Ever since she could remember Kailani "Ice Queen" Serensin had flown like her father, she flew cold-like Ice. She could wait until her enemy got stupid and then take them down, it was a more cautious way of flying that her sister had never understood. And Rocksteady was her perfect flight partner as solid and patient as she herself was.

But Kailani was about to strangle the pilot flying in front of her, because as steady as she flew, she did not fly slow.

"Rooster, buddy, we're losing time you need to pick up the pace."

"It'll be okay." Was the reply making Ice Queen shake her head, and her sister liked this guy? At the pace, he moved they might get married by the time they retired from the Navy.

They kept flying and back on the ship Dark Star muttered quietly "Come on Rooster, open the throttle."

In the tower, Firebird shook her head as her men called out to her "Ma'am, Dagger 3 and 4 can't keep up."

"Arrival time to destination, 1 minute 20 seconds."

"3, 2.. The enemy airbase has been destroyed."

"Enemies change direction towards the target."

She sighed as Maverick's voice came over the comm "Rooster, where are you?"

Her daughter's voice spoke next "Come on, Rooster! We have to make up for the time while we can!"

Finally, Gemma turned to Cyclone "Get me a direct line to the kid."

Cyclone nodded and handed her a comm she took a deep breath before speaking lowly "Rooster... This is Firebird."

"Ma'am."

Firebird chuckled "It's crazy, that you call me Ma'am when you used to call me Aunt Gemma... Now listen to me Rooster, your father was an amazing person, but he had one flaw.... He would have followed Pete Mitchell to the ends of the earth, not because he trusted his abilities but because he loved this life.... Your father would have still flown if it had been Maverick that died. Because your father felt the same need we all do, he felt the need for speed. So he lived his life a knot at a time, he didn't think about the future, not when he was in the air..... So you tell me something Rooster, did you earn the right to wear those wings? Or are you just pretending to be what the rest of us really are?"

Rooster stared ahead, then looked down at his father's dog tags before he punched it. Gemma took a deep breath and looked to Cyclone who nodded, they were both teachers, and sometimes you had to give someone a punch in the gut to get them to do what they needed to do.

Ice Queen followed after Rooster "Alright! Let's make up some time!"

"Do we have to go this fast?" Rock Steady asked making Ice Queen roll her eyes "How many times do I have to tell you Rock, no back seat driving!"

"Sir, Dagger-2 is catching up." Phoenix informed the older pilot, who grinned in his cockpit, "Alright kids, let's hit our targets and go home."

Dark Star smiled and looked over to where Hangman sat in his own jet the two gave each other a thumbs up... It was about to go down!

"30 seconds to target. Prepare your laser."

"1-6-8-8 confirmation code, laser scanning completed." Said Bob, he waited a moment before saying "The lasers are ready!"

Rooster flew faster through the canyons than he had ever flown in tight places before. He worried for his wingman and called "Ice, you with me?"

"Right behind you Rooster, I'm with you too the end of the line my friend."

Rooster nodded a small smile on his face, he was glad he had Ice Queen... He would rather have DarkStar but Ice Queen was a close second.

"First miracle accomplished, Dagger-2, status report."

"I'm almost there Mav! RockSteady, where's my laser?"

Ice Queen waited for her co-pilot to do his job but in a second his voice called out "Rooster, I can't lock the laser!"

Hangman shook his head listening "Come on, Come on."

"Come on, guys! We're running out of time!" Rooster called

"Come on, RockSteady. Get it done!" Said Ice Queen but Rooster's voice spoke up "No time. I'm going to shoot blind."

"Rooster, I'm on it. Wait!" Rock Steady called

"There's no time left. Bombs are on the way! bombs on the way"

"It's a hit!" One of Gemma's crew yelled making the Admiral smile before she shook her head "It's not over yet."

Suddenly pandemonium broke out as the enemy shot their missiles, DarkStar braced herself as she listened to the others yell back and forth, about what was going on. Her sister's voice somehow managed to remain almost calm, it always did, no matter how stressed she spoke like she was talking about the weather.

Then there was Rooster who was calling out to his Wingman telling her to move and fly right... His voice was full of fear for his fellow pilots, unlike Hangman he was the perfect flying partner.

Suddenly Rooster was screaming in fear for himself "I can't escape! They're after me, they're after me!"

DarkStar clenched her fists wishing her mother would send her out to help, she needed to be out there.

There was a moment of silence until "Dagger-1 has been hit! I repeat, Dagger-1 has been hit!"

Firebird said a word she hadn't used in years before moving to the com "Dagger-1, status report? Status report? Maverick!"

"Does anyone see him? Does anyone seen him?" Rooster yelled as Firebird called out "Dagger-1, answer!"

Finally, RockSteady's voice spoke up "I didn't see a parachute."

"We need to go back."

"Ma'am the enemies are on their way." Cyclone muttered to his commander who took a deep breath reaching up to wipe a single tear from her eye before speaking again "Call them aboard now."

"All Daggers advance to ECP. The ship is waiting for you."

"DarkStar give them support coming back."

DarkStar took off waving to Hangman as she went, he Wingman simply muttered "Good luck little sister"

As DarkStar flew she listened to what was going down.

"What about Maverick?" Rooster asked

"There's nothing you can do for Maverick. Not in an F-18." Cyclone told him and Firebird followed his words with "Believe me when I say, Maverick knows that better than anyone."

"Start search and rescue."

"Negative. Not when the enemies are there."

"Ma'am Maverick is still out there...We're not going to lose anyone else today."

Firebird shook her head "Call them home now."

"Dagger, don't make contact. I repeat, do not contact."

Dark Star took a breath as her fellow pilots came into view, she saw Rooster leaving the others and she made a decision...

"Dagger-2, we're going home. come back. Turn back."

One of the Com men frowned "Ma'am! DarkStar is following Rooster."

Firebird groaned as her men called the two pilots back she lowered her head and muttered "Watch her six Ice... Watch her six."

"Rooster. He died. Maverick is dead." Phoenix called to her friend "DarkStar! Get your rear end turned around and back to the ship!" Ice Queen yelled to her sister, but both women were ignored as the two jets flew away towards where Maverick had crashed.

"You don't have to come" Rooster muttered

"Yeah, I do... He's my uncle, that makes him family."

With that they flew forward, coming into a wooded clearing they found a helicopter shooting at a lone figure on the ground. The two flipped together taking the helicopter out with one well-aimed shot from Rooster.

Firebird stood tensely waiting for word from her daughter that they had found Maverick, instead, she heard "Dagger-2&3 have been shot down."

Firebird braced herself against her desk and up in the air Ice Queen shook her head in disbelief...

"Get them on the com."

_________________________________________________



Aria groaned as her parachute caught in a tree, she had been doing great until two of the fifth-gen fighters got on her tail. She heard footsteps and looked down grinning when she saw Rooster "Hey handsome, want to cut me down.?"

Rooster smirked "I hate to leave a lady hanging."

They managed to get her down in one piece, and then Aria jumped into Rooster's arms kissing him fiercely. He moaned into the kiss before they finally had to pull back for air.

"Hey." Rooster muttered

"Hey."

They both jumped as they heard someone running, they turned to find Maverick headed in their direction "Are you okay?" He called and they both nodded "Yeah, we're good. Are you okay?"

Next thing either of them knew they were being shoved to the ground

"Hey!"

"What are you doing?!"

The couple yelled as they both scrambled to their feet in Maverick shook his head at the two. "What are you doing here?"

Rooster and Maverick started yelling over each other and DarkStar rolled her eyes at the two until finally, Maverick asked "What were you thinking?!"

"You told me not to think!"

Aria chuckled and the two men turned to her before they also started laughing, then Maverick frowned "And you young lady? What are you doing here?"

Aria shrugged "I was just following him."

Maverick looked to Rooster who was watching Aria with a starstruck expression and he rolled his eyes "Great, if we get back alive your mothers going to kill me if we die out here your fathers going to haunt me in the afterlife.... And your mother will probably join us just so she can ride my.."

He paused looking towards the two as he noticed they weren't paying attention, Aria had noticed that Rooster had a scratch on his face and was gently inspecting it. Rooster's face was blood red from blushing and he was still staring at Aria with that look.

Maverick smiled slightly, it was like watching Firebird and Iceman all over again, he shook his head and spoke "It's good to see you both."

They broke away from each other to smile at him "Yeah, good to see you too."

"So what's the plan?" Rooster asked, the smile that crossed Maverick's face made him regret asking.

_________________________________________________



"You cannot be serious." Rooster exclaimed as they knelt above the enemy base "You're goofing off, aren't you?"

He looked to where Maverick and Aria knelt both with small smirks on their faces, and he realized just how alike the two were... He groaned he had fallen in love with a female Maverick, he shook his head as he asked "An F-14?"

"I have taken down three enemies in one of those things."

"How do we know if that scrap can fly?.. Besides there's only two seats what about Aria?"

Aria grinned "Oh, don't you worry about me, I have a ride of my own.." She pointed and Rooster looked in that direction-finding an F-22 Raptor, he raised an eyebrow "Do you even know how to fly that thing?"

"Oh, honey, I can fly anything with two wings."

Maverick grinned reaching out to ruffle the girl's hair "Your parents taught you well. Now let's go."

The three moved across the runway, and Maverick couldn't help but think that if they had one more person they would have looked exactly like He, Goose, Firebird, and Turtle used to look sneaking around and getting into trouble... Of course, Goose and Firebird didn't hold hands, he reached back slapping the two's hands apart, making them glare at him.

"There are men ahead." Rooster muttered

"Yes. Let's not draw attention."

"OK."

"Let's start running. Run, come on!" The three began running across the airfield, Dark Star breaking off from the other two to head towards the F-22.

It had been one of the last aircraft her father had been assigned to and on his last day as a Captain he had taken both Aria and Kailani up with him. Aria still remembered the words he had told her "Doesn't matter how good a pilot you are Aria, just remember someone will always know a trick that you don't... But as long as you have your wingman, you'll be just fine..."

He had let her hold the controls for just a moment before coming back down, where they had found her grandfather Admiral Thomas Ross waiting on them.

Dark Star shook her head and wiped away a tear at the memory before hopping into the plane, she got onto the same frequency as Rooster and Maverick.

"Alright, guys I'm ready."

"Guys the runways blown.. What are we going to do."

"DarkStar you thinking what I'm thinking."

Aria's eyes landed on the taxiway, and she grinned "I think so."

"After you kid."

"Mav, Dark, it's a taxiway. It's not the runway. You have a very narrow take-off area."

"Hold on tight."

With that Aria took off, making it with room to spare, but she knew the others would need more.. She bit her lip and prayed they would make it..

When she heard their screams of joy she grinned and looked back "Alright boys, let's go home."

She clicked on her GPS, so she wouldn't be shot down by her own people and headed home, her mother was going to kill her.

Back on the ship Firebird stared into the distance, Ice Queen had just landed and she knew that her daughter would be up here soon.... They couldn't lose Aria, not after they had just lost Tom..

Sir, ma'am we're picking up signals from Rooster and DarkStar's GPS. It doesn't look like a malfunction."

Gemma rushed forward "Tell me more."

"Information came from the tower that there was an F-14 and an F-22 heading towards our position."

"This is impossible." Cyclone muttered but Firebird shook her head with a smile "Maverick."

"All right, Rooster. Contact the ship."

"There's no wireless. There is no radar."

"DarkStar?"

Aria looked down and began trying to contact the ship, she frowned when it didn't work "Looks like they were trying to repair the long-distance because it's not working."

Maverick sighed and began trying to tell Rooster how to work the radio on the F-14 when Rooster called out

"Guys, enemy aircraft below us."

"Shoot...what do we do Mav?" DarkStar asked

"OK, listen. act calm. If they knew who we were, we'd be dead already."

"Here they come. What's the plan?"

"Let's put on our masks. Remember, we're on the same team."

"Just smile and wave boys, smile and wave." Dark Star muttered as the enemy aircraft came alongside and they all waved at the pilots.

One of the enemy pilots gave them a signal that confused them "What's that signal? What is he saying?" Rooster asked

"I don't know. I don't know what he's saying."

The pilot gave another signal "What about that one? Any idea?"

"No, I've never seen that either."

The planes went into attack formation and Maverick took a deep breath "OK, listen. When I tell you, grab the rings over your head. They're the launch rope. And Aria, you hightail it, you can make it back to the ship on that plane and they'll give you cover."

"I am not leaving you!" Aria exclaimed at the same time Rooster said "Mav, we can beat these guys"

"With guns and missiles?"

"Then there will be a dogfight."

"In an F-14? Against 5th generation warplanes?"

"I have a 5th gen fighter Mav!"

" Besides it's not the plane, it's the pilot. If it wasn't for me and Ria, you'd be after them."

"But you are here. And I made a promise to Arias father to protect her."

"What?!" Aria asked and Maverick sighed "The last time I saw him, he made me promise to keep you and Kailani safe."

Aria took a deep breath "Then keep me safe, be my wingman like you were his... Protect me the same as you did him and my mother."

Maverick took a deep breath before he said "Hold tight and stay close!"

_________________________________________________



Hangman looked to where his wife stood on the runway, he wished he could go to her and comfort her, but he had to stay here in his plane just in case. Then his mother-in-law's voice came over the speaker "Launch Hangman." Hangman grinned, looked like his little sister had managed to get her backside out of trouble again, but he was going to have to get her home.

DarkStar jerked the plane to the right as she dodged the enemy bullets, she looked back with a frown "This dude is really getting on my nerves."

With that, she pulled the stick back going straight up in the air then cutting the engines before hitting them back on and taking down her opponent.

"Whoo, that's my girl!" Rooster cried out and DarkStar smirked "At least buy me dinner first handsome."

They thought they had taken them all down when two more planes appeared out of nowhere "Damn, we're out of ammo."

DarkStar was forced to bank hard to get away from her bogey, leaving Rooster and Maverick alone "I'll be back ASAP boys!"

"Rooster, deflectors!" "That was so close!" "We're out of deflectors, Mav. Shit, he's targeting us! This is not good! Mitchell, we're gonna get shot!"

"No no no!"

"You guys get out of there!" DarkStar called as she tried to shake her own bogey "We can't take it anymore!"

"We can't escape this man. We have to throw it." "What?" Rooster asked in confusion

"We need altitude. Pull the launch handle as soon as I tell you." "Mav, what...?"

"Rooster, you're leaving.

"Throw, throw, throw!" Nothing happened and Maverick frowned "Rooster, pull the lever! Throw it!" "It doesn't work!"

DarkStar couldn't shake her bogey, but she was more worried for her Wingman, she looked over and grinned... Looked like they would be just fine, she sighed there would be no living with him now. She finally shook her bogey and got behind him waiting to get a lock.... "Mav!" Rooster cried

"Sorry, kid."

Suddenly at almost the same time, the two fighters went up in flames, and Hangman's cocky voice came over the Com "No need to applaud, ladies and gentlemen. Your savior is speaking. Please fasten your seat belts, follow me home, and prepare to land."

As they flew alongside the cocky pilot Rooster called out "Hey, Hangman. You look good." "I am good, Rooster. I am very good." He glanced to where DarkStar flew on his left side and grinned "Nice to have you back Dark, I would have hated to train a new Wingman to put up with my shit."

DarkStar grinned "You know no one else can put up with you like I can."

Hangman laughed "See you on board."

With that both he and DarkStar flew down to land, Maverick and Rooster's landing was a little rockier because they had lost their landing gear while taking off.

As they all got out of their planes DarkStar was wrapped up in her mother and sister's arms "What were you thinking?" Her mother asked, "I could have lost you!"

Aria looked back with tears in her eyes "I had to mom, Maverick's wingman wasn't here to do it anymore."

Gemma smiled looking both her children over and she whispered "Your father would be so proud of both of you two.. And so am I."

Hangman rushed over taking his wife into his arms, and Rooster moved towards Aria his arm going around her shoulders.

Maverick watched them all and Firebird walked over to her old friend "Well Maverick another mission done."

Maverick looked to his best friend and gave a sad smile "They won't need pilots like us much longer Gem."

"Maybe not, but for right now they do.. And one day when they remember how important it is to have a real pilot in the plane, we may not still be here, but there will always be people like us Maverick... People who feel the need."

Maverick grinned "The need for speed."

_________________________________________________



Bradley finally took Aria on that date, barely two months later he asked her to marry him, Hangman almost fell over when he heard the other pilot had proposed that fast.

"Well glad he does something faster than he flies."

Unlike Iceman and Firebird, the two young pilots didn't have a long engagement, and barely five months after their first date, they were married. Jet walked his little sister down the aisle with tears in his eyes, knowing he wasn't the person who should have been giving her away.

Barely a week later Kailani and Jake announced the fact that they were having twins, a fact that Hangman very smugly told Bradley who rolled his eyes at his competitive brother-in-law. Of course, when the newlyweds announced that they were having triplets barely three months later, Bradley just grinned at Jake who stared open-mouthed at his Wingman.

As the family grew they were all watched over by the proud gaze of Gemma, who retired from the Navy at the age of sixty. She never re-married, after all her soulmate, her wingman, her person was dead, and so she waited for her time to re-join him. And sometimes her family would find her singing to her grandchildren

"When I think back on these times And the dreams we left behind I'll be glad 'cause I was blessed to get to have you in my life When I look back on these days I look and see your face You were right there for me

In my dreams, I'll always see you soar above the sky In my heart, there'll always be a place for you for all my life I'll keep a part of you with me And everywhere I am, there you'll be And everywhere I am, there you'll be

Well, you showed me how it feels To feel the sky within my reach And I always will remember all the strength you gave to me Your love made me make it through Oh, I owe so much to you You were right there for me

In my dreams, I'll always see you soar above the sky In my heart, there'll always be a place for you for all my life I'll keep a part of you with me And everywhere I am, there you'll be'

Cause I always saw you as my light, my strength And I wanna thank you now for all the ways You were right there for me You were right there for me For alwaysIn my dreams, I'll always see you soar above the sky In my heart, there'll always be a place for you for all my life I'll keep a part of you with me And everywhere I am, there you'll be And everywhere I am, there you'll be There you'll be"

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And that ladies and gentlemen is that!! I really enjoyed this book and I want to thank everyone for all of the support, you guys have been amazing! Unless they come out with another TopGun sequel then this will be the last chapter. Please check out some of my other stories as well and again thank you!

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Disclaimer: I own nothing but my OC's