow in amusement and teasing. He held eye contact longer than she thought, the clank of the cue stick hitting the ball finally made them look away.
“Except that’s not why I’m called that.” She turned back towards Payback to correct him.
“No?” Fanboy asked in surprise. Ana shook her head.
“Why are you called Ghost then?” Bob chimed in, she could have sworn he got a little red when everyone looked at him for asking. She cringed thinking back to the story.
“They thought she was an actual ghost because no one outside the Academy seemed to know her,” Phoenix told them with a smirk directed at her.
Groaning, she shoved Phoenix with one hand, “I told you that in confidentiality.”
“No way that’s true!”
“It is,” she groaned again, glaring at Phoenix even while the corner of her lip twitched upwards, “I was there to learn not to gossip. I had a goal to pass as top of the class so I could become a naval aviator. It was a stupid dick-measuring contest about who might be related to anyone of known name or rank. That’s not what I cared about, so I didn’t bother to answer their questions.” Taking another swig of her bottle she continued. “Because I didn’t talk about my family they assumed I didn’t have one.”
“So no connection equals you being a ghost?” Fanboy asked her, an amused smile on his face. She shrugged her shoulders at that and smiled. They all snickered, drinking from their beers and starting other conversations.
“Check it out. More Patches.” Ana, like the others, followed Fanboy’s line of vision just in time to see more familiar faces enter the bar. Their path led them directly to the back towards the group.
“That’s Harvard, Yale, Halo, Omaha. Shit, that’s Fritz,” Payback counted everyone. She could only snort in disbelief and shake her head.
Whatever this mission was, it had to be something important. She had already had a little heads-up from her visit home. Her father had been more serious than she had seen him in a long time. Thinking back to that moment she hadn’t allowed herself to feel nervous. The longer she thought about it now the more a feeling of uncertainty settled in her stomach.
“What the hell kind of mission is this?” Fanboy asked, just in as much disbelief as her. Looking into the faces of the others she could see them realize the extent of this special detachment too.
“That’s not the question we should be asking,” Phoenix spoke up, “Everyone here is the best there is. Who the hell are they gonna get to teach us?”
If they only knew. She glanced away from the group towards the bar where Maverick still sat. He had to be it. There was no other possibility for him to be back then to train them. He would be their teacher and if the navy had to resort back to Maverick to teach them, they were in for one hell of a mission.
She was glad for the distraction that was the arrival of the others. The greetings and introductions took her mind off the mission. Soon they were all gathered around the pool table with their drinks and sharing conversations. It was then that Yale brought something up that had her paling.
“Have you heard the rumors that one of the Top Gun graduates was secretly Admiral Kazansky’s kid but no one knew because they use a different last name?”
Her heartbeat quickened and she was glad she hadn’t taken a sip of her beer at that moment, for she would have choked and coughed, earning the attention of everyone. Now she kept quiet and feigned disinterest. Briefly Rooster and her crossed eyes, both of them sharing a knowing glance.
“Hey Ghost, didn’t you graduate from Top Gun in the same class?” She looked over at Omaha and shrugged her shoulders.
“I don’t know.” Some of them groaned which made her roll her eyes. Their community was small, rumors traveled fast. Sometimes she hated how gossipy her colleagues could be.
“Guy must’ve been second best if none of us know him. Or even lower ranked,” Harvard threw in, grinning and taking a sip from his beer. All three female aviators in presence halted their movements and fixed their gaze on Harvard. Phoenix raised her eyebrow while Halo glared at him. Similarly, Ana narrowed her eyes at the blonde.
“Who said it’s a guy?” Halo asked, crossing her arms while she kept glaring at Harvard. He immediately noticed the implication his words had conveyed and started spluttering. They watched him turn bright red trying to apologize.
“I didn’t…I didn’t mean it like that. Come on you know, I ugh, I would never underestimate any of you. I just– I just meant you were the only girl in your class right? So it had to be a dude.”
“Girl? Last time I checked she was a woman,” Rooster threw in.
“A damn fine one at that.” Hangman shot her a wink. She however didn’t give him the satisfaction of reacting. He was a cocky flirt and she surely wouldn’t elevate his ego if she could.
“How about you get us some new drinks to show how sorry you are for saying that.” Phoenix shook her empty beer bottle before she motioned toward Halo. Ana – in a show – emptied her bottle and held it out for Harvard to take. He collected the bottles without a complaint, muttering a small ‘sorry’ once more, and turned towards the bar.
Halo, Phoenix, and her looked at each other, scoffing and shaking their heads. “Men.”
“You say it.”
“To free beer for us at least.” They laughed, until their attention turned back to the rest of the group who had dispersed to start up a new game of pool.
She watched Bob set up the rack and take the first turn. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Hangman weave his way through the other patrons back to the table, the first seconds of a new song playing from the jukebox accompanied him. The bar had steadily become more crowded as the evening rush had set in. She couldn’t help but roll her eyes and feel bad for Bob at the same time as she watched Hangman take the cue from him to take over.
“So, anybody know what this special detachment is all about?” Payback asked, he had sat down at the windows on the other side of the pool table from where Ana was leaning against a mid-height partition, both elbows leaning on top of it.
“No, mission’s a mission. They don’t confront me,” Hangman leaned over the pool table and lined up his cue stick for the shot, “What I want to know: Who’s gotta be team leader?”
He took the shot without looking at it which was impressive, she had to admit. Not that she would ever tell him that. She looked up at him now as he eyed everyone in the group for a moment. When his eyes landed on Rooster his lip twitched upward the slightest bit.
“And which one of y’all has what it takes to follow me.” Of course, Bradley couldn’t let that sit. He never had been able to when it came to Hangman.
“Hangman, the only place you’ll lead anyone is an early grave.” Her head snapped towards him as she elbowed him into the side, glaring. She knew they didn’t get along but that went even too far for him. Glancing over, the blonde aviator didn’t seem bothered by the comment. At least not upset if the determination and amusement in his eyes were anything to tell. Rooster had shot the ball into his court and Hangman surely wouldn’t bail after one – albeit low – jab. He looked almost excited at the opportunity to shoot back.
Like a predator Hangman strode around the pool table, squeezing by Phoenix until he was in front of Rooster. Ana watched both of them from the side. Two equals staring the other down. If they had been anyone else she would have expected a fistfight to break out.
“Well, anyone who follows you,” Hangman briefly glanced over at her as he leaned against the pool table, cue stick resting in between his legs, “is just gonna run out of fuel. But that’s just you, ain’t it, Rooster?
You’re snug on that perch, waiting for just the right moment…
that never comes.”
Their stares intensified, she could see Rooster wanting to throw something back at Hangman. Before he could the blonde started to grin and stood up again.
“I love this song.” With that he walked away again, circling back around the pool table to go to Coyote.
“Did you have to push him?” Ana asked Rooster with a sigh just before Phoenix stepped up to him.
“Well, he hasn’t changed.” “Nope, sure hasn’t.”
“What did you expect?” She asked the two, sharing a look with Phoenix. Rooster simply stepped away from them both. “I don’t think there is anything or anyone that will ever be able to change Hangman.” She glanced over at Hangman, watching him back in his game as if nothing had happened. Briefly, he looked up again and their eyes met. Ana was the first one to look away, back towards Phoenix. They shook their heads and turned back towards the pool table to watch the games.
Suddenly the music cut out. Groans of disappointment filled the room. What was a bar without music? Ana looked up and around. Looked like the jukebox had died. Penny surely would try to fix it if she got a free minute from the bar. Or not, as she saw how full it was.
What caught her eye again was Mav. Furrowing her brows she watched her godfather talk with Penny, something about the look of surprise on his face made her curious.
“Come on,” Phoenix stepped up to her, one hand on her arm as she motioned towards the piano in a different corner of the bar. Ana briefly looked over to see Rooster sitting in front of it, a couple playful notes sounding through the bar.
She shook her head, “I’m good,” and waved Phoenix off. Phoenix pulled some of the others with her towards the group but Ana only looked back towards the bar where Maverick had pulled out a wad of cash. She couldn’t exactly tell what Penny said to him but the ring of the bell a moment later was everything she needed for context.
“Oh Mav,” she mumbled with a smile on her lips. Leaning back against the wall she glanced up at the ceiling and thought about everything they had said tonight. About the mission, Kazansky's mystery child, and the squabble between Rooster and Hangman. If the mission was as serious as everything pointed towards it, all of them would have a hard time if they couldn’t get along. Not to say that Hangman made it particularly easy to work with him, hell he didn’t even put any effort into being likable.
She heard the crowd chanting just before the beginnings of Great Balls of Fire resonated through the bar. Quickly everyone joined in on singing the song. Everyone but one she noticed as she dropped her gaze from the ceiling. Over at the pool table, Hangman stood alone, looking rather upset.
Without thinking about it Ana walked over to him, nudging him with her shoulder as she squeezed by and perched herself on the pool table beside him.
“What’s soured your mood so much?” She asked, “You don’t like the song?”
Hangman glanced over, looking her up and down once but staying quiet. It made her smirk. He reminded her of a sulking kid that didn’t get all the attention.
“Or are you jealous Rooster is getting all the attention?” She couldn’t help but joke with him. It made him scoff. Next thing she knew his infamous cocky grin was back on his face. Stepping in front of her, he crowded into her space, going so far as to slot himself in between her legs after he nudged them apart with his knee.
“I’ve got all the attention I need from you, darlin’.” His flirting made her eyes roll once more. Smiling up at him, her eyes slowly trailed over until they zeroed in at the beer in his hand. She had a feeling she wouldn’t be getting her new beer from Harvard anytime soon, if ever this evening.
“Well, you better work hard to keep it then. I’m getting bored very quickly,” she told him. Her fingers wound around his beer, taking it from his pliant fingers. His eyes were burning into her as he watched her take a sip with eager eyes. Slowly licking over her lips to taste even the last drop of beer, she tilted the opening of the bottleneck towards him.
His grin got even brighter. Hangman leaned forward, coming closer. Staring straight into her eyes he wrapped his lips around the opening, taking a sip while she still held the bottle in her hand.
“I know a way or two to keep you occupied. I’m not just a good pilot you should know.” Of course, he had to ruin the moment. Rolling her eyes she nudged him back with her knees, forcing him to retreat until she could slide down from the table.
“Keep dreaming Seresin.” She put the beer down and just as the last tunes of the piano rang out she turned around to leave.
“Where are you going?” He asked.
“To bed,” She turned around once more, “We have an early morning tomorrow and I want to be prepared for whatever they are going to want from us.”