"Sunshine!" Maverick shouted out my name as I walked into the parking lot and towards my car. I looked back with confusion as to who was calling out my name and as soon as I realized who it was I stopped and turned to face him at attention. "Relax" he told me simply as he caught up to me, figuring I was a big rule follower even if I would break every rule to be by Roosters side.

"Sir?" I asked with confusion as to what this was all about.

"I'm gonna say something and I just need you to hear me out" he began and I watched him curiously, wondering what was so important that it couldn't wait for tomorrow. "I was friends with you mother, back when she worked in the Navy. After a certain incident your father forced her to stay away from anything associated with the Navy, including me. When she was in the hospital on her death bed she reached out to me to go visit her and of course I went right away." He started slowly, watching my reaction closely.

"You were there when she died?" I asked as emotion started to overwhelm me.

"No, but when I was there she told me to give this to you" he handed over a black notebook that matched my own. "I told her that you had gotten into Top Gun as I pulled a few strings to find out before you and she was beyond proud, finally resting knowing you were free from the trap she endured with your father"

"Mommy, I can't sleep" I cried to my mother as I laid in my pink bedroom, my stuffed Goose toy cuddled up in my arms. I remembered we had just returned from a trip, my mother was sad and so was I, but I couldn't remember why and I couldn't make out the argument between my parents in the living room after my father sent me to bed without so much as a goodnight.

"Do you want me to sing you a song?" She hummed softly, sitting on the edge of my bed and patting my legs.

"Yes, please" I nodded.

"You are my Sunshine, my only Sunshine. You make me happy when skies are grey. You'll never know dear how much I love you, please don't take my Sunshine away"

"Sunshine? Are you alright?" Mavericks voice pulled me back to reality as tears pricked my eyes.

"Yeah, I'm alright" I nodded up at him. "Thank you for this"

"I made a promise to your mother" he reminded. "If you have any questions about that book I'm here to answer them" he added. I gave him another smile before nodding and walking towards my car again. "Goodnight, Nick!" Maverick waved me off and I waved back before getting into my car to drive home.

"Maverick" Rooster started, scaring him as he came up suddenly from the darkness as the sun began to set.

"Rooster, hi" Maverick smiled at him but Rooster seemed furious.

"You can keep me out of the sky if you want but do not bring this out on her, she is a great WSO and she doesn't deserve to have you ruin her dreams like you ruined mine" Rooster told him sternly, reading the situation completely wrong.

"Rooster, I'm not trying to stop her from doing anything" he promised.

"Then what was that about?"

"She will tell you when she is ready just like you will tell her everything when you are ready" Maverick reminded Rooster of his secret past with Maverick he was hailing from me.

When I got into my house I had dropped my bag by the door. Turning on some lights I had started to get ready for the end of the day, cuddling up on the couch with some comfy clothes and a warm blanket.

I glanced at the notebook I had set on the table, it mocking me with its presence. I started at it for another few minutes before giving in.

"Fuck it" I muttered and quickly grabbed it, opening it up to the first page.

Property of Mary Osmond.

"Mom" I gently brushed my fingers over the words with a sad smile.

~~~

"Morning, Danvers."

"Morning, sir." Mary greeted the admiral as she sat at her desk on the ship, working communications with the aviators.

"Ghost Rider, this is Strike. We have unknown aircraft. lnbound, Mustang. Your vector, 090 for bogey."

"Who's up there?" The admiral wondered.

"Cougar and Merlin and Maverick and Goose." Mary stated back to him, glancing back over her shoulder.

"Great. Maverick and Goose." He sighed.

"Talk to me, Goose." Maverick prompted.

"Roger, I got him. Contact, 20 left at 30 miles. Nine-hundred knots closure." Goose reported back to him.

"Cougar, you hear that?" Maverick asked over to his wingman.

"Roger." Cougar replied. "Merlin, you got him?" He asked back to his RIO.

"Roger, I've got radar contact." Merlin replied.

"I'll get a visual ID. Cougar, you hook him." Maverick gave out instructions.

"Roger, and I'll clean him and fry him." Goose agreed from behind Maverick. Mary smiled at their teamwork from her desk, loving to hear her friends interact in the sky.

"Mustang. Mustang, this is Ghost Rider, 203. I've got him inbound, bogey heading 270. We're at ten miles, 900 knots closure." Cougar reported back to the ship.

"Ghost Rider, take Angels ten left, 30."

"Are we supposed to have visitors today?" The admiral asked the officer who supervised the communications.

"Negative, sir."

"Merlin, see if he's a single." Cougar instructed.

"Roger. Goose, you see a trailer?"

"Negative, Merlin. Looks like he's a single." Goose replied after looking at his radar.

"Cougar, I'm gonna go head-to-head with him." Maverick warned the other pilot of his plan.

"Take it easy, Maverick. I don't like this shit. I'm gonna break high and right, see if he's really alone." Cougar told Maverick, both of them breaking off.

"We've got 1,000 knots closure, Mav. He's coming right at us." Goose warned his partner.

"Okay, buddy, what's on your mind?" Maverick asked in a taunting tone as he watched the jet coming towards them. "Holy shit, there's two of them." Maverick panicked when he caught sight of them both.

"MiG-28s. No one's been this close before." Goose commented in shock as they flew past.

"What the hell are they doing here? What's the position?" The admiral pointed to another officer working on the communications deck.

"Two hundred and fifty miles out, sir."

"Two hundred and fifty miles? Get them out of here." The admiral ordered strictly.

"Cougar, you've got MiG one. I'm going after MiG two." Maverick ordered, taking lead.

"I lost him in the sun. Shit. What's he doing?" Cougar struggled to see where exactly the MiG was. "You got him, Merlin?" He asked back.

"He's coming around. He's coming around on our tail." Merlin reported back.

"God damn it. This bogey's all over me." Cougar grumbled in complaint.

"What's their range now?"

"Two hundred miles, sir." The officer reported back to the admiral who was clearly stressing over the situation.

"If they break 150 miles, launch the Alert Five aircraft." The admiral gave out the orders of action.

"Yes, sir."

"Air speed, 300. Go get him, Mav." Goose cheered him on.

"I'm going for missile lock." Maverick stated. "Let's see if we can scare this guy out of here. Come on, lock up, baby. Lock up, baby. Lock up. I got him locked. Bingo." Maverick said as the lock beeping sounded out.

"We got him, Mav. He's bugging out and going home." Goose claimed as the MiG flew away.

"Mustang, this is Maverick. MiG two is headed home." Maverick reported to the ship.

"All right, what's their position?"

"A hundred and eighty miles at bearing 010, sir." The officer said as Mary felt more at ease, knowing her friends immediate danger was past.

"Cougar, he's got missile lock on us. Get away from this guy." Merlin warned, looking around with panic.

"What the hell is this shit? He's engaging me." Cougar asked confused and panicked for his life.

"God damn it, Mustang. This is Ghost Rider, one, one, seven, this bogey's all over me. He's got missile lock on me. Do I have permission to fire?" Cougar asked back to the ship.

"Do not fire until fired upon." The admiral stated as Mary sent out the message.

"Goose, there they are, right below us." Maverick pointed them out as they watched from above.

"The MiG's in perfect firing position. He's right on Cougar's tail." Goose worried.

"No way, Goose. He'd have fired by now. He's just trying to piss us off." Maverick shook his head.

"Maverick, get down here and get this asshole off me." Cougar called for backup.

"Easy, Cougar. Bring it back, hard right. Help me engage. I'm on my way." Maverick made a promise to the other pilot as he joined the chase. "I can't shoot this son of a bitch. Let's see if we can have a little fun with him." Maverick taunted as he flew down, inverting his jet over the MiG.

"Is this your idea of fun, Mav?" Goose wondered.

"Greetings." Maverick laughed as he flipped off the enemy pilot, Mary smiling to herself on the boat at the sound of Mavericks laughter.

"Watch the birdie." Goose called out as he raised his camera to get a picture. "Jeez, I crack myself up." He commented as Maverick backed off.  "This is a great shot, Mav. I should be a photographer." Goose commented next, Mary shaking her head at her friends joking.

"Cougar, your tail is clear. MiG one's bugged out." Maverick k reported over to him once it was all clear.  "Cougar, this is Maverick. We've had enough fun for one day, don't you think? I'm getting a little low on fuel, so we're heading home. We'll see you on deck." Maverick told him, heading off towards the ship as Mary sighed, her friends both being safe and returning without getting into trouble.

"Cougar, we're running low on gas, we gotta get out of here. Cougar. We're on vapour, Cougar. Let's do it." Merlin urged as the jet beeped for low fuel. "Cougar. Come on, Cougar. Let's take it back to the ship, man. Come on, Cougar."

"Get him on deck as soon as possible. He's gotta be low on fuel." The admiral ordered the communications team.

"Cougar, we gotta land this thing. We are way low on gas. You understand me? You all right, man?" Merlin continued to urge his partner.

"Maverick, you're at three-quarters of a mile, call the ball." The communications tower announced to them as they came in.

"Roger. Maverick has the ball." Maverick reported back, coming in for his landing.

"Cougar, it is time to land. Let's do it." Merlin's worry came through clear.

"Goose, Cougar's in trouble." Maverick started as Mary leaned back in her chair, already knowing Maverick would find a way to get into trouble.

"Come on, Mav, we're getting low on gas. Let's land this sucker." Goose tried to get him to listen as Mary nodded along, wanting Maverick to listen to Goose.

"Cougar!" Merlin cried out.

"God damn it, Maverick." The admiral cursed as Maverick landed only to lift off just as fast, going back for Cougar and Merlin.

"What're you doing, Mav? We've got no fuel for this." Goose stressed the problems to his best friend.

"We're going after Cougar." Maverick stated.

"You tell him to land that plane. That's an order." The admiral shouted to Mary who was the direct contact to the aviators.

"Ghost Rider, you are instructed to land." She warned the duo.  "Land immediately."

"Any of you boys seen an aircraft carrier around here?" Maverick asked jokingly as he met up with the other jet to bring them back.

"Mav, we got a little problem up here. That MiG really screwed him up. I don't think he can make it back." Merlin reported his worries to the other pilot.

"You're okay, Cougar. Just stay on my wing, I'll take you all the way in. Just stay with me." Maverick instructed gently. "Easy, Cougar. Just a walk in the park, buddy. You're a little Iow. You're a little low, Coug. Come on, buddy, pull up. Pull up, Cougar. That's it. Almost there." Maverick urged as they neared the ship and Cougar was struggling to stay up high enough.

"Cougar, you're well below glide path, three-quarters of a mile. Call the ball." Mary called out to him.

"Roger, ball." Cougar replied.

"We're too low, Cougar. We're too low, Cougar. Increase power. Some more power Higher! Higher! Higher, damn it!" Merlin panicked as they crash landed on the ship, medics coming to bring them to the med bay right away.

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Question of the day: What do you think of the flashbacks?