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hardlyinteresting · 29 days ago

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A thorough analysis of medals, ribbons, and awards in Top Gun: Maverick

Have you ever wanted to know what medals The Dagger Squad and company wear in TGM? I did, and then I just kept reading and then I started a google doc and now I have a list I can share with all of you! (I feel like my brain might actually be melting)

I have done my absolute best to identify as many of their medals/ribbons as possible based on the clearest images I could find, and I have tried my best to comment on how realistic they may be for these characters. The photos I referenced for this deep dive are included at the bottom of this post.

Analysis below the cut

LT. Jake “Hangman” Seresin He wears 9 ribbons on his uniform.

Air Medal (is awarded for single acts of heroism or meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight.)

Navy / Marine Corps commendation medal (is awarded for sustained acts of of heroism or meritorious service) *Jake wears an additional device on his but it doesn’t look like a star. It is likely a bronze “V” for valour worn to denote that the award was given for combat heroism.

Navy / Marine Corps Achievement Medal (awarded to those who have performed commendably in routine duties or exceptional achievements, that a higher award has not recognised.) *Jake wears 2 bronze stars on this ribbon indicating he has been given this award 3 times.

Navy Unit Commendation (awarded to members of a unit that displayed outstanding acts of heroism).

National Defense Service Ribbon (It was awarded to every member of the U.S. Armed Forces who served during any one of four specified periods of armed conflict or national emergency from June 27, 1950, through December 31, 2022.)

Afghanistan Campaign medal (The Afghanistan Campaign Medal is awarded to those who performed duty within the borders of Afghanistan (or its airspace) for a period of thirty consecutive days or sixty non-consecutive days.) * The pin Jake wears on his ribbon looks like a Fleet Marine Force combat operation insignia indicates that he may have been assigned to a unit that operated under a Marine Corps attachment and carried out duties under the Marine Corps operational control

Inherent Resolve Campaign Medal (medal may be awarded to members of the U.S. Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard, for service in Iraq, Syria, or contiguous waters or airspace)

Global War on Terrorism Medal (Awarded to members of the United States military who have supported operations to counter-terrorism anywhere in the world any time after 2001)

Navy/ Marine Corps Sea Service Ribbon (Given to a member of the Navy and Marine Corps who is assigned to a deployable unit operating away from its home port for 90 days or two consecutive periods of at least 80 days within a 12-month period; or six months stationed overseas.) *Jake wears two stars on his ribbon. I can’t tell if they are silver or bronze. Bronze would indicate he has met this criteria 3 times during his service. Two silver stars would 10. Both are possible for his character.

From what I can tell, and the research I have done, Jake’s medals make sense for his age, rank, and experience level. They all seem to be displayed in the correct order of precedence.

LT. Natasha “Pheonix” Trace Natasha also wears 9 ribbons on her uniform.

Air Medal (is awarded for single acts of heroism or meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight.)

Navy / Marine Corps commendation medal (is awarded for sustained acts of of heroism or meritorious service) *Natasha wears hers with 2 bronze stars which would indicate that she has received the commendation 3 times.

Navy / Marine Corps Achievement Medal (awarded to those who have performed commendably in routine duties or exceptional achievements, that a higher award has not recognised.) *Natasha wears 2 bronze stars on this ribbon indicating she has been given this award 3 times.

Inherent Resolve Campaign Medal (medal may be awarded to members of the U.S. Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard, for service in Iraq, Syria, or contiguous waters or airspace)

Global War on Terrorism Medal (Awarded to members of the United States military who have supported operations to counter-terrorism anywhere in the world any time after 2001)

Navy/ Marine Corps Sea Service Ribbon (Given to a member of the Navy and Marine Corps who is assigned to a deployable unit operating away from its home port for 90 days or two consecutive periods of at least 80 days within a 12-month period; or six months stationed overseas.) *Natasha wears a pin/device on her ribbon, though it’s significantly smaller than the stars she wears on her other ribbons. The only devices authorized to be worn with this ribbon are bronze or silver stars, so I’m unsure what it is.

NATO Medal (The NATO Medal is a decoration presented by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to recognize international NATO military members who have participated in various peacekeeping operations.) However, there are 10 different variations and versions of this medal and I can’t see in enough detail to confirm which one it is that Natasha wears.

Again, from the research I’ve done, the ribbons that Natasha wears seem to make sense for her age, rank, and experience level. I have not been able to confirm if her NATO ribbon is in the correct order of presence, but I do believe it is.

LT. Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw

I can find only one image of him in his uniform and wearing his ribbons. However, I would have to assume that it’s an older photo and would have been taken long before the beginning of the beginning of the TGM film timeline and that he would have more by the time we see him on screen. I would also expect that having his papers pulled and being held back in his career timeline may have changed things for him as well. But, he’s wearing 8 ribbons in the photo. This could be a continuity error but I have no way of knowing for sure. Alas, I can only break down what I can see. (But if anyone can find me a still from the film where we can see his current ribbons I’d be over the moon).

Air Medal (is awarded for single acts of heroism or meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight.)

Navy / Marine Corps commendation medal (is awarded for sustained acts of of heroism or meritorious service) *Bradley wears his with 2 bronze stars which would indicate that he has received the commendation 3 times.

Navy / Marine Corps Achievement Medal (awarded to those who have performed commendably in routine duties or exceptional achievements, that a higher award has not recognised.) *Bradley wears 2 bronze stars on this ribbon indicating he has been given this award 3 times.

Inherent Resolve Campaign Medal (medal may be awarded to members of the U.S. Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard, for service in Iraq, Syria, or contiguous waters or airspace)

Global War on Terrorism Medal (Awarded to members of the United States military who have supported operations to counter-terrorism anywhere in the world any time after 2001)

Navy/ Marine Corps Sea Service Ribbon (Given to a member of the Navy and Marine Corps who is assigned to a deployable unit operating away from its home port for 90 days or two consecutive periods of at least 80 days within a 12-month period; or six months stationed overseas.) *Bradley wears two silver stars on his ribbon which would indicate that he has met this criteria 10 times.

Beyond the question of timeline, I would say that these ribbons all make sense for his level of experience, his rank, and his age. The ribbons all seem to be displayed in the correct order of precedence.

LT. Mickey “Fanboy” Garcia Mickey wears eight ribbons on his uniform.

Air Medal (is awarded for single acts of heroism or meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight.)

Navy / Marine Corps commendation medal (is awarded for sustained acts of of heroism or meritorious service) *Mickey wears his with 2 bronze stars which would indicate that he has received the commendation 3 times.

Navy / Marine Corps Achievement Medal (awarded to those who have performed commendably in routine duties or exceptional achievements, that a higher award has not recognised.) *Mickey wears 1 bronze star on this ribbon indicating he has been given this award 2 times.

Inherent Resolve Campaign Medal (medal may be awarded to members of the U.S. Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard, for service in Iraq, Syria, or contiguous waters or airspace)

Global War on Terrorism Medal (Awarded to members of the United States military who have supported operations to counter-terrorism anywhere in the world any time after 2001)

Navy/ Marine Corps Sea Service Ribbon (Given to a member of the Navy and Marine Corps who is assigned to a deployable unit operating away from its home port for 90 days or two consecutive periods of at least 80 days within a 12-month period; or six months stationed overseas.) *Mickey wears two bronze stars on his ribbon which would indicate that he has met this criteria 3 times.

From what I can tell, and the research I have done, all of these medals make sense for his age, rank, and experience level. They all seem to be displayed in the correct order of precedence.

LT. Reuben “Payback” Fitch Reuben wears 9 ribbons on his uniform

Air Medal (is awarded for single acts of heroism or meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight.)

Navy / Marine Corps commendation medal (is awarded for sustained acts of of heroism or meritorious service) *Reuben wears his with 1 star, but I can’t quite tell for sure if it’s bronze or silver. One bronze star would indicate that he has received the commendation 2times. One Silver star would indicate 5 times. Both would be possible.

Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (Awarded to members of the U.S. Armed Forces who, after July 1, 1958, participated in U.S. military operations, U.S. operations in direct support of the United Nations, or U.S. operations of assistance for friendly foreign nations). It is hard to tell from the photos I have if this is for sure the correct medal, but it’s the only one that fits the colour order I can see.

Navy / Marine Corps Achievement Medal (awarded to those who have performed commendably in routine duties or exceptional achievements, that a higher award has not recognised.) *Reuben wears his with 2 bronze stars indicating he’s been given this award 3 times.

Inherent Resolve Campaign Medal (medal may be awarded to members of the U.S. Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard, for service in Iraq, Syria, or contiguous waters or airspace)

Global War on Terrorism Medal (Awarded to members of the United States military who have supported operations to counter-terrorism anywhere in the world any time after 2001)

Navy/ Marine Corps Sea Service Ribbon (Given to a member of the Navy and Marine Corps who is assigned to a deployable unit operating away from its home port for 90 days or two consecutive periods of at least 80 days within a 12-month period; or six months stationed overseas.) *Rueben wears one star on his ribbon. I cannot confirm whether it is a bronze star or a silver star. A bronze star would indicate that he has met this criteria 3 times. A silver star would indicate he met this criteria 10 times.

If the third ribbon Rueben wears is the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal I am 95% sure it would be in the wrong order. I believe it should come after his Afghanistan Campaign medal and before his Inherent Resolve Campaign medal for them to be displayed in the correct order of precedence.

LT. Robert “BOB” Floyd Robert wears seven ribbons on his uniform.

Navy / Marine Corps commendation medal (is awarded for sustained acts of of heroism or meritorious service) *Bob wears his with 2 bronze stars which would indicate that he has received the commendation 3 times.

Navy / Marine Corps Achievement Medal (awarded to those who have performed commendably in routine duties or exceptional achievements, that a higher award has not recognised.) *Bob wears 2 bronze stars on this ribbon indicating he has been given this award 3 times.

Navy Unit Commendation (awarded to members of a unit that displayed outstanding acts of heroism).

Inherent Resolve Campaign Medal (medal may be awarded to members of the U.S. Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard, for service in Iraq, Syria, or contiguous waters or airspace)

Global War on Terrorism Medal (Awarded to members of the United States military who have supported operations to counter-terrorism anywhere in the world any time after 2001)

Navy/ Marine Corps Sea Service Ribbon (Given to a member of the Navy and Marine Corps who is assigned to a deployable unit operating away from its home port for 90 days or two consecutive periods of at least 80 days within a 12-month period; or six months stationed overseas.) *Bob wears a pin/device on this ribbon, though it’s significantly smaller than the stars he wears on his other ribbons. The only devices authorized to be worn with this ribbon are bronze or silver stars, so I’m unsure what it is.

From what I can tell, and the research I have done, all of these medals make sense for his age, rank, and experience level. They all seem to be displayed in the correct order of precedence.

LT. Javy “Coyote” Machado Javy wears nine ribbons.

Air Medal (is awarded for single acts of heroism or meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight.)

Navy / Marine Corps commendation medal (is awarded for sustained acts of of heroism or meritorious service) *Javy wears his with 2 star bronze stars so he has been given this commendation 3 times.

Navy / Marine Corps Achievement Medal (awarded to those who have performed commendably in routine duties or exceptional achievements, that a higher award has not recognised.) *Javy wears 1 bronze star on this ribbon indicating he has been given this award 2 times.

Navy Unit Commendation (awarded to members of a unit that displayed outstanding acts of heroism).

Inherent Resolve Campaign Medal (medal may be awarded to members of the U.S. Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard, for service in Iraq, Syria, or contiguous waters or airspace)

Global War on Terrorism Medal (Awarded to members of the United States military who have supported operations to counter-terrorism anywhere in the world any time after 2001)

Navy/ Marine Corps Sea Service Ribbon (Given to a member of the Navy and Marine Corps who is assigned to a deployable unit operating away from its home port for 90 days or two consecutive periods of at least 80 days within a 12-month period; or six months stationed overseas.) *Javy wears what looks like one bronze star on this ribbon which would indicate he has met this criteria twice. But I haven’t been able to find a clear enough image to confirm.

From what I can tell, and the research I have done, all of these medals make sense for his age, rank, and experience level. They all seem to be displayed in the correct order of precedence.

CWO Bernie “Hondo” Coleman Hondo wears 15 ribbons on his uniform

Purple Heart (Given to members of the US Military who have been wounded or killed in any action against an enemy of the United States or as a result of an act of any such enemy or opposing armed forces)

Meritorious Service Medal (presented to members of the United States Armed Forces who distinguish themselves with outstanding meritorious achievement or service to the United States.)

Navy / Marine Corps commendation medal (is awarded for sustained acts of of heroism or meritorious service) *Hondo wears his with 1 bronze star so he has been given this commendation twice.

Navy / Marine Corps Achievement Medal (awarded to those who have performed commendably in routine duties or exceptional achievements, that a higher award has not recognised.) *Hondo wears 1 bronze star on this ribbon indicating he has been given this award 2 times.

Meritorious Unit Commendation (awarded to members of a unit who have shown Valorous or meritorious achievement or service, or exceptionally meritorious conduct and outstanding achievement or service, in combat or non-combat.)

Navy E Ribbon (Awarded to service members who were on permanent duty aboard a U.S. Navy ship or in a unit that won a battle efficiency competition after July 1, 1974.)* Hondo wears a silver wreathed E pin on his ribbon showing he has received this award 5 or more times.

Good Conduct Medal (awarded to any active duty enlisted member of the United States military who completes three consecutive years of "honorable and faithful service," without any non-judicial punishment, disciplinary infractions, or court martial offenses.)

Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal (For military service members who have deployed overseas in direct service to the War on Terror starting from 2001 to a date to be determined.)

Global War on Terrorism Medal (Awarded to members of the United States military who have supported operations to counter-terrorism anywhere in the world any time after 2001)

Armed Forces Service Medal (Awarded to Service members who have participated in “significant action” for which no other service or campaign medal is authorized, ie. military operation that did not encounter foreign armed opposition or imminent hostile action)

Humanitarian Service Medal (Awarded to service members who partake in military acts or operations which are deemed to be humanitarian in nature)

His Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal from what I understand would have later been replaced with the Afghanistan and Iraq Campaign Medals which he has also received and wears. He would not have received all three, so this is odd. Regardless, the ribbons he wears are in the correct order of precedence and make sense for his age and rank. However, I have less direct context and understanding of his role as a Chief Warrant Officer and what his career path may have looked like compared to the Dager Squad members and cannot comment on whether or not he is missing any that you may expect to see on a CWO.

CAPT. Pete “Maverick” Mitchell Maverick wears 22 ribbons on his uniform

Silver Star Medal (awarded primarily to members of the United States Armed Forces for gallantry in action against an enemy of the United States. It is the third-highest decoration for valour in combat)

Legion of Merit (for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements.)

Defense Meritorious Service Medal (For members of the armed forces who while serving in a joint activity showed outstanding achievement or meritorious service in non-combat situations, but not of a degree to warrant award of the Defense Superior Service Medal.)

Meritorious Service Medal (awarded to those who have shown meritorious achievement or service to the United States.)

Air Medal (is awarded for single acts of heroism or meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight.) *Mav wears a bronze pin device on his ribbon on the second yellow stripe. This is usually a strike/flight numerals device. I cannot make out the number, but this would serve to indicate the number of Strike/Flight awards given for operations in hostile territory and count the total number of Strikes (operations that faced enemy opposition) and Flights (operations that did not encounter enemy opposition) added together.

Navy / Marine Corps commendation medal (is awarded for sustained acts of of heroism or meritorious service) *Mav wears his with 3 silver stars implying he has received this award a total of 15 times

Navy / Marine Corps Achievement Medal (awarded to those who have performed commendably in routine duties or exceptional achievements, that a higher award has not recognised.)

Combat Action Ribbon (Given to United States Sea Service Members who have actively participated in ground or surface combat)

Joint Meritorious Unit Award (given to joint units or units tasked with a joint mission where they have displayed meritorious achievement or service beyond what is normally expected, or for actions in combat with an armed enemy of the, a declared national emergency, or under extraordinary circumstances of national interest)

Navy E Ribbon (Awarded to service members who were on permanent duty aboard a U.S. Navy ship or in a unit that won a battle efficiency competition after July 1, 1974.)* Mav wears a silver E pin on his ribbon showing he has received this award 2 times.

South West Asia Service Medal (Awarded to those who participated in operations in South West Asia between 1990 and 1995. Including participation in operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Operations and support may have been carried out in any of the following nations and/or areas: Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Israel, Eygpt, Türkiye, Syria, Jordan, Persian Gulf, Red Sea, Gulf of Oman, Gulf of Aden) *Mav wears 2 bronze stars indicating he served in 2 of 3 major campaigns. His bronze stars are pinned in the incorrect positions however, they should not be centred side by side, but rather one on each of the inside yellow stripes.

Afghanistan Campaign Medal (The Afghanistan Campaign Medal is awarded to those who performed duty within the borders of Afghanistan (or its airspace) for a period of thirty consecutive days or sixty non-consecutive days.) *Maverick wears two bronze stars on this ribbon indicating he served during 2 of the 6 campaign phases. Once again his stars are in the incorrect positions. Instead of being centred side by side, they should each be on each of the inner black stripes.

Iraq Campaign Medal (The Iraq Campaign Medal is awarded to those who performed duty within the borders of Iraq (or its territorial waters) for a period of thirty consecutive days or sixty non-consecutive days.) *Maverick wears two bronze stars on this ribbon indicating he served during 2 of the 7 campaign phases. Once again his stars are in the incorrect positions. Instead of being centred side by side, they should each be on each of the inner black stripes.

Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal (For military service members who have deployed overseas in direct service to the War on Terror starting from 2001 to a date to be determined.)

Global War on Terrorism Medal (Awarded to members of the United States military who have supported operations to counter-terrorism anywhere in the world any time after 2001)

United Nations Medal (award for any action in which a member of the military participated in a joint UN activity)

Kuwait Liberation Medal (Awarded by the government of Kuwait to regional and foreign military personnel who served during the Gulf War’s “Liberation of Kuwait” campaign phase between 1990 and 1993.

Navy Rifle Marksmanship Ribbon (Issued to members of the Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard who pass their weapons qualification course with an above-average score) *Mav wears an E on his ribbon indicating that he has achieved an “expert” qualification.

Navy Pistol Marksmanship Ribbon (Issued to members of the Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard who pass their weapons qualification course with an above-average score) *Mav wears an E on his ribbon indicating that he has achieved an “expert” qualification.

His Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal from what I understand would have later been replaced with the Afghanistan and Iraq Campaign Medals which he has also received and wears. He would not have received all three, so this is odd. Regardless, the ribbons he wears are in the correct order of precedence and make sense for his age and rank. I do have questions about how many years he’s been serving and only making it to the rank of Captain but he also has not received, or at least does not wear any ribbons for good conduct, and he is known to rock the boat so I will suspend my disbelief.

VADM. Beau “Cyclone” Simpson Cyclone wears 19 ribbons on his uniform

Bronze Star Medal (heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone.)

Meritorious Service Medal (awarded to those who have shown meritorious achievement or service to the United States.)

Joint Service Commendation Medal (meritorious achievement or service in a joint duty capacity.)

Navy / Marine Corps commendation medal (is awarded for sustained acts of heroism or meritorious service) *Beau wears his with 2 silver stars so he has been given this commendation 10 times.

Navy / Marine Corps Achievement Medal (awarded to those who have performed commendably in routine duties or exceptional achievements, that a higher award has not recognised.) *Cyclone wears 2 bronze stars on this ribbon indicating he has been given this award 3 times.

Navy Unit Commendation (awarded to members of a unit that displayed outstanding acts of heroism). *Cyclone wears a device on this ribbon, it’s not a star, but from what I’ve read there are no other devices authorized to wear with this ribbon.

Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation ( for valorous or meritorious achievement or service in combat or non-combat situations)

Navy E Ribbon (Awarded to service members who were on permanent duty aboard a U.S. Navy ship or in a unit that won a battle efficiency competition after July 1, 1974.)* Cyclone wears a silver E pin with a wreath on his ribbon showing he has received this award 5 times.

Good Conduct Medal (awarded to any active duty enlisted member of the United States military who completes three consecutive years of "honourable and faithful service," without any non-judicial punishment, disciplinary infractions, or court martial offences.) *Beau wears what looks to be 2 stars on this ribbon. I cannot tell what colour they are. 2 bronze would me he’s received this award 3 times for 9 consecutive years of honorable service. 2 silver would mean he’s received this award 10 times for 30 consecutive years of honorable service. However, before 1996 they were awarded every 4 years. So I think we’re likely looking at between 20-25 years of service, which makes sense for his rank.

Navy Expeditionary Medal ( Awarded to enlisted Navy service members who were confirmed to have landed on foreign territory and engaged in operations against armed opposition)

Global War on Terrorism Medal (Awarded to members of the United States military who have deployed in support of the War on Terror to locations beyond Iraq and Afghanistan.)

Global War on Terrorism Service Medal (Awarded to members of the United States military who have supported operations to counter-terrorism anywhere in the world any time after 2001)

UNIDENTIFIED SERVICE MEDAL

Navy/ Marine Corps Sea Service Ribbon (Given to a member of the Navy and Marine Corps who is assigned to a deployable unit operating away from its home port for 90 days or two consecutive periods of at least 80 days within a 12-month period; or six months stationed overseas.) *Beau wears what looks like one bronze star on this ribbon which would indicate he has met this criteria twice. But I haven’t been able to find a clear enough image to confirm.

Navy Rifle Marksmanship Ribbon (Issued to members of the Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard who pass their weapons qualification course with an above-average score) *Beau wears an E on his ribbon indicating that he has achieved an “expert” qualification.

Navy Pistol Marksmanship Ribbon (Issued to members of the Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard who pass their weapons qualification course with an above-average score) *Cyclone wears an E on his ribbon indicating that he has achieved an “expert” qualification.

His Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, from what I understand, would have later been replaced with his Iraq Campaign Medal which he has also received and wears. He would not have received both, so this is odd. Regardless, the ribbons he wears are in the correct order of precedence and make sense for his age and rank. However, I have less direct context and understanding of his role as a Vice Admiral and what his career path may have looked like compared to the Dager Squad members, and cannot comment on whether or not he is missing any that you may expect to see on a VADM.

RADM. Solomon “Warlock” Bates Warlock wears 22 ribbons on his uniform

Legion of Merit (for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements.)

Bronze Star Medal (heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone.)

Meritorious Service Medal (awarded to those who have shown meritorious achievement or service to the United States.)

Joint Service Commendation Medal (meritorious achievement or service in a joint duty capacity.)

Navy / Marine Corps commendation medal (is awarded for sustained acts of heroism or meritorious service)

Navy / Marine Corps Achievement Medal (awarded to those who have performed commendably in routine duties or exceptional achievements, that a higher award has not recognised.)

Navy Unit Commendation (awarded to members of a unit that displayed outstanding acts of heroism).

UNIDENTIFIED SERVICE MEDAL

Navy E Ribbon (Awarded to service members who were on permanent duty aboard a U.S. Navy ship or in a unit that won a battle efficiency competition after July 1, 1974.)* Warlock wears 3 silver E pins on his ribbon showing he has received this award 4 times.

Good Conduct Medal (awarded to any active duty enlisted member of the United States military who completes three consecutive years of "honourable and faithful service," without any non-judicial punishment, disciplinary infractions, or court martial offences.) *Solomon wears what looks to be 2 stars on this ribbon. I cannot tell what colour they are. 2 bronze would me he’s received this award 3 times for 9 consecutive years of honorable service. 2 silver would mean he’s received this award 10 times for 30 consecutive years of honorable service. However, before 1996 they were awarded every 4 years. So I think we’re likely looking at between 20-25 years of service, which makes sense for his rank.

Navy Expeditionary Medal ( Awarded to enlisted Navy service members who were confirmed to have landed on foreign territory and engaged in operations against armed opposition)

Iraq Campaign Medal (The IraqCampaign Medal is awarded to those who performed duty within the borders of Iraq (or its territorial waters) for a period of thirty consecutive days or sixty non-consecutive days.) *Warlock wears two bronze stars on this ribbon indicating he served during 2 of the 7 campaign phases. Once again his stars are in the incorrect positions. Instead of being centred side by side, they should each be on each of the inner black stripes.

Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal (For military service members who have deployed overseas in direct service to the War on Terror starting from 2001 to a date to be determined.)

Global War on Terrorism Medal (Awarded to members of the United States military who have deployed in support of the War on Terror to locations beyond Iraq and Afghanistan.)

Humanitarian Service Medal (Awarded to service members who partake in military acts or operations which are deemed to be humanitarian in nature)

Navy/ Marine Corps Sea Service Ribbon (Given to a member of the Navy and Marine Corps who is assigned to a deployable unit operating away from its home port for 90 days or two consecutive periods of at least 80 days within a 12-month period; or six months stationed overseas.) *Warlock wears what looks like 3 bronze star on this ribbon which would indicate he has met this criteria 4 times. But I haven’t been able to find a clear enough image to confirm.

Navy Overseas Service Ribbon (recognizes those service members who have performed military tours outside the borders of the United States of America. 12 months of consecutive or accumulated duty at an overseas shore-based duty station)

United Nations Medal (award for any action in which a member of the military participated in a joint UN activity)

Navy Rifle Marksmanship Ribbon (Issued to members of the Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard who pass their weapons qualification course with an above-average score) *Solomon wears an E on his ribbon indicating that he has achieved an “expert” qualification.

Navy Pistol Marksmanship Ribbon (Issued to members of the Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard who pass their weapons qualification course with an above-average score) *Warlock wears an E on his ribbon indicating that he has achieved an “expert” qualification.

His Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, from what I understand, would have later been replaced with his Iraq Campaign Medal which he has also received and wears. He would not have received both, so this is odd. Regardless, the ribbons he wears are in the correct order of precedence and make sense for his age and rank. However, I have less direct context and understanding of his role as a Rear Admiral and what his career path may have looked like compared to the Dager Squad members, and cannot comment on whether or not he is missing any that you may expect to see on a RADM.

#top gun maverick #jake seresin #beau simpson #bradley bradshaw #jake seresin x reader #bradley bradsaw x reader #pete maverick mitchell #natasha phoenix trace #payback #fanboy #bob #robert floyd #warlock #hondo

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infin1ty-garden · 1 year ago

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『 alina starkov 』

I WOULDN'T SAY THAT - the mummy (1999) au! ೃ⁀➷ alina confesses her feelings while imhotep wants to sacrifice her

╰┈➤ ❝ [ scream ] ❞

『 headcanons 』

THE GHOSTFACES REACT TO YOU BEING A F1 FAN ೃ⁀➷ exactly what the title says

『 jill roberts 』

UNDER THE BLEACHERS ೃ⁀➷ jill’s childhood friend confess their love for her DYNAMITE TOUCH ೃ⁀➷ jill sprained ankle and you help her home THAT'S RICH ೃ⁀➷ you keep teasing jill about her height and she does something about it UNTIL THE END - PART 2 ೃ⁀➷ you move back to woodsboro during the events of scream 4 MEET MY FRIENDS ೃ⁀➷ jill's friends can't believe she is dating someone shorter than her JUST A GAME THAT CAN'T BE WON ೃ⁀➷ jill tries to kill you

╰┈➤ ❝ [ heroes of olympus ] ❞

『 jason grace 』

YOU ARE MY HERO - superman au! ೃ⁀➷ headcanons of dating superman! jason grace

╰┈➤ ❝ [ slytherin boys ] ❞

『 headcanons 』

MEMORIES MAKE EVERYTHING SO DIFFICULT ೃ⁀➷ where you fake amnesia to get out of a fight with your enemy and he lies and tells you'd been dating for a year

╰┈➤ ❝ [ the quarry ] ❞

『 max brinly 』

I WOULD DIE FOR HER ೃ⁀➷ max does everything to save you the last night of summer camp

╰┈➤ ❝ [ detroit become human ] ❞

『 connor 』

A CALL AWAY ೃ⁀➷ connor and hank investigate a weird 911 call

『 nines (rk900) 』

ADMIRING FROM AFAR ೃ⁀➷ you get to know nines better during a 12 hour shift

╰┈➤ ❝ [ top gun: maverick ] ❞

『 natasha "pheonix" trace 』

THOSE EYES ೃ⁀➷ natasha tries to flirts with you at a beach THEY'RE GONNA LOVE YOU - tattooed! fem! reader ೃ⁀➷ natasha introduces you to the dagger squad

╰┈➤ ❝ [ one shots ] ❞

『 kara zor-el 』

NOT ON EARTH ೃ⁀➷ you and kara decided to stay in for the night

『 dar-benn 』

I LOVED YOU FOREVER ೃ⁀➷ dar-benn tries to save you

『 cregan stark 』

WINTER WALK ೃ⁀➷ you meet cregan's direwolf

『 paul atreides 』

BELOVED - arranged marriage au! ೃ⁀➷ paul gets jealous

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topherwrites · 10 months ago

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TOP GUN: MAVERICK

✷ JAKE "HANGMAN" SERESIN

start of a silver fox — back from deployment, you notice a change in your boyfriend's appearance. snowflakes in my stomach when we're kissing — spending the holidays with jake's family isn't always smooth sailing, but little else matters when you're grossly in love. (also - jake dresses up as santa for his nieces and nephews, you're real into it.) all hallows' eve — a witch and he-man... what an interesting pairing. (aka, jake is taking his niece trick or treating around his building and can't help knocking on your door.)

✷ ROBERT "BABY ON BOARD" FLOYD

while you were sleeping — while you were sleeping!au. not a lot, just forever — a saturday morning, and I love you on the tip of both your tongues.

✷ BRADLEY "ROOSTER" BRADSHAW

— nothing yet!

✷ JAVY "COYOTE" MACHADO

— nothing yet!

✷ NATASHA "PHEONIX" TRACE

— nothing yet!

#bob floyd x reader #jake seresin x reader #bradley bradshaw x reader #javy machado x reader #natasha trace x reader #robert floyd x reader #tgm fanfiction #top gun fanfiction #top gun maverick fanfiction #masterlist

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gryffindormarveltwilight · 1 year ago

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All We Need - Jake ‘Hangman’ Seresin x Reader - Chapter 1

A/N: chapter one to my topgun maverick fic, i hope you guys enjoy it! As always feedback is always welcome and request are always open.

Masterlist

Pairing: Jake ‘Hangman’ Seresin x fem!pilot!Benjamin Reader (Athena)

Warnings: mentions of the mission for the movie, mentions to death angst and fluff, naval inaccuracies

Note: the reader is 28 and went through topgun when she was 20 (youngest in history for this story) Rooster is 34 Jake is also 28 (for this story them, Pheonix and Coyote went to top gun together when jake was about 24)

Prologue:

Part 2

I sighed as I pulled into the familiar driveway of the home I shared with my best friend Jake. I noticed that his truck wasn’t there so I assumed that he would be at my Aunts bar The Hard Deck.

Normally I would have gone as well but I was told six hours ago I had been recalled to TopGun in the middle of a six month deployment within an hour of being told I was on a plane, I wasn’t even able to send any of my family a message saying I was coming home.

A few years after Jake and I joined the Navy my parents had also moved back to San Diego to be closer to the entire family.

As I turned the car off I grabbed my duffle and headed onto the porch. Unlocking the door and stepping inside i saw my cousin sitting at the kitchen table. As I closed the door her head shot up and she ran towards me.

‘Y/N!!’ I giggle slightly as i wrapped my arms around her.

‘ Hey Amelia’

She pulled away some tears in her eyes.

‘No one told me you were coming home’

‘They couldn’t because they don’t know yet, I only found out about six hours ago.’ She nodded before wrapping me in a tight hug again. ‘I missed you Thena.’

Before i could respond i heard footsteps coming down the hallway of the bungalow, my head shot up as i looked at the small girl waddling down the hallway rubbing sleep out of her green eyes, blonde hair a mess. Her eyes shot wide open and she started running across the living room.

‘AUNTY THENA’ i laughed as i crouched down and scooped her up in my arms.

‘Hello Miss Daisy.’

‘Daddy home?’ She says through a yawn as she snuggled into my neck.

‘Not yet sweetie” she gave a small nod as i saw her eyes close. I turned to Amelia with a look that she immediately understood and moved to the kitchen to get her stuff and head out the front door. I slowly moved to grab my duffle bag and made my way to Daisy’s room to put her back to bed. As i went to put her down her grip tightened.

‘You have to go to bed sweetie.’

‘No I missed you.’

‘Want to have a sleepover then?’

Again she just nodded as i slowly made my way to my room finally she allowed me to put her down. It was a tradition to have sleepovers when Jake was on deployment or when i got home from one. I quickly grabbed a pair of flannel pants and Jakes old Navy t-shirt and went to the bathroom to change and brush my teeth. When i got back i noticed Daisy was asleep so i moved to grab a book, I was going to read the folder again to look at who I would be teaching but that could wait. As i started reading my eyes started to feel heavy before drifting off to sleep. I am not sure how long I had been asleep but i heard the door to my room shift slightly and the weight of my book lift from my grasp as there was a kiss placed on my forehead and the door closed again.

Jakes POV

I was standing in the Hard Deck with Coyote, we had been the first ones here out of the recalled squad, both of us being stationed in San Diego, the first group to walk through was Phoenix with two others i didn’t know. Soon we were introduced to Payback Fanboy and Bob. I went up to grab some beers from Penny when I saw more uniforms filter through, all of whom i recognised as other topgun graduates.

“What the hell kind of mission is this” i was broken out of my thoughts by Penny asking the question

“ I don’t know must be serious”

“Jake, just remember up in the sky you have someone who needs you here.”

I nod lowly at Penny, thoughts drifting to my 5 year old daughter, beside Coyote, Athena, Penny and Iceman, no one knew about Daisy, that is the way we wanted it since she came into our lives 5 years ago no more than a few weeks old dropped at my apartment with a letter from her mother a girl i barely remember saying she was giving up all parental rights and that I had full custody. It just so happened that Athena and I were both stationed in San Diego, after I called her she came to my apartment to see me with a distraught look and child in my arms. My best friend quickly took Daisy from my arms told me to pack what i needed and come stay with her and they would work it out together. When i got to her house later that night Admiral Kazansky was sitting in the living room Athena explaining the situation to ‘Uncle Ice’ who made sure that we were always stationed together and on seperate deployments.

I was broken out of my thoughts by Phoenix yelling across the bar.

“BRADSHAW is that you.” I turn to see Rooster walking across the bar so I turn and walk back to the pool table taking the cue out of Bobs hands

‘Bradshaw as I live and breathe.’

‘Hangman you look…..good’

‘I am good….I am too good to be true.’ I look up to see Rooster roll his eyes next to Phoenix

The conversation continues and i chime in making my arrogant comments to continue the Hangman personality that everyone knows and loathes.

“Everyone here is the best there is, who are they gonna get to teach us.” Phoenix stated which caught my interest there was only two pilots i could think to teach us Athena who was not here yet……..and Maverick.

‘The best of the best isn’t here though is she Phoenix?’ Bradley answers and I see her face drop slightly. I knew Athena’s history with Bradley and I know her and Phoenix are close having done many deployments together before, she is definitely Athenas best female friend bordering on a sister bond.

‘Where is she hangman?’ Phoenix says in a low voice Coyote and Bradley looking at me as well. My breathe hitches

‘Deployment 3 months now but we haven’t been able to contact here for the last month and a half.’ I say sadly and they all nod, we know that it is normal to not have contact but between the four us we know she normally only gets sent on the tough and dangerous missions. Rooster pats my shoulder as he walks past ‘she will be alright Jake, shes tough.’ I nod slightly in response.

Suddenly the juke box was ripped out of the wall and keys of the piano started, i roll my eyes I know whats about to happen, i approach the bar Coyote not far behind me when I spot Amelia across the bar, Amelia who is supposed to be looking after Daisy, i shoot a look at Coyote who just nods and i take off around the bar.

‘Amelia, is everything okay where is Daisy?’ The panicked look on my face is enough to make her giggle.

‘She is fine, she is at home probably having a sleep over right now.’ Amelia knew of the tradition between Athena and Daisy, I quickly look at Penny.

‘Just this once Hangman, you can ring it up tomorrow,,,go’ she said with a wide smile, i quickly ran towards the door to my truck and took off down the street towards our house.

When i finally got there i noticed her car in the driveway and the porch lights still on. I entered the house quietly and made my way towards the room that had been empty for three months i slowly push the door open and smile at the sight in front of me. Under the light of the night light is my best friend, curled up in a pair of flannel pant and my old shirt from flight school which she denies she took, curling into her side is a mess of blonde hair belonging to my daughter. I move to take the book out of Athenas hand and turn the light of before pressing a kiss to my girls foreheads, slowly making my way out of the room with a wide smile on my face.

Readers POV

The sound of my alarm buzzing woke me up turning to look at the time seeing it was 0500 groaning slightly i threw my legs over the side of my bed and made my way to the bathroom careful not to disturb the sleeping 5 year old next to me. As i made the walk to the bathroom i could hear snoring coming from Jakes room shaking my head and giggle slightly at the fact he still tries to deny he snores. I showered and got dressed in my uniform, i quickly headed back into my room to grab my duffle with my flight suit and the folder of information before heading out the front door to my car. After a short drive I arrived on base at 0600 i had a meeting with Cyclone Warlock and Mav at 0730 and the squad is reporting at 0830. I headed into the recreation room smiling slightly when i notice that it hadn’t changed since my topgun days 8 years ago. I sat at the bar with the radio and finally opened the folder to read exactly who had been recalled and as I began reading i recognised all the names some more personal than others, one thing i did notice was next to 9 names including mine, Jakes and Mavericks had in bold letters: PERMANENT POSTING.

- Phoenix: my best female friend and like a sister too me

- Bob: he is like my younger brother we met a year ago on his first station after he graduated top gun I took the shy WSO under my wing when i heard people saying mean things to him

- Payback and Fanboy: very close friends of mine where there is one the other always follows that was the running jokes when we were deployed together

- Coyote: Jakes best mate, my close friend and Uncle Javy to Daisy

- And finally Rooster: my heart dropped looking at my older surrogate brother I knew he was an amazing pilot but he was family and that made me worry especially with Mav here as a teacher

All the listed names to be here permanently were my family which made me nervous, looking through the names of the reserves i recognised a few but knowing Cyclone wanted me to pick from the permanent members terrified me, I had to choose my closest friends for a suicide mission. I had the documents laid out looking at them lost in thought.

‘You’re here early’ i jumped and turned around to where the voice came from. I quickly got up a smile on my face and ran for a hug

‘Hi Uncle Mav.’

‘Hi kiddo, why didnt you tell us you were coming back’

‘I only found out an hour before they put me on a plane then when i got home i crashed as soon as my head hit the pillow.’

‘So team leader and instructor that a lot of responsibility for a lieutenant.’

‘Lieutenant Commander now Uncle Mav.’ He looked at me in shock ‘surprised Uncle Ice didn’t mention it’

‘I haven’t spoken to him yet when did this happen’ i laugh

‘About a 2 weeks ago’ he nodded before looking down at the folder, ‘you and him going to be okay?’

‘I don’t know kid, i really don’t’

‘You need to tell him Uncle Mav, aunt Carole would be mortified if she knew she was the reason this happened.’ Mav looked at me in shock ‘12 year olds hear everything Mav.’ I knew about Mav pulling the papers, Mum and I had been staying with Carole and Brad while she was sick, he was 18 and wanted to join up, i heard the phone call where carole asked Mav to pull his papers but no one ever knew and I never spoke of it until now.

‘We are going to be a permanent squad after this Mav, you are going to have to work it out.’

‘We have to get through this first, i don’t think everyone is going to come home from it’ i nodded lowly, i had done my fair share of dangerous missions but this one scared even me.

‘Then lets train them so they all come home.’

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lunarscribbles · 5 months ago

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hello! please ask me questions about my wips if you would like! there's 5 that i'm eager to chat about <3

1) untitled | jaime lannister x fem!reader | angst | long fic | game of thrones

from childhood friends to courting to betrothed, your relationship with jaime was smooth sailing until his sudden induction into the king's guard. decades pass without contact, until jaime's living nightmare thrusts the one he dreams of back into his life. snippet found here <3

2) this round’s on me | natasha 'pheonix' trace x fem!reader | fluff | one shot | top gun maverick

how your relationship with natasha unfolds through a series of beverage accompanied vignettes including champagne flutes, orange juice smiles and tea mugs.

3) untitled | margaery tyrell x fem!reader | angst | drabble | game of thrones

as danger grows in the lion's den of king's landing, margaery dismisses you from court and breaks both of your hearts in the process.

4) untitled | ron 'slider' kerner x fem!reader × tom 'iceman' kazansky | angst/fluff | one shot | top gun 1986

ice starts to doubt his place in your relationship and the impact it will have on his career if he follows his heart (probably canon divergence and an alternative history of the us military lol)

5) untitled | ascanio sforza x fem!reader (veering more platonic) | angst | one shot | the borgias

honestly not entirely sure but reader's a borgia in all but name and blood and has an odd relationship with the cardinal set in s1

#jaime lannister x reader #margaery tyrell x reader #game of thrones x reader #natasha trace x reader #top gun x reader #tom kazansky x reader #ron kerner x reader #top gun maverick x reader #.solarflare #.starshower

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missathlete31 · 2 years ago

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Nowhere to Run Chapter 1

Once the Daggers are allowed to be a permanent squadron, Maverick expects everyone to want to join. When Cyclone tells him he has one hold out, Mav decides to question the lone pilot, leading to a confrontation of epic proportions.

The Dagger Squad will never be the same

(Aka Bradley probably shouldn’t have gone on the mission and Jake states why)

In hindsight, Pete "Maverick" Mitchell should have known this was going to end badly. It wasn't that he had gone into the hanger expecting such a confrontation but he should have known that cornering any pilot, especially Jake "Hangman" Seresin was a dangerous move. So dangerous in fact that he wondered if their Dagger Squad would ever recover.

It all started when the team was called back after their three week courtesy leave from the Navy. They were told to report to Top Gun where Admiral Simpson and Admiral Bates met with each pilot and gave them the offer of joining the Daggers permanently. It seemed the Navy was impressed by what they were able to accomplish during the Uranium Mission and felt it was advantageous to keep this elite squad together. Maverick was overjoyed when he heard the news, it meant that Bradley would be stationed out of North Island, close to Maverick and Penny while also getting to stay with his friends. When Captain Mitchell was then offered to run the squadron (only in training, no more missions for him), the older man thought he couldn't be happier.

Maverick knew he shouldn't expect everyone to agree. These 12 pilots were the best of the best and had squadrons they trusted, postings they liked, or families that needed them elsewhere. He tried not to get his hopes up too much, chatting up Penny's ear whenever they had a private moment about how Payback might prefer a station closer to home, how Yale was always going to want to be on the East Coast, how Halo and Omaha might not have like flying together, how Pheonix and Bob might want to head to Lemoore, or any other excuse he could think of for each pilot. Penny would humor him each time with a patient smile that told him he was over thinking it and that he would just have to wait and see. Pete Mitchell hated waiting.

So when the day came and Simpson and Bates called him into their office, Maverick took a deep breath and waited to hear that the squadron wouldn't be happening. Too many no's, too many other squads or other plans or other choices. He was so ready to be turned down that Pete was shocked when Simpson began the meeting with a congratulations. So much so that the Captain missed most of everything else the Admiral was saying.

"-so the 11 will start and then when we find a replacement-"

Maverick zoned back in time to hear Simpson's last words, "wait" he held up a hand and tried not to smile as Beau rolled his eyes at being interrupted, "11? Who said no?"

"Lieutenant Seresin opted out of the squadron."

"Hangman? Really?" Pete couldn't contain his surprise. After the mission, after Hangman defied orders and saved Maverick and Rooster, everyone could see the way the man had changed. He was more open, less hostile, still cocky as anything but at a more accepting level. Hell Maverick was even growing rather fond of the kid. It stung a bit to think Seresin of all people would have declined working with them all. Though Maverick didn't know much about the Vigilantes, he assumed Hangman would have jumped at the opportunity to be a part of the best of the best. Pete tried not to show his disappointment, "So Seresin's going back to his old squadron then?" he questioned curiously.

"Actually" Bates drawled from the corner, "Lieutenant Seresin didn't request to go back to his squadron either."

Maverick's face turned quizzical, "so where does he want to go?"

The older of the Admirals shrugged, "he asked for a bit more time to think."

"Which is why" Simpson cut in, "we were hoping you could try talking to him."

"Me? Really?" at the flash of annoyance on his CO's face for yet another interruption, Mav gave an apologetic smile, "sorry Sir, but I mean, you think talking to me will help?"

"We are hoping he might be more forthcoming with you. It seems like the team as a whole has been much more receptive to each other since we've docked back in Miramar. If there is a hesitancy to get back in the cockpit, Seresin might find it easier to share with you than either I or Admiral Bates."

"You think he doesn't want to fly at all?"

"We're not sure" Cyclone motioned to the papers on his desk, "he passed his psych evaluation but we fear perhaps the mission was a bit more for him to work through than originally thought."

Bates nodded from the back, "And he did get another kill” the older man added solemnly, “that could be affecting him."

Maverick cursed himself for not noticing sooner. Taking a life, even in the armed services was a hard task, one that was also rare in their section of the Navy. Besides himself, Seresin was the only other active duty pilot with two to his name. While the psych evaluation was meant to look for any difficulty in the processing process, it wasn't foolproof. It could be very likely that Hangman was struggling with what he had to do in the air that day. If there was any doubt in his mind about his role or duty, as his CO and as someone that had grown to care for the man, Maverick knew he had to talk to him. "I'll talk to him this afternoon Sir" he offered Simpson.

"Good, let us know if you need anything on our end."

Maverick nodded, saluted them both and headed down to the hangars. When he arrived he was happy to see Hangman was the first to arrive, sitting in his usual seat in the front. Pete strolled down the aisle, trying to stay casual as he thought about the best way to start the conversation without seeming like a full fledged confrontation. As he got to his row, Jake looked over, offering a nod and a small greeting, "Sir" he acknowledged.

"Seresin" Mav answered back, "how you doing kid?"

The blonde shrugged, a look of suspicion in his green eyes, "fine Sir, you?"

"I'm alright-" Pete's voice died away in his indecision of how to broach the next subject. He knew the rest of the Daggers would be in any minute, so he had to ask fast, "Look Seresin, can we talk after the hops today?"

For once the blonde pilot refused to meet his eyes, instead looking nervously down at his hands,"Is something wrong?"

Pete leaned down on the desk, feeling like he was dwarfing the other pilot as Jake sank further in his chair, "I wanted to talk about you declining the Dagger squad. I was hoping we could discuss it together."

"With all due respect Sir" and Hangman was officially flushing in unease, "I made my decision on that matter."

Pete leaned back, surprised at the tone, "From what I hear from the Admirals," the captain broached delicately, "you seemed to make no decision. You don't want to join the squad but you don't want to go back to the Vigilantes either. Is it the flying Jake?" Maverick tried to move down to meet the man's eye a bit more, "are you nervous to fly another mission?"

"No" he shook his head, "I plan on going back to my old squad. I'm fine-"

"Jake" the other Daggers were filing into the hangar but Maverick didn't want to let the conversation stop right here. He knew it wasn't the smartest move but Maverick wasn't known for thinking things through, "don't you want to fly with your friends?" he continued to press, "Coyote? Omaha? Halo?"

"Of course I do."

Pete shook his head, not understanding, "Then why won't you join the Daggers?"

"It's because of you."

Of all the things Hangman had said in the weeks Maverick had known him (and it's been quite a bit from the talkative blonde), nothing had floored the seasoned pilot more than what he just uttered. He was so shocked he didn't even notice that the room had gone silent, the rest of the team catching the tail end of the discussion and was now listening with interest over the interaction. Pete cleared his throat, "I don't- what do you mean because of me? What did I do?"

"I don't trust your judgment Sir" and there were a few stunned gasps from the back of the room.

Mav ignored all the others, his eyes zeroing in on the pilot in the front row, "Is this because you were only the spare?"

Seresin moved his eyes to the floor, an obvious tell if Maverick ever saw one. When he didn't reply Maverick pushed again, "tell me that you aren't turning down an amazing opportunity because you're upset you weren't picked for the mission?"

"Wait, Bagman you're not joining the squad?" Phoenix asked in obvious surprise and then suddenly the room seemed to erupt with noise. Omaha was asking what the blonde was thinking, while Fanboy yelled about being a sore loser. Pete could see he was losing his moment, losing his chance to finally get into the infamous Hangman's head and see what the normally cocky Texan pilot was thinking. He raised a hand and looked to the rest of the room, "quiet" he ordered and everyone took their seats with closed mouths. "Jake" he turned back to Hangman, noticed the hitch in the man's shoulders, the way he was tapping his foot and playing with his fingers on the desk. "Let's go have this discussion in my office, okay? I'm fairly confident that if you really think about it, you'll see that being part of this squad would be the best place for you. I know that your ego was hurt not being picked but letting it ruin this chance for you-"

Green eyes flared up at him, an anger that he never saw in Hangman before appearing within them. "This isn't about my damn ego-"

"Jake" Coyote was standing up, the uncharacteristic display of emotions from his best friend making the other pilot instantly want to jump to his side, "we should go get some air. Sir, can you excuse us for a minute?"

"No" Jake rose too and flashed a look at Javy before motioning towards Machado's chair, "no, Javy sit, he wants this discussion then let's all have this discussion right?" He turned back to Maverick, a shark like smirk on his face, "you want to know the truth?"

"I do."

"Fine" the blonde slammed his hands down on the table dramatically, "You didn't pick me for the mission, fine. Did it sting? Yeah, it freaking did but you know I could have gotten past it if you had picked someone that deserved it instead of trying to use the spot to buy forgiveness."

At first the room was silent. Then as everyone processed Seresin’s words, the room seemed to explode again. It didn’t last long before a voice rang out louder and more pissed than them all combined. "Oh well fuck you Seresin-" Rooster began as he stood from his chair so quickly that it fell back behind him. The image of it all took Maverick's mind back to the eerily similar altercation during training. Except this time Hangman didn't look on smugly, he looked livid. "No" Jake turned around to face Bradley head on, "I'm getting this out Rooster so help me fucking God, so sit your ass down and shut the fuck up."

"I'm not going to let you talk about us like this" Bradley's brown eyes flared, no intention of backing down, "I'm not going to let you talk to Mav like this-"

"Then you can leave for all I care Bradshaw, if you're too cocky to listen-"

"Cocky ha!" Rooster looked around the room as though he was on a hidden camera show, "that's rich coming from you."

Jake shook his head like a disappointed parent, "you don’t get it."

“What don’t I get?” The other man egged on, his temper flaring, “that you’re still nursing your wounds from not being picked team leader or even a Dagger that you need to come in here and attack me and attack Maverick’s decision making?”

The blonde shook his head in exasperation, “you really don’t see it? How you should have never even been out there?”

“Screw you, I earned my place here!”

“No you were picked so Mav could win back your affections-“

Bradley looked murderous as he stared down Jake with visceral disgust, “Screw you, you asshole! Don’t even pretend to think you understand anything about our relationship!”

”You shouldn’t even have a relationship!” Hangman yelled back, his normally non-existent temper on full display now, “I’m sorry but there’s a reason that the Navy makes you disclose personal relationships with others especially your COs, to prevent conflicts of interest-“

”There was no conflict of interest!" Rooster yelled even louder, as though the higher the volume the more right he was in his convictions, "I was chosen because I did what needed to be done and got everyone home!”

”Is that really what you believe?” Jake asked despondently, “Jesus I always knew you were stubborn but I didn't think you were that oblivious. You need a wake-up call"

Rooster's eyes turned to slits, "I'll give you a fucking wake-up call-" he moved to take a step but Payback was holding his arm to keep him back. "Easy" the sidelined man urged but no one seemed to listen, their anger and emotions making them almost feral.

"Guys!" Phoenix was standing now too, looking to Maverick with a pleading expression for him to intervene. "Guys come on-"

"Yeah come on man," Billy called from the back, "let's all just take a minute-"

"No," Bradley brushed off Reuben's hand and moved to the aisle. He squared himself up facing Jake noticing both Coyote and Harvard moving to defend if necessary. Maverick though still stayed silent in the front of the room, whether shocked still or just watching how everything would proceed, no one could tell.

Hangman and Rooster locked eyes, inches apart. Bradley gave a sneer, "Okay I'll play along, let's let Hangman of all people tell me how I wasn't the right person to go on the mission. Go ahead."

"You were the only one who never made the time Rooster" Jake spoke viciously, his voice dangerously low.

"Excuse me?"

"You never made the course under the time. Not once in training-"

"I made it when it mattered!"

"Did you?" Hangman took a step back, "Maybe you don't remember but I sat on the carrier that day and listened to Payback and Fanboy beg you to speed up. Beg! And what did you do? You still slowed down!" The blonde walked away from the other pilot, pacing as he ranted to the shocked silent room, "You know what else I heard?" Jake continued, "Command, when they noticed that Payback had to rise up in the air to avoid hitting you. You know how close he was to hitting the SAMs threshold? Two feet. Two feet higher and we would have had two empty coffins to bury in the ground. No one talks about that huh? No one cares? Well I fucking care."

Before anyone could respond, Hangman turned swiftly back to his CO, Maverick shifting just the tiniest bit with unease when he was locked with devastating green eyes, "you asked us every damn day what would we tell our wingman's families" Jake reminded him, his voice sounding purely demoralized, "Well what would you have said to Payback's fiancé Jacqueline? Or Fanboy's parents Marco and Marcella? Hmm? That their fiancé and their son died because Rooster was having an existential crisis during a mission that he should have been disqualified for from the start? That he was chosen by the man that was the closest thing he had to a father growing up in a clear case of nepotism?"

Jake watched as Rooster instinctively turned to look at Payback and Fanboy, both looking pale as the truth came out. With the happiness of the mission being deemed a success no one talked about how close things came to falling apart. "You spent all of training convinced that your way was the right way Rooster, you didn't even listen to Mav-"

"And you did?" Rooster asked back incredulously, "you left everyone hanging- like you always do. Like you're known for. But I'm supposed to listen to you criticize me? You, the least team oriented man in the world?"

"I'm a lot of things and you can say what you want but I tried to do better. My last hop with Phoenix and Bob- we gelled perfectly, you all said it yourselves." Jake turned to the two other pilots, Phoenix watching him with wide eyes and a pained expression on her face, Bob with knowing eyes. "The two of you said it that last day too, 'It felt good, it felt right', you know you did, because we all listened to each other, we listened to Mav." Neither voiced an agreement but Jake just continued on with his argument, shifting to the back rows, "and Fritz with Payback and Fanboy, they were smooth and hit bull's-eye each time. They were the stronger team! Rooster was the only one who never had a successful run, who refused to even try to hit the time, who stubbornly insisted that going slower was fine."

"Fuck you-"

But Jake refused to stop now that he had gotten it going, "And how about the bombing? You didn't even give Fanboy a chance to lock on-"

"We had no time."

"You did" Hangman insisted, "It took Bob a few seconds too but Maverick waited. You didn't Rooster. You took the shot blind, a huge risk, all because you had no faith in Mickey."

Rooster's face blushed and he spun around to face the man in question, "That's not true" he told Fanboy but the man just stayed silent. Bradley turned back to Hangman, rage in his brown eyes, "I took the shot because the laser wasn't working. It wasn't Mickey's fault."

"I know it wasn't his fault."

"It wasn't my fault either asshole-"

“It could have been” Jake argued, “Rooster it was an almost impossible shot-“

“Yeah and I made it!”

”What if you didn’t? What if you going in blind, what if you not waiting, not giving Mickey a chance, meant the mission was a failure?” Hangman dropped his eyes to the floor, before he looked back at the others, “I know it wasn’t the case but does that mean we don’t talk about the risk he took out there? We don’t talk about all the ways it could have gone wrong?”

When no one replied, not in agreement or argument, Jake signed and turned back to Bradley. "How about coffin corner" the blonde edged, "was that your fault?"

Bradley paled, "what about it?"

"Dagger three and Dagger four came back with flares intact, you know why? Because you refused to even let them try to defend themselves-"

"I was protecting them you self righteous dick," he pushed into Jake's chest harshly but the other man held his ground, "I was protecting them like a good wingman does" Rooster pointed behind him, "like a teammate does. You wouldn't understand-"

Jake shook his head, "You're right I wouldn't have done what you did. I actually have faith in all the other pilots on this team. I wouldn't follow Phoenix's shadow or Payback's wing unless they called for me, unless they needed it, because every pilot in this room is the best of the best and knows how to evade. But not you Rooster, you didn't even try to get out of there, you put yourself and your team in more danger trying to cover them all and then when you really needed it, you had no flares for yourself. You forced Maverick to risk himself to save you. He was too compromised not to."

The room was deathly silent.

"And then you went back against orders, because you were too compromised to listen. You both should have never been allowed to serve together. You both could have died a million different ways. You both could have caused the deaths of other pilots on the squad as well." Hangman shifted, the last part of his argument directed right to Maverick who's green eyes looked sad at the way the conversation had turned. "So that's why I don't trust your judgment Sir," Jake began sadly, "I'm sorry but I can't."

"Seresin-"

"And the worst part" and somehow, embarrassingly, Jake realized that he had started to cry during his ranting. He wiped at his greens eyes stubbornly, "the worst part is that I want to be on this squad so badly, I want this team." He shook his head, "but I can't, it already compromised me as well.”

"When you flew out against orders" Maverick supplied gently. The blonde nodded, swallowing roughly, "I can't have that. I can't. I can't get attached to you all and then almost lose you. I can't have your relationship with Rooster mean I have to bury a friend. I need to be detached, I need separation-"

"Jake-"

But the blonde was done listening, all his fight was gone. "I don't belong here" he told the group, "and you don't want me anyway. Let me be Hangman, let me be the one man squad, it's better this way." He picked up his things from his desk and moved forward. Rooster, the only one still in the aisle, stared him down before moving to his left allowing the other to pass. Jake, for just the briefest moment thought someone would speak up, someone would stop him but they didn’t. Instead Hangman continued his walk out of the hangar as he left the best team he ever was a part of, the best chance he ever had at a family, behind.

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nickeverdeen · 3 months ago

Note

https://www.tumblr.com/nickeverdeen/759609714887835648/reblog-if-its-okay-to-befriend-you-ask?source=share

consider all your fandoms (at least the ones on your masterlist). Which character you like to write the most (from each of these fandoms)?

Character? So just one? Damn…

———

Overwatch = Tracer

The Maze Runner = Sonya

The Hunger Games = Katniss

Harry Potter = Hermione Granger

Arcane = Vi

Divergent = Christina

The 100 = Octavia Blake

Detroit Become Human = Connor RK800 (deviant)

The Legend of Korra = Korra

Avatar The Last Airbender = Zuko

The Arrow = Mia Smoak/Queen

The Umbrella Academy = Viktor Hargreeves

The Sparrow Academy = Ben Hargreeves (or Jayme they’re 50/50)

The Last Of Us 1 = Joel Miller

The Last Of Us 2 = Dina

Horizon Zero Dawn = Aloy (or Vala it’s 50/50)

Spider-Man Across The Spiderverse = Gwen Stacy

Nimona = Nimona

Outer Banks = JJ Maybank

Five Nights At Freddy’s = Vanessa Afton

Afton Family = Michael Schmidt

The Old Guard = Andy

Willow = Kit Tanthalos

Percy Jackson show = Luke Castellan

Percy Jackson books = Leo Valdez

Star Wars = Anakin Skywalker

Avengers = Natasha Romanoff

Spider-Men = Peter Parker 3 (Andrew Garfield’s)

The Guardians of Galaxy = Peter Quill

S.H.I.E.L.D. = Maria Hill

Black Panther = Shuri

Young Avengers = Kate Bishop

Fourth Wing = Sawyer

Top Gun = Pete “Maverick” Mitchell

The Devil All The Time (to be posted) = Arvin Russell

Horizon Forbidden West (to be posted) = Beta (or Aloy as again it’s 50/50)

Top Gun: Maverick (to be posted) = Natasha “Pheonix” Trace

Iron Flame (to be posted) = Mira Sorrengail

The Ballad of Snakes and Songbirds (to be posted) = Treech

Call Of Duty WW2 (to be posted) = Olivia Durant

The Medium (to be posted) = Marianne Rekowicz

The Powerful Elites (to be posted) = Zero Anderson (or Reyes Alpin as it’s again 50/50)

#fandoms #favourites #favourite characters

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naturesfirstgreenisgold · 2 years ago

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Dating Natasha Trace (In ABC order with artist and album)

505- Favourite Worst Night -Arctic Monkeys

Adore You- Fine Line- Harry Styles

After Glow- Lover- Taylor Swift

Anti-Hero- Midnights- Taylor Swift

august- folklore- Taylor Swift

Carolina- Harry Styles- Harry Styles

Car’s Outside- Sped Up version- Car’s Outside- James Arthur

Cruel Summer- Lover- Taylor Swift

Daddy Issues (Remix) feat. Syd- Daddy Issues (Remix) feat. Syd- The Neighbourhood, Syd

Dandelions- Safe Haven- Ruth B.

Dandelions- slowed+ reverb- Dandelions- slowed+ reverb- Ruth B., slater

die first- young forever- Nessa Barrett

die first- sped up version - die first (love forever)- Nessa Barrett, Sped up songs + Nightcore

Don’t Blame Me- reputation- Taylor Swift

Ever Since New York- Harry Styles- Harry Styles

Family Line- Superache- Conan Gray

favorite crime- SOUR- Olivia Rodrigo

fOoL fOr YoU- Mind of Mine (Deluxe Edition)- ZAYN

Glimpse of Us- SMITHEREENS- Joji

God Gave Me You- Red River Blue (Deluxe Edition)- Blake Shelton

Great Ball of Fire- The Essential Jerry Lee Lewis [The Sun Sessions]- Jerry Lee Lewis

Happier Than Ever- Happier Than Ever- Billie Eilish

Happy Anywhere (feat. Gwen Stefani)- Body Language- Blake Shelton, Gwen Stefani

Hold My Hand- Hold My Hand (Music From The Motion Picture “Top Gun Maverick”)- Lady Gaga

I Ain’t Worried- I Ain’t Worried (Music From The Motion Picture “Top Gun Maverick”)- One Republic

I Wanna Be Yours- AM- Arctic Monkeys

Kiwi- Harry Styles- Harry Styles

Late Night Talking- Harry’s House- Harry Styles

Lights- Sped Up Version- Lights (Sped Up Version)- Ellie Goulding, Speed Radio

Little Freak - Harry’s House- Harry Styles

Love Of My Life - Harry’s House- Harry Styles

Mary On A Cross- [MESSAGE FROM THE CLERGY]- Ghost

Meet Me in the Hallway- Harry Styles- Harry Styles

Memories- Superache- Conan Gray

Movies- Superache- Conan Gray

Only Angel- Harry Styles- Harry Styles

Only Love Can Hurt Like This- A Perfect Contradiction ( Outsiders’ Expanded Edition)- Paloma Faith

Only Love Can Hurt Like This- Slowed Down Version- Only Love Can Hurt Like This (Slowed Down Version) Paloma Faith

Paper Rings- Lover- Taylor Swift

People Watching- Superache- Conan Gray

People You Know- Rare- Selena Gomez

right where you left me- bonus track- evermore (deluxe version) Taylor Swift

Still Got Time ( feat. PARTYNEXTDOOR)- Still Got Time ( feat. PARTYNEXTDOOR)- ZAYN, PARTYNEXTDOOR

Summertime Sadness- Sped Up- Summertime Sadness (Sped Up) Lana Del Ray, Speed Radio

Sweater Weather- I Love You.- The Neighbourhood

Sweet Creature- Harry Styles- Harry Styles

Take Me to Church- Hozier (Expanded Edition)- Hozier

Take My Breath Away- Top Gun- Motion Picture Soundtrack (Special Expanded Edition)- Berlin

Teenage Dream- Teenage Dream- Stephen Dawes

They Don’t Know About Us- Take Me Home (Expanded Edition)- One Direction

This Love (Taylor’s Version)- This Love ( Taylor’s Version)- Taylor Swift

Until I Found You- Easy On My Eyes- Stephen Sanchez

Until I Found You (Sped Up)- Remix-Until I Found You (Sped Up)- Remix- DJ Fronteo

Until I Found You (with Em Beihold)-Em Beiholds Version- Until I Found You (Em Beiholds)- Stephen Sanchez, Em Beiholds

The Way I Loved You (Taylor’s Version)- Fearless (Taylor’s Version)- Taylor Swift

we fell in love in october-we fell in love in october/ October Passed Me By- Girl in Red

Wildest Dreams (Taylor’s Version)-Wildest Dreams (Taylor’s Version)- Taylor Swift

Wish You Were Sober- Kid Krow- Conan Gray

Woman- Harry Styles- Harry Styles

You Belong With Me (Taylor Version)- Fearless (Taylor Version)- Taylor Swift

#top gun fandom #playlist #natasha phoenix trace #natasha trace #phoenix top gun #phoenix trace #top gun #top gun maverick #Spotify

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ebimdae22 · 2 years ago

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#hangman x rooster #bradley rooster bradshaw #jake hangman seresin #pete maverick mitchell #tgm #top gun maverick #natasha pheonix trace #robert bob floyd #you can’t convince me that Phoenix didn’t get her call sign from starting fires #but like fun fires #top gun

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planesgobrrrrrrrrr · 2 years ago

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This is so cringe *bang* guilty.

i refresh the Rooster/Phoenix AO3 tag like an embarrassing number of times every day

#i cant help it #I’m gay and have access to the internet #what do you want from me #Pheonix x rooster #Natasha trace x Bradley Bradshaw #top gun maverick

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kryptonitejelly · 2 years ago

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Flyboy (Part 4) | Jake Seresin x Reader Top Gun: Maverick - Jake Seresin x Reader Genre: romance; fluff; angst; best friends to lovers Warnings: tw: sex (penetrative, fingering, oral sex); general hangman being hangman; sexual tension; general cursing; will contain mentions of a break up / previous relationship; general use of pet names; fem!reader; pining; general naval / flying inaccuracies; football inaccuracies. Length: Mini-series, chaptered - Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Epilogue

Summary: Jake gets called back to TOPGUN the same time you’ve been granted a sabbatical from work. He invites you, his purely platonic best friend of years, to live with him for 6 months and you accept. Just two best friends kicking it back for 6 months in San Diego, Fightertown USA, right?

A/N: They are a bit angsty here, but I swear guys it’s all the tension that’s been building, can you blame them? We are more than half way through, just two more parts and the epilogue. I have the exact end of Part 6 written out already 🫣 just not yknow 5, the rest of 6 and the epilogue.

Again thank you for the love - all your reblog, tags, comments and likes are much appreciated <3 i love reading them, please please leave them! This chapter has smut, and I’m not good at writing it, so you have been warned. MINORS DNI.

Flyboy | Mini-Series Masterlist

(If you haven’t already seen them - blurbs and asks (one-shots coming soon) are also listed on the Flyboy masterlist!)

Flyboy - Part 4

PART 3 <<

Approximately 7.0 k words

J: Come to the beach just outside The Hard Deck. 3pm.

You had been in the gym when you had received his text, his name flashing across the smart watch on your wrist as you re-racked a pair of dumbbells. You had responded by snapping a sweaty selfie of yourself, brow raised in question, your hair pulled back, face glowing with a sheen of sweat and post work out adrenaline.

He had responded with a picture of Rooster standing in the middle of the rec room, one of his trademark Hawaiian shirts hanging open around his body, football in hand.

Rooster coming through with the abs.

Your lip twists up in amusement as you send out your text, knowing that it would get him fired up. Your phone dings not even a minute later, and you swipe the message open to reveal a close- up picture, taken from top down of nothing but a set of chiseled muscle. The shade of skin tells you that it’s Jake’s, but his next message confirms it for you.

J: He isn’t the only one.

It makes you chortle as you sink down onto a workout bench. You feel your phone ping again, and you unlock it to a text from Pheonix.

Tash: You won’t happen to know why Hangman is lifting his shirt to take a picture of his abs in the middle of the rec room would you?

It makes your nose wrinkle up in amusement, a peel of laughter dropping from your lips.

The past week and a half since you had both returned from New York had been strange, with both you and Jake existing in a kind of limbo. Training had kicked up a notch for him again, with Cyclone and Warlock demanding an increased level of intensity of the programme. They weren’t the ones being trained this time around, but from the faces of the group that filtered into your house each night for dinner, it didn’t matter. It was obvious from their faces that they were all beat from the earlier mornings, ramped up physical exercises, and increased flight time. As much as they loved being airborne, it was an intensely physically demanding activity. Between his increased workload, and you having taken on tutoring Amelia on weeknights for her upcoming exams, you both hardly had a moment alone to yourselves, much less together.

It was not to say that there hadn’t been a shift between you both, because that much was undeniable. You and Jake remained you and Jake, but with an added layer of nuance to your relationship. It was something that you both felt - when his hand brushed against yours in the kitchen while the group was gathering up the dishes for dinner, when your knee bumped into his under the table at dinner and stayed leaning against his leg, the look in his eyes when he bade you goodnight midway through your session with Amelia, dragging himself off to bed in preparation for an early morning - but hadn’t had the chance to figure out.

“Sandwiches from Joe’s Deli.” You raise your hand, brown paper bag dangling from your fingers as you saunter up to the picnic benches facing the beach outside of The Hard Deck.

“Which ones?” Penny asks you, as she gathers hair hair into a ponytail behind her.

“Cuban and roast chicken, figured we could take a half of each.” You slide into onto the bench, pushing your shades up onto your head before you pull the contents of the bag out.

“So what’s the beach about, any idea?” You ask as you unwrap your half of sandwich before biting in.

“Dogfight football,” she explains in between bites of her own. “Something Pete had them do the last time around to bond them. You run offense and defense at the same time. It’s hard to explain, but you’ll see.”

You nod slowly, trying to grasp the idea as you brush crumbs off the front of the oversized shirt you had swapped your sweaty gym top for.

“Or, it’s basically a fancy term for bunch of half naked aviators running around getting sweaty and sandy while tossing around a ball.” She throws a wink in your direction.

“Does seeing Mav sweaty and sandy do it for you?” You tease.

“Honey,” she say looks at you point blank, unfazed, with a sly grin on her face “seeing that man in anything does it for me.”

The rumble of engines pulling up into the parking lot of The Hard Deck signals the group’s arrival. You have your back facing the parking lot, but the wide smile that breaks across Penny’s face lets you know that they have walked into view, Pete at the helm. You prop your chin up on your palm as the Captain walks up beside Penny, greeting her with a kiss to the lips to a round of whistles from the trainees who are filtering past the bench onto the sand.

“Hey Mav.” You offer a smile as they pull apart, turning their attention to you.

“Joining us for football?” He tilts his head towards the sand. “We’re severely underrepresented on the female front.” He pauses as he sees Jake walk into view, “and Hangman said you’ve got a mean arm.”

“I have brothers,” you explain, “they were really into football growing up. Got forced to pick it up.”

“You have to join,” Phoenix's voice cuts in as she pushes past Jake on their way towards the bench, to come up from behind, sliding into the seat beside you. “I’m sick of being around all these testosterone monkeys.” Her comment makes you eyeball the predominantly male crowd, picking out just another two female trainees.

“Don’t see you being sick of Rooster.” You don’t turn, but you can feel Jake’s presence behind you before he even speaks.

“Fuck off.” Phoenix glares daggers towards Jake.

“You’re the number one testosterone monkey she’s sick off.” Rooster chimes in, coming to join the group surrounding the table. He lowers his shades to look at you. “I don’t know how you live with him.”

“He’s insufferable.” Phoenix agrees. “Doesn’t it get tiring sharing a space with all that?” She gestures towards Jake a mock grimace on her face. “All that male bravado.”

“You’ll get used to it once he forces you to spend enough years tolerating him.” You deadpan, managing to keep the smile that threatens to curl around your lips off your face.

“Ya’ll are just haters.” Jake scoffs, tossing the football in his hands into the crowd on the beach, trusting that someone would catch it, before letting his elbow hang loosely from one your shoulders.

“You’re playing.” Phoenix grabs your arm as she stands and you sigh in defeat.

“There is no way I’m getting out of this am I?”

“None.” The chorus of voices from Phoenix, Rooster, Penny, Mav and Jake ring out in unison and you push yourself to a stand. It makes Jake move his arm off from your shoulder, fingers brushing against your lower back as it drops. “Fine, I’ll join.”

It earns a whoop from Phoenix who slaps Rooster’s hand in a high-five, the two running off towards the sand.

“You’re on my team.” Phoenix calls back to you, just as Maverick squeezes Penny’s shoulder, before following, a chuckle on his lips.

“I’m guessing you aren’t on their team?” You ask as you reach for the bottom of your shirt, tugging it over your head to reveal a sports bra and a pair of sports shorts, not keen on getting your clean shirt wet and sandy. You bend to stuff your shirt and sunglasses into your bag before hoisting it onto the table, your wordless request to Penny to keep on eye on your bag met with a nod from her.

“Any team with me is the winning team sweetheart.” Jake says, letting his gaze drop, trailing along your body, before coming back up lazily to meet your eyes. He is unbothered by Penny’s presence and the curious, yet knowing look she is giving you both. You feel a rush of heat burn it’s way along your core, watching his gaze as it travels over you.

“We’ll see about that,” you reach to put your hair up, throwing him a smirk before walking towards the group, his gaze burning into you as you walk away.

“Oh Lieutenant.”

The grating sound of the blonde female trainee, Becca’s voice makes you roll your eyes as you throw a glance towards her. You grit your teeth, causing your jaw to clench down as you see her throw her head back in a laugh, one of her hands coming to rest on Jake’s bare bicep.

You don’t hear what he says in quick response, but Jake doesn’t engage, choosing instead to turn his head towards Coyote, both men steeped in conversation.

“She’s noisy.” You grumble as you flop down on the sand in between Bob and Fanboy.

“She’s…. chatty.” Bob responds, as the three of look over to Becca whose fingers are still resting on Jake’s bicep.

“She’s been trying to get his attention since day one,” Fanboy says, tilting his chin towards both her and Jake.

“Not that he seems to care.” Bob adds, before shooting a subtly timed glance at you.

You make a non-committal grunt as a response, shoulders going upward in a shrug as you tear your gaze away from the blonde pair, focusing it instead on the aviators running around in front of you.

“Tash.” You shout, arms outstretched as you duck past two of the trainees on the opposing team. Phoenix looks to you, faking left before tossing the ball right towards you. You catch it in midair, before pivoting on your heels, feet sprinting past Payback towards the touchdown line marked out by a line in the sand. The line is meters within your reach when you feel a body collide with your legs, hands pulling you around your waist down to the sand. The ball rolls out of your hands on impact and you swear, sitting up to dust sand off from your hands to find yourself face to face with twinkling green eyes.

“You’ve always been mouthy on the field.” He says, between short breaths of air, only to have you mumble another curse under your breath.

“Yeah, well at least I’m focused on the game Lieutenant.” You grumble, biting out the last part of your sentence in imitation of what you had heard earlier as you push your hands and feet against the sand, staggering upright.

There is a hint of initial confusion on Jake’s face at the start of your sentence, but it instantly shifts to understanding at the last word.

“Are you,” he says while pushing himself into a more graceful stand so that he towers over you, “jealous?”

You squint upwards only to find his features etched into a smug, wide grin that is barely visible due to the sunlight fanning out from behind him.

“No.” You attempt at nonchalance is thwarted by the hard edge to your voice.

“Darlin,” he starts to say, but you choose to glare at him, mouth opening to cut him off.

“No.” You enunciate the single word clearly, loudly, as you flip yourself around, bending swiftly to pick up the ball before launching it at Jake. “Your ball Seresin.”

You had thrown it hard, but Jake catches it with ease, absorbing the impact in his hands and with his body as he watches you stalk away, the smug grin now a small smile furling out at the corners of his lips.

You are running across the sand, your eyes trained on the ball like a hawk, your frustration translating into hyper-focus.

“Pass it,” you yell to one of the trainees on your team. He throws it in your direction while on the run and you stretch out to catch the ball which shoots a bit past your reach, only for a flash of blonde hair and pale skin to lunge past you. Becca catches the ball on the fly and you find swear loudly, your legs picking up speed. You follow as she zips past Fanboy, propelling yourself in a small spin so that you are facing her, before you lunge forward with a jump off the sand. Your hands grab her hips, fingers pushing into her flesh for grip as your shoulder collides into her chest. You push forward and let the weight of your body and momentum slam her into the sand.

The ball rolls out of her hands, and you let yourself roll off her, the force from the sudden burst of energy behind your tackle causing your chest to heave up and down in exertion.

“My god,” you hear Becca’s whine as she clambers into an upright position to glare at you, “did you have to be so brutal?”

“It’s football, get over it.” You say as push yourself up into a seated position, fully intending to right yourself into a stand when you feel her fingers digging into your forearm.

“The force was uncalled for,” she says again, and you look to find her eyes narrowed at you. “Who the heck are you anyway? You aren’t one of us.” Her last question leaves you smarting, as you tear your hand forcefully out of her grip, your legs moving you away from her.

“Hey,” she rushes herself to a stand, following after you, “you just some rando who decided to join our game?”

You exhale loudly, your eyes rolling upwards to the sky in a mixture of both anger and exasperation.

“I-” You brace yourself, turning around to come nose to nose with Becca.

“Williams.” Tash voice breaks in, her tone icy. “Watch your tone.”

“M’am, I-” Becca pales, slipping into a tone of address that showcases her slightly lower rank, and place on the totem pole that is TOPGUN.

“She’s my friend and here at my invitation.” You watch as Tash comes to stand beside you, her feet squaring as she stares Becca down. “I think that makes her as much of one of us as you are, don’t you?”

Your brain fogs with admiration for Tash in the moment, her steely but calm demeanour reminding you just why she is where she is.

“Yes M’am.” Becca stammers, as Tash shoots her a dismissive look, indicating that the conversation had ended.

“You okay?” Tash turns to you, friendly concern on her features. “They get a bit too big for their britches just because they get called here.” She explains, and you offer a tired smile.

“Fine Tash.” You nod, “thanks for that.”

“Just stepping in to save her,” she winks at you, “pretty sure you would have been the more lethal poison.”

“Hey, what happened?” You feel Jake’s fingers touch your elbow lightly, right as he jogs up to both of you, brows knitted slightly, genuine concern on his face. He had been standing on the sidelines, but his eye had been on you the whole time. He had watched the interaction, not thinking much of it, apart from that it was a tackle. But them moment he had seen your body language shift and you tense up, he had started to weave his way towards you. And, the moment he had seen Phoenix cut in, he was jogging across the sand towards you.

“Williams,” Tash explains with a shrug, not delving into detail.

“I’m going to sit out for a while, sub me.” You tell Tash and she nods, jogging back towards the group on the sand.

“Something is on your mind.” Jake says pointedly as he follows you back to the picnic bench you had vacated earlier. You see Penny two benches away, phone pressed to her ear in conversation and you and Jake each raise a hand in greeting which she acknowledges with a nod.

“Go back to football Lieutenant.” You say as you pull your phone from your bag, clicking through your notifications.

Jake plans himself down on the bench, his gaze fixed on you as you flick through the notification banners on your phone. He wasn’t used to seeing you like this, uncharacteristically closed off, and uncommunicative.

“What?” You ask, feeling his gaze on you, but refusing to look up at him.

“Talk to me.” He says, the surprising amount of patience in his voice being the thing that finally makes you look at him and straight into greens which implore you to tell him what is on your mind. Perhaps it was the unspoken words, unsorted feelings, and unresolved tension that had been building since the day of Annie’s wedding, but you feel it - a crackle of electricity between you both as he stared straight into your eyes.

“I’m going to get some water.” You mumble, dumping your phone onto the table with a clatter, your eyes shying away from the intensity of the look he has directed at you.

Your phone rings, as soon as you step into The Hard Deck. Jake glances down at the unknown number flashing across your screen. He picks it up, swiping across the screen to answer without much thought.

“Hello?” He says, only to hear a voice he recognises calling out your name in confusion.

“Dan.” Jake’s lips press into a firm line, distaste on his voice.

“Jake.” Dan says, tone equally cool. “Look just get her to call me back alright? I’m returning her calls from last night.”

The sentence makes Jake’s mind whirl, an uncomfortable feeling balling in his chest. His stomach feels like it has dropped a million feet below ground. He doesn’t respond to Dan, choosing instead to end the call. He keeps your phone clutched in his hand, knuckles whitening from the force with which he is gripping the device.

He sees you exit The Hard Deck, glass of water in your hand.

“You called Dan?” He spits out, voice loud as he whips his head around to focus on you.

You eye your phone on the table. The heat of his gaze feels like it could burn through you.

“No one asked you to answer my phone.” You shoot back, your own eyes flashing with rage. Normally, Jake answering or even using your phone unsanctioned wouldn’t have bothered you in the slightest, but your irritation from your earlier interaction with Becca rises up, bubbling into an anger.

“You called Dan.” He says again, maintaining his volume, repeating his accusation.

You had called Dan the night before that much was true. However, you had called him solely at the behest of another one of your colleagues, to sort of work related matters which were best and more quickly dealt with over the phone.

“And?” You walk up to the picnic table, placing your glass down with more force than necessary, causing water to slosh out from the side. You tilt your head down slightly to stare straight at Jake, arms folded tightly across your chest, refusing to explain in the moment in the face of his aggression and your original irritation.

“And?” He throws his hands in the air, rising to full height, forcing you to tilt your head upwards instead. “Why the fuck are you still calling Dan?”

You want to wince at his words, his anger, but you steel yourself, your fingers gripping the side of your own arm instead. Jake fights like anyone would expect Jake to fight, he is aggressive, brusque, words harsh and cutting. He would never lay a hand on a woman, much less you, but the lack of physicality manifests itself in waves of anger and extreme hostility that roll off him.

“Why the fuck is that any of your business?” You counter back, seething.

“Why the fuck, is that any of my fucking business?” You see his jaw clench and the vein in his neck strain. You both fall silent, staring at each other for what seems like an uncomfortable eternity, before he throws his hands in the air. “Maybe it’s none of my fucking business.” He finally says, voice thin, dropping back to a normal decibel. You see the intensity in his features falter slightly, doubt flooding his eyes, but his jaw remains clenched tightly.

Jake turns, and you stand, frozen, watch him walk back onto the sand, grabbing up his shirt and shades before heading back towards the parking lots.

“Jake.” You call, your body shifting to face his vanishing back. He doesn’t respond. “Jake.” You try again, louder this time, but he continues walking away. He disappears around the corner, and you hear the faint sounds of a car door slamming and the engine of his truck starting up. He hasn’t said anything more, hasn’t done anything, hasn’t laid a hand on you, but there a pain blistering through your chest.

“Hey,” you feel a gentle hand come to rest on your arm, pulling you back into the now, “are you okay?” Penny asks.

“I don’t know,” you find yourself admitting, as you continue to stare at the corner Jake had disappeared around despite him being long gone by now.

You end at at Penny’s that night, tutoring Amelia from Penny’s dining table instead of your own. Penny had invited you over, insisting that you take a shower while she made you dinner, with no obligation on you to help Amelia out with her school work that night. You had accepted the invitation, showered, changed into a set of Penny’s clothes, sat through dinner, letting the conversation between the mother and daughter duo distract you. You had smiled and laughed your way through dinner, but Penny had noticed how your smile didn’t hit your eyes the way it usually did.

“You know, you both could take a day off.” Penny says, as she wipes her hands against a dishcloth as she eyes you and Amelia, both hunched over in the corner of the dining room table, Amelia’s school work spread across the dark mahogany of her table.

“I can handle it myself today.” Amelia offers to you, her eyes glancing up as the tip of her pen pauses over paper.

“Nah, I’m good.” You offer both a small smile before you turn back to the words in front of you. The words on the page blur, as your eyes un-focus, your memory clouding instead with the image of Jake walking away, burning through your mind, playing on repeat. Jake had never, in your years of friendship walked away from you once before - not once. You had both fought, shouted it out at each other before, but he had never walked away from you. Jake had always stuck around, walked you home, you both bristling in anger and silence, even after you both fought tooth and nail, tearing at each others throats. You had never had to call out to him twice, much less watch him walk away.

“Do you want to stay here for the night?” Penny asks you as she walks over to the table, placing a hand on the backs of each yours and Amelia’s chairs.

“Please?” You ask, and she nods, giving your shoulder a reassuring squeeze. Not being here, meant being back home with Jake, or worse, without him.

“Of course, I’ll grab some clean sheets for the guest room.” Penny walks towards the back of the house as the doorbell rings. “Can you get that, I think it’s Pete.” She calls out to you.

“Sure.” You push your chair back to a stand and make your way to the front door, pulling it open to reveal two different sets of green eyes staring back at you.

“Found him in the gym at the base abusing a punching bag.” Pete says before either you or Jake can speak.

Pete offers you a smile, clapping you gently on the shoulder before making his way past you and into the house. It leaves you to look at Jake, hair damp from a shower which you assumed Pete must have forced him to take as a literal and figurative cooldown before dragging him over, dressed in a white tee and grey sweatpants. His knuckles are red, the skin on them looking raw and battered.

Jake takes you in, your hand still on the door handle, dressed not too dissimilarly from him in a pair of Penny’s old sweatpants and a dark plain tee. He had regretted walking away from you the moment he did, regretted it even more each time you had called his name, but his legs had kept moving forward, rage masking fear clawing through him. The thought of you calling Dan had sent his thoughts straight into a tailspin. You both hadn’t had the time to tackle the issue properly post Annie’s wedding, but Jake had thought, assumed that it was clear that you both meant more to each other even without words. Hearing Dan’s voice on the phone, hearing that you had called him, and you not providing an explanation immediately, had made him think the worst.

“Can we go,” he speaks first, both your gazes locked firmly onto each other, each assessing the other silently, “home?” he asks, almost afraid to. Jake’s jaw is still tense. His earlier feelings of rage and fear are still stewing in him, circling his belly, running through his veins, but Jake knows that in spite of everything, he doesn’t want to go back alone to a house that doesn’t have you.

You both end up driving back separately, you pulling up onto the driveway before him. Neither of you speaks as you walk up to the house, as you unlock the front door and Jake shuts it behind you as you tug your shoes off. He follows suit, tugging his own shoes off before following you as you enter the kitchen.

“I called Dan last night for work.” You finally speak up as you enter the house, dumping your bag down on the table in the dining room. You turn to lean against the table, arms folded defensively across your body to face Jake who stands a short distance away. You watch as he drags his hand across his forehand only to rake it through his hair, before you continue with your explanation, one that you should have given hours ago. “It was at the request of someone who is handling something I was working on, and it was faster to pick up the phone and give him a call.”

You eye Jake as he continues to stare straight at you.

“I didn’t want to send him a text and draw out the conversation,” you shrug, your shoulder lifting slightly, “didn’t want to have to open my work laptop either.”

Jake takes a step towards you, the knot of rage and fear swirling through his veins undoing itself almost instantly.

“I thought…” he starts, and you loosen the fold of your arms across your chest slightly, unknowingly as he nears.

“No.” You cut him off, without needing him to finish his sentence. You knew his question, knew what he thought. “I’ve told you before Jake,” you reference your conversation from the other night, enunciating each word clearly so that your intention is clear, “no.”

He comes to a stop in front of you and you unfold your arms, palms coming to grip the sides of the dining table. He is close enough that you can see the first signs of sunburn which has started to bloom across his face, cheeks, the bridge of his nose, the faint pink mixing in with his tan, standing out against the greens of his eyes. You can hear the sound of his breathing, clear against the silence of the night. He moves, just an inch closer to you, and you hold his gaze.

“No.” He murmurs, and his face moves an inch down, and closer to yours.

“No.” You respond, a sudden, slight rasp to your voice as your eyes flicker to his mouth, remembering the feeling of his lips against yours.

He slots his hands onto the dining table, in the small space between your own palms which are against the wood, and your body, looking at you once more, searching, giving you a chance to move away, but you don’t, the pace of your heartbeat quickening. The tension between you both is thick, heavy, palpable.

“Jake?” You ask, your voice low, soft.

“Yeah.” He says, not a question, and you can feel him stepping in between your legs.

“Just fucking kiss me already.”

It’s all he need, and Jake obliges, his lips come crashing down against yours, both your teeth clinking together. Jake slides his hands around your hips, lifting you onto the edge of the table, and your hands go straight onto the back of his head, gripping his hair, pulling him urgently towards you. It’s messy, desperate, urgent, unlike the first kiss you had shared at Annie’s wedding, weeks, or even years of tension build up between you both exploding at once. You were friends, just best friends, and this shouldn’t have felt so right, but it did.

You feel Jake’s tongue swipe against your bottom lip, asking, and you grant him access. His hands move under your shirt and up your body. You feel his fingers run up your sides, gripping your ribs, and you take it as an invitation to move your hands down and under his shirt, palms placed flat against his abdomen, feeling the lines and ridges of his body. His hand moves up, finger’s finding their way along the curve of your bare breasts.

“You aren’t wearing a bra.” He manages to groan through the kiss.

“Penny didn’t have one for me.” You gasp as he tears away from your, his lips coming to graze your neck instead. His fingers work their way to across the pebbled skin of your nipples, rolling each bud and it makes you grip his waist to press your clothed hips into his. You grab the bottom of his shirt, pushing it upwards. He reads your cue, and pulls away momentarily to yank his tee across his head, tossing it behind him.

“All you had to do was ask.” He tells you. Jake’s eyes are dark with arousal, but the smug, mischievous uptick of his lips let’s you know that despite this, despite the fact that your hips are pressed against his, despite the fact that he had your breast in his hands, lips against your neck moments ago, despite the fact that you can feel the hardening bulge in his sweatpants - he is still Jake, the Jake that you know, your Jake even in this moment.

“Shut up,” you growl, putting your hands on the bottom of your own shirt, pulling it over your head and dropping it onto the table behind you. Jake takes in the sight, the look on his face sending a shot of fire straight down to your core. His hands are on the waistband of your sweatpants almost immediately, tugging them down. “Eager?”

“Very.” He responds, the register of his voice deeper, coated with lust as his lips crash into yours once more.

“She didn’t have underwear for me either.” You mutter against the kiss as you lift your hips, letting him slide the garment off you. It makes him groan again, loudly this time against your mouth. Jake grips each of your thighs with his hands and pulls away, allowing his eyes to travel across your body, to drink you in.

“Like what you see?” You ask in imitation of him from the other morning, clad in nothing but his towel. You had expected yourself to be shy, for there to be an undercurrent of awkwardness between you both, but it was clear that you both wanted, needed each other as much as the other and seeing Jake in front of you, knowing that it was Jake in front of you made you forget any notion of that. He was Jake, and you were you, and you could be you.

“Baby,” he says, unfazed at your imitation, the term from his lips making you weak, as he grips the flesh of your thighs harder, “you have no idea.” Jake punctuates his sentence by trailing his hand up your inner thigh to draw a finger across your already dripping slit. The contact makes you moan as you throw your head backwards, arching your back.

“You’re so wet,” he mumbles, as he drops to his knees. He doesn’t give you a chance to think, pulling you to the edge of the table, leaving a track of your arousal on the wood as he pulls you forward, before spreading your knees wider apart.

“Jake,” you breathe and he throws you a smirk before bringing his mouth to your cunt, tongue licking a long flat strip against your slit, before swirling around your clit. His eyes are locked onto yourself, and you find yourself staring at him with his mouth fixed on your cunt. It makes you moan, loud, needy, desperate, and your hands grip into his hair. “Fuck.”

Jake eats you out like a man starved, his lips suckling, tongue moving against you, and all you can do is buck your hips against his mouth, and hook your legs around his shoulders. Jake notices your hips that have begun to circle his tongue and he raises a hand to slide his fingers, one first, and then two, into you, his tongue not stopping it’s work against you. You feel your head begin to cloud, belly start to clench as he pumps his fingers in and out of you, the pads of his fingertips massaging in a come hither gesture against your walls. You gather yourself enough through your haze to look down at him, his lips, chin, nose covered in a mixture of your slick and his own saliva.

“Cum for me.” He rasps against you, and as if on command, your body obeys, unfurling itself around his fingers which don’t stop moving, fucking you through the waves of your orgasm. You find yourself reaching for him blindly, as your body comes down from it’s high, your orgasm ebbing away, to pull his face back up towards yours. You kiss him, eager, sloppily, tasting the scent of yourself against his lips.

“Jake,” you say, his name slowly becoming a habit, almost a litany. He is about to respond, but you don’t let him, your hands going straight to his sweatpants, palming his cock through the soft cotton. Your first orgasm should have left you satiated, but instead it leaves you even more desperate, more needing, wanting more, wanting Jake. “Fuck me, please.”

Your ask, Jake decides, is all he has ever needed.

“I’m not fucking you for the first time on the table.” He hoists you up, his arms holding you by the waist, lips crashing against yours to become tangled with yours once again. You find yourself winding your hands around his neck and legs around his body, your cunt, still dripping, pressed up against his abs as he moves you both to his bedroom.

He drops you onto the bed in a seated position. Jake’s hands hands having barely pulled down his sweatpants and boxers before he feels your hands on his cock. He can’t help the hiss that escape him as he observes you take him in visually, your hand moving up and down the sheath of his cock, your thumb swirling around the tip, spreading the pearl of pre-cum around it’s angry red head.

“Do we need a-” He barely manages to gasp, losing focus for a second, as your hands pump against his cock.

“I’m clean and on birth control.” He trusts you.

“I’m clean,” he confirms and you trust him equally.

“Then fuck me.” You drop the please and run your thumb across the head of his cock and he moans, claiming your lips with his once again, pushing your back onto the bed. You spread your legs open, knees bent at an angle and in the sky, and Jake lines his cock up with your entrance before pushing in.

“Oh god.. fuck.” You cry out as your body adjusts to him, around him.

“Not god baby, Jake.” He says, his hands coming to land palms down on the mattress on either side of your head. Jake observes your face, giving you a moment to adjust.

“Move.” You implore him, your legs capturing him around the waist, pulling him closer into you, hands hooking themselves under his arms and on his shoulders.

“I’ve got you,” he says, as he begins to thrust in and out of you, each stroke hitting you deeper, harder, than the last. He can feel your nipples, hard and moving against his bare chest as the impact from each thrust of his cock into your causing your body to move in and up down motion together with him. The sounds of your arousal is obscene, wet and slick against him.

He drops his head onto the crook of his neck, his body continuing it’s pace as he fucks into you, his public bone hitting your clit each time he thrusts in. Jake feels your teeth bite down on his shoulder and it shoots straight down to his cock, causing him to shudder.

“I’m close.” You hear his voice in your hear, destabilised, unlike his usual smooth drawl. “Are you..” He begins to ask, not wanting to finish only to leave you hanging.

“Faster.” You demand, your hand moving in between the both of you to rub against your clit. He catches your hand, replacing it with is own as he picks up the pace, slamming into you harder, faster, his fingers rubbing at your clit with a matched pace.

Jake feels your orgasm before you do, from the way your walls clench around him, the same way they had clenched around his fingers earlier, and he thrusts into you, long, pace jerky and off balance, a tell tale sign of his own incoming orgasm. He sees your head roll back, hears the cry that comes from your mouth, feels your finger nails digging into his back, and Jake let’s himself go, hitting his orgasm as loudly as you had met your own.

Jake lets himself sag down on top of you, himself still buried deep in you. It takes you both more than a few moments to reorientate yourself.

“That was,” you start, your words coming out in short, wispy pants, and Jake rolls you both over so that you are on his chest. He takes the sight of you in, hair messy, strands sticking to the side of your face and neck with a sheen of sweat, eyes still slightly glazed in your post orgasm high, lips swollen, He brings a hand up to run through the side of your hair, his fingertips scratching at the top of your scalp gently, before finishing your sentence.

“Amazing.”

The clean up is quick, efficient, with you both darting into the shower together. There are touches, kisses, jokes, smiles, but it’s fast, with you both more keen to get out and back into bed. Jake pulls on a clean pair of sweatpants, and you steal one of his tees before you both climb back into his bed.

Neither of you have talked about what happened, but you both know don’t have to, not when you both feel the same, feel like this. You hadn’t spoken about it in the days after Annie’s wedding and the tension build up had caused undeniable friction, but now - this was different, there were no words, no discussion, but even without you were both now clear on each other. He opens his arms, and you tuck yourself into his side, against one of his biceps, both of you laying back against the pillow.

“So Lieutenant,” you shift to prop your head up on the back of your palms which you now have flat on his bare chest, your words light and teasing, but clearly bringing up the earlier events of the day. The transition back to you and Jake being well, you and Jake was easy, seamless, as if nothing had changed despite the fact that he had been balls deep in you, fucking your brains out just minutes ago.

“Jake.” He corrects as he stares down at you, his chin backing into his neck slightly from his position against the pillows of his bed.

“You don’t like Lieutenant?” You ask innocently. “Heard someone else calling you Lieutenant this afternoon.” You mock, as Jake watches you from his position against the pillow.

Jake eyes your for a good second before he flips you over easily in one fluid motion so that you are on your back, his body pressing into yours, chest flattening your breasts which are hidden by his shirt, either arm caging you in onto his bed, Jake’s head just above your own.

“I only ever want to be Jake to you.” There is no witty come back, no sexualised innuendo. His tone of voice is genuine, his features serious, and the simplicity of it, so different from his usual demeanour knocks the wind from your system.

He might not have minded the term Lieutenant with other women, but Jake didn’t care about other women - they were not you. He had known you long before he had become Naval Aviator: Jake “Hangman” Seresin, and he intended to continue to know you long after the day, if ever, he stopped being Naval Aviator: Jake “Hangman” Seresin. Being Lieutenant Jake “Hangman” Seresin had become an important part of him, but before that he had just been Jake, the Jake that had met you while running around the block, the Jake you had done high school and college with, the Jake that you dropped a text to when you had something funny to share, the Jake that you called when there is something to celebrate, the Jake that you reached out to when something bad had happened, the Jake that was as much a part of your life as you were in his, your Jake, something he would never stop being.

Your eyes search his, and all you see is Jake. You respond in the best way you know how, by reaching up, tugging him down and letting your lips connect with his.

>> PART 5

Series taglist: @blue-aconite @rosiahills22 @luckyladycreator2 @britty443 @yanak324 @rule107 @fuckyeahhangman @spidey-d00d @dempy @barista-library @alexwinchester23 @shakira-sasha @bxwitched @lumenseal @obiwankenobis-lap @prettybiching @littlebadariell @actuallybarb @beaner-life-23 @coco-loco-nut @criminalyetminimal @tragzerus @alana4610 @tkmarvel-divergentbish @kilojulietsierra @imagineyneyjr @pansexualwitchwhoneedstherapy @ive-got-more-wit @fuzzy-panda @helloimhereforabit @meowimakellysaurusrex @t-rexs @iangiemae @shawnsthighs @cxit-writes @shanimallina87 @dempy @mell-bell @saynotononsense @justsplendidd @dont-talk-me-down @the-cranck-hobbit @blindedbyyourgrace17 @fandom-life-12 @bxwitched @indynerdgirl @hope-love-equality2 @fangirlofallthings22 @alistocats @callsign-marlie @bellamy1998 @slayry @bladed-planes @turningtoclown @double-j

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words-4u · 2 years ago

Text

they don't know about us - j.'h'.s

pairing: jake 'hangman' seresin x reader

wc: 1.8k

a/n: i am so happy to see glen powell getting the recognition he deserves <333 also listen to 'they don't know about us' by 1d cause that also kinda inspired this imagine!

top gun: maverick masterlist

you've had a passion for flying ever since you were little. it came from spending time with your dad on the airbase whenever possible. seeing the glimmer in his eyes anytime he would return with a new story about flying the f-14s made you want to pursue the same thing, so you did.

the second you were able to sign up for flight school, you did. it was against your mother's wishes because she had already lost your father to the sky and didn't want to lose you too. ultimately, she knew there was no convincing you because once you had your heart set on something, that was it.

flight school was interesting, to say the least. the boys in your class didn't view you as much competition but ever since you smoked their asses on the first day, they were quick to respect you. during your time at flight school, you became super close with natasha aka phoenix as she was the only other girl present and you two got on like a house on fire.

when you found out you and pheonix were heading to top gun, you nearly threw up from the excitement. top gun was no joke. it was the elite school for the best of the best aviators and you were now one of them. it was difficult, wild and stressful but also you also had the best time of your life there. you met all kinds of new people, especially ones that you normally would never surround yourself with because they are cocky, egotistical and very full of themselves making them insufferable. so imagine your surprise when you ended up falling for said person.

jake 'hangman' seresin caught you by complete surprise. you and him didn't talk much until one day you were put together on the same team for beach volleyball as a team bonding exercise. no one knew that you were on your high school volleyball team and took them all the way to the championships so it was fun watching their faces when they realized how good you were at serving the ball.

"holy shit, y/c/s! you're pretty decent at this," hangman said dragging his eyes up and down your body. you were in a black sports bra and biker shorts, nothing too fancy yet the way his eyes lingered on you made you feel like you were dressed in the finest clothes.

"i think you mean to say she's fucking incredible!" phoenix proudly put her arm around your shoulders pulling you in and resting her head on yours. your team won 10 to 4 and it was all thanks to you.

the losing team had to buy the first round of drinks at the hard deck. fanboy and bob were not fans f that but still did it with a smile on their face. you were sat at the bar watching your team bond. one thing about you is that you liked to people watch, not in a creepy way but you liked to see people living in the moment. what you didn't realize is that hangman was observing you. he stopped playing pool with the boys and joined you at the bar.

"tell me something," he began as he pulled a seat next to you. you almost choked on your drink as you weren't expecting company. "where did you learn to serve like that? cause it looked killer,"

you smiled into your drink. "i played a little in high school."

"how did i not know that?" he scoffed.

you gazed into his eyes, slightly taken aback by how intensely he was staring back. "you never asked. in fact, you haven't spoken more than 10 words to me since we started at top gun so there wasn't ever a chance."

"well," he raised his empty glass. "it's time we change that."

you knew you shouldn't get sucked into his orbit but was too late the second you started to clench your thighs anytime he smiled at you, you were a goner.

taking your cup and clinking it against his, you grinned at him. "i guess it is."

"penny darling, another round please."

the two of you fell into a comfortable conversation. of course, hangman being hangman he flirted in the most obvious ways but you laughed it off. it was quite alarming how much you were starting to enjoy being in his presence but you brushed off those thoughts and embraced the moment. the rest of the bar fell into a blur and it was like you two were the only ones there until you two were actually the last ones there. he was a gentleman and asked to walk you back to the accommodation you shared with phoenix.

"this is me," you said walking up the steps to your door. you turned around and found him on the step below you so were at eye level.

"thanks for today. i had fun."

"name the time and place and i can always show you a good time," he smirked.

"okay hangman. good night," you started to turn around but his hand caught your arm.

"wait, y/n," you looked back and your heart softened a bit. you've never seen jake 'hangman' seresin so nervous before.

"do you-can i see you again?"

"yeah, i'm gonna see you tomorrow for class." you joked. you knew what hewas really asking but you wanted to make sweat a bit.

"yeah i guess you are," he said chuckling, scratching the back of his neck. "what i'm trying to say is i liked your company a lot tonight and i'd like to do it again in a more... intimate setting?"

you couldn't help but let out a giggle. "jake seresin, are you asking me out on a date?"

"only if you say yes"

you pretended to deliberate for a few seconds before putting him out of his misery. "i'd love to."

you had no idea then but those three words changed your life. you fully intended that date with hangman to be a one-off, but it turned onto second and third and with each passing day you fell more and more.

hangman and you wanted to keep things professional at school but off-hours, you were all over each other. because he couldn't touch you in front of your peers in private, his hands were always on you. while you two studied? his hand on your legs while it was on your lap. sleeping together? his hand will always find yours in the middle of the night. walking on the beach at night as you are right now? you guessed it, his hand was holding yours.

hangman was a confident man, to say the least, but he came undone when it came to you. it terrified him at first but it quickly became a strength of his because you made him want to be a better man. he loved you and he knew you loved him and in your shared world things moved so fast but he wanted one thing to remain constant and that was you.

you stopped at random and took in a deep breath. "i don't think i will ever get over the ocean breeze at night. it's incredible."

hangman's eyes were on you. "yeah, it is."

you looked back and smiled but it feel a little when you saw his look of unease. "hey, what's wrong?"

"n-nothing." he grabbed your hands and kissed your knuckles "it's all good."

"i know you too well to know it's not, so spill."

"i love you," he began. "like a lot. with everything that flight school or life could have prepared me for there was no way, i could have prepared for you. for the longest time, i thought that flying was my first love but i've never been more wrong. it's you y/n and i want to spend the rest of my life with you. only you."

your eyes were burning with unshed tears. "jake," you whispered.

he got down on one knee and opened a small black velvet box travelling a stunning ring. "there are many ways to be happy in this life but all i really need is you. so y/n 'y/c/s' y/l/n will you marry me?"

you got down on both knees not caring if the water was soaking your silk skirt. "yes! yes! a million times yes!"

he slid the ring on the appropriate finger before you took his face and kissed him as hard as you could. it took a second before hangman took full control of the kiss, running his hand through your hair.

you pulled away and brushed his nose with yours. "hi future husband."

"hi future wife," he kissed your forehead before lifting you back into a standing position with him.

you two couldn't wait months to plan a whole elaborate wedding to be married so on a random day you two had off, you went straight to the california city hall and got your papers.

you guys kept it very lowkey around others much like when you were dating but to the outside world, it looked a budding friendship. for the rest of your time at top gun, you guys pushed each other to be the best always trying to one-up each other. the competitiveness usually ended up with you two having hot sex later on but no one knew that. it wasn't until graduation day that the cat was out of the bag.

you had decided to hyphenate your last name and your husbands name and you wanted to be said like that when your name was called. "lieutenant y/n 'y/c/s' y/l/n-seresin."

whispers broke out among your peers but you stood up proudly and saluted your commanding officer before sitting back down. pheonix tried to catch your eye but you stared straight ahead not wanting to have a much-needed conversation non-verbally.

the second graduation was over you went over to the refreshments table. "i knew i'd find you here,"

the comforting voice slid his hands around your body and kisses your head. "i'm proud of you, baby"

"never in a million years did i ever think i'd see hangman so cuddly!" a voice called out behind you two.

you guys turned around and there was rooster, coyote, phoenix, fanboy and payback.

"someone quickly explain because i am so lost,” rooster said.

"surprise?" you nervously chuckled holding up your hand and hangman did the same showing off his wedding band.

"what? how? when?" fanboy asked.

hangman went on to tell the story and as you stood there watching him, surrounded by your friends, you were the happiest you had ever been. you and hangman went through tough times together and made it out the other side stronger. there is truly no other person you'd want to spend the rest of your life with.

#top gun #top gun maverick #jake hangman seresin #jake seresin #jake seresin imagine #jake seresin x reader #jake hangman seresin imagine #hangman top gun #hangman fic #hangman x reader #hangman imagine #rooster #payback #pheonix #fanboy #top gun imagine #top gun x reader

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infin1ty-garden · 7 months ago

Note

hey ! Sorry to bother but I wasn't sure if you are writing for Natasha Trace from Top gun: Maverick? And if you do are you also writing with a Fem reader?

No problem! Yes, I do write for Pheonix and fem! reader as well.

#top gun maverick #natasha trace x reader #natasha trace #top gun phoenix

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smaptain-smerica · 2 years ago

Text

Female Reader x Rooster

Time: Post-Top gun: Maverick

Y/n Blackwood - L/n, daughter of Charlotte "Charlie" Blackwood. Y/n took a strong interest in planes from a young age. Knowing her father was an esteemed pilot drew her even further into the navy. Quickly, she became one of the best solo pilots and graduating at the top of her class at Top Gun.

Her next mission? Return to Top Gun, Face certain death, romantic interests, and finally, her thought-to-be-dead, father.

This book contains strong language and sexual content that may be sensitive readers under the age of 18

This story was originally posted on Wattpad, follow me on there for faster updates. I have published a non-binary version of this story published there for those who do not identify as female or use she/her pronouns. It will follow the exact same story line. Link to Wattpad Account Link to the Non-Binary version

Master list

Dogfight

Third Person POV

"Good morning aviators." Pete Mitchell announced to the eager group of pilots before him.

"This mornings training I will be putting you into two teams. Your planes will be marked with a blue or a red sticker. Your objective, keep your entire team alive, while also eliminating the opponent."

The pilots got excited, murmuring among themselves and already forming hopeful team alliances. "Hey what's the prize if we win?" Payback asked. Some people groaned a little as apparently he had come up with the punishment last time.

Pete thought for a moment, bringing his finger to his chin and stroking it thoughtfully. "How about, losers buy everyone a round?"

The pilots cheered, loving the idea as they stood up and started arguing with one another, saying things like; "you're going down" and "I hope you brought your wallet."

Pete laughed at their excitement, but had to get stern with them after receiving a look from warlock that told him to do so.

"First up, Wolf, fanboy and payback, hangman, Team red. Rooster, Coyote, Pheonix and Bob, team blue. Let the fun begin."

The pilots quickly made their way to the planes. The plane directors allowed the blue team to fly into the air first, the red team would follow in five minutes. The red team watched as the blue team soared off one by one into the air.

"Red team this is Wolf, ready for take off." "Payback and Fanboy, ready for take off." "Hangman, ready to kick some ass."

The red team was then shot into the blue morning sky. Clouds laced themselves thick and dense across they sky, allowing for plenty of cover for the Red team to hide. The Red team lowered their planes to glide along the bottom of the cloud cover. The blue team was flying below in a single file line, far enough apart to make any quick and necessary decisions.

"I'll dive down to break up the group, be prepared to split off and chase. Sound good?" Wolf asked the group, checking a few switches and then gripping her joystick, readying the plane.

"Copy, lead the way." Payback answered, preparing his plane himself. Hangman rolled his eyes, checking his plane and then looking up into the sky.

"Hangman, I need a copy or another idea." Wolf urged him, not wanting to cause a wreck between the pilots from miscommunication.

"You go, I've got my own idea." Hangman pulled the plane off, disappearing back up into the clouds to be unseen again.

"Hangman! Damnit." Wolf hissed, anger flashing in her voice. She then remembered that this was what hangman did. She could only hope he came around later.

"We're behind you wolf, on your go." Fanboys voice rang into the headset, making wolf smile. "Copy, thanks Fan, I'm going in."

Lower in the skys, the blue team was formulating a plan of their own. Rooster led the pack in the front, Pheonix and Bob in the middle and Coyote in the back. "We're too close to the hard deck for them to attack from below, they've gotta be above us." Rooster advised his team, unofficially becoming the group leader.

"Bob watch that radar and yell the second you see anything. I'll break left, Pheonix and Bob break right, Coyote you go straight forward as fast as possible. We can play chase and try to get our trailers into the line of others fire."

Back at base, Maverick was eating breakfast and listening to the radio. He couldn't help but feel pride for Rooster taking the lead on this one and instructing his fellow pilots. He had grown so much as a pilot these last few years.

There was silence in the air, no wind blowing making the clouds still. Bob listened intently for a beep, watching the radar closely for any signs of company. Then finally, a small dot appeared on his radar. Bob gasped. "Bogie Bogie! Coming in hot and fast directly behind us!"

"Everybody break!" Rooster barked, steering his plane hard to the left. He was thankful when he looked behind him to see Pheonix and Bob off to the right. Coyote pushed up and forward, quickly disappearing into the cloud cover.

Wolf widened her eyes as she saw the team split off in different directions. "I'm going left, left!" She announced, turning her plane to the side hard in order to make the tight turn and successfully chase her target.

"Copy, I'm going right!" Payback confirmed and the two pilots began their chase on the targets. Wolf cursed in her mind, hoping that strangler plane would meet hangman in the clouds. As she chased the pilot she quickly realized it was Rooster. She smirked to herself speeding up to ride roosters tail. She stayed there, matching his speed and anticipating the turns. Her radar lock button circling around the area so the warning sounds would blast in roosters ears as he flew. Iceman had taught her this while she flew underneath his guidance. He called it flying ice cold, wearing someone out until they made a mistake.

Wolf was the last thing that Rooster wanted at his tail. He stood his ground, making sharp turns and executing rather difficult maneuvers but she stayed on his tail the entire time. The beeping warning of the radar lock in his ears caused pressure, he began to panic.

Fanboy and payback raced after Pheonix and Bob, falling just enough behind to not be able to get a lock on them. An alarm blared inside the cab, causing fanboy to whip around and look behind them. "Coyote's got lock on us!"

"Shit!" Payback cursed. "I got you guys." Hangman's voice sang a symphony inside the teams headsets as he dove down from the clouds, hot on Coyote's tail. A steady beep rang from inside the planes cockpits.

"Fanboy and payback, down." Coyote announced, pulling off the radar. The alarm in his cabin then blared loudly, causing him to jump. Coyote looked behind him to see Hangman's plane.

Hangman smirked, satisfied at his job well done. "Coyote Down." Two planes wizzed by Hangman's view. He saw Wolf riding Roosters tail. He smirked, pulling off his path and flying quickly towards them. He took a few short cuts through the air and finally pulled up ever so slightly underneath the duo.

"Wolf, disengage so I can take the shot." Hangman instructed, knowing he could have a clear shot without his teammate in the way.

Wolf was astonished that he was there following them. She growled in anger at his appearance. "I've got this Hangman! Go get Pheonix and Bob!"

"I have a clear shot you just need to move! All you're doing is chasing." Hangman argued with her, getting frustrated and inching closer.

"Hangman Disengage! I can handle this!" She yelled into her headset, arguing with her teammate.

"You disengage so I can take the shot!" Hangman snapped back at her.

Suddenly a long tone rang in the cockpit of Wolfs plane. She quickly looked around for the source of the radar.

Pheonix and Bob had appeared from above and managed to get a radar lock on the top plane. "Wolf is down."

"Shit!" Wolf spat, her rage boiling to her head as she veered off the path and left the last three to fight it out.

Hangman knew he needed to disengage, but the second that Wolf left he had a clear shot at rooster. His ego was too large to let him turn and run from this fight.

It was as if domino's were falling. One pilot down, a second one down; one right after the other. "Rooster is down!" Hangman yelled into his headset.

"Hangman down!" Phoenix said triumphantly. Just like that, one stupid egotistical moment caused the red team to lose.

The last of the planes landed back on solid ground. The Blue team celebrated their triumphs and promises of free drinks to be cashed later.

One pilot in particular was steaming with rage. Hangman had been on the ground and out of the plane for less than two seconds before he was greeted by an angry Wolf.

Wolf shoved Hangman's shoulders forcefully, causing the taller man to stumble around. "I had him!" She yelled, catching the attention of the other pilots who quickly made their way towards the commotion. Maverick, who had just come around the corner and seen the commotion, also started to make his way over.

"You weren't going to hit him that close, I had the better shot!" Hangman's Anger now began to simmer as he hardened his face and shoved Wolf back. Wolf stumbled back, ready to leap forward but she was caught by someone's arm wrapping around her waist. She smelled the familiar pine and amber scent.

"You and you're big fucking ego got in my way!" She spat as she jumped forward again to try and take another jab at Hangman.

Payback and Coyote had joined Hangman's side, blocking him in case he tried to go at his fellow crew mate again. "At least I was doing something instead of playing chase the chicken!"

Rooster had managed to spin them around to where his back was now facing hangman and his front facing Wolf. He let go of her, gently but sternly encouraging her in the direction of the hanger. "Walk away y/n. It's not worth it." He said sternly.

Wolf gave up, anger blinding her as she turned around and walked away from the situation. "This is exactly how it was in school with that idiot." Her voice faded as she raged on, storming past Maverick despite his efforts to try and talk to her.

Rooster turned around and put his arms out wide, then dramatically dropping them. "Really? Chase the chicken?"

Hangman shrugged, disengaging in the situation and walking off in the opposite direction.

Maverick's eyebrows were raised in wonder at the situation before. He wondered what even happened. "Remind me not to put those two on a team again." He spoke to the group, who all silently nodded in an agreement That might be for the best in this situation.

~~~

I laid in my bed in a pair of comfortable leggings and a Large T-shirt. I skipped lunch and opted for eating dinner in my room. I was embarrassed for losing my temper in front of everybody. I also was angry at Hangman for what he did. It was stupid and proved that he hadn't changed one bit. I was reading one of my favorite books to help take my mind off things when I felt my phone buzz. I got a message from an unknown number.

I sighed, finally deciding to roll myself out of my comfortable solitude. I found some jeans, throwing them on and then tucking my shirt into my pants. There, a little more presentable.

I began to brush my hair, putting on some perfume, and checking my teeth and breath to make sure they smelled decent. I popped in a piece of gum just in case.

I put on some shoes I didn't care about. Knowing people at the bars there was a likely chance they would get stepped on or a drink dropped on them. Its better to not care about them.

I made my way outside of the compound, my sunglasses on my head and a piece of gum in my mouth. I squinted at the bright sun and quickly went to the parking lot. I noticed Bradley there, leaning against his car. He looked up when I got closer, giving me a small smile.

"You know how to drive a standard?" He asked.

"Yes?" I responded in confusion. He then tossed me the keys to his vehicle. I quickly caught them in my hands, a wide smile quickly spread across my face which Bradley had returned to me.

I drove us to The Hard Deck while Bradley played every classic 80's rock song you can think of. We were singing, air guitaring, air drumming, an entire heavy metal band made out of imaginary instruments.

We got to the bar and I put the car in park, admiring the interior of the vehicle for a moment. "She's beautiful. Thank you for trusting my driving abilities." We shared in a chuckle, Bradley moving his arm to be behind the headrest of my seat and he rotated to get a better look at me.

"You're welcome. I expect the favor to be returned though." He warned me with a waving of his finger.

I hummed in thought, putting on a face of pretend thinking. "We'll see if you're worthy."

"If I'm worthy? What does that mean!" He was fake flabbergasted, looking astonished. Before our conversation could continue any farther, a loud crash came from inside the bar, followed by the sounds of multiple people yelling.

Bradley and I looked at each other quickly and then at the entrance of the bar, jumping into action and running inside to see what had happened.

Next Chapter

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