part 1/add on
What if, Hangman is Mav's biological son that Mav never knew about, so Hangman grew up in foster care and the only thing he knows about his biological father was that he was/is in the Navy and his name.
He finds out who his father is when he goes to Top Gun the first time.
He also finds out he's married.
At that point, Hangman was old enough to fend for himself, he didn't need or want a dad (right?).
Plus, why would his father want him when he isn't even half as good as he is?
(Hangman trying to prove himself again and again, so that he would have a reason for Maverick to look at him. To be closer to his father in the only way he knew how.)
He was chosen as a candidate for the mission.
Met his father for the first time.
He didn't get chosen, he was spare.
His father was dead.
Dead.
Dead.
Dead.
He launches against orders.
They were alive.
Mav, his da-- his friend or mentor, gave him a hug.
Afterwards, Mav gets closer to the dagger squad and Jake sees how he gets closer to all the daggers, but not to him. Mav is emotionally constipated and doesn't really know how to interact with someone who was exactly just like him, and even acts a bit weird around him. He decides to treat Jake as a friend/buddy for now.
One day Jake sees Ice, Mav, and Rooster out for dinner at a restaurant he's been meaning to go to for a while now. He left before they saw him.
He felt his throat clench as irritation bubbled up his throat.
Rooster got the friends, the skills, the respect, the parents.
Why did Rooster get everything he ever wanted? Did I not try hard enough?
The jealousy simmered and he kept it under wraps by withdrawing from the Dagger squad, surprisingly, Ice notices first how Jake seems to be avoiding the squad and approached him one night with a beer with the intention of being acquaintances at leadt. They eventually start talking about everything and nothing and hanging out.
Ice was amused how much the young man acted like a combo or him and Mav.
Ice noticed how Jake never accepted any dinner invitation in his and Mav's house.
One day, Jake was critically injured, and they needed blood. Ice, Mav, and the rest of the dagger squad got tested.
Mav's blood was used.
Later on when they asked for Lieutenant Seresin's status, a nurse was skimming quickly through the file, not seeing the note that said, 'discuss with patient and potential biological father candidate later on.'
She looked at Captain Pete "Maverick" Mitchell and said, "Your son will be okay, sir, however we need you and his mother's medical history, his file seems lacking."
