Carmen pulled out her phone as her plane docked at the gate. Even though she knew Patrick probably was still at work, she sent him a text.
"Plane landed safely."
Before she could even shut her phone down, he responded.
"Good to hear. Love you hun."
Carmen smiled, sending back, "Love you too."
She pocketed her phone, heading toward the baggage claim. It didn't take her long to find the one suitcase she'd packed.
Within half an hour, she was mounting the steps to her parent's home. She set her suitcase down, and rang the doorbell.
Carmen could hear footsteps approaching the door, and it swung open to reveal her mother.
"Carmen! Sweetheart, you could've called." Her mother stepped aside. "I would've picked you up from the airport."
Carmen stepped into the house. "It's alright. I caught a cab." She set her luggage down and turned to her mother, who pulled her straight into a hug.
"I'm glad you're here," her mother murmured.
"Me too." Carmen pulled back. "How is he?'
Her mother started wheeling Carmen's suitcase toward the guest room. "He's managing. It's a lot to get used to, that you can't talk and you've only got a few months to live."
Carmen sighed, nodding as she dumped her backpack on the guest bed.
"And how are you holding up Mom? It's a lot for you to get used to too."
Her mother sighed. "I'm, doing alright."
"Good. I'll stay here as long as you and Dad need, so just let me know if you need to talk or something, alright?"
"I will. Thank you Carmen."
"No problem Mom."
Her mother smiled, glancing down at her phone. She shook her head softly.
"He noticed you've arrived. Why don't you go talk to him, I'll start some dinner."
Carmen nodded, heading straight to her father's office. She hesitated for a second at the door before opening it.
Her father turned from his desk, and a smile immediately lit up his face.
Carmen returned it, shutting the door behind her.
"Hey Dad."
He stood slowly, using the arms of his chair to push himself upright.
Carmen hurried over, gently supporting him and saying, "Sit back down."
He gave her a look that screamed, "no way" and pulled her right into a hug.
Carmen buried her face in his shoulder, murmuring, "it's okay. I'm here to stay."
Her father pulled back, looking her over with a furrow in his brow before nodding, and sitting back down.
Carmen copied him, sinking into her chair.
He reached over and turned on his monitor, typing, "How are you?"
It was clear now why they were meeting in his office. Carmen crossed her legs. "I'm good. Flight was far too long for my liking."
He smiled, typing, "And Patrick?"
"Pat's good. He's pretty excited that we're going to move back out here. Mostly because he'll actually get to work on planes instead of repairing ships."
Her father smiled, reaching over to squeeze her hand.
"I'm excited to move back here. We'll be closer to you and Mom, and I'll be back with the same squadron I was in right out of Top Gun."
Her father nodded, pausing before he typed, "Good. I have a request."
"Fire away Dad."
"I've recommended you for a Top Gun assignment," he typed.
Carmen leaned forward. She couldn't say she was that surprised. He'd tried to recommend her for other assignments before, but she'd never been able to follow through with them. "What assignment?"
"Can't say unless you accept. They reached out and asked if I had anyone to recommend."
"So you recommended me? Seems a little biased, Dad," Carmen teased.
His shoulders shook with silent laughter as he typed, "I also wanted you back for another reason." He paused, contemplating the screen, thinking.
Carmen frowned. He looked, sad. She reached over, putting a hand on his knee and giving it a gentle squeeze.
He gave her a small smile, then typed, "I want to get up in a plane one last time."
"Joey could take you up. You didn't need me, Dad." Carmen kept her voice level, hiding the bittersweet sadness that settled in the pit of her stomach. "But I'd be happy to."
"Your brother just graduated Top Gun. With that and the fact that he's a weapons systems officer, I'm not getting in a plane with him. No matter how well he insists he can fly."
Carmen laughed. "Fair enough. I'll see what I can do."
The bar hadn't changed at all. That is to say, it was still swarming with Top Gun pilots when Carmen walked in around seven, pulling off her sunglasses.
She hadn't been here in probably five years. But she was glad to be back.
"Carmen!" a voice called from across the bar.
Carmen turned in that direction, smiling as she spotted her brother. She walked across, sitting down at his booth.
He grinned up at her, swirling his beer. "I was wondering when you were going to show up."
"I was with Dad, Joey." Carmen sat down at the booth.
Her brother's face fell. "Yeah…" he murmured. "I try not to think about that too much…"
Carmen nodded, scooting over to make room for a dark haired woman who plopped down at the booth.
Joey smiled, saying, "Carmen, this is Nightowl. She's my pilot."
Carmen reached out and shook the woman's hand. "Captain Carmen Kazansky. I'm Joey's sister."
"Marena Waylen." The woman's handshake was firm. "Or Nightowl, like Jojo just mentioned. I grabbed you a beer; hope you like shandy."
Carmen took the beer, raising an eyebrow at her brother. "Jojo?"
Joey's cheeks flushed. "She just started calling me that and I can't get her to stop!"
Carmen rolled her eyes, taking a swig of her beer. "You mentioned she was top of the class Joey?"
They both nodded, and Marena raised her beer to Carmen. "Thanks to you. You proved we women could earn the Top Gun trophy."
Carmen set her beer down. "It wasn't too hard. Just following in my father's footsteps."
The table fell silent for a moment, Joey avoiding meeting her eyes. After a minute or two, Marena broke the silence by asking Carmen, "Where are you stationed? Joey mentioned something east coast?"
Carmen nodded. "My fiancé and I are up in Maine. He's a naval engineer at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Maine. But we'll be moving up to Lemoore soon. I was stationed up there after I graduated Top Gun."
Marena nodded, "Yeah, we'll see where I end up."
They lapsed into more comfortable silence, which was broken by a, "What is this, Kazansky kid reunion?"
Carmen set down her beer and turned around. And found herself staring at Pete "Maverick" Mitchell.
She grinned, shooting back, "Maybe, though we're missing a sibling. What the hell are you doing here?"
Maverick sighed. "One last hurrah before the navy kicks me out."
"Actually kicks you out this time?" Carmen raised an eyebrow.
He nodded.
"Well have a seat then," Joey said.
"Can't. Just stopped by to say hello." Maverick patted Joey on the shoulder. "Hopefully I'll see you two around."
Carmen nodded. "At the very least you'll see us at my wedding."
Maverick nodded and left. Marena set down her beer, "Was that the Pete Mitchell?"
Joey nodded, smiling. "Our dad was his wingman at Top Gun."
"I knew that, idiot."
Carmen just sighed, nursing her beer as she watched the Top Gun pilots at the other end of the bar start a game of pool.
Her mind wandered as she watched them play. Patrick would be shipping boxes down for their new house, she'd have to pick those up at some point. She needed to talk to whoever was running Top Gun these days, see if she could get her dad in the air again. And then there was that mysterious Top Gun assignment. If it was teaching… she'd already declined that opportunity when she'd graduated ten years ago.
"Hey," Joey snapped her out of her thoughts. "Is that Bradshaw?"
Carmen turned, following his gaze. "It is. What the hell is he doing back here?"
"No idea. I have heard from him in a while."
Carmen grabbed her beer, "I'm going to go say hello. You coming?"
"Nah, I'll run interference, in case Mav is still lurking around."
Carmen nodded, "Alright, I'm going to go enjoy the rest of my evening."
Her phone pinged as she stood, and she checked before she started walking.
"Told Top Gun that you've accepted," the text from her father read. "Vice Admiral Simpson wants you in at 7:30 for a meeting tomorrow."
She fired a text back, "Got it. Thanks."
"No problem. Don't stay out too late."
Carmen rolled her eyes. "I'm 42, not 18."
She pocketed her phone and set out across the bar.
Carmen waited for a group of cadets to jog by before she entered the main Top Gun building. A large Navy Fighter Weapons School insignia pasted on the floor greeted her. She smiled, sparing only a glance at the large portrait of her father on the wall before she approached the front desk.
"Name?" the receptionist asked.
"Captain Carmen Kazansky."
The receptionist typed for a moment, then said, "Meeting with Vice Admiral Simpson?"
"Yes ma'am. I know where the office is."
The receptionist nodded, and Carmen pushed open the door to the hallway.
She walked down toward the office, pausing at a familiar photo on the wall. A photo of her, standing between her father and Viper, who'd still been head of Top Gun at the time. A newspaper clipping, the one that had earned her her callsign, was pinned into the frame beside the photo.
The headline read, "Lieutenant Carmen Kazansky becomes first woman to graduate from the Navy Fighter Weapons School at the top of her class."
"Earned you your callsign, didn't it?" a voice said.
Carmen turned, finding a man watching her.
He held out a hand, "Vice Admiral Simpson."
She shook it, "Captain Carmen Kazansky."
"I figured. Callsign Headliner, correct?"
"Yes, sir."
He nodded, starting further down the hallway. Carmen followed.
"Did your father tell you what he was recommending you for?"
"No, he did not."
Vice Admiral Simpson pushed the door to his office open. Carmen took note of his callsign, Cyclone, which was written on the door. She followed him in and shut the door behind them.
He picked a folder up off his desk and handed it to her before he sat down. Carmen remained standing, flipping through the folder.
"Unsanctioned uranium refinery," she read aloud.
"Correct. We've been tasked by the Pentagon to put together a strike team to take it out." He gestured to the folder, "We recalled twelve Top Gun graduates from their stations."
Carmen flipped to the photos of the pilots, noting that most of them were the pilots she'd seen at the bar the previous night, including Bradley. "How many to fly the mission?"
"Four planes, flying in teams of two. Three pilots per team."
Carmen nodded, "So it gets narrowed down to six?"
"Not exactly. We want you to fly one of the planes, with a WSO of your choosing, though you have to run them by me."
Carmen looked up, studying him.
He continued, "You have invaluable experience in flying specialized missions and your two tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. You'll also be assistant instructor of the course."
Carmen shut the folder, mind already racing. "Who's the head instructor?"
"I believe you know him."
Carmen sighed. He couldn't be serious…
Cyclone finished, "Captain Pete "Maverick" Mitchell."
Carmen gave a nod, tucking the folder under her arm. Thinking wryly to herself, last hurrah indeed.
"The rest of your brief is the folder. It's classified, so share it with no one."
"Yes sir."
"Anyone in mind for you WSO?" Cyclone asked.
Carmen smiled. There was only one person she trusted enough to have her back in dangerous combat.
"The same WSO I flew with in Top Gun and on my tours. Commander Evan Cannon."
Cyclone nodded, "A good choice. I'll put out the recall orders. Grab some breakfast, class starts at 8:00."
"Yes sir," Carmen said. She left the office, heading toward the cafeteria. Pulling out her phone, she sent her father a text.
"That was not what I was expecting."
"Can you handle it?" he asked.
Carmen snorted, firing back, "What kind of question is that? Of course I can." Though the more she thought about it, the more she was starting to think this might be a little above her skill.
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Sorry it took so long to get this up, but I've already got the next chapter in the works, don't worry.