#top gun harvard

[shadowsndaisies]

dogfighting 101: 05 - sugar and spice

wc: 1.6k

synopsis: hangman leaves everyone hanging... right?

main masterlist

athena-verse master post

a/n: absolutely loving all of your comments!! heres some hangman and then centric stuff which I KNOW people are waiting to see more of. the next update will be the final for dogfighting 101 but will feature an interaction between rooster and athena that probably (very honestly) wont answer your questions (yet)

“Howdy Miss ‘Thena,” is Hangman’s opening as you both enter the range.

“Hangman,” your greeting’s lacking a little luster.

Despite your early success, you’d only managed tone once and this was rotation four for you, and that’s not even taking into account the variations in which you weren’t flying and that no one else had managed to take your dad down yet.

Your arms hurt, your shoulders hurt, your back hurt, and you wanted to shower so incredibly bad. More than all of that though, you were emotionally exhausted. Flying with Bradley had been the gift that kept giving because even though you’d already gone through another rotation, you kept thinking about the blow out, about the before, about Bradley. As you stood on the tarmac again, you took in the little indents in your palms from the gravel being pushed into them during your push-ups, rubbing over one red mark and shaking your head. Safe to say, you could not wait to finish out the final few rotations, and then go home.

“What’s the matter, Honey?” the tease comes over the comms and even though you know he wants an answer all you can do is scoff.

“Getting tired of push-ups is all,” you say simply.

“I was hoping so,” Jake decides and your brow furrows. You don’t need to see him to know he was planning something.

“What are you planning?” you ask seriously, fully aware that your dad and the rest of the detachment was listening in.

“I was wondering, are you still made of sugar and spice and everything nice?” it sounds condescending, and you’re sure Phoenix and Halo are scoffing at the question, but you know better.

Sugar and Spice was a code, a reference to something you’d only ever talked through with Jake during some downtime on the carrier. Unlike Rock and Roll which you’d actually trained for with Harvard and Yale during Top Gun, Sugar and Spice was completely theoretical.

“You’re joking,” you deadpan, turning to glare at him through the canopy.

“You said you were tired of push-ups. I think it could work, especially since two highly decorated and competent aviators came up with it. Unless, of course, you’d rather continue the heavy set arm day you’ve got going on?” he says nonchalantly.

“Why does it feel like you called me a coward while also complementing me?” you scoff.

“Because you know me,” is all he offers.

“That’s a lot of chatter for two aviators who don’t have the bandit in their sights,” Maverick’s voice finally cuts through, interrupting your back and forth with Jake.

“Hangman, you got eyes?” you ask staring around and out the canopy after confirming your dad wasn’t on the radar.

“No, my guess is he’s coming from below the hard deck again,” the other aviator offers and you do a quick roll, inverting like you had on the first run.

“No contact,” you huff, rolling back.

And then all of a sudden you hear a boom and Mav comes zipping down in front of you. Breaking the sound barrier as he drops from where he’d been miles above you and Jake moving faster than you’d anticipated.

“Holy shit!” you shout.

“Oh fuck!” Jake’s curse echoes with yours.

“Fight’s on, Aviators, let’s see how your arms feel after, kid,” your dad teases as he circles around.

“Break left!” Hangman’s shout echoes.

And you do.

You break left and loop around, looking for Jake who’d gone int he opposite direction. He hadn’t ditched you, yet. Not like he had with Phoenix and Bob earlier. You know it’s not entirely fair a line of thought though, he was different with you, he’d yet to break a promise or leave you out to dry, not like he so flippantly seemed to be with everyone else. You hesitate a second longer before deciding, no, I do not want to do more push ups, and yes, I do trust Jake.

“Sugar and Spice,” you finally shout.

“Wait, really?” the surprise is evident, as if despite his cocky attitude he couldn’t believe you were agreeing.

“Yes!” you confirm, rolling your eyes. “Now move your ass, Hangman!”

“My fine ass, you mean,” he shouts back and you can hear the smirk as he loops back to meet you so you could assume the correct positions.

It’s tricky, you decide.

You always knew it would be, but you never thought you’d actually try it out. In theory, Sugar and Spice was supposed to create a gap that was a trap for the bandit. Where Rock and Roll was a distraction and attack, with each aviator having a specific goal, Sugar and Spice held more risk. Here both pilots act as the distraction, while attempting to get tone at the same time. When you’d initially talked it out with Jake there were three possible formations. Option A was the Side by Side, where you fly parallel. Option B was the Stack, where one pilot flies directly above the other. And Option C, which you had succinctly named, the collision course; in which one approaches from the tail of the bandit, and the other nose.

It seemed Jake had decided to run the collision course. It took a few maneuvers, some creative flying in order to lure Maverick into the right space at the right time, but then you were approaching form his nose, while Jake came in from the tail.

“What the fuck?” was your dads response when he realized that he had to make a choice, continue to attempt tone on you, move before Jake got tone on him, or move before you got close enough to get tone on him.

He feigned a left, which you followed, but then he made a sharp turn right.

What Mav didn’t anticipate was the height change. Jake had moved up, just enough to angle himself perfectly, and to ensure that if your dad didn’t move from the game of chicken you were playing with him, you wouldn’t just crash into your own teammate.

When Maverick flipped a hard right, probably hoping to get tone on you, Jake got tone first, having seen the move coming, and prepared accordingly.

It was silent for a moment, as the tone rang out.

“Well I’ll be damned,” Maverick’s voice crackles over the comms as if he hadn’t meant to say it out loud.

When you land Hangman’s already on the ground by your ladder, having rushed out of his jet after landing first.

You’re not even all the way down when his arms wrap around you and he pulls you down, “Holy shit, ‘Thena, that was fucking incredible!” he shouts, squeezing you for just a moment.

This is Jake, you think fondly. You liked Jake, a lot. You liked him a hell of a lot more than Hangman. Unfortunately, you knew that not everyone got to meet Jake, and that, you decided was a god damned shame.

“I mean, I always knew you were smart, ‘Thee but this idea really was something else entirely! And getting to test it out, I’m fucking ecstatic the height change worked….” he was rambling, and there was this twinkle in his eyes that made the green seem alive.

You hadn’t seen him ramble since before the announcement of the detachment, honestly not for a while if you’re honest. Maybe the last time you’d both had feet on solid ground instead of an Air Craft Carrier in the middle of the Pacific. He seemed younger, the southern drawl more evident as he talked too fast to fully enunciate each word.

“Seresin! Mitchell!” the shout from your dad forces Jake to stop, and you notice as his brain finally catches up, how he steps back from you and straightens out, how the excited gleam in his eye dies out a bit, and you frown at Jake, because you watch as he tucks the more authentic parts of himself away.

“Yes, Sir?” you ask, turning to your father who was approaching.

“Hell of a move, where’d you learn that?” he asks, looking between the two of you.

“Lieutenant Mitchell designed it, Sir. After a cat and mouse training exercise on the carrier between our squads,” and if your dad was shocked before, hearing Hangman of all people pay another pilot credit was the blackout on top of the bingo.

“It was a team effort, Sir,” you argue. “Then and now, I honestly wouldn’t have been able to do it with anyone else,” you admit, and something in both your father’s gaze, and Jake’s softens.

“Keep thinking outside the box. It’s a good skill, and you’ll need it,” your father praises you, before turning to head to Hondo for his push ups, giving the next group a bit of a break.

“Hey Maverick!” you shout after him, “Always think the 360!”

A random sentence that no one else would understand, but he would, and based off of the near prideful smile he shoots you before turning back around, you know he understood.

While your dad did his push ups and the next pairing came down, you stopped in an empty hallway. “Hey, Jake?”

“Yeah?” he asks, pausing and then turning back once he realized you were no longer right beside him.

“I’m happy it worked too. Thanks for not leaving me hanging,” you say softly.

He looks down and then back at you, brows furrowed as if something wasn’t adding up for him, “Mitchell, you should know by now, I’d never leave you,” he says in response, green eyes swirling with emotion, too many to place, but his words feel like so much more than just talking as your wingman.

...

everything: @butterfly-skinnylegend

athena’s tags: @omgbrianab @smoothdogsgirl @bazellawriz @sbrewer21 @inky-sun @djs8891 @rory-cakes @geeksareunique @je6291 @kee-0-kee @fanreader75 @whoismurphyslaw @samanddeaninatrenchcoat @thespillingvoid

if your tag is striked it means i was unable to tag you.

[lesbiradshaw]

instagram shenanigans - dagger edition

[themissingmango]

’The hell kinda mission is this?

[mrslectermoriarty]

Headcanon Series #20

I need the Daggers to have a TikTok Account, hear me out!

Coyote: "Were the Daggers, of course we look amazing in our flight suits." He does a twirl and strikes a pose. Applause behind the camera.

Cut to Halo: "Were the Daggers, of course we managed to get good callsigns." In the background someone yells “Fuck off, Egg White!”. Halo gives the camera a pointed look. “We definetly good the good call signs.”

Cut to Fanboy: "Were the Daggers, of course our CO is the Navy's greatest pilot." He holds up a picture of Maverick lying on the ground, he stumbled over his open shoelaces. “But seriously. He is.”

Cut to Fritz: "We're the Daggers, of course we've been at least once at Top Gun." The camera zooms out, so we can see the base he’s standing in front of. He does a thumbs up. “Crazy place!”

Cut to Hangman: "We’re the Daggers, of course we're the best of the best." Rooster in the background gives him the finger. Hangman doesn’t see it. Chuckling behind the camera. “What’s so funny?”

Cut to Phoenix: "We're the Daggers, of course we blackmail each other with embarassing photos." Bob is sitting in the background. He looks up into the camera and gives it a serious nod.

Cut to Omaha: "We're the Daggers, of course we look back at our academy days in shame." Fritz walks by and grimaces.

Cut to Payback, in a bar: "We're the Daggers, of course we loose a shit ton of money to each other when we play pool at the hard deck. Well, some of us." He smirks. Groaning behind the camera.

Cut to Bob: "We're the Daggers, of course we have a group chat." His phone lights up and he shows the screen to the camera. We see a group chat that gets new messages every couple seconds. “Guys? You know we’re all on the same base right now? We can actually talk to each other.”

Cut to Yale, it’s night by now and he’s standing in front of a dimly lit house in otherwise darkness. There’s whispering in the background. "We're the Daggers, of course we continue the tradition of raiding the CO's liquor stack."

Cut to Harvard, inside of a house. Looks like a living room. Everyone is standing in the middle of the room and shouting; it’s loud. Harvard looks bewildered. "We're the Daggers, of course our CO is married to an Admiral and didn't tell us about it. He also didn't tell us about one of us being his legal child." Cut to the zoomed in background where we can see a blurry figure standing in a corner with a glass in its hand. Cut to Harvard, now in selfie mode and close to his face. He whispers: “That’s the fucking COMPACFLT.”

Cut to Rooster in the same living room. He has a small, awkward smile on his face while Phoenix stands a bit behind him and looks pissed. "We're the Daggers, of course it never gets boring with us around, I guess." Hangman sneaks into the frame, kisses Rooster and runs away, yelling something like “it never does”. Rooster stands there, too stunned to speak. Behind the camera: “Wait, did he just-“

Cut to Maverick sitting in a comfortable looking armchair, elbows on his knees and a beer in his hands. He’s laughing into the camera and speaks with a soft voice: "They're my Daggers and of course they’re family." “No no no, you’re supposed to say- what, did you just call us family? Guys, Mav just called us his family!” Happy shouting erupts in the background and Maverick is being group-hugged by several aviators around him. The camera shakes and the video ends.

Beautiful inspiration, I must say…

[24hrfrog]

FINALLY!!! my piece for the TG zine!! So cutesiessss @topgunzine follow the acc for updates on leftover sales!!

[aleksanderthemesschild]

Dont question anything, just choose.

[callsign-daydream]

Harvard: At my age, do you know how I’m statistically most likely to die? Yale: At the hands of your roommate. Harvard: No, I mean like an accident. Yale: That’s what I’m gonna make it look like.

[spankmespence]

i think abt this scene so often.

[p-and-pen]

Jake Picking and Lewis Pullman on set of Top Gun: Maverick (2022)

Via; Jake Picking's IMDB page.

[crazyk-imagine]

You die while they're Working Headcanon

*This is sad but I couldn't resist, it's been in my draft much like... every other thing I want to write

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

Jake

-       He wouldn't know until a couple of hours after he was back on the ground after training

-       He was in the air, acting cocky as all hell

-       It was a normal day like nothing was different

-       Beau was the one to get the call

-       Bradley was the one to tell him

-       And when his frenemy told him about the news, it takes him a couple of minutes before all the information clicks

-       The poor man wouldn't know how to console him or calm Jake as the tears pool in the Texan boys eyes

-       Jake's legs give out and he's going down

-       Bradley catches him and his suit is sticking to him as he lets the man begin grieving

-       No one’s ever seen him this way

-       He was quiet in the sky whenever it was his turn

-       It was hard for him to process but eventually the Hangman everyone knew slowly began to return but the spark in his eye was gone

-       Everyone knew it might not ever come back and felt bad they couldn’t do anything about it

Bradley

-       He had yet to take off

-       Pete got the call

-       Natasha was in the room with him but the older man felt it was his duty to tell his godson

-       She understood and felt the same way

-       Another reason why her best friend didn’t see her that morning

-       Bradley had no idea what Pete was going to tell him

-       Then the words came out and he did nothing

-       The poor boy- he just stood there, unable to move and then came the water works

-       His mustached quivered before he sniffled

-       This is the second worse thing the two men have ever heard and had to deal with in their lives

Bob

-       He wasn't told until the end of the day

-       He had a gnawing feeling in his stomach all day but couldn't put his finger on why

-       Beau got the call

-       No one could figure out who should tell him (out of Beau, Pete, and Bernie)

-       There was no way they were going to drag Natasha into this

-       They didn’t even know if she would be able to tell him because Pete and Bernie know that she introduced the two of you

-       And them talking with the door open was one of the worst things they could have done

-       Bob walked by the door as they were still trying to figure it out and almost lost it right then and there

-       Instead, he was running on his emotions and stormed into the room, demanding answers

-       Something he instantly regretted doing

-       The Vice Admiral sent him home, giving him time to try and collect himself

Javy

-       He didn’t know until after he came back from his recent deployment

-       Bernie got the call with his friend in the room

-       And that’s when Jake decided to take matters into his own hands (with permission because this is such a serious matter)

-       He’s the first face Javy sees after taking a shower

-       He has barley finished getting dressed when he felt something off with his friend

-       Jake lets him start the conversation before he explains to him the news he’s just learned

-       They sit on the bench in front of the lockers as Javy stares at picture he has of the two of you in his locker

-       It takes him a few weeks before he is comfortable enough to come back to base a little better

-       You know, not crying anytime anyone asks if he’s okay

Natasha

-       She wasn’t meant to be on base but here she is

-       The base mail guy tried to send it to her but didn’t know where she was and Bob happened to walk by

-       He passed the letter to him and ran off

-       Bob wasn’t trying to he nosy but when he saw a familiar phrase on it, he knew something bad had happened

-       He ran to find Pete because he doesn’t want to tell the other members of the squad

-       The man didn’t know what Bob was going to tell him, he very much wasn’t expecting this

-       Pete opens the letter and skims through it, finding that it was about you

-       He knows everyone is going to be devastated and feels it would be better coming from him

-       Bernie was in the room with him and he makes sure Bob is nearby in case she needs a familiar face

-       Bernie would have done it but he doesn’t know if Nat would want to listen to him after

-       She knew something was off when she got here, it was her day off and she’s here

-       She missed spending time with you to be here

-       She takes a leave of absence which everyone understands

-       It takes Beau threatening to discharge her for her to go in the air again

Neil

-       Beau got the letter and felt he should be the one to tell him

-       Poor guy was so nervous when he got called in by the big man

-       He didn't know what was going to happen

-       Logan was hyping him up by saying he was going to be promoted or something of that extent

-       It was awkward when he sat down but then the words came out of the admiral's mouth and his world fell apart

-       He honestly didn't believe him at first

-       But that letter slid across the way and he knew it was real

-       His life wouldn’t be the same

-       It took everyone a minute before they realized it was something serious

-       Nothing could have prepared anyone for this

Callie

-       She was getting ready for practice when it happened

-       Beau got the call but thought Bernie might be the better choice

-       She was confused when he called her and pulled her outside their “hangout” room

-       She slid down the wall after he told her

-       It was the worst thing she could have heard

-       Even for her fellow squad mates

-       They weren’t trying to listen, but it was hard not to put two and two together with all the commotion coming from outside the door

-       It took a while before she came back to work

-       Sticking with paperwork for a bit before trying to get back into her plane

-       She saw your old plane and decided that’d be it, she’d fly it

-       It was the only thing that could bring her some sort of comfort

-       Beau wasn’t to upset when she decided to fly it (more than her own)

-       The only reason was because his seniors were on his ass about it, but he understands what she’s going through

Logan

-       He didn’t know what was going to happen that day but he could sense something was going to change his life

-       It was like a back and forth game between the three men when they tried to figure out who should tell him the news

-       They decided to have Beau call him in do they could all tell him

-       He felt like a kid being called to the principals office

-       The squads comments didn’t help either (it was just before they needed to start training)

-       He waited, for what seemed like hours, before Beau said anything 

- He lost it when he finally heard and didn't know how to act when he got back to everyone 

- Callie made sure everyone took turns checking on him 

Billy

-       He thought everything was fine… until it wasn’t

-       Bernie had to tell him, he didn't have to talk to Pete or Beau. He thought it'd be better coming from him

-       The two talked and stayed together for a few hours before he decided it was time to go home and take some time off to process and grieve

-       He didn’t think that he should tell anyone (not wanting to worry them

- Everyone found out because Pete and Bernie were worried about him

- Pete didn't want him to go through this alone and feel as though he had to 

- He was not alone for even a second

- Everyone came his way, offering food, a place to say, etc, etc 

- No one was upset with his brief leave, they understood and wanted him to come back when he knew he could be in the air and his mind not be elsewhere

Mickey

-       He still doesn’t know what happened exactly, even now when he thinks back or has nightmares

-       He thought Beau and Pete were surprising him with something else when they told him they needed to see him as soon as he landed 

- He was one of the few up for a new position and this was the worst thing he could have ever heard 

-       He waited till he was alone before breaking down in the locker room 

- No one knew what he did until was he found by Jake 

- The blond was thrown off and knew something bad had happened, kept the poor distraught man at bay until Reuben could get there 

- His friend drove him back to their shared apartment and let him cry before explaining what happened 

- Natasha got everyone down to the bar so they could hold a private ceremony in your honor. They all loved you and they needed to grieve with him

- It was a while before he decided he was done being on desk duty 

- Natasha grabbed him by the collar and threw him into her plane so they could practice 

- Bob got him a collectable item the two of you wanted when your one year anniversary came up and he teared up 

- It was a while before he started dating again, not being able to see your face or hear your voice made it harder 

- He added a letter he'd written to you in the early years of your relationship to his locker and it was his lucky charm 

Reuben

-       He hoped that everything would be fine

-       But when he saw Pete walking down that hallway in his fast and serious manner, he knew it had to do with you

-       The squad has never seen this man cry (sober, of course). So, imagine how they'd feel when they heard the news 

- Only reason they found out was because Pete was holding him while he wept and kept begging for you 

-       They couldn’t leave him behind because they know how hard it is to go through grief whether you’re on your own or not

- When it first happened, Mickey made sure he ate when he was at home 

- He took a few months off to fully grieve you so he could make sure his head was in the game and not hurt anyone 

- The others made sure he never went to bed or woke up with an empty stomach 

- They're the only ones keeping sane throughout the wake and funeral but he's happy he has them by his side otherworldly who knows what would have happened to him 

Brigham

- None of the older guys wanted to talk about it but couldn't put it off forever 

- When he was called into the Beau’s office, hearing this devastating news is not how he thought he was going to start training 

- Bernie was the the one to tell him but Beau was in the room with him, explaining that they understood if he needed some time off

- It was a couple of hours until the rest of the squad heard about it because they were all training before him

- When they got back, they teased him for not being there until he told them with little to no emotion 

- Logan and Neil checked on him constantly 

- Natasha got everyone together so they could through a small potluck in your honor because everyone loved you and knew you two were meant to be 

- They were excited when his name was on the board to practice and practically threw themselves at him as they hugged

-

Taglist

@blueoorchid @kmc1989

[ever-changing-fandom-bomb]

[shadowsndaisies]

the athena-verse

so far, it's just a series of random ficlets and blurbs introducing the world and the top.

let's talk athena:

athena; the preamble - (6.24.24) athena at a glance, basically

hangman meets 'thena - (9.17.24) word is, there's a new pilot on board carrier air wing nine, and she flies for the VFA-14, the Tophatters.

top gun: maverick

the recall

the hard deck:

01: too observant to play dumb - (7.16.24) how the arrival at the hard deck went

02: slow ride - (7.16.24) a glimpse through jake's eyes

03: athena, meet rooster - (7.16.24) I think the title says it all

athena settles debts - (6.21.24) what if Mav’s daughter settled his tab that night in the hard deck

dogfighting 101 (and then some): "so, today we start with what you only think you know."

01: let's make it interesting: (08.29.24) harvard is a good friend (and petty on your behalf)

02: rock and roll: (08.30.24) It's been a long time since I rock and rolled, It's been a long time since I did the stroll, Ooh let me get it back, let me get it back, Let me get it back, baby, where I come from

03: clear mind, clear skies: (09.01.24) tempers are rising

04: 'nix is sick of this shit: (09.03.24) phoenix prides herself on knowing almost everything pertinent, it's the parts she doesn't know that leaves her on edge.

05: sugar and spice: (09.06.24) hangman leaves everyone hanging... right?

06: dead and buried: (09.08.24) if it wouldn't result in a court martial or a dishonorable discharge, you probably would punch that stupid mustache off his face.

canyon runs: take one

iceman's final flight - (7.1.24) ice's funeral, as you can imagine, is painful and heartwrenching

...

athena-verse taglist (currently open. last updated 9/17/24)

@omgbrianab @smoothdogsgirl @bazellawriz @sbrewer21 @inky-sun @djs8891 @rory-cakes @geeksareunique @je6291 @whoismurphyslaw @kee-0-kee @samanddeaninatrenchcoat @thespillingvoid @youdontknowe @burningcoffeecupp @mrsevans90

[lesbiradshaw]

the daggers + instagram stories

[probably-not-a-rocketscientist]

What are they looking at? Wrong answers only

[mrslectermoriarty]

A tribute to one of the best fanfictions I have ever read:

Don’t worry, you don’t have to know West Wing to read it <3

I can’t wait for the last chapter!!!

Okay so we have

1. “Important press Conference coming up!”

2. “The enemy has invaded the territory - wait no, the marines are the good ones:)”

3. “Quality Time for the family ❤️”

4. Something official (I may have pasted a small extract of the first chapter in there as a filler *-*)

5. “Home Office on a new level, I guess…”

6. “It’s been quite a while and you’re still going strong - happy birthday to my wingman in the air and on the ground @chiefofstaff (thanks for still putting up with me)”

7. “Small Talk can be just as important as conference meetings”

8. “You leave the room for five minutes and your staff starts destroying state property (just kidding, I love them all)”

9. “The vacation where you meet the extended family”

I know that you wouldn’t see most of that irl, but it’s Pete and he’s Maverick, what can I do?

Here are part 2 and 3 ^^

[mafiatsunafish]

When I say I love the Dagger squadron tags, I usually mean the squad that have ALL 12 DAGGERS 🫠

Please 🥲?

Mav dad and squad of 12 ducklings aviators would cause absolute chaos while Ice pop witness everything from sideline and make sure no one mess with them