#jake seresin x kazansky!oc
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Legacies | Ten
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Pairing: Jake ‘Hangman’ Seresin x Kazansky!OC
Summary: Iceman is dead. At his funeral secrets are revealed. Hangman doesn't take this revelation too well, causing more hurt and heartbreak.
Warnings: military inaccuracies, mentions of dying, mentions of parental death/parental loss, funeral
Wordcount: 4k
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A/N: Here it is. The big bad chapter. I hope you got your tissues ready. This was hard to write for me too. I wish I could promise that the next couple of chapters are going to make it better but I fear for now we are in the droughts before it can get better again. Feel free to slide into my asks if you need some pick-up or fluff to handle it in between the wait! There is so much more to say for this story and pairing.
Taglist: open, message me or comment to be added, will be put as reblog
So how do I say goodbye
To someone who's been with me for my whole damn life?
You gave me my name and the color of your eyes
I see your face when I look at mine
So how do I, how do I, how do I say goodbye?
Admiral Thomas ‘Iceman’ Kazansky, Commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet was dead.
The news had come unexpectedly, surprising everyone who hadn’t been part of the late Admirals closest circle and family. Grief over the loss of their Commander had taken the Navy by surprise. Many had met the aviator and worked with him over the course of his impressive and long career.
There wasn’t a single sailor in their branch that didn’t have something good to say about the man. He’d inspired many, friends and colleagues alike to the men serving under him.
Now he was gone.
The daggers shifted uneasily in their stiff formal uniforms, arranged in a line at the front with many other servicemen on the military graveyard. A large crowd had gathered today to honor the legend.
Men and women had come flocking from every part of the US, some even from other parts of the world. And while a majority of them were in service uniforms, the uniformous dark silhouettes of civilians weren’t to be disregarded either.
Each one of them stood tall and proud, representing, their eyes remained forward as the ceremony was taking place. Maverick and Cyclone stood to the side of the casket, flanking the late Commander's family.
Jake hadn’t taken much notice of them, too occupied with standing still and occasionally also thinking about Ana. As the repeated ring of shots from the rifle detail sounded on, he couldn’t help but wonder how she was doing, certainly going through a similar ceremony saying goodbye to her father.
Once the honor guard had folded the American flag, Cyclone stepped forward to take over and represent Iceman’s widow with it. It was then that Jake’s eyes for the first time focused on her. And it was then that he noticed someone very familiar, clad in a black dress, just beside her.
It was Ana.
Red-rimmed eyes, even from this distance Hangman could see how heartbroken she was, her face barely holding the neutral expression she’d put on. The two women were holding hands, Ana clutching her mother’s hand and staring blankly at the casket.
As Cyclone stepped towards them they had to let go of one another. Ana’s eyes briefly broke away and turned to the side. She glanced at the flag only for a short moment, set to look away again. Her eyes strayed toward the crowd, and when they did they met his.
The eye contact didn’t last long but it was enough for Jake to realize who she was. He hadn’t been able to piece it together until now. A part of him hadn’t wanted to believe it to be her, but as she’d looked at him there was no denying it.
She was Kazansky’s daughter. The rumored Top Gun graduate who had changed her last name in order to hide her identity and to not be associated with her father.
Anger rose in the pit of Jake’s stomach. Fiery hot and acidic, it threatened to boil over and consume him. Disappointment settled into every cell of his, not that Jake would have been able to realize so as the anger masked any other sensation he could have felt.
Ana’s eyes widened in surprise, the recognition that had settled over him now overcoming her.
Her secret was out.
Just as quickly as they had crossed she averted her eyes but Jake couldn’t help but continue staring at her. There was nowhere else he could look at now, than at her.
She wouldn’t look toward him again.
Perhaps it was better so. Jake wasn’t sure he’d have been able to hold himself back had their eyes met once again. Even now the emotions in him boiled close to the surface still, eating away at his resolve and composure. His body was engulfed in flames.
It was an ugly sensation, rotten and tainted. He felt betrayed. Hurt and angry. So many emotions swirled inside him, he couldn’t name them all. They blurred together to form one shifting, rising monster. Its low rumbles grew louder as its sharp talons dug into him, demanding to claw its way to the surface.
It was the betrayal that hurt the most. No small measure, she’d kept something as momentous as this from them. Their teammates. Their friends. Even after being asked about it, she’d feigned ignorance.
Navy funerals were short. They were straightforward and to the point. Jake barely caught the ending of it. As the group of sailors and civilians slowly dispersed he found himself once more looking out for Ana, rooted to his spot.
“Are you coming?” Halo stood beside him with an arched brow.
“I’ll be there in a second.” Answer enough for Halo, she turned around and followed the already retreating group of their team members.
Their path led them through the rows of gravestones, toward the front of the lot where the guests were gathering, soon to split into the private mourning party for the following funeral meal and the soldiers and others who would return to work and their own lives.
But Jake couldn’t leave yet, even if he had assured Halo he’d follow. He hadn’t even looked at her during their short exchange, instead, his eyes had searched the crows for the familiar - or now not-so-familiar - person. She couldn’t have moved past him, he’d seen.
At last, his sharp eyes found her. Ana remained motionless in front of the fresh grave, inconsolably staring at the spot her father had been lowered down mere minutes ago. His final resting place was covered in fresh soil. The dark color stood in contrast with the white marble headstone and the vibrant flowers the remaining family members had placed on top of it. Flower wreaths and bouquets would follow in the next few days, crowding every available space.
The dewy grass made soft noises, scrunching under his feet as Jake stepped toward her. Mere meters away from her he was when Ana looked up. A pang of empathy erupted in his chest, painfully spreading through him, worse than any bullet wound could ever hurt. He hated seeing her this sad and crushed.
Her cheeks were wet with streaks of tears, eyes red-rimmed. A quiet sniffle carried over to him guided by the soft breeze. It ruffled her hair, carefully tucked away in a bun that showed some dignity and semblance to her usually tidy and proper, uniform glad, appearance. Wisps of hair gradually loosened now hanging down, having been pulled out through bouts of nervosity and great emotional distress, framing her face, painted an altogether different picture for him.
Any notion of commiseration was overtaken by the wave of anger crashing over Jake in an even more violent way than during the ceremony. Failing to reel his emotions in, to shove them back into the deep pit he’d had them banished mere moments ago, he lost all control over himself.
Any composure he’d had was gone and with it, his inhibitions and smart thinking had left as well. Jake would surely hate himself for it the second he’d step out of the cemetery but right now he couldn’t care less.
“You lied.” The accusation was vile, thinly concealed anger brushing at his lips, demanding to be unleashed.
“I didn’t.”
“You did. You lied to all of us.”
You lied to me
“It’s not what you think, Jake,” Ana whispered, her voice barely loud enough for the breeze to carry it.
“Oh?”, he scoffed, “Then what is it? Why do you think you didn’t lie to us? Does this not qualify as dishonesty?”
“All my life I have been the Admiral’s daughter. Kazansky’s youngest,” her own name was hard to voice out loud in this difficult time, reminding her too much of the loss. “Ever since I was little people looked at me and only saw my father’s daughter. They made it easy for me, treated me better, gave things to me just because I was who my name made me when all I always wanted was to be looked at and for them to not see my father’s daughter but me.
I wanted to just be me. Not Ana Kazansky, daughter of the famous Iceman.
Just Ana.”
There was a pause, a brief lull, in her explanation in which she looked at him with hopeful eyes. But the hostility with which he eyed her quickly had the hope wither away. She’d never seen him this distant and closed off, not even when he was fully immersed into being Hangman.
“I knew I could never prove myself and achieve something on my own if I was known as the Admiral’s daughter. Everyone would say I didn’t work hard enough to get so far, that my father’s position got me everything. I didn’t want to be labeled a fraud and be accused of illicitly getting into the Academy and Top Gun.
So I decided to become someone no one would know by taking my mother’s maiden name.
I became no one.”
What was his entitlement to judge her on a decision she’d made for her life? Long before she’d ever known him or any of the others? She did not owe anyone but her parents and herself an explanation for her choice. Had she not done it, someone would have found fault in her decision either way.
Yet it hurt much worse for Jake to be this angry about it than any other person. She didn’t give a damn about a stranger's feelings on it and frankly even her colleagues and friends, yet why did it bother her so much to see him with his jaw tightly set in tension and nose scrunched in anger.
Jake kept quiet for too long. Her words echoed in his head. He didn’t want to understand her. His anger made him irrational, refusing to see any reason or logic in it. Even if he wanted to understand her, his anger wouldn’t let him. The monster that had grown deep inside him forbade him from doing so. It wouldn’t let him back down.
“And you think that makes a difference? You still deceived us.”
He forced himself to turn around without another word. One foot in front of another, mechanically he marched away from her. No, not entirely.
Two more graves lay between them when he turned around once more. The small, fiercely fighting part of his good conscience had lost against the bitter, petty monster that was his hurt, his betrayed feelings, his anger.
“I suppose you won’t come back to finish the mission. Better like that anyway. We don’t need someone we don’t actually know in the air with us. We need someone we can trust.”
Ana watched him turn around, letting her stand there. He marched briskly, calculated steps carrying him through the narrow rows of graves toward the front of the cemetery.
All she could do was stare at the hat-clad back of his head and his tense, impossibly tight squared shoulder. Mind left reeling it felt like with his retreat he’d pulled the earth beneath her feet, plucking her into a dark, endless descent.
First, it were her lips that trembled as fresh tears misted over her eyes, then her hands, and soon her legs followed. Ana felt the world coming down around her, its weight ready to crush her. Was she not already crushed? The loss of her father had felt like the worst pain she’d ever felt. A hole where her heart had been, she was sure it had been laid beneath the ground with his human remains.
Why then were it Hangman’s words that ultimately brought her to her knees? All strength drained from her limbs, her knees buckling beneath her as she slowly sank down. Down, down, down until she crouched there, head hung, arms wrapped around herself in a feeble attempt for comfort. The endless waterfall of tears dripped onto her knees, wetting the dark fabric of her dress.
Rooster clenched his fists beside his body, teeth churning as he watched her crumble to the ground. All because of him. Hangman.
Unbeknownst to either of them he had watched their exchange from the distance that was the gravelly front of the graveyard. The attendees of the funeral all gathered there now.
As Hangman reached the group that was the Daggers everything in him screamed to intercept his path. To knock the arrogant bastard onto his ass and punch a couple of his perfect white molars out.
Even if Rooster had had his own differences and fights with Ana, she was still as close to a little sister as he could have and no one - but especially not Hangman - got to hurt her like that. Not when she was already hurting enough. He wanted to look out for her, albeit punching the blonde menace and causing a scene now weren’t the best way to do it.
So instead he glowered at him, a death glare as strongly as Rooster could muster it, and in that he was a master. Hangman breezed past him and most of the rest of the group for that. The gravel under his feet crunched. While the others didn’t understand what was going on, they took the blonde’s initiative to also leave.
“Rooster, you coming?” Phoenix stepped beside him. Her eyes briefly went to the opposite side of the yard, where the private funeral party had gathered. The Kazansky’s. Maverick.
“Go on without me. I’ve got a ride back.”
Phoenix eyed him a moment longer than necessary, gauging his words before she nodded. They’d all come to the graveyard together, shuttled by a navy bus. Her hand briefly landed on his shoulder, squeezing him before she turned around, joining the rest of them on their way back to the bus.
Straightening his back Bradley walked over to the people he considered his extended family. Many of the familiar faces acknowledged him with small nods or waves and the more or less successful try of a smile mustered. He walked past most of them after a polite nod, aiming straight for his aunt Sarah.
Outwardly she seemed composed, her face embellished in the same stubborn mask Ana had worn during the procession. As he pulled her into a hug her composure grumbled and he felt her slump against him, softly crying. Bradley muttered his condolences into her ear, holding her tightly against him.
He knew best how it was to lose someone important. They’d been there for him after he’d lost his father and their presence had been even stronger when he’d lost his mother to sickness and Maverick to betrayal. There wasn’t one moment in his life in which he remembered the Kazansky’s not being there for him. It was time to give some of this unwavering support back in this dire moment of need and hurt.
It took Ana a long while to calm down enough so she could stand up again. Even then her legs still trembled. It took her even longer to be ready to move. When she was, she felt still rattled, as if the glue that was holding her had come undone.
Hands clenched at her sides and her head turned downwards toward the grass beneath her feet, she was walking quickly. Bouts of electricity shot through her, one after the other feeling like she was shocked by an outside source.
The cemetery was mostly empty now, safe for her family. Before she could reach them another person stepped into her path. Her eyes traveled from the shined shoes, upward the crisp black pants toward the face she least expected to see.
Bradley stood across from her, the rest of the Daggers nowhere to see. A fact she was rather grateful for at the moment. Still, the sight of him put her on edge. She wouldn’t be able to handle it if Bradley were to treat her with hostility now as well.
To her big surprise, there was no harshness, no cold distance in his eyes. Not like the last time he had looked at her. Ever since their talk on the tarmac, he’d kept his distance from her. Either outright ignoring or avoiding.
Entirely opposite now Bradley eyed her with warmth and compassion. He walked over to her, with every step he came closer Ana felt herself start to tremble again. By the time he reached her, her lips wobbled dangerously, eyes once more watery.
“Bradley,” she whimpered, falling into his arms as he enveloped her. Damned be the navy regulations on uniforms, she didn’t care as her hands clawed into the fabric of his jacket, holding on for dear life.
“Shh, Teds,” she heard him rumble, a strong and warm hand rubbing soothingly over her back.
“Do you think I was out of line not telling the team who Dad was?”
Doubts had started to gnaw at her the moment Hangman had accused her of it. She’d never seen it as lying to them, as being deceiving. What would that information have changed about her ability to fly the mission? What would have changed about her hard work?
Bradley pushed her back enough to be able to look into her tear-stained face. She looked miserable. Broken.
Another wave of anger washed over him, silently cursing Hangman for causing this. Not long ago he had accused her of the same thing. In his anger over the situation and the close proximity with Maverick, he had misled and directed his anger toward her.
“No, you weren’t.” Reaching out he wiped away her tears and made sure she looked at him, that she saw the seriousness in his eyes.
“You did what was right for you, what was the right decision for you. You chose to do this long before any of them knew you. You didn’t do it to deceive anyone did you?”
She shook her head, sniffling quietly.
“It is understandable that you didn’t want to be reduced to your familial connections or last name. No one can blame you for the choice you made to be yourself.” Bradley watched her lips tremble once more, eyes glossing over as new tears threatened to fall. Once more he pulled her into his embrace.
“You earned it. Every single thing you earned on your own. Your place at the Academy, graduating as one of their best students. You became a naval aviator. You got into Top Gun and graduated first place. That’s all your doing. You did that, all on your own and no one can take this from you.
On top of that you are an amazing person. Sure you are a great pilot but you are an even greater friend. Doesn’t matter if you are Ana Lawson or Ana Kazansky. The name doesn’t change who you are at your core. Anyone who can’t see and accept that isn’t worth it.”
Hangman wasn’t worth it. If that arrogant bastard couldn’t see who she was but more importantly who she was no matter her last name, then he didn’t deserve to be even in the same city as her.
Bradley didn’t want to pour more salt into the already irritated wound so he kept quiet about the blonde. Instead, he let her cry against his shoulder, the same way not long ago her mother had done so. If this was how he could help them, he’d let them soak every shirt he owned with their tears.
After a long silence in which Ana’s sobs had gradually lessened, she lifted her head off his shoulder. Her eyes were red and puffy, cheeks wet, hair even more mussed up. Softly Bradley brushed a piece of hair behind her ear before his hand at her back carefully guided her to the parking lot.
Ana stopped in her steps, refusing to move as she saw the practically empty lot. There weren’t any people to be seen. Where was her mother? Where were her siblings? Panic settled over her as her eyes frantically began to search the place up and down, and then a second time. But still, no one had remained.
“Where are they?” There was a panicked hitch in her voice. They hadn’t left them, her, had they? They wouldn’t have done that? Had she lost them now too?
“Hey, Teds, take a breath for me.” Bradley once more stepped in front of her, his hands settled on her shoulders, softly but firmly grabbing her there. He was keeping her from hyperventilating, from outright panicking.
“I told them to go ahead to the house and that I would bring you two back.”
“Uncle Ron,” Ana breathed, her voice filling with emotion once more. She sidestepped Bradley, walking straight into the opened arms of Slider.
“Heya little chip.” The old nickname had her chuckle wetly and sniffle as she hugged him tightly. They hadn’t seen each other in a while, similarly to Maverick. She’d missed him just as much. Up and down Slider’s hand rubbed over her back in a comforting way.
“I’m there for you Teddy. Always. If you need something, don’t hesitate to call me.” Ana nodded against her uncle’s chest. He’d always been her hero. Slider had never not been anything but utterly devoted to her and her siblings.
“I promised your dad I’d look after you if anything were to happen ever and I’m planning to uphold this promise. If I have to, I'll cross the entire planet for it.”
Her heart warmed at this, the sensation was so strong it even overshadowed the pang of grief.
“Alright, now you two will get your asses into my car. Your mother will lynch me if we take too long.”
Water gurgled as it filled the vase. Droplets of it escaped the crystalline brim, traveling down the outer edge of the vessel and ran over Ana’s fingers. The cold sensation stood in contrast to everything else. Over the course of the day she had gradually numbed down, drowning noises alike out.
As the water overflowed she glanced down at the tap, shutting it off. Some of the water she emptied again before she placed the vase on the counter beside her, where one bouquet of the many flowers they’d gotten laid.
The big table in the dining room and the kitchen table were littered with them and stacks of condolence cards. It was overwhelming. As the flower slid into the vase, their stems submerging into the water, her mind drifted off once more.
Sighing heavily, she ultimately placed her hands down and let her head hang low.
“Mum?” The word left her lips hesitantly. She wasn’t sure if she was ready to utter the words, even less so to hear the answer. Her lips were dry and her throat tight. “Did I make a mistake?” Her shoulders started to shake, a sniffle leaving her lips.
“Did I make a mistake hiding my identity in the Navy? Did I–” She choked.
“–did I hurt Dad with my decision?” Close to breaking down at the thought of it, Ana heard the kitchen chair behind her scrape over the floor. Then her mother's arms were around her, Sarah hugging her from the side.
“Oh sweetheart, no. You didn’t make a mistake. You chose what was right.”
“Was it though?”
“Teddy, look at me,” Sarah softly asked, wiping the tear off her cheek. “Your father understood you. More than you believe.”
“You resemble him in so many ways,” sadness overcame her mother’s features as she looked at her, brushing a strand of her hair behind her ear. “You are so alike, he was exactly the same when he was your age. Wanted to prove himself and make it on his own. There was never a moment in which he wasn’t proud of you and standing fully behind your every decision.”
Looking at her mother with tear-streaked cheeks and heaving shoulders Ana couldn’t help but sob again. It felt like crying was the only thing she had done ever since.
“I miss him, Mom,” she whimpered, hiding her face on her mother’s shoulder.
“I do too, my sweet little girl.
He is looking down on us from above now. Watching out for us. Don’t ever think he won’t be there with you, for you.”
#legacies#hangman x oc#jake seresin x reader#jake seresin x oc#hangman x reader#jake seresin x kazansky!oc#jake seresin x kazansky!reader#hangman seresin imagine#jake hangman seresin x oc#jake hangman seresin x reader#hangman top gun#hangman seresin#top gun maverick fanfiction
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Top Gun Masterlist
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Top Gun Maverick
Jake "Hangman" Seresin
Who are You? | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 ✿
That's a Kill | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 ✿✦
Cross ✿✦
Crash and Burn ♡
Sweet Boy ✿
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Strongly Dislike You✿
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It Takes Time✿✦
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Under Stadium Light * Jake 'Hangman' Seresin/OC (part 1)
Summary: When Casey applied to Texas A&M, she wanted an escape. A means of forgetting her godfather's illness, and the breakup that happened just after graduation, if only for a moment. Some things, though, are far more difficult to outrun than she might believe. Perhaps most especially when a stubborn jock all but refuses to allow her to do exactly that.
Warnings: angst, allusion to smut, past abusive relationship, mentions of cancer/illness, death of major character
Taglist: @djs8891 (please let me know if anyone else wants to be added!)
"Well—this is it."
The weight of her mother's arm winding around her shoulders to pull her close comes in tandem with the words, and Casey turns away from her cursory examination of the dorm room that will be her home away from home for the semester in favor of looking Penny Benjamin in the eye, instead. A task that comes with some difficulty, though Casey would be hard pressed to own up to such a thing out loud. She'd spent an entire summer convincing herself that she was looking forward to this. That the idea of starting college was nothing more than another new adventure.
By contrast, her mother clearly still harbors some reservations that she seems incapable of keeping to herself. It makes sense, inasmuch as Casey wishes it was not the case, given that this will be the first time she will be away from home by any significant distance for more than a few nights at a time.
When she'd first decided that Texas A&M was her number one choice for pursuing further education, it had been assumed she would change her mind. That her godfather's diagnosis in particular would persuade her to stick around. But neither of those things had happened. She had remained steadfast in her desire to attend college out of state as though her very life depended upon that desire becoming a reality.
Casey would be the first to admit she has a tendency to bolt when things get tough. When they get real. For all of her attempts at appearing steady, she still cannot entirely rid herself of the scared little girl that she always has been, more often than not. And now, here she is, attempting to don a reassuring smile for her mother, when on the inside, she is mere inches away from falling apart.
"This is it," She finally agrees, leaning slightly against her mother's side, just enough to be able to drop her head to rest on Penny's shoulder, "It's—"
"Nice."
"It is."
"Would've been nice to meet your roommate, though," Penny states, a surreptitious glance toward the still undecorated side of the dorm room causing Casey to emit a poorly muted laugh, "What? I'm allowed to wonder who you'll be living with for the next eight months of your life, aren't I?"
"You are."
"Alright then."
"I'm sure she's perfectly—"
"Nice?"
"Exactly," Casey assures, savoring the small tightening of her mother's arm around her shoulders, even if she hardly wants to make such a thing obvious to anyone else, "She's from Tacoma, Mom."
"That doesn't actually mean anything, you know."
"Okay, maybe not. But still, I'm sure she's fine."
The sigh Penny gives in response to the statement is hardly reassuring, given that Casey had been counting on providing her mother with some manner of relief. In truth, she'd been doing so in part as a means of attempting to find some of her own along the way. Her mother's lingering concern does nothing to waylay the twisting of something not all that far from apprehension in her gut, though. In fact, it only seems to make it grow.
Casey honestly hates the idea of being so nervous, her teeth digging into the skin on the inside of her cheek to try to do something—anything—to make the feeling go away. Her body seems to shy away from her mother's one-armed embrace at the same time. Before too long, she is hovering at Penny's side, her fingers knotting together for want of anything else to do. And that, of course, tips her mom off to the fact that something is wrong far quicker than anything she might say ever could.
"Listen, if you—if you're having second thoughts—"
"I'm not."
"But if you are. We can always figure out something else. Maybe you could take classes online, or—"
"Mom!"
"Hmm?"
"I'm going to be fine."
"I know. I know you will be, sweetheart," Penny admits, reaching for her daughter's hand before Casey can fully avoid it, and threading their fingers together before offering a gentle squeeze, "I'm just—really gonna miss you."
"Don't let Amelia hear you say that. I think she might actually be looking forward to having you all to herself."
"Believe me, Casey, she's going to miss you too."
"Well I'd certainly hope so. Me being the amazingly cool stepsister that I am, and all."
Penny's laugh provokes a small smile from Casey in response, and for a moment she actually feels as though she can do this. As though when her mother walks out of the dorm and climbs in her car to drive away, she will remain steadfast. Confident. Strong.
She has to be that way. There is simply no other way around it. After all of the comparisons made over the years regarding how similar she is to her father, how could there be anything else for her to do but push forward? How can she do anything other than charge ahead, and hope for the best?
"Don't think. Just do."
Unfortunately for her, in this particular moment at least, that advice seems to be far easier said than done.
"You're sure you don't want me to stay around?" Penny asks then, glancing around the dorm room yet again, as though trying to come up with a feasible reason to stay, "Because Amelia's concert isn't until Friday night—"
"I think you and I both know that Hank isn't going to approve of you doing that."
"Case—"
"Come on, Mom. It's bad enough that you took extra time to drive me down here and you know it," Casey insists, her fingers tightening on her mother's hand for a fraction of a second before she is once again choosing to pull away, "I don't want to cause any trouble."
Penny frowns in response to the statement, but Casey is turning from her to shift one of her bags onto the bed she has claimed for her own, once again desperate to latch onto something to do. For another way of bolting from reality, small though it may be. She knows that her mother will have to leave, sooner rather than later, and the idea of appearing as unnerved by that fact as she truly is has become far too daunting to face.
For her part, Penny seems to sense this, just as easily as she has picked up on everything else concerning her daughter's moods and whims over the years. And although she hardly wants to leave Casey behind in such a state, she knows that insisting upon staying will only manage to make matters worse.
"You can call me anytime. You know that," She persists, watching her daughter carefully as she turns back to face her head-on, a tremulous smile pulling at both corners of her mouth while her eyes shine with something not all that different from unshed tears, "And you know your dad will be on the first flight out if I somehow can't make it myself."
"I know."
"And now it's time for me to stop talking, and go home?"
"Well I'm not about to actually tell you that," Casey quips, this time managing a more successful attempt at a genuine smile as she allows Penny to pull her in for one final embrace, "Contrary to popular belief, I'm not actually cruel, you know."
"You'll be fine if I allow experience to speak to me for a moment, before I just accept that statement at face value, won't you?"
"Yeah, no. Okay, you can—you can go now, Mom."
"I thought you might say something like that."
Sharing another laugh with her mother in response to the admittedly predictable retort, Casey follows after her as she exits the dorm room and heads through the hall to the door at its opposite end. She leans against the doorframe while Penny climbs inside the familiar Porsche, and draws a pair of sunglasses out of the glove compartment to guard against the evening light.
Casey manages to maintain her composure, even as her mother backs out of the parking spot and heads for the lot's exit a few feet away, her resolve only breaking when she is certain there is no chance that Penny will see it happen firsthand…
A fact for which she is immeasurably grateful as the first of the tears begin to fall.
…
#top gun#top gun maverick#top gun fanfiction#top gun maverick fanfiction#pete maverick mitchell#penny benjamin#tom iceman kazansky#jake hangman seresin#bradley rooster bradshaw#original character#original character fanfiction#oc story#oc fanfiction#casey mitchell#jake 'hangman' seresin x oc#jake seresin x oc#hangman seresin x oc#the exhausted pigeon writes
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The Origin of Hangman
Summary: Hangman contemplates his own personal meaning behind his callsign.
Word Count: 1.3k
This work, all my works, and my entire blog are 18+ Only
Warnings: Mentions of Past Iceman / Mitchell!Sister!OC; Mentions of Death; References to Car Accidents; Guilt; Mourning; Loss of a Parent; References to Therapy; References to Mental Health Issues; Mentions of Blood; Crippling Self-Loathing; ANGST
A.N. Set during TGM (after Beach Scene)
This is probably the darkest piece that I’ve published on here FYI. If death and dark thoughts are triggering to you, DON’T READ THIS! You have been warned!
Last day of October, so I thought I would sneak this in for Whumptober vibes even though it doesn’t fit a specific prompt.
Master List
It always seemed fitting to Jake how his callsign was synonymous with ‘killer.’
After his first air-to-air, all anyone could talk about was how great of a pilot he was. How he had perfect aim and not a lick of fear in his system. But all Jake saw in the mirror was a man desperate to rub the blood off his hands, as if the blood of innocent people hadn’t stained his skin since he was a child. As if he could even remember a time when there wasn’t blood on his hands.
The second that his callsign was announced, he was suddenly brought back to all those therapy sessions that his dad set up for him when he was a kid. And then for the first few weeks of his life as ‘Hangman,’ every time that he heard his callsign, it was like the ghost of his mom popped up and slapped him across the face over and over again.
And Jake didn’t talk about his mom.
Not with his dad. Not with his uncle. Not with Javy. Definitely not with Bradley. Not with anyone.
The subject was simply too sensitive, too personal, and too overwhelming to talk about without some kind of illicit substance in his system. The last time that he really sat down and talked in depth about his mom was in therapy when he was probably fourteen or so. Every time someone tried to bring up the subject, he shut it down. He always just shut down.
He’d been over it a thousand times with Dr. John and his dad sat him down a number of times over his childhood, but it never fully clicked in Jake’s head. Or maybe he simply didn’t want it to stick. For whatever reason, he always looped around to the idea that it was his fault. It was all his fault.
His mom was dead because of him. He had her blood on his hands.
And he knew that it was ridiculous. How was he supposed to know that the night would go like that? It was supposed to be day of celebration, not a day of tragedy. And it wasn’t like he could have changed what happened in the moment. He was asleep in the backseat when it happened.
But those thoughts were still there, tucked in the back of his mind, and popping up at the most inopportune times in his life. The ones where he heard his dad and his uncle and his Aunt Carole and even his mom herself yell those three words at him.
It’s your fault.
And he believed them. Every time.
Maybe it was one of the Mitchell traits he inherited from his mom—the need to turn oneself into Atlas. The one to bear everyone else’s burdens. Ice mourned Jake’s mom, Jake knew. There’s a photo of his father standing at the funeral that would haunt Jake for years. It was the expression of a man who had broken into a thousand pieces the night before and barely glued them back together in time.
But Ice moved on. He found happiness again. He lived his life.
But Maverick coped in a way similar to Jake. There were photos of Jake’s mom all around Maverick’s hangar and throughout his personal belongings. Maverick gave Jake plenty of mementos of his mom, little pieces of her to keep with him for when he needed them.
But the clearest difference was on Jake’s birthday.
On Jake’s birthdays after the accident, when Ice was home, it was like a normal child’s birthday. There was cake with candles, there was singing, there were presents. Jake didn’t want them, but he went along with it to keep his dad happy. After all, if he was successfully lying to his therapists, he could successfully lie to his dad too.
But the birthdays where Ice was gone and it was just Maverick, there wasn’t much of anything. Maverick would take him for a long drive or a long flight, most of which was silent. They would have dinner at a restaurant and then there was a simple cupcake with a singular candle. And that was it. No singing, no presents, no excess. It happened and then they moved on. End of story.
Because no matter how many times he sat down with his therapist or his dad and talked it over, it never left his mind that his birthday and the anniversary of his mom’s death were the same day. And they would continue to be. Forever.
“You have a tattoo?” Phoenix asked, breaking Hangman out of his deep thoughts.
He turned to spot Phoenix behind him, casually sipping on a beer like the rest of the Dagger Squad—save for Bob, anyways—were on the sand. They had just wrapped up a long day of beach football and were all content to simple sit and watch the waves. And it was that serenity that seemed to pull Jake into that part of his mind that he tried to keep under lock and key at all times.
“Yeah,” Jake replied, subconsciously reaching for it.
Between his shoulder blades and below the traditional shirt neckline were two simple wings that somewhat resembled the Top Gun symbol over his mother’s name, which was written in her own handwriting that he salvaged from some letters that she wrote to his dad.
He got it done when he was eighteen. On his birthday, actually. That was one of the years when Ice wasn’t home. Maverick took him and didn’t ask questions. Not before. Not during. And not after. Ice didn’t find out about the tattoo until about eight months later and when he saw it for the first time, he simply pulled Jake in for a tight hug before excusing himself for a moment.
“And that’s the only question that I’m answering about it.”
Getting up from his seat, Jake muttered something as an excuse before leaving the beach on his own. Rooster and Javy were the only two people in the group who knew the meaning behind the tattoo and it was going to stay that way.
Because Jake didn’t talk about his mom.
Phoenix looked confused at how a single harmless question had gotten Jake into such a state, but the look on Javy’s face told her that she wasn’t going to get any answers. So, the rest of the Daggers simply bid goodbye to Jake, who carried on as if he didn’t hear them. Reaching his truck, Jake pulled his shirt back over his head and started to prepare to drive out when Maverick came walking over.
“You going home?” Maverick asked Jake, who did not respond verbally. After a moment, Maverick nodded and added, “Give her my love.”
“I will,” Jake stated softly before starting the truck.
Picking up the brightest flowers available from the grocery store on the way, Jake gripped the steering wheel tightly. When he came to a stop light, Jake glanced down at the bright yellow flowers he bought. His dad told him that his mom always insisted that he had to buy bright and fun flowers. Nothing serious like roses or too dark, lest someone think they were for a funeral.
Parking along the cemetery road, Jake walked down the aisle of green grass before pausing at a simple gray stone that had ‘Kazansky’ carved into it. His mother’s first name laid below it with the phrase ‘Loving Mother, Wife, and Sister.’ And then her date of birth and date of death, which was also Jake’s fourth birthday.
Jake tidied up around his mother’s grave before placing the bright yellow flowers down beside the longstanding photo of the family of three—Ice, her, and Jake. It was taken three months before his mother’s death. There was also a toy F-18 that Maverick left there a long time ago that seemed to be integral to the set up now.
He sat down, but did not say a word.
Because Jake did not discuss his mom. Not even with her.
#top gun maverick#top gun fanfiction#top gun: maverick#top gun#tgm#tgm fanfiction#jake hangman seresin#top gun hangman#jake seresin#hangman seresin#hangman top gun#hangman#tom iceman kazansky#tom kazansky#pete mitchell#pete maverick mitchell#tom iceman kazansky x oc
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Meeting your boyfriends sister | Hangman fanfic ✨
Pairing: Jake ‘Hangman’ Seresin x Amber ‘Skysolo’ Kazansky
Timeline: Post-Top Gun Maverick
Summary: She didn’t think she would ever be nervous about something like meeting the family. She has done it plenty of times before but what happens you boyfriend Hangman Seresin’s sister comes to town?
Charcters mentioned: Elena "Enigma" Seresin, Javy ‘Coyote’ Machado, Georgia “Peach” Wells and etc.
Top Gun Maverick AU
——
Amber Kazansky had been though a lot in her lifetime so far. From moving around as a child to different states to watching her aunt Carol die in her teens. Hell she has seen her father go through cancer and survive it.
She has seen friends break up, others get married and move on with their lives. So it was something she was fine with.
It was part of life, meeting people and trying to see if things worked. And if they did, you meet your lover’s friends. They get to meet your parents, seeing if they approve of your relationship.
But meeting her boyfriend’s sister? That was not one of them. So imagine her surprise when she founds out she’s in town for the weekend.
She. Was. Actually. Terrified! 
Yeah she Amber has met a boyfriend or two’s brother and sister in the past. But a naval base boyfriend’s siblings? Never. Jake Seresin was her first boyfriend to be a pilot and a damn good one. Sadly he wasn’t good at breaking news like this.
Because he decided to break the news right before they went to sleep the night before. He said he had something to tell over dinner but forgot about it. But he remembered it right before he turned off the bathroom light and jumped into bed with her.
And he said it so casually too! Like it was the most normal thing in the world?! She knew he had siblings but she wasn’t expecting for her to come over to visit her in the next 24 hours.
Which lead her to find herself roughly tapping her French tips against her desk the next morning. Biting the tip of her nail on one hand as the other typed away furiously on her keyboard. She was filing in information for her father. His assistant, Mindy, sent a small stack of paperwork for her transfer over into spreadsheets within the next couple of days.
She was so focused on her laptop screen, having Rocket Man playing from her speakers, that she didn’t hear friend come in.
Georgia smiled chatting with Bradley at the door as he gave one kiss goodbye before she walked in. She hung up her jacket and set her lunch down on table nearby, grabbing her laptop from the cart. She left it charging earlier beforehand.
“Hey Amber.” She said with a peachy grin on her face as she started rambling about her morning. It was the cutest thing. Her eyes fell onto the blonde who was only half playing attention to what happened, making the brunette pause in her tracks.
“Uhh, earth to Sky? Amber, honey? Hello?” Georgia asked, waving a hand in the air and sighed, “Kazansky!”
“Huh?! What? I’m here, sir!” She yelled snapping out of it, ripping her fingernails away from the tips of her teeths, “Oh, what’s up sweets?”
“I was talking to you and you weren’t listening. That’s what’s up! What’s going on? Your usually cracking a joke by now.”
“You know. I can be very busy, busy, busy bee!”
“Ha! No. That ain’t it. Your always on a semi-busy monthly schedule but this is different. What happened? Was it Rooster and Jen?”
“No..”
“Uhh, hmm. Did Coyote say something stupid again?”
“No he didn’t. Neil didn’t do anything either.”
“Ohh was it Cyclone’s girl Valkyrie?! She’s a tough cookie!”
“No it wasn’t. Nor was it anyone else like Frostbite.”
Georgia’s eyes widen and gasped, “You and Jake had a fight? What did his sorry southern ass to do you? I’ll talk to him. I’ll get Phoenix and Frost as my backup. No one hurts my girl and gets away with it!”
Amber couldn’t help but laugh as she leaned against her chair. Peach was such a doll sometimes. Always so sweet and charmingly spiritual with the way she carried herself. She tend to get nervous and annoyed sometimes but other than that she was well..a peach!
Honestly she needed that today. A laugh from a friend.
“That’s not exactly what Jake said…it wasn’t a fight! We didn’t fight each other for anything. Oh god, I’m sweating. I don’t like this.” Amber admitted with a soft chuckle.
“Oh god something is up if you’re sweating bullets out of nervous. Come on, spill it out!” Georgia encouraged with a certain look.
“I’m meeting my boyfriends older sister today!”
“OH MY GOD! That’s great. From what I received from past relationships, that’s a good thing. That means he likes you, a lot! I’m so happy for you!”
“Now is not the time to be supportive! I’m freaking out, what if she doesn’t like me? What if she hates me and tells Jake stop dating me?! Tell him to aim higher?! That I suck! Cause technically, it’s kinda my fault I put him on a death defining mission to come back to Top Gun. Oh god she’s gonna hate me!”
Georgia stood there with her jaw dropped onto the damn floor. This was one of the first time she ever seen Amber Nic Kazansky in such a frenzy. This woman was always cool, calm and collected from the moment she met her. Giving her advice, by saying if everything is okay and sending a message to everyone on deck she meant every word she ever said.
Yeah sure, she had her moments where she lost her cool like an X-Men during a fight with Wolverine or something. Living up to her callsigns. Like when Jake and Bradley were arguing in the classroom or when Cyclone refused to listen to her and Maverick during the missions they went on.
But this?!
Here she stood in her office freaking out over meeting the family. It was honestly kinda hilarious to her. If she wasn’t such a good friend she would’ve recorded this and sent this whole thing as a video to the group chat.
But honestly it was cute though. It reminded people like her that the Kazansky family was just as human as the rest of them.
It was Georgia turn to calm her down.
“Hey, Amber. Amber, honey look at me. Look at me. Good. Just relax you’re gonna be fine.” Georgia encouraged, holding her shoulders.
“Wh-how? Sorry. How did you react to meeting Jen? She’s practically like a sister to Rooster.” Amber replied, taking a breath.
“Yeah well, I was freaking out cause her dad is sorta a legit legend, but I found her that she’s a total goofball. So maybe eh-what’s her name?”
“Elena.”
“Right, pretty name. Maybe Elena is the same way, just some cool chick. So go on, your gonna be late.”
“But what if she doesn’t like me and Jake didn’t say anything about me? Oh god what if she hates blondes?”
“Ok, now your rambling. Relax, you just gotta prove why your the first Mrs. Hangman. That ring on your fingers means something, right?”
“Right. Right..i yeah, I got this.”
“You got this! Now go on, I have a meeting with Wraith now.”
“Okay but..”
She didn’t have a moment to say anything else because Georgia practically pushed her out the door. She could’ve sworn she’s rubbing off on the brunette with her actions. Amber relaxed her shoulders, she was right. Elena probably a cool girl, relaxed and lay back.
But she was also beauty.
She seen the picture of her last night before she went to sleep. She was stunning with beautiful long blonde hair, pretty eyes glowing like a goddess of the sun and a lovely smile that take someone’s breath away. From just her pictures she seemed like the best women in the world.
A ray of sunshine wrapped up in pretty dress.
Hell she wanted to date her!
The moment Amber entered the cafeteria, her heart stopped. She saw her.
God she was even prettier in person. Laughing in mid conversation with Frostbite—Rachel, chatting about god knows what. 
Elena was enjoying herself greatly. It made her smile.
Her outfit was so sweet, her smile was sung by as she laughed and her makeup made her shine.
Amber pushed her hair out of face walking over to the pair who sat at the table, chatting about they’re active services. Once she got closer she heard them a lot clearer.
“Oh stop it!” Elena said mid laugh waving her hand, “You’re the one who got her first air to air kill last week. You should be overjoyed! It’s amazing.”
“Ok it’s not as cool as you! Yeah sure, Jenny and Wraith encouraged me to do it but still.” Rachel added with a chuckle, “You have been to so many different places. That’s awesome.”
Both girls acknowledge her walking over to them.
Frost smiled sheepishly and chuckles, “Hey, have you met Elena? She’s new.”
“No, I haven’t.” Amber repiled with a soft smile turning to the blonde, “Hi.”
“Hey.” Elena said with a smile, “Nice dress.”
“T-thanks. So is yours, I love the pattern!”
“Thank you! I got it from H&M, big sale last month.”
Rachel got a phone call and realized it was one of their friends, excusing herself as she left with a small wave. That left both women to stand there awkwardly chuckling, before Elena realized what her was name again. She remembered her brother telling that her that his girlfriend worked here in the building.
She assumed this was her? But she could be wrong.
So she smiled pointing to the seat in front of her and said, “Sit. Please. Sorry I’m a little nervous, which is rare because I’m not like this.”
“It’s fine, I’m nervous too. Jake has told me about you.” Amber repiled with a smile, sitting down across from her. 
“Ohhh! You’re his girlfriend? I’m sorry, he didn’t even show me a picture of you, just told me your name. He just told me that I’ll probably bump into you today.”
“Hahaha! He told me the same thing, he can silly sometimes.”
“No, he can be an idiot sometimes.”
Both girls chuckled breaking the ice a bit.
“He just said, ‘hey since your coming here for the weekend! Come meet my girlfriend.’ That’s all he said.” Elena explained with a chuckle, “I was supposed to be here last week but my boss decided to change my schedule.”
“No, it’s okay! Things happen, my schedule ain’t always the clearest either. Literally Jake just threw that information at me last night so casually. I was freaking out…I mean, you sound cool according him.” Amber repiled as she shyly smile.
Elena found it cute. How did her brother get a someone like her? She seemed so sweet and honestly pretty nice. She felt bad she didn’t get information from her baby brother beforehand, she was completely clueless about this girl.
But it a good thing in her opinion, a clean slate.
“Sounds like him, she tends to tell people stuff and never make himself clear. He’s like a bird strike, I guess.” Elena said with a smile, thinking about all the times her little brother messed up.
“Oh your correct. He knocks someone off course and brings you along for the right. But it’s a nice ride.” Amber added thinking about something and smile, “How about we start over?”
“How so?”
“It’s kinda been a long week for us and I think we should just relax..”
“I like that. Actually I love that! Good idea.”
Amber smiled holding out her hand for the blonde to shake and said, “Hi, I’m Amber Nic Kazansky. Very nice to meet you, Ms. Seresin.”
“Haha! Nice to meet you too, Ms. Kaz—” Elena replied, stopping herself realizing what she just heard and laughed, “Wait! Kazansky?! You’re the Admiral’s daughter?”
“Hahaha yes. Why? I’m sorry that last name kinda surprises people.”
“Surprises people?! How did-? No offense, but i thought the admiral’s kid would have guards nearby or something…sorry.”
It was Elena’s turn to become shocked and a bit nervous but excited all at the same time.
She didn’t know her baby brother was dating the admiral’s kid?! For how long, she didn’t know. He aimed high! Respectfully, she would date an admiral’s kid too if they let her. Even steal her brother’s girlfriend off his hands!
She was impressed. Very impressed.
Amber chuckled, “It’s okay. People like to make rumors around here.”
“Real question, how did my brother pull you? No offense, but he’s a little stupid.” Elena replied with a laugh.
“I guess I like ‘em a little dumb.”
“Oh I like you.”
“Hahaha, the Seresin siblings are one of a kind.”
“And clearly my brother has good taste in women. He got it from me! Where do you work?”
“I was gonna ask you the same thing!”
“You first.”
“Okay um. I’m a training officer for recruitment here. I overlook plenty of paperwork for research, send people on missions and organize them.”
“Lieutenant, huh? Respect. I’ll love to see your office some time.”
“What about you?”
“Oh! I work as a lead engineer at the aerospace engineering firm.”
“Wait! Really? That’s so damn so cool.”
“Thanks! I worked on designing cutting-edge aircraft with advanced maneuvering capabilities. All kind of planes.”
“How have we not met before?”
“I have no idea.”
“My uncle Mav, he was the one to worked with you guys for a project a while back. Uh, The Darkstar projects?”
“Yes! That was him?! Everyone was talking about it! He reached so high on the list that day and survived being ejected.”
Both girls laughed, kept chatting and smiling the whole time.
Amber decided to walk her around the building and probably head out to lunch later on. Elena smiled liking that idea very much, holding the door for her as they walked out of the room. Realizing they had nothing to worry about, it was all Jake’s fault that they were so nervous in the first place.
Little did they know Jake Seresin was sitting across the room with Rachel, Javy and Neil watching the whole thing, with his jaw on the floor. He glad they didn’t hate each other or anything but he wasn’t expecting for it to go so well.
Neil was laughing at his reaction and muttering, “Your screwed now.”
“W-what just happened?” Jake asked, sipping his glasses of a water.
Rachel snorted, “I think your sister just stole your girl. Honestly i don’t blame Amber, she’s cool. I’ll date her.”
That was when Jenny walked in with a smirk hearing her and asked, “Who would you date, Frosty?”
“Uh huh? What? Shut up, I’mma shut up now.” Rachel said, rested her head on her shoulder.
“Weirdo.” Jenny repiled with a scoff, grins at Javy and asks, “What we talking about?”
Javy grinning back and chuckles, “The Seresin siblings.”
“I made a huge mistake letting my sister and girlfriend meet, didn’t I?” Jake added downing his drink with a sigh.
His friends just laughed.
Thanks for reading this one! Tell me what did you think about it?
Remember to like, comment and share ✈️
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#jake hangman imagine#jake seresin x oc#top gun maverick au#melissa benoist#iceman lives#tom iceman kazansky#iceman x oc#hangman x oc#jake hangman fic#diana agron#glen powell#tgm oc#tgm au#iceman daughter#hangman fluff#hangman angst#javy coyote machado#jake seresin x reader
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Game Changer: Chapter Three
warnings: mentions of cheating, brad brad is adorable
Bradley Bradshaw woke up on Sunday morning with an aching headache. Thanks to the bottle of Scotch he had last night, he had also woken up with the urge to puke all over his San Diego condo. This has been Bradley’s morning routine ever since his very public divorce with Hollywood movie star Alyssa Moore.
Alyssa had cheated on Bradley with world famous actor Idris Elba. Their divorce was all over the tabloids and frankly, Bradley felt embarrassed and upset over the news being everywhere.
His conversation with Jake in the locker room last night made him realize something. The best way to get over one person was to get under another one. And who better to get under than the Padres new clubhouse reporter.
Bradley asked Alexandra out because he wanted to get over his ex wife. He decided to take a quick shower before hopping in his Bronco and driving to the address you had texted him last night.
Alexandra anxiously paced around her apartment while her roommate Giliana watched from afar. “What if this is just platonic and I'm making this out to be something it isn’t?” She pondered out loud.
Giliana placed a comforting hand on your shoulder. “You never know until you try.” She said encouragingly. “You look great and if it’s just platonic, so be it. At least you have an ally in the clubhouse now.”
Giliana was right, Alexandra realized. If things went bad it wouldn’t be the end of the world. And if they went good…well you’d think about that later.
As Bradley arrived at the address Alexandra texted him, he couldn’t help but feel a little nervous. It had been so long since he’d dated someone new and although he was trying to get over Alyssa he didn’t want to hurt you in the process. After all, Alexandra was going to have to interview him throughout the season. He climbed out of his Bronco and knocked on your door.
Inside the apartment, Alexandra’s heart skipped a beat as she heard Bradley knock. “It’s just drinks with a coworker.” Giliana reminded her “Just breathe.”
As she opened the door, her eyes met Bradley’s. It might have sounded silly but she felt like time had stood still. She could sense Bradley’s anticipation in the air. He offered her a soft smile.
“Hi Bradley,” She greeted him with a warm smile. Her voice tinged with excitement and nervousness.
“Hey Alexandra,” Bradley replied with the same amount of anticipation. “Are you ready to go?”
“Yeah let’s go.” With that, Bradley led Alexandra to his car. He opened her door and delicately adjusted her seat. As Bradley and Alexandra settled in the car, a comfortable silence enveloped them. Alexandra couldn’t help but to steal quick glances at Bradley, noticing the way the streetlights cast a warm glow on his sharp features.
Once they reached the bar, Bradley quickly went to open her door and lead her inside. Once they sat down and ordered their drinks, Bradley decided to break the silence. “So Alexandra,” he began, “how long have you been covering sports?”
“Professionally I've been covering sports for about five years now.” She answered, voice tinged with excitement. “How’s the season shaping up for the Padres?” She asked in return.
Bradley smiled grateful for her interest in his job. When he was with Alyssa, the last thing she wanted to hear about was baseball. Alyssa would not even bother to go to Bradley’s games or listen to his remarks about a particularly stressful game.
Even though Bradley had just met Alexandra he felt a strange connection to her. She was genuinely kind and caring and he had only known her for two days. Her interactions with his manager and his teammates showed that she actually cared not only about the sport, but about the players.
“Spring training was a rollercoaster.” Bradley laughed. “But I'm hanging in there. I’ve got a great team and great people around me to motivate and encourage me, you know?” He said while taking a bite out of your shared fries.
As Bradley and Alexandra continue their conversation, the dim lights around the bar cast a warm glow on them. The hums of chatter and the clinking of glasses seem to fade into the background. Their eyes meet, locking in. Filled with unspoken words and attraction. Bradley’s heart races with anticipation as he leans in, his breath mingling with Alexandra’s in the small space between them.
Gently, Bradley cupped her upper cheek and his thumb tracing her jawline. He closed the space between them. The moment their lips meet it feels as though time stands still.
reply to be added to tag list 🩷🩷
#rooster x reader#jake seresin x reader#hangman x reader#rooster x you#rooster x oc#bradley rooster bradshaw#rooster top gun#top gun fanfiction#top gun 1986#top gun maverick#rooster imagine#rooster fanfic#game changer#my writing#rooster bradshaw fic#rooster x hangman#bob floyd x reader#coyote x reader#pete maverick mitchell#tom iceman kazansky#bradley bradshaw x you#my wrtitng
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Y'all I JUST THOUGHT ABOUT SOMTHING
if Iceman, Goose, Young Maverick, and Slider
Met
2022 Cast Of Top Gun Maverick
Bruh now that I think about it lemme make a story about it
#top gun maverick#pete maverick mitchell x reader#top gun oc#top gun#pete maverick mitchell#tom iceman kazansky#nick goose bradshaw#ron slider kerner#bradley rooster bradshaw#jake hangman seresin#natasha phoenix trace#robert bob floyd#mickey fanboy garcia#reuben payback fitch#javy coyote machado#Young Maverick
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Call Me Jake Part 2
CW: adult language, PTSD, character using derogatory language towards herself that can be triggering to differently abled people, references to kinky shit
WC: 3226
Tagging: @wildbornsiren @withahappyrefrain @writercole @wombtotombx @fuckyeahhangman @hangmanapologist @sebsxphia @kryptonitejelly @gretagerwigsmuse @callsignhurricane @callsign-phoenix @iguana-braces @lorecraft @chara-hugs @mikkorantanev @andrei-svech @dempy @starshine-hockey-girl @himbos-on-ice @hockeynshit @babeekakes @hockeywocs @trippedmetaldetector @bluecruz97 @blue-aconite @ellabellabus07 @smokey102 @therebeccaw @the-hottest-lieutenants @mayhem24-7forever @marvelousmermaid @getmyprettynameoutofyourmouth @tallrock35 @shanimallina87 @ratcatcher2world @hoe-on-the-range @assmanselke @hope-love-equality2 @callsign-valley @littlebadariell @atthediscowithoutpanic @seasonsbloom @a-reader-and-a-writer
Jake always knew he was the golden child. It wasn’t necessarily fair but that was how it was. He was the apple of his ma’s eye, pa’s favorite, even his older sisters all adored him. Ma claimed he came out of the womb charming and with a wink that had the nurses all swoon. But Jake’s favorite person was Gramps Seresin.
Gramps had earned a Purple Heart and a Distinguished Flying Cross in World War II. But Gramps always said he did his duty with a twinkle in his eye. Much different than Pa who bragged about how many commies he shot down in Vietnam whenever he got a chance. Jake noticed that Gramps always looked tense when Pa got drinking and started bragging.
“Jake, my boy, war is serious business. Taking life isn’t easy and is nothing to brag about. The most important thing I am proud about is as Commander, my whole team made it home after serving in the Pacific. Duty and Honor, that’s what matters the most, Jake,” Gramps had said while Pa was bragging to his friends.
Even though Jake was cocky, arrogant, and very sure of his skills as he made it through Annapolis, Flight School, SERE, and Top Gun, he kept those words from Gramps in his mind. After going through air strikes in Afghanistan and Iraq, he wouldn’t now, not with Maverick and Rooster still there-
Jake sighed as he sat up in bed, the sheet falling down to his waist. The nightmare was back again. It only happened occasionally now but when it did, it was with a vengeance.
The nightmare was always the same: Admiral Simpson didn’t give the okay, Jake flew off anyway, but he didn’t make it in time. The enemy got Mav and Bradshaw and Jake watched them die before the enemy took advantage of his indecision to take him out too.
Reality was much different but there was always that what if lurking in his mind, ready to torture him at night.
Groaning, Jake got up, opening his blinds. It was a new day and he had a bunch of Fucking New Guys (FNGs) to corral on this shore tour at NAS North Island. For some reason, Cyclone thought he would be a good mentor to some newly winged lieutenant junior grades before they joined their squadrons. Not that he cared; Jake had a plan for his future and stuff like this was part of it as he made his way up to lieutenant commander, commander, to one day being Admiral Seresin, air boss and future Fleet Commander.
Pulling on a pair of shorts, Jake made his way to the bathroom so he could take a leak. Right after he washed his hands, there were several knocks on his door. “Fuck off,” Jake yelled.
“Can’t, you fucking douchebag,” was the answer. Jake shook his head before brushing his teeth, making the person wait. After several minutes, he strolled through his apartment to the front door.
“Bradshaw, as I live and breathe. Why the hell are you at my front door?”
Rooster snickered. “I was checking to see if Dot was here, Hangman. You two got kinda hot and heavy the last several nights.”
Jake gritted his teeth. So, he had put the moves on the only person to beat him at pool at The Hard Deck. She flirted back but in un-Hangman-like fashion, he didn’t seal the deal that night or the other night. “Actually, she’s not here. Why?”
Rooster furrowed his eyebrows, suddenly feeling concerned. “I hadn’t heard from her since Wednesday.”
Jake’s expression went from mocking to concerned. That was about three nights ago. “I’m sorry, but I haven’t talked to her, Rooster, not since she turned me down and got in her car.”
“At least you saw her get in her car. Alright, I gotta go.”
Curious, Jake wanted to know where Rooster was going because he was feeling worried himself. He didn’t even really know the damn woman, he didn’t know why rooster came to his place, but fuck, he cared.
Slamming his door closed, Jake’s ambivalent mood turned sour. Dorothy Kazansky was hot, she had a mouth filthier than the average aviator, and legs that went on forever. Also, every time he flirted with her, the glares from Mav and any other old timers there were worth it. Plus, that ass would look amazing bent over for him to spank and bite.
Brewing himself some coffee with a stove top percolator, Jake went to his fridge to take out breakfast. This week, it was protein overnight oats with chia and flax seeds for breakfast, quick and easy. Grabbing a spoon, Jake took a bite while waiting for his coffee to finish brewing. It seemed like Dot was probably more trouble than she was worth but Jake had enough experience to tell when someone had sub tendencies. Dot definitely had sub tendencies and Jake wasn’t above teasing her to poke at them. Grinning to himself, Jake decided that he would stop flirting with her to get her in bed for now. But the entertainment that came from teasing and flirting with her wasn’t worth giving up, yet.
****
Some nights were better than others. Some days were worse than others.
Dorothy sat up in her bed, rubbing her eyes. The past two days had been hell on earth. Her head hurt, her body hurt, but worst was the phantom pain from her right leg.
Dorothy’s right leg shouldn’t hurt, it was a complete prosthetic leg below her knee. But whenever the nightmares about the crash returned, the phantom pain came back with a vengeance. It was so bad, it hurt to move.
The pills were looking at her from her vanity, mocking her. Percs 10, enough to kill the throb, make it go away, but also make her feel like a zombie. It would make all the pain go away, including the grief for Dad, her career, everything. It had been two years since Dad passed away but whenever the pain was this bad, Dorothy felt fresh new waves of grief. The last time she saw Dad, she was at NMCSD after being transferred from Walter Reed. Dad saw his only daughter crippled in her bed, right leg gone under her knee.
Dad had written her letters and sent her texts, telling his Dot that she was going to be fine. But Dorothy didn’t feel fine, she felt horrible and she was ready to leave home again. Then an image of a sun kissed man with sea green eyes filled her mind and Dorothy cursed, “Fuck.”
Hangman Seresin was going to be a fucking problem.
“Fuck fuck fuck fuck.”
Dorothy was out of water too. Grumbling, she finally got herself out of bed. Unfortunately, water was a necessity. Grabbing a bottle of water, Dorothy chugged it before grabbing an energy bar. Biting it, she dropped it as she heard footsteps outside her room. They were faint but getting stronger and Dorothy thought of her options as she clocked her potential weapons next to the bed. Then the door was flung open and Rooster came in.
“Good, you’re alive.”
Dot pulled a hand over her face as Rooster flicked on the light. “What the fuck, Bradley?”
Rooster moved quickly to Dorothy, pulling her in his arms for a quick hug before letting her go. Then he pulled the chair from her vanity and sat down. Dorothy sat back on her bed and looked at Bradley expectantly.
“You went incommunicado for long enough that we got worried. Be happy it’s me and not Mav or your mom.”
Dorothy bit back what she was going to say. Rooster was right; she didn’t want her mom or uncle Mav to see her like this. Instead she watched as Rooster grabbed a bottle of water and one of the pill bottles on her vanity table. Then he came over to her bed and sat on it. “Here Dot, it’s a Perc 5. You need it, I can see how much you’re in pain, princess.”
“Fuck you,” Dorothy grumbled as she took the pill and the water from Rooster. Swallowing the pill, she downed half of the bottle of water as well.
Dorothy felt a sense of shame as she fell back against her pillows. Before the crash, she had her life together, as an Air Force officer and with the help of Kevin. Now, she was a hot mess and if Kevin was here, he would be completely disappointed in her. So disappointed that the punishment would be straight up punishment, not funishment.
“You know, Dot, you’re miserable. You gotta stop beating yourself up and making yourself miserable for what happened,” Rooster started.
“That’s easy for you to say—”
“Dorothy, Kevin left me a letter that explained somethings that went on between you two that he told me to open a year after he passed.”
Rooster felt extremely weirded out; Dot was basically family, like a little cousin. The letter from Kevin basically said that he and Dot were in a consensual dom/sub relationship and that if Dot was still spiraling a year after he passed, Rooster should encourage Dot to join a kink community and possibly find someone to replace Kevin.
Rooster really had no idea what it all meant but given how Dot was starting to withdraw more often, he decided it was time to say something.
Staring at the ceiling, Dorothy bit her lip. “Kevin did tell me in his last letter to me, that I had a year to mourn before he would start to get me together.”
Bitterly laughing, Dorothy turned her head to look at Rooster. He wouldn’t understand, none of them really did; the only people she told were her parents. Kevin was a fellow officer; they had met the first time Dorothy was sent to Afghanistan. Within a week, they knew they were meant for each other. After a year, they went from a vanilla relationship to a BDSM one with power exchange. It was bedroom/home only but it gave the reckless Dorothy the structure she loved and gave Kevin someone to take care of. Then the crash happened and Dorothy was honorably discharged from the Air Force.
Kevin stayed in the Air Force but he got shot while on leave. Exactly thirteen months ago today, he passed away. Dorothy looked at the date on her watch and she sucked in a breath.
Rooster gave Dorothy a hug. “Remember, we are here for you, Dot.”
****
If you had asked Jake a week ago if he would have enjoyed dealing with a bunch of FNGs, he would have laughed in your face.
Becoming an instructor at a Fleet Replacement Squadron (FRS) during this shore duty hadn’t been part of his plans. Jake was still assigned to VFA-151 but on loan to the Dagger Squadron out of San Diego. But they had just finished their latest classified mission and most of the other members had rejoined their previous squadrons. So far, it was just Jake, Rooster, Omaha, Payback, and Halo still left.
VFA-151 was not up for deployment for at least another year and Jake was in no rush to go back to Lemoore. So getting his flight hours with boys who were set to go to VFA-154 and 192 was worth it for him. Now, the workday was over and he was headed to market because his ma had raised a man who could get himself his own groceries. Then he was going to something called a munch.
Jake hadn’t even planned to mention anything about looking for something more permanent to Coyote. He was Hangman; women were never an issue. Shit, the boys in Lemoore were glad he was still in San Diego. Better chances for all of them. But it had come up while Coyote came over for beers before flying back to Oceana.
”So, do you think you’d have a problem if I got back with Phoenix,” Coyote asked while staring out into the San Diego night.
Hangman snorted. So he had messed around with Phoenix a couple of times and so had Coyote. It hadn’t taken long for Hangman to realize that two dominant people like him and Phoenix couldn’t coexist in anything outside of a platonic relationship. Part of him was surprised that Coyote was talking about getting back with Phoenix but Hangman wasn’t going to judge. “No issue at all. She’s not my type either.”
“Please tell me you’re not saying she’s hot-“
“Phoenix is a smokeshow but I like my women submissive and willing to do whatever I want them to do.”
“Ohhhhhhhh.”
There had been a companionable silence before Coyote finally said, “You know, Hangman, you can try something like a munch to meet someone willing to do that for you. That’s how I ran into Phoenix.”
“Oh wow… okay, I had questions but they are now answered, Yote. But what is this?”
Now, Jake was headed to one later, in civilian mode. DADT had been repealed but this was still something he had to be very careful about. But if it was a bunch of bronies and neckbeards, Jake was going to leave immediately and take all of Coyote’s money at pool for the next year.
After changing into a black tee, some jeans, and flip flops, Jake got into his truck and made his way there. It actually wasn’t bad; there were a couple of neckbeards but it was mostly people his age who lived in the area. There were a couple of people Jake knew from base but they all politely ignored each other. It was easy as Jake used his middle name, Chandler; easy to remember but still not his first name or call sign.
However, Jake found his composure shaken when Dorothy walked in. She wasn’t new to this as a bunch of people yelled hi.
“Ohhh, you need to meet Snow White,” the woman to Jake’s left said. He already forgot her name but she had sweet brown eyes. “Snow White hasn’t been around in a while but I have a feeling you two are in similar fields.”
Jake wasn’t paying attention as he watched Dorothy greet everyone else. She hadn’t even realized he was there until the woman called, “Hello Snow White! Over here!”
Dorothy turned around, her eyes blinking in surprise as she recognized Jake. But the woman bounded up to her and gave her a hug. Jake slowly smirked as he realized that Dorothy was Snow White. This night was definitely looking up.
****
Rooster had told Dorothy to tell him no details when she told him she was going out to a kink community event but she felt like he would want to know how this happened. Hangman was sitting next to her and she wanted to snuggle into his heat. But then, Rooster would probably want to haul her back into the house.
Uncle Mav had told her that Hangman got around when he found out that she had been flirting with him. Her mom had helpfully said that Hangman was a younger version of Mav which had made everyone laugh at Sunday dinner last week. Dorothy was far from a virgin but she had needs and she didn’t think the cocky asshole could meet them. Then tonight happened and she was thrown for a loop. She had found Hangman very attractive that first time she played pool with him, but now, she wouldn’t say no if he asked if he could come over.
The munch was coming to a close and Dorothy reluctantly stood up. It felt good to be out and about again but the real world was calling. “It’s good to see everyone again,” she called out as she got ready to give out hugs.
“Snow White, wait for me,” Jake drawled. The slight Texas drawl to his voice definitely had an affect on some of the other people there, to Dorothy’s annoyance. But she just nodded as she finished giving hugs and saying goodbyes.
After finishing, Dorothy turned to Jake, motioning for him to follow her outside. Once outside and over by her car, Dorothy sighed. “You’re the last person I thought I would see here, Hangman.”
“I’d say the same except everyone knows you. But I’m new to this.”
Playing with her keys, Dorothy paused for a second. “New to this?”
“New to actually coming out in public. But to this… no. Just the longest I’ve been stateside.”
Jake closed his mouth as he realized he was starting to ramble. Steeling himself, he moved closer to Dorothy to where they were close but not touching. “Not going to press you but the last time we were at the Hard Deck, you said you’d think about letting me take you out. I know it was a joke but I want you to honestly think about it.”
“Why should I think about it,” Dorothy questioned as she put her hands between herself and Hangman. His cologne smelled so good and the whole vibes, this was so fucking different than pool at a Navy bar. Maybe it was pheromones from something else, something unexplained going on. But Dorothy looked up into Jake’s eyes and those green eyes were like emerald fire.
“I may not have done anything in public before but I can tell there is a good girl inside you looking for someone to tell her what she needs to do.”
Jake brushed a hand over Dorothy’s hair before leaning closer. “When you’re ready, you know where you can find me.”
Straightening up, Jake smirked as Dorothy took in several deep breaths. “Whatever,” she finally muttered before she opened her driver’s side door.
“Get home safe,” Jake instructed before Dorothy gave him the finger. Chuckling to himself, he made his way to his Ford F-150.
****
A week passed since the last time he saw Dorothy. Hangman from a couple of weeks ago would have cut his losses. Jake, however, was willing to wait a bit longer. According to Rooster, Dorothy had VA appointments and other shit that was just a bit more important than him. But Jake was very close to becoming impatient. Then the doors to The Hard Deck opened and it was Dorothy in a pair of sinfully tight blue jeans and a pink tee shirt. Licking his lips, Jake put a toothpick in his mouth as he watched Dorothy make her way over to him.
“Hi darlin’.”
Dorothy rolled her eyes as Hangman checked her out. He looked absolutely delicious in his summer whites, a marked difference from the usual service khakis they wore. Then he stood in front of her, sunglasses hooked on his shirt, pool cue in hand. “Missed you yesterday.”
“I had something more important to do than hangout here,” Dorothy teased. It was true, she had her therapy appointment and it had gone well.
Jake smirked, his green eyes twinkling. “Something more important than me? Sugar, you just hurt my feelins’”
“So dramatic, Hangman. Anyway, I thought about your offer.”
“Ohhh?”
It was just one word but there was a lot of meaning in it. Dorothy bit her lip, noticing how Hangman’s eyes followed her action. Moving closer to him, she whispered in his ear, “Pick me up Saturday at 6 and you’ll know my full answer.”
#hangman top gun#jake hangman seresin#jake seresin#jake seresin x oc#hangman x oc#jake hangman seresin x oc#ptsd#living with ptsd#top gun maverick#top gun maverick fic#top gun fics#hangman x kazansky oc#jake seresin x kazansky oc#future kink#future smut#future filthy smut#tiny bit of fluff
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Hii! Who is the best ship out of your ship list do you think? - ♥️
right off the bat i wanna say Jake and Shy!Wifey. They have always been a strong couple, but now… yeah… they’ll work through their differences and get through this challenge with Ella and come out in the other side. it’s just gonna take a minute for them to get there.
other than Jake & Shy!Wifey, I gotta say either Jake & Lil Kazansky or Professor Seresin & College Girl or Dragon & Rooster.
Jake & Lil Kazansky’s story was a lot of fun for me to write. Jake went through all the emotions in that fic and while it’s not 100% certain that him and lil Kazansky stay together after Wren is born, they do their best to be kickass at co-parenting. Jake grew up without his father around much and he be damned if he lets his kid grow up the same way.
Professor Seresin has a special place in my coochie heart. He’s a smart guy who met his match with College Girl. She wasn’t gonna allow him to get away with his shit that he’s used to pulling (no wonder he got divorced). Those two ran hot and cold but they made each other better for it.
Dragon & Rooster were actually my first ship couple i ever wrote. i love their dynamic of being best friends first and then lovers. it makes their relationship that much stronger. Rooster is the type to love hard. When he loves someone, he is all in, just like his father. And though Dragon rejected it at first, she soon accepted it. The literal grips of hell will have to pull them apart.
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Pairing: Jake “Hangman” Seresin x oc!Kazansky
Synopsis: She’s Admiral Kazansky’s only child. She’s beautiful, she’s smart and she’s off limits. Anastasia Kazansky is everything Jake Seresin wants and can’t have.
Warnings: Angst, eventual smut 18+, fluff. Warnings will be added depending on chapter contents.
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Inbox me to be added to the tag list.
#top gun fanfiction#jake seresin x oc#hangman x oc#hangman fluff#hangman angst#top gun maverick#top gun fic#jake hangman seresin#jake seresin fluff#jake seresin#jake Seresin x oc!kazansky
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Wildest Dreams
{ An AU fic for Hangman x Cinco }
To read the Squad’s reaction to finding out the truth: check out: Spicy’s call to Jake; Lucky’s FaceTime call; and Birdie’s Anger
******
“Push! Push! Push!” Alana could hear what the doctor was telling her but the exhaustion of the last ten hours made it hard to do what she needed. Nobody was there to help her. Then again she went into labor two months earlier than expected.
Baylie and Mickey were deployed.
Grace and Bradley had gone on a second honeymoon.
“One more push and you can rest.”
SEVEN TO EIGHT MONTHS AGO
It has been a couple of months of secret hookups with Jake after he and his girlfriend, Sydney, had broken up. Having become friends after the uranium mission, Alana was there for Jake throughout his relationship with Sydney and eventually their breakup.
Neither had planned on getting together, but they did after a night of drinking with the rest of the Dagger Squad. It was just a one-time thing, they both agreed. Only that, it turned into friends with benefits.
They managed to keep it a secret for a couple of months. The only time anyone suspected anything was going on between them was the night everything changed. The night of the Navy Awards.
Jake decided it would be best if they carpooled with some of the other members of the squad. So Alana made her way to the base and met up with Jake, Baylie, Mickey, Grace, and Bradley at the rec room.
The girls are quick to hug her and have her spin in her dress. “Wow! You’re looking so beautiful!” Grace tells her.
“Got any plans for later? I’m happy to drop Mickey for you,” Baylie says winking.
Alana blushes. “It’s not too much?”
“It’s not enough. That dress will find you a husband. Hey, maybe some admiral or captain will scoop you up,” Baylie teases.
Jake ignores them and glances at his watch. “We should get going.” Bradley and Mickey each take their girl’s hand in theirs and lead the way to the limousine. Jake keeps his hand on Alana’s lower back.
Once they arrive at the venue, they all go their separate ways. Eventually, they are all seated together, as the majority of them would be receiving medals. The only ones at their table to not receive one were Alana and Grace.
The ceremony moves along pretty quickly and soon comes the drinking and dancing. Alana mostly sat and watched everyone. Jake had been chatting with Admiral Kazansky and Vice Admiral Simpson. His smile was huge when he returned.
Instead of sitting, he offered Alana his hand so they could dance. The DJ had been playing a few upbeat songs in a row. As they danced and laughed, the music changed into a slow song. Dance With You by Brett Young begins to play and Alana moves to go sit down but Jake holds her hand. “Is one slow song going to kill you?”
“No. But people might get ideas.”
“Let them. We’re just two single friends enjoying a dance.”
“Right. Two single friends,” Alana repeats, her cheeks warm from embarrassment, thinking he would maybe officially ask her out.
After the song finished, they returned to the table, only to find their friends smirking at them.
“What’s with the smirks?” Jake asks.
“You tell us,” Baylie replies.
“We’re just two single friends enjoying a party with drinks that the Navy is paying for,” Alana says quickly. “So tell, me again who do I bribe to get a shiny medal like that?” She teases in order to change the topic.
The evening soon becomes midnight and they all decide it’s time to go home to rest. The only ones to not go home were Jake and Alana. They headed to a downtown hotel to spend the night together.
He said, "Let's get out of this town
Drive out of the city, away from the crowds"
I thought Heaven can't help me now
Nothing lasts forever
But this is gonna take me down
FIVE MONTHS AGO
She was pacing along her hallway as she waited for the timer to go off. Before she could hear the timer, her stomach betrays her. Alana runs to the bathroom, for the third time that morning, with intense waves of nausea hitting and she throws up into the toilet.
Alana knew she had to tell Jake. She knew he deserved to know the truth. She recalled their last night together. It had been their most passionate night of pleasure for the both of them. When she woke up alone the next morning, there was a note on the pillow saying he’d see her later.
Hours later, he showed up at her house. He had gotten a call from Sydney. They were going to try and work things out and get back together again. Then he dropped the bomb: Sydney was a few months pregnant. After that day, Alana didn’t get many chances to talk to him, as he got deployed overseas.
Say you'll remember me
Standing in a nice dress
Staring at the sunset, babe
Red lips and rosy cheeks
Say you'll see me again
Even if it's just in your wildest dreams, ah-ah, ha
Wildest dreams, ah-ah, ha
The timer rings and she looks at the tests. Three positive pregnancy tests were staring back at her. This wasn’t in her plan. Sure she wanted to be a mother. But she never wanted to be a single mother. She lets herself cry for a few minutes before going to get her phone and trying to call Jake.
She calls and calls. No answer. She send him a few texts to please call her but they all say “Not Delivered”.
The next person she calls is her physician, whom she asks to go in for an appointment for that day. Once the doctor confirmed that yes she is pregnant, Alana called out sick the next day. She didn’t have the luxury of just resting. She found herself spending more time throwing up than anything.
FOUR MONTHS AGO
She made it past her first trimester so she knew she needed to tell her friends. Alana scoured through Pinterest to get ideas but there were so many she couldn’t decide. But then she spotted a food-related one, just in time for her turn to host their next movie night.
The day passed by quickly and soon the two couples arrived for movie night. Bradley and Mickey kept trying to set her up with other pilots but she always turned them down. She knew no reasonable pilot would want to date a pregnant plus-size woman that was their superior.
Alana had the boxes of pizza and donuts ready. Her plan was to have Grace and Baylie each open one of the boxes. The squeals are loud and they both run to hug her.
Immediately the questions come out. “Who’s the father? Does he know? Can I be the Daddy?”
Alana knew she didn’t want to lie to her best friends, but she couldn’t outright tell them it was Jake. Not before she got the chance to tell him. “It was some guy… He’s no longer in my life. He doesn’t know. I’ve tried calling and texting but I think he blocked me.”
“Thank goodness it isn’t Jake’s,” Baylie said. “That night at the awards I could have sworn you guys had something going on.”
“You two were basically eye fucking each other while you were dancing,” Bradley adds as he takes a bit of his pizza.
Alana chuckles. “Yeah. That would have been… something.”
Grace notices Alana nervously playing with her bracelet. ‘What if Jake is the dad…?’ She begins to wonder. She’s distracted as she thinks back to encounters or outings they all shared and how Jake and Alana behaved together.
“Earth to Grace! We were asking you what you think the baby would be and whose last name it should have.”
“I want it to be a little girl. Imagine all the dresses and bows we’ll buy her!” The girls are soon diving deep into talks of nursery themes, colors, and baby shower themes.
TWO MONTHS AGO
The doctor, along with Alana, was surprised that she had actually lost some weight instead of gaining. It had happened before but it wasn’t as common as the weight gain. “I guess your little one is kickstarting your metabolism.”
“Yeah, I guess she is.”
“So do you already have a name picked out?”
“Samantha Belle.”
“That’s a beautiful name. I know I’ve asked you but any news from the father?”
“No. But I can give you the names of those I want in the room with me.”
Alana gives the doctor the names of Baylie and Grace, as well as their phone numbers.
When she gets to the base, Baylie is waiting for Alana in her office. “Hey, Bay! What’s going on?”
“I got my papers. Mickey and I both did. We’re getting deployed tomorrow. It’s for a few months. I…” she gets choked up. “Babe… I don’t know if we’ll be back in time for the baby.”
Alana shakes her head. “No. I can fight it. I can talk to Ice…” Her eyes fill with tears.
Baylie takes her hands in hers and gives them a squeeze. “I tried babe. I even claimed it was mine to also get maternity leave… Guess it doesn’t work like that.” She then pulls her into a tight hug. “I’ll sneak out if I have to come see you.”
“I love you Baylie. Go and kick ass. I’ll tell your niece you’re being an example for her.”
TWO WEEKS AGO
“So, Bradley surprised me with a trip to Greece. For a second honeymoon!” Grace says excitedly over the phone.
Alana can’t help the small pang of jealousy. Here was her friend going on a second honeymoon and here she was about to be a single mother.
“That’s freaking fantastic Grace!”
“I know! And we leave in a week. I know you’re still a couple of months away from having the baby but we’ll be back in time.”
“Yeah no yeah. Take your time. Enjoy your honeymoon love. And Greece! That’s just amazing!”
YESTERDAY
Alana struggled to reach for the milk container that was towards the back. “Why can’t they think of short pregnant people?” She mutters to herself. She’s about to give up when a hand reaches for the carton and places it on her cart.
“Here you go mis- Alana?” Jake asks in surprise.
“Jake! You’re back?” Alana replies.
He nods. “Just got back last night.” His eyes widen when he sees her ever-growing stomach. “I guess congratulations are in order.” His eyes skim her left hand but there’s no ring or no tan line of one.
“Yeah. She was a complete surprise.”
“It’s a girl?” His eyes soften. “She’ll be beautiful… Do you need any help getting things?”
“I could use some help. Baylie and Grace aren’t in town today.” Before she can say more, he puts his basket in her cart and pushes her cart.
“What about the father?”
Alana exhales slowly and winces at the pain on her side. “Oh, he doesn’t know. It’s not like I haven’t tried. I’ve sent texts and emails, but I guess he just never cared much for me cuz I haven’t heard from him.”
“How far along are you?”
“I’m 7 months pregnant… Forget about me. How’s Sydney and the baby?”
Jake grips the cart handles harder and makes a sudden sharp turn exiting the aisle. “She… I… She lied. It wasn’t my baby. I was there for every appointment. Every class. Only to find out she had been sleeping around on me and it wasn’t mine.”
Alana stops in her tracks and wipes at the tears in her eyes. She was so mad at Sydney for putting him through that but here she was doing all those things alone or with her friends.
While she loved her best friends dearly, it wasn’t the same as having a spouse day in and day out to support you. To help you at home. Yes, they were her found family but she would still be lonely in the nights. Her only constant companion: her unborn baby.
But also anger boiled up in her. Anger at him for ignoring her. Was she not good enough to be acknowledged as having his kid? Was she not pretty enough? Did he just use her to get off while he wasn’t with Sydney?
“I… uhm actually I have to go home. I won’t be able to finish the shopping,” Alana says, starting to make her way to the store entrance.
“Are you sure? I can finish it for you. Just send me your list.”
“No. It’s okay. You’ll only ignore my text as you have for the last seven months!”
Never had he seen or heard her this angry. Then his brain starts catching up with her words. Ignoring. Seven months.
You'll see me in hindsight
Tangled up with you all night
Burning it down
Someday when you leave me
I bet these memories
Follow you around
Alana had already reached the exit and was getting into her car. The pain on her side increases. She calls her OB and the doctor tells her to immediately go to the emergency department.
Jake is torn between getting their groceries and going after Alana. He decides to give her time and then he’ll confront her about the baby. He goes to pay for both their groceries. By the time he made it to the parking lot, Alana was already gone.
PRESENT
“One more push and you can rest.”
Alana grunts as she pushes once more. The sound of a baby crying fills the room. Her eyes just want to close and her body feels ready to stop. “She’s lost too much blood. We need to stop the bleeding!” That’s the last that Alana hears before she decides to just take a quick nap.
The doctors and surgeons rush to stabilize Alana’s vitals and stop the hemorrhaging. It takes them a few minutes but they are able to get the bleeding to stop and they stitch her up.
At the nurses station, one of the nurses is trying to call Alana’s emergency contacts. There’s no response from Baylie or Grace. The next to be called is Viper and then finally they call Dragon.
“Commander Kazansky speaking,” Rachael answers.
“Commander. We’re calling from the base hospital. Commander Metcalf is here. She went into labor early. We have called all her emergency contacts but you’re the only one that has picked up.”
“I’ll be right there.” Rachael hangs up the phone and rushes to Jade’s office. “Whiskey! Let’s go!”
Jade looks startled. “What happened?”
“Cin… She’s in the hospital.”
“Shit! I’ll call Ice from the car while you drive!”
When Alana opens her eyes again, she’s in a private hospital room. Sitting next to her were Rachael and Jade. Mama Dragon and Mama Whiskey.
“Shhh shhh. Don’t try to move much,” Jade tells her.
“Baby… Where’s the baby?”
Rachael steps out of the room and flags down one of the nurses. “Can we have someone bring the baby?”
“She’ll be coming soon, love. The doctors say she’s completely healthy,” Jade pushes some of Alana’s hair out of her face. “How are you feeling?”
“Like complete shit.”
“Oh babe,” Rachael takes one of her hands. “You just went through a lot and so suddenly. Not to mention alone. You are so fucking brave.”
“No, I’m not. I couldn’t keep the baby safe for the full term,” Alana starts crying.
“That doesn’t mean you’re not brave. Every birth and body is different. Think of it like this now: you get earlier access to your baby,” Jade adds.
At that moment, one of the nurses wheels the baby’s cot into the room. “She’s sleeping now.” Alana has Rachael help her slowly sit up to carry the baby.
Jade immediately FaceTimes Grace and Baylie. “Guess who got here early?!”
“Who?” Grace says
“Why are you waking me up from my nap?” Baylie grumbles.
Jade flips the camera to show Alana carrying the baby.
Immediately, both Grace and Baylie are shouting and calling for Bradley and Mickey to join the call. “WIFEY! You didn’t wait for me or Grace?!”
“Baby Samantha wanted to make you hurry home,” Alana says.
“Wait… so you replaced us with Whiskey and Dragon…? Kinda rude but I guess they’re fine,” Baylie replies.
“Actually. We just got here a few moments ago. She had already gone into labor. Alone,” Rachael informs them.
Bradley starts shouting that he’s getting tickets to return home the next day.
“I’ll talk to Ice and Cyclone to get you two back stateside as soon as possible,” Jade tells the other two.
“Yeah. Okay Mama Whiskey. I’ll get our bags ready just in case,” Mickey says.
After a few more minutes of catching up and getting the details of the birth, the girls hang up with a promise to arrive as soon as possible.
Later that afternoon, the others from the squad slowly arrive to visit Alana and meet baby Samantha. Amanda and Raven both bring armloads of gifts. Javy and Natasha brought along snacks. Ron came and dropped off some compression socks and a set of pink fluffy robes: one for Alana and one for Samantha. Tom brought Alana her hospital bag with change of clothes for her and Samantha’s going home outfit.
Once everyone left, Alana laid back down with Samantha on her chest. “Hi princess. It’s you and me right now. Your aunts aren’t here but I know they’re dying to meet you.” Samantha gives a little yawn and squirm, that brings tears to Alana’s eyes. “You’re just so beautiful. You have your daddy’s eyes. They’re a beautiful green. Oh that little scowl is all me and papaw Viper.”
“The Metcalf scowl of disappointment,” comes a voice from the door.
Alana looks up and her heart starts racing when she sees Jake there. “Uh yeah. It’s a Metcalf trademark.”
“Alana… Why… Why didn’t you tell me?”
She shakes her head. “Jake. I texted you. I called and left you a few voicemails. I even emailed you… You know I’d never hide the truth from you.”
Jake takes out his phone and looks through it. “You must have thought you did but you never did. I even would call you to catch up and talk but you blocked me or changed your number. Anytime I called it rang and would direct me to dial 9 to connect to a… To a sex line.”
Alana kisses the top of Samantha’s head and extends her hand. “Gimme your phone.” She manually enters her number and hits dial. “It’s saved as Spam Likely,” she says before looking up the contact. “And it’s blocked.”
He runs a hand through his hair. “I’m going to kill her… That was Sydney. Cin… You know me. We were friends before we…”
“Before we had sex. You can say it Jake. We both agreed that that’s all it’d ever be.”
“But it wasn’t. Not for me… Alana I fell for you. I loved you then. But I was lied to and I did what I thought was right. I still love you because I know you, Alana. Even after all these months I know you would never cruelly let me down or keep this big secret from me. I’m so, so, so sorry that you went through it alone at times. All I ask is that you let me back in. Into your life and now into our baby’s life.”
Alana sniffles and wipes at her eyes. “Jake… Meet our daughter: Samantha Belle Seresin.” She carefully hands the baby over to Jake.
When Sam feels movement, she slowly opens her eyes and coos up at the person holding her. “Hi Samantha. I’m your daddy.”
Samantha coos again and closes her eyes once more to go back to sleep.
Alana’s eyes are also struggling to stay open. Jake carefully shifts her so that she’s comfortable but where there’d be space for him to sleep next to his two girls. She didn’t know it yet, but Jake was already making plans to make them a family of three once they were discharged.
Come morning time, Alana wakes up and smiles seeing Jake reading softly to Samantha. “You changed?” She asks once she notices his blue sweatpants and his white NAVY tank top.
“Yeah I had brought a change of clothes with me. Didn’t want to leave you two.”
As she’s about to reply, energetic shouts come from down the hall. “It’s my baby and I don’t care what he thinks!”
Alana turns to look at Jake. “Ready for the firing squad?”
He leans down and kisses her tenderly. “For you and our baby? Always.”
--
TGM 🏷List: @luckyladycreator2 @dragon-kazansky @cycbaby @callsignscupcake @gracespicybradshaw @bayisdying @askmarinaandothers @ladylanera @novagreen04 @hisredheadedgoddess28 @callmemana @stargazing15 @starlit-epiphany
#mrsjaderogerswrites#the chaos squad#the chaos squad fics#hangman x cinco#Jake hangman Seresin#alana cinco metcalf#cinco x hangman#Jake x Alana#Alana x Jake#Jake Hangman Seresin x OC#baylie lucky steele#mickey fanboy garcia#grace spicy bradshaw#bradley rooster bradshaw#jade whiskey kerner#rachael dragon kazansky#tom iceman kazansky#ron slider kerner
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Legacies | Thirteen
Previous Chapter | Masterlist | Next Chapter
Pairing: Jake ‘Hangman’ Seresin x Kazansky!OC
Summary: The evening of their return the dagger squad meets at the hard deck for a celebration worthy of the mission they just finished. Ana has the chance to come clear but not everyone is in agreement with her actions. Can Jake finally get a moment alone with Ana and will Ana give him the chance to talk?
Warnings: mentions of alcohol and drinking, mentions of parental death, grieving a parent's death
Wordcount: 7.6k
If you enjoyed reading this, please consider leaving a comment or reblogging. I don’t allow for my content to be copied, translated, or reposted on other websites/apps. I ALSO DO NOT GIVE PERMISSION FOR THE USE OF AI IN ANY OF MY WORKS! Please don’t steal my work.
A/N: After the longer-than-anticipated break that this story took, finally the next chapter is here. The reason for the long break was me writing my thesis - as of today it is handed in and to celebrate this is getting posted!
Also congratulations to everyone who voted in the poll if this would be over 10 pages. You were right, the chapter measures 15 pages in my writing document! And because I had so much fun, I decided to have some more polls going, giving you a chance to interact and influence the story a little bit. You can find the current poll here.
Taglist: open, message me or comment to be added, will be put as reblog
Everything was different now.
Memories. Places. Her.
Ana looked at nothing with the same eyes anymore. The world around her was coated in a different light since her father had drawn his last breath.
Even stepping into the familiar bar felt like stepping into a different world. What had not long ago been a place where she felt at home, surrounded by happy memories was now a place that left an uneasy feeling in the pits of her stomach and conjured up painful recollections.
Every memory of her father hurt. The happy ones more so than the ones of his last moments or even the ones from his first round of treatment against the illness when it was still new. Now the joy of those moments was temporarily tainted with pain and grief. One that would never go away. It was the permanent kind, a loss never to be undone. With time it would get easier. It wouldn’t hurt less but she would learn to cope, to move on with it, with her life. But right now the pain was still as strong as the loss was fresh.
The bar was much fuller than three-ish weeks ago when she’d just arrived back in San Diego. There were patrons littering the bar and filling the many spaces inside. It was a strange sensation as if she’d somehow crossed into a parallel universe, the moment then repeating like a nightmare.
Booming music streamed out of one corner where the jukebox stood, the melody distinct even over the constant chatter of patrons. It wasn’t too busy yet, as Ana quickly spied Penny leaning with her elbows on the counter, talking calmly with none other than her godfather.
Maverick sat there at the bar on the opposite side of the counter, a half-finished beer in front of him, his fingers toyed with the edge of the glass. This time his phone was nowhere to be seen. At least he had learned from the last time. Maybe tonight Penny wouldn’t have him thrown out either. Now that things between them seemed to have come to a conclusion.
Ana was truly happy for her godfather. He’d deserved the happiness and the stability of a relationship. Penny was exactly what Maverick needed. Maybe now he’d have a chance at settling down.
Penny’s eyes, likely sensing her spying on the two of them, landed on Ana not a moment later, mouth pausing as her lips tucked into a smile. Ana wanted to return it but her lips failed to raise.
Now that they had noticed her though, she slowly walked up to the counter. Perhaps it was a good distraction first before she would venture further into the establishment to seek out her colleagues. In the pit of her stomach, an uneasiness had settled over the fact she had agreed to come.
It was inevitable for her to have to come clean, even though all of them already seemed to know her secret. There was a distinct difference between her assuming and actually knowing. Ana just hoped they wouldn’t outright confront her about it and instead leave her time to bring it up and more importantly explain it in her own ways.
Maverick turned around as Ana stepped up beside him. His eyes trailed over her body, they gave her a once-over before settling on her face. His features softened, there was a gentleness in them that she would have scoffed at any other moment. Usually, Ana hated to be coddled and taken to be this vulnerable, frail thing. Her godfather had always been incredibly good at seeing her as the little girl she’d once been, forgetting she’d matured into a young, strong, and self-sufficient woman years prior.
Right now the softness in Maverick’s eyes soothed Ana’s nervous turmoil. His arms wrapped around her, pulling her to his side. She slacked against him, leaning into his sturdy frame with a small sigh.
“Do you have a way home?” Maverick murmured against the side of her head into her hair and Ana nodded against his shoulder. She lingered in the hug, only tentatively pulling away to stand beside him. His arms dropped, one remaining loosely wrapped around her waist.
“Yeah, I got mom’s car.”
He hummed, “If you want to have a drink I can drive you home later on.”
“No it’s fine, I… I don’t want to drink much, if all.” Drinking her sorrow away was the last thing she wanted to do. A short, swift alleviation it would be, albeit the pain would come crashing back only tenfold afterward.
“Alright,” Mav nodded, glancing at Penny who had watched the two of them quietly. Ana looked over at the bar owner too, nodding at her.
“One drink?” Penny asked, not in any way trying to coax. She would never try to persuade her into drinking, Penny the least of all of them. Ana nodded, agreeing to one.
As Penny dove behind the bar to get the bottle of her favored brew, Maverick brought Ana’s attention back to him. He tucked at the back of her shirt, just like he had done when she was little to tease or rain her in.
“I’ll join you up later.”
“I bet they’ll like that. You know they will try to get you to buy a round or two.” Maverick grimaced at the thought, remembering the money he spent that first night in the bar. His grimace quickly turned into a sly grin and a short laugh and Ana knew that he had come up with something.
“There you go.” Penny reappeared with Ana’s bottle in tow, handing it over the bar to her.
“Thank you, Penny.” But the bar owner just smiled at her and shooed her off, head cocking behind her toward the back of the bar.
Two pairs of eyes trailed Ana’s retreating form, concern for the young woman shimmering in them.
“Do you think she’ll be alright?” Penny asked, turning her eyes towards Maverick. He had watched her grow up. There was scarcely anyone here who knew her better.
“I’m not sure,” he answered with a sigh. Doubt carried in his voice. If Ana felt even just a shred as lost as he still felt about the loss of Ice, he really couldn’t say. The hole that had been ripped open by the loss felt bottomless. Like a black hole it continuously tried to suck every bout of hope, of living out. What would be stronger in the end?
“He was everything to her.”
Ice had been everything to him as well. “I’m not sure if she’ll ever recover from this loss.”
Penny eyed him in heavy contemplation. Looking back at her, Mav recognized the thoughtful gaze and so he added, “There was always something special in their bond. Ice was close to every one of his children but I don’t think anyone can come close to the bond they had. It transcended everything.”
Swallowing Maverick glanced back at his beer, fingers restlessly fumbling with the glass from which he set on to take another gulp of. He wasn’t one to drown his sorrow in alcohol, not that he hadn’t come close to it when he lost Goose. It was Carole and then also Ice and Sarah that had kept him from developing another destructive habit. Even though Maverick mused – even now – that one more really couldn’t hurt more.
“I just hope she won’t be hurt any further,” Maverick spoke after a long breath of silence between them, once more looking up, this time glancing past the bar to the two crowded tables in the back.
Penny followed him, her eyes turning to rest on a certain blonde as she hummed. “There is hope.”
“You think so?” He was surprised by the determination carrying in Penny’s voice, a mix of a sigh and laughter leaving his lips. It was hard for him to believe, even if he had gotten close to each of the aviators in those three weeks. Perhaps not close enough. Penny rendered him silent with one disapproving look.
She ought to know them better than Maverick did, he realized. Working behind the bar Penny had likely watched some of them - maybe even all - go through Top Gun, spending many a night in this bar.
Maverick wasn’t wrong with this assumption. Penny knew Jake like no one else from the dagger squad did. Not even Coyote. The flirty, suave blonde was entirely different in the sole presence of her, quieter and more reserved, more vulnerable. She’d seen through him the moment he’d set foot in front of her bar counter that first time, trying to have his way with her by throwing one of those flirty one-liners at her.
She knew that deep down Jake was different from Hangman, who had tried to flirt with her that day. Those big words and that even bigger grin were a front to hide beneath a decent and sweet man who had been hurt, hit one too many times, and now too cautious to show his true emotions.
“He’s just as broken as all of us are.” Pictures of him after his kill resurfaced in her mind. Pictures of the broken man, forever separated from his colleagues, unable to process what had happened, unable to process his own guilt and nearly breaking beneath it.
Maverick hummed, quietly murmuring. Maybe they’d be able to heal together.
Ana’s heartbeat picked up as she walked around the bar in the middle of the room, eyes sweeping over the patrons in the back half of the establishment. Beside the jukebox in the far right corner and the pool tables straight forward, she couldn’t spy the others. Only when she looked to the left, where there were more tables and even a couple of booths could she spy a large group of civilian-dressed people that looked oh too familiar.
Not that it quelled her rapidly threshing heart. No, in actuality it made it even worse, a knot materializing in her throat. There was still time for Ana to turn around this instant and walk back out of the door.
This hesitation. This fear. Was entirely unknown to Ana. She wasn’t like that, she barely recognized herself. Had she not faced worse challenges? She’d learned to fly a jet, shoot ammunition, and throw bombs off with it. She had learned how to fight in combat, she’d deployed to active zones of conflict and risked her life in her service over and over. Why then did the thought of stepping up to her colleagues, her friends, frighten her so much more?
“Ghost, you came!”
At her side, Omaha appeared suddenly, hands full with bottles of beer as he smiled friendly at her. It startled her, the abrupt appearance of him. But just as quickly as he had appeared she recovered.
“Hi,” Ana murmured, focusing on the many beers precariously balanced in his hands. They were quite full.
“You already found the table?” He asked her and she nodded, motioning to pluck some of the beverages out of his hands. “Let me help.”
Omaha nodded and once they had evenly split the bottles she followed him to the table.
A chorus of happy shouts and other kinds of greetings awaited Ana. They were all clustered around two tables, shoved together and even then it seemed like quite the tight fit. The tables in the bar weren’t designed for such big groups.
Ana’s steps faltered when her eyes met a pair of electrifying green ones, turning around towards her. It was the first and only time she looked over at Hangman during her approach. Even if she had wanted to look at him again – which she didn’t – there would have been no way.
Rooster stood up the moment he saw her, moving to take the bottles of beer from her hands, and handing them out. Her own bottle remained in her hands as the mustached man motioned for her to take his seat.
There was one more empty seat, presumably Omaha’s, and even if it wouldn’t have been his, Ana would not have taken it. Fritz might have still been sitting between her and Hangman then, but Ana wasn’t quite comfortable with the thought of being so close to the blonde.
Earlier – at the hangar – had been a different story. An Exception. She’d been too caught up in her relief seeing everyone but especially Rooster and Maverick back alive and well. Hangman too. Her traitorous heart had leaped at the sight of him, soaring in happiness, the looming sword of uncertainty over her head had been sheathed at once.
And then reality had set back in.
Rooster grabbed another chair from an empty table, bringing it over and Ana took his previous one, in the middle between Phoenix and Halo. She was still closer to the blonde, who hadn’t looked away even once since his bright green eyes had snapped onto her. But now with Halo, Omaha, and Fritz, not to mention two tables, between them she felt a little more at ease.
“How long have you been here?”
Halo smiled at her, blindly grabbing over Omaha to grab his arm and draw it into her lap. She peered down at his wristwatch, eyes furrowing together in a way that had Ana wonder how much they already had to drink.
“Not long,” Halo determined soon after, letting go of her pilot’s arm.
“You haven’t missed anything if that’s what you are wondering,” Phoenix added, smiling at her. They surely hadn’t waited for her to arrive, had they? Curious, Ana wanted to know. The question however she was denied to ask, as Harvard cleared his throat pulling – almost – everyone’s attention toward him.
“We’re all here now. Time for a toast. To everyone coming back in one piece. To our team effort. To everyone gathered here today.”
“To a successful mission!” Fanboy added cheerfully, beer in hand that he raised high over his head. The others followed him, grabbing their beers if they hadn’t already and lifting them into the air. Ana fell behind a couple of seconds, her beer the last one to raise.
“Cheers!”
High-pitched clinks reverted off the touching glass where the bottlenecks were tapping together, mixing into the voices around Ana. One after another the bottles sank back, meeting their holder's lips. The beer was cold and fizzy against her lips, bubbles prickled against her lips and the roof of her mouth as Ana took her sip. Left behind was a fine sheen of foam, which she licked away.
All around her, the buzz of cheering had transformed into multiple, smaller conversations. She got caught up in listening to Phoenix, Rooster, and Payback chat, content to simply sit back, not having to talk herself. Ana had had to talk too much in the last couple of days.
Countless phone calls, thanking people for the flowers and condolence cards that even now kept pouring into their home. She held correspondence with her superiors, the people who had been her father’s colleagues and subordinates. They were planning on further honoring her father and his life's work in the Navy. Not only that but other people, journalists and others, kept inquiring too. It was exhausting.
As much as she focused on the conversation to her left, there was one thing – or rather one person – to her right, that made it almost impossible to listen attentively. She could feel Jake’s eyes on her, burning two distinct holes into her side. Even trying her best to look in the opposite direction, out of the corner of her eyes she noticed the blonde. He did a good job feigning to listen to Fritz and Coyote, throwing in little quips here and there but mostly Jake sat there, his knee bouncing up and down, bottle clasped in his hand tightly as he stared at Ana across the table. No way the others would grant him even a minute alone with her, yet all Jake wanted was a chance to talk to her.
“Yo Rooster, what do you think? You suppose the brass will give you a medal or a write-up for defying direct orders?” Omaha’s voice drowned out the other conversations around the table.
“Whatever it is, it’ll be a while until we’ll know. Wouldn’t surprise me if it’ll take forever ‘till they reviewed the mission considering the higher brass is in quite the disarray.”
And suddenly the group turned quiet, their eyes zeroing in on Ana. Uneasiness blanketed her. It was obvious why the brass was a little too out of order right now. Which was exactly the prompt they’d needed to remember just who was sitting with them.
“Sorry, I–”
Ana shook her head, “No, it’s alright.” Even if her voice didn’t sound as sure as she wanted it to appear. The moment of truth had arrived. Worry had consumed her, the uncertainty of her friend's and colleagues' stance on the big reveal plaguing her. Ana had never thought to believe any ill reaction of them prior to the funeral but then Jake had happened and the axis of her world had been tilted. Now she couldn’t be sure about anything pertaining to her name and identity anymore. She had become anxious as well as careful about it.
Words failed her, her mouth and lips suddenly drier than the sand of the Sahara desert. How did one break this news that technically they all already knew? How did one come clean without making it awkward? How could she state what everyone already knew without sounding insincere?
“You want to re-introduce yourself to us?” There was no malice in Phoenix's words. No scrutiny or judgment. Instead the dark-haired woman, the second closest friend Ana had in the squad after Rooster, looked at her with warmth and an encouraging openness.
Her words were a careful ask, a gently prodding prompt meant to ease her into a confession if Ana wished so. She was grateful for it, wanting nothing more but to come clean to her friends and colleagues and have the topic off the table so she didn’t have to worry about the unspoken, the unknown perhaps.
Having not known how to explain herself to them, Phoenix offered an easy starting point. But even then Ana felt choked, not by any expectations but once more by the reality that had plunged her life into darkness.
She tried to smile but it came out skittish and uneasy and so Ana quickly turned to nodding. They were all looking at her, more or minder directly, attentively but with a warmth that eased her into speaking.
“Yeah,” Ana mumbled, clearing her throat as she shifted in her seat. “I think it’s long overdue now. I never meant to lead any of you astray and I certainly didn’t hide this out of maliciousness. It just..,” she trailed off, leaving the end unfinished.
There had been no good time to spring it upon them, no moment in which she could have uttered an ‘Oh by the way guys, I’m actually Admiral Kazansky’s daughter’. Anyways.
“Uhm, it’s Ana–” her voice wobbled, threatening to give out. No amount of preparation could make it any easier. Ana was forced to take a rattling, shallow breath to keep the tears at bay.
“Ana Kazansky.”
The words barely left her lips without a stutter but once they’d finally been uttered a weight dropped off her shoulders. It felt freeing.
Everyone was looking at her with compassion and sympathy, every eye she met showed nothing but understanding. As she looked over at Phoenix, the one to ask in the first place, the woman opened her arms in a silent invitation. Ana gladly took the offer for a hug, needing it more than anything else, second most perhaps something stronger than beer.
Bob’s arms slung around her from behind, sandwiching Ana between the flight duo. Melting into the embrace, some of the weight she’d been carrying for so long lifted off her shoulders. Ever since her father had died, she had gotten into conflict with her own decision, feeling that the choice she’d made so long ago didn’t fit the her of today anymore.
The first step was made and for the rest of them here were the days going forward. But tonight, nothing of that mattered anymore, at least not for the moment. Gradually Ana calmed down enough for her breath to become steady and her tears to dry.
Bradley's hands clasped her shoulders after the hug, nodding at her with a lopsided smile. It was his way of saying ‘Good job kiddo’.
“But Ana is your actual first name right?” Payback asked jokingly, beer in his hand as he grinned over at Ana. His attempt at lightening up the mood once more was successful as Ana chortled.
“Yeah, it is.” Thinking for a moment, the hint of a smile tugged at her lips, “Although it’s not my full name and you guys have been butchering it.” The latter part – of course – wasn’t meant seriously and was more to egg them on.
Fanboy left out a surprised “Eh?” but it was Yale who leaned forward on his elbows and asked smiling, “Care to share?”
“It’s Ana Theodora Kazansky.”
“Can you repeat that?” Fritz asked her, “The way you said that.”
“Ah-na, it’s uh–”
“–a Russian name,” Bradley butted in, sounding playfully annoyed as he nursed his beer.
“Well, you sound like you’ve heard that one too many times,” Harvard nudged him with his elbow.
“If you only knew,” Bradley scoffed just as teasingly. “Been getting corrected on that all my life by the entire family.”
“And yet you still can’t seem to do it right.” To everyone’s surprise, Ana butted in, snarky and in the most outgoing, carefree way she had been since the funeral. The closest to the old Ana she’d been displaying ever since.
It didn’t last long, her mood quickly dampened by the scoff Coyote let out. Suddenly all eyes were on him. “Everything alright pal?” Payback asked.
“I think it’s just a little hypocritical don’t you think?” Coyote's eyes zeroed in on her, narrowing in a frown that had Ana’s stomach drop. “So much for comradery.”
“Yo dude, come on, that was obviously a joke,” Omaha frowned beside him while Ana just stared, the ground ripped from beneath her feet.
“No. You are just as hypocritical. She gets a free pass for her actions while she’s allowed to give others shit for theirs?”
Oh. So that’s what that was about. She’d almost forgotten how she’d laid into Hangman. Of course, as his best friend Coyote was going to be on his side. Ana simply hadn’t thought it was that much of a problem, since it had been between Hangman and her and the moment had been heated.
All around the table voices erupted but the words were reduced to mere noise in the back of her mind. It shouldn’t surprise Ana, until the moment she sat down at the table she’d anticipated – feared – everyone would react like Coyote had. Still, him reacting like that had sent her spiraling nonetheless.
“Enough!” Silence settled over them. Ana glanced up in surprise at Hangman, who had broken the discussion. Briefly, their gazes met across the table before he glanced away, looking around at all of them but mostly at Coyote.
“I appreciate the sentiment ‘yote but shut up. No reason to attack her like that, she did nothin’ wrong. You and I will never know what it’s like but we may try to understand it.” Her heart fluttered, only a fraction from the Texan drawl bleeding into his voice and mostly the serious, defending way with which he said it. He was defending her?
“Understand what? That she gets a free pass?”
“What’s it like to be a family legacy, what’s it like when everyone knows who you are and there are impossible expectations on you from the moment you are born because of your name. You and I can't imagine what it’s like to have everyone either look down on you for who you are or put you on an impossible-to-achieve pedestal. What it’s like when everyone thinks you haven’t worked hard enough to earn something even if you did your damn hardest to earn it.
I couldn’t imagine what it’s like to be reduced to my last name and for people to not see me for who I am but for my parents' son.
Everyone around his table has had to work their hardest to get where we are now but there is no question that some of us had it harder than others,” Jake made the briefest glance toward Phoenix, Halo, and lastly Ana. “You’d do well to remember that, perhaps asking and listening in on their hardships would help you not look as stupid as you are right now. ”
“And lastly it’s none of our damn business if she decided to keep her private information private. Or do you go around sharing your lineage and heritage with everyone?
No one’s getting a free pass here.”
Ana was left speechless. Jake jumping to her rescue surprised her a lot, even more so at how reflective and open he was. While it was clear that the others had caught some part of what happened at the funeral, she was sure they weren’t in on it all.
Most likely Rooster had told them the gist of it, otherwise, they wouldn’t have jumped between Jake and her at the Hangar. But there was no way Rooster would dish out the entire story when it wasn’t his to tell.
She had no idea what had gone down after the funeral or during the mission, but something had happened. At least something had changed in Jake. That being sad she wasn’t sure if she was ready to deal with it all, no less ready for it than she had been at the hangar earlier that day. Just because he came to her defense now didn’t mean Jake understood all of it or could see his faults.
While Ana deep down longed for nothing more than resolution, a big part – and the loudest of it all by far – still wasn’t ready for confrontation. Her mood was soured and once more the walls seemed to come down all around her. Her breath hitched, the tension around the table suddenly too much for her. Grabbing her bottle, her chair screeched loudly against the floor.
“I’m going to get a refill,” she muttered, squeezing past Bradley, who had taken a seat narrowly behind her and Phoenix.
Much later that same evening Ana found herself outside on the back patio, where the air was crisp, the sky dark and the world a little quieter.
Lonelier.
Ever since Coyote’s more than snide comments, the atmosphere had been off, the mood tainted with those burdensome words. Ana didn’t want to dampen the fun of the others, doubts of coming in the first place rampaged wildly inside her. She’d tried to put on a brave face, to smile through it and drink a little more. To loosen up.
Ultimately however she felt like a pretender. Never wanting to be one ever again - even with her brave face - she’d opted to go back to Penny. But Penny had been busy, the later the night the more patrons to serve.
With Maverick joining the lively group Ana briefly had been able to relax, to forget a bit for a while. Only for the time being until her gaze crossed Coyote’s at the table again. Then she was back to square one.
And so, at some point and entirely unnoticed, she’d gone off on her own, to find some quiet and solitude out here. Her forearms braced against the railing, both hands wrapped around her bottle of beer, she stared out at the waves, barely discernible in the dim light of the night.
Emotions bubbled under the surface, beneath the carefully maintained mask. Cracks had formed along its smooth form, crumbling the more time passed. Ana had truly thought she’d be able to stomach an evening away already, to throw herself back into the routine outings.
“I tried to,” she whispered into the quiet, voice lost in between the sways of the faraway waves and the summer breeze caressing her hair. “I’m trying so hard to be strong, Dad.” Her lips trembled, voice turning wobbly and weak.
“It’s just so damn hard,” she whimpered, closer to a sob, closer to breaking down.
This horrid wave of pain became laced with anger and that familiar bout of resentment cooking up inside her. How weak was she that she couldn’t even manage one evening? One silly night? Angry tears burned Ana’s eyes, her stubborn refusal all that held them back from spilling. Her nails scratched against the bottle's smooth glass, catching the edges of the label, fingers tightening their hold.
Nearly swallowed in this silent fight with herself, Ana could have – would have – missed the backdoor swinging open if not for that one old hinge at the bottom creaking under heavy strain.
Startled out of her pain and self-misery she hastily wiped over her face as discreetly as possible before she glanced back. It was those green eyes she noticed first – and perhaps only – in the dawn, causing her to straighten her back, carefully guarding herself. Ana swallowed, curiously just as hesitantly eyeing the blonde, waiting for him to move. It took Jake a long breath to close the door behind him, the hinge screeching a second time before he took a step forward but not yet coming toward her.
All throughout the evening, Ana had watched him out of the corner of her eye trying to get close. Only for one of the many daggers – she’d been told that’s how Hondo had dubbed the bunch, promptly turning into their unofficial name – to block him off. Be it changing his seat to one closer to her or being able to address her. Not even looks they had outright permitted, one of them conventionally and just coincidentally shifting so they couldn’t cross eyes. Not that he had tried still, stolen glances slipping past the vigilant guards, which Ana noticed.
Jake had been progressively growing more frustrated until some time ago when he had left the group table to stalk off to who knows where to do who knows what.
Now he stood here, watching her as the light from inside the hard deck illuminated his back. She might have stood in the dark but the little light filtering out toward her was enough for him to notice the motion of her hands.
Two hearts rapidly beat on the opposing sides of the deck. Jake hesitated. Just then he had been so determined to approach her, to finally get a moment alone with her. Now he wasn’t so sure if he still should. If he wouldn’t do more harm than what he was trying to repair.
He couldn’t move, stuck in his spot, in this position. Torn between stepping forward and leaving again. Torn between his want, his need, to mend a situation – possibly unfixable – and going to preserve an already thin enough tolerance or to admit defeat.
Failing to move in what could have been merely heartbeats but also minutes Ana turned away, facing the beach again, her back now turned to him. While this gesture might have been a sign for anyone else to leave, for Jake it was the permission to approach, albeit slowly and carefully.
Once more Ana found herself staring into the dark, the waves ominously glistening in the distance, no different from the waves of emotions crashing in her stomach, their sounds sweeping up the dunes toward them. But now their sound was mixed with Jake’s boots, with the slow yet sturdy steps as he drew closer.
The railing creaked under his forearms as he leaned against the barrier not far away from her. Some might even call it beside her. There were but a few feet dividing them. Quiet was the chosen ambience, at least for a while in which they dwelled on their thoughts, each one stuck in their own complicated world of mind.
There came a point when the silence became too much for Ana, too glaring, too grading on her nerves. Looking over at him at first was a quick glance, then another one until not long after she turned her head entirely to him, watching with careful eyes. In the dark, she thought to notice a reddish tinge to his tan skin, almost unintelligible.
“Are you drunk?” She asked, quietly, words carrying an accusing sting with them.
“No,” he answered, adding a few contemplative moments later, “Maybe a little.”
Her instinct to flee his proximity kicked in, no longer able to bear the pain still residing inside of her, to tolerate this silent existence between them. The jerky, jittery movement, not quite a stumble but also nowhere near graceful had Jake now eyeing her intently.
Against all her instincts his gaze held her there, gluing her to the spot like no one had ever been able to do before.
“Listen, I–” As fast as her instincts had been blanketed by his gaze, his words brought the innate need for her to leave right back.
“–Don’t! I don’t want to hear…” And with the sensation came another wave of bite to defend, to guard herself. Ana had learned her lesson at the funeral and she wouldn’t be a fool once more.
But she wouldn’t let him out of her eyes either, at least not for the first careful steps backward, her hand skirting along the edge of the railing until finally, in one swift motion, she whirled around and bolted down the steps.
“No, Ana, that’s not– Damn it!”
It was all she could hear before the rush of blood replaced any other noise. Ana’s heart hammered in her chest, the sudden bout of adrenaline taking her by surprise. She stumbled in the sand, wondering what she was even doing.
To no surprise it didn’t take long for her to crumble once more, adrenaline replaced by all the pain she’d shoved to the back in favor of guarding herself against the blonde. With him no longer around everything swept back. Like a tsunami, it now came crashing over her. A sob broke out from between her lips, knees buckling as she squatted down in the sand, forehead resting against her knees.
“Shit,” she whined, hands shaking as she tried to keep her balance, just like her emotions the world wanted to tilt around her, spinning out of control.
Muffled steps on sand hit her ears but there came no second wave of flight, no instincts to tell her to flee. She was too tired, too in pain from it all. What difference would more of it even make?
“Coyote had no right to say that to you,” Jake blurted, huffing as he reached her. He’d feared she’d just up and bolt again, not sure if catching her a second time was something he could do. Exhaustion; his lack of sleep during the mission on the carrier and now the added stroke of the alcohol coursing through his veins were catching up on him, heavily.
“And it’s my fault he said something in the first place. He’s protective of me like the others are of you, which doesn’t make it okay. I…I don’t know why he thought to say that, to do that in front of everyone–not that in private it would have been any more acceptable.”
With a sigh, Jake dragged his hand over his face. Ana had the most unusual reaction to this. She chuckled, shaking her head in a moment of displaced amusement, a laugh bubbling deep in her chest, barely held back.
“What– What’s so funny ‘bout that?” Jake puffed out in confusion, slowly blinking through the foggy tendrils of alcohol wanting to cloud his mind. He wasn’t that inebriated was he?
“You defended me,” she muttered, rising to her feet. Her eyes, landing point blank on Jake, were the brightest damn thing in this solemn night. But they weren’t as bright as they had been that night in the Hard Deck three weeks ago. Dimmed unmistakably now. Jake hated himself, knowing he was a part of the reason her flame had lost its spark.
“You defended me.”
He should have been insulted at the way she made it sound like it was the least possible thing that could happen, but he couldn’t. Not after what he had done to her. He deserved it. Deserved all of her mistrust.
“Even I can admit when I’m at fault.”
“You can? What changed?” There it was, the anger he had been expecting to surface back at the hangar already. She’d spared him then but now he was ready to take whatever she would hurl at him.
Shrugging he looked down at his feet, “I learned some new things. Things that gave me a new perspective.”
“For example?”
Sucking in his breath, Jake glanced upward. There she stood, in all her hostile, defensive glory. The waning crescent moon illuminated her from behind, the soft dim of it gave her an otherworldly glow. She looked like his best dream yet where he stood felt closer to his worst nightmare.
It took him off-guard that question of hers. Even though he had been the one to bring it up, he realized now how unprepared he truly was for her to ask. Gathering his witts usually came as easy as breathing. Not now. Trying to find his way to the start of his story was harder than Jake anticipated. Especially when the alcohol in his system chose now to ensnare his mind further.
Jake’s eyes lost their focus, skidding to the path of sand behind her leading to the tip of the beach where the waves came in from the vast open of the ocean. Their rhythmic movements had something almost calming.
Almost.
Beside his body Jake’s fingers started to twitch in wanton, one movement kickstarting the cascade of nervous notions that were entirely his own. His foot began tapping the sand beneath his sole in an erratic, uncontrolled cluster of muffled thumps.
The motion sent a flashback through his mind as much as it did little vibrations through the loose ground. One involving the very woman before him, a pen, and a sharp pain as said pen had been rammed into his thigh not long ago.
“That I’m more of a fraud than you could ever be,” he shrugged once more, shoving his hands into his pockets as he kicked at the sand beneath his feet. His words caught her off guard, abruptly halting her in her growing anger, stealing the roll she was building towards.
“What?” Her words were quiet, nearly lost over the waves, that suddenly sounded so much louder. And this time it was Jake who nearly laughed in surprise. Even when he had hurt her so badly and she had all the reason to hate his guts, she found it in herself to listen to him and perhaps even to muster some sympathy for him. He truly didn’t deserve it.
“I had to talk to someone, so I called my mother. She gave me an earful…” His hand flashed in her attention as he produced something from the pocket of his pants. Ana couldn’t tell what it was at first, his fingers nimbly spinning it between them. “She’d have flown here to whoop my ass no question if we didn’t ship out a couple of days later. She, uhh, put some things into perspective for me..”
Ana watched him now, attentive and with a poorly concealed hint of curiosity for which she would have liked to kick herself in the ass. She cursed him for having such an impact on her. Cursed herself more that even now she couldn’t resist this natural pull. Cursed her traitorous heart for beating faster, stronger.
How could it not when Jake was opening himself up to her? It reminded her of him showing up in her room with hot chocolate and snacks. When she had glimpsed the real Jake beneath the mask he made everyone believe was him.
One more thing sparked her memory. That little pick of wood between his fingers, flashing briefly in the moonlit space between them. Cursed be the toothpick, the little annoying thing that sent a shiver down her spine. He’d had it that morning in the hangar too, annoying her to no end.
Then she’d accounted it as a tool of superiority, for him to tease and show off. Was it true or had her own subjectivity turned it into it? Had it perhaps been nothing but his way of managing his nerves?
“From the first time I can remember I was always obsessed with planes. There was nothing more fascinating for me than those huge feasts of engineering. These beautiful man-made birds of steel, giving a mere human the ability to conquer and explore the skies.
Growin’ up my father always put it before me that I was to inherit the family business one day, continue and grow it. Like he had done and his father and his father’s father before them.”
His hand reached upwards, one pointy end rubbing along the flush of his bottom lip. How ironic that little thing was now when he was about to mention him. “It was my grandfather who showed me that my dream could become my reality. That my future was my choice. My mother’s family always lived far away from us and looking back on it now I realize why she kept us away so much from them.
Nonetheless, my grandfather became my hero. My role model from the moment I met him and found out he’d not only been in the Navy his whole life but been no less than an aviator.
To a twelve-year-old obsessed with everything aviation, he became the coolest person on earth. Even more so when afterward I found out he was highly decorated and considered a hero.”
Quietening down Ana almost missed his next words, “Guess I never realized how much of a hero he was considered until now. Or how much influence he earned through that.”
In a brief moment, Jake’s mask slipped, revealing the conflict warring inside of him. It was gone as quickly as it had, the iron mask back stronger.
“You see I always thought what got me into the academy was my hard work alone. And I was damn proud of it since it's no easy feat. I always thought everything can be done if you just put in enough effort and don’t quit.”
“Can’t stand quitters ya now? Those who give up because it’s too hard or those who let the difficulty and fear stop them from even trying, who can’t seem to put in the effort it would take to reach the end. I was full of prejudice, thinking that all legacy children always got in easily and without working for it.”
“Like me.” Hesitantly he glanced over at her, a cautious and nearly hidden look before his eyes drifted once more toward the ground where his feet shuffled around the sand. Rather harshly he cleared his throat, shaking off the lump in it and rushing to babble on.
“My mother used the ample opportunity to give me not only a lecture but also a lesson in what it was like to grow up for her. And I know I can’t compare that, likely yours and her experience won’t have many similarities but it..,” once more a heavy sigh cleaved his lips as Jake found himself lost for words. His hands tightened into fists, the toothpick between his fingers creaked under the strain, slowly bending until it snapped. The two broken pieces slipped beneath his fist, landing in the sand.
“She, uhm–,” he cleared his throat, “–she told me what it was like for her to grow up as the daughter of a navy hero. As a legacy child herself, even if she never wished to pursue the same career path.” A sad smile broke upon his lips, weakly twisting the corners of his mouth upwards. Ultimately the heaviness of his guilt brought them down again.
“My view on it all has been altered.”
There was no time to ponder about his words or what had been revealed with them, as Jake left no pause. He shrugged once more, hands shoved back into his pants as he spoke on, “I can’t let it slide when something untrue or incorrect is said. As you might have noticed I’m more blunt. Pretty sure everyone else thinks I’m just a mouthy asshole, who says what he thinks without regarding other people’s feelings.”
A rush of guilt swept through the hightide of her wavering emotions, like a little boat out in rough sea. She’d thought just the same. The more Ana learned of him, the stronger she felt that there was so much more to Jake. So much more behind those acts he put up and the brash way he spoke with others. And here she was, getting to see another part of him unraveled, another piece put into the puzzle that was understanding him.
“Don’t like to hide things. There is no point in sugarcoating things.” For a moment it looked like he wanted to say more, to add something. He looked over at her, their eyes met once more through the night and something glimmered in Jake’s eyes—a brief shine of something Ana couldn’t name or even describe.
And then he left. Simply turned around, walking back the way he had come to follow her. A couple steps away he turned around once more, “I won’t bother you any longer as you clearly wanted to have your peace in the first place. Apologies for disrupting.”
#legacies#hangman x oc#jake seresin x reader#jake seresin x oc#hangman x reader#jake seresin x kazansky!oc#jake seresin x kazansky/reader#hangman seresin imagine#jake hangman seresin x oc#jake hangman seresin x reader#hangman top gun#hangman seresin#top gun maverick fanfic
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Freefall * Bradley 'Rooster' Bradshaw/OC (part 1)
Summary: Casey had always been a free spirit, living in the moment, never staying still for long. More than once, her loved ones told her she could stand to think more with her head, and less with her heart. But old habits die hard, and the choices Casey makes in the heat of the moment are about to change her life forever, whether she's ready for it or not.
Warnings: unplanned pregnancy, allusion to smut, original character, angst, sex outside of wedlock, friends to lovers, did I mention angst?
Other: please let me know if you'd like to be on a tag list for future updates!
Sitting in an idling car under the heat of the California sun, Casey Mitchell tries with everything she has to avoid giving into the desire to turn tail and run. To avoid succumbing to the instinct that all but demands that she realize, sooner rather than later, that this is an absolutely abysmal idea. Her life, in the last few weeks, has turned far more chaotic than even she might have been able to predict, her penchant for flying fast and loose notwithstanding. And now?
Now, the consequences of her actions have become a thing she can no longer outrun.
She should have seen it coming, of course. Maybe not this exact scenario, but something not all that far off the mark. Countless times, her family has warned her against making rash decisions. Letting emotion dictate her choices, rather than logical fact. But somehow, in spite of all of that, she's never managed to succeed, proving time and time again that she is far too much like her father for her own good.
In response to the realization circulating through her thoughts for what has to be the hundredth time since reality had come swooping in to derail her, Casey allows her head to drop back against the headrest. She exhales in an exasperated rush, while her fingers flex on the steering wheel until the skin of her knuckles whitens from the effort.
She's being foolish. What can possibly be so hard about getting out of the damn car, walking across the gravel of the parking lot, and stepping through the propped open doorway of the damned bar?
Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Except for the glaring fact of how, if she does commit to this, everything about her life could change forever.
More so than it already has…
Shaking her head, Casey allows her eyes to slip closed for a moment, the warmth of the interior of her car sinking into her skin, though it does little to calm the racing of her heart. Again, she wrestles with the desire to place the key in the ignition. To drive back the way she came, until she's back at the apartment she'd known for a little over a year on the east coast.
The idea is entirely too tempting, and before long, Casey catches herself dragging the fingers of one hand through wind-tousled hair. The other hand knocks her sunglasses down to rest upon the bridge of her nose.
She clambers out of the driver's seat, stumbling just a bit as a result of the haste behind the movement, but refuses to allow herself to take that as a sign she should stop, knowing that if she gives her apprehension even a moment longer of her time, she will definitely lose her nerve.
The slam of the car door behind her all but settles that score, or at least so she hopes, the sound doing more to steel her nerves than anything else has been capable of doing thus far. Her heeled boots seem quite capable of carrying her forward without stumbling in the gravel beneath her feet. Whether rightly or wrongly, she seizes on that reality, trying to twist it into a sign that everything will be okay. That her entire life is not about to fly apart at the seams.
Casey can feel her fingernails digging into the skin of her palms as she walks, the pressure almost enough to draw blood. And although it takes a significant amount of effort to do so, she forces herself to at least try to relax before she walks through the open door of a bar her mom has owned and operated since moving back to North Island years ago.
The bar that has been more of a home to her than practically any other place she has ever known.
Music wafting over the speakers reaches her in record time almost as soon as she steps inside, the familiarity of the tune provoking a ghost of a smile. And as she weaves her way through the crowd already gathering around the bar, Casey does the best she can to ensure that the expression will stick around.
If she wants to have any chance at her return appearing even the slightest bit normal, she has absolutely no other choice but to act that way, no matter the cost.
A task that is honestly likely to become far more difficult than Casey cares to admit.
Forcing her mind from the thought, however, she chooses to focus instead on sidling up to the bar. On securing a stool to sit on, between two pilots she does not recognize. She takes note of how her mother's eyes seem to widen as she turns to offer another newcomer a drink, and pauses in the act not long after, her expression adopting an unmistakable tone of surprise.
Casey hadn't considered calling or sending a text to warn of her impending arrival, half-convinced that doing so would only make the return more daunting than it already is. A fact that her mother only confirms as soon as she recovers from her surprise for long enough to change course entirely.
"Casey?"
"Hey, Mom."
"I didn't think you were coming back for another visit until your birthday," Penny Benjamin states, only the smile that pulls up at both corners of her mouth removing the likelihood that her words might inadvertently be misunderstood, "What changed?"
"A girl needs a reason to come visit her mom, now?"
"When her mom knows her as well as I happen to know you? I'd say so."
"You make it sound like I hardly visit at all!" Casey laughs, aware of the slight arch of her mother's eyebrow that comes about almost as soon as the protest leaves her lips, "What? I—I visit!"
"Not nearly often enough."
"Is that your way of saying that you miss me?"
"What do you think?"
Unable to resist the tenuous grin that pulls at her lips, Casey relaxes just a little in her seat, the apprehension she'd been nearly overwhelmed by upon her first arrival seeming to fade, albeit by only a small degree. Regardless of the true reason behind her return, she would be a fool to pretend she had not also been seeking some manner of familiarity because of it. As though a part of her needs to be back among family and friends, no matter what each of them may think of the truth when she can no longer keep it at bay.
The idea of coming clean still terrifies her, of course, but beneath the weight of her mother's curious gaze, Casey is forced to put such thoughts to the back of her mind, if for no other reason than to ensure that the truth does not reveal itself until she is ready.
If she ever truly can be, at all.
"I think you missed me."
"You seem fairly confident," Penny teases, her own laughter far more warm and welcoming than Casey truly believes she deserves, "Perhaps that confidence needs a drink?"
"Are we promoting alcoholism now?"
"Or maybe I just know my daughter well enough to know all of her habits."
"Well this time, I think I'll pass," Casey says, the renewed surprise in her mother's expression causing a curious twisting sensation to take root in her gut, something that is not all that far away from guilt, "Maybe just a Shirley Temple?"
"Feeling nostalgic, are we?"
"Something—something like that, yeah."
Whatever doubts her mother clearly seems to harbor over the request, and the motivations behind it, Penny seems content enough to let them go for now, a reality for which Casey is abundantly grateful, whether or not she will ever be able to put such a feeling into words. And even if she is well aware she is hardly off the hook, or free from any and all forms of scrutiny, Casey takes the drink her mother hands her with a far more encouraging smile than she initially believed herself capable of summoning…
And although she has good reason to opt for refusing the alcohol her mother had initially offered, Casey cannot help but wish for something a bit stronger as soon as a voice calls out above the music, alerting her to a new arrival she is hardly prepared for at all.
"Bradshaw! Is that you?"
No matter her hopes for obtaining at least one night at home without being forced to face the consequences of her own actions, such as they are, it would appear that she is not about to be so fortunate.
A reality that is only confirmed as soon as she glances towards the new arrival, and finds herself absolutely incapable of looking away.
…
#top gun#top gun maverick#top gun fanfiction#top gun maverick fanfiction#pete maverick mitchell#penny benjamin#tom iceman kazansky#bradley rooster bradshaw#jake hangman seresin#original character#original character fanfiction#oc story#oc fanfiction#casey mitchell#evelyn 'evie' saunders#bradley 'rooster' bradshaw x oc#bradley bradshaw x oc#rooster bradshaw x oc#jake 'hangman' seresin x oc#jake seresin x oc#hangman seresin x oc#the exhausted pigeon writes
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—A little distraction wouldn’t hurt | Hangman Fic 🏖
Top Gun Maverick Au ☀️
Summary: When Jake wants something he gets it, even if it means he has to embarrass himself or the lady he loves a little.
Pairing: Jake ‘Hangman’ Seresin x Amber ‘Skysolo’ Kazansky, Hangman x OC
Requested: Yes or no
Fic length: Short.
—-
It was a breezing warm Thursday afternoon in the middle of July. The building was constantly being used up as a way to conduct a way to cool off for the people who worked there the entire week. And today was no different, expect for the fact that the workload wasn’t the best.
Usually Amber Kazansky can get it done, especially with her wingwoman by her side. But today Georgia ‘Peach’ Wells decided it was the best idea to spend a day at the beach instead with their friends. Nor did Jennifer Mitchell stopped by for a quick game. She couldn’t blame them, it was a nice day to stay laying down as the sun kissed your skin. In result, she was left alone with a laptop and paperwork to be hand picked then signed.
Her glasses slipped down her nose every time, she pushed back to the rim of her nose like it was a game. Music softly played from the radio, a random list of summer songs, as she tapped her foot. Amber was so engrossed in her files, she didn’t hear the knock on the door or for it being opened for that matter.
The door slowly swung open gently as the smell of sprinkled oranges and light lemon filled up the room. In came Jake Seresin wearing a brown collared shirt, jeans and sneakers as well as his classic black sunglasses.
He smiled at the lady in question, “Hey.”
“Hey.” She gave a short reply, typing up a email not even glancing up at the man.
“You look cute. New frames?”
“Yup.”
“Wanna take a break?”
“Can’t. Just started getting in line with these emails.”
Jake sighed, the whole time she didn’t even give him a glance or a smile. He thought for a moment asking if she wanted a beer or anything, it was a simple ‘no’ in response. He shrugged saying he’ll be back in half an hour and left for work.
—
Half an hour later she was still at it. Emails, phone calls, note taking for updates on new posts and other messages. Jake tried to distract her by rubbing her shoulder, getting her a glass of water and a snack to share, running his fingers cross her blonde hair and pretending to start organizing the office to catch her attention.
The man even sang along to the lyrics of a song from the radio.
Amber only looked up once or twice with a smile, giving him a sweet reply. Even a laugh came from her lips, which result in Jake laughing whole heartily.
But nothing that truly distracted her writing and or anything majorly strong enough to get her from standing up from her chair. Then Jake smirked. He knew actually how to distract his ladybug and get her blushing in the process, possibly. Honestly he didn’t know how he didn’t think about it earlier today, especially since it wouldn’t be the first time he done this. Well the other times were by accident, but this one would be on pure purpose and full conscious of what he will be doing.
Amber Kazansky was in the middle of a virtual meeting with other recruiters along with officers and captains to discuss plans transfer of planes, aviators and missions.
The women was pacing back and forth behind her desk, was knee deep with a conversation with Captain Wraith and Ark could new transfer students with a smile on her face.
“Ah yes i was thinking we could transfer Lieutenant Sugar Lopez here this week from Chicago over to the Northwest while Lieutenant Summit and the others take over here?” Amber asked glancing up from her paperwork.
Ark nodded from her square box on the computer screen, liking the ideas as she planned to rearrange a few shipments of flyers to California next weekend for work.
Wraith nodded running his fingers crossed his curls and said, “Okay good. Uh, Air Boss Johnson requesting to ship out Maverick and Valkyrie to the eastern side of the bay. How are dealing with this plan? He wants both siblings but Johnson hates Maverick for a reason I don’t care to know.”
Ark came up with a good suggestions onto how the plan could go as Wraith disused the idea, bouncing from one topic to another. A few peoples jumped in, chatting and comment about it all. Amber was half listening, taking notes that will be needed later for Cyclone and the Vice Admirals, adding a simple comment or two.
—-
Amber stood up bend over her desk, writing down notes she gave to the Captains, Officers and Commanders with recruiters who joined in later on during the meeting. She heard her creamy white door swing open softly as the blonde Lieutenant walked in once again. She already figured it was Jake again picking up a forgotten item he must’ve left behind earlier.
Her eyes filled from the notepad and slowly her gaze fell onto the sight in front of her. Hangman had a outfit change. His signature sunglasses were laying perfectly on his face, he was wearing short instead of his dark jeans and his shirt was well…nonexistent.
Amber had to blink twice to make sure she was seeing this right. She must be dreaming right?
Jake ‘Hangman’ Seresin, Lieutenant to the Dagger Squad with two air to air kills, add the confidence and audacity to walk down the hallways of a Navy building shirtless?! Like as if it was the beach?!
“OH! Don’t mind me, sweetheart. Just looking for my baseball cap, i think i felt it in your closet.” Jake said in a whisper grinning brightly as he looked around the closet behind the door.
His silly grin. His abs being kissed from the sun rays from the window. His slightly messy hair and nicely framed facial hair from not shaving the last few days. Hangman was known for being a goofy man from time to time, so this was normal. But not today, he was doing this on purpose.
Amber was stuck in a trace and groaned, the curse of the naval aviator during the summer time! Acting like smooth criminals.
Her named was called out by Wraith snapping her out of her trace as a few recruiters asked a couple of things. Amber’s eyes reverted back to her screen and hummed, “Yeah I’m still here..still here.” She went back to her conversation with the others on call.
The whole time Jake stood there pretending to looks for his baseball cap, which he already found but stayed looking like a idiot, still searching for it. His eyes stayed brightly lit with a smirk, pacing around the room pretending to search for something else.
He spoke with a random question, “Hey, i was thinking of buying a new volleyball this summer? You know, before we play me and the guys can do some push-ups too. Get all warmed up.”
She forgot her microphone wasn’t turned down and turned to him, “Honey I’m in the middle of a meeting..”
“But sweetheart, you didn’t answer my question. A new volleyball or football? Oh that sounds way better!”
“Both. And put a shirt on please..”
“Good and no. I’m heading to the gym later and then the beach.”
Jake strutted over with a rather cheeky smile and chuckled seeing the blush slowly rise on her face. Amber tried to look away, glancing at her computer wanting to stay professional as possible.
Hangman stopped himself from looping his finger underneath her chin, fully aware about the cameras on them and just smiles, “And i want you to join us.”
“But I’m working.” She winced with a matching smile blushing embarrassed, due to noticing a few recruiters looking at her from their screen.
“I promise you will have fun, sweetie. Beside you get to hang out with me and the daggers!”
“Stop trying to convince me!”
“Ah, so it’s working!”
“Jake!”
“You can’t resist the aviator charming sweetheart, give up!”
“Jacob Seresin!”
“Hahahaha!”
A few recruiters smiled quietly. Ark smirked, Wraith rolled his eyes and some commanders teased quietly to themself.
Even Sunset was on the call later on and no one notice her appearance until she’s asked, “Honey care to introduce us to him?”
Amber mentally cursed herself and sigh, laughing a bit, “Why yes! This is Lieutenant Jake ‘Hangman’ Seresin. Him and his sister are highly respected here at the naval academy.”
Jake grinned brightly giving everyone on the call a two finger salute and said, “Hello there ladies and gentlemen!”
You could notice a few people in the call trying their hardest not to laugh and blush at the sight. The older generation rolled their eyes and laughed hard, they’re very much used it this due to the interrupted meetings.
The conversation between the group kept happening as Hangman gave a nice lighthearted opinion or two on the discussion at hand, listening in and commenting on the matter. Amber took notes tossing her idiot boyfriend a t-shirt to cover up.
Eventually the meeting came to a close as everyone saying goodbye and scheduling the next meeting for the upcoming weekend.
Amber sighed in relief with a smile, “And done! I’mma go change and we can-”
Jake grinned brightly and grabbed her hand, practically dragging them out the door as he yelled, “No need! I have your all stuff in the car.”
“Wait what—?!”
—-
Thank you so much for reading! Tell me, what did you think about it? ✈️
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WONDER OF YOU | B.B. X FEMALE OC
Chapter 1: The Wonder of You
Summary: Nicolette 'Wildcard' Mitchell was shocked to get called back to North Island. Her track record was not exactly clean and most certainly not one that most would celebrate. Then she sees Bradley 'Rooster' Bradshaw again. Maybe it won't be all bad.
Warnings: Mentions of death, alcohol, Flashbacks to Top Gun 86, Broken Family dynamics
Word Count: 2.6K
Author Note: Hey y'all this fic is my baby and I'm excited to share this with y'all. This is cross-listed on AO3!
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“Wood.. I barely got out of being grounded, just to be sent to Top Gun. It has to be some sort of cruel punishment.” The girl was huffing as she stuffed another shirt into her bag. Nicolette Mitchell a.k.a. Wildcard, lived up to both her callsign and last name in ways that made her commanding officers grimace upon seeing her assigned to them.
“ Or it’s for something important. They don’t just call people back like that for punishment, Nic.” The older male was shaking his head as he responded. He had basically adopted the girl — she had been his favorite kid of the class of 86’s, not that he didn’t like Bradley, but there was a special place in his heart for the brunette girl.
“Yeah, because they send Maverick to new places for important things.” Nicolette was letting a laugh fall as she heard Hollywood hush his husband.
“No, no.. Wolf is right. They sent Maverick to .. well, anywhere he’s been sent simply because he pissed off an Admiral. Not that I did.” There was a snort being heard over the phone and then an ‘ow!’ shortly after,
“Nic.. did you piss off an Admiral?”
“Technically, yes. But my wingman needed me, it wasn’t my fault they didn’t fill my fuel tank up all the way.” This was a common occurrence for the girl, her wingmen, and team were always first, aircraft and herself second. So be it if it got her in trouble she valued people over the jets they were in. One lesson Maverick had been able to teach her is that your teammates are not replaceable, the jets are no matter what the Navy says.
“So.. you pulled a Maverick?” There were a few seconds of silence before the two males could hear her zipping up the bag.
“No. I was being a good teammate. He doesn’t know what that’s like.” There was some poison in her words, and it was clear as day to the pilot and his RIO that the relationship between the girl and her father had not gotten better.
“I.. okay, Nic. Just.. let us know when you get here, we’d like to see you, kid.” If there was one thing Hollywood knew, it was that whatever waited for the woman on North Island, he would have pieces to pick up.
“I will. Love ya’ll.” Once the couple had responded, she was hanging up and tossed her bag into her Thunderbird.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Nicolette Duke Mitchell had been accustomed to being moved around a lot, at least until she needed a stable place to be able to attend school. Tom ‘Iceman’ Kazansky, the man that was her second father; pops as she called him, was able to stay stationary for her. While Maverick was being sent to Iraq, Bosnia, and wherever else the Navy sent him, Iceman was staying at Top Gun, raising the almost carbon copy of his wingman. Thankfully, some of the rest of the 86 class was able to pitch in. Or they at least kept her busy when they’d visit. And of course, Carole. Seeing as the two had gotten so close over the short amount of time they had together while their dads were in Top Gun, Carole couldn’t possibly keep Bradley away from Nicolette. There were plenty of phone calls, where the two toddlers mirrored each other; being sat on the counter with their respective parents keeping them steady, just chatting away like they had much to talk about. But they could do it for hours and each call ended with a “bye bradbrad.” and “bye ni.” Nic visited Brad and Carole in Tennessee for plenty of weeks in the summer and Brad would visit Nic in San Diego whenever he was able. Until he was in Maverick’s custody and then he was living with her and Ice.
Iceman had done his best to keep the girl in contact with her father. And he pulled strings whenever necessary to get Maverick home to her. But, almost like clockwork, he was pissing off whichever admiral or higher up he could and getting sent away. What originally was described to the girl as ‘the Navy just needs him right now.’ transpired into a festering grudge towards her father – one that faded each time he came home, but grew the second he left again.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The Hard Deck, something you weren’t supposed to go below. That was Navy law, and anything below the hard deck was dangerous, it could damage the aircraft. This hard deck though? Could damage a person’s wall that they had spent much of their adult life building, or cause cracks in a facade. But it also held a lot of memories from the time spent in Top Gun. Something that was cherished among those that attended, and it was the best bar to go to attempt to score a free drink.
The brunette was shutting the door to her car, a small sigh being given as she witnessed all of the other pilots entering the bar. She knew what that meant; she wasn’t getting grounded. Just a slight possibility of being sent to her death. Which, she figured the Navy wouldn’t bat an eye at, it would achieve their goal, keep the Mitchells out of the sky and run them out of the Navy. Her digits ran through her hair for a second, checking it in her mirror when her eyes fixed on the blue Bronco parked a few spots down. Holy shit. She hadn’t seen the owner of that Bronco since two deployments ago. There was almost a hop in her step as she stepped into the loud building, an easily recognizable song on the jukebox.
If you’re lookin’ for trouble, you came to the right place.
She shook her head, what a song to be playing when she came in. The people at Top Gun had thought she was trouble, and any higher-up that she had would probably agree with that statement. There were three people in the bar that wouldn’t agree with it; one that she hadn’t seen yet; and that was known by the fact she was still in the bar. The second was already smiling as she noticed her, sliding a beer down to her; amazed the girl hadn’t recognized the male a few feet away. And then;
My daddy was a green-eyed mountain jack.
“Mitchell… You’ve got to be shittin’ me.” Hangman. A man Nicolette knew well, but despised just as much.
“Seresin.” There was a beat. Lips parted as she shook her head at him. It was clear that whatever this was, it was serious. Otherwise, there would’ve been no need for the number of patches she was seeing. Nicolette watched the male grab his beers and nod to someone behind her, the person paying for their drinks, she assumed. Then against her better judgment, she followed the blonde back to the group. Her eyes stuck on the Hawaiian shirt that she had entered the bar searching for. But, Hangman beat her to having the first word with him once he had changed the song.
“Bradshaw, as I live and breathe.”
“Hangman… You look… good.”
“Well, I am good, Rooster, I’m very good. In fact, I am too good to be true.” Nic let a quiet scoff out, head shaking. She had taken a seat at a stool behind Brad, not wanting to get in the middle of it. This wasn’t her fight, at least not yet.
“So, anybody know what this special detachment is all about?” Nic’s brows furrowed at the man who spoke. She only knew a select few of the pilots around the pool table.
“No, mission’s a mission. They don’t confront me.” His ego hadn’t changed apparently.
“What I want to know: Who’s gonna be team leader?” Her eyes followed the pool balls that clattered together.
“And which one of yall has what it takes to follow me?” There it was. His ego was bigger than the state he came from.
“Hangman, the only place you’ll lead anyone is an early grave.” The woman had to take a sip of her beer to keep from chuckling loudly. Eyes meeting those of a male across the pool table, he had glasses and seemed to be the quieter one, seeing as the two on either side of him, one whom she knew; Coyote, who typically couldn’t keep his mouth shut, and the other who let a low “whoo!” out at the comment, obviously were loving this interaction. The one with the glasses was not.
“Well, anyone who follows you is just gonna run out of fuel.” Nicolette was getting close to stepping in,
“But that’s just you, ain’t it Rooster?” Her body inched closer to standing.
“You’re snug on that perch, waiting for just the right moment…” And she was up, body moving quietly to stand behind the male. Hangman’s eyes trailed from the taller male to land on Nic. Almost as if his next words were for both of them,
“That never comes.” There it was. His eyes had locked back on Brad’s after, Nic noted the small smirk that grew on Hangman’s lips. She was going to have to make herself known to Brad now.
“Y’know Hangman, you don’t have to compensate for your lack of… well, size right now.” Head tilting, with a small smirk growing as she watched the blonde falter for a split second before his lips were moving back to his signature smirk.
“If you wanna see how wrong you are, let me know Wildcard.” Winking at her, earning a scoff, as his attention turned back to Rooster,
“I love this song.” And then the pair watched him walk off. Bradley’s eyes finally landed on the girl.
“Ni..” It was like he let his body relax for a second, he didn’t have to be on guard with her. He was safe with her.
“Hey, Bradbrad…” Then arms were wrapped around her, bringing her into his chest, he didn’t know how long to hold onto her but at the moment? Time had stopped anyway so it didn’t matter. And neither could see the way the simple action between them had caused someone else’s world to stop, Maverick hadn’t seen the two of them together in years, and as he took in the Hawaiian shirt on the male’s body and arms wrapping around the female in a brightly colored red and orange shirt, it was like going back thirty years. The sight caused his heart to ache. Then Bradley’s arms were removed as he looked to the other girl who had joined them, but a hand had found its way to rest on Nicolette’s back. Maverick’s eyes burned into the pair, and for Nicolette, the fact her hair was sticking up on the back of her neck had more to do with the group of people in front of her who, while they may know her or know of her, most likely already wouldn’t want her around. Her reputation and last name — something that always held more significance than her — always preceded her.
“Well, he hasn’t changed.” Nic’s brows rose as she looked over the other girl, Natasha “Phoenix” Trace. Of course, she knew her, although there was a small negative feeling festering in her stomach as she took her in. Nicole couldn’t put into words what that feeling was, but it was prominent.
“Nope. Sure hasn’t.” There was a small part of his accent lingering at the end of his statement, which made her lips curl up at the edges.
“Change is a foreign concept to him.” Nicolette let the words fall, almost as if she had to prove her existence. Needed to prove something, what it was? She couldn’t tell anyone. But there was a nod given her way by Phoenix, which caused her to feel settled until more voices joined them.
“Check it out.” The group’s eyes flickered away from the pool table to focus on the entrance, “More patches.” Nicolette knew what that meant, that whatever was happening wouldn’t be good.
“That’s Harvard, Yale, Ohama. Shit, that’s Fritz.” Wildcard’s green hues followed after the group and her lips pursed for a second as she scoffed, head shaking.
“What the hell kind of mission is this?” Her brow rose at the male, Garcia was what he’d be known by until she knew his callsign, thank the US Military for name badges.
“A suicide mission,” Nicolette mumbled, causing eyes to land on her as she mindlessly played on her phone. The other pilots around them turned to her, eyes narrowing. She didn’t think twice about what she had said, if anything she knew she was right. They don’t call back this many pilots for something any less serious than that.
ICEDAD
ICE.
Nic.
You’ll never guess where I am.
North Island?
This is why I don’t play guessing games with you
But… so is half of the goddamn navy
That’s an exaggeration.
Okay? And? It’s still a lot of people.
And?
Brad is here.
I know.
So you knew i was here?
Got briefed on it.
Someone else is there though.
And the conversation was over once Nic heard the bell ring. Either someone else was paying for their drinks or
“OVERBOARD! OVERBOARD! OVERBOARD!” The girl’s head tilted, phone slipping back into her pocket as she shook her head, eyes locking with Bradley’s at the piano. It was second nature for her to find her way to the instrument. She had spent so many years with the male just hanging out while he played or learned to play.
The toddler was kicking her feet in her father’s lap. Her head tilted to the side as she watched the two blonde women on the other side of her. Nicolette had very little patience in her tiny body and barely sat still - as would be expected from Maverick’s kid. Her fingers wrapped around a fry, that quickly went flying to hit the woman in a white blouse. Giggles were fast to leave tiny lips afterward, Maverick himself having to fight off a laugh. Then once Carole – who Nic adored – had smiled at her, Nic was done and trying to wiggle out of Maverick’s hold. She wanted to go sit with the guy at the piano with the colorful shirt. She liked him a whole lot, he would put her in the sky when he picked her up, and he flew her around sometimes, she loved it. Not to mention the kid on top of the piano who was her newfound best friend. Finally, her dad was heading over there with her, setting her down on the bench to stand, Nic’s hands reaching to try to grab the hat off of the piano – Goose’s hat, but one hand was grabbed by her father to twirl her – as carefully as possible, as the two men sang;
“You shake my nerves, and you rattle my brain…”
Bradley had an arm wrapped around the woman’s waist as his fingers created the familiar tune on the piano; Nic let a soft laugh out as he glanced up at her with a mischievous twinkle in his puppy dog browns,
“Thinkin’ ‘bout your love drives a man insane, you broke my will, oh what a thrill, goodness, gracious, GREAT BALLS OF FIRE!”
The two were a splitting image of something Maverick had never thought he’d see again, and now watching the group of young pilots around the piano and the two on the bench, there was no way he couldn’t teach this mission. They had to come home. If not for him or the families any of them may have had, they had to come home for each other.
credit: I don't own any characters but Nicolette Mitchell, and any other OCs that may appear and their storylines. I have no affiliation with Top Gun or Top Gun: Maverick. All rights go to the rightful owners.
Tag list: @toracsanji
#top gun maverick#jake seresin#bradley bradshaw#bradley rooster bradshaw#bradley bradshaw x mitchell!daughter#bradley bradshaw x oc#nick goose bradshaw#carole bradshaw#pete maverick mitchell#rick hollywood neven#leonard wolfe#leonard wolfman wolfe#henry wolfman ruth#hollywolf#icemav#tom iceman kazansky#dagger squad#top gun fanfiction#top gun 86#top gun maverick fanfiction
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Ghost • One
Previous | Master List | Next
Warnings: 18+, Fluff, Angst, lots of Dumb Bitch Juice, Some Smut
Pairings: Jake ‘Hangman’ Seresin x OC & Javy ‘Coyote’ Machado x OC
Word Count: 1,423
Kota
Beep. Beep. Beep. I awake to the sound of the annoying little alarm clock on the bedside table. "5am already?" I grumble to myself, before hoisting my legs over the edge of the bed, sitting up and wiping the sleep from my eyes.
I'm half tempted to just lay back down but I'm stopped by the sound of Body like a Back Road by Sam Hunt, Jake’s ringtone, as I glance down to see a photo of Jake from the Academy on my screen along with "☀️🥰" and smile softly before answering the phone.
"Hey small fry!" I hear from the very obnoxiously morning person on the other end of the line. I groan back at him as a response. "Yeah yeah yeah, I know stupid morning people" Jake says mocking my voice and personality to a T. I just let out a small grunt of a laugh seeing as this man already knows me way too well. "Kota you got 10 minutes to be ready before I'm knocking at your door for our morning run." Jake says, trying to persuade me to get ready.
"Okay, okay, fine, I'm getting up, I'm getting up to get ready now, I'll see you in 10 minutes country boy" I joke before hanging up and going to the bathroom to wash my face, brush my teeth and put my hair up into a ponytail. I throw on one of my PT uniforms from the USNA, and a windbreaker. I grab some fruit and a protein shake for a snack while filling up my water bottle waiting for Jake to show up at my door.
10 minutes later on the dot Jake is knocking on my door. "Good morning small fry," Jake says so cheerfully. "Mpfh, mornin'" I grumble back to him. "Are you ready to go?" He looks at me waiting for my answer. "No, I'd rather go back to bed, but with you around that's not humanly possible, so I guess so." He just chuckles at my non-morning personality, and we head off to do our morning jog/run.
"Are you excited for today?" He asks once we get to a steady pace in our jog. "I guess so, I mean I get to finally meet my back seater, I hope they aren't some stuck up prick, or something like that." I sigh, "It's only by the grace of whatever god is out there that we became such easy friends, I'm not too great with making friends." Jake nods along listening to me ramble, "It's just I'm afraid they all use me to get close to my dad, or they fear me because of yet again, MY DAD." I say slightly upset.
"Aww c'mon Kota, they can't all be that bad" Jake says chuckling at me. I give a look of disbelief before stating, "Well that's easy for you to say Mr. I Fly Alone." We both laugh at my joking and mimicking tone of Jake. "Race ya!" I yell to Jake before sprinting off laughing and giggling back to the barracks on base. "Now that's just not fair, small fry!" Jake yells still jogging before breaking out into a sprint to follow me.
We made it back to my barracks room, "Hey, meet you at the hangar in say an hour and a half?" I question Jake once we are at my door, "Or you can stay and shower here after me, and we could make some breakfast?" I keep a change of clothes at Jake's place and he keeps an extra change here at my place. "A shower and breakfast sounds like a wonderful idea, Moon." He replies using the nickname we gave each other in the Academy. "Haha okay Sun, I'm going to go hop in the shower, feel free to hang out, watch some cartoons or something" I mentioned jokingly while walking towards the bathroom.
Once I'm out of the shower, I change into a pair of Adidas shorts and a Navy hoodie. I wrap my hair up in my towel, before reaching into the closet to pull out another towel to hang up on the rack for Jake. I also grab his shampoo and body wash and set them into the shower, and set his deodorant out on the bathroom counter.
"The bathroom's all yours Sun." I was surprised to see the man watching Yogi Bear on my couch, and smiled happily thinking back to my childhood of watching Yogi Bear with my dad on the couch before he had to leave for base.
"Thanks Moon, I won't be long!" He says tapping me on the shoulder and walking towards the bathroom. I grab some apples, grapes and oranges, along with some eggs and turkey bacon from the fridge and start to cook the turkey bacon and eggs. I'm so into preparing the eggs and bacon I don't even notice Jake coming back into the room after his shower.
"It smells so damn good in here, Kota!" Jake exclaims before questioning, "Is there anything I can do to help?" I point to the cabinets, "You could grab us some cups and silverware and set the table while I finish cooking and plating the food." He gets right to work grabbing cups out for us, and getting our silverware. He grabs some juice out of the fridge, and before I know it, he's helping cut up the apples, and peeling the oranges.
I plate up our breakfast of eggs, turkey bacon, a handful of red and green seedless grapes each, an orange for each of us, and our cut up apple slices. "Kota I don't know what I would do without you, breakfast with you is always amazing." Jake says, while I put our plates down on the coffee table in front of the couch, so we could eat and continue to watch cartoons.
Once the cartoons were over and it had gotten closer to the time that we needed to report to the hangar, we got changed into clothing that would go under our flight suits. I decided that I would throw my hair up into two Dutch braids ending in two buns at the base of my skull. "Are you almost ready to go?" Jake calls out from the other room.
"Yeah, I'm ready, let's go meet our new Squadron!" I say excitedly as Jake and I make our way over to the hangar, where our Squadron leader and members are. Jake sits at a table in front of me, while I take one of the two empty chairs at my table.
"Welcome to VFA-151 Vigilantes." Our squadron leader says to us, "Today we will be spending the day getting to know each other, finding out our wingmen, and reviewing the F/A-18 NATOPS." I zoned out during most of the introduction of the day until I heard my name called, "Dakota Kazansky" I raised my hand so everyone knows who the name belongs to, "your WSO is Tatum Thatcher." Tatum stands up from the table she was at and moves over to take the empty seat at my table. "Dakota and Tatum, your wingman will be Jake Seresin."
Jake reaches back towards me with his palm facing, and I plant a low five into his awaiting palm. He then turns around to Tatum and I. "I'm Dakota, but you can just call me Kota" I reach out my hand to Tatum. "Tatum, but you can call me Tate" she replies, taking my hand and shaking it. "This is Jake, he seems tough and cocky, but don't let him kid ya!" I tell Tate, while pointing with my thumb at Jake.
"It's nice to meet you guys." Tate says happily. In unison Jake and I say, "the pleasure is ours." I glance over to Jake, "oh you have got to stop rubbing off on me country boy!" I say jokingly to Jake. "Hey, do either of you wanna go to the bar after this?" Jake questions. I look over to Tate who nods to Jake and I, "Sure, we can grab a drink and use this time to get to know our wingmen more!" I say excitedly.
Jake, Tate and I spent the rest of the work day helping each other memorize the F/A-18 NATOPS. I grab Tate's number and save her in my phone as "Tate ✈️". I sent her a message with my barracks room number and told her to meet us there in an hour before leaving the hangar for the day.
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