( i. of early nights and unpaid bills )

****

THE SATURDAY NIGHT CROWD AT THE HARD DECK WAS DEADER THAN MAX HAD SEEN IT IN RECENT MEMORY. With the Top Gun graduates gone and most pilots out on leave for the start of the summer holidays, the few left under Penny's care were like her: people stuck at the base alone, waiting for the next class of pilots who think they're special.

Those like Max had two weeks or so before more pilots sat for their cockpit classes, and Max hated having time to burn. A lot of her colleagues were older and had families of their own to spend time with over the break, most pilots Max's age weren't teaching, they were flying dangerous missions overseas and sleeping in cots on aircraft carriers like her older brother Elliot. No, she hated the listless rests and the quietness of Miramar.

In other years she might have gone home to Monterey, hung out with her younger brother for a week, and maybe even gone surfing with her dad if the weather was nice enough. This year, however, she knew that her dad and his newest girlfriend, Suzanne, were in Madrid for the month, a vacation she found out about not from him, but from her brother Freddy. If she was going to go home, he wouldn't even be there, instead, he was spending the summer working in New York.

North Island would have to do, Max thought sourly. Maybe tomorrow she could try to go for a run on the beach or maybe even spend some time shopping, but the night was already falling through her grasp. Out the window of the bar, the sun began its slow descent into the sea, a sign to Max that it was time to pack up and head back home.

"Leaving so soon, Sweetpea?" Penny asked when she saw Max stand. She had known the bar owner for ages through Maverick and in turn through her father. When the Kerners moved away from San Diego 15 years ago, Max went a long while with only seeing Penny or Mav during the summers when she and Freddy lived with Maverick. Once she was enrolled in Top Gun, however, she became a regular around the Benjamin dinner table. "It's only nine."

Max smiled and shrugged her jacket on. "It's my vacation, Pen. I need to catch up on some sleep."

Penny nodded and wiped the spot on the wooden bar where Max's gin and tonic had been. "Where do you want to bill it?"

Max rolled her eyes and shrugged. "What do you think?"

Penny laughed and grabbed a notepad from under the bar. "Not sure how much more Iceman's tab can take, Max."

"Trust me, Uncle Tom always comes through."

Max waved goodbye to a few coworkers she recognized on her way out and breathed a sigh of relief when the cold sea breeze hit her skin. Her truck was only a short walk away, parked against the neon bar sign, its red paint glistening in the moonlight.

Within minutes she was out of the parking lot and cruising down the street back to her house. Every now and then, the engine groaned from wear and tear, but it was barely audible over the sounds of the Bruce Springsteen CD she played.

She pulled into her driveway, her headlight illuminating the small Cape Cod-style home. Max was offered the option to either live on base or in town if she preferred when accepting the position, and she took the money and ran to the nearest realtor's office. Living on the base was too close for comfort.

She had decided upon her little blue house with the help of her Uncle Tom and Uncle Mav, who scrutinized every crack and stain in the walls, standing in for her father who at the time was on his last deployment in Japan. The Navy paid for minimal repairs and the cost of her mortgage, and her dad covered the rest.

For all his problems, Ron Kerner cared. He cared that she succeeded in flying, and when that fell through, he cared about her teaching. He wanted perfection from his kids, and eased them into it, always keeping a watchful eye. She guessed that growing up in any military family shared the same hallmarks, success was paramount. Growing up on the base, some people had it different. Bradley Bradshaw, for example, had lived with his mom on base in Uncle Mav's house after his father's death. Rooster faced opposite pressure, the pressure to not follow in his father's footsteps, to go out and make his own way in the world. But of course, he hadn't, and the last Max had heard from him he was stationed in Greece.

She pulled her keys from her purse as she unlocked the front door. Her unoccupied hand scrolled through her phone until she found her father's contact, a picture of them at her kindergarten graduation grinning up. The phone rang three times as she pushed the door open and flicked the living room lights on.

She frowned when his voicemail started. It was nearly 4 am in Spain.

"Slider," Max sighed, taking off her shoes and hanging up her jacket as she left a message. "I called and then I realized it's late in Madrid, so sorry in advance."

She sat down at the counter, marble cold under her hand. "I just wanted to talk, but I'm free whenever you are. Top Gun's off for the next two weeks."

Max spun around on the barstool to face the rest of her empty house. "I might still go to Monterey, but as of right now I'm going to stay in San Diego. I want to visit Uncle Tom and Aunt Sara tomorrow, so let me know if there's anything you want me to tell them."

"I love you, Dad." She pressed the end call button and frowned as the picture of Vegas and her in the Tomcat cockpit stared up at her. Had it really already been three years? It felt impossible.

***

Before she could enjoy even the slightest bit of her rare break, Max got a call from Cyclone the next morning at the ripe time of 5 am.

"Commander Kerner." His gruff voice sounded over the phone.

"Yes, Admiral?" She sighed, eyes still closed. There was only the faintest bit of sun shining through her windows, but even that hurt her eyes.

"Meet me in my office at 6:30 sharp."

"I'm on vacation, Cyclone." She complained, burrowing her side further into the mountain of pillows she had accumulated on her headboard.

"6:30, Lucky." He hung up.

Max could practically hear the annoyance in his voice. Past her complaining, Max could admit that the call made her nervous. Cyclone ran a tight ship, but he wasn't unreasonable. If he was asking her to come in on a day he knew she had off, there had to be a good reason for it. She just wasn't sure if she wanted to hear it.

Reluctantly she got dressed, pulling on her work jacket over jeans and grabbing an apple on the way out. North Island to Miramar was always a calm drive for her, but today Max just jittered with nerves. Endless beach houses passed her as the landscape faded from the coast to the orange soil of the mountains. When Max reached the gates to the base, she flashed her pass at the attendant and cruised towards the offices, parking in her usual spot near the big building.

Within a few minutes, she was waiting outside Cyclone's office, foot tapping against the floor.

"Commander Kerner," Warlock greeted her from the door, motioning for her to follow.

She raised an eyebrow when she saw the other occupant of the room besides Cyclone.

"Uncle Mav?"

From his position by the screen Maverick laughed, eyes scrunching up. It had been a while since she'd last seen him, but he's always looked the same. The same jacket, same aviators hooked into his shirt collar, the same haircut he's had for her whole life.

"Hey Kiddo," He opened his arms for a hug, which she willingly accepted.

"Sorry to break up this sweet reunion, Kerner, but we have an assignment for you." Cyclone said, gesturing for Max to take a seat opposite Warlock. "Straight from Admiral Kazansky himself."

She tilted her head at the mention of her godfather. He hadn't told her anything about this mission.

"You'll be pulled off of pilot training duty effective immediately, and be assigned to a special attachment concerned with taking down an illegal uranium plant."

"I don't fly, Cyclone." Max shifted in her seat, watching the animation of the planes striking the plant on the screen. Steep climbs and sharp turns, missiles waiting to hit if you even climbed an inch too high. She could feel Maverick's eyes on her.

Cyclone sighed and pressed the button on his tablet, which revealed a list of pilots, their faces staring out at her.

"Are you familiar with any of these pilots, Lucky?" He asked.

Max scanned the screen, smiling as some faces popped out at her. Hangman, her best friend from her days at the Naval Academy, Payback, who had beaten her at bowling more times than she'd care to admit in college, and Rooster, her best friend from the ages of 3-18 and now the only person she could think of when it came to the accident. Other faces she knew in passing, like Phoenix who had been stationed in Bahrain with her right out of school, and Coyote, who she knew was good friends with Hangman.

"Yes, sir." She nodded. "I know a few. Hangman, Payback, and Rooster the most."

"Do you think this is a capable group?"

"They're the best of the best, if they can't get it done, no one can," Max affirmed, although she knew in her gut that this mission would demand more from them than they'd ever had to give before. "Although if you need a suggestion, my brother's a good shot."

"We've been trying to see if Pensacola can spare him, but we've had no luck." Cyclone sighed. "I know one pilot who would make them better, Lucky."

"I'm not getting in a cockpit, sir." Max shook her head. Maverick was giving her a sad look that she didn't entirely appreciate. It was the same look of pity she had gotten from her peers for months after the accident. She was stronger than their pity. "We had our terms when I joined Top Gun in the first place."

"I hope you'll reconsider, Kerner. You know Viper says you're one of the best students he's ever had." Cyclone nodded, turning off the screen. "Until then, you know these pilots and they respect you, so you'll be teaching them alongside Maverick."

"Why me, Sir?"

"You're our best instructor, Kerner, if anyone can get these kids into shape in three weeks, it's you."

She nodded and stood, shaking his hand. There goes her precious vacation.

***
a/n: yay! so happy to invite you into max's world, and i hope you fall in love with her too :)