Chapter Text
The celebration went on for longer than Rooster expected it would. He had never been in a double suicide mission, and he especially hadn't crashed and then miraculously come back in a mission before, but still... the celebration lasted hours. He supposed this is what it was like to fly with and be around the great Pete "Maverick" Mitchel. He feels a hint of remorse at the fact that he doesn't know what that feels like as much as he should. The past fifteen years he had wanted nothing to do with the man. The two texted on holidays - well, more like Mav texted on holidays - and besides an unspoken agreement to meet together at the cemetery on his parent's anniversaries, the two didn't talk.
Rooster wasn't an idiot. He knew Mav would check up on his missions. He knew Mav was peeking at his files. After one relatively dangerous mission that Rooster had barely come back from he had the decency to text Mav that he was okay. Mav tried to call him after that, but Bradley let it go to voicemail. He still has it on his phone today.
The whirlwind of people and adrenaline from making it back kept him upright, but as soon as he found himself in a quiet corner on the boat he leaned himself up against the wall and breathed out a sigh of relief. He loved being around people - loved parties - but all he wanted in that moment was a minute by himself...
Which is why he let out a curse when he heard the familiar cocky voice coming towards him. "Bradshaw, as I live and breathe." Hangman said as he walked up to him.
Rooster looked up and gave him a smile. Hangman put his hand harshly down on his shoulder. "Why aren't you upstairs partying? Mav is hogging all the glory."
Rooster pushed up off the wall. "I think he deserves it." Rooster made to walk past Hangman but instead stopped suddenly and brought his hand to his chest with a slight wince.
"You okay there, Roo?"
Rooster grimaced at the nickname and just looked up at him from where he had lowered his head. "Peachy." He gritted out.
"I don't think so, son." Hangman looked around as if he was hoping someone else would appear. While the two might have reached a very shaky alliance after Hangman's save, Rooster wasn't quick to consider Hangman a friend... yet. When Hangman saw no one else, he bit his lower lip and looked back at Rooster. If he didn't know any better, Rooster would think he looked nervous. "Listen have you been checked out by anyone since you got back?"
Rooster tried to stand up as straight as he could without hurting himself. It wasn't that impressive. "Nope. Made it back in one piece didn't I?"
Hangman gave him and incredulous look. "You mean to tell me you flew a complicated suicide mission, engaged in multiple dogfights, got shot down, parachuted down to God's green earth below, sneaked into an enemy airfield and stole a plane, got into another dogfight, and came back without any medical attention whatsoever?"
"Well when you put it that way..." By this point Rooster had leaned back up against the wall, his hand never leaving his side. He could feel it all now, the adrenaline had long since passed. His head throbbed something fierce and his whole chest felt like he'd been run over. There was a pain in his ankle and his wrist that before he just ignored but now made themselves known with a vengeance.
"Rooster!" A light slap to his face brought him back to reality. That was weird. He'd never zoned out before like that. "Right," Hangman said moving away from him, "I'm getting Mav."
Rooster reached out the hand that wasn't on his ribs and grabbed Hangman's shoulder. "Not Mav."
Hangman rolled his eyes. "I'm getting someone."
"Okay. Not Mav." Rooster thought for a second. "Phoenix."
Hangman looked like he was going to argue, but the desperate look in Roosters eyes made him reluctantly agree. "Fine. But stay here."
"Don't think I could move anywhere else at the moment." If he thought he might have seen a trace of worry on Hangman's face before, now it was there tenfold as he practically ran to go find Phoenix. Rooster slid down along the wall, careful not to move his ribs or ankle too much as he did so. He leaned his head against the wall and closed his eyes until he heard the sound of footsteps coming towards him. If he listened he could hear the two of them talking.
"What do you mean there's a problem?" Phoenix asked from around the corner.
"I mean hold your horses and you'll see, P."
They must have rounded the corner then because the walking steps suddenly started running. "Shit." Phoenix hissed. "Why didn't you get Mav?"
Hangman shrugged. "He didn't want me to."
"Like hell."
Rooster opened his eyes and saw Phoenix kneeling down next to him. "You're an idiot."
He couldn't help the smile that came to his face. "As you've told me many times before."
Phoenix put her hand to his face. "And don't you forget it." She turned to Hangman. "Help me get him up and move him some place bigger."
Phoenix and Hangman carefully lifted Rooster and led him to the mess hall. They all hoped that due to the party upstairs it would be mostly empty. Rooster was vaguely aware of the worried glances Hangman and Phoenix were giving each other over his shoulders, but he also knew that if he needed this much help to walk he probably deserved it.
They finally made it to the mess hall and Rooster gave a silent prayer of thanks that it was empty. Phoenix and Hangman led him to the nearest table.
"Sit." Phoenix commanded. "And strip."
Rooster couldn't help it. "Buy a guy a drink first."
Phoenix rolled her eyes. "Yes, you're very funny, now shirt off."
"Yes ma'am."
Rooster slowly pulled his remaining gear off and then gently unzipped his suit and pulled his undershirt over his head. The movement hurt more than he would like to admit.
As soon as his shirt came off he heard Phoenix and Hangman curse.
"Jesus, Rooster why didn't you say anything?" Hangman asked followed up by a "Shit, Roo." From Phoenix.
Rooster looked down at his own chest and saw the deep purple bruises that covered his chest. They seemed to make a perfect outline of the seatbelt in both of the planes that he happened to crash in, the first one showing more prominently than the small semi-crash on the boat in the F-14. There was also a deep bruise on his rib that might have been the source of all the discomfort there. He also noted the small cuts and scrapes all over his neck and upper chest. When he was done surveying the damage he just let out a small "Oh."
Phoenix moved closer while Hangman took a step back. "Oh is right you fucking moron." Phoenix let out as she moved closer to inspect his chest. Anyone who didn't know Phoenix would be surprised by her outburst, but Rooster knew her well enough to know she got aggressive when she was worried, which didn't happen often.
Hangman on the other hand looked like he was in a panic. His face had turned white from where he stood behind Phoenix. "Jake, get over here and help me." Phoenix using his real name and not his call sign snapped him out of whatever daze he was in. He went to Rooster's side and stood next to Phoenix. Phoenix snapped her fingers in front of Rooster. "I need you to tell me where it hurts and if you keep anything out I swear to God I will brake both your legs and ground you for the rest of your life."
Hangman helped Rooster lay down on the table. Rooster licked his upper lip and spoke. "Head is killing me, neck is tense. Chest feels like a plane landed on it, left ankle and wrist are bothering me."
"Hangman, check his head." Phoenix said as she gently grabbed his wrist and turned it over in her hands. She frowned. "Wrist is definitely bruised. Might be sprained but don't think it's broken. How's his head?"
Hangman was still awkwardly moving his hair around to try and spot any potential injuries. "Helmet saved his ass from anything major but there are bruises forming as we speak. If I got shot out of the sky like that my head would be hurting like a mother. Got a couple of scrapes from where his mask cut him up but otherwise good."
Phoenix nodded while she gently removed his boot. Rooster hissed as she did so, causing her to look up at him. "That hurt?" She asked already knowing the answer but wanting to check in with him.
"Yeah, real bad." He gritted out.
Phoenix just nodded and took his sock off. "Yeah I bet it would."
Hangman leaned over to look and let out a whistle. "How did you manage to do that and stay walking?"
Rooster gently propped himself on his elbows to get a look at it. His whole ankle was completely swollen and bruised. "I think I landed wrong." He admitted. "Hit a tree on the way down, threw me off balance."
Hangman balked at him. "You hit a tree?"
"I was parachuting into a forest out of a plane hit by SAMs." He deadpanned. "There wasn't much I could control in that situation."
Phoenix and Hangman just looked at one another. "I think we should get Mav."
"What the hell, Phoenix?"
"Look, Hangman and I aren't trained to handle this! You could be internally bleeding as we speak."
"I'm not in-"
"You don't know that!" Phoenix yelled.
Hangman put his hand on Rooster's knee. "Listen I get that you want to impress the old man and all but this is not the way to do it. There's no harm in getting help."
Normally Rooster would assume Hangman was being a judgmental prick, but the sincerity in his tone confused him. Rooster gently let his head hit the table, suddenly exhausted. "Listen, it's not about proving anything to Mav, okay? It's more complicated than that."
Phoenix put her hands on her hips. "Try me."
Rooster sighed and looked back and forth between Hangman and Phoenix. He could see from the looks on both of their faces that he wasn't going to get out of this without some sort of explanation. "Mav has always been overprotective of me and I don't want him to worry."
"Because of what happened with your dad?" Phoenix asked gently.
"Mav and my dad didn't just fly together. They did everything together. Mav was - is - family. He's my godfather and legal guardian after my mom died."
"Wait," Rooster said throwing his hands up, "You're telling me you lived with Mav?"
"Only for like three months after my mom died. As soon as I turned eighteen I left."
Phoenix's tone was uncharacteristically soft. "I think he'd want to know if you were hurt."
"You're right." Rooster said sitting up again. "He would, but he would also feel guilty about it. Hell, it would probably give him flashbacks to the last time he had a Bradshaw riding in his back seat." He could tell that his words surprised Phoenix and Hangman, but if that was what it took to get them to understand then so be it. "Mav still hasn't forgiven himself for my dad's death. If he saw me like this it would make it even worse. He'd start blaming himself and it would make things weird between us. We just got things back to normal and I don't want to do anything to screw it up. So just please, get a doctor, hell, get Cyclone, but just don't get Mav."
Hangman and Phoenix looked at one another and Phoenix nodded. For once in his life, Hangman someone else make the call. Even he could admit this was way out of his area of expertise.
"Fine," Phoenix said, softness gone, "but I'm getting someone more experienced in here to check you out, and you're going to the hospital as soon as we get back on land." She pointed her finger at him, "I am going to personally drive you there myself, do you understand?"
Rooster brought his hand up in a mock salute.
"Ma'am, yes, ma'am."
~
When all is said and done Rooster has deep bruises, a cracked rib, a sprained ankle and a bruised wrist in addition to the random scrapes all across his neck and body. Phoenix stays by his side for the full two days he's there, making sure that he doesn't sneak out in the middle of the night or randomly pass out.
Rooster knows that the mission was hard for her. Knows that she wanted to turn back for him and would have if she didn't have Bob in the back. Rooster knows it without her having to say anything. Nothing romantically ever happened between the two of them, but Rooster thinks - most times after a beer or two - that if he ever had to settle down it would be either with her or someone like her. She was one of his best friends, and he was one of hers. As much as she professed that the reason she was there was strictly for babysitting duties, Rooster knows that it's more. He knows because as soon as he got the clearance to visit her hospital bed he was there, giving her shit and driving her nuts, but also making sure that she was still alive and not lifeless in an ocean with a broken neck.
The only surprise visit was sometime early in the second day. When Rooster wakes up that morning he expected to see Phoenix in her usual seat, but instead Hangman sat there.
Rooster squinted at him. "Hangman?"
Hangman turned and smiled at him. "I'm just a figment of your imagination, little Roo. Go back to dreamland and Phoenix will be here when you wake up."
If it wasn't for the distinct smell of axe body spray and the half eaten heart shaped box of chocolates that magically appeared from the hotel gift shop after he left, Rooster might have assumed it was all a dream. He knew his and Hangman's relationship was still something they both were trying to figure out, and the fact that Hangman showed up meant more to Rooster than he thought it would.
Sure he was ridiculous, pushed everyone's buttons just for the sake of it and was a menace to society, but something about him and their relationship reminded him of the stories Mav used to tell about him and Ice and Rooster figures if the two of them could become friends, maybe he and Rooster could too.
Phoenix drives him home and drills the doctor's instructions into his head. He's got to take care of things, give a debriefing and most likely sit through a lecture about following orders. If anything he'll just say that Mav is rubbing off on him.
He'd be lying if he said the first thing he did when he got home wasn't go straight to bed. When he wakes up he has several text messages and missed calls, one of them from Mav.
He opens the messages and sees that a photo of him drooling in bed with a smiling Hangman giving a thumbs up has been posted into a new group chat with Phoenix, Bob, Coyote, Fanboy, and Payback. Rooster wonders why he ever thought the two of them could be friends and sends a quick "asshole" into the group chat. It does give him joy that Phoenix and Bob had already berated Hangman for it, even if he knew she would tease him for it later in private.
Rooster listens to Mav's voicemail next. It's not anything calling him out for his two day absence but instead an invitation and an address. Rooster texts him back and tells him he'll be there tomorrow and smiles. He'd been to Mav's workshop before, especially when he was a kid, and the thought of going back filled him with a similar joy and nostalgia accompanied with coming home after a long time away.
He knows that Mav realistically probably knows about his hospital stay and is giving him space, and for that he's appreciative.
Rooster smiles as he gets a text from Phoenix. "I see sleeping beauty is awake."
He blames the joy he feels on the successful mission and reconnecting with Mav, but he'd be lying if he said a part of it wasn't connected to Phoenix.
As he lays back down and closes his eyes, he can't help but think of how lucky he is. He's alive, he's got Mav back, he's got... whatever this is with Phoenix, and for once he feels like he lived up to the legacy that was left for him.
As he drifts off again he looks up out his window and sees the planes flying by in the distance. "Thanks dad."
And when he sleeps he dreams of flying, of his dad and his mom and Mav, and for once when he wakes up it doesn't make him sad.