"Good morning. Can I speak to Admiral Kazansky?" Tucker asked on the phone as she stood outside of the food hall building. She tightly clung the phone to her ear.

The outside noise was just loud enough to avoid anyone ease dropping. "He's not available? Will he take a call tonight? No, I understand he's busy but it's a personal matter I want to speak to him about" Tucker continued as she got no where with his wife on the phone. "Hello? Hello?" she said into the phone after it seemed his wife had disconnected the call. "DAMNIT!" Tucker shouted.

"Lt. Benjamin classes starts soon. Make sure you have ate and are ready for lessons today" Cpt Mitchell said as he passed by his daughter.

"Captain Mitchell. I tried calling Admiral Kazansky. He won't take my calls"

"And why would he take a call for you?" Pete asked. His daughter was nothing but a Lieutenant. The admiral didn't owe her anything.

"I need answers-"

"-don't bother the admiral! You have a mission at hand to focus on!" he scolded Tucker before walking away.

Tucker walked off in the opposite direction back to the dining hall feeling defeated.

Unbeknownst to both of them Hangman and Coyote had been snooping through the window. Though they couldn't hear the conversation, their suspicions were once again confirmed. Something was definitely going on between Maverick and Tornado.

Hangman looked at Coyote, pondering on what was taking place. "I think we need to look into Maverick a little more. Learn about his past" Hangman suggested grabbing his tray of food. Coyote followed after him as they headed to the archive room in the building next door.

Photos from each TOPGUN graduate year were displayed proudly on the walls, alongside some other photos and relics.

Hangman looked at the photos on the north wall while Coyote focused on the photos on the south. The two looking over each framed picture until Hangman had found something.

"I think we have our answer" Hangman commented, grinning from ear to ear.

———

Tucker walked into training later that day with what she felt like was all eyes on her. She smiled at the group before sitting down at her desk.

Hangman proudly walked over.

"A present for me?" She asked grabbing the folder from his hands. She had placed it down on her desk while looking up at Hangman who had his typical grin plastered on his face.

"What, you don't think I can be nice?" he asked with a toothpick sticking out of his mouth. It clung to the end of his teeth, just barely hanging on.

"I wouldn't bet on it" Tucker quickly responded back.

"Well, you'd lose that bet. Just thought you should know. I guess everyone here has their secrets" Hangman grinned, walking over to Coyote who was smirking as well.

Tucker wasn't sure what Hangman was up to or what he was referring to and honestly she didn't want to know. The two men stared back at her, his eyebrows shrugged as she hesitated to open the folder.

"Come on" he mouthed, the anticipation was getting to be too much for Hangman.

She opened the folder, pulling the papers of scanned photos to find Captain Mitchell back in his TOPGUN class of '86. Next to him was the name Kazansky.

Tucker just shot her eyes up at Hangman and Coyote who were waiting for her response.

"We figured it out, didn't we?" he asked, leaning back into his seat, a feeling of accomplishment washed over him.

The two high fived each other. But Tucker was just more confused. Did they know she had been granted a spot from Kazansky? She didn't know how considering Captain Mitchell was the only one to tell her.

Tucker unpleased with the contents of the folder, jumped up from her seat and stood in front of Hangman's desk.

"I don't know how you found this and what you are insinuating with this but you can have it back" Tucker commented, holding out the folder for Hangman to grab.

"Come on. Did you think we were all oblivious? You spend too much time with Maverick. So I did some digging" Hangman explained but it didn't really help Tucker understand what he knew.

"Also, you might want to jot this down to remember for the next time. Contrary to belief, not all girls need to sleep with people to get ahead" Tucker whispering it into his ear as she leaned over. Hangman looked at her, trying to hide his embarrassed blush.

She tucked the folder under his notepad. She then returned to her seat as Maverick walked into the hanger. He was clearly ready for the next set of lessons.

"Okay. Let's get right into the lesson today" Maverick began as he stood up front, turning the projector on. "Time is your greatest enemy. Phase one of your mission will be a low level ingress attacking in two plane teams. You'll fly along this narrow canyon to your target. Radar guided surface-to-air missiles defend the area. These SAMs they're lethal. But they are designed to protect the air above not the canyon below"

"That's because the enemy knows no one is insane enough to try and fly below them" Rooster commented. He was trying to be the star of the class. Though he could care less about the praise from Maverick.

"That's what I'm exactly going to train you to do. On the day your altitude will be 100 feet, maximum. You exceed this altitude, radar will spot you, you're dead. Your air speed will be 660 knots, minimum. Time to target, two and half minutes. That's because fifth generation fighters wait at an airbase nearby. Head to head with these planes in your F-18, you're dead. That's why you need to get in, hit your target and be gone before these planes even have a chance of catching you. This makes time your greatest advisory. You'll fly a route in your nav system that simulates the canyon. The faster you navigate this canyon the harder it will be to stay under the radar of these enemy SAMs. The tighter the turns, the more intensely the  force of gravity multiples. Compressing your lungs. Forcing the blood from brain. Imparting your judgement and reaction time"

"Sir, two and half minutes seems impossible" Payback commented.

"That's why we are taking it easy on you. Max ceiling three hundred feet. Time to target three minutes. Good luck!" Maverick responded, Tucker looked at him shocked. Three minutes presented its own challenges but two and half minutes on mission day just seemed insane.

"Anymore questions?" Maverick asked. No one dared to ask another question. "Good. Get ready. Green team is up first" he instructed. Tucker watched as Phoenix looked to Bob, swallowing a nervous lump in her throat.

Tyler stood up from her desk, feeling more than up for this challenge. Because now she had the chance to show them she deserved what she had gotten thus far in the Navy. That she deserved to be here.

The green team consisted of Phoenix and Bob flying as the pair and Hangman flying solo. The three of them exited the hanger first, heading to their aircrafts.

Tucker stayed back with the others waiting for approval to get in their aircrafts.

"You're not nervous are you?" Yale asked comforting her.

"No. Not at all" Tucker reassured him. She zipped up her fire resistant jumper.

"Good. Better not choke" Harvard threatened, laughing with Yale.

"Purple team. You're up!" Hondo shouted. Tucker pushed her helmet on and made her way to her aircraft.

The two aircrafts took off with Tornado as the lead. "Follow me, it's up ahead" she instructed.

"Roger that" Yale responded back, throwing the plane into a higher throttle to catch up. Once they had passed the range zone the timer began to tick.

Tornado flew as fast as she could around each bend, pushing herself and the aircraft more so each time. With her speed approaching almost 600 knots, she knew they could make it to the target in under three minutes.

"Just slow down. We have time to take these turns a little slower" Yale instructed as he decreased from 550 knots to 500. He could feel with each bend she needed to take it slightly slower to avoid making a mistake.

"I'll go ahead. Just keep steady" Tornado responded to Yale. She flew through the canyon, whipping each turn with precision and confidence.

Tucker, knowing she didn't want to look weak, pushed the knots up in order to make it under the specified time.

Behind her Yale was having issues flying. He pulled harshly on the turn, trying to steady the plane.

"Watch out your headed for the wall" Harvard  informed him as he pulled up on the throttle. The wing in the simulation had just clipped the canyon wall, ending the simulation run for the two.

Tornado only had a few more miles to fly. She pushed the throttle even harder, passing the target with fifteen seconds to spare.

"What was that?" Tornado asked disappointed. She was hoping those two would have been able to keep up.

"If you weren't putting your ego first you would have slowed down for a few of the bends" Yale angrily responded.

"You said not the choke. That's what I did" she fought back. She swung the aircraft back to base. She landed the plane smoothly on the tarmac.

"You've been hanging out with Rooster too much, Yale. He's slowing you down now" Hangman joked to Yale and Harvard as they got out of their aircraft. Hangman looked to Tucker for her to laugh but she didn't find his joke funny.

She continued on her way back to the Hanger.

———

Sitting back in the classroom, Maverick went over each simulation with the groups.

It was the the green turns run first. Bob and Phoenix were struck by SAMs after going above the max ceiling of 300 feet.

"What happened?" Maverick asked, looking over their flight simulation results.

"Well, I flew as fast as I could. Like my ass depended on it" Hangman gleamed.

"And you put your team in danger and your wingman's dead" Rooster commented back.

"She couldn't keep up"

"No, if you wouldn't  have slowed down those few seconds we would have survived" Phoenix commented back. Hangman had halted the plane abruptly after Phoenix had begged him to a couple of times. Their run showed a lack of communication.

"How are you going to explain to Bob's family what happened? Huh?" Maverick asked her. Phoenix looked over at Bob before looking at Maverick.

"It was a simulation. I know for next time-" Phoenix began but he had cut her off.

"-you get one run. That's it. Explain that to his love ones. Yours. Tell me. What would you say? What would your family feel?"

Phoenix just remained quiet. She knew not only her life was at risk but Bob's as well.

"Okay purple team. You're up" Maverick announced. He switched the run to display theirs.

Tucker tried to shield her eyes as she wasn't too pleased with her groups results. She knew Yale's mistake would ultimately fall on her shoulders.

She watched in horror as the second plane slowed down before clipping the canyon wall. The simulated plane exploded on impact.

She knew it was a mistake she could have easily avoided if she had just slowed down and listened. But at the same time Yale should have been better at flying at those speeds.

"Tornado?" Maverick questioned.

"I made it" she cockily responded.

"Without your second plane" Rooster scoffed behind her.

"He's right. It's no good if you're second aircraft isn't behind you" Maverick muttered.

"They told me not to choke and I did just that" Tucker said, looking back at Yale who had a sour expression.

"You could have been a little less of an ass and slowed down" Harvard countered.

"Enough. Let's move on to the next" Maverick reprimanded the three. He clicked onto the next simulation run. Tucker turned her head back around watching the next run. 

The group watched as Rooster's team completed the course. Though, they were over time, by a whole minute.

"Why are you dead? You are team leader up there. Why is your team dead?" Maverick asked. His tone was harsh, slightly harsh than the rest of the times he had asked.

"Sir, they are the only ones who made it to the target as a group" Phoenix commented.

Maverick was becoming aggressive with the hypothetical. It was the whole family comment that was really bothering Tucker. He was trying to make a point about family when he himself had none, none that he had made an effort in.

"A minute late. He gave enemy aircraft time to shoot him down. He's dead"

"You don't know that" Rooster snapped back. The fight began to feel more personal for Tyler than just about the mission at large.

"You're not flying fast enough! You don't have a second to waste" Hangman lectured.

"We made it to the target" Rooster once more fought back.

"Yeah too slow" Tucker commented under her breath.

"And superior enemy aircrafts intercepted you on the way out" Maverick pointed out.

"Then it's a dogfight" Rooster argued.

"Against fifth generations?" Maverick asked. It was realistically an impossible fight.

"Yeah. We still have a chance"

"In a F-18-" Maverick countered in an aggressive tone.

"It's not the plane sir. It's the pilot!" Rooster shouted.

"Exactly!" Maverick commented back in a loud voice, before realizing what he had agreed with. He took a step back trying to gather his composure. Hide his emotions.

"Come on Rooster. Drop it! You failed this run just like everyone else" Tucker muttered under her breath. It was no use fighting with Maverick about the hypothetical.

"No. There is more than one way to fly this mission" Rooster continued to argue back. He was trying to make a point with Maverick about the past and the future but Tucker assumed he was just trying to be an ass and a kiss up.

"You really don't get it. On this mission a man flies like Maverick here or a man does not come back. No offense intended. It's cute she's protecting your secret by the way" Hangman said, grinning at Tucker. She looked at him confused.

"You always manage" Bob commented, leaning forward at Hangman.

"Look, I don't mean to criticize. You're conservative that's all" Hangman continued.

"Lieutenant" Maverick muttered, although he couldn't keep his harsh thoughts about his past from intruding.

"We're going into combat, son. On a level no living pilot's ever seen. Not even him. It's no time to be thinking about the past" Hangman commented. "Look, I know you two were keeping a secret. I knew this tied you to Maverick somehow. I cracked the code" Hangman happily announced giving Tucker and Bradley a big proud grin.

"What's that suppose to mean?" Rooster asked.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Tucker vociferated.

"You know what I'm talking about"

"No, Hangman. I don't do why don't you enlighten me and the class" Tucker pleaded. She needed to know.

"Tornado! Enough" Maverick scolded.

"No, I need to know! Tell us" Tucker continued.

"Enough, damnit!" Maverick shouted losing his cool at her. He took a deep breath trying to regain his calmness.

"You can't talk to me that way!" Tucker snapped at Maverick. She wasn't about to be scolded by her father when he was just the instructor.

"You're the only person I can talk to in here like that!" He snapped back. The room got quiet until Hangman clapped his hands, slowly.

"Bravo. Bravo. Didn't I tell you all she was sleeping with him. What you all didn't know was that she is doing it to get back at Rooster" Hangman explained.

"What are you talking about?" Tucker asked all surprised. How was Rooster involved in all of this.

"So it's true. You're sleeping with him" Rooster said all flabbergasted.

"What? No!"

"Then why the hell do you spend so much time together? I showed you the evidence. You seemed mad" Hangman continued.

"Evidence? I'm not sleeping with Maverick!"

"Then what the hell is going on between you two?" Rooster asked in a demanding tone.

"Tornado!" Maverick scolded but it wasn't enough to keep Tucker from blurting out "He's my dad!". She had officially snapped before covering her mouth with her hand. She sunk into her seat, knowing she had just fueled the whole nepotism talk once more.

Rooster looked at Tucker, "that's your dad?" he asked.

"So you're not sleeping with him to get back at Rooster?" Hangman questioned unsure of what to think now.

"Hangman" Maverick quietly scolded.

"What is he talking about?" Bob asked Phoenix but she just shrugged, unsure. Hangman took this as a cue for him to continue with his little speech.

"I can't be the only one who knows that Maverick flew with his old man or that he kil-"

"That's enough!" Maverick shouted as Hangman continued to talk about Bradley's dad.

Immediately a fight broke out as Hangman and Rooster went after each other. Everyone at this point had jumped up from their seats, trying to break it up. Tucker just stood their shocked.

She didn't know that her father had killed Bradley's dad.

"You son of a bitch!" Rooster shouted, pointing a finger at Hangman. He then turned to Tucker, a look of disappointment in his eyes. She was now by association hated for what her father did.

"Rooster, I swear I didn't know anything!" She shouted as he was pushed away.

"I'm cool" Hangman said as he pulled the hands of the others off of him. "He's not cut out for this mission. Clearly neither of them are. Clouded judgment and secrets" Hangman teased. He walked past Maverick, "you know I'm right", grinning from ear to ear. He walked off acting as though nothing had taken place.

"You're all dismissed" Maverick announced, his hand resting on his head.

Tucker gave her dad a disappointing look before walking off. She rushed up to Rooster trying to convince him she didn't know.

"I swear, I didn't know. He never told me and I never dug into his past" she tried reasoning but he just kept going.

She looked back at her father once more, he seemed consumed by the guilt of the past.

"I swear, Bradley. I swear I didn't know anything" Tucker weakly muttered. His head shot up, looking at her as she had said his name.

"Look man, wasn't too hard to find out. Okay?" Hangman asked trying to act all cool as if he didn't make an ass out of himself back in the classroom.

"Just knock it off"

"And what are you hiding?" Hangman asked. Tucker before walking away.