Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

8:52 pm

New Groupchat has been created.

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1+_ _ _+_ _ _+ _ _ _ _ (Neil "Omaha" Vikander): What is this. 

1+_ _ _+_ _ _+ _ _ _ _, 1+_ _ _+_ _ _+ _ _ _ _, 1+_ _ _+_ _ _+ _ _ _ _, 1+_ _ _+_ _ _+ _ _ _ _, 1+_ _ _+_ _ _+ _ _ _ _ have been added.

1+_ _ _+_ _ _+ _ _ _ _, 1+_ _ _+_ _ _+ _ _ _ _, have been added.

Hangman (Admin) has changed groupchat name to North Island Daggers

1+_ _ _+ _ _ _ _ (Callie B.): great now I have to add all these numbers?

thanks Bagman

Hangman (Admin) has changed groupchat settings. Names have been changed on 12 members

Hangman: There happy Halo? I’ve nicknamed you all to your callsigns. 

Halo: yes actually

Fritz: How the hell did you have all our numbers???

Harvard: and why Whatsapp and not just a basic text message?

Hangman: because one of us has an android and ruins the ability to

message with just internet.

Coyote: fuck you too hangman.

Phoenix: Mind telling us why you’ve actually made this groupchat when we

literally just said goodnight in the mess hall. And why it couldnt wait till

disembarking in the morning

Bob: It’s probably about the email.

Payback: The email?

Fanboy: email?????

Hangman: Clearly BOB and I are the only ones who check our emails

with adequate timing

Coyote: Ok just saw it, this is awesome. 

Fritz: damn. Really gonna ignore my question. Fine. I’ll just think you’re in

contact with the NSA

Harvard:  update for those of us to lazy to look at our emails as often as you

two do?

Phoenix: Oh shit. 

Phoenix: I will agree with Coyote this is awesome

Rooster: Echoing Harvard. For those of us that aren’t suppose to look at our

electronics because we’re on concussion protocol please

Fanboy: how are you texting then???

Rooster: Siri.

Rooster: But I think the shit eating grin Mav has on his face is because he

may know about the email as well 

Yale: Ok so basically…

Fritz: So basically…

Yale: Jinx

Fritz: Jinx!

Phoenix: Children

Omaha: I swear this chat is draining my phone’s ability to actually load said

email pass the subject line. All I’m seeing is Potential Restationing

Bob: They’re creating a new fighter squad out of NAS North Island.

Harvard: But there’s no fighter squadrons currently based out of North

Island? Only Helicopters? Do they have the capability to set one up and keep

it running even? 

Phoenix: Apparently but its one we’ve all been exclusively invited too. 

Rooster: Not ordered?

Payback: Nope. It’s our choice as a ‘thank you’ for surviving a suicide

mission. 

Halo: theyre pitching it as a permanent post. we wouldn’t be assigned to

one carrier like most squads. We’ll move to where we’re needed and be

flown into needed carrier or location. we also will be guest lecturers if we

want. someone clearly kicked some sense into the higher ups that having a

team like ours can actually complete missions a drone cant.

Payback: amen. We’re too good together to break up. 

Fanboy: all praise admiral Kazansky. 

Rooster: Ice did this?

Phoenix: You call him Ice?

Hangman: Ya, the email is signed by his office

Hangman: he was in the room during the debrief too. He was silently

sitting towards the head of the conference table. Didn’t anyone else

notice him? I bet as soon as we left he declared the squad official and

emails were sent out. 

Harvard: I couldn’t stop looking at Cyclone. His head was about ready to

explode.

Coyote: Man had so much faith in us he probably had everything ready to

go, just wanted the mission completed before finalizing it and submitting

the final paperwork.

Yale: I dont know about the rest of you but im gonna take it. Any chance not

to end up in Nevada is a good one.

Fritz: the email included teaching. They may have us fly out to Fallon to

teach. 

Yale: Temporary for a week is better then a 6 month deployment or being

based there. 

Fritz: ok thats true.

Halo: im gonna say yes. 

Payback: im in. 

Bob: Rooster, you said that Mav is grinning?

Rooster: Like a cat that caught the canary. Give me like a minute to see if I

can get more info.

Hangman: 50 dollars Maverick’s the head of the squadron. 

Phoenix: You know what? Bet. With how many people the captain’s pissed off

no way are they letting him be incharge even if it be the smartest choice.

Coyote: Ya i’d like to know who’s gonna running this before I say yes. If its

under Cyclone idk how I feel about that. 

Fanboy: ^^^^

Harvard: man did want us to make the suicide mission more suicidy. 

Omaha: Maverick makes the most logical sense if they want to keep this so

called miracle squad together. 

Halo: Ya but he’s a captain.

Hangman: Watch them promote him finally just to keep him out of the

team leader slot and actually run the squadron. 

Rooster: Ok I got info on that actually. It’s not Cyclone. But neither of you

win the bet Phoenix

Phoenix: hit us with it.

Hangman: How do neither of us win a bet with only two outcoomes.

Fanboy: whats the tea? 

Fritz: sight your sources.

Rooster: A heads up i’m not typing this, but its being typed for me. To

much info to trust Siri not to mess up. And I got permission to share this.

Coyote: permission??????

Halo: who do you have to write for you? None of us are there??

Rooster: Maverick’s getting promoted. It is non-negotiable and he already

knows so he’s not gonna fight it for once. The condition is that if he gets

promoted he will be in partial charge of the squadron. If he hadn’t pissed off

as many admirals as he had he’d probably have full command. So an admiral

that actually likes Maverick is going to co-lead with him so he’s not pissing

everyone else off.

Hangman: There’s Admirals left that actually like Maverick?

Omaha: Maverick’s fought off promotions before?

Payback: Who’s the co-leader?

Rooster: I remind you I got permission to tell only this group so no spilling

it outside this chat until its officially announced. 

Phoenix: Ya we get it.

Fanboy: Lips sealed. 

Yale: Just fucking tell us who’s the bastard we have to appese in order to

stick together. 

Rooster: Maverick managed to guilt trip his partner into taking the position.

Halo: Partner?

Payback: As in married?

Rooster: Yes. 

Hangman: wait.

Fanboy: what?

Hangman: no. no no no. 

Hangman: you have to be joking. 

Rooster: Sadly ‘nope’. 

Fritz: What are the rest of us missing that Hangman has apparently put

together.

Halo: why the ‘ ‘?

Bob: He guilt tripped an admiral? He actually accomplished that? The only

one that he’d possibly be close to is Kazansky as far as I can think. 

Phoenix: Wait are you telling us not only is Pete “Maverick” Mitchell married,

but its to Admiral Kazansky and they’re going to be the head of our squadron??

Rooster: Disgustingly. Yes

Halo: oh shit

Harvard: dammmmmmnnnnn

Yale: Maverick married up. 

Coyote: If that's the case, I’m in.

Omaha: I think saying no would lead to a pissed off Kazansky. I’ve only seen a

pissed off Kazansky once and the person it was directed to was discharged

within a day. I’m not risking it so I’m in. 

Halo: he wouldn’t be pissed if you said no omaha

Rooster: He’d be disappointed probably.

Omaha: I’m not risking it. 

Rooster: Wait no he’d definitely be disappointed. Mav too. 

Hangman: How the hell do you even know that. 

Fanboy: ^^^

Rooster: Cause when Ice read the message out loud his face fell and it gave me

just enough time to grab my phone back from him as Mav complained about

not keeping the full set together. Also the ‘ ‘ were him because the man refuses

to use nope in any normal sense.

Halo: WHAT 

Omaha: WHat

Payback: Are you saying Kazansky was the one texting for you????

Harvard: WAIT he just read my bastard comment???

Rooster: yes to booth. Mav’s on a worse concussion protocol then I am so I

couldn’t let him do it. At least I can use my phone according to the medics. Uncle

Ice was just saying no so I would sleep maybe? Plus Ice actually types what I tell

him to. Mav would just type what he wanted. 

Phoenix: …

Phoenix: BRAD BRAD WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN UNCLE ICE.

Harvard: rest in pieces

Yale: We’re here to attend the funeral of one brad brad.

Fritz: killed by one phoenix after knocking his new squadron over the head with

what he calls the COMPACFLT

Payback: I have so many questions

Fanboy: and yet no answers

Halo: Alright gang, who wants to go storm the med bay with me so we can get

answers faster then Rooster can text. 

Coyote: im in. 

Hangman: Met ya there.

Omaha: On my way.

Rooster: guys, Visiting hours ended like 30 minutes ago. 

Hangman: Yet you have an Uncle COMPACFLT who can bend rules it

seems. 

Hangman: And we’re gonna abuse that. 

Hangman: See you in a few Chicken 

Rooster: I fucking hate all of you.

Fanboy: tell tht to our faces in a minute

Mitchell

9:46 pm

Ice: This is your fucking fault Mav. 

Mav: What?

Ice: Don't give me the innocent what. The 11 new children you’ve

forced me to adopt are your fault. 

Mav: Technically you gave me this posting so therefore it’s your fault. Plus,

they adopted me. I didn’t adopt them. Also why are you texting me when

we’re in the same room?

Ice: None of them will be afraid of me anymore thanks to you. Also

because I want to yell at you but both Halo and Fanboy know ASL

along with Bradley so I can’t curse you out that way. 

Mav: Fine, fair. I’ll give you that. You’re the COMPACFLT, they’ll all have a

slight fear of you as long as you’re the boss. Also how do you know that

they know ASL?

Mav: But you had to know this adoption was a possibility. 

Ice: It's in their files which i thought you memorized like you told me

you did.

Ice: And I took a calculated risk to try and get you to reconcile with

Bradley. I didn’t exactly think that end up with the rest of the squadron

becoming our kids. They’re all like 30. How the fuck did you manage to

adopt a bunch of adults. 

Mav: But its just part of my charm.

Ice: sure. 

Mav: You know you love it.

Ice: Remind me why i married you again.

Mav: Cause you love me.

Ice: Remind me why again.

Mav: :0

Mav: Also dont think I didn’t just notice you admit to setting me and

Bradley back into each others paths you puppet master.

Ice: Dumbass

Mav: but yet still the best pilot. 

Ice: in your dreams mitchell. 

Mav: Mitchell-Kazansky actually. 

Uncle Maverick (I.C.E)

9:51pm

Bradley: Would you and Ice please stop sexting while we’re all in the

room. 

Mav: How would you know if we’re sexting

Bradley: Fine. 

Bradley: Would you and Ice please stop having a foreplay argument

while your new squadron, including your godson, is in the room? This

is worse then the ASL fights. 

Mav: Again I ask how you know if we’re doing that. 

Bradley: You’re literally texting each other clearly. Also Uncle Ice has

that look on his face like he wants to smother you with a pillow while

you’re happily grinning. 

Bradley: I may have been 19 the last time I was home to witness this exact

shit. But I explicitly remember cursing thin walls later.

Mav: what. 

Bradley: yep. Remember when your godson is under your roof or in the

fucking room for fucks sake.

Bradley: So please put the phone down. Before I tell Ice about you told me to

smile and wave at the enemy pilots

Mitchell

9:53pm

Mav: I’ve been told by our son to stop foreplay argue texting.

Ice: More like your son. 

Mav: He only got my self preservation instincts. He got the blackmailing

from you.

Ice: That's enough for me to worry about leaving you two alone. 

Ice: Wait blackmailing?

Ice: What does he have on you to blackmail with. You haven’t spoken in 10+

years. 

Mav: Nothing, dont worry about it

Ice: Mav what did you fucking do out in the woods with Bradley? 

North Island Daggers

10:01 pm

Phoenix: Anyone who knows ASL and can translate whatever the hell they’re

saying?

Halo: oh ya I got ya.

Halo: ice to mav- you can’t set down your phone to avoid confronting me. 

Halo: mav to rooster- this is your fault

Halo: rooster- my fault? 

Halo: ice- don’t bring Bradley into this. your dumbass did something for him

to have blackmail on you. 

Hangman: Rooster is trying to commit blackmailing?

Halo: mav- im alive arent I its fine.

Halo: rooster- Mav told me to smile and wave at the enemy fighters when

they first found us. 

Halo: mav- you’re a fucking traitor kid.

Halo: ice- you what?

Halo: mav- I had to figure out how to convince them we were friendly

Halo: ice- Smile and wave? 

Halo: ice- Smile and wave Mav. you told Bradley that as a reliable suggestion.  

Halo: mav- what else was I suppose to do. 

Halo: rooster- something better then an animated penguin reference. 

Halo: ice- idiot. Also don’t think I’ve forgot about the fact you wanted to

blackmail him Bradley

Harvard: damn firstnamed. 

Halo: ok they’re going to quick for me to type and translate at this point.

something about the last time mav did something idiotic it resulted with

goats in their backyard? 

Fanboy: There’s a whole lot of inuendos in their signing too. It seems that

Rooster is using the sign Dad when addressing Maverick, and Ice and him

are using son interchangeably towards rooster.

Hangman: I’m getting more and more questions then answers with this

entire conversation.

Payback: “Thanks Dad”

Fritz: “Did you just call Captain Mav Dad?”

Harvard: “Do you see me as a father figure Rooster?”

Phoenix: No if anything i see you as a bother figure, cause you’re always

bothering me.

Bob: Hey, show your father some respect. 

Rooster: I didn’t call him dad.

Halo: oh fuck where’d you come from.

Rooster: you act like i didn’t notice both mine and the rest of your phones

buzzing. So i dropped the convo and actually looked at what you all were

doing. And i didn’t call him Dad, i called him Mav.

Fanboy: Ok but you did call him dad. You literally did the sign for dad.

Rooster: Fuck you’re fluent?

Halo: we both are.

Coyote: man didn’t even scroll up.

Rooster: you were all spamming the chat.

Yale: Sounds like a you problem.

Omaha: y’all. The admiral and captain have stopped arguing if nobody else

has noticed and are now staring at us all on our phones. 

Halo: i’ll give 5 dollars to the first person to ask why they call Rooster son. 

Rooster: HALO

Uncle Maverick (I.C.E)

10:13pm

Bradley: Halo put up money for the first person who asked about our

history.

Mav: I believe you.

Mav: Son. 

Mav: Do you want to talk about it later over a game of catch? 

Bradley: …

Bradley: I'd like that.

Chapter Text

Two Heads are Better then One

6:37 am

Omaha: Phoenix, please change WSOs with me. 

Halo: HEY

Halo: 5 years of this partnership and suddenly you want to get rid

of me

Halo: the audacity

Phoenix: Ya right, as if I’d willingly give up Bob as my

backseater. 

Fanboy: im here too. You dont want to trade with payback?

Payback: Are you trying to get yourself out of my backseat?

Phoenix: Bob is staying where he is with me. He’s the best

WSO i’ve ever had and Im not giving him up without orders

and a fight.

Harvard: Don’t you mean or a fight?

Phoenix: no. I would not take those orders lying down

Bob: I appreciate the love Nix

Payback: Why aren’t we asking why Omaha wants to trade WSOs?

Omaha: I overheard Iceman talking about doing two-seater versus

one-seater dogfights in a 2-2 pattern. And one of the teams is

Hangman and Rooster versus us Phoenix. 

Phoenix: And how does that equal changing WSOs.

Yale: Hangman and Rooster are a hit or a miss half the time in the

air right now. They’re either at each other’s throats or in perfect

sync. 

Omaha: Ya. They’re at each other’s throats when they’re confused. 

Harvard: You want to throw them off with a WSO exchange?

Halo: im now less offended.

Omaha: Promise Halo, not trying to get rid of you. Just dont want

to end up doing 200 push ups or something else that Payback bets

on. And Natasha swapping Bob is something they’ll never expect

coming. 

Bob: If it’s non-permanent and it takes those two down a peg I’m

in. 

Halo: so we just swap?

Yale: Halo and Phoenix have flown together before.

Phoenix: We were a damn good pairing too

Fanboy: why’d they split you up then?

Halo: something about causing to much chaos and rule breaking

when teamed up.

Payback: Omaha’s serious enough to not fall to Halo’s antics. 

Harvard: So we’re basically releasing the unknown if we let this

swap happen. 

Yale: High kill count during training and advanced flight moves

but low following of navy issued flight rules. 

Bob: Maverick 2.0 is what I‘m hearing

Fanboy: I thought Rooster was Mav 2.0

Bob: Maverick 3.0 then. 

Phoenix: We did buzz the tower the last time we were

paired together.

Omaha: Come on, don’t you want to take Rooster and Hangman

down? 

Phoenix: Bob would you be ok with this?

Bob: I trust Omaha not to get me killed. I’m in 

Omaha: Low bar but I’ll take it.

Halo: lets fucking do this. 

Mav

8:13 am

Mav: A heads up, I just got informed that Phoenix and Omaha are

trading WSOs for this run. 

Ice: Did they give a reason why?

Mav: Yes but i don't know if ADMIRAL Kazansky would appreciate

the answer.

Mav: I know Iceman would get a laugh out of it though.

Ice: You know I hate it when you talk about me like I’m two

different people. Just cause I’m an admiral doesn't mean I

have a stick up my ass. 

Ice: Now why are they trading 

Mav: They want to beat Hangman and Rooster by surprising them

with different pairings.

Mav: I told them to go for it.

Ice: It’s a good idea. 

Mav: What? Really? You agree?

Ice: Yes. You and I both know a backseater can completely

change how a pilot flies. I’ve both heard stories and seen

how Phoenix does with Halo. They’re a lot more loose and

outside regulations. 

Mav: How bad are they?

Ice: Like targeting a sawed off shotgun at close range. 

Mav: Damn. I didn’t realize how rebellious Phoenix could be. 

Ice: It’s not something she does lightly. But the energy

between her and Halo is intense. They just build each other

up.

Ice: Hangman and Rooster will never expect her to fly the

way she will if they dont know about the swap before the

flight. 

Mav: It was apparently Omaha’s idea to do it. He’s gonna be with

Bob for the Hop. 

Ice: Probably wanted to beat the singles so he could avoid

200 pushups 

Ice: But him and Bob will work well. They’re both more

conservative in their initial engagement so they maybe

pinned as an easier target. 

Mav: During which Pheonix and Halo will come in and take one of

the boys down before Omaha will switch to offense over defense

and help take down the last man. 

Mav: Oh boy I look forward to this flight. 

Ice: Tell me what they end up betting?

Singles

8:58 am

Fritz: Hey Hangman? Rooster?

Coyote: They’ve already changed and made it out to their planes.

About to take off. Wont hear back from them till after the hop. 

Fritz: Shit. 

Coyote: What is it?

Fritz: I just walked by the doubles planes on my way back in and

saw Phoenix and Halo getting into the same plane? 

Coyote: Not bob?

Fritz: Definitely not bob.

Coyote: shit. 

Coyote: Hangman and Rooster are definitely gonna lose this then. 

Fritz:  Im gonna go the Rec room to listen to the comms

Coyote: I’ll see ya there

Fanboy was planted in front of the radio when Coyote walked into the room. Clearance codes were coming through the radio as all 4 planes proceed to take off. They’d propped it up onto the bar like the last time, tucked behind the foosball table. And Fanboy was sitting on one of the barstools, his weight shifted so it's balancing on two of the four legs it had.

Harvard and Yale were on the couches, clearly listening in as neither of them seemed to be distracted or have anything in their hands. Fritz had yet to show up and the only other person in the room was Payback. He was leaning against the far wall, an area next to the window where no images were hung. 

“Who’s idea was it to swap WSOs?” Coyote asked as he sat on one of the barstools next to Fanboy. He reached out in front of the other naval aviator to turn up the radio. 

“NAS this is Hangman, Team Gamma confirming ready for engagement”

“Rooster seconding Gamma team prep”

“Omaha voicing Delta team confirmation for engagement”

“Phoenix seconding confirmation.” 

“Omaha’s. Wanted to avoid whatever today’s exercise bet was,” Fanboy replied to Coyote, barely paying attention and his eyes fixed on the radio. His glance didn’t even shift as Fritz burst into the room, clearly out of breath from trying to make it back before the dogfight started. 

The radio crackled for a second before Maverick’s voice came through the speakers. 

“Good Morning Aviators. I may not be in the air with you today but that doesn’t mean it's going to be a walk in the park. I’m talking to you Hangman.”

“Got ya Pop’s just give us our lecture so we can get to it.”

A clear scoff could be heard from Maverick before he continued, “Today’s goal is to get the other team out. No missiles, still just guns and our usual hard deck. It’s two-seaters versus one-seaters. The emphasis here is communication. When one team has backseaters and the other doesn’t it means more work for pilots without one. To even out the advantage only Rooster and Hangman will have comms connected to their teammate. Don’t forget to talk Boys. We’ll still be able to hear you here at control in case of emergency. Group comms will disconnect when the fight begins in one minute.” 

“We gonna make this interesting folks?” Hangman asked, his voice tinged with his southern accent. 

“What you suggesting Bagman?” Phoenix’s voice responded. 

“Normal 200 push-ups. AND loser has to cover drinks for an entire night at the Hard Deck. And I’m saying one night for each pilot slash pair” Halo’s voice came out of nowhere. 

“Really excited to buy us a round huh?” 

“Don't underestimate me today Hangman.”

“Fine, deal. Rooster, Phoenix you game?”

“I’m in.” 

“Let's do it.” 

With the bet official, Maverick spoke back up, “Alright Aviators. The exercise begins in 3… 2… 1… GO”

The second the comms adjusted its link Rooster could hear it. The extra noise dropped out and all that was left was him and Hangman. 

“Alright Roost,” his partner’s voice came through. Rooster could see Hangman flying off his right side with ample space between them, “Lets start by picking off Omaha first.” 

“You think Phoenix and Bob aren’t gonna try and protect him?” He knew Phoenix. Flown with her for years. She’d never be one to leave her teammate alone and always watches their back.

Hangman’s scoff was audible, “I can’t even see them. Omaha and Halo are clearly sitting ducks right there. I’d bet money Phoenix is below him.” 

It wasn’t a stretch. The way Omaha was sitting made it clearly look like a trap. It been a move Phoenix had pulled before with another hop, hiding out of view beneath the other jet so when one of them went to take tone there was the second out of nowhere. But something isn’t sitting right with Bradley about it. 

“You go ahead Seresin, I’ll watch your six,” he said instead, setting himself up and a little back behind Hangman. It wasn't out of the way enough to see Phoenix if she is indeed hiding beneath Omaha but it would prevent a Cobra maneuver in an attempt to escape.

It's as they come up on Omaha when he notices the issue. Halo flies with a black helmet, one that makes it hard to notice there's a backseater unless she’s waving or looking at you. Only then is the yellow circle imitating a halo on the front able to be seen. This isn’t that. 

He could see white in the backseat of Omaha’s jet. It was a bit harder as the pilot was scrambling to not let Hangman get a lock on him. But the streaks of white were only seeming to confirm it. That wasn't Halo in the backseat and it was clear Phoenix wasn't below Omaha. 

“Hangman we got a problem.”

“Ya like what? Phoenix is nowhere to be seen, we’ve got this in the bag.” His voice was clearly tinged with smugness

“That’s not Halo in the backseat. I think it’s Bob.”

“What.” was Jake’s only reply as suddenly Omaha dipped down, moving out of range with a sharp left turn. 

In the next instant, there was a jet shooting up right in front of them. Its cockpit turned towards them as it circled back up and over the two. It took only a second before Rooster was able to clock the WSO in the backseat wearing a black helmet, the yellow circle on the front clearly obvious as they flash a middle finger towards him and Hangman. 

“FUCK,” Hangman curses as he swerved right out of instinct as if trying to miss the jet that had already gone past, “Was that Phoenix?! What the hell was she thinking! She never flies like like unless she’s…” 

“With Halo in the backseat.” 

They’ve both flown with Phoenix before and heard the stories of her time flying with Halo that turned her into a pilot with recklessness the likes of Maverick. It’s a legend amongst naval aviators of how intense Phoenix can get with Halo in the backseat. The first time Rooster had heard about it reminded him of how Mav and his father were as a pair. After years of working alongside Natasha, he trusts her completely, but her pairing back up with Halo is asking for disaster to any ego that crosses them. 

“We’re gonna fucking owe them drinks aren’t we.”

Rooster had no time to respond before he was dodging Omaha who seemed to come back out of nowhere.

North Island Daggers

2:41 pm

Phoenix: Alright! We hitting the Hard Deck tonight or what?

Drinks on Hangman or Rooster.

Payback: I’m in to go.

Payback: Also got a photo of them doing their push ups while

Callie and Nat grin in the background behind them.

Hangman: Y’all are fucking cheats. 

Omaha: No where in any of our rules did we clarify not changing

WSOs. 

Halo: youre just salty cause you lost. 

Omaha: We also got permission to do the trade for a single hop so

don’t worry about it becoming a normal thing. 

Phoenix: We actually like our WSOs. Just couldnt miss a

chance to kick your asses. 

Rooster: The second I noticed Callie in your backseat I knew we

were doomed. 

Hangman: Yee of little fate.

Bob: You thought you had a chance?

Coyote: The legends of Halo and Phoenix weren’t enough to scare

you?

Fritz: Thank god we didn’t have to fly against them.

Rooster: I think when they finally got reassigned from each other

last time half the pilots on their squadron celebrated.

Halo: rude

Yale: I think y’all have missed one big point here.

Harvard: Ya and what’s that?

Yale: They’re back on the same squadron now. Our squadron.

Hangman: So?

Yale: They can swap easily anytime they want.

Fanboy: ….

Payback: Damn it

Fritz: fuck.

Rooster: oh shit and Mav will probably encourage it.

Coyote: Omaha you’ve opened a can of worms

Omaha: And I’d do it again to get out of 200 push-ups.

Omaha: Especially when its Bagman we’re against. 

Fanboy: We’re all now gonna live in fear of them teaming up aren’t

we. 

Phoenix: Exactly

Halo: remember this the next time you piss one of us off. 

Harvard: Bob you got to warn us next time they try and do this. 

Fanboy: Help us Bob, youre our only hope. 

Bob: Then Perish. 

Phoenix: Fools. We’ve already converted Bob to our team. 

Halo: he ain’t gonna do shit to help ya. 

Rooster: We’re fucking screwed.

Payback: This is your fault bagman. You just had to get the girls

pissed off enough to team up.

Hangman: If I cover a week worth of drinks for both of you do you

promise not to do this again?

Halo: perhaps….

Phoenix: You will greatly reduce the chances of it

happening. 

Harvard: I’ll pitch in another week. 

Fritz: Same. 

Coyote: Anything to not have this happen again. 

Rooster: i’ll do what ever song on the piano you want for 2 months.

Rooster: Including my heart will go on. 

Phoenix: I think a deal can be reached boys. 

Fanboy: thank fuck.

The Girls + Bob

3:07 pm

Halo: hehehe

Halo: fools

Bob: Well done. You two got exactly what you wanted. 

Phoenix: The fear and our drinks covered!

Phoenix: I’m gonna force Rooster to do so many power

ballads and non-80s songs. 

Phoenix: And Piano man. Its been years since he’s played

that cause he outright refuses to do so.

Halo: thanks for your help bob

Phoenix: Ya, we couldn’t have done it without you. 

Bob: I didn’t do shit other than trade. I will take the drinks though

anytime. 

Phoenix: For my WSO? Anything

Unknown Number: 1+_ _ _+_ _ _+ _ _ _ _

9:14 pm

1+_ _ _+_ _ _+ _ _ _ _: ATTACHED FILE

File Description : 

Rooster was sitting at the piano in the Hard Desk, a look of annoyance on his face as he sang Piano Man by Billy Joel. Halo and Phoenix stood right behind him singing along, arms slung over each other’s shoulders. Phoenix was holding a half-empty beer while Halo balanced a nearly full pina colada. They were swaying back and forth in time with the music, singing their hearts out. 

Coyote was next to them a grin on his face as he sang along too but not with the same engagement as the girls. Hangman could be seen in the background trying to hand Penny his card while it looked like she was refusing to close the tab just yet. Omaha was seated in one of the tables in the middle ground with a smile on his face. Fritz seated across from him, head in hands.

Harvard and Yale were right to the other side of Rooster, both of them very much engaged like Halo and Phoenix. Their voices nearly shouting the lyrics instead of singing them. Payback and Fanboy could be seen barely behind them, clicking freshly open beers with each other, smiles on their faces. 

Bob wasn’t seen in the video, but the voice behind the camera was singing along too, the video shaking as all voices in the bar go: 

And he's talkin' with Davy, who's still in the navy, And probably will be for life

Mav: Thank you Bob

Chapter Text

North Island Daggers

8:17 am

Phoenix: Rooster where are you? We were supposed to meet 17

minutes ago. And the only ones not here are you and Maverick?

Payback: Someone grab Fritz’s phone off the table. He’s asleep, I

don’t want messages to wake him up. So no talking please. He got

like 3 hours of sleep cause of personal stuff so he needs the rest.

Harvard: Got it.

Harvard: Man’s background is a picture of a tree???

Fanboy: Like just a tree? 

Harvard: It's a giant oak tree on a grass hill and blue sky behind it. 

Harvard: Like its a nice picture but just confused why a man from

Flordia would have a tree as his background.

Halo: hes had that as his background for years. he jokes that’s

where all the people he’s murdered are buried. 

Yale: Weird explanation but alright then. 

Hangman: Ok if Mav and Rooster aren’t here in the next 3

minutes I vote we go try and find them. 

Omaha: They both live off base? 

Coyote: We could always check Mav’s office. 

Payback: Locker room too. 

Phoenix: I know both Rooster and Mav live on the same street on

the island. We could walk off base and check their houses. 

Yale: You know where Mav and Rooster live?

Phoenix: I rent a room from Rooster

Payback: Then shouldn’t you know where he is if you live with

him?

Phoenix: When I woke up this morning his Bronco was gone. 

Bob: I know where they both live.

Harvard: Bob what the fuck

Halo: how?????

Coyote: Are you the one with the NSA connection instead of

Hangman Bob?

Bob: I do have a cousin in the NSA but no thats not how I know. 

Bob: I’ve been over to Rooster’s with Phoenix after training before. 

Bob: And Admiral Kazansky was on base last week and came in

when I was meeting with Maverick for one of those monthly

check-ins we all have and he accidentally grabbed my bag instead

of Mav’s. So I drove over there to swap it back. 

Harvard: less nefarious than i thought.

Yale: Can I ask how Rooster afforded a house on the island? 

Hangman: How bad is pricing on the island?

Phoenix: Ignore the texas oil baron’s son. 

Hangman: Rude. Guess I won’t try and buy a house now and let

you rent a room out of it. 

Phoenix: to restate I already got a room at Rooster’s

Phoenix: Rooster inherited it from his mom who bought it off Mav

in like the late 80s when they first moved out here. 

Coyote: I would like a room in the figurative house. 

Hangman: Cool, I’ll look at listings later and send some out if

anyone else is in and wants to come.

Yale: Awesome

Payback: Sounds great

Halo: anything to get out of military housing. 

Fanboy: Hangman’s gonna buy a multimillion-dollar house just

for all of us to stay off base. 

Hangman: ya…

Hangman: I mean I don’t really spend the money I get from the

family business and I would rather put it towards something we

can all enjoy. 

Phoenix: Hangman, are you admitting you care about us?

Halo: oh my god he actually does.

Coyote: I’ve known this for years. Man only spends money on

those he cares about. He’s a softie at heart

Hangman: Shut up Javy. 

Omaha: We appreciate it man. Don't worry

Payback: We love you too Hangman

Harvard: We all appreciate you and care about you too.

Bob: Agreed. You’ve become a much nicer and kinder person. I’m

proud to call you a friend. 

Phoenix: I echo Bob.

Hangman: Thank you guys?

Halo: now we got the confidence-boosting Hangman to actually

believe we all care about him too now out of the way. we walking

to Rooster’s or Mav’s first?

Fanboy: I say Rooster cause it be less awkward for the bunch of

us to show up there over Mav’s.

Omaha: Showing up on the COMPACFLT’s front porch saying we’ve

lost his pseudo-son and partner isn’t the greatest thing in the

world.

Bob: I don’t think Admiral Kazansky is at home. 

Coyote: I’m heavily doubting you not conspiring with gov agencies

right now.

Yale: How do you know that Bob?

Bob: I just have good timing. I saw him go into his office. His car is

also parked outside in the lot? 

Bob: He has an assigned spot next to Maverick’s and a car was in it

unlike Mav’s.

Hangman: Are you really suggesting we knock on the COMPACFLT’s

office and ask where pseudo-son and partner are?

Phoenix: I believe infact he is. 

Halo: im game… but do we just leave Fritz here? 

Payback: I’ll text him, we’ll leave his phone next to him so when

he wakes up he’ll see it first. 

Fanboy: Thats a good plan

As phones were tucked away the team slowly moved to stand up from their tables. It would be easy to scrape the feet of the chair on the floor and cause noise. Fritz’s phone still in Harvard’s hand buzzed one last time before the aviator put it face up in front of the sleeping man. 

They walked in pairs of two mostly, as the hallway was only wide enough to comfortably fit two of them at a time. Phoenix and Hangman lead the group of ten down towards the offices. Bob was a step behind Phoenix always one to stay close to his pilot even outside their jet. Coyote was directly beside him, never one to leave Hangman when he could help it. Harvard and Yale, forever attached at the hip were next with Fanboy and Payback right behind them. Omaha and Halo rounded out the back of the group, mostly because Halo was still furiously typing on her phone to someone.

Most office doors were closed but the door to Admiral Kazansky’s was a bit ajar. Since the admiral wasn’t normally at the base to do paperwork the office they had assigned him wasn’t anything fancy except being slightly bigger than the normal one. The only thing that marked it as the office of the admiral was the Kazansky nameplate on the door. 

Phoenix was the one to knock on the doorframe with a quick double knock. The response of “Come in” came within a moment and Hangman gave a light push on the door allowing it to float open. 

Admiral Tom “Iceman” Kazansky was seated at his desk, an inch of paperwork in front of him and a cup of coffee a bit away from it, purposefully placed far away as if any closer he’d knock it over and stain the documents. He clearly looked tired from the bags under his eyes. It also seemed like he wasn’t supposed to be on base as he was dressed with a scarf around his neck and in civilian clothes much like the rest of them. He finished capping his pen before glancing up at the group. 

“Lieutenants. How can I help you?” he asked, his eyes seeming to scan over every single one of them in analysis. His voice was a bit raspy, more so than they’d heard since they’d last seen him on the ship back from the suicide mission a month ago. 

“Sir, we were wondering if you knew where Rear Admiral Mitchell and Lieutenant Commander Bradshaw were?” Phoenix asked.

Iceman seemed to think for a moment before clearing his throat, “Maverick was at the house when I left and up making coffee. I didn’t see Bradley but his car was indeed parked in front of my house.” The casual use of Rooster’s first name clearly indicated that the man wasn't acting in an official capacity at the moment and instead as an adoptive father figure of their friend. “You are all free to go over and check on them if you were waiting for them to show up.”

Thank yous were all echoed by the group as they left the office. It didn’t take long until they were all in the parking lot. The sun was yet to be beating down intense heat so it was easy to decide to walk to the house that was only a mile away. They chatted and told stories along the way, Halo explaining what it was like with her family up in San Francisco and Coyote with his in New Orleans. 

When they approached the house it was clearly Mav’s as the light blue Bronco was parked right in front of it, marking Rooster’s presence. The house was painted blue, with white accents and as they walked up onto the front porch a black cat could be seen lounging in the window. 

“They have a cat?” Fanboy whispered, his eyes large and in awe of the creature asleep on the window perch that had been set up for them. 

“And we’ve now learned something new, Fanboy loves cats,” Yale joked likely poking fun at the fact that Fanboy was now nearly pressed against the window. 

Hangman was the one to knock on the door this time with three sharp rasps before Coyote rolled his eyes and pressed the doorbell that the other had somehow missed. There’s no muffled sound of the bell though. The cat still in the window doesn’t even react. So Coyote pressed it once more with a little more force as if that would cause it to ring. It doesn’t.

“Why doesn’t their doorbell work?” Coyote murmured as if going to try it again. Payback moved to grab his arm while Halo stepped around them both to get to the small potted plants that sat below the window still.

She quickly started lifting each plant slightly, feeling around the edges of the pot and dirt in a meticulous fashion. 

“What are you doing Halo,” hissed Omaha, clearly thrown off by his WSO’s actions.

“Looking for the hidden key duh.” 

Harvard tilted his head in curiosity, “You expect there to be a spare key up here?” 

Halo nodded, “We’re talking about Maverick. Who is married to Admiral Kazansky. I’m betting there's at minimum 3 spare keys hidden around here, one for each entrance minimum.”

“And you expect us to just use the key if you find it to enter the house??? That’s basically breaking and entering Halo,” Yale nearly squawked. 

Halo rolled her eyes, “Yes. Both cars are in the driveway, the doorbell is disconnected. There’s been no response to the barrage of texts we’ve sent. The admiral confirmed they should be here based on when he left and that Maverick was awake. I’m going worst-case scenario right now so yes. I’m gonna enter the house with the key if I find it.”

“Guys?” Bob piped up but wasn’t paid attention to as the others started to circle around Halo and stepped away from the door. 

“You can’t just say you’ll actually do it Halo,” Omaha disputed. 

“No, she’s right. Bradley would be one to be woken up by all the texts. I’m in,” Phoenix voiced. 

“Are we seriously contemplating breaking in because…” Fanboy started before a sharp elbow in the ribs from Payback shut him up. 

“Should we check other entrances for keys?” Hangman

“Guys?”

“I can’t believe we’re gonna break into two commanding officers’ houses.” Coyote

“Ya, I don’t know how comfortable with this I am.” Yale

“Guys!” Bob’s voice finally cut through the bickering, causing all heads to snap towards him. He gestured towards the door which was now slightly open, “it was unlocked.” he stated simply.

“Fuck we’re really gonna break into two commanding officers’ houses.” 

“We were invited Coyote by one of those officers so shush,” Phoenix scolded him as she took the first step into the house, the door creaking slightly as they stepped in. 

The house was clearly well lived in and homey as they walked into the entryway, a set of staircases going up and probably a hundred photos hanging on the wall by it. A coat rack was to their left along with a pair of discarded shoes, so Phoenix quickly pulled hers off, followed by Bob and Hangman before the others took notice and did the same. 

A slow walk through a formal dining room showed more images on the walls. These seemed more like achievements as a picture of every promotion between Kazansky and Mitchell was photographed and hung. To their surprise, there were even a couple of Rooster’s. The dining room led to the living room and attached kitchen where they found their answer. 

On the large L-sectional Rooster was passed out, a pillow cradled to his chest and on his side and a second black cat slept on top of him in a seemingly uncomfortable position. There was a blanket draped over his lower half, covering only his legs barely. Below him Maverick sat on the floor, his head tilted back, leaning against the corner of the sectional, and soft snores coming from him. On the table was a left-open bottle of Nyquil and a closed bottle of Dayquil. A box of tissues was next to it but a few discarded used ones were scattered by it too. There was a discarded cup of coffee that was completely full. 

At the sound of all of them shuffling in the cat sleeping on Rooster suddenly perked up, its head looking towards them automatically. Fanboy quickly realized what exactly was about to happen based on the quick and low “no no no no.” 

The cat stood within the blink of an eye and quickly launched itself off Rooster’s mid abdomen and to the floor past Maverick. Its launching caused Rooster to let out an oof of shock as he was rudely awakened his hands jutting out in surprise to knock the back of Maverick’s head. This caused the older pilot to be jolted awake as well, his eyes snapping open, automatically already in the direction of the 10 aviators in the doorway. 

He didn’t seem to have time to process it because Rooster let out a loud groan as he let his head crash back onto the couch’s cushions. “Mav?” 

Maverick was automatically turning around, going into clear Mother Hen mode as he placed the back of his hand to the younger’s forehead, “Ya I got you Baby Goose. You feeling better?” 

“Coffee?” Was the only response. 

And somehow that put Phoenix into action because she was quickly walking her way across the living room and towards the kitchen before Maverick could even move to stand up. 

“I got it, sir. I know how he likes it,” she told him as she passed and focused her attention to the Nespresso machine that was perched on the counter with a jar filled with pods next to it. “Would you like a new cup too?” 

Hangman had already picked up the full cup and moved towards the kitchen too, putting his pinky in the cup, “This is cold as shit. Ya make him a new one Nix.” 

Maverick finally seemed to focus and notice as the group started to buzz about, most of them going to the kitchen to help Natasha or start making breakfast, Yale being the one to find pans as Harvard pulled eggs out of the fridge. Omaha grabbed the cheese and peppers behind him to start cutting and grating them. Halo had already found the cups and was passing them to Phoenix. Bob had grabbed the open Nyquil and was closing it while Payback grabbed the used tissues and disposed of them in the discarded grocery bag that had still been on the table as well. Fanboy had grabbed the cat and sat down on the other end of the couch, petting it to keep it out of the way of the others.  

“What are you all doing here?” Maverick asked after finally behind able to pull himself out of the shock of seeing them all. 

“You both didn’t show up for the bonding hike,” Coyote simply stated as he pulled the griddle that had been hidden in one of the cabinets out. “Anyone manage to find pancake ingredients?” 

A soft “here” was heard from Harvard as he passed Coyote a bowl with the non-mixed ingredients in it along with a whisk.

The answer seemed to focus Rooster.

 “What? What time is it?” He asked his hand reaching out for a phone he expected to be next to him on the couch. Bob quickly grabbed it from the coffee table and handed it to him. Sadly the battery was bed and Rooster groaned as he let his head fall back down once more.

“Little after 9,” Payback responded in place of the lack of the phone. 

“Shit I’m sorry guys,” Rooster apologized, “I…” 

“Man you don’t have to tell us anything,” Yale stated. 

Harvard nodded in agreement even though Rooster couldn’t see it. “Ya man. We all have rough nights.” 

“I just want to know what time you drove over here,” Phoenix commented having finished one cup of coffee and passing it to Halo who brought it over to the couch for Rooster. “Cause you were still at home when I went to my room at like 11 but were gone before 7 this morning.” 

“I think like 2 or 3 am?” he answered slowly sitting up and taking the coffee from Halo’s outstretched hands, “Thank you.”

“It was closer to 3 kiddo. You crashed in the guest room originally then woke up and I had to spend an hour calming you down before we fell asleep down here,” Maverick added, “Now can I ask how all of you got in my house?” 

The entire group froze in the middle of what they were doing except for Yale who only moved to remove the eggs from the heat of the stove. They were all silent sending glances at one another for a moment before chaos broke out. 

“It was Halo’s idea.” 

“Halo’s idea.”

“We were worried about you and decided the cost outweighed the benefit of determining if you were alive.”

“Way to put it Phoenix!” 

“Blame Halo sir.”

“Bullshit! Bob’s the one who opened the door.”

“It was unlocked. You were all looking for the spare key.” 

“That was only Halo.” 

“Hey! Harvard was helping.” 

“Like hell I was.”

“Honestly blame your husband. He told us we could come over to find you.” 

“Ya blame the Admiral Hangman, great idea.” 

“At this point, I'm surprised no one suggested breaking in a window.”

“It was likely the next step if Bob hadn’t discovered the door was unlocked.”

Before more blame could be thrown around both Maverick and Rooster were laughing at the group. And it took a minute for Maverick to compose himself. 

“Ok ok. Don’t worry about it. I’m glad you’re all here and appreciate how much you all care,” Maverick stated with a soft look of pride on his face at the group. 

“Anytime sir. You’re family,” Omaha answered to which the entire group nodded and stated agreements.

“Good. Now, where’s Fritz?” 

North Island Daggers

9:31 am

Fritz: So where exactly are you guys????

Hangman: Maverick’s making breakfast. 

Halo: You’re invited to come join. 

Coyote: Bonding day has been moved to Maverick’s for movies and

breakfast so those of us who didn’t sleep well last night can nap

through the movies if needed. 

Fritz: I have so many questions right now. 

Rooster: Ice’s gonna give you a ride.

Fritz: THAT DOESNT ANSWER ANYTHING?????

Mitchell

9:31 am

Mav: You’re gonna give Fritz a right home right now.

Ice: What?

Mav: You heard me. 

Mav: The kids are making breakfast for all of us. Including you

Ice: And Fritz needs a ride?

Mav: Yes

Mav: Plus I want you to join us for breakfast. You can do paperwork

in the office while we all watch movies. 

Ice: Fine. Be home in 10. 

Mav: Love you.

Ice: Ya ya. Love you too. Make sure theres enough bacon for me. 

Mav: Already planning to save you two waffles with it.

Chapter Text

The Girls + Bob

2:43 pm

Bob: Can I get your guys' help on something?

Halo: do we have to murder anyone? 

Halo: not saying I won’t do it just want to know who before

agreeing. out of moral reasons of course

Bob: No. No murdering anyone today. 

Phoenix: See I know we’re the perfect team because you clarify

today. 

Halo: you can never exclude murder these days

Phoenix: We should include Fritz though if we need to kill

someone. He probably knows how to murder someone in the

stupidest most accident-looking ways. 

Phoenix: He once told me about this guy who suffocated in a safe

trying to rob a bank?

Halo: bless Jacksonville Florida idiocy I have zero clue how fritz

came out as competent as he is based on all his stories

Phoenix: Agreed. Probably because he was only there for like half

the year with his grandparents and the other half in Georgia. 

Bob: Guys. 

Halo: oh ya shit 

Phoenix: Sorry

Halo: how can we help you Bob?

Bob: I need restaurant suggestions.

Halo: oooooooo

Halo: Is this a possible date perhaps? 

Phoenix: Is it with that Lieutenant from the carrier during the

suicide mission? I know they were really hoping to get asked on

one by you 

Halo: the girl from the coffee shop?

Phoenix: The guy from the gay club last week?

Halo: the gal who was flirting with you last night at the Hard Deck?

Bob: No its not any of them.

Halo: we really got to know how you pull so many romantic

internets Bob.

Phoenix: It's the stealth pilot energy in my opinion. 

Halo: damn I wish I had that. 

Bob: You’re married Halo.

Halo: listen I didn’t exactly romance Megan by being the best flirt. 

Halo: i literally spilled my drink on her the first time I met her. and

still do sometimes.

Phoenix: How is she doing either way?

Halo: still tearing my heart apart with her betrayal. 

Bob: So still out of country?

Halo: yep. she has another 4 months in London teaching her

extended guest seminar at Oxford. 

Halo: talked to her earlier though and theres a break next week

before she has to be back to start planning the classes so she may

fly out for like 8 days tomorrow.

Halo: bless her for being as smart as she is and being the primary

breadwinner to afford that first class ticket. 

Phoenix: Oooo I hope she can come. I can’t wait to see her again

and surprise all the boys with your wife. Managed to hook a

spouse before any of them. 

Bob: Honestly surprised they haven’t started to piece it together

yet. I’ve seen you wear your ring multiple times

Halo: i thought Omaha would have found it out by now or noticed

it but nope. still thinks im dating her. i think he doesn’t even

realize who she is. but then again he’s never met her 

Phoenix: We love powerful hardworking women in Tech. 

Phoenix: Ok, but back to Bob’s date. 

Bob: It’s not a date. You'd know earlier if it was a date Nix.  

Bob: My sister is flying out to do some contracting with Miramar

and we haven’t been in the same city in over 2 years so she wants

to do San Diego tourist things and grab lunch together. 

Halo: this the CIA sister? 

Phoenix: No that’s his brother who was a Marine. His sister is FBI

and went to an Ivy league?

Bob: Ya, she went to UPenn. But I want to take her somewhere

other than the Hard Deck and my other personal favorite from

Topgun times is closed now.

Phoenix: I can’t think of any off the top of my head but I’ll ask

Rooster for you. 

Halo: my cousin texted me places to visit when I first got

assigned to topgun out here. let me see if i can find it and

remember which ones I hit.

Bob: Thank you both.

North Island Daggers

8:54 am

Hangman: Alright, I got a tour for a 6 bed, 6 bath place today at

10:30. I will take a maximum of 3 of you with me and no more. 

Hangman: And if you come no making fun of how serious I have

to be in front of the agent. I’m getting a chance at buying this

place before its on the market because of certain connections and

I think this may be the perfect spot for us. 

Bob: I got plans with my sister so I’m out sorry.

Hangman: There goes one of the two serious ones. 

Rooster: Who’s the other serious one. 

Halo: omaha.

Payback: Omaha.

Omaha: Me

Omaha: I’d be interested to come with. 

Halo: im out. Got to go pick up a friend from the airport. we all

still meeting at the Hard Deck tonight?

Hangman: Yes at 19:30.

Rooster: Penny said she’d have Amelia guard the pool table for us

so no one else takes it. 

Fanboy: beautiful. Also I’m out on the house tour for today, got to

run errands. 

Coyote: I can come for the house tour. 

Harvard: Yale and I are out. Man has to get a cavity filled and he’s

afraid of the dentist so I have to give him a ride. 

Yale: I’m not afraid. I just get panicked about it so they have to

knock me out with the good stuff.

Yale: I’ll be fine by the time we meet up though.

Phoenix: I’d be down for the tour. 

Hangman: I thought you have a place at Rooster’s. 

Rooster: Are you trying to skimp me out on rent Nat?

Phoenix: I literally spent my childhood helping my dad flip houses

before he died and my mom was real estate agent before she got

her Ph.D. I would be helpful. Plus if we have like 6 of you all in one

house we’re gonna be crashing there and I’d like a voice in that.

Hangman: Fine I begrudgingly admit that you may be the best to

come with us. 

Hangman: Sorry Fritz and Payback you both lose. All 3 spots are

now filled. 

Fritz: I’m on a phone call for 5 minutes and this is what happens. 

Rooster: Ya Payback’s passed out on my couch. He doesn’t seem

to be too gut-wrenched to be missing this tour.

1:03 pm

Fanboy: Hey Rooster?

Rooster: How can I help ya Fanboy? 

Fanboy: So I’m at the grocery store and I was picking up some

fruit and this older guy came up to me because he recognized me

and I quote, “From Ice and Mav’s photos to our 1986 group chat.”

Rooster: What?

Payback: something you said was important because Rooster just

jumped and faceplanted trying to get up. 

Fanboy: And he’s asked how’s the littler Goose is doing?

Rooster: What does he look like? Did you catch a name?

Fanboy: Its an old white guy with a military regulation haircut on

his grey hair. I don’t know how to describe him! He just added a

simple “Haven’t seen him since Viper’s funeral.” Then he said bye,

he’d see us later this week and walked off. 

Fritz: I have a feeling we should be worried.

Rooster: Yes. 

Rooster: Maybe

Rooster: I don’t know. Mav isn’t answer his phone and Ice is at a

conference during the day right now so I can’t call him

Phoenix: Can we get an explanation Rooster? 

Payback: Man is just staring at his phone in complete disgust and

confusion. 

Harvard: The use of “see us later” means he’s gonna see both of you. 

Fanboy: Ya it really threw me off. 

Hangman: Why does it have Rooster so worked up though? 

Phoenix: The guy called him littler Goose?

Fanboy: Yes. 

Phoenix: Then its probably someone from when he was growing

up. 

Coyote: The last time someone from when he was growing up

showed up it was the Commander of the Pacific Fleet. And before

that it was his godfather the legendary Maverick, who he had a

10+ year long argument with. 

Omaha: Coyote’s right. Rooster’s past isn’t exactly tame it seems. 

Phoenix: I’m not gonna argue with you guys. 

Rooster: I have no answers about who exactly that was but its

down to like 8 people and Maverick refuses to tell me who it is. 

Rooster: Wait Fanboy how tall was he? Like was he my height?

Fanboy: Maybe like a little taller? Idk. But he was still impressively

built for like an older guy in his 60s? 

Rooster: Ok I’ve gotten it down to 3 or 4 possible people then. 

Phoenix: mind cluing us in then Brad?

Rooster: Ok so its one of the guys from Ice and Mav’s topgun

class of 86. 

Hangman: What. 

Fanboy: You’re joking.

Rooster: No. 

Rooster: And I think they’re gonna be the guest lecture we have

this week? 

Coyote: Shit thats awesome.

4:28 pm

Omaha: Halo has been too quiet. 

Hangman: Lose track of your WSO Omaha? 

Omaha: She told all of us she’s going to pick up a friend. But

usually, she would have responded between now and 9 am. 

Phoenix: She said she’d be at the Hard Deck tonight so don’t worry

about it to much Omaha. 

Coyote: Have a little faith in your WSO. 

Omaha: I’ll only listen to Phoenix cause none of you have been

paired with her before. After five plus years of partnership, I know my

WSO. This is not normal. If she doesn’t show up at the Hard deck

then I’ll send out a search party. 

Phoenix: Deal.

Fritz: Since we’re messaging I’d like to make a call out. Phoenix.

Phoenix: Yes Fritz?

Fritz: You went to a gay bar and didn’t invite me? 

Fanboy: YOU WENT TO A GAYBAR

Coyote: Rude and the audacity. 

Fanboy: Why did you go without us!

Harvard: I am hurt. 

Yale: What Harvard said. 

Hangman: Thought we wouldn’t enjoy it Phoenix?

Rooster: How’d you even find out this?

Fritz: It’s on her instagram. 

Payback: You found her instagram? 

Fritz: Yes??? It isn’t hard? Its literally her name. 

Coyote: Natasha do you have the rest of us blocked so we can’t

follow you. 

Phoenix: No. You just didn’t request to follow me ever so you

don’t see shit I post.

Phoenix: Also Halo and Bob were with me. And it was karaoke

night. 

Rooster: NATASHA

By the time the clock was ticking towards 7:45 Omaha was clearly nervous. The rest of the group had arrived and already surrounded the pool table, with Hangman and Coyote teamed up to play against Payback and Fanboy. Natasha was on one of the barstools, slightly leaning against Bob who stood to her right while Rooster was on her left complaining about why she didn’t invite him to karaoke night. Harvard and Yale, forever attached at the hip were at the bar trying to wrangle a drink from Penny

Fritz was across from Omaha, a look of concern on his face as he watched the normally composed pilot bounce his leg in anxiety. 

“She’s not here by 7:45 I’m calling her Phoenix.” 

“Don’t get your panties in a twist Omaha. She’ll be here. She was probably just distracted by her friend’s arrival,” the fellow aviator responded. Bob seemed to cover up a small snort that came out at the word distracted. Omaha didn’t seem to catch it but Rooster clearly did by the way he quirked his eyebrows towards Bob. 

Omaha opened his mouth to answer but looked towards the door once more in expectation. Only this time Halo was already standing within the bar, having looked like she’d just walked in. She was talking in the direction of someone they couldn’t make out in the crowd of the bar but she had a look of joy. 

As soon as she reached the group’s back area they’d commandeered Omaha shot up. 

“Where have you been Halo?” he questioned. 

“Oh, here and there Om. No need to worry. I'm here now and not over 30 minutes late so forget about it,” she joked. 

“Looks like someone has that afterglow,” Phoenix spoke causing all the heads of the group to look at her then at Halo. Payback even missed hitting the cue ball at the words out of Phoenix’s mouth.

Halo took the words in stride though, “I indeed do my dear Natasha.” 

Omaha looked scandalized though, “You weren’t answering your phone because you were having sex Halo?” he sputtered in shock, “What about Megan? Did you two break up and you not tell me? How could I have missed that?” 

“I don’t think I’ve heard Omaha panic this much outside of a dogfight,” Hangman commented towards Coyote who nodded in agreement to the man’s words. 

“Don’t worry Omaha,” Halo tried to calm her pilot down, putting a hand on the man’s shoulder. 

“No answer me. What about Megan?” 

“What about Megan?” Came a new voice, causing all heads to turn towards it. Standing looking at Omaha and Halo was a woman of about 5’9” with striking blonde hair that was styled in a braid crown. She wore black sneakers with gold accents, blue jeans, and a white blouse. She had a drink in each hand and Harvard and Yale stood behind her a bit in confusion of the woman blocking their way to the group. 

“Hey, babe. Come meet the squad,” Halo beamed, walking back over to her and taking one of the drinks out of her hands. 

“You know Phoenix and Bob,” each of them gave a small wave, “The one next to Phoenix is Rooster. The ones who were behind you are Yale and Harvard, and ya they both did actually go there. At the table is Hangman, we call him Bagman sometimes, Coyote, Fanboy, and Payback. I think Hangman and Coyote are winning currently. This is Fritz. And finally, this man asking What about Megan is my pilot Omaha.” 

Fanboy’s eyes were slightly narrowed and a look of confusion on his face, as he was trying to place where he’d seen Megan from before.

Megan looked at all of them with a sweeping look before fixating on Omaha, “It's nice to meet you finally in person. Callie doesn’t shut up about you whenever we talk.” She stated as she put her hand out. 

Omaha looked down at it before shaking it, “I say the same about you. I have to ask is the Cow in the kitchen story actually true?” 

It was clearly the right thing to say because a real smile bloomed on Megan’s face, “It actually is.” 

Before either of them could continue Coyote cleared his throat loudly to catch their attention. 

“Mind introducing the rest of us to Megan Halo?” he asked. 

“Oh ya sorry! Team. This is my wife and the most wonderful person in the world. Megan Bassett!”

Fanboy’s eyes were the only ones that lit up immediately at the name, “Wait Megan Bassett? As in the Megan Bassett?” 

Halo nodded in clear excitement and pride as she took her wife’s hand. 

“Why is the name Megan Bassett familiar to me?” Payback muttered lowly but just high enough for Fanboy’s head to snap back towards him. 

“Megan Bassett! She’s the top tech mogul out of San Fransisco right now! She’s a Doctor in Aerospace Engineering with a focus in space travel! She has multiple contracts with NASA to help take astronauts to space! Her TED talk has like 10 million views!” Fanboy geeked out. At his description though multiple of the group’s eyes widened.

“You’re the one who’s always on the news when space news comes up!” Rooster identified to which Megan nodded slightly. 

“Wait Megan Basset… as in the founder of Astrella? That take astronauts to space company?” Fritz questioned. 

“Oh shit,” Yale whispered.

“Am I the only one who is stuck on the wife thing?” Hangman asked.

Halo laughed, “You’re not the only secretly rich one in the squad Hangman. Mine is through marriage though, not Family business.”

“She did marry me when I was flat broke though, so she’s not a golddigger,” Megan clarified, seeming a bit worried at the fact that the group may try and accuse that even though it wasn’t likely. 

“And I took her last name before it became famous. So I don’t like to constantly advertise it. But Megan. Meg. Megan,” Halo rambled as she dragged her wife over towards Rooster who clearly seemed thrown off by the approach, “This one’s godfather is the one who’s the fastest man alive.” 

That clearly excited Megan because her gaze shifted from Halo to Rooster, her eyes gleaming with wonder, “Your godfather is Pete “Maverick” Mitchell-Kazansky? The one who hit Mach-10?” 

Apparently, Yale didn’t know that piece of info because at that info he almost choked on his own beer. Hangman missed the cue ball to this time as he cried out “Mach 10!?!”

Megan nodded in affirmation, “Ya. Is there any way I can meet him?” 

Uncle Maverick (I.C.E)

8:02 pm

Rooster: Hey. Would you mind coming to the Hard Deck? Halo’s

wife wants to meet you.

Mav: Halo is married?

Rooster: Apparently ya. But her wife isn’t who you’d expect. She

really wants to meet you though.

Mav: Why would she want to meet me?

Rooster: She heard you went mach-10. 

Mav: How did a private citizen find that info out?

Rooster: Halo’s wife is Megan Bassett.

Mav: Megan Bassett…

Mav: as in Space entrepreneur Megan Bassett? Rocket designer

and contractor to NASA Megan Bassett. 

Rooster: Yep.

Mav: I’ll be there in 15 minutes. Ice is coming too.

Chapter Text

North Island Daggers

11:12 am

Fritz: Ok so idk if this is the time and place. 

Fritz: But I also don’t want to get murdered asking this

in person

Fritz: Rooster.

Rooster: Ya Fritz?

Fritz: How exactly do you know Maverick and Kazansky? 

Halo: oh ya, we never exactly got an explanation as to why they

call you son on the carrier. also want to know how you learned ASL

Hangman: I would like to hear this too. 

Phoenix: I think we all would. 

Harvard: Is this bully rooster into telling us his past time?

Harvard: please tell me its bully rooster into telling us his past

time. 

Payback: Ya tell us Rooster. 

Bob: I think I know the majority of the story from gossip but I’d

like to hear it too. 

Coyote: Bob how. Did your NSA cousin help you get this info?

Bob: No? My uncle’s been in the navy for years as a rear admiral

and previous naval aviator. When I mentioned being on Maverick’s

and Iceman’s squad he stated he used to fly with them and knew

all the drama.

Fanboy: Your uncle was a naval aviator too

Bob: Yes. He’s the one who inspired me to become a WSO. He use

to fly under the callsign Wolfman before he married my aunt

Rooster: Wolfman’s your uncle?

Yale: Another part of your past that we don’t know about Rooster?

Rooster: Wolfman was a part of the 1986 Topgun class.

Phoenix: Oh shit. Bob, you know that?

Bob: I knew he went to Topgun in the later 80s but not the same

year as Maverick and Iceman.

Halo: and you wonder why we asked for more info on your past

rooster.

Rooster: You know what fine. 

Rooster: Didn’t want to discuss it before talking with Mav and Ice

but we were able to do that last week before Megan showed up. 

Omaha: Getting things straight before you explained it to us?

Rooster: Basically. 

Rooster: Im gonna go straight through this. If you ask questions

I’m not gonna answer them until after I finish deal?

Hangman: Deal.

Phoenix: Fair. 

Coyote: Understandable. 

Fritz: deal

Fanboy: Yep

Halo: ya

Payback: Got it.

Harvard: Yep

Yale: Deal.

Omaha: Agreed

Rooster: Ok so Hangman was right my dad, Goose, did fly with

Maverick back in the day. He was Mav’s RIO and they’d been

paired for like 5 years or more by the time they went to Topgun.

My dad went to the academy though while Mav didn’t so he’d met

Ice while there

Rooster: Either way my dad married my mom and Mav was the

best man at his wedding and when I was born apparently the only

reason dad made it to my birth was Mav who broke multiple

speeding laws on his bike to get dad there after a day of training. 

Rooster: So after all the nurses and doctors and my parents held

me Mav was the next person. Mom was estranged from her family

after running off to marry dad, and Dad was an only child and my

grandparents had died by the time I was 3. But they named Mav

my godfather and suddenly I had an Uncle Mav. 

Rooster: I was 4 when they went to Topgun. Thats where Ice and

Mav met. They were constantly butting heads. Then the accident

happened. 

Rooster: Do you remember that lesson in flight school they give

us about waiting for the canopy to open because of the RIO whose

neck snapped on impact with it? 

Phoenix: Ya you were out for that day. Food poisoning?

Rooster: I was having a panic attack. 

Hangman: Rooster….

Rooster: Ya I know, I should have told one of you but one of the

higher-ups recognized who I was and gave me permission to miss

that day of lesson. The lesson is based on my dad’s death. Mav

and him flew through Ice’s jet wash during hop 31, lost control of

the craft and ejected. 

Omaha: His death is why they added the delay to ejection.

Rooster: Yep. Mav had to hold his body in the water for 40

minutes until rescue came to get them. After that Mav sort of

broke down. His only family was me, mom, and dad. After almost

getting court-martialed then cleared of any responsibility he got

deployed out to the Gulf. 

Coyote: Isn’t that where he got his confirmed kills?

Rooster: I don’t know the details past official declassified reports.

All I remember is when Mav came back he was a little better and

had Iceman by his side as his wingman. After that he was always

around. 

Fanboy: and they were wingmen.

Halo: oh my god they were wingmen.

Rooster: Mom didn’t want to go back to Corpus Christi. So she

asked Mav, who had a house on the island if she could move us

out with him. He didn’t hesitate to say yes and started his first

stint at Topgun teaching. 4 years later mom bought the house off

of Mav. It was around then he had started dating Ice and moved in

with him. 

Rooster: Mav was constantly dodging promotions or deployments

far away. Half the time he wasn’t even flying with Ice. But he did it

to stay close to me and Mom. All that caused more of the admirals

to start getting annoyed with him, so Ice started climbing the

ladder while Mav stayed where he was. I was about 7 the first time

I called him Dad? I started using it interchangeably with Mav. 

Rooster: Sometimes Mav couldn’t dodge deployment and always

during that time some of the class of 86 came around. Slider,

Merlin, Wolfman, and Hollywood were all staples of my childhood

along with Viper and Jester. Ice’s sister Sarah was around a lot too

as another mother figure. They were constantly around to help my

mom with me. 

Bob: Uncle Leo never told me that.

Rooster: Mom got diagnosed with Cancer when I was 10. Ice and

Mav forced us to move in with them and we rented out the old

house. Ice was permanently done flying and already a one-star

admiral, so he helped. Mav moved to administration for a bit so he

wouldn’t be forced to leave Miramar or North Island. 

Rooster: Mom passed by the time I was 12 and Mav became my

official guardian with Ice. I lived with them until I was 18. 

Rooster: Ice was diagnosed with throat cancer when I was 16. His

voice was gone for nearly a year after surgery so all of us learned

ASL but he went into remission. When I was in my first year at UVA

on a baseball scholarship I discovered that Mav had pulled my

papers to the academy with Ice’s help. I was furious. All I wanted

was to become a naval aviator like all my father figures had been.

I cut off all communication with them.

Rooster: The thing about Maverick is when he mades a promise

he keeps it no matter the cost. I learned two weeks ago that my

mom made him promise to not let me go to the academy. She

knew I wanted to fly when I was 11. She was worried about me

dying young like my dad did. Not going to the academy and that

baseball scholarship put me back around 4 years cause I couldn't

do ROTC at the same time. Her action made sure I lived longer

than my dad did. 

Rooster: I didn’t talk to Mav until we were all called back to

Topgun. I only talked to Ice a few times, one being him basically

lecturing me when I first graduated Topgun to put the fighting

behind and realize I still made it exactly where I wanted even

without the academy. I should have listened to him but I didn’t. 

Rooster: Some of the 86 group even tried to get the stupidness of

it all into my head. The last time I saw Slider I told him to fuck off. 

Rooster: I cursed out everyone and lashed out at Mav after

Phoenix and Bob went down from the bird strike. The only thing

that got it through my thick skull was when Mav took the missile

for me. I couldn’t accept losing him and not having him in my life

anymore so I turned around and went to find him. 

Rooster: and ya… Thats basically it. I was dumbass for nearly 15

years and apologized to both Mav and Ice and we’re now a family

again even though we have multiple things we’re still working on

and through. But they’re both my dads in every sense of the word. 

Rooster: Questions?

Coyote: Fuck man. That’s a lot. 

Phoenix: I’m glad you’re working through it all Bradley

Omaha: Really appreciate you feel comfortable telling us all that. 

Hangman: We’re all here for you.

Payback: So do you still call them both Uncles?

Rooster: Its more of an interchangeable thing at this point? I call

Mav either that, Uncle Mav, or Dad. Ice is Uncle Ice, Ice, or Pops

sometimes. 

Halo: have they always been out as a couple?

Rooster: If you’re talking about DADT yes and no. So no one

outside the 86 group really knew they were together. They just

assumed they were roommates since Mav had given his house to

my mom. 

Fanboy: And they were roommates. 

Rooster: When we moved in most of the Navy basically assumed

Ice was helping where he could because of guilt about my dad,

especially with my mom’s condition. By the time Ice got diagnosed

though it was an open secret but no one could prove anything. No

one asked because either they knew or thought they were really

close wingmen. 

Rooster: Ice was one of the ones who made sure DADT was

overturned by coming out and he was so high in the chain of

command and the president liked him as an Admiral that they

couldn’t just discharge him.

Harvard: So let me see if I understand this.

Harvard: Admiral Kazansky climbed the ladder so high that he

basically went fuck homophobia, I’m actually gay, my partner’s

gay. Been in a 20-year relationship with him. DADT is stupid.

Lets overturn it. And they just went with it because the president

liked him??? 

Rooster: Ya thats essentially it. Mav is bisexual though. 

Phoenix: Like father like son.

Rooster: shut up Phoenix.

Hangman: You’re bi?

Rooster: You got a problem with that Bagman?

Hangman: No no no. No problem at all. Just didn’t realize you

identified as bi instead of gay. sorry. 

Hangman: I’m also gay for those who don't know.

Yale: Cool. 

Fritz: Nice.

Harvard: Who knew?

Halo: HANGMAN. you can’t just drop that out of nowhere. 

Fanboy: ^^^^

Coyote: Finally the man comes out of the closet. 

Omaha: You knew Coyote?

Coyote: Man swore me to secrecy since the academy. 

Bob: Ya I knew too. 

Hangman: How????

Phoenix: Bob has a great gaydar. Plus we’re both bi. 

BOB (I.C.E)

3:37 pm

Bob: Hey want to go to the bookstore with me?

Phoenix: You already finished your stack from our trip three

weeks ago? 

Bob: Yes. Plus I know you like the bookstore and have had a bit of

a rough week so I thought you’d enjoy it and I can cover a book or

two for you. 

Phoenix: Aw thanks Bob. Love you.

Bob: Love you too Nix. 

Phoenix: Ya let's go. I need to stop at the house to drop off my

gym bag cause I just finished doing a workout on base. 

Bob: I can give you a ride to the house so you don't have to walk

the mile in this heat after a shower. 

Phoenix: That be great. Give me like 15 minutes and I’ll meet you

in the parking lot. 

Bob: Great I’ll see you then.

When they pulled up to the house, Rooster’s Bronco was parked in the driveway and Bob pulled his Jeep right in behind him. He’d taken the cover off the top so Phoenix had to push some of her windswept hair out of her face.  

“Ok, you can wait here in the car. Give me like two seconds to just run this to my room and I’ll be right back,” Phoenix told him as she unbuckled her seat and turned around to grab her bag from the back where she’d tossed it. She nearly elbowed Bob as she did it but the WSO quickly dodged his pilot’s arm and the back of the gym back as she pulled it to the front. 

“Sounds good Nat,” he answered as he turned the key to turn the car off. 

Phoenix smiled toward the WSO and quickly jumped down out of the white 2-door Wrangler. She made her way towards the door and quickly put her key in the bottom lock knowing Rooster never locked the top and quickly opened it. 

A movie was playing in the living room loudly but she couldn’t identify it by the sound of battle without seeing the screen. Her room was upstairs, and the stairs opened into the living room so she’d probably catch a glimpse of whatever film that Rooster had fallen asleep to. He would have yelled hello if he was awake. 

She quickly kicked her gym shoes off and placed them on the shoe rack by the door before swapping them for a pair of Birkenstocks she had there and made her way towards the stairs. As soon as she passed through the archway from the kitchen into the living room she froze, her eyes going wide as she processed what was occurring. 

On the couch was Rooster, making out with a guy who was straddling his lap. Both were far too enamored with each other to notice her. Rooster’s shirt was off and discarded onto the couch next to him along with the guy’s. It didn’t take a genius to guess where this was maybe headed. 

“What the fuck Rooster, I thought we agreed not to have sex on communal areas!” she yelled at him, causing the two making out to break apart and whip their heads towards her. Only then did she recognize who the guy Rooster had been making out with. 

Hangman was looking back at her with wide eyes and a clear fresh hickey on his neck. And if that didn’t shock her more causing her to drop her bag right there on the bottom step of the stairs. 

“Natasha wait,” Rooster panicked as Hangman scrambled to get off his lap. Phoenix had already turned around and made her way back towards the kitchen side entry she’d come through. 

“Nope. Nope. Nope. I am not staying here any longer to see you and Hangman have sex on our couch!” 

The cockiness Hangman usually possessed was clearly gone by the lack of response from him as she walked out. 

“Nat, come on let me explain,” Rooster pleaded as he followed her, only stopping at the side entrance since he didn’t have shoes on.

Phoenix whipped around at that, “Bradley, I’m not pissed at you hooking up with Hangman. Ok, I’m a little pissed I lost 20 dollars on when it would happen. I just refuse to stay in that house while you two have sex.” 

The stress and nervousness that had been in Rooster’s face quickly dissipated as the tightness in his shoulders loosened as well before more of her words sunk him. His head snapped back up to look at her, “There was a betting pool on when Hangman and I would get together!?” 

“And apparently I just won it,” Bob called out, his head sticking out from the top of the Wrangler, “Thanks Rooster!” 

The addressed man groaned. 

“Now Brad, go back in there. Finish what you started with Hangman, preferably not on the couch, and I’ll text you before I enter next time,” Phoenix chuckled, patting the taller pilot’s shoulder.

“I hate you.” 

“No, you don’t.”

“No, I don’t. Thanks Nat.”

She nodded and smiled before walking back towards the Jeep, and moving to climb in next to Bob. Rooster quickly went back inside and closed the door behind him. 

“You were right,” she stated once they’d pulled out of the driveway. 

Bob hummed in response, “What about?”

“They really are the second coming of Iceman and Maverick. Think I’ll be best man at their wedding?”

Bob smiled and took her hand in his, “Oh 100%”

North Island Daggers

4:12 pm

Phoenix: And they were wingmen. 

Rooster: NAT

Hangman: Fuck you too Nat. 

Coyote: Wait what. 

Omaha: Oh it happened?

Payback: Does this mean that Bob won the bet. 

Bob: Yes. Yes I did. 

Harvard: Damn. I owe like 30 right?

Yale: We both owe 50. We were too confident in last week.

Fritz: Fucking hell. They couldn’t have waited one more week? 

Halo: honestly surprised Maverick only missed it by a day. 

Rooster: Mav was in on this!?

Fanboy: Ya. Ice too. 

Rooster: fucking explains them reminiscing on their old days of

when they were still butting heads.

Chapter Text

North Island Daggers

5:14 pm

Harvard: Anyone around who wants so go see a movie with Yale

and I? They’re showing the original Jurassic Park at the Legacy

theater across the bridge at 1900

Halo: I’d be down. 

Omaha: Sounds interesting

Fanboy: Payback and I are in. 

Payback: You didn’t even ask me.

Fanboy: Do you have other plans?

Payback: im in.

Rooster: I’ve got dinner at Ice and Mav’s so I’m out. 

Hangman: I’ve got plans too sorry. 

Phoenix: You’re going to the dinner too aren’t you. 

Hangman: What no why would you think that Phoenix

Rooster: Yes he is. 

Hangman: Damn it. Outed by my own boyfriend. 

Halo: please have Mav record the shovel talk. 

Fritz: Wouldn’t Mav likely give one as well?

Fritz: Also in for the movie. 

Halo: please record the shovel talk bradley. 

Rooster: I will for sure don’t worry Halo. 

Halo: wonderful

Phoenix: Bob and I already have plans sorry guys. 

Bob: See you all in class tomorrow though.

  5:23 pm

New Groupchat has been created.

Halo, Rooster, Hangman, Fritz, Omaha, Fanboy, Harvard, Coyote, and Yale have been added.

Chat has been named: New Bet Time

Omaha: What’s with the chat Payback. 

Payback: I’m proposing a new betting pool Omaha

Yale: What is it this time?

Fritz: I have an idea. 

Harvard: You didn’t include Phoenix or Bob in the chat?

Coyote: I now understand what we’re betting. 

Payback: Alright Boys and Halo. Today we will be betting on

whether or not Bob and Phoenix are dating. If you say yes, you can

also put extra money down for when they started. If no, you can

put down extra on if they’ll get together and when. We’re playing

price is right rules so closest to but not over.

Halo: does anyone actually think they wont get together. 

Fritz: I dont know honestly. They just maybe a good WSO pair

that they seem like dating. 

Halo: ya and i’m dating Omaha. 

Omaha: To be fair that could have been thought true if you weren’t

already married to Megan when we met and also a raging lesbian.

Halo: also true

Harvard: Sorry Fritz, but you’re a single flier. You aren’t used to

how Pilot WSO pairs act.

Yale: Those two are skimming the border of romantic tension

when together. 

Rooster: Is this what you guys did when betting on Hangman

and I?

Fanboy: Ya basically. We had that bet going since the first night at the Hard Deck 

Hangman: From before the suicide mission???

Payback: Ya originially it was Phoenix, Fanboy and I. Then Bob

came in and once the official squadron was formed everyone else

joined

Chat has been renamed: Bob and Phoenix?

Coyote: I think Mav came in after that day you were sick. And he

brought Iceman with him. 

Harvard: Now you’re caught up can we getting to betting again?

Rooster: Are we setting the date by when they became official or

when they first hooked up?

Payback: Hook up if it happened.

Hangman: You think Bob did a hook-up with Phoenix?

Halo: oh my god it's the stealth pilot energy.

Coyote: What?

Halo: sorry inside joke.

Omaha: You confuse me every single day.

Payback: Buy-in is 40. I’m starting off with saying they’re dating

and saying they got together some time after Megan came. So the

15th. 

Yale: No way. When Megan was here Phoenix was leaning on Bob

at the bar for the majority of the night. I’m saying past week max

if together. Put me on the 28th.  

Halo: I’m saying since Rooster was sick so the 7th. 

Hangman: Not together and put me on the 12th of next month. 

Harvard: 23rd together. 

Fritz: Not together but 31st next month.

Coyote: Together as of the 19th. 

Fanboy: Together since the 1st

Omaha: I’m opting to stay out of this bet like I normally do.

Halo: no fun.

Payback: Rooster you’re the last one. 

Rooster: Give me a second Im trying to do some math with my

calender. 

Fritz: What about???

Rooster: Ok, I’m saying together since the WSO swap. I don’t

know if before it but for sure probably after so put me down for

the 16th of last month. 

Harvard: Wait Rooster lives with her isn’t that a leg up?

Halo: and she lived with rooster yet still lost that bet. its fine. 

When morning came the squadron all assembled in the classroom of the building they’d been assigned at North Island. There were 6 tables for the group each with two seats so the group of 12 always filled every table unless one was absent. 

Rooster and Hangman had been taking the front left table since the first day of the new squad. Phoenix and Bob took the table behind them while Payback and Fanboy took the back last table. On the right Harvard and Yale were constantly switching with Coyote and Fritz for the front and back row while Halo and Omaha stayed permanently placed at the middle table. 

“I thought Maverick said that meeting time was 7:30,” Fritz groaned, setting his forehead on the table in front of him. He’d gotten the back table today with Coyote who just patted him on the back in sympathy. “You say 7:30 don’t make us wait till 8.” 

“Mav usually runs like 10 to 15 minutes behind but this is pushing it,” Rooster agreed glancing towards the clock in front of the room that was now ticking towards 8:15. 

“Are we gonna have to do a search party again?” Fanboy asked from his seat.

“Luckily for you, no,” Maverick’s voice answered, causing all of them to look towards the door to see the older pilot standing in the doorway, “Sorry I’m late, we were having trouble getting our guests on base. I had to call Ice so he’s taking care of it,” he explained as he walked up the aisle to the whiteboard at the front and automatically picked up one of the expo markers at the bottom.

“Today’s lesson is,” He began as he wrote on the board before turning around and stating the exact thing he’d write, “outnumbering.” 

“Like as in us being outnumbered or us outnumbering them?” Halo asked crossing her arms over her chest as she leaned back in her chair. 

“Both.” The grin on Maverick’s face was enough to unsettle Roaster a bit. It meant his uncle had done something. Something that would result in probably 200 push-ups at the end of the day. “You’ve all been trained to take two other jets down when it's just you. But here’s the thing one day that position can be switched on you.”

“You’re gonna find a pilot that can out maneuver you, out fly you, and kill you. Even with 2 other wingmen behind you. There are pilots out there that are more experienced and while maybe my age much better fliers than you. So today we’re gonna do a three-on-one scenario in both directions 3 of you versus me and then 3 of us versus you.”

“Who are you gonna be flying with?” Bob asked his tone clearly one of curiosity. 

“Come on Robbie, you really didn’t expect him to call in the big guns?” A new voice came from the back of the room causing all heads to turn once more.

Standing inside the room now was Ice with 4 other men. 2 of them were in civilian clothes while one of them who stood to the outside of the 4 wore a uniform marking a one-star admiral. The rear admiral was shaking his head and clicking his tongue in joking disappointment. 

“Team,” Maverick started as he walked to the back of the room again, “Meet your competition today a piece of Ice’s and my graduating class of Topgun 86. All three of us will be flying with our old RIOs. Care to introduce yourselves boys?” 

The rear admiral stepped up first, “Wolfman. RIO.” he stated before looking at Bob and winking. 

The man next to him was next, “Hollywood. Pilot.” 

“Merlin. RIO.” 

When the man next to Ice moved to introduce himself Fanboy cut him off quickly, “You’re the guy from the grocery store!”

“That I am. Didn’t you pay attention when I said I’d see you later in the week? Slider, RIO.”

Maverick smiled, “Now let’s start with a 1 v 2. Rooster, Hangman you’re up first against Ice and Slider. Rest of you, change then to the Rec room and you can listen to radios.” 

“We’re going against Admiral Kazansky?” Hangman nearly squawked out as the group all stood to move.

Slider chuckled at that and gave a light nudge to Iceman next to him, “Decided we had to give you the shovel talk in a way you’d understand kid. You think we’d let just anyone date our little Goose?”

Rooster who’d approached the older group of aviators only rolled his eyes as he hugged Merlin and then Hollywood. 

Wolfman meanwhile had moved over to Bob and ruffled his hair in affection. “Good to see you Robbie.” 

Coyote looked offended on Bob’s behalf mouthing ‘Robbie?’ in confusion, making eye contact with Harvard who was also clearly thrown off. 

“Hey Uncle Leo,” Bob responded before grabbing Phoenix’s arm and pulling her forward a bit from where she was standing behind him slightly, “This is my pilot Natasha, callsign Phoenix. She’s the one who made sure I made it back from the mission.” 

“It was a team effort Bob. It’s great to meet you, Sir,” she smiled politely extending a hand out to shake. 

Wolfman smiled and let out a chuckle and took her hand in a firm grip, “No need for the sir. JJ told your mom who told me about your lunch together. Apparently was singing your praises over all the other girls he’s introduced her too,” he explained before shifting his gaze back to Bob. “She still doing her stick for the FBI?” 

Bob nodded, “Still an FBI profiler and running the department in DC now. Henry and Michael have her running from soccer game to game constantly outside work though.”

“Your sister works for the FBI Bob?” Payback asked. 

“Ya. She’s technically my step-sister cause our parents married when we were like 20 but we still consider each other siblings.” 

“Do you have a family member in every since government thing?” Yale questioned, a concerned look on his face. 

Bob paused to think, looking over to Wolfman who looked proud before responding. “Also I think? JJ’s with the FBI, and Maxwell my brother is with the CIA. My dad was a Marine before he went and started working for the state department. Uncle Leo here is Navy. His daughter, Molly, is the one who went NSA. His son, Liam, is with the Air Force. My other uncle is Coast Guard and his son is Army.” 

Wolfman laughed as looks of shock grew on all of the group’s faces including the older men who clearly didn’t know all this. “You should see Thanksgiving dinner arguing over who’s in the best government work. It's a struggle not to break clearance levels with how much spread there is on access.”

Bob and Phoenix?

8:24 am

Fanboy: I swear to you that they are already dating. 

Fanboy: Did you see the way Bob grabbed her arm and pulled her

up to meet Wolfman?

Fanboy: And how apparently Phoenix is better than all the other

girls Bob introduced her too???

Yale: Payback rein in your  WSO before his geeky mind

overanalyzes all this shit. 

Payback: You think I didn’t try??? He was texting me under the

table the entire time. He jumped here when I started annoying him. 

Halo: he's right though.

Halo: fanboy want to make a conspiracy board. 

Fanboy: Don’t tempt me. 

Payback: Don’t tempt him. 

Omaha: Y’all didn't leave your phones in your locker after

changing into your flight suits?

Harvard: You have yours too?

Omaha: I'm still in the locker room. 

Fritz: We’ll put them back before our hops. Only you and Coyote

stick them in your lockers religiously like this.

North Island Daggers

4:15 pm

Hangman: Fucking hell. Those guys can fly. 

Hangman: Like I knew they could. They’re top gun grads. 

Hangman: But Kazansky is insane for a man who's been through

what he’s been through. 

Rooster: Ya all of them keep their licensing and accreditation.

They’ve been called in to teach Topgun multiple times before so

while they don’t really do missions anymore they’re not out of

practice. 

Fritz: A single one of them didn’t have to do any push-ups. 

Fritz: What the hell. 

Omaha: They really are the best of the best.

Halo: i cant feel my fucking arms. 

Phoenix: You’re not alone Halo. You’re not alone. 

Payback: Ya cause all of us had to do push-ups! They got us all

out. 

Fanboy: I want to learn all their secrets. 

Bob: I knew Uncle Leo was awesome and he taught me the

majority of what I know but I’ve never seen him like that before.

Rooster: 30+ years of experience is the secret I’ve learned. That

and getting drunk together for bonding. They all have blackmail

on each other. 

Harvard: So what Im hearing is we need to go to the Hard Deck

tonight and get drunk. 

Yale: I am in for that plan. 

Coyote: Seconded. 

Phoenix

4:43 pm

Halo: Ok I have a question for you. 

Halo: and if you don’t feel comfortable answering you dont need to. 

Halo: are you dating Bob?

Phoenix: How’d you find out?

Phoenix: A fucking betting pool has been made hasn’t it. 

Halo: ya. you two weren’t exactly being subtle about it. 

Phoenix: Have you already made your bet?

Halo: ya, I gave Payback my money this morning. so you’re not

gonna influence outcomes of the bets.

Phoenix: then yes. Bob and I are dating. 

Halo: how long? i know since before Megan came cause you met

his sister later that week so it had to be before then. i assumed

around when Rooster got sick. 

Phoenix: We were already together when Rooster got sick. 

Halo: wait. then when did you….

Halo: no. no way. 

Halo: stealth pilot energy.

Halo: you came in the day after we went out drinking to celebrate

the wso swap with the glow and you told me it was a great hook-up

i assumed it was that civilian who tried to buy you a drink at bar.

was it fucking bob? you fucked bob?

Phoenix: ya. I fucked bob. 

Halo: holy shit Rooster was right. 

Phoenix: Rooster guessed the closest?

Halo: he bet exactly that night.

Phoenix: Damn. He saw me doing the walk of shame in the

morning but Bob didn’t drop me off so I thought I was cleared. 

Halo: apparently he had enough to connect the dots!

Halo: when are you gonna spill to the group?

Phoenix: zero clue. Should we tonight?

Halo: God yes. Wait till they’re all just enough drunk so they go

wild. 

Phoenix: Deal.

It didn’t take the group longer than an hour or so to get past the sober point. All except for Bob, who didn’t really like to drink even though they didn’t need a DD since they were in walking distance of Rooster’s to crash at or even Mav’s worst-case scenario. 

They’d abandoned the pool table for once to congregate around the dart board. Phoenix and Hangman were up against each other to wrap up the bracket-style tournament of darts they’d been doing. You had to take a shot of hard liquor for each game you played win or lose, but if you were the loser you had to take another. 

Since Coyote, Hangman, Harvard, Rooster, Fritz, and Payback all had the highest tolerances in the group they started the 11-person bracket they’d set up since they needed an extra round. Hangman had gone against Payback to easily beat in the first game of the tournament. Fritz and Harvard went next, with Harvard winning, thanking his beer pong playing days for his excellent aim. Coyote took out Rooster having been playing the game too much with Hangman through the years not to win. 

The second round put Hangman against Yale who put up a bit more competition than Payback but still didn’t stand up to Jake’s skill. Harvard was up against Fanboy and took him out as well. Coyote went up against Omaha who was surprisingly good at the game after purposefully throwing off Coyote’s confidence by starting off with a bad throw. 

“Sorry. Forgot I was left-handed.” 

“You took that from Ted Lasso you fucker,” Coyote grumbled as he took his shot of Tequila. 

Phoenix and Halo ended out the second round with Phoenix beating Halo pretty easily as she seemed to be distracted half the game by her phone.

“Megan’s texting me about her commute to work this morning.”

For round 3, Omaha went up against Phoenix who managed to beat out the wannabe Ted Lasso. Hangman also won against Harvard. 

Phoenix versus Hangman had been the closest game by far. Phoenix was 14 points away from breaking even while Hangman was 12. 

“You ready for that extra shot Phoenix? Already 2 in now? Feeling it?” Hangman teased, leaning against the wall and watching as Phoenix got ready to throw her three darts.

“Just some liquid courage I needed to do this Bagman,” she joked right back. The first dart left her fingers. It hit the double 1. 12 points. She tossed the second dart. Double 2s. One more dart at the 4 she’d break even. The last one flew from her fingertips and hit its mark. 

“Ha Suck it Jake!” she cheered, her head pounding with adrenaline and liquor.

“It isn’t over till I throw Phoenix,” he tutted as he stepped up to the spot she’d backed away from. Jake was a good shot. They’d all knew it. Mav and Coyote had told them about the time they saw him hit a bullseye with his eyes covered. 

Jake’s first dart landed in the bottom half of 9, barely below the 12 he’d likely been aiming for. He threw his second dart hitting 2. He was probably trying to stretch out tormenting the group and keeping them on the edge of their seats. 

“Hey Jake,” Phoenix started as he started to prep his last throw. He only needed 1 to win. She was standing next to Bob and she looked at him and winked slyly before continuing, “I got one more ace up my sleeve.” 

“And what's that?” he asked, not looking away from the dart board. 

Just as he threw the dart Payback jumped up from his barstool and pointed his hand out towards Phoenix, “Holy shit!” 

The dart hit double 1. Hangman had lost. 

And the team was going wild, not because Hangman had lost though. Because Phoenix was kissing Bob intensely, and the WSO didn’t look shocked by it from the way she leaned into him and his arms wear around her waist. 

“What the hell!” Fanboy yelled in surprise.

And Phoenix pulled away from Bob who was grinning happily, as his Pilot held on to his arm and turned around. 

“You fuckers all owe Rooster his bet money,” she stated simply before pulling Bob towards the bar to get another drink or two. 

Halo was laughing at all the boys, her phone propped up next to her, messily recording the entire interaction and reactions, “I told you all stealth pilot energy!”

Chapter Text

North Island Daggers

7:39 pm

Rooster: Mav just texted me to say lessons are canceled for

tomorrow and we get the day off??? 

Payback: Damn really? 

Halo: please be true. 

Hangman: Just got the email about it. 

Fanboy: Why’d he cancel?

Coyote: You complaining?

Fanboy: No just curious. 

Rooster: You don’t want to know. 

Phoenix: Oh come on chicken little how bad can it be. 

Harvard: Ya how bad can it be. 

Rooster: Fine you really want to know? 

Rooster: Mav said, and I quote “It’s Ice’s and mine anniversary

tonight and he’s been in Hawaii without me for two weeks. And

while I love you kids I cannot have you underfoot when trying to

get laid and I don’t want to deal with waking up after having fun

tonight.” 

Fritz: Aw that isn’t so bad.

Rooster: I don’t love the mental image of my father figures trying

to get laid. 

Phoenix: Some of us don’t need a mental image to know we don’t

enjoy seeing it on our couches. 

Hangman: PHOENIX

Yale: Wait is that how you found the two?

Rooster: Natasha I swear to god if you answer that I will find a

new roommate. 

Harvard: Oh my god that is how you found them! 

Halo: you two were going at it on the couch? we all sit there!

Hangman: We were making out on the couch nothing else

happened. 

Phoenix: Probably only cause I walked in!

Bob: You were shirtless though

Payback: My god this is to good.

Rooster: I hate all of you. 

Omaha: I just entered the conversation? 

Rooster: I hate all of you minus Omaha. 

Omaha: Thank you.

Fanboy: Wait so if we don’t have to work tomorrow can I make a

suggestion? 

Coyote: Hit us with it Fanboy. 

Fanboy: Do y’all want to crash at Hangman’s new place and just

chill?

Fanboy: All of us are moved in now.

Fanboy: Drink, play games, tell stories?

Phoenix: That sounds fun. I want to see how you boys decorated

the place. 

Hangman: I actually hired an interior decorator Phoenix. 

Halo: money money money. 

Hangman: You’re married to a billionaire entrepreneur famous for

launching things and people into space? 

Halo: when i hire an interior designer after buying a 5 million

dollar house you get to make fun of me. 

Hangman: Fair. 

Fanboy: So everyone in for tonight then?

“Welcome to the house!” Hangman grinned opening the door to Rooster, Phoenix, Halo, Bob, and Omaha. 

Fritz, Payback, Coyote, Fanboy, and Harvard were on the large black sectional in the living room that was visible from the front door. They were clearly entranced by the TV from all the yelling and controllers in Fanboy and Fritz’s hands. 

“The beach is right across the street,” Halo marveled as she shoved a bottle of wine into Hangman’s hands, “Here, house warming gift. But it’s like literally on the other side of the street. Does the master bedroom face the ocean?”

“What is this?” He asked instead lifting up the bottle of wine to look at the label before his eyes widened and he looked back towards the WSO already making her way to the kitchen and glancing around at the place, “What the hell Basset?!”

“Oh is it good? I’m not a wine person and Megan suggested it.”

“It’s a 6000-dollar bottle of wine! I don’t want this!” 

“Consider it a rich person gift,” she shrugged off as she grabbed a bottle of beer from the fridge. 

“I literally joined the navy to piss my parents off and not deal with rich person gifting anymore!” he responded and moved to continue before Rooster put a hand on his shoulder. Phoenix rolled her eyes at him before walking past into the house with Bob.

“You could always save the bottle and give it to your mom,” Rooster suggested lightly kissing Hangman’s cheek before walking into the house after the other two leaving just Omaha and Hangman by the door. 

“I did try to warn her not to get an expensive bottle,” Omaha stated simply before he too went in. 

Hangman sighed heavily before closing the door and following the group back into the house.

Fritz was cursing loudly at the screen, which had turned out to be Mario Kart, as he got hit with a green shell out of nowhere. “How the hell did you get me with a Green shell!” he yelled throwing down his controller in frustration as Fanboy passed him to win the race at the last moment. 

Fanboy was grinning happily and laughing, “Part of our jobs is to always hit the target, Fritz.” 

“I’m literally the one doing both the flying and firing so by that logic I should be better!” 

“Hey Harvard, where’s Yale?” Bob asked as Phoenix passed him a bottle of water she’d found in the fridge getting her own beer. 

“Man had a date apparently with an old friend from college,” Harvard explained as Fritz’s old controller was passed back to him to play the next round. “They ran into each other at the theater two weeks ago when he went for a popcorn refill and apparently ‘reconnected’ in his words.” 

“So he’s ditched us for a hook up is what I’m hearing,” Payback huffed in annoyance. 

Harvard nodded, “Basically.”

“Sucks to be him then cause I have an idea,” Fritz grinned, “Who’s up for a little Truth or Drink?” 

“Don’t you mean Truth or Dare?” Coyote asked. 

“Nope! Welcome to a game I made one summer with some friends to find out all their secrets,” he explained as he grabbed the shot glasses from the kitchen and brought them back with a bottle of vodka freshly pulled from the freezer, “It’s only questions here. You want to get out of answering them you drink. The goal is to get stories out of people a little too far gone to not hold it back.” 

“Sounds fun,” Hangman answered.

Soon enough they were all seated on the floor around the coffee table, one full shot in front of each, ready to go for when they wanted to skip. Bob had his water instead. 

“So who starts us off?” Harvard questioned looking towards Fritz who was the last one standing. 

“Like so,” Fritz responded, “Rooster, how exactly did you get your callsign?” 

Coyote automatically sent a glare over at Jake, “I swear to god if you comment making a size joke I will slap you.” 

Halo snorted at that. 

Rooster rolled his eyes at them before answering, “I was drunk one weekend in training, and we’d stayed up all night and ended up on the roof of some barracks. And my still inebriated mind saw the sun rising and let out a yell. Apparently, we were on top of a Captain’s house because he came out yelling about me being a cock and waking him like a goddamned rooster. And so it stuck.”

“Didn’t you fall off the roof too?” Natasha added. 

“Not your question turn Nat.” 

And so the games began. 

“Just how much is your family’s net worth Hangman?” Payback asked to which the other pilot took a shot to avoid answering and his glass was quickly refilled.

“What is the most expensive gift Megan has bought you?” 

“Do we count naming a rocket she built after my callsign?”

“That's why there was the Halo rocket??”

“You speak how many languages again?”

“5,” Fanboy answered Coyote, “Well 6 maybe. I have English, Spanish, French, Italian, and ASL. The 6th is Klingon but not a lot of normal people know that one.” 

“How good is Bob in the sack?” 

“Callie you’re literally gay. What use would you have for this information,” Phoenix sassed the other female before taking her own shot. 

“Just knew you’d take the shot if I asked Nat.” 

The game went on for a while, even ending up with Omaha standing up onto the table and giving the O Captain! My Captain! Poem by Walt Whitman in its entirety to which Harvard stood up and responded by reciting the entirety of ‘ Twas Night before Christmas' out of nowhere. If Hangman had gotten the piano he’d been intending to earlier Rooster probably would have been on it jamming away at 2 shots in. 

Eventually, with everyone (minus Bob of course), 3 or more shots in, and all buzzed or drunk the suggestion was made to run across the street to the beach and into the water. The group shouted and screamed and laughed loudly in exhilaration as they tackled each other into the ocean under the moonlight.

Bradley ‘Rooster’ Bradshaw

3:17 am

Rooster: Uncle Maverick. 

Rooster: Uncle Mav. 

Rooster: Mav

Rooster: dad

Rooster: you’re probably asleep from all your ‘fun’ with Icee

Rooster: ugh I hate thinking about that

Rooster: but I know you turn your phone on silent at night so

Rooster: I’m gonna keep messaging ya.

Rooster: I know I say it whenever I see you but I love you

Rooster: you’re my dad

Rooster: best dad i could have asked for

Rooster: And Ice is my pops.

Rooster: ohhh I should text pops

Rooster: wait no bad idea. 

Rooster: he keeps his phone on because he’s a big shot

Rooster: mr. pacific fleet commander. 

Rooster: Im really glad hes the commander

Rooster: and got DADT overturned.

Rooster:: I know it probably would have taken longer to get

overturned without him

Rooster: Im sorry i missed your wedding

Rooster: I think i cried the day of cause i wanted to go? 

Rooster: also gotten drunk. 

Rooster: ya i definitely got drunk

Rooster: Im also currently drunk. 

Rooster: you probably guessed that my now though

Rooster: I don’t think i’ve been this drunk since i fell off a rroof.

Rooster: and dont worry. Im not gonna end up in jail this time. 

Rooster: Bob is sober and watching out for all of us.

Rooster: but i missed you. 

Rooster: miss you?

Rooster: and we are talking about how much we appreciate you

and Ice

Rooster: so i wanted to text you and tell you

Rooster: Love you dads

Rooster: Remind me to text Pops in the morning to tell him too

Rooster: We may fall asleep on the beach lol.

Yale 'Logan'

6:46 am

Yale: Harvard where the hell are you?

Yale: Where the hell is everyone? 

Yale: I just got back to the house. The living room is in chaos. 

Yale: Coyote’s, Halo’s, Fritz’s, Hangman’s, Payback’s, Fanboy’s

and Bob’s phones are all here but no one other than me is in the

house.

Yale: There’s also a pile of keys just on the table? But the door to

the house was locked when I came back. Did you guys get locked

out and go to Roosters?

Yale: What the hell happened last night and where the fuck are

you?

Yale: I swear to god if you got arrested I will tell your mother

about it. 

Yale: If you don’t answer by 1100 I’m going to Rooster’s to check

then Maverick’s for his help then down to the police office to see

if you got arrested.

Ice woke up exactly how he preferred, his internal clock doing it and not an alarm, and with his husband next to him. Mav was a clinger, so his arm was wrapped up over Ice’s torso and his legs hooked around Ice’s left leg. It wasn’t uncommon for Ice to wake up before Mav naturally, the times it had happened in their time together could be counted on one hand. So with too much experience Ice untangled his limbs from Mav’s and stood up and out of bed. 

He pulled on a loose white tee and pair of PJ pants before grabbing his phone off the bedside table and slowly made his way to the kitchen, he’d brush his teeth after having his coffee. It was just about to hit 7:30 so the sun was peaking through the windows. 

The second he stepped into the hallway and closed the door to the master bedroom he heard snoring. It threw Ice off for a moment but it wasn’t the most awkward thing in the world. Bradley had a tendency to crash at their place randomly, either in the guest room or on the couch downstairs. His snoring was a characteristic trademark of the boy. But the thing was he could have sworn Mav said he scared the boy off by telling him it was their anniversary the day before

So Ice made his way slowly down the stairs that lead to the front doorway and turned to the right to go back into the kitchen. Both the cats, Enterprise and Vinson, weren’t in their usual spot in their cat tree he noticed was the first thing when he walked into the kitchen. Then again if Bradley was indeed on the couch like it sounded like they’d probably be cuddling with him. Those cats loved the kid for some reason

The cats were indeed cuddling with Rooster, but they weren’t the only ones. Sprawled out around the living room were 11 naval aviators on both the floor and the couch. They’d clearly found the closet where they kept the blankets because they all had one or were sharing. Ice didn’t even know they had that many blankets. 

Rooster had taken the corner of the couch he loved and had Hangman curled into his chest with his arm lazily thrown over the other man’s waist as if to hold him closer and prevent him from falling off the couch potentially. Enterprise was curled on the top of the pillow above their heads while Vinson was in the space between their legs on top of the blanket.

Phoenix and Bob had taken another other portion of the couch, with Bob in the corner and his head leaning to the left on top of Phoenix’s, his legs up on the coffee table. Phoenix was tucked under his arm, her head on his chest and arms cradled to her chest, scrunching the blanket they shared in her hands. 

Fanboy was on the floor between the coffee table and the couch under Bob’s legs, a pillow under his head, and a blanket over his chest but not his own legs. Payback was on the floor in the other space between the couch and table, laying parallel to Rooster and Hangman laying like he’d been placed in a coffin, arms pinned to his sides. 

Harvard was sharing the space between the coach and the tv with Fritz, and Halo, the three of them in a tangled mess. Halo used Fritz’s arm as a pillow while Harvard used her thigh for his own. 

Omaha had lucked out and ended up on the old leather recliner they had and was leaning back in it with his feet kicked up but didn’t have a blanket clearly seen. Coyote was sprawled out on the floor next to it, limbs in every direction and blanket kicked off to the side as if he’d clearly tossed it off in his sleep.

Ice stood there for a minute taking in the entire scene in front of him before shaking his head. And Mav said he didn’t adopt them , he thought to himself as he pulled out his phone to take a few pictures of the group. It likely end up framed and in his office within a week. 

Not wanting to wake them up he turned back into the kitchen and went about his way silently making coffee. After years of Bradley and Mav both having nightmares and waking at the slightest noise he’d long since perfected doing his morning routine almost silence. He’d specifically bought the quietest coffee machine he could find for reasons like this. 

Once his coffee was made he grabbed his laptop from his office and set it up at the kitchen counter looking over emails and other work things as he waited for the soon-to-come chaos. What happened was like watching a Rube Goldberg machine. 

The first to wake was Payback who groaned extremely loud and moved his hand to his forehead a clear indicator of a hangover. As he sat up his feet brushed Fanboy’s own causing the WSO to shoot up, his neck hitting Bob’s legs. That caused Bob to bolt awake as well but with less movement other than his chest shaking, jolting Phoenix. Fanboy was coughing up a lung from the impact on his neck.

That caused Rooster to groan and move his arm away from Hangman’s waist, which was apparently holding more of the man’s weight than Ice expected because within a second Hangman had slipped off the couch and onto Payback causing both of them to yell in shock, which woke up the rest of the group along with the cat’s who went scurrying away in surprise, not before one used Coyote’s stomach as a launching pad to get up onto the cat tree. 

“Where the hell are we,” Coyote grunted from his place on the floor, his gaze fixed on the ceiling. 

Omaha grunted from his place on the recliner, keeping his eyes closed, “How much did we drink last night? Why did we drink that much last night?” 

Halo lifted her head slowly as if it was too heavy and lopsided before giving up and letting it rest back on the floor, “Blame Fritz’s Flordia chaos.” 

“I resent that Callie,” was the man’s response from next to her. 

“Where are we even?” Harvard grumbled still laying on the floor as well.

“Maverick’s I think?” Phoenix mumbled, trying to bury her face into Bob’s chest.

Her WSO nodded, “Ya we ended up here last night. Got locked out of Hangman’s cause everyone forgot their keys inside including you and Rooster. In drunkenness, you all decided the best place to crash was the beach or here because Rooster knew where all the spare keys are hidden.” 

That apparently was enough to shock some of them into focus but not enough to notice Ice silently watching them all. 

Rooster’s eyes widened, “Shit, we got to get out of here. What time is it? Ice is always up before 7:30.” 

Payback and Hangman had finally managed to untangle themselves having been slow too due to their hangovers. “Fuck if I know I can’t find my phone,” Payback hissed lowly. 

“I don’t have mine either,” Hangman panicked.

“Ok, we have to get out of here as quickly as possible. We may be early enough to get out without being noticed,” Rooster stated lowly as if trying to whisper but being unable to reach that quietness level. 

That was when they all heard the quiet snort, and slowly, each aviator’s head raised high enough to look over the back of the couch and towards the kitchen. Ice was looking at all of them, coffee in hand and a look of Really? on his face. He took a sip of his coffee, purposefully slurping it a little before setting it down. 

“ Good morning” he signed to the group. Fanboy squinted as if he couldn’t make out the sign in his hungover state and Halo’s head tilted to one side as if she was looking at the admiral if he had a second head. “ I assume you had a fun night? ”

Rooster let out a groan in response, lifted a middle finger towards one of his father figures, and let his face slump into the couch cushion. 

“If you want breakfast you’ll need to make it yourselves. Ibuprofen is already on the counter,” Ice spoke his voice horse and croakily like it was most mornings.

It was at that moment, that Maverick apparently woke up because he came stomping down the stairs yelling, “ICE” causing all the hungover aviators to flinch. 

“Bradley got drunk last night and texted me like 30 times and maybe asleep on the beach so we have to go find him!” his husband started ranting as he entered in only his boxers and a black tee. His gaze was down on his phone so he didn’t notice the others yet. 

“I don’t think we need to Mav.” 

“What the fuck do you mean we don’t? You want our son and kids asleep on a random beach and get arrested or something!”

Ice raised an eyebrow, before clearing his throat to catch Mav’s attention. Once he had it he nodded his head towards the living room where all the group was staring at them like a nest of wide-eyed baby owls. 

“Oh…. well that's better than the beach or jail.”

“Fuck you too Mav,” Rooster grumbled into the couch. 

“Ya ya. You’ll hate me until I make you and the others waffles.”

"I'd like waffles," Fritz whispered in aw.

Chapter Text

Halo “Callie” 

8:47 am

Phoenix: Are you ok?

Phoenix: You rushed out of the locker room really quick

Halo: im fine Phoenix. 

Phoenix: Actually fine or just telling me that to get off your back?

Halo: i don’t know. i can’t exactly fight orders. 

Halo: i know we can complete the mission with rooster and

hangman as wingmen and omaha has my full faith as a pilot.

coyote’s even flying spare but…

Phoenix: You can’t shake the feeling. 

Halo: they’re sending our squad because they need the best of the

best. we both know that means its not straightforward. 

Halo: and we’ve been working for over two years with IVF to get

this and now i can’t even celebrate with meg about it and find out

the gender. 

Halo: would you do me a favor?

Phoenix: Anything. 

Phoenix: I’d do anything you need Callie. 

Phoenix: you know that. 

Halo: can you go with megan to the ultrasound appointment today

since I cant?

Phoenix: Of course, I’ll go for you.

Halo: and look after megan for me? like just in general in case

something happens

Halo: like my parents dont talk to me anymore since i came out. 

Halo: meg’s dad will help but she’s gonna need more then just

him. 

Phoenix: Callie, I promise your kid is gonna grow up with the

entire squadron as uncles and me as an aunt. 

Phoenix: You’re gonna come back and in 4ish months hold your

kid that you and Megan have been waiting for. 

Halo: thank you nat. 

Halo: and you have my permission to tell the boys. meg’s been

pushing me too for a while but I wanted to wait till we found out

t he gender today.

Phoenix: We'll tell them when you come back. You deserve to see

them brawl it out over best uncle title.

Mitchell

9:32 am

Ice : I know I’m stuck in Arlington and can’t be there to send you

off but be safe Pete. 

Mav: You have that little faith in me Ice?

Mav: You know I’m not flying the missions anymore right? Just

leading them from the carrier?

Ice: Of course. But Bradley and 3 of your kids are flying it. 

Ice: Which means your heart is flying with them even if you

physically aren’t. 

Ice: I know how much you want to protect them. I know you’ll look

after them but be safe. For all of us waiting for you four to come

home. 

Ice: I’ll be back in California by the time you come back. 

Ice: Be safe Mav. 

Mav: I promise Ice. 

Mav: I’m just about to get on the chopper to the carrier.

Mav: I love you. 

Ice: I love you too. 

Ice: Ask Goose to watch over them.  

Your last message could not be delivered. Try again later

North Island Daggers

6:16 pm

Bob: I know everyone is nervous since they only sent Rooster,

Hangman, Coyote, Halo, and Omaha. 

Bob: And we don’t have communication with them.

Bob: So I called in a favor. 

Yale: Bob, you didn’t have to. 

Bob: I wanted to. And I’m not one to abuse this access so when I

asked he didn’t hesitate.

Bob: I called my Uncle Leo.

Fritz: Wolfman?

Fanboy: He’s a lower half rear-admiral right?

Bob: Yes. He’s serving on the USS Gerald R. Ford so he’s gonna

give us updates faster than if we went through normal routes. 

Yale: How fast?

Bob: Basically whenever he can.

Payback: Bob that is amazing. Thank you.

Harvard: Does everyone want to get together? It doesn’t feel right

to be alone right now. 

Fanboy: I’d like that. 

Yale: That’s a smart idea.

Bob: Nix? 

Phoenix: I’m with Megan. She flew in yesterday for an

appointment and I told Halo I’d stay with her. You guys can come

over here though. Attached Location

Payback: Fanboy and I can give a ride to those who need it, we’ll

head out in a minute.  

Fritz: You drive a minivan that can fit 6 of us Payback?

Bob: I can also drive, actually prefer it. 

Yale: Bob I’ll come with you. 

Harvard: Same

Fritz: guess I’m with Payback and Fanboy

Uncle Leo ‘Wolfman’

7:38 pm

Wolfman : Their chopper just handed on the carrier. 

Wolfman : They’ll deploy on mission at 400. I’ll message when

they launch. 

Bob: Thanks Uncle Leo.

Wolfman : For my fellow naval family member. Anything kiddo.

Iceman was on the jet back to North Island when he got the first inklings of an accident. His assistant's phone started ringing off the hook suddenly, and other officers on the plane started having theirs go off as well.

 Something had happened. 

Ice tried to think of what missions were currently going on. Training run gone bad? Routine patrol run into enemy combatants ending in an accidental crash? Is President suddenly declaring war? There were a thousand possibilities in the entire Navy that could be something other than Maverick’s team in the far Northern Pacific. 

Suddenly his assistant was back, “Sir.”

And Ice had to put on the persona of the COMPACFLT he was and push his husband out of his mind, “What is it?” 

“There’s been a potential loss of a F/A-18 Hornet on the USS Gerald R. Ford. Two seater.” 

Shit. It was Mav’s kids.

“Pilot and WSO status?” 

Please be watching over them Goose

“Save and rescued. Injuries and a couple of burns. They’re still intaking them.”

Thank god.

“Have them airlifted with the rest of the team to Balboa immediately.”

“Sir, I don’t think that’s a necessi-”

“It is. The team was not meant to stay on the ship once the mission was completed. We’re following that if they’re stable enough. Get them lifted out now.” 

Communications Transcript of Dagger Squadron Incident as Requested by Admiral Kazansky

Rear Admiral Pete “Maverick” Mitchell- Alright Kiddos way to complete the mission, didn’t even need Spare this time. You’re cleared to come home. Anyone damaged by the bullets?

Lieutenant Commander Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw Dagger 1- Dagger 1 all good. No structural damage evident.

Lieutenant Commander Jake “Hangman” Seresin Dagger 2- Dagger 2 cleared of structural damage 

Lieutenant Commander Neil "Omaha" Vikander Dagger 3 Pilot- Possible chipping over here but no issues 

Lieutenant Commander Callie "Halo” Bassett Dagger 3 WSO- We look good based on my stats back here. 

Maverick- Good. The carrier is ready for you’re landings. Dagger 3 you’re first. 

Omaha- Coming in. Lowering landing gear

Halo- Wait. Shit. We got alarms going off. 

Rooster- What’s going on over there?

Omaha- Landing gear is stuck and unable to come down. I think those bullets got more of the underbelly than I expected. 

Hangman- You’ve still got a tailhook from my view but I don’t know how well it’ll hold up. 

Omaha- Carrier do we attempt landing? Repeat do we attempt landing?

Halo- We don’t know the integrity of the undercarriage at this point. 

Omaha- Would you rather eject? 

Rooster- If an F-14 with no tailhook and the net can survive a landing with more damage than what we’re seeing you’ll be ok guys. 

Maverick- This is carrier. Daggers 1 and 2 will land first then the net will go up for you Dagger 3. 

Omaha- Confirmed. Holding pattern until net is up. 

Rooster- Dagger 2 first.

Maverick- Confirmed.

Hangman- We’ll see you on deck. Dagger 2 coming in for landing

Halo- It’s gonna be a rough landing. 

Omaha- You good to handle it?

Halo- Is anyone ever ready truly? We’ll survive. That’s all I want. 

Omaha- I’m getting you home to that kid Halo. I promised you that. 

Carrier- Dagger 2 caught. Dagger 1 begin approach.

Halo- Deal. Megan and I already decided on a middle name

Omaha- I thought you didn’t know if it's a boy or girl yet. 

Halo- I was supposed to find out yesterday but we’d already agreed even before. 

Omaha- You telling me this to just torment me Halo or are you actually gonna tell me the name?

Halo- Don’t go crashing the craft when I tell you. 

Omaha- So little faith in your pilot. 

Halo- Oh I would disagree since we’re giving the kid the middle name Neil. 

Omaha- What?

Halo- Ya. Come on Omaha you constantly have my back. You’re of course gonna be the godfather. 

Omaha- Megan agreed to this?

Halo- Yes man, she knows how important you are to me. You’re my brother Neil. I have one estranged genetic brother who wants nothing to do with me or my quote-unquote lifestyle. You’re my actual brother in every sense. So please land this plane well so we can meet First name Neil Basset one day. 

Carrier- Dagger 3 net is up and ready for catch. 

Omaha- Confirmed. Coming in for landing. 

Uncle Leo ‘Wolfman’

5:48 am

Wolfman : There was an accident but all souls accounted for. 

Wolfman : I haven’t seen injury reports but they’re getting lifted to

Balboa right now. 

Wolfman : Iceman is gonna show up at your door likely in the next

hour 

Bob: Can you message him this current address? Attached Location 

Bob: We’re all over here. 

Wolfman: You got it kiddo.

Wolfman: He’ll be there in 10

Bob was the only one awake out of the group. They’d all stayed at the house that Megan and Halo owned in La Jolla. It was a 4 bedroom and while the 4th one had been turned into an office there was a pull-out couch that Fritz had taken. Megan had struggled to fall asleep until 1 am so Phoenix had stayed up with her. 

The female pilot had nearly fallen asleep at the other woman’s bedside, so Bob had picked her up and carried her to one of the guest rooms and they took that bed. Harvard and Yale agreed to share the other guest room while Payback and Fanboy took the couches in the basement of the house. 

Bob hadn’t been able to sleep though, spending most of the night staring at the ceiling in thought and listening to the sound of Natasha’s breathing. When Wolfman’s message came in he quickly picked up the phone to look at it. Iceman was coming over, and everyone else was sleeping which meant Bob would be the only one to greet him. 

The WSO rolled out of bed, and gave Natasha a quick kiss on her forehead before leaving the room and going to the front door of the house. He stepped outside, leaving the front door unlocked behind him, and took a seat on the top step. At exactly 10 minutes after his Uncle said he’d be there, a black SUV pulled up and outstepped Admiral Kazansky in his full uniform. 

“Admiral,” Bob greeted, standing up to salute him before the older man waved him off before even completing it. 

“It’s barely 6 am Bob. No need for formality,” Ice stated as he walked up, “I’m surprised you reached out to Wolfman.” 

“We promised to protect each other. I knew it be hard to get info. I wasn’t afraid to call in the favor.” 

Ice nodded as he processed Bob’s words and they both sat down on the porch swing, “I don’t blame you. It was a good move.”

“Thank you, sir.” 

“I think you and the other kids have earned the right to call me Iceman or Ice off duty Bob.” 

Silence passed for a moment before Ice spoke up again, “They’re gonna land at Balboa at 1000.” 

“What happened? There must be injuries if they’re going to Balboa.”

Ice ran a hand through his head and let out a sigh, “They took some fire during the mission. Omaha and Halo’s craft took the most and a lot on their undercarriage. It seemed that something happened that caused the landing mechanism to get stuck and unable to lower for landing.” 

“They had to use the net?” 

“They did. Some of the ship caught fire from sparks during landing. Omaha and Halo were able to get pulled out of the craft while it was extinguished but it had started to reach the back of the cockpit. All 4 who flew have the normal bruising from the Gs they pulled. Omaha got a dislocated shoulder and 2 bruised ribs. Halo’s got 2 cracked ribs and some burns. Both have minor smoke inhalation. Hangman’s got a few burns on his arms from trying to help pull them from the craft,” Ice explained his gaze out into the distance as he did. 

“Nothing life-threatening?” came Phoenix’s voice causing both men to snap their heads towards the front door where she stood leaning against the door frame. 

Bob stood automatically walking over to her and pulling her in for a hug. “What are you doing up?”

Phoenix’s arms wrapped around Bob’s torso, a tired Phoenix was a clinger, “Felt you leave the bed and wanted to check on you,” she mumbled into his chest before pulling back and looking towards Ice, “Nothing life-threatening right?”

“That’s right,” the admiral nodded, “We’ll all go to the hospital to see them when then land.”

It been decided that only a few of them should go. And with little room for argument, Phoenix put her foot down to say she was going. And if she was going with Megan, Bob was too. The others would come around later when told so as not the crowd the room.

Rooster was standing in the middle of the hallway talking with Coyote when the 3 of them with Ice rounded the corner. The pilot looked clearly tired and didn’t notice them until Phoenix tackled him in a rough hug, causing him to let out an ‘oof’ at the impact. 

“Ow shit Phoenix. Harness bruising exists,” he grumbled as he moved to hug the smaller pilot back before looking at the group that now walked up to them, “Hey guys. Uncle Ice.” 

Ice gave a bit of a smile at that and placed his hand on Rooster’s shoulder, “How are you doing Kiddo?” 

Phoenix had let go and was now hugging Coyote tightly too. 

“We’re ok. Mav is in the back giving his debrief via video call to the other Admirals. Hangman is cleared just finishing getting his burns bandaged. Omaha should be released with Halo tomorrow. They want to keep them overnight to watch oxygen stats or something,” Rooster answered his adoptive father, “It could have been a lot worse.” 

“When can we see them?” Megan asked, stepping up to the front of the group. Her hand was clutched tightly around the handle of her purse. 

“We were just waiting for you to come so we can take you back,” Coyote explained, “Follow us.” 

And the group of 6 made their way through the back corridors of the naval hospital to the room Omaha and Halo were sharing. The lights in the room were clearly on and conversation could be heard going on from within.

“Just fucking settle on a goddamned channel Callie,” Omaha could be heard grumbling. 

“Half of them are on commercial! How am I supposed to tell what the hell I’m on? There isn’t a guide!”

“There's a guide in the binder they showed us.”

“And are we allowed to get out of bed to grab the binders? I don’t think so based on how many goddamn wires we have connected to us Neil, so let me continue to channel flip.”

Rooster opened the door then though causing the pair to stop bickering and look towards the door to see the 6 people in the doorway. They were in a large two-person room, both had their own bed of course and Halo was in the other closer to the door while Omaha was in the farther one. Halo had the remote for the tv in her hand stretched out. 

At the sight of them, Halo brightened. 

“Megan,” she beamed, straightening up so quickly she must have aggravated her bruised ribs because she hissed loudly after she said her name. The smile still lingered though as Megan rushed over to her bedside and put her hands on each of Halo’s shoulders to push her down back into the bed. The Megan’s purse she’d been carrying had slipped off her shoulder as she ran over, landing on the floor with a soft thud. 

“Dumbass, you’re still injured, you can’t move that quick,” Megan fumed keeping her hands on Halo’s shoulders, the placement leaning more towards the arms so she didn’t press down on where harness bruises existed. She’d fluffed up like a mother hen basically and was looking over her before flicking her eyes to the stats of SpO2 and heart rate on the monitors.

“Welcome to what I’ve been dealing with since hitting the deck. It's wonderful right,” Omaha grumbled sarcastically causing Coyote to look at the other pilot with shock. Omaha never came off that sarcastic. 

Halo laughed from her place on her bed, “Ignore him. He’s on the good meds and grumpier than he normally would show,” she explained before kissing Megan quickly. 

“It’s good to see you all back and safe,” Ice stated causing the two injured pilots to look towards the admiral. 

“Thank you, sir,” Omaha responded. 

Ice nodded and moved to exit the room, “Oh, and congrats to you two,” he nodded towards Halo and Megan. 

“Thank you, Admiral,” Halo smiled before Ice exited the room to find Maverick. 

Rooster just turned his head towards Halo, “What has he congratulating you on?” 

Halo grabbed Megan’s hand, giving it a light squeeze in love before looking towards Coyote and Rooster, “Megan’s pregnant.”

“SHE’S FUCKING WHAT?”

North Island Daggers

1:12 pm

Rooster: Halo when the fuck were you gonna tell us if Megan

hadn’t been there today?

Fanboy: Wait what?

Fanboy: Also welcome back. Glad you’re all safe. 

Fanboy: But what did we miss?

Halo: Megan and i are expecting a baby. 

Payback: Yo congratulations!

Coyote: Congrats again. 

Hangman: Damn. Congrats hopefully the kid gets Megan’s smarts

over yours

Harvard: Marvel Tov

Bob: Congratulations

Yale: Thats amazing. Congrats.

Fritz: Please tell me we have full permission too spoil the kid. 

Halo: Yes yes. You are all Uncles to the little bundle. 

Halo: and rooster, I was planning to tell you all after the

ultrasound appointment that was scheduled yesterday. 

Halo: only omaha and phoenix knew otherwise

Fanboy: What why did they know? Rude.

Phoenix: Godmother.

Omaha: Godfather. And she only told me before the mission. 

Halo: tell them the extra bit. 

Hangman: extra bit?

Omaha: The kid’s middle name is gonna be Neil. 

Payback: Fucker! 

Fritz: Damn really preferring your pilot over the rest of us. 

Phoenix: You all do know what this means right boys?

Rooster: Ya and what's that Phoenix? 

Phoenix: It's a competition for the best Uncle. 

Harvard: You bitches are all going down. 

Fanboy: Do you even have nieces or nephews Harvard?

Harvard: Doesn’t mean I can’t get the favorite uncle title. 

Payback: Good luck. I’m gonna get it. 

Hangman: You only children have no chance against those of us

with siblings. 

Coyote: May the best Uncle win. 

Halo: i love you all and thank you for being honorary siblings to me. 

Bob: Of course Halo. 

Yale: This squadron is a family. 

Rooster: We watch out for each other. 

Phoenix: No matter what.

Chapter Text

North Island Daggers

2:19 am

Fritz: I’ve just realized something we’ve missed. 

Harvard: Tell us oh mystical Flordia man. 

Fritz: Payback hasn’t set up a betting pool for baby Bassett. 

Fritz: Date of birth, weight, potential first names, gender as we

still dont know yet. 

Fritz: there’s plenty of betting options here. 

Harvard: Damn you’re right. He could have jumped on that. 

Hangman: Why aren’t you two asleep. 

Fritz: Why are you awake?

Harvard: This is a perfect time to be up and about what do you

mean.

Hangman: Ya sure its perfectly fine to be up at this time if you’re

having some fun ;)

Harvard: ew ew ew 

Fritz: Fuck you bagman we dont want to hear about your sex life. 

Fritz: Where’s Rooster then?

Hangman: You two asked. 

Hangman: And he’s passed out next to me. I’ve just been

lingering on social media for a while.

Harvard: You’re at Rooster’s place right? How the fuck has

Phoenix not killed you yet. 

Hangman: She’s at Bob’s for the night.

Fritz: Oh shit ya, I keep forgetting Bob rents a place off base. 

Hangman: Now answer why you two are up. 

Harvard: Reading. 

Fritz: Video games. 

Hangman: You read Harvard? Like a physical book read?

Harvard: ya…. 

Harvard: I read like 50+ books a year?

Harvard: Do most of you forget I actually went to Harvard for

college?

Harvard: I do indeed have a fancy ass degree I spent too much

money on to become a naval aviator. 

Fritz: Neerrrrddddd

Hangman: Oh ya. 

Hangman: You and Yale never bring it up every 5 seconds like

usual Ivy kids

Fritz: But it is their callsigns. 

Hangman: That’s also true.

Harvard: We didn’t choose our callsigns. 

Fritz: Excellent point. 

Hangman: One day you have to tell us how you and Yale ended up

military. 

Harvard: Yale’s is his own story to tell but mine is pretty simple. 

Harvard: I’m 4th generation Harvard Undergrad on my dad’s side

and 2nd on my mom's. Parents met at Harvard. Mom went on to

big law and dad is a finance bro. I trained in finance like him. Dad

was also in the Navy before going into finance so I wanted to as

well and just did the ROTC program at Harvard. And bam, here I

am. 

Fritz: I didn’t know Harvard has an ROTC program

Harvard: Ya it’s not exactly what people go to the college for lol. 

Hangman: Ya, I think I was originally supposed to go to Princeton

over the academy if I followed my father’s wishes.

Harvard: Could have been Princeton instead of hangman damn. 

Fritz: Damn. Y’all could have had a Ivy League Flight Club

Hangman: Nope. no regrets. 

Phoenix: Yo fuckers. 

Phoenix: Stop texting. Some of us are trying to sleep. 

Hangman: Damn. Tired Phoenix is grumpy. 

Phoenix: Yes she is. So shut up before she rips your ballsack off

and beats you with it. 

Harvard: Shit, sorry Phoenix night!

Fritz: Sorry Phoenix

7:39 am

Fanboy: Damn Phoenix really knows how to shut us up. 

Rooster: Because she will actually follow through on her threats. 

Rooster: I think she once threatened to glue the key cover of the

piano shut when I pissed her off. 

Yale: Let me guess. Next day the piano key cover was stuck closed. 

Rooster: Yep. It took 3 days to get it unstuck.

Coyote: Do we all just live in fear of Phoenix?

Payback: Basically. 

Fanboy: It’s better to have a healthy fear of her over constantly pissing her off. 

“Remind me why we had to leave the island and come downtown for a coffee shop?” Hangman complained looking down at his phone in his left hand while they walked. Coyote was texting him about how his little brother was being a pain in the ass and for some reason thought Jake had to hear about it too. “There’s plenty of good coffee shops on the island.

Rooster let out an audible scoff from next to him giving a squeeze to Hangman’s right hand he was holding, “Because They’re not the best. Ice and Mav used to take me to this shop all the time growing up and I haven’t been again since we got stationed here.” 

“So on our off day you don’t want to spend it locked up with each other in either of our houses but instead looking like tourists in downtown San Diego,” Jake complained finally tucking his phone in his pocket before looking over to his boyfriend. 

“Yes and no?” Rooster chuckled rubbing the back of his neck uncomfortably, “While I would love to spend a day locked in a room together, especially a bedroom, I wanted to grab coffee with you at one of my favorite places and talk?” 

“Just talk?”

“Well, I don’t really know a lot about your family. You’ve only told me a bit about your mom in passing about her love of wine, and I wanted to show you touristy San Diego as a tradeoff.” 

Hangman stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, causing a tug on Rooster’s arm when he proceeded to keep walking for a moment before he too stopped. 

“Did you drag me out here just to interrogate me?” the tone in his voice was clearly one of sharp annoyance. 

Rooster’s eyes widened, “No no no,” he insisted as he stepped to the side of the sidewalk with him, “I brought you out because I wanted to spend time with you. What we have is awesome Jake but it's also only a few months old and I wanted to push us out of our comfortability a little. I just wanted to get to know you better and what made you, the man I love, you. If I’ve done too much we can stop, turn around, and take the ferry back to the island.” 

Rooster was so involved with his ramble he didn’t even notice the slip in his words until he stopped talking and looked at Hangman again. The shock was evident on the other pilot’s face and Rooster had to rewind the conversation mentally a bit to think about where he slipped up. When he did the color slipped from his face a bit. 

 “Fuck, shit Jake that wasn’t how I wanted to say it I’m sorry. And I don’t expect you to say it back if you don’t want to,” Rooster apologized rambling as he ran a hand through his hair to push it back out of his face.

“I…” Hangman started causing Rooster to whip his head back towards him, “I’m not ready to say it back,” he admitted, “I think I’m almost there. But I can’t string those three words together just yet.” 

Rooster’s head nodded violently in acceptance and acknowledgment as he waited for Hangman to continue. 

“But I will tell you about my childhood at this world-famous coffee shop of yours,” he finished. 

And Rooster beamed. Soon enough the two were sitting outside of the shop that overlooked the waterfront park each with a drink and a pastry. 

“Ok this was worth it,” Hangman stated, his words muffled a bit by the muffin he’d bitten into a moment earlier. 

“See! I told you. Their pastries and coffee are just amazing,” Rooster grinned in victory before taking a sip of his own coffee. “Totally worth it.” 

Hangman let out a light laugh before looking back to Rooster, “Ask your first question then dear,” he teased, his Texan accent slipping through at the last portion of the sentence. 

“Tell me about your family. I know you have sisters but nothing really past that.” 

“I’m the middle oldest of 4. There’s Kathryn, she’s got a year on me. Then there are the twins who are 7 years younger, Adeline and Annabelle. Adeline, Addy, she’s out in Boston working for an architecture firm. Belle is in Houston working for NASA. I haven’t told her about Megan cause I’m afraid she’ll rip me a new one for not introducing her,” Hangman explained with a smile on his face. He clearly loved his sisters. “Katy is the one who runs the family business while I’m up in the air.”

“Your Mom and Dad?”

“Mom is amazing. She has the biggest heart of anyone I know. If she was out here she would have done exactly what Maverick did and taken everyone in. I even told her about him over the phone and she seemed incredibly happy about me being adopted by my Captain and his Admiral husband. Mom still lives in the house we all grew up in about two hours outside of Houston. It's this big fancy house that fits none of the 700-acre ranch it sits on. But Dad wanted something he could flaunt and style up if needed so he built it big and fancy as possible. Dad died about 8 years ago in a car accident.” 

“Shoot, I’m sorry Jake.”

“Don’t be. He was an asshole,” Hangman scoffed as he went for another sip of his coffee.

“What?” Rooster is clearly surprised by that. With such strong father figures in his own life, it was hard for him to imagine asshole fathers. He knew they existed, but it was just something he always mentally struggled with. 

“He was a Homophobic sexist piece of shit that didn’t care for mom outside of being a trophy wife and my sisters as products of side duty. He forced everyone around him to be smaller,” he spat out, “He wanted one son Bradley. He required it basically. That’s why Katy and I are so close in age. She came out female and good old Dad needed a son. The twins were accidents he clearly wasn’t happy about but had to endure. 

“He left nothing to my sisters in his will you know? The man was a billionaire and only put enough money for them to cover a wedding. That's exactly what it was earmarked for. Everything else went to the son he wanted to be an exact copy of him. Soon as I found that out and got my hands on the assets I rearranged the division of them.”

Rooster nodded in understanding as he listened to Hangman continue. 

“Katy runs the business right now. The old man is probably still turning in his grave at the shock of his daughter being a better businessman than his son or even himself. She’s basically doubled the size of it by investing in green energy on top of oil and gas. She sits on our family’s seat on the board but all of us talk about decisions before making them. Us siblings came to an agreement, and the profits that the owner would get are split equally between all of us. Katy gets a little more because she actually runs the damn thing. We can live lives outside the elitist world we were forced into our father by. But whenever I’m done with the Navy or Belle is done with NASA, or Addy is tired of architecture, we can come back to the company.” 

“That’s why you could afford to buy the house?” Rooster asked. His coffee was done by this point. 

“Ya. When on leave previously I would go home and help Katy when she needed. But otherwise, I don’t really use the money I get and just live on my Navy salary. The family financial advisor keeps bugging me to diversify my portfolio and not just sit on the money, so the house seemed like a decent buy,” Hangman explained and took another drink of his coffee.

Rooster reached for Hangman’s hand a small kind smile on his face, “Thank you for telling me all this Jake. I know it was hard.” 

Hangman looked up to meet Rooster’s eyes and let a smile crawl onto his own face, “It’s easier than usual when it's to you.” 

They continued chatting for a little more over that coffee table, Hangman explaining all the trouble he’d gotten into with his sisters. How he missed horseback riding and needed to take Rooster when they went to Texas together one day. 

Rooster responded by explaining more of his time growing up with Ice and Mav. The mornings Ice dragged him out of bed to teach him to surf. The days he got snuck onto base to sit in the backseat when he was big enough to fly. The anxiety that Mav gave off the entire time Bradley worked on his college applications that he only remembers looking back now. 

“So you finally gonna take me on that tourist walk?” Hangman teased as they both moved to stand up, chairs scrapping. Rooster had grabbed the plates that their pastries had been on and went to go return them inside while Hangman took their cups. 

“Of course,” Rooster grinned, grabbing the door to go back inside, “I was thinking we could walk through the park and then back down towards the ferry,” he explained as they both put the dishes in the tub.

“Sounds good to me,” Hangman responded. 

They both made their way back towards the door but the second Rooster moved to step through the open door he nearly ran into the man walking in. 

“Shoot I’m sorry,” Rooster apologized moving to step away before he noticed who it was, “Uncle Ice?!” 

A snort from behind the admiral caused both Rooster and Hangman to snap their head in the direction of the person it came from to see both Halo and Fanboy. 

“What the hell are you doing here?” Hangman hissed at his squadron mates. 

Fanboy’s hands automatically went up in surrender while Halo laughed and put her hand on his shoulder to pat it in sympathy before looking back to Hangman. 

“Fanboy and I are a bit rusty with our sign so we planned a day to converse with the Admiral to brush back up on it. He recommended his coffee shop,” she explained, her hands moving through the signs as she spoke. 

“We have a bet to see who breaks first,” Fanboy explained his own hands moving as well as he spoke, “First one to forget to sign when talking or talk instead oof sign owes $100.” 

Rooster turned to Ice who was silently looking at him. It was one of those glances that made it so you couldn’t read what the admiral was feeling. 

“ This isn’t a stakeout to scare him off right? You already shovel talked him with the flight with Slider,”  Rooster signed to his father. 

Iceman scoffed before signing back, “ I introduced you and Maverick to this shop kid. You really didn’t expect me to bring your adoptive siblings at some point?

“ Mav swears he’s the one who found it first”

“Honest truth is your father Goose probably found it first with your mom and we've both just taken credit.” 

Rooster let out a chuckle at that, “Probably right.” 

“Plus I like Jake. He’s good for you.”

“Thanks, Dad.”

“Anytime son, Enjoy your day,” Ice smiled and waved the other two into the shop. 

“Bye guys, see ya later at the Hard Deck,” Fanboy waved off only once he finished signing the sentence. 

When Rooster and Hangman were a bit off from the shop Hangman turned to him. 

“What were you two saying?” 

“He was just saying he thinks you’re good for me,” Rooster answered, shrugging his shoulders like it was no big deal. 

The smile that resulted lasted on Hangman’s face for the rest of the day and only grew bigger.

North Island Daggers

2:56 pm

Hangman: Hey Fanboy, Halo. Could you maybe do me a favor?

Fanboy: What is it?

Halo: ask and we shall see.

Hangman: Could you teach me ASL?

Rooster: Didn’t even bother to ask me. 

Hangman: We’d get distracted solo and I actually want to learn this. 

Fanboy: once again. Ew. But ya. I don’t mind helping you learn. 

Halo: i’m in. 

Rooster: Wait are you doing this to try and get into Ice’s good

graces more?

Fritz: Wait you’re doing this for admiral Kazansky?

Fanboy: Way to light the bat signal with that Rooster. 

Payback: Are these lessons an open thing?

Phoenix: I want in if they are. 

Coyote: Same. 

Bob: I’m only familiar with the alphabet so I’d love to learn more.

Harvard: I’m in. 

Omaha: It be interesting to learn.

Yale: I’d like to learn as well.

Fanboy: Well fuck. 

Fanboy: Halo, Rooster, looks like we have to come up with lesson

plans then.

Chapter Text

North Island Daggers

10:49 am

Fritz: The Navy gossip wheels are turning.

Fritz: And they’re turning pretty heavily.

Coyote: What?

Phoenix: Did you get roped into one of the Navy Wives events

again Fritz?

Fritz: Maybe, but thats not important. 

Fritz: it was also a book club this time and not a knitting circle.

Halo: you managed to get into the navy wive’s club? ive been

trying for years. howd you do it?

Fritz: I’ll never reveal my secrets

Payback: Is this about the chicken that's loose on base?

Payback: Cause I promise you I had nothing to do with that. 

Coyote: Literally makes us think you had something to do with it.

Yale: There’s a chicken loose on base?

Fanboy: Rooster go get your brethren.

Rooster: Haha very funny. 

Hangman: That was low-hanging fruit there Fanboy.

Bob: I have a video of 4 or 5 ensigns trying to wrangle it yesterday

and failing.

Omaha: Did anyone in this chat have anything to do with the

chicken? Please say no

Phoenix: It’s from one of the houses on the border of base that

has a coop. It got out and hopped the fence and apparently can’t

hop it back. 

Harvard: That was simpler then I was expecting the answer to be. 

Halo: so… whats the gossip then fritz?

Fritz: They’re apparently shifting some things around for our

squad. 

Fanboy: Like losing Maverick or Iceman shifting?

Payback: Are they trying to start a riot at North Island?

Coyote: Iceman would let them do that?

Hangman: Idiot higher-ups.

Rooster: They wouldn’t do that. They spent too much fucking cash

to train us to work under and with Mav. Moving any of us will send

Mav on a rebellious streak and ends up with him pissing admirals

o ff again. The higher-ups are actually happy with how he’s

behaving right now. They’re not gonna risk him getting pissed off

by moving him, Ice, or any of us.

Fritz: No not that. 

Phoenix: Way to scare us then asshole.

Fritz: Margarine, one of the wives, noticed that some of the family

housing has been cleaned and earmarked for our squad and it’s

the nicer ones too. 

Fritz: They’re gonna bring people in. Apparently what we have

right now are the barebones of a squad and they want to fill it out

more. 

Bob: That makes sense if they’re making the squad permanent

whenever we leave. 

Yale: Nice to know they’re actually paying attention to us and want

to support us too.

Harvard: Are we finally gonna get a patch?

Halo: oh fuck yes. ive been waiting for one to add to my jacket.

Omaha: Who are they gonna bring in?

Hangman: Someone who can fucking survive working with the

Maverick.

Phoenix: The real question here is do you think Maverick and

I ceman know?

Rooster: If they don’t they're about to real soon.

Class of 86’ + Hondo

3:52 pm

Ice: I just got word this morning that the family housing unit for

you Wolfman was finished being prepped this morning. 

Wolfman: Fantastic. I’ll be on the next transport and be there

tomorrow.

Slider: And when’s mine gonna be done Iceman? 

Slider: Have clear preference for someone who’s not your old RIO?

Hollywood: Didn’t you literally turn him down for on-base housing

two weeks ago to say you were gonna rent a place off-base?

Merlin: Can confirm he did. 

Slider: You’re all assholes. 

Mav: Says the biggest asshole out of all of us. 

Slider: Shut up Tiny. 

Mav: Rude. 

Hondo: Please don’t piss him off.

Ice: Slider please don’t piss off my husband.

Slider: Why? Its not like Maverick doesn’t deserve it. 

Ice: Because if he gets annoyed enough he will piss off an Admiral

and risk this entire pyramid of reshuffling I’ve done to get your

asses to North Island as instructors. And I’m still working on

getting Sundown and Chipper approved which is a bit harder. 

Ice: So don’t fucking risk it.

Hollywood: I’m still working on believing you were able to

achieve this. 

Sundown: Don’t jinx it yet Hollywood. 

Chipper: Still working on word from my boss that it’s confirmed.

Slider: Still can’t believe you two went into politics. 

Sundown: By politics, you mean the State Department?

Slider: Ya that. 

Chipper: Some of us wanted to help our country through

diplomacy instead of weapons when we stopped flying. 

Merlin: How are the embassies?

Sundown: The Netherlands has been great, though I do look

forward to being back in California. 

Chipper: The French Embassy is doing good. I’ll miss the food

when we come back to the states. 

Hollywood: Bring some nice French Wine back for us?

Wolfman: Oh ya that sounds good. 

Hondo: Chocolate from the Netherlands too if possible Sundown.

Sundown: I got you covered Hondo.

Mav: You need Ice or I to pick you up tomorrow Wolfman?

Wolfman: Nah, Bob and Phoenix are picking me up.

Chipper: Do any of the kids know about this?

Ice: Not officially. Probably heard rumors of the squad being built

up and getting more support but not what it means. 

Merlin: When are you gonna tell them?

Ice: Whenever you come over. Just one at a time reveal the new

instructors until they realize the trend. 

Wolfman: Ya I just told Robbie I got restationed and nothing else.

Mav: Perfect. I can’t wait to see all the shocked looks on their faces. 

Slider: I would like to kick Hangman’s ass in the air again.

Hondo: It was fun to watch last time. 

Hollywood: Poor Bradley isn’t gonna know what hit him when all

of us show up. 

Mav: Eh. He’s used to having Ice and I around. You lot should be

a nice surprise to him. 

Sundown: Plus you got to introduce us to all your new kids Mav. 

Chipper: Honestly surprised it took this long for him to adopt a

bunch of younger aviators. 

Ice: It was a byproduct of trying to get him to make up with

Bradley. 

Slider: See that makes sense. 

Mav: My husband is a goddamned puppet master. 

Hondo: And yet you don’t seem to complain when the kids are

around or we’re all stationed together.

North Island Daggers

4:51 pm

Coyote: Hard Deck at 1930 tonight?

Payback: Fuck ya Im in. 

Omaha: Sounds good. 

Yale: Will be there. 

Harvard: Same.

Halo: megan is coming with me if thats good. 

Fanboy: Hell ya, I want to talk with her about those new pictures

from the telescope. 

Halo: please. she keeps rambling to me about them but half the

words she says goes in one ear and out the other. you’ll be able to

keep up with her more then i can.

Fanboy: Fuck ya.

Fritz: yep!

Hangman: Rooster and I are in. He will be playing the piano

tonight

Bob: I’ll be there but a little later than 8. 

Phoenix: 7:30 sounds good to me. 

BOB (I.C.E)

7:03 pm

Bob: Are you ok with me being a bit later to the Hard Deck? Like

8:30 or so. 

Phoenix: Are you still with your Uncle?

Bob: Yes. 

Phoenix: Then yes I am Bob and I’m just getting a ride to the bar

with Rooster and Hangman. You’re more than okay to spend time

with your Uncle. I’ll be fine without you for a few more hours. I

know you love spending time with him so don’t feel in a rush to

meet us. 

Bob: How did I get so lucky to date you?

Phoenix: Because you saw me for me. The stealth pilot energy

didn’t hurt either.

Phoenix: Love you Robert. 

Bob: Love you Natasha. 

Bob: Text me if you need anything or if you want me to stop

somewhere before the Hard Deck for you.

Phoenix: Will do Robbie.

The rest of the group were distracted by the pool game going on between Hangman with Rooster and Halo with Fritz when Phoenix stepped away to get a drink at the bar. For a Friday night, the bar was completely packed as expected. It was even more overfilled though by the freshly returned members of the USS Theodore Roosevelt that had just finished a deployment in the Pacific. 

The dagger squadron had all shown up in civilian clothes as they had become used to in their time stationed at North Island. In a sea of uniformed members though they stuck out a bit like sore thumbs. And while Phoenix hated to admit it, it was generally assumed a woman in civilian clothes in a naval bar was there to find a guy.

This is why it didn’t surprise her when a tall Lieutenant in khakis slid into the open barstool next to where she stood at the bar. She’d stood in the only open slot at the bar between two unoccupied barstools and this man, slid into one next to her, too close for comfort in her opinion. Penny and the other two working behind the bar tonight were clearly busy helping others so if Phoenix wanted her drink she’d have to stay put. 

“So what’s a girl like you doing in a place like this?” the lieutenant drawled out, the smug look on his face and confidence in his voice making Phoenix want to roll her eyes in disgust. 

She averted her gaze instead, looking to Penny who was towards the other end of the circular bar and trying to handle getting the orders of 3 other customers.

“Come on girl,” the lieutenant chuckled as if his first comment had been appropriate, “Don’t you want to hear stories about my time at sea?” 

“I’d rather not,” Phoenix bit back, still not looking at him and trying to adjust her body to take up less space and pull away from him and towards the other barstool. She didn’t want to sit down though in the valid fear that he’d see it as an opening.

“Playing hard to get huh? I like that in a girl,” he retorted, leaning over towards her, “Come on let me buy you a drink.”

“No thank you.” 

“It’s just one drink. Where do you have to run off too?” he joked playfully. 

“I have friends waiting for me.” 

“They can wait a little bit,” he answered. He’d shuffled closer and was basically blocking her in a way that to get past him she’d have to engage and ask him to move or shove him, “We have great chemistry. No need to rush anywhere.”

She wasn’t going to get served anytime soon and she wanted out of this situation. So as she turned to leave he stood up, blocking her exit even more. “Let me pass,” she sneered. 

“Didn’t you hear me doll? No need to rush anywhere,” he stated, leaning towards her so his arm was along the side of her and back on the bar counter. It blocked her exit even more so that if she wanted to pass she’d have to maneuver awkwardly around the other barstool. She could feel his breath on her almost now.

“I’m not interested,” she stated trying not to shake in fear. She’d been through this before. Survived this before. If she shouted any of the guys from the Dagger crew would come and get her out of this. 

“You’re a civilian in a military bar. I know exactly what you’re here for.” 

“You don’t know shit about me,” she spat starting to maneuver around the barstool, just barely managing to slip past both it and him. 

Then he grabbed her wrist to pull her back. It was a tight painful grip as he pulled her back towards him, rotating her shoulder without her permission. 

“You don’t get to talk to me like that,” he hissed at her, “You have no fucking clue who I am.” Anger was flashing in his eyes and Phoenix knew there was no good way to get out of this now. 

“Let go of me now,” she responded instead, her eyes locked with his as she tried to build up as much bravery as she could. She was a Gryffindor. She was a Naval Fighter Pilot. She was the best of the best at what she did. She’d fought tooth and nail to get to where she was now. She’d burned to get to where she was. She’d dealt with men worse than this trying to hook up with her in situations more uncomfortable than this one.

And the guy had the audacity to smirk like he doubted her. He didn’t know shit about her. “Or else what princess?” 

And god did that set her off. She reached out towards the bar, grabbing the closest drink her hand could find and she threw the liquid into his face. He yelled in anger, causing heads to now snap towards the two at the noise. His hand let go of her wrist to move to his face while his other reached out and ended up getting a grip on her shirt. And as she stepped back she could hear the cotton ripping at the pulling, causing a hole on the front of the shirt next to where his hand had landed.

“You bitch!” he snapped, wiping the liquid away from his face with the back of his hand. His eyes locked on hers and suddenly Phoenix’s left cheek was stinging and her head was looking to the right from the force of his palm impacting with it. 

Then the hand on her ripped shirt was gone as it was ripped off and she was stumbling back a bit. 

“Natasha!” a voice yelled as the owner was steadying her from behind, hands lightly on her shoulders to keep her in place and not stumbling. 

Coyote and Payback were in front of her forming a barrier while Hangman was in front of them, his hands in the shirt of the lieutenant that had been the cause of all of this. Penny was at the bar behind them now, her eyes narrowed in anger. 

“Do I have permission to throw him overboard Penny?” Hangman snapped, his eyes never leaving the lieutenant. 

“With a permanent ban,” the owner snapped, and suddenly Harvard was at Hangman’s side hulling the man out of the bar and kicking him out the front door.

“Natasha? Nat are you ok?” the voice was asking and she finally was able to focus again as she was turned around to look towards the person, Rooster standing over her, worry evident in his eyes. 

Halo was next to her, rubbing circles in her back before she looked towards Rooster, “Let’s get her outside. There’s too much going on in here,” she suggested to the pilot. 

He nodded and the three of them went to the back patio of the Hard Deck which surprisingly wasn’t crowded. They sat her down at one of the benches at the picnic-style tables. 

“You ok Phoenix?” Yale asked softly. The rest of the group had followed them outside and were scattered around, worry and anger flashing across all their faces.

She nodded, swallowing the lump that had been in her throat. She was a Naval Fighter Pilot. She was a Gryffindor. She’d burned to get to where she was now. She had friends watching her back now. A large group of 11 other naval aviators that liked her and watched out for her. It was such a sharp contrast to the loneliness she’d felt last time this had happened when she was in flight school. Back when it was a single stranger that worked to calm her down, her first meeting with Rooster.

“Ya,” she choked out, “I’m ok,” she promised. 

Rooster smiled lightly at her and patted her knee lightly, “Good. Welcome back, Nat. Spaced out there for a little?” 

She nodded. 

“I called Bob,” Halo stated from her spot on Phoenix’s left side, “He was already on his way. He’ll be here in 30 minutes maximum even with traffic.” 

“Man’s gonna break the speed limit to make it here faster,” Coyote joked.

That comforted her a little that her mind came more into focus. She looked down at her chest, the front of the shirt hanging loosely from the large hole that showed way more than she was comfortable with. Thank god she decided to wear a bra tonight even if she could have gone without one.

 “Fucker ripped one of my favorite shirts,” she grumbled. 

“There’s our Phoenix,” Payback poked lightly. And that helped too.

Rooster let out a chuckle and pulled off the Hawaiian shirt he was wearing over a tank and handed it over to Phoenix. After years of friendship, Phoenix had worn and stolen Rooster’s Hawaiian shirt when her own got a drink spilled on it or she needed something to cover herself like after swimming. It became an easy thing for him to trust her with his father’s old shirts as well.

She took it from him and pulled her own shirt off. She tried not to notice the others spot the burn scars that were across her upper back and spread out around the sides of her waist. She’d only ever taken her shirt off around Rooster, Halo, and Bob before. She’d worn a muscle tee that covered the scars that day on the beach they’d played dogfight football. With ease she pulled the oversized shirt on, buttoning a few buttons and tying the extra fabric into a knot at the front. She’d iron the wrinkles out of the shirt before she gave it back. 

“Those are some badass scars you got there,” Hangman stated. Only he would be the bravest among them to acknowledge them. The way Rooster looked at him was like he wanted to murder his boyfriend right then and there. But the way Hangman had said it wasn’t out of pity or questioning. It was one of pride and impressiveness. 

And Phoenix looked up at him. 

“You don’t get a callsign like Phoenix without burning a little Hangman,” she told him. He nodded in acknowledgment, a light smile on his face at her response. Her firing back a response like that meant she was nearly back to her normal self.

She’d just been stationed out of Norfolk with Rooster when she’d gotten her callsign. She’d been going by Griffin at the time when she’d done her first punchout. She’d never learned how or why, didn’t want to, her flight suit had gotten caught in the flames of the jet as she came down. In the end, her entire back was covered in flames when she hit the ground and rolled to put out the fire. After that she’d been dubbed Phoenix for the burns that looked like wings, spreading out from her spine up and to her shoulders, nearly symmetrical. 

“Come on,” Rooster stood before offering her hand down to Phoenix, “Let's go mess around on the beach a little while we wait for Bob then we can go back to Jake’s and watch a movie.” 

“Fuck ya!” Payback yelled in support. 

“Did you just put up my house without asking me, Bradley?” Hangman scoffed, his voice clearly playing up the fake insult he was feeling.

“You are the only one with a large ass TV and a big enough couch for all of us,” Omaha pointed out. 

Fanboy turned around as they walked down the steps onto the sand, “Don’t Iceman and Maverick have a home theater in their basement?”

“Are you proposing breaking into our commander’s house again Fanboy?” Yale teased.

“We do know where the spare keys are hidden now,” Fritz pointed out

Megan looked shocked at their thinking, “You all broke into their house before?”

“They probably wouldn’t kill us if we did,” Harvard offered up. 

And Rooster laughed, “What if I actually text them and ask food permission this time? They’ll probably say yes. 

“Now that, sounds like a brilliant idea,” Phoenix determined.

Bradshaw-Mitchel-Kazansky Clan

8:17 pm

Bradley: Hey can the others and I use your theater to watch a

movie tonight?

Mav: I thought you were all gonna be at the Hard Deck tonight?

Bradley: Ya. Some shit went down and now I think it’s better if we

all crash somewhere. 

Ice: Are you all ok?

Mav: Do you need us to come to get you?

Bradley: We’re ok. Nat had an interaction with an asshole

lieutenant that couldn’t take a hint. Ended up tearing her shirt and

slapping her. 

Mav: WHAT

Ice: Did you get his name? 

Bradley: Yes, last name along with his rank and ship he was based

on. 

Bradley: You’ve taught me what to make note of before. Now can

we use the theater?

Mav: Ya of course. I’ll make popcorn. 

Ice: Is Phoenix ok?

Bradley: Yes. No skin broken. She wasn’t as shaken this time as

last. But I don’t want to throw her back into a crowded space

tonight. 

Ice: Good thinking. We’ll see you in a little son.

Bradley: Thanks dads.

Chapter Text

“Please tell me we’re going to do something,” Rooster sneered as he paced along the rug in Ice’s office. His anger was boiling and anyone who’d been at the end of his anger before knew it was awful. He’d been raised by Iceman and Maverick, two men that had such different ways of processing anger. Maverick was a hurricane destroying everything without control. Iceman was a pointed missile, directly pointed at what caused his anger. Rooster ended up with a bit of both, direct at one thing but leaving chaos behind him.

 Ice was sitting behind the desk, his fingers interwoven together and in front of him. Maverick was next to him, leaning against the desk on the left side and his arms crossed over his chest as he looked over his shoulder towards his husband. 

“Bradley I’m telling you we can’t do this the norm-“ Ice started.

“No,” He cut off the admiral. “You can’t just sit there all proud and tall and tell me there is nothing we can do. The man forced himself onto a higher ranking officer, proceeded to violate her personal space, destroy her shirt, and slap her.” He listed off the offensives. “Last time something like this happened and I came to you to report it was straightforward and now you’re telling me we can’t do that.”

That had been the only time when Rooster was still angry at Mav that he’d been the one to reach out. When Phoenix had gotten into a verbal sparring match with a naval ensign that thought she didn’t belong in flight school as a woman. That been the first time they’d met, Rooster pulling the man away from her to stop him from pinning her against the wall. He’d called Ice to report the incident knowing their CO at the time wouldn’t care. 

Hangman was sitting in the corner of the room in the leather chair that was more comfortable than the desk chair for reading. The look on the Texan’s face was serious and straight, with none of the cockiness he usually possessed on it.

Bob stood next to him, leaning against the wall. To anyone who didn’t know him, they think he was unemotional about the conversion. His jaw was tensed though if you looked and his hair was ruffled in a way that clearly indicated he hadn’t slept well or thought to take care of it.

“I’m not saying that we’re doing nothing,” Ice snapped standing up to his full height, hands handing hardly on the wood of the desk. His tone was his admiral one, the tone he used when dealing with subordinates. Hangman and Bob automatically straightened without realizing it, years of military training engraining the response into them. Rooster didn’t though and neither did Maverick. Rooster had been raised on this tone when he did something wrong and it didn’t have the same effect anymore. 

“Then what are you saying, Iceman?” Rooster spat, jamming his index finger onto the desk. The use of the full name was another indicator of the anger coursing through him right now, the two sizing each other up from opposite sides of the desk.

“Lieutenant Lebruin is the son of Admiral Lebruin. My Atlantic fleet counterpart,” Ice restated to the group, “He’s not allowed to be surviving under his father which is why he’s over here. I’m in a very precarious situation right now with a lot of moving parts and if I or Maverick piss off the wrong people we may lose command of the squad or the entire squad itself.” 

“And?” Hangman asked from his place on the chair staring the admiral down, “Are you saying that if we go through proper channels we risk the Dagger Squadron as a whole because of this guy’s daddy?” Disgust at the privilege that the lieutenant had was evident in his voice.

“Basically,” Maverick confirmed moving to stand from his leaning position against the desk and turn more towards the center of the room, “We have to do this in a sly way to get the kid in his place. We’ve come up with a potential way.” 

“And why are we here?” Bob questioned, his voice tighter and lower than they’d ever heard it before. 

“Because you two,” Ice pointed to Rooster and Bob, “Are here to represent Phoenix. You know her the best and before I put us down this path I need to know she’d be ok with it, not just that she can do it, that isn’t the question here.” He then turned his gaze to Hangman, “You are here for two reasons, one to keep Bradley thinking straight in his anger and two because you’re the one that threw Lebruin out of the bar. If you make one wrong move he may turn his anger towards you which is something we don't want.” 

The three younger aviators stayed silent for a second exchanging glances with one another, then Rooster spoke.

“What’s the plan?” he asked, moving his arms and crossing them over his chest, chin sticking up. 

“Lieutenant Lebruin has been called to Top Gun at Miramar for training. His class begins on Monday.” 

“That asshat is a fucking naval aviator?” Hangman hissed in anger. They hadn’t known what job the man had had before. 

Ice nodded taking in a deep breath and rubbing his temples before continuing, “Sadly yes. Goes by the callsign Packer because he has a tendency to send people home. But when I formed this squadron I made it linked to Top Gun since a requirement of all members is they had to have been through the program. We have open invites to teaching and lecturing classes.” 

Bob was the one who realized it first eyes widening with realization, “You want us to take him out in the air. Destroy his ego and realize exactly who he pissed off with his actions.”

“Precisely. Mav was already listed to teach the next 2 weeks of class for them.” 

“And you all are going to be my guests and combat pilots for hops during it,” Mav explained, “There’s nothing quite like getting your ass handed to you by someone you thought harmless and turns out to be your instructor.” 

Rooster scoffed at that statement, “You’d know a thing or two about that wouldn’t you right?” 

“Ya so would your boyfriend.” 

“Listen I was just following Penny’s orders. It’s not my fault your card declined that night.”

Class of 86’ + Hondo

8:56 am

Ice: Ok. Slider, Hollywood, Merlin you won't be receiving your

restationing orders this week. I have to put it off. 

Ice: Sundown, Chipper, you’re a maybe. All the paperwork has

already been submitted so it's out of my hands now. Wolfman

you’ll start tomorrow with Maverick to teach the new Topgun class.

Slider: The hell Kazansky. What happened. 

Merlin: Everything ok over there?

Mav: We’re on a campaign to not piss off the Atlantic Fleet

Commander.

Hollywood: Lebruin? Man’s an ass. 

Sundown: You’re actually trying not to piss off an admiral for

once?

Hondo: How’d you convince Maverick not to do that Ice. 

Ice: Long story.

Chipper: Come on you can do better then that. 

Mav: Lebruin Jr decided it be a good idea to sexually harass

Phoenix and basically commit assault when she turned him down. 

Slider: HE FUCKING DID WHAT?

Hollywood: You’ve got to be fucking joking. 

Merlin: That's disgusting. But still doesn’t explain Admiral Lebruin. 

Ice: Hollywood, Merlin you’re both stationed under him. If I try to

move you to Topgun and he’s pissed off cause the kid went crying

to daddy or shows I’m the one who signed off on the harassment

papers that could get his kids discharged he’s gonna have it out

for the squad. 

Sundown: So what are you fucking gonna do about it Admiral. 

Mav: We’re pulling a Charlie. 

Hondo: You’re gonna have the squad teach with you?

Slider: How do you even know what that means? You weren’t at

Topgun with us?

Hondo: I’ve been assigned to working with the man for 10 years.

Wolfman: Do the kids know about this?

Ice: Bob, Hangman, and Rooster do. We’re not gonna read the rest

of them in until after the first day.

Chipper: Godspeed to you in controlling those kids. From what

you’ve been saying about them it's gonna either be the best plan

in history or fucking explode. 

Rooster “Bradley” Bradshaw

6:29 am

Rooster: So before we go into teaching today I quickly want to say

I’m sorry. 

Phoenix: What did you fucking do this time. 

Phoenix: Did you defile the couch?

Rooster: No. 

Rooster: At least not yet. 

Phoenix: I don’t want to hear the word yet in that sentence Bradley!

Phoenix: Then why are you apologizing

Rooster: Cause I did a thing you may not like but had to be done. 

Phoenix: Please don’t tell me you and Jake or anyone else beat

that Lieutenant up in an alleyway or something.

Rooster: No. But soon enough he’s gonna wish he did. 

Phoenix: Bradshaw what did you fucking do. 

Rooster: Ice is to blame mostly on this. He just read me and a few

other in on the situation and game plan. You’ll see. 

Phoenix: Bradley Peter Bradshaw what the fuck did you do. 

Rooster: See you in a few Phoenix

Mitchell

9:32 am

Ice: Megan Bassett is cleared as a consultant for whenever you’re

teaching now. 

Mav: Great thanks Ice. 

Ice: Don’t do anything stupid Mitchell. 

Mav: No promises. 

Ice: You want to keep your squadron and these kids together?

Ice: We have to do this one by the book. I know Lebruin wants his

son in first for the class. It can’t look like discrimination at all. 

Mav: Got it. 

Ice: Bury him Mav. 

Mav: For you darling? Anything.

When it was announced to the squadron that they were being pulled in for teaching this round of Topgun kids it was a bit of a shock. They’d known that Maverick had been called in to do a teaching cycle but for the squadron to be used wasn’t a common thing. They were never involved in lesson plans before, only hops when the instructors wanted combatants that the class hadn’t flown with before. 

It wasn’t something they could complain about though. It had been in the first email that they might get called in to teach a class since the squadron was directly linked with Topgun. For the first day, Mav had said he only need 6 of them, two single pilots and two pairs. That had ended up being Rooster and Hangman as the singles with Bob and Phoenix, Payback and Fanboy as the pairs. 

They were gathering on the outside of the hanger where the class introduction would be held. It was the same room as that first day they’d been introduced to the suicide mission. They were to be out of view of the class until Maverick called them in to introduce them.

“What the fuck is with all the dramatics for today,” Payback grumbled, leaning against the wall and hands crossed over his chest, “Our instructors never did this first day with us right?”

“There wasn’t a legendary squadron like us yet when we were at Topgun Payback,” Phoenix answered. She was on edge. Rooster’s texts from the morning were fresh in her mind and he was being oddly silent and kept flicking glances to Hangman and every once in a while Bob. Neither met these glances past a singular time. 

Fanboy grinned, “We’re a fucking legendary squadron can you believe that though?” he rambled in glee, “Like I’ve gotten messages from old squadmates asking how the fuck they can get into our squad. These kids are gonna be blown away.” 

“Good Morning,” Maverick’s voice could be heard echoing from inside the hanger, “Be seated.” 

“How close of a speech do you think he’s going to give to them as he did to us?” Hangman snickered elbowing Phoenix lightly.

“He’s gonna steal Bate’s he told me,” Rooster answered. It been the first words he’d said all morning while they were together. 

“I am Rear Admiral Mitchell, callsign Maverick, your instructor for this class session and leader of the Dagger Squadron. You’re all here because you’re considered the best of the best among Naval Aviators,” he began, “Success, now more than ever, comes down to the man or woman, in the box. What I have to teach you may very well be the difference between life and death.”

Payback snorted lowly trying to cover it. “He really did steal Bate’s intro, my god,” he whispered. 

“I'd like to know who's best of you. That's why we've got that plaque on the wall... with the Top Top Gun crew from each class. You think maybe your name's gonna be on it? You’ll have to prove it. How you fly, how you handle your time here, both in the air and the ground, that’ll determine your place,” the legendary pilot continued, “Now, you won’t just be flying alone against me. So I’ve brought in some of my squadron to put you all in your place. Come on in Daggers.” 

At that, the 6 of them walked in from the side all in a row. Rooster led the front with Hangman behind him. Phoenix was next with Bob trailing her, then Payback and Fanboy. They stepped to the front of the room, and lined up next to the podium Maverick was speaking from. 

“These are 6 of the 12 pilots I have on my team,” Maverick continued, “They’re the actual best of the best.” 

There was a group of 18 kids in front of them, all spilt among 10 desks, but only left one desk in the back was open. And as Phoenix straighten in pride at Maverick’s words she noticed a face in the second left row. The lieutenant from the bar.The one that had ripped her shirt and slapped her and he hadn’t recognized any of them yet cause he was grinning at his WSO next to him. Suddenly Rooster’s texts from the morning made sense. 

Before any flash of anger could show on her face she felt a brush on her left shoulder. She glanced to see Hangman, straight-faced and glancing over at her. Don’t was clearly evident in the neutral expression though.

“They’ll be helping me decide which of you deserves your name on that plaque. They’ll also be your competition in the air.”

Payback was fidgeting Phoenix could tell out of the peripheral of her eye. Why though she couldn’t tell. But he seemed to have his gaze locked on one of the students. 

“Team if you’d like to introduce yourselves?” 

“Bradley ‘Rooster’ Bradshaw,” Rooster stated staring right at the lieutenant. A twitch of his face was noticeable as if he was trying to place where he’s seen Rooster from. 

“Jake ‘Hangman’ Seresin.” She could see the exact moment of realization, the draining of blood and paling of his face as Hangman stared straight at him. That’s when his eyes flicked to her and she could have sworn he wanted to die at that moment or avert his gaze. 

“Natasha ‘Phoenix’ Trace.” He even flinched at her callsign, as if he recognized it from all the stories that spread around the naval aviator circles. All the Daggers had stories that circled, callsigns that were recognizable within seconds. 

“Robert ‘Bob’ Floyd”

“Reuben "Payback" Fitch.” That’s when the WSO next to him nearly broke his neck from looking at his Pilot and then towards Payback, eyes wide and locking with the other. This was clearly why Payback had been fidgeting earlier, but who the WSO was she didn’t know. 

“Mickey ‘Fanboy’ Garcia.”

“As I said, these are just 6 of the members in my squadron and helping me during this session. Piss them off and you piss me off and kiss that plaque goodbye,” Maverick explained, “Dismissed. Rear Admiral Wolfe will meet you outside the locker rooms in 30 minutes.”

The scraping of chairs was heard and Phoenix automatically turned to walk towards the hanger door. She wanted to fume and scream but couldn’t do that in front of the class. 

“Phoenix-” Rooster started as he followed her before she whipped around and glared at him. She’d already made it outside the hanger a bit before he’d caught up with her.

“Not a word. Who knew? Who the fuck was in on this Bradshaw,” she hissed lowly. 

“What’s happening?” Fanboy questioned his eyes flickering between Phoenix and Rooster who were in a standoff. 

Bob’s hand was set on her shoulder though and that grounded her. Phoenix huffed and turned away breaking eye contact, “We’re not discussing this here. I need to be in a place I can actually yell at you and whoever was in on this.” 

“You’ll have to yell at Iceman then,” Hangman muttered under his breath. It was clearly loud enough because Phoenix’s glare landed on him now. 

“The fuck you say Bagman?” she spat. 

“Can we not do this here?” Payback interrupted causing all of them to look at him, “I’d like to get out of here asap.”  

“Reuben!” a new voice called.

 Payback visibly flinched, before taking in a deep breath, “Let’s go,” he muttered. 

“Reuben!” the voice called again, causing them to look at the man who was jogging towards them. It was the lieutenant’s WSO who was calling Payback by his first name and coming up to them. 

“Fuck,” Payback muttered under his breath before turning around to face the approaching WSO. He crossed his arms over his chest and stood tall looking down at the man as he came to a standstill, “What do you want Levi?” 

The group was exchanging glances behind him, very much confused on how Payback knew this WSO. 

“I actually go by Poison now,” Levi answered, “But I wanted to know what you were doing here.” 

“What am I doing here?” Payback asked flabbergasted, “I’m stationed here. I told Mom that 5 months ago. What are you doing here? How are you at Top Gun? Last I heard you were going the SEAL route.” 

“Ya that didn’t work out so I figured I’d follow big brother’s footsteps,” Levi explained, “My pilot Packer helped me too so I stuck with him.”

And apparently, that flared something in Payback because he knew who Packer was now, “That asshole is your pilot?” he hissed out before Rooster moved forward to grab the man’s shoulder and pull him back. 

“Asshole? The fuck Reuben, he’s my best friend. What the fuck did he do to you?” Levi snapped back at Payback, “If anyone is the asshole it’s you. Now I remember why we stopped talking when Mom didn’t make us. See you in the air Payback,” he finished before turning around and walking back to the hanger.

Packer could be seen leaning against the door, watching his WSO walking back. He made eye contact with the group and had the audacity to grin before turning to walk into the hanger after Levi. 

“What, the fuck, was that?” Hangman asked his eyes looking from the door to Payback and Fanboy. Fanboy looked just as lost as the rest of them, his eyes on his pilot in shock. 

“That,” Payback spat, “Was my little brother.”

Bradshaw-Mitchel-Kazansky Clan

9:32 am

Bradley: We have a new issue in our plan. 

Ice: What is it?

Bradley: Packer’s WSO, Poison? Is Payback’s little brother. 

Mav: Well fuck. Does Payback seem to want to support his brother

in winning the plaque. 

Bradley: No. They hate each other. And pissed each other off. 

Bradley: And it seems that Packer helped Poison get where he is

and watches out for him too.

Ice: So we now need to watch Payback on top of Hangman and

Phoenix’s backs. 

Mav: Well fuck. That complicates shit.

Chapter Text

Phoenix disappeared after that, simply telling Rooster, “We’ll talk about this later,” kissed Bob on the check and then left. 

The squadron had been invited to Maverick’s and Iceman’s house for dinner so they could explain the situation to all of them together. That’s how the first of the crew to arrive found Phoenix that evening, in the living room yelling at Rooster who was sitting down on the couch. 

She had a rolled-up newspaper in her hand and was waving it around as she talked in exacerbation. “You absolute dumbass. Why the fuck didn’t you read me in?”

“I thought it be-” Rooster started to respond before he got wacked on the head with the newspaper. 

“It was a fucking rhetorical question Bradshaw,” she snapped at him not noticing the 4 newcomers that lingered in the doorway. Hangman stood at the front of the group in the doorway, Fanboy next to him along with Coyote and Fritz. Iceman and Maverick were silently working on prepping dinner in the kitchen so everyonce in a while some clinking could be heard.

“How the fuck was I suppose to know it was-” Rooster replied before getting cut off by the newspaper hitting him again, “What the fuck Nat stop it.” 

Phoenix’s nostrils flared in anger and her glare narrowed in on Rooster again, “No. Because you started a crazy-minded scheme without reading me in!” 

“I didn’t want you to torpedo it before we could even try it!” Rooster argued back ducking to the right to dodge the newspaper, “I had to do something!” 

“You know the second a woman puts her name on one of those papers claiming harassment it can derail her career! My career! You should have fucking let it go just like you did last time!” she snapped back at him. Phoenix though had known Rooster for too long, so the slight flinching of his face automatically set her off. “You didn’t do anything last time right Bradley? You told me you didn’t do anything and he just got transferred randomly.” 

“Natasha. I-” 

“You fucking bastard!” she screamed moving to launch herself at him, before she could though Hangman swooped in and picked her up, throwing her over his shoulder. 

“Ok, that's enough,” he stated looking at Rooster while Natasha pounded on his back in anger and kneed him in the gut basically. 

“Put me down Seresin! Or I swear to god I’m going to kill you!” she yelled from his shoulder. 

“If you sit your ass down and listen to what we have to say then I will. Just no attacking my boyfriend please.” 

Phoenix let out a huff in response, “Fine.” 

And Hangman put her down. 

Phoenix whacked him once on the shoulder with the newspaper before throwing it down onto the coffee table and sitting down on the edge of the couch, glaring at the two wingmen. She sat silently fuming there until the rest of the squad came in, taking seats around the living room. 

Rooster sat on the opposite end of the sectional with Hangman next to him. Bob sat next to Natasha while Fritz, Payback, and Fanboy took the space between them. Megan had taken the recliner, none of the squad wanting to argue with the 7 months pregnant doctor of astrophysics. Halo stood next to the recliner, leaning slightly on the armrest while Omaha stood behind it. Harvard, Yale, and Coyote took varying positions behind the couch, both standing and having pulled barstools from the kitchen. 

Maverick and Iceman took a speaking position in the front of the tv, Mav off to the side by Rooster so that Ice could explain the situation first. 

“You are going to give us dinner right? You invited us here for Dinner,” Fritz asked looking at Maverick before flicking his gaze towards Phoenix and Rooster uncomfortably. 

“Yes,” Mav confirmed, “But we have to update you on some things before we do.”

“This have to do with the catfight Rooster and Phoenix are in?” Coyote asked. 

“I’ve never seen them fight like this before,” Harvard added on. 

“Because usually Rooster knows not to do things that piss me off,” Phoenix spat. 

“That’s fucking rich Nat. I did what was right.” 

“You did shit, Bradshaw.” 

“Enough,” Ice commanded, causing all gazes to look towards the admiral. “Bradley told me you’d be okay with this.” 

“Because it was necessary,” the pilot defended himself, “He can’t just be able to walk off.” 

“You don’t get to pick my battles for me! You have no right!” Phoenix shouted back at him, moving to stand. 

“Stop,” Bob stated, putting his hand on Phoenix’s chest and pushing her lightly back down onto the couch, “He wasn’t in the wrong for wanting to get justice for you Natasha. I know you don’t want your name on any papers but listen to the Admiral’s plan. Your name isn’t on anything right now.” 

Phoenix looked at him then towards Rooster who was sitting silently, jaw clenched clearly wanting to add something but holding back on it. She let out a low breath before swallowing and nodding. And the tension of the argument was defused.

“Thank you, Bob,” Ice began before continuing, “We called you here because there’s some information that you all need to be updated on. As you’re all familiar a new Top Gun class started today. Maverick was already scheduled to teach it before we discovered who was in the class.” 

“The bastard from the bar is one of the pilots,” Rooster interrupted causing sounds of disapproval and anger to spread among the group. 

“That asshole is a fucking naval aviator?” Coyote answered, his eyes widened and face scrunched up in anger. 

“That was my reaction!” Hangman responded. 

“Continuing on. Lieutenant Lebruin, aka Packer, is currently at Top Gun. Normally with anyone else, we’d fill out the harassment papers anonymously through me. Anyone can go to a commanding officer and report anonymously. Almost always I can protect the squad or person from ramifications,” Ice explained. He noticed how Phoenix’s eyes flickered from him towards Rooster and then back to him. She’d just put the pieces together that Rooster had asked him to report that ensign anonymously through Ice and that’s why her name never appeared on any of the paperwork before.

“The issue here is Packer is the son of Admiral Lebruin, the commander of the Atlantic Fleet. I’ve been working on getting certain military personal I like stationed with the Dagger squadron, and some of those approvals have to go through Admiral Lebruin. If the paperwork was to be submitted right now Admiral Lebruin is the type to say it's us trying to get to him through his perfect son.”

Maverick scoffed at the words `Perfect son.’

“He would likely retaliate by trying to dismantle the squadron or restationing most of you if he could pull it. And he very much could. We’re in a position where we can’t piss off Lieutenant Lebruin to go crying to his dad about any of us. Which was why our original plan just had all of you teaching Top Gun so he knew who he messed with and was quickly put in his place via flying which couldn’t be called out as unfair.”

“So what happened then?” Fritz asked from his seat on the barstool, “It sounds like it was a good plan.”

“My little brother happened,” Payback answered before looking towards Ice and Mav for confirmation, “Right?” 

“Yep,” Maverick confirmed. 

“You have a brother?” Omaha questioned in curiosity. 

“Ya, Levi, he’s 7 years younger than me,” Payback answered, “When my parents divorced I went with Dad and he went with mom. Last I heard from him he was in ROTC at his university and was planning to go for the SEAL path.

Harvard shifted slightly on his barstool, “So why is your little brother an issue here?” 

“Because he’s Lebruin’s WSO,” Maverick replied for Payback, “And historically Packer has been very protective of Levi.” 

“There’s been multiple notes in their files that anytime Poison been close to trouble the charges or incident is covered up or discussed behind closed doors. Most of these have Admiral Lebruin’s signature on them,” Ice explained, “So we can’t piss off Poison now as well which adds another thing we have to be mindful of in this plane.

“Why don’t we simply just throw Payback and Poison into a room and lock it and let them duel it out while we deal with lecturing Packer?” Halo suggested from her perch on the recliner’s armrest. 

Yale’s gaze turned to the WSO, “Please tell me you’re gonna give better advice than that to your kid when you need to problem solve.”

“If she doesn't Omaha or I will give better saner advise,” Megan corrected to ease Yale’s worries. Omaha nodded in agreement from his place behind the recliner. 

“The plan stays the same right now,” Maverick dictated, “You will all be guests on Hops while I teach. You will not solely focus on getting Packer and Poison out. I’m not saying you can’t get him out but we cannot make this look like discrimination. We get through this, he’s not top of the class, and Ice can ship him to some position that’s shit but looks fine to his dad. Alright?

Mumbles of confirmation and agreement were passed around. 

“No pissing them off, Alright?” Iceman restarted his eyes narrowing and back straightening. 

More solid answers of confirmation and agreement were sounded now. 

“Great,” Maverick smiled, “Phoenix, Rooster, Outside. Now. You’re gonna talk this out while the rest of us get ready for dinner.” 

“What!” “Come on!”

“No. No argument,” Ice insisted, “Outside. Now.”

The two walked out the door to the patio grumbling, Hangman wiggling his fingers in goodbye as they both passed and Harvard closing the door behind them and closing the blinds so they couldn’t look back and see the group or what was happening. 

Phoenix moved to the porch’s steps down to the backyard and sat on the top one. Rooster stayed on the porch, rubbing the back of his neck in anxiety and looking back at the sliding glass door before sighing. He moved over to the steps and sat next to Phoenix who was looking to the side where the garden was. 

“I’m sorry,” Rooster finally muttered. 

“What was that?” 

“You heard me Nat,” Rooster huffed in annoyance, “I’m sorry.” 

“What are you sorry about Bradley?”

He ran his hand through his hair, “For going behind your back. Both on this and the last time.” 

“Why’d you do it? You barely knew me that first time,” she asked. Her voice was low and shaky. She still didn’t look at him. 

“Nat, It was nothing. I was just doing the right thin-” 

“Don’t lie to me Rooster. Tell me the truth.” After so many years of friendship, she knew him too well. “You went to Iceman to get the papers for the Ensign done anonymously. During the period you were fighting with him and Maverick.” 

He sighed in defeat. “You remember how that was the night after our first day of flight classes?” A hum was the answer of acknowledgment, “Our CO was an ass and kept singling you and Canvas out since you two were the only women. I was pissed and annoyed already at his blatant discrimination and I walked into the bar to see the ensign pinning you and saying you stole a spot that should have been his because of diversity quotient.” 

“He deserved the punch you gave him,” Phoenix muttered. 

“I’m not gonna disagree with that,” Rooster chuckled, “But you pulled me off him before I could do anything else, and then we both had to calm each other down outside the bar. That was the first time I felt like I had a place with someone since I left Ice and Mav.” he admitted. 

“I wanted to do everything to keep that,” he added after a moment of pause, “I didn’t want you to have to deal with the ensign, and I couldn’t get rid of the CO but I could get him out of the way. So I called Ice. That was the only time I called him or Maverick in those years.”

“I don’t need you to protect me, Bradley.”

“No, you don’t. You’ve proved that to me time and time again. You’ve never needed me. But in the years I’ve known you, Natasha, you come back stronger, faster, and smarter every time someone is at your back to help,” Rooster answered. “After the crash and the fire, I thought you wouldn’t fly again. I wouldn’t say that to your face at the time or until now, but I promised myself I would make sure you’d have anything you need if you wanted to stay in or get out.”

“What would you have done?” 

“Well if you wanted in I would have called Ice again. Get you to work with him in his office or find a different position. You wanted out? I would have called Ice to get you out and then send you towards Penny, she’d purchased the Hard Deck by then and I thought it be a good stepping stone to civilian life,” he explained leaning back and putting his hands behind him to hold his weight as he looked up at the sky above. 

“You would have done that for me?” 

“Of course. You’re my best friend Nat. My rock, my sanity half the time, and my sister. I’d do anything you need.” 

Natasha shifted and looked at Bradley. Her face didn’t show any emotion off the bat. She wasn’t pissed which was good in Rooster’s opinion but he couldn’t rule it out that she wouldn’t hit him. 

“You have to promise to talk to me before you do any shit like this again,” she stated simply locking eyes with him. “You brought others into this before you informed me. I deserve to be first.” 

Rooster nodded, “You’re right. I should have told you I was going to Ice, both times. I promise not to make any moves like this without talking to you.” 

Phoenix looked satisfied by that and moved to stand, leaving Rooster to scramble up after her. 

“You’re a good friend, a good brother Bradley,” she mumbled before surging forward to hug him tightly, “Thank you for looking out for me.”

He hesitated for a second before he hugged her back, his chin resting on the top of her head as they held each other, “Anytime Nix. We’re not just the two of us anymore. You have Hangman and Bob now, along with the entire squad and two legendary high-ranking adoptive dads.” 

She snorted slightly at that, “They probably like me more than you.” 

Bradley laughed as they pulled apart and slowly stepped towards the sliding door, “Oh no doubt about that. You’re the easy kid. Don’t have to lecture you like they do me, the troublemaker.” 

She laughed too and slid open the door. 

“The prodigal children return! Figure out your argument yet?” Fritz yelled from the kitchen island, moving some freshly toasted bread into the bread basket. 

“Thought it end with a black eye for Rooster,” Halo commented, still on the armrest of the recliner having been talking with Megan and Omaha. 

“Rude! No faith in me,” Rooster dramatically responded. 

Hangman laughed walking up to the two and squeezing between them so he was sandwiched and threw an arm over both their shoulders, “Now come on, apparently Pops made Lasagna.” 

Class of 86’ + Hondo

7:23 pm

Slider: How’d first day of the plan go Admiral?

Mav: Nearly exploded in our faces.

Chipper: What did I say? It was either gonna be the best plan in

history or fucking explode. 

Sundown: What happened?

Hondo: Lebruin Jr’s WSO is Payback’s estranged brother. 

Hollywood: Oh fuckin shit. 

Ice: It was not a pleasant surprise. 

Ice: But the rest of the team has been read in now on the plan. The

first Hops are tomorrow.

Wolfman: Good.

Mav: We’ll message later, we’re having Dinner with the team right

now and Bradley is glaring at me and Ice to put our phones down. 

Merlin: Probably think Ice and Mav are sexting at the table. 

Chipper: How many times did they do that with us. I’ve lost track.

Mav: Haha very funny. 

Hondo: You two do it more often then is comfortable. 

Sundown: Oh I also wanted to mention I got my approval today so

I’m flying back to the states and should be back at Topgun end of

week maybe. 

Mav: what is this?

Wolfman: Come on Mav, just cause we accused you of sexting

doesn't mean you can pretend like you forgot. 

Chipper: You actually bet me Sundown damn. No flying without

me. I’ll be out probably next week or the week after as well. 

Hollywood: Lucky asses actually got your orders and restationing

through while the rest of us have to wait for Lebruin to not be

pissed to be moved to Topgun. 

Mav: Topgun?

Merlin: Come on Mav, its not a funny joke. 

Ice: Bradley give your dad his phone back and forget what you’ve

seen. 

Mav: You’re trying to get the uncle squad back together!

Slider: What what. 

Sundown: Bradley did you steal Mav’s phone? How are you

keeping it away from him?

Mav: He hasn’t notice yet? Plus if he does I’ll just stand up and

hold it over him. 

Mav: But you’re the moving parts Ice was stating about! That's

why Wolfman is already here

Ice: Shut your lips kid. 

Mav: Nope.

Slider: Run baby goose run. 

Merlin: Mav is gonna shave your stache if he finds this out. 

Hollywood: We all warned Mav not to raise Bradley as a mini him. 

Mav: Who are all you?

Ice: Did you just grab the Phone from Bradley Hangman?

Mav: maybe, maybe not.

Chipper: Wait this is Baby Goose’s Boy? The miniature you?

Mav: ah Top Gun Uncle chat I see. 

Slider: Hangman. 

Mav: Slider. 

Merlin: Ah great a pissing contest. Just pass the phone to

someone else. 

Mav: Hey Uncle Leo

Wolfman: Heya Robbie. 

Ice: Remind me why I agreed to take in 11 naval aviators.

Slider: Cause you love your husband.

Ice: Debatable.

Hondo: You also liked the kids. 

Mav: Aw you actually like us, Admiral? -Phoenix. 

Chipper: Phoenix, don’t let Lebruin Jr fuck you up. You’ll fuck him

up in the air we know it. 

Mav: Thank you I think? 

Ice: Phoenix please don’t pass the phone anymore and just put it

on the table. 

Mav: Oh I was thinking of passing it to Megan. Figured all you old

timers would like to talk to her. 

Slider: Old timers! 

Sundown: Is this the Megan Bassett? 

Merlin: Oh yes please pass it to her. 

Ice: I fucking hate you all. 

“Welcome to your first day of hops,” Wolfman welcomed the current Top Gun Class all standing at the end of the taxiway, their planes lined up behind Wolfman. Next to him stood Hondo who was looking over them all. 

“Today you will be flying in teams of two. One single and one double. You’ll be going up against the instructors set up in the same number,” he explained, “As you know your instructors on Hops are members of the Dagger squadron that are going to be rotating through. We have two sets of singles and doubles set up to switch off today.” 

Phoenix walked out from inside the building at this time, leading the group who would be flying hops today. Bob was in step with her, matching her strides and managing to follow her pace with ease. Behind her were Omaha and Halo along with Fritz and Coyote. They’d be the flight instructors for today. It had been decided that for the first hop Payback and Hangman should stay away so no fights accidentally broke out. The rest of the squadron was hiding in the Rec room carefully listening to the radio. 

“Today’s hop leader will be Phoenix, she will be deciding who flies, who doesn’t, and who against,” Hondo added as the group of Daggers came to the front, helmets under arms and flight suits on. “The floor is yours Phoenix.”

She smiled thanks at Hondo and then looked over the group. The group of 18 was staring back at her with various degrees of interest. Packer though was looking towards her but clearly over her shoulder. Poison had his eyes on her though. 

“Good Morning,” she greeted eyes moving from aviator to aviator, “You all heard Maverick’s speech yesterday. The race to the plaque begins today. Both on the ground and in the sky.”

She pulled her helmet out from under her arm and set it on her head, “You are aviators, the best of the best, but as everyone on Dagger squadron can tell you, there's always someone better. And let me tell you we are better. Today isn’t about winning and beating us. It's about surviving for long enough. You survive long enough and help may reach you in time.”

“And learn this quick, you fly alone? You fight alone?” she started her eyes fixating on Packer, “You will be killed and quick. You fight with a team? A squadron? With someone who has your back?” her eyes flicked past Packer where Rooster was leaning against the door to the building his eyes meeting hers. Hangman standing next to him, a cocky smile on his face watching her speech. This was her team, her squadron, her backup, her family. 

“You will last longer than you could ever imagine. The flight order is posted on the corkboard in the hallway. We’ll see you up in the air. Dismissed.”

She turned away from the group and started walking toward her plane. 

“Good speech,” Bob smiled at her, his eyes fixated on her. 

“Let’s live up to it and kickass then babe,” she grinned back at him. 

Mitchell

9:32 am

Ice : How’d first day of Hops go?

Mav: We got a few frontrunners for the plaque already.

Ice: And Lebruin?

Mav: Omaha and Halo got him out with Coyote within seconds of

starting the exercise. I have no clue how he made it to Top Gun

with the skills he showed today.

Ice: Trading on his dad’s name likely. Why Omaha and Halo?

Mav: Phoenix wanted someone not connected yet to get him out

first. But that was probably the most out of control I’ve seen

Omaha to coming. He was actually listening to Halo’s insane

suggestions. 

Ice: Probably wanted to get the kid out of the sky quickly as

possible. 

Mav: My thoughts exactly. 

Ice: The kids good?

Mav: Ya they’re going to the Hard Deck tonight for some pool.  

Phoenix laughed at Hangman’s description of the events he’d woken up to this morning. They’d crashed at Mav and Ice’s house for the night after dinner in the guest room and when Hangman had woken up this morning Rooster and Maverick were brawling in the kitchen as the older pilot threatened to shave his godson’s mustache. 

“It was insane Phoenix,” he stated as they got out of the car. She and Bob had gotten a lift to the Hard Deck with Rooster and Hangman. They were some of the last to arrive out of the group past Megan and Halo, so everyone else was already inside. Harvard had already texted confirmation that he’d grabbed the pool table.  “They were literally just rolling on the floor and Mav actually had a razor in hand while they did it. Ice just stood over them drinking his coffee like it was a daily occurrence.” 

Rooster shrugged as if it wasn’t that big a deal, “We use to do it a lot more when I was in High school and the same size as Mav,” he answered as if that was a fully valid explanation. 

“You two are insane,” Bob joked shaking his head in amusement. 

Phoenix laughed at the couple and her boyfriend before noticing movement out of the corner of her eye towards the end of the parking lot. She quickly glanced at her phone as if she’d gotten a text.

“You guy’s head on in,” she stated, “My mom just texted me. Let me answer her and I’ll be right in.” Phoenix was a good liar by the way none of the boys were phased by her coverup.

“Sounds good,” Hangman answered already stepping up and into the bar. Rooster nodded and gave a small salute as he walked in. 

“You want me to wait with you?” Bob asked. 

“No, it’ll just be a few moments, I’ll see ya in there love,” she replied kissing him quickly before turning around to go to the end of the lot to ‘handle the situation.’ She waited until she saw him walk in before she acknowledged the other presence in the parking lot hiding from view behind one of the trucks in the lot. 

“Lieutenant Lebruin,” she greeted looking at the top gun pilot, “What are you doing here?”

The brown-haired man leaned against the truck with way too much cockiness than he should have possessed after a day of getting beaten in flying, “I’m not exactly allowed in the bar anymore.” 

“That doesn’t answer my question.” 

“I wanted to apologize,” he started, and for a second Phoenix considered he may actually be sorry until he finished his statement with, “And ask your squadron to stop targeting me.”

“Targeting you?” she questioned. She kept her face neutral in its expression not wanting to reveal any of her cards to him. 

“Ya. They barely gave me any chance to fly today in the Hops, they clearly have it out for me because of last week’s incident so I want you to call them off.”

“Packer. They took you down in what they were capable of. Which shows what you are capable of in the air as a reflection.”

He huffed and kicked himself off the car into a more straight standing position, “Listen I just want that plaque. I’m sorry about last week. What can I do to ask them to let up so I can get it? You have a location you want to be stationed at? I can put in a word and get you there.”

Phoenix tried not to huff in anger at his response. The kid was an asshole, “I am perfectly happy exactly where I am working under Admiral Kazansky,” she responded exaggerating the namedrop when she did it. “On top of that, I don’t decide alone who gets the plaque. That’s Maverick’s call.”

“Maverick is a lucky bastard who has a guardian angel that prevented him from retiring years ago. He has no actual skill.” God did that make her blood boil.

“I’d reconsider that stance by the time you fly with him,” was her answer, “But let me give you a piece of info I’ve realized.”

“What’s that?” 

She looked over him before she let a sly smile sneak on her face, “I’ve read your file. Practically memorized it along with the others in your class. You’ve had a pretty clean history. Good flier, gets the job done, no accidents. You know what I’ve noticed as the difference between you and other pilots and WSOs in the class?”

“Just get on with it.”

“You’ve never been in an active dogfight. You’ve only flown missions I would call green, zero danger to the pilot or plane. Safeties. What makes your record perfect is that you’ve never been in a competition for your life while flying. And that makes you cocky. You’ve experienced no loss in your team, no injuries, no birdstrikes, and no ejections past the normal training ones. Maverick has probably noticed it already too. You want that plaque? Learn how to fight in the air and quickly. Or say goodbye to that plaque.” 

She could see the fury shoot up in his face as her words sank in and could tell he was trying to restrain himself. 

“And I’d remind you. You may have the Atlantic Fleet Commander at your back. I have the Pacific one at mine. Everything I’ve done, that my squadron has done, has been by the book and will continue to be. Your father would agree with that if he looked at the files. I wouldn’t try to test it. After all, I am one of the 12 best fighter pilots in the navy. My history is pristine and clear. Trying to say I am discriminating based on an event that Penny has on camera where you clearly slapped a commanding officer? How would that look?"

Before he could respond though he was interrupted.  

“Natasha?” came a voice from behind her and causing her to turn her head. Megan was standing behind her car, hand on her belly and Halo next to her, her eyes narrowing in on Packer. “Do you need anything?” 

“No,” she answered looking at Packer. The color had drained out of his face so he clearly recognized Megan, “We were just finished here,” she stated before stepping over to Megan. “Now how’s my goddaughter doing?”

Megan smiled a bit shakily, taking Phoenix’s hand in hers and putting it on her stomach, “Kicking up a storm like usual. Too much like her mothers to sit still.”

Halo silently come over on Megan’s other side eyes flicking back over to Packer before the three of them began their walk towards the Hard Deck’s entrance. 

“Well, that makes sense. Both her moms like to make things go supersonic basically,” Phoenix joked. 

She didn’t look behind her as they entered the bar. She didn’t need to. She had enough faith that Packer understood exactly where they were. Neither would affect the other’s performance. Packer was on his own to prove his worth. 

So she smiled as they approached the pool table and felt right at home as the boys bickered and Bob put an arm around her waist and pulled her close to him. This was home. This was family.

Chapter Text

“We have to stop him,” Harvard mumbled to Coyote who was sitting next to him. Their eyes were fixated on Yale who was trying to beat Fanboy and Fritz at Mario Kart. Coyote shook his head in disapproval. Fanboy and Fritz had a continuing Mario Cart battle over who was better since the last time they’d all gotten together at Hangman’s. It was a pretty even 50/50 split between the two of them but Yale thought he had the skills to compete.

It was finally the weekend after a week of rotating teaching duties between the entire squad. There were still 7 more weeks of class to go with the group but so far they’d managed it. Anytime it seemed like Packer was going to make a snarky comment or try and put one of the Daggers down Phoenix would appear from nowhere and start a staredown with the male pilot. Every single time Phoenix had won. 

Payback and his brother had still yet to acknowledge each other, neither engaging with each other unless it was Payback and Fanboy shooting them down in a Hop. Money had started training hands secretly out of fear Payback would find out about the bets. Hangman had 20 dollars on they would brawl it out on the tarmac at some point before making up or coming to a civil level. 

But it was still a win there hadn’t been a fight. To celebrate they’d all gotten together at Hangman’s house to relax and kick back and go to the beach maybe when the tide receded a bit. With all the money he’d spent on the house though it was no surprise that it did have a pool in the back. So they’d open the doors from the living room into the backyard and half of them were inside and the other half out. 

“Found it!” Hangman yelled as he came up out of the basement, a volleyball in hand. He’d bought a volleyball net for the pool and they’d just finished setting it up so they could play a game. “Fucking told you I wouldn’t buy a net without getting a ball or two.” 

Rooster shrugged from his place sitting on one of the 4 lounge chairs that were laid by the pool. He had his shirt off and Phoenix was sitting on the chair behind him squirting sunscreen into her hand to apply to her shoulders. She was wearing an athletic-style bikini that allowed her scars to show. It was a clear sign of her comfortability around the squad to not cover them. 

“We doing 6 v 6 like a normal game or different starting number?” Rooster asked, pushing his aviators up his nose as they’d slipped downward a bit. 

“I’m in,” Halo stated from her place on the edge of the pool, her feet already in the water. She was leaning back against the lounge chair that Megan sat in reading a book. 

“I don’t think we’re getting Fritz, Fanboy, or Yale out of that Mario game,” Coyote commented, glancing out to the patio from his place inside. 

“So 2 teams of 4 and one other person sits out,” Hangman suggested tossing the volleyball into the pool before walking over to the side to pull off his own shirt. 

Bob raised his hand, “I’ll sit out. I’m going to take a note from Megan and read. I’ve been meaning to finish this book.” 

Phoenix snorted lightly and leaned towards Rooster, “If he spends more than 6 days on a book he grows antsy until he finishes it.” 

“You chose to date a nerd that reads nonfiction books about recent scientific discoveries,” Rooster answered back to her as he finished putting the sunscreen on.

“He’s a cute nerd, plus you decided to date a rich cowboy. There's a lot of material there to work with,” she joked back before standing up satisfied with her sunscreen application, “Harvard, Payback, Coyote you’re with me.” 

Payback scoffed aloud, “You can’t just pick teams like that!” 

“Nah it makes sense. It balances height with Rooster and Hangman on your side,” Omaha commented. 

The team gathered so the game could begin quickly, with Hangman cannonballing into the pool causing Bob to let out a small noise of annoyance when water drops landed on the page of his book. Phoenix laughed at her boyfriend, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek before she jumped into the pool, not carrying if her hair got wet. 

“You better be good at Volleyball,” Halo muttered towards Rooster and Hangman as she ducked under the net to come to their side. 

Rooster grinned, "I grew up playing beach volleyball with my uncles,” he responded as he tossed the ball up and down in his hand

“Are we about to get our asses handed to us because the man had Top Gun pilots for uncles?” Harvard groaned. 

“Most likely if none of you have experience,” Phoenix answered honestly. She’d played volleyball with Rooster before and knew it wouldn’t be an easy game.

And the game began, water splashing everywhere as they jumped towards the ball. They were yelling and laughing and shouting at each other to move or call the ball.

“If you’re gonna fucking jump towards the ball call it!” Halo yelled at Omaha after they had banged into each other both trying to go for the ball. They’d ended up missing because of the crash though. 

“I did!” he argued back, “You just didn’t hear it.” 

“Argue later!” Rooster yelled as he spiked the ball back over the net right at Payback who moved to hit it.

The game went back and forth for a bit as they volleyed the ball back and forth. Phoenix’s dictation of teams was pretty well done based on how evenly matched the teams were.

They’d been playing for 45 minutes by the point when the incident happened.

Coyote had hit the ball up over the net but it was aimed towards the side. Hangman had been covering the left side of the pool, moving for shots that would have landed right on the edge of the pool. So when the ball started coming down towards the side he automatically moved towards it. 

“I got it,” he called, jumping to the side, his arms going out to grab it. The depth had been misjudged because the ball landed on the poolside tile, and Hangman’s head hit the pool’s side with a heavy thunk and he went slack. 

“Fuck, Jake!” Rooster called, running over as quickly as he could. His eyes wide in fear as he grabbed his Boyfriend’s hand.

 That caught the attention of the Mario kart game because it was quickly paused and Yale was jumping over the back of the couch to get to the patio quicker. 

“Is he awake?” Yale called as he made his way around the pool to reach them on the other side away from the house.

Rooster had Hangman’s head in his hands, holding it up and out of the water, “No he’s not,” Rooster choked out. There was a cut on the upper part of Hangman’s forehead and he was bleeding from it, blood running down the side of his face and dripping into the water. 

Yale’s eyes narrowed and something shifted in his posture as he took on a role none of the team other than Harvard had seen before. 

“Bob call 911, tell them we’ve got a traumatic brain injury likely on a patient with a history of concussions,” Yale commanded before looking back to Rooster, “We need to get him out of the water without agitating his neck. If he hit it right he may have done something to his spine and we want to avoid paralysis.”

“Let me help,” Coyote offered having made his way under the neck to where they were lingering around Hangman. 

Yale nodded and directed the group in slowly lifting Hangman out of the water without moving his neck too much. The second he was on the tile Yale started to move, checking Hangman’s pulse and breathing to make sure both are there and regular. 

  He continued to stay next to Hangman, keeping his hand on the pulse on the inner wrist while they waited. 

Bob let the paramedics in and led them back to the patio. 

“What happened?” they asked as they opened their bag and kneeled down next to Hangman. Phoenix had to pull Rooster back so they’d have room to work.

“Potential brain injury,” Yale answered pulling his hands back and away, “Lost consciousness after impact. He has a history of concussions and I’m worried he has a skull fracture with the bleeding and way he hit his head. We need to take him to Balboa.” 

The lead paramedic nodded at Yale’s words, clearly not thrown off by the explanation. They then moved to get the board under Hangman’s body. 

“We can take two of you with us,” the paramedic told them as they moved Hangman towards the ambulance out front. 

“We’ll come,” Yale dictated pointing to him and Rooster. Phoenix, god bless her, had already moved the pilot to put on his sandals and shirt. He then turned to Harvard, “Text my sister and father we’re on our way to Balboa.” 

“I’ve got you covered,” Harvard answered already moving to grab his own phone to send off the messages.

He nodded a thank you and followed the paramedics out to the ambulance, Rooster trailing after him with Phoenix to steady him till they got to the ambulance. 

“I’ll be right behind you Bradley,” she was telling him to mentally stabilize him, “Bob and I will be right behind you along with the others I promise.” 

Rooster didn’t speak but squeezed Phoenix’s hand in thanks before climbing up into the ambulance. 

She then looked to Yale, “Watch out for him?” 

“I’ll watch out for them both,” he answered truthfully, “When you come you’ll watch Rooster.”

He didn’t look to see if she liked his answer before the doors were closed and they were racing off towards Balboa. 

Phoenix turned back to the house sprinting in to grab her stuff so they could head to the hospital. Bob was already standing, book closed, and grabbing her stuff to hand to her.

“I’m coming with you,” Harvard stated as he pulled on his own shirt. The way he said it left no room for argument so Phoenix nodded as she pulled on her shorts, not caring if they got wet. 

“We’ll be behind you in a few,” Payback stated, “We’ll lock up and meet you there in a bit.” 

“Thank you Payback,” she told him before moving towards her bag that was leaning against the entrance way and she quickly picked it up. She quickly threw Rooster’s own keys and phone along with Hangman’s shirt, keys, and phone into it before she opened the front door. Bob was right behind her with Harvard and they quickly piled into Bob’s Wrangler.

The moment they hit the road Bob spoke, “You grabbed Rooster’s phone, right? We have to call Maverick since he can’t.”

Phoenix cursed under her breath and quickly pulled out her phone once more before scrolling to Maverick’s number in her phone and pressing call. It took a few rings but he finally picked up.

“Hey Phoenix what’s going on?” Maverick’s voice came through the phone.

“I’m here with Bob and Harvard so I’m gonna put you on speaker. That ok?”

“Ya of course.” The sound of mumbling could be heard in the background along with Maverick shushing them.

Phoenix pulled the phone away from her ear and put it on speaker holding it in the middle so Harvard in the back could speak into it as well. Bob had put the roof on the Wrangler the previous week so luckily the sound of the wind wasn’t preventing them from doing this and being able to hear Mav. 

“We’re headed to the hospital right now.” 

“WHAT?” Mav’s startled voice came out so loud and suddenly Phoenix nearly dropped her phone from the shock. “Are you ok? What happened? Who got hurt?” 

“Hangman banged his head on the side of the pool while we were playing Volleyball. Bradley and Yale went to the hospital in the ambulance with him,” Phoenix explained, “Hangman was out cold when they took him.”

Mav’s voice pulled back from the phone as he yelled towards whoever he was with, “Ice We’re going to the hospital!” he called before directing his attention back onto Phoenix and the call, “Balboa?” 

“Ya, we’re on our way there now and the others will be behind us soon,” Phoenix answered. 

“Ice and I will be there in 20 maximum,” Maverick told her, “See you soon Phoenix,” he added before hanging up.

“I just got a text back from Yale’s sister,” Harvard stated from the backseat putting his phone down, “They got to the hospital now.” 

“How does she know?” Phoenix asked in confusion. Yale wasn’t very talkative about his family with the squad. She knew he had a sister and that his mother had passed a few years ago when they’d been stationed together. But she didn’t know they were in San Diego. 

“Both Yale’s sister and father work at Balboa as doctors. His sister in the emergency room specifically,” Harvard answered, “His father is the chief of surgery there.

“I didn’t realize his family was in San Diego,” Bob commented glancing back at Harvard through the rearview mirror.

“Ya, both are naval doctors just like Yale.

Phoenix’s head whipped around to look at Harvard, “What?” 

“Both are naval doctors just like Yale?”

“Yale’s a doc?” 

Harvard looked thrown off a bit by her questioning, “Ya? He’s trained as a flight surgeon too. His callsign is Yale cause he did Med school there.” 

“You can train as both a flight surgeon and aviator?” Bob asked. 

“Ya. It’s rare but possible. Most who do it end up doing more research than combat flying. Yale fought tooth and nail to get into combat.”

Phoenix huffed a little and turned around to look back towards the front, pulling her phone out to send some messages, “That explains how and why he jumped into action so quickly with Hangman.” 

“Also why we don’t have two medics,” Bob added, “We just have the one, I’m assuming Yale is listed as our second.”

 Harvard nodded in confirmation, “Yep. Part of the reason we’re always last chosen for a mission even though he’s a great pilot. Want to protect the medic.”

North Island Daggers

2:57 pm

Coyote: We just locked up and heading over now.

Fanboy: Do you need us to stop for anything? 

Phoenix: We should be good. We just got to the hospital. I called

Maverick to update him. 

Omaha: That was a smart idea.

Phoenix: He’s coming to the hospital as well with Iceman. 

Rooster was in the waiting room of the hospital when they found him. He was hunched over, his right leg bouncing with anxiety and shoulders on his knees as he used his hands to hold his head up. Yale was in front of him pacing back and forth a little as he continuously ran his hand through his hair. 

The sight of Yale doing it though clearly annoyed Harvard cause he walked up to his pilot and grabbed his hand by the wrist, pulling it down in front of the space between them. He didn’t even pay attention to the clear look Phoenix flashed toward Bob as they walked past to sit with Rooster

“Stop doing that,” Harvard ordered locking eyes with Yale, “Last time you did that you complained for a month that you were losing hair.”

Yale let out a sigh and nodded in defeat which prompted Harvard to let go of his wrist, “Thanks Harvard.”

Harvard smiled, “Ya of course. Now, what did your sister say?”

“Karin took him back for scans like 15 minutes ago. Hangman woke up for a brief moment but was mumbling his words and vomited too before they kicked us out. I can’t stop running worse case scenarios,” Yale admitted, the last part low and under his breath as for Rooster not to hear it

Harvard patted Yale’s cheek with a little bit of force so that one would maybe call them light slaps, “You’ve been reviewing field surgeries with minimal supplies at night. Literally preparing for worse case scenarios,” he teased the other man lightly, “I know how your brain works. Just give it a little and it’ll calm down.” 

“How do you survive me?” 

“Literally no idea,” Harvard answered, “I think I just accepted it all after you woke up that night yelling genetic conditions like malignant hyperthermia.” 

Yale let out a snort at the memory but before he could respond a woman in a white coat and black hair pulled into a regulation bun walked in causing Rooster to stand up automatically. That caught Yale’s attention as he looked over at the woman who was looking and walking toward them. 

“Karin,” Harvard greeted smiling at the doctor, “How are you doing today? Looking beautiful as always.” 

The doctor rolled her eyes, “It’s never a good day when my brother brings in one of his squadron. And if you want to appease me compliment my brain, Brigham,” she answered calling Harvard by his actual name. 

“How’s Jake,” Rooster asked causing the doctor to fixate her eyes on him. 

“Well Logan called it,” she started jolting her head towards her brother, “Seresin’s got a linear skull fracture. He’ll be fine but we have to keep him on concussion protocol due to his past history of them but he should be out in a few days.” 

Thank gods were mumbled by both Bob and Phoenix. 

“He’s getting moved to room 2357 so you can sit with him and I made sure to waive the visitor policy since I figured the entire squadron would show up,” Karin continued, “Otherwise if you don’t need me I’ll take my leave.” 

“Thanks, Karin,” Yale muttered pulling his sister in for a hug.

She responded with a quick goodbye in Korean before turning around and making her way back to the ER. 

“Mav’s outside so I’m going to grab him then go to the room,” Rooster stated. Phoenix had handed him his phone when they sat down.

“I’ll go with you,” Bob offered. Rooster nodded thanks and the two left to head to the parking lot.  

“I’m gonna find the vending machine. I’ll get you pretzels,” Harvard promised before patting Yale on the shoulder and walking off.

“You knew Hangman had a history of concussions,” Phoenix mentioned once the other three had gone leaving the two of them in the waiting room.

“Ya?” 

“How’d you know that?” 

Yale took in a breath, “I have everyone on the team’s medical files and history memorized. Once we became official and Admiral Kazansky asked if I wanted the secondary medic position but could still fly I started memorizing everyone's.”

“How far back?” Phoenix asked.

“Everything listed. Like I know Fritz has broken exactly 3 bones. Halo is allergic to certain medications. Bob’s past surgeries. Your recovery with burns,” Yale explained. 

“Thank you.” 

“Why are you thanking me?” 

“Because you didn’t have to memorize all that. You took the extra time to get to know our histories when it wasn’t a requirement.” 

“It’s no big deal,” Yale commented trying to brush off the conversation. 

“No. It is. You’ve been watching out for all of us when we didn’t even realize it. You didn’t have to memorize it all.”

“No, I did,” Yale admitted, “It’s not a big deal to have memorized it but I had to for myself. I can’t control the world. But I can know medical factors to help my family.”

North Island Daggers

8:28 pm

Hangman: Fucking finally got my phone. 

Hangman: Thanks for all your fucking help Rooster. 

Rooster: You’re literally not supposed to look at electronics. 

Hangman: Sorry for wrecking the energy today guys.

Omaha: Why are you apologizing? 

Payback: Bro no need for sorry.

Bob: No need for an apologies

Coyote: We’re just glad you’re ok. 

Halo: get better then we’ll go out and drink and celebrate 

Phoenix: And don’t worry about the house the rest of us will take

care of it. 

Hangman: Just don't let Fritz cook. 

Fritz: I’m not that bad. 

Fanboy: you lit a kitchen towel on fire last time.

Fritz: You win some you lose some. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Chapter Text

“I would like to make a toast!” Hangman started, his shot of tequila lifted up into the air, one foot planted on top of a chair and the other on top of the table in front of him. 

 If it had been any other time in the Hard Deck he would have Penny yelling at him to get off the furniture. Luckily though, Rooster had convinced her into letting them earlier to celebrate as a group before the bar opened at 5. That convincing had equaled him promising to help Amelia with her homework or getting some of the Daggers to do so. With the 12 of them, they would likely be enough to cover it no matter the subject.

“Dramatic Ass what is the toast for!?” Coyote yelled back at him laughing, his own shot glass in hand and raised as he looked up to his friend. 

“We have so much to celebrate my dear Javy,” Hangman started, his hand lowering as he spoke and stance wavering a little. Rooster was right below him, his own hand holding his shot an inch above the table next to them. He was clearly ready to move to catch Hangman if he fell based on the way he flinched and started to put his glass down when Hangman wavered. Hangman opened his mouth once more to continue but was cut off by Phoenix.

“Last Top Gun class was today so we get to say goodbye to Packer after graduation on Monday!” she cheered from where she sat perched on the pool table, her smile beaming. 

“And we made it through without his daddy being able to restation any of us!” Halo chimed from her place leaning against the wall. She was carefully positioned so as to not knock any images off. 

“Hear, Hear!” Harvard added in response. Yale was standing next to him, smiling as his WSO celebrated the soon sending off of Packer. 

“Indeed! 8 weeks of that asshole are finished and I can finally drink again!” Hangman replied, hoisting his drink in the air once more, “To our still intact squadron! To surviving the storm together! Cheers!” 

“Cheers!” Was shouted back from the group of 12 aviators as they all proceeded to take their shots of tequila. Bob simply used his water though as usual when it came to the group drinking. Glasses clinked as they were put back down on tables and other surfaces.

“Now our valiant Hangman has given his toast and welcomed himself back to the drinking world Bob and I must be off,” Phoenix admitted, hopping off the pool table and moving to put her shot glass on the bar to start a collection of dirty glasses. 

“Booo,” Fritz protested from his position on top of one of the tables sitting cross-legged. 

“You’re really gonna leave me with him in this mood?” Rooster groaned as Phoenix moved past him to reach Bob’s side.

“Hey!” Hangman yelled in fake offense at his boyfriend’s jab. He still took the hand Rooster offered him though to hop down from the high chair. 

“Come on. Your goddaughter is due in the next 2 weeks and Megan said this is my last night out before being chained to a child for 18 years. You really gonna leave your honorary sister like this Nix?” Halo whined. 

“Yes. Because you all messaged about this today when Bob and I already made plans. I warned you all we’d only be here for the toast then duck out before opening,” Phoenix reminded them all. 

“Bob. Robert. Bob. Robbie, dude,” Payback began trying to swing Bob back to join them, “You really want to miss out tonight?” 

Bob rolled his eyes at Payback’s pleading, “Sorry Payback, I had to spend over 2 weeks getting things ready for tonight and we are not letting it go to waste.” 

“Just let them go,” Omaha suggested. 

“Goddamn couples ruining group fun,” Harvard moped, dropping his forehead onto a table as Yale patted his back. 

“What the hell are you doing that is more important than us?” Coyote protested. 

“You’ll learn soon enough!” Phoenix answered as her and Bob exited the bar without another word. 

“Would anyone be surprised if Phoenix just one day decided to burn everything down?” Fanboy sighed in defeat after they left. 

“Nope.” “Not at all.” “Surprised she hasn’t done it already.”

“Darts then?” Payback asked before getting words of approval and agreement. 

The team had been playing darts or pool, more alcohol getting into their systems as they laughed and joked. Fritz wandered off at some point with the excuse of “Florida things” before getting swallowed up in the crowd lost for the night. He was the disappearing type when drunk. Then Coyote started getting hit on by a girl so he ended up getting distracted too. Harvard and Yale just straight up disappeared to nowhere later on in the night as the bar got more and more crowded.

Eventually of the 6 aviators still left none were sober. Hangman’s tolerance had plummeted while he was off liquor since the accident so it was hitting him harder than normal. Payback was having more than he usually did too and Fanboy was attempting to match him which wasn’t the greatest of ideas probably. Halo was having fun knowing she wouldn’t get a chance like this for a bit or until Megan’s dad came out to watch the baby for a little while maybe. Rooster wasn’t completely uncontrolled drunk but he wasn’t safe enough to drive anymore. Omaha was the most sober of them all, having had only the shot and being currently on his second drink of the night. 

“Let’s head back to the beach house,” Omaha suggested when he realized that if they stayed around the bar any longer he wouldn’t be able to wrangle them all up to get home. Without Bob to help or even Yale, Omaha was the last serious of the group standing and he was easily overpowered in any decision once the rest went any further.

“Probably a good idea,” Rooster mumbled. He was leaning heavily on the chair that Hangman sat on, “I think I’m a shot away from drunk texting Maverick, and that never goes well historically.”

Halo snorted, “Maybe for you. It’s always hilarious on my side,” she commented as she took another gulp of her drink, emptying the glass, “Ok now ready."

“Ya I’m ready,” Hangman slurred slightly, his eyes fixated in the direction of Rooster yet unfocused, “I would like to get this handsome man into my bed.” 

“Fuck I forgot drunk Hangman was the horny type,” Fanboy groaned in disgust, covering his eyes with his hands. “Ya please, let’s leave before I have to have any more of this burned into my memory or drink it out.” He grabbed Payback’s arm to lead him out of the bar. 

The other 4 followed, with Hangman’s arm around Rooster’s torso as they walked out. Halo brushed up against Omaha staggering as she walked and mumbling ABBA songs under her breath.  

They’d made it to the end of the beach when a football landed in the sand at Payback’s feet. He bent over to pick it up and throw it back to whoever had lost the ball just to meet a familiar face. 

“Levi,” he spat out at the sight of his brother. Behind him were 4 other pilots from the class that was supposed to graduate in a few days but luckily none of them were Packer. 

“Reuben,” Poison greeted back bitterly, crossing his hands over his chest and puffing up in attempted intimidation. Payback had a good few inches on his brother so as he straightened up any attempt Poison was making was lost. 

“What are you doing out here?” 

“Playing Football, what does it look like, or is that illegal?” Poison spat back. 

Payback’s grip on the football he still held tightened, “No, not illegal. Just annoying.” 

That clearly agitated the WSO cause his nostrils flared in anger, “The fuck does that mean? I didn’t even do any shit to piss you off.” 

“You decided to be Packer’s WSO is what pissed me off,” Payback snapped. Fanboy tried to grab the back of Payback’s shirt as he stepped forward towards his brother but couldn’t keep a grip in his state. 

“Oh fuck you, Reuben. Thinking you’re all high and mighty since you’re part of the Dagger squadron and a pilot. What’s wrong with being a WSO?”

“I have no issue with being a WSO. I have a problem with you being Packer’s WSO.” 

“And what’s wrong with Packer? He’s a good pilot and ya maybe we didn’t get our class’s Top Gun plaque like you did but at least he’s more of a brother to me then you. He’s actually been in my life for the past 6 years.” 

“You cut me off!” Payback thundered. 

Rooster stepped in front of Payback quickly, knowing that he was probably the only one who could physically try and hold back Payback. 

“You stopped reaching out! Enjoy your new squadron family cause you clearly love them more than your own blood brother,” Poison fumed back, “Packer was right, Maverick’s sick in the head along with his husband and infected the rest of you into thinking you’re all high and mighty! The truth is Iceman and Maverick are idiots and deserved to be force to retire before they can let anyone else turn out like them!” 

“Oh, you bastard!” Payback yelled and launched himself at Poison. Rooster was clearly not as fast as he usually was cause he couldn’t stop Payback. So the two brothers went sprawling onto the sand, football thrown into the air as they brawled.

“You’re the bastard!” 

“Come on Payback, leave the wimp alone,” Halo remarked, leaning on Omaha as a weight now.

“What did you just call our friend Bitch?” asked one of the other aviators towards Halo.

 And apparently, that fired something in Hangman, because he ended up punching the other man, “I’ve been waiting 8 weeks to do that.” 

Rooster then ended up having to dodge a punch from one of the other guys in the group. Then Fanboy did as well before he threw a punch back 

“Ya I threw out your old lego set when I went home, Reuben!” 

“Fuck you! That was worth good money now!”

Omaha blinked for a second and Halo was no longer next to him but on the back of the last guy as he went in to throw a punch at Hangman. 

“Get the fuck away from my friends,” she screamed. 

“Halo!” Omaha cried in disbelief as he moved to grab his WSO off the other aviator’s back. 

They had clearly made a scene because the sound of a police siren was what made all of them freeze and were welcomed by the sight of flashing blue and red lights pulled up. 

“Shit.”

North Island Daggers

8:13 pm

Fritz: Penny kicked me out of the bar for the night. 

Fritz: Cause I was apparently causing too much chaos by leading

the crowd in mosh pitting while singing. 

Fritz: I think getting an entire bar to sing the entirety of Bohemian

Rhapsody is a miracle and awesome, not insanity and chaos.

Fritz: Either way

Fritz: Where’d the rest of you go?

Coyote: That was you leading the singing? 

Coyote: And I’m still inside the Hard Deck flirting with this girl.

She’s pretty chill so I’m not heading out for a bit. 

Harvard: Yale and I are currently getting lectured by Penny while

she calls Mav.

Phoenix: why are you getting lectured by Penny? 

Harvard: Cause apparently the kitchen is not an appropriate place

to make out with your pilot and we may or may not have shattered

an entire case of beer. 

Coyote: There’s so much to process in that sentence. 

Coyote: One, when the fuck did you leave to start making out? 

Coyote: Two, when the fuck did you two get together?

Coyote: Three, how did you get into the back of the bar and into

the kitchen?

Coyote: And four, were you making out on top of the beers?

Harvard: I plead the fifth. 

Fritz: And I thought I got into the most trouble tonight. 

Getting arrested was not fun, Rooster determined. He’d known this before after the first time but he always hated the reminder of it when he was getting put into lock up. With 6 of them on one side and Poison with his friends on the other, the entire cell was filled with tension which made it worse. 

“Megan’s gonna kill me,” Halo cried into Omaha’s side. She was finally sobering up and the seriousness of the situation was beginning to sink in.

“Then you shouldn’t have jumped onto the guy’s back like a damn koala,” her pilot retorted, not giving her any sympathy for the lecture she was guaranteed to get from her pregnant wife when she found out. 

“When are we gonna get out of here,” Fanboy groaned in annoyance and boredom. He looked to Payback who was sitting silently glaring across the cell at his brother, “Hey stop that.” he hissed, snapping his fingers in front of Payback’s eyes and breaking the staring contest that was going on. 

“Whenever they give us our one phone call,” Hangman mumbled. His head was in Rooster’s lap and he was covering his eyes with his hands to block out the light. Bright lights still bothered him if he stared at them for a long time. 

“Wait who the fuck are we gonna call to pick us up? None of us have our car and there’s 6 of us,” Fanboy gasped realizing they hadn’t planned anything when they got their phone call.  

Slowly all eyes turned to Rooster. 

“Fuck no. I’m not calling Maverick. He’ll kick my ass and ground me if he finds out about this,” Rooster stated definitely. 

“We can’t call Bob or Phoenix even if I had their numbers memorized,” Omaha responded, “Phoenix rides a bike, and Bob’s Wrangler can’t fit all of us.” 

“And that's assuming she doesn’t laugh her ass off at us and hang up,” Halo added, her voice muffled in Omaha’s shirt. 

Hangman let out a hum of confirmation, “Ice does drive the 7-seater Cadillac,” he mentioned opening a slit in his hands to look up at his boyfriend.

Rooster groaned and run his hand down his face in annoyance, “Fucking logic.”

“Hello?”

“Hey, Mav….” 

“Bradley? Whose number is it you’re calling from? I don’t recognize it. Thought I had the entire squad’s numbers by this point.” 

“Not important, can Ice or you come to pick up Me, Hangman, Halo, Omaha, Fanboy, and Payback with the Cadillac? We’re still on the island but we need a ride.” 

“Ya of course kiddo. It may be a minute. Ice can be there first but I have his car so you’ll have to wait for me if you all want a pickup. I’m at the Hard Deck right now getting Harvard and Yale.” 

“What why?”

“Penny found them making out in the kitchen on a crate of beers which they then broke in shock of her walking in. So they’ve been lectured and slapped with a two-week ban and requirement to pay for the crates they broke.”

“Damn. But ya we’ll all need a ride.” 

“Alright then where am I grabbing you from Kiddo?” 

“The police station on the island.”

“.....”

“Mav?”

“I’m sorry I thought I misheard you. Did you mean to say the train station? And not the police station?”

“There’s no train station on the island Mav.” 

“So I didn’t hear you wrong?”

“Nope.”

“YOU’RE IN JAIL?”

“Yep.”

“6 of you are in JAIL!?”

“Yes.” 

“Bradley what the fuck did you do!?” 

“Had a brawl on the beach.”

“I’m getting more questions out of this than answers damn it. A brawl on the beach?”

“Yes.”

“What the fuck kid? Alright, give me 15 minutes.

Mitchell

9:01 pm

Mav: I need you to meet me at the Police Station on the island. 

Ice: What the fuck did you do. 

Mav: I didn’t do shit for once. 

Mav: Our kids did. 

Ice: How many of them?

Mav: 6. Bradley, Jake, Neil, Reuben, Callie and Mickey.

Ice: Which one of them called?

Mav: Bradley. 

Ice: Did he say what happened?

Mav: Brawl on the beach. 

Ice: I have more questions now than answers.

Mav: That’s what I told him when I found out.

Ice: I’ll meet you at the station in 10.

Ice: And when they do shit like this, they’re your kids.

“This was the best idea you could have come up with to spend a date night,” Phoenix complimented Bob as she slipped off her shoes by the coat rack, picking up her bag from where she set it down. She quickly reached for the light and flicked it on so they could see and put the spare key to Maverick’s house she’d stolen off Rooster that morning in her bag to return later.

Bob smiled as he took off his own shoes, “I knew you’d enjoy it. I figure we’d start in the stairway. Put the photo of all of us getting our medals for the mission in the dining room since that’s where their accolades are and end in the living room with the mantel photos?”

“Good plan. You sure Mav and Ice are gonna be out for the rest of the night?”

“Iceman’s official schedule had dinner with his sister and Mav was supposed to join him at that, plus both cars are gone from the driveway but Mav’s bike is still there so he did take the second car,” Bob explained his reasoning as Phoenix opened her bag. 

From the bag, she produced a stack of photos of the entire team collected from weeks of research. There were pictures from kindergarten to the academy for some, to even more recent photos in the pile of every single Dagger squadron member.

“You have the album to slip in whatever photos we pull out?” 

Phoenix nodded and pulled the fresh, unopened, photo album from her tote bag. 

She grinned, “With the Ivy League drama they won’t notice for a few days likely. Let’s do it.”

Maverick was tapping his foot in impatience as he waited outside the station for the 6 daggers to be realized and let out. Ice was standing next to him, frigid and living up to his callsign as they waited.

Harvard and Yale were in the backseat of the SUV Mav had driven over sitting in silence. Yale held Harvard’s hand in his and was tracing abstract shapes on the back of the other’s hand. 

Maverick was glancing over at them every once in a while to make sure they weren’t going to defile his backseat. The second the clicking of the front door opening was made though his focus quickly shifted and he stood up from leaning against Ice’s car. 

Out the front door watched the 6 offenders, all looking somewhere on the range of embarrassed and tired and coming out of a buzz. None of them dared to meet Ice’s or Mav’s eyes as they walked over to the car. Omaha was rubbing his eyes in tiredness and Halo had an armed wrapped around his, leaning on his shoulder. Payback was stretching the area by his clavicle and Fanboy next to him was kicking the round slightly. Rooster and Hangman were next to each other, their pinkies hooked together, Rooster looking at the ground in shame and Hangman being the only one that was looking up. 

“Squad,” Mav greeted coldly, puffing up a little and crossing his arms over his chest as they came up. 

“Sir.” “Mav…” “Evening” were a few of the responses muttered back at him. They still didn’t dare to meet his or Ice’s eyes. 

“Mind explaining to me what exactly happened?” 

“I got into a brawl with Levi,” Payback admitted kicking the ground. 

“Why did you get into a fight with your brother?” Iceman questioned. 

Payback mumbled his response. 

“What was that?” Mav asked. 

“He insulted both you and Maverick,” he answered Ice’s question finally

If any of them had been looking at Ice or Mav they would have seen the brief moment of their pissed-off looks breaking at those words. They knew the squad loved Maverick and Iceman like fathers but so far no action like this taken on his behalf had been done to the two’s knowledge. For Payback to admit what exactly the brawl had been about was a dagger in the heart showing just how much these kids loved and appreciated their adoptive fathers.

“We’re sorry Dad, sorry Pops,” Rooster mumbled, “We didn’t mean to get arrested.”

“You never intend to,” Mav snorted in response, “Alright fine, everyone in the cars. You’re all getting lectures when we get back to Hangman’s house about how to better respond to insults being thrown at Ice and me. Cause this definitely will not be the last time it happens.”

The group nodded and quickly climbed into the cars, Rooster climbing into Mav’s with Harvard and Yale. While Hangman got into the Cadillac with the other 4 and Ice. Mav was muttering under his breath as Rooster climbed in and he turned the ignition key. 

“At least one of my WSO Pilot pairs didn’t cause trouble tonight.”

Mav and Ice didn’t realize anything had happened until the next day. They dropped the 8 aviators off at Hangman’s place to crash, given a brief lecture about insults then went home. They were both exhausted and went straight to bed. 

Ice was already awake and in the kitchen making breakfast when Maverick woke up. Mav first noticed something was off when he thumped his way down the stairs, only realizing that the picture at the end of the stairs that had always been of Bradley turning one with cake on his face was different. It had been replaced with a photo of Fritz throwing a water balloon at Hangman and Phoenix, all three smiling and expressions wide. 

Mav brushed it off thinking it was nothing and rounded the corner to head back to the kitchen. Then he saw a second new photo out of the corner of his eye before passing through the archway. It had been a photo of Bradley post a baseball game at UVA that they’d attend his freshmen year before the big fallout. It was now a picture of Halo and Megan at their wedding, both dressed in white in front of an officiant at the courthouse. 

One unnoticed picture was just him missing Ice replacing photos. And it was possible for Ice to have the water balloon photo since Bradley had sent them both a copy in their group message chat a few months ago. Twice, with a photo that neither of them had, was a red flag that something was off. 

And before he stepped into the kitchen he looked back around the entryway that had always been filled with photos and started making notes of new ones. Hangman graduating from the academy with Coyote. Yale’s white coat ceremony. Omaha as a teen playing water polo. Phoenix and Rooster in flight school. Bob doing competitive barrel racing. Harvard sailing on a boat much like Penny’s. Fritz holding up a large snake in front of him. Payback waving to the camera from his F-18 with Fanboy behind him. 

“What the fuck.”

“Mav? What’s going on?” Ice’s voice came from the kitchen as plates clicking came with it. 

“Ice?” 

“Yes, Pete?”

“I think someone broke into our house and changed all our photos.”

The sound of movement in the kitchen stopped and Ice appeared in the archway to look at Mav. He was clearly doubtful of his husband’s words but the look of concern on his face dropped when he saw the photo Maverick was focused on. 

It was one of the entire squad, at dinner one night at their house. They’d been all crowded around the dining table and Ice and Mav were at the back of the image at the head of the table arguing over something. Rooster had his head in his hands and Hangman had his head thrown back in laughter. Megan was locked in conversation with Fanboy as Payback looked at the two of them in complete confusion. Halo was engaged in conversation with Phoenix and Bob showing them something on her phone not visible to the camera. Omaha was trying to pass some beans to Coyote over the phone though. And at the front of the photo were Fritz, Harvard, and Yale all looking at the camera to take the selfie. They’d somehow managed to get the face of everyone in that photo. 

“I didn’t put that there,” Ice admitted, confusion evident in his voice as he looked at it, “How the fuck did that get there?” 

They only got their answer later when Mav finally went over to the living room to sit on the sectional and read some reports. On the coffee table was a navy blue photo album with a bow stuck on the top. He’d definitely never seen it before so he set his coffee and reports down and picked it up. 

Stuck on the first page was a piece of notepaper from one of Ice’s own notepads. But the writing was clearly not his husband’s and next to it was a little flash drive. 

Figured you’d like some photos of all your kids around the house. Also sorry for breaking in but to be fair we used Bradley’s key. -Phoenix and Bob  

And suddenly the newly appeared photos in the hallway made some sense as Maverick looked at the photos in the album. It was filled with the photos that had been in the entryway before but there were more. Photos of Bradley he’d never seen during those years of silence. Pictures of him in flight school, growing out the mustache for the first time. Pieces of his son that he’d missed out on seeing forever held in these images before him.

The smile on Rooster's face as he flashed a thumbs up at the camera from his seat in the Bronco dressed in an old Hawaiian shirt. The little year scribbled in the corner marking him at the same age as when Goose died. 

There were other images throughout the album. It was full of the squadron as kids, carefully labeled with sticky notes to identify that the baby on an older man’s set of shoulders was Omaha and not Harvard and such so Mav knew exactly who he was looking at. All his kids, captured through their lives and tucked carefully together in this album.

Mav couldn’t stop the tears that started to roll down his cheeks in his silent staring at the images. Tightness settled into his chest, his heartbeat pounding in his ears. 

This was his team. His family. A year ago it was just him and Ice. He'd spent so much time with so few people close to him. It was a rotating door of love in his life. Goose and Carole were his first family after his mother's death. Bradley was a welcome addition and then Goose was gone with the blink of an eye. Ice came at a time he was at his lowest. And while they had the '86 class if they needed it, Mav always thought of it as the world against the last remaining Bradshaws and two closeted men in love in the Navy. After Carole's death, it was down to the three of them. And then Bradley was gone. For years it was just him and Ice, bouncing around the country or the world constantly barely ever together. 

It had always been Mav's thing to keep people he loved close with images of them everywhere. And Ice had made it a game to swap out images every once in a while so it always seemed like they were in constant movement. It made Mav smile to see a picture of Goose and Carole that had existed in the living room be moved to the office like they were moving with him. But the lack of images of Bradley from after he turned 20 was a nail in Mav's heart because he knew his kid was still alive out and out there, and he couldn't have a piece of him past his official photo.

But Bradley was back. He was back with 11 other kids who all leaned on Mav and Ice for support and loved them. And two of them had picked up on how he showed love with images and memories. They'd picked up Ice's game somehow by accident. God. 

He didn't have to think about it. He would protect these aviators until his dying breath. Even after to make sure they were ok as well and lived long happy lives. He knew this with his heart. 

“Ice!” he called, his voice cracking with emotion, “Come see this! Phoenix and Bob left a photo album filled with pictures of the kids!”

North Island Daggers

9:01 am

Rooster: Can anyone explain why I just got a long phone call from

Mav crying about how much he loves us and how awkward I look

with half my mustache shaved?

Rooster: Cause I damn well know I hid that photo from him on

purpose. 

Rooster: He’s also saying we were all so cute as kids?

Coyote: He’s got our baby photos?

Fanboy: I know him and Ice love photos but how did he get

photos of all of us?

Halo: he texted me saying that megan and i look beautiful in our

courthouse photo? i don’t know how he got it.

Omaha: He has a photo of my water polo days?

Payback: Did Kazansky pull some rank to get these photos?

Fritz: He’s asking me how big the snake I held was?

Yale: He’s asking if I have any more photos of my white coat

ceremony. 

Harvard: He let me know Penny will probably let me use her

sailboat after I pay her back for the beers.

Hangman: What the hell is going on and where did he get these

photos from. 

Phoenix: Your parents were pretty easy to convince to give up

baby photos. 

Bob: Plus we knew Maverick would like it. 

Rooster: You gave him the half shaved mustache photo!?!

Phoenix: Ya lol. Your fathers deserve all the photos I have of

you being an idiot.

Chapter Text

North Island Daggers

5:28 am

Omaha: Realize most of you are likely asleep but Megan is having

contractions so we’re heading to the hospital to meet with her

OBGYN. It’s likely going to take a while so don’t rush over. I’m

texting while Halo is driving

Yale: Oh ya I forgot you’ve been staying with them in La Jolla until

the baby came

Yale: But either way I’m up. 

Omaha: Why are you up?

Yale: Been studying medical cases since 5 am. It’s just a normal

thing I do. But I’ll wake up Harvard and the rest of the guys in the

house. Hangman can call Rooster and get Phoenix and Bob up.

Omaha: I said there’s no need to rush. Don’t wake them up. 

Omaha: Yale? Please don’t be waking them up. 

Payback: Then you clearly weren’t paying attention when we

made our baby plan. 

Omaha: Dammit. Why did you wake them up

Omaha:  You made a baby plan?

Fritz: He probably missed it cause he wasn’t participating in all

the baby bets. 

Payback: Ah yes. 

Phoenix: Rooster’s house is all up. Bob was staying the night here

so he’s up with me. 

Fanboy: You guys got the basket of supplies?

Bob: It’s been ready and packed for two weeks. We’re still bringing

the 3 cars we discussed right?

Hangman: Ya, we’ll have my Benz and Harvard’s Truck, along with

your Wrangler. That’ll give us plenty of space and those who want

to nap can sleep in the Benz. 

Harvard: I’ve got my keys and ready to head out. 

Coyote: I got my go bag. 

Rooster: Message coffee orders. Our car will stop for coffee on the

way - that way there won’t be three of us stopping everywhere. 

Phoenix: Don’t forget your prepped snacks I hid in the pantry last

week Hangman. 

Hangman: just grabbed them. And Roo just get my normal coffee. 

Rooster: got it. 

Omaha: I’m so confused about what’s happening.

Payback: We’re gonna tailgate the labor in the parking lot Omaha. 

Harvard: Minus alcohol of course because of the no open

containers law in Cali. 

Fritz: We’ve been prepping for this since the night y’all got

arrested. 

Fanboy: Let’s not bring that night up right now. But get me a

medium Vanilla latte. 

Bob: Do you or Halo want any coffee Omaha?

Phoenix: Megan may kill Halo if she sees her wife having coffee

while she can't. I wouldn't risk it.

Omaha: Megan just visibly glared at Halo in warning when I

suggested it. So I’ll take a small black coffee for myself. 

Yale: Alright Harvard and I are good to go. And a large Mocha. I

already had some coffee so I’ll sip off Harvards. Fritz you with us?

Fritz: Coming give me two seconds and I’ll be right down. 

Hangman: Payback, Fanboy, Coyote I’m ready when you are. Just

putting the bags and chairs into the trunk. 

Payback: Cappuccino for me. 

Coyote: same as Payback.

Fritz: Surprise me

Rooster: K we’ll see you all in a bit. Meet ya up there Omaha.

Bob: Try and park towards the back of the lot so we’re not a bother

to the patients going in and out. 

Payback: Got it and relayed to Hangman.

Phoenix: Omaha you better keep us updated about my goddaughter. 

Omaha: She’s my goddaughter too Phoenix?

Omaha: But yes, I’ll keep you all updated. 

The sun had already risen by the time Omaha shuffled out of the doors of the building and towards the back corner of the parking lot where the squadron had set everything up. They’d put blankets and pillows on the back of Payback’s truck so they had something comfortable to lean against. Hangman’s car was two spots to the left of the truck leaving an open space between the two cars. Bob had parked to the right of the truck but not left the open space as Hangman had. 

In the open space, they had a folding table opened with chairs around it and scattered coffee mugs on top. Rooster was standing by the table, sipping his coffee lightly and looking at his boyfriend sweetly. Hangman had taken a seat in one of the chairs and had Phoenix on the ground in front of him with a blanket underneath her. His hands were tangled in her hair as he braided it in a meticulous fashion. 

Bob was in the chair next to Hangman, a book propped open on his lab, eyes concentrated on it. Yale was at one of the chairs at the table, a thick textbook laid flat and open in front of him with a notepad on top of one side of the pages and a pen in between his teeth. Harvard was next to him, legs kicked up onto the table and phone in one hand and the other digging a chip out of the bag of Tostitos next to him. 

Payback and Fanboy were seated at the table as well, a card game going on between them in silence. It was clearly Fanboy who was winning based on the way Payback’s face scrunched in disappointment and his lip twitched in annoyance. Fritz wasn’t around to be seen but Coyote was laying in the back of the truck bed, an eye mask over his eyes and limbs askew so he took up the entire bed. 

Phoenix, having nothing in her hands to do as Hangman dutch braided her hair, waved her hand in greeting. “Hey Omaha,” she smiled before pointing towards the thermos that sat on the table. “Your coffee is right over there.” 

“Thank you,” he muttered as he walked around the squadron all in their chairs, and picked up the cup. He took a sip of it, discovering that it was still hot.

“Bob had a clean thermos in his car so we figured we’d try and keep it hot for you since we didn’t know how long you’d be,” Hangman explained. He didn’t look up from his braiding though as he spoke. “You have that other hair tie?” he asked, to which Phoenix produced a hair tie over her right shoulder to give him.

“How’s Megan doing?” Harvard asked, setting his phone down to look at Omaha. 

“She’s good. She’s started active labor the doctor was saying so it may be another 4-8 hours of waiting?” he explained unsure if he was right. From the way Yale nodded and didn’t correct him or look up from the textbook, he hadn’t been completely wrong. 

“The miracle of birth I guess.” Fanboy muttered as he put down a card. It was quickly followed by a curse from Payback.

Rooster hummed and took a sip of his coffee again, “I texted Mav and Ice. They had to go in for a briefing or something like 30 minutes ago on base. They promised to head up after the meeting was done. Mav refused to be far away when, and I quote, ‘his first grandchild came around.’” 

“Did Ice hit him over the head?” asked Phoenix. 

“Nope. The thing is Ice loves babies more than Mav I think. Like Mav was apparently awkward with holding me when I was a baby,” Rooster explained, “Didn’t get used to it for like a week. Constantly afraid he’d drop me. Ice is a natural. When Sarah had her kids he was helping with everything.”

“You think Halo is going to make them honorary grandparents?” Bob asked as he flipped a page of his book. He was clearly paying partial attention to them. 

Phoenix would have nodded if Hangman hadn’t just started on the other side to braid, causing her to tilt her chin up and head back, “Not just honorary. Halo is fully intending to ask them to be granddads.” 

“So I know Megan’s dad is still around and that’s three granddads. What is the nugget gonna call each of them?” Payback brought up, holding his cards to his chest as Fanboy looked over his own. 

“Fuck that’s a good point,” Harvard agreed before looking towards Rooster, “Got any ideas? They’re your dads.” 

“You say that like you haven’t fully accepted their adoption of you too and put Ice as your emergency contact,” Rooster retorted, setting his now empty cup down. 

“But you’ve known them the longest, Bradley,” Hangman answered him as he finished the second braid. “Alright done.” 

“Thank you, Hangman,” Natasha stated, running her hands up back over the top of her head to feel the boxer braids he’d done as she stood up to take the chair next to Bob that was sitting empty. 

“Ya of course. I love braiding hair and don’t get to do it as often with my sisters not around so anytime you want it just ask,” he told her before looking back over at Rooster, “What would Ice or Mav like to be called? What did they call their grandparents?”

“Ice’s grandparents were Russian immigrants, came over when his father was like 10. I remember him calling his grandfather Deba?”

“Well there’s Ice’s answer to his title,” Phoenix supported, adjusting herself so she had her legs slung over one side of the chair and her back leaning against the other. The ends of her hair brushed against the corner of Bob’s book but he didn’t seem annoyed by it.

“Pop-Pop for Mav?” Fanboy suggested. 

Rooster shook his head in disapproval, “No too close to Pops and that’s Ice in my fixed mentality.” 

“Aren’t Megan and her father german?” Bob asked finally looking up from his book at the group, “The kid will call Megan’s dad Opa, Ice Deba, and Mav will just be Grandpa.” 

“Fuck. How’d we miss that?” Hangman questioned.

Callie Bassett

11:23 am

Halo: hey could you do me a favor?

Omaha: What do you need?

Halo: i forgot one of the hospital bags meg had me prepare.

Halo: its luckily in the back of the car. do you mind grabbing it

and bringing it in?

Omaha: Of course. I’ll go grab it right now. Wasn’t I right that you

should leave the keys with me?

Halo: ya ya. oh knowledgeable pilot of mine. you were right. i was

wrong. now would you please bring the bag?

Omaha: Do you want anything from out here?

Omaha: Fritz is asking if I want to bring you a Diet Coke or

something. He just woke up from sleeping in the back of

Hangman’s car. 

Halo: a diet coke would be great. ill meet you in the lobby. 

Halo: still can't believe they're tailgating this

Omaha: Perfect. Give me 10 minutes to grab it from the car then

walk in. 

Bradshaw-Mitchel-Kazansky Clan

11:41 am

Mav: We’re about 15 minutes out. Where are you guys?

Bradley: We’re tailgating in the parking lot. 

Mav: You’re what? -Ice (He's driving)

Bradley: We’ve got our cars here and chairs, table, snacks and

drinks and are waiting it out in the back of the parking lot. 

Mav: Is that legal?

Bradley: Security did come around once but we explained what

was going on. Fritz pulled a fake “we all just came back from

deployment” card and convinced the security it was ok as long as

we didn’t have alcohol and stayed in our corner of the lot. 

Mav: As long as it’s not causing trouble that’s good. -Ice

Bradley: Omaha is walking in right now to pass a diet coke to Halo

and pass her a bag she left in the car. You can meet him in the exit

of the parking garage and he can bring you back so you don’t get

lost.

Mav: Sounds good.

Grabbing the bag from the car was easy for Omaha to do. They’d only left the one in the car along with the car seat for whenever they were able to go home. It be a bit so they’d left the car seat in the back seat thinking everything else they’d need was in the trunk. Apparently, this bag that Halo needed had been left in the backseat too where it had been forgotten about. 

Omaha had been staying with Megan and Halo for the last week in La Jolla because he wanted to help and be there. He’d originally planned to get a hotel close to their place but Halo had quickly shot that down. 

“If you’re insisting to stay close to help whenever Megan goes into Labor you might as well be in the house with us dumbass,” Halo had told him. It hadn’t taken much more to convince him. 

Halo had been such a fixture in his life for nearly 6 years that he would do anything for her. She was his sister and he didn’t have any living family around anymore. They became each other’s family while miles away from land on carriers. He’d been there when she told him that Megan and her were starting IVF. He hadn’t known they were married at the time, just thinking they’d been together for 8 years. He supported it. He poured over the sperm donor documents with Halo in the early hours of the morning before shifts. That way if she wanted to complain over specific donors he knew exactly who she was complaining about. 

She’d been the one to reteach him Mandarin as they moved through their days and deployments as a way to get closer. He’d already had previous lessons in it from the academy but she helped him become fluent. She’d been the one he’d complained to about everything. He’d been the one she’d broken down with over missing her family even after being cut off from them for 10 years but still kept them on her health contact info in case they came back around and wanted to know if she was alive. 

He knew everything there was to know about Callie Bassett he thought even as he continued to learn new things every day. 

He knew she met Megan at a UC Berkeley party in her fourth year of college where she spilled her drink on the taller woman. He knew Halo could play the piano with talent just like Rooster if someone gave her classical sheet music. He knew she got the callsign Halo because there was a time after flight school when she accidentally cut power to all the lights in the room except for the one that shone right down on her.

He knew too much about Halo that sometimes he swore that they could switch bodies and he would be able to completely pretend that he was her with no issue. 

So when he walked into the building, bag slung over his shoulder and looking for Halo he visibly flinched at the sight of faces he’d only seen in photos before. Halo still loved her family even after they’d disowned her. She would always pin the photo of the 4 of them up next to the one of her and Megan when they got a new bunk on the carrier. 

That was Halo’s father and mother in the lobby at the nurse’s station. He tried not to stare as he made his way across the lobby to the elevators he knew Halo would be coming out from. Why were they here? It was a Sunday so they couldn’t be here for an appointment as all clinics were closed. 

He’d been right with his estimate of the time it took to bring the bag though because as he reached the elevators one of them opened and Halo stepped out looking down at her phone. He had to keep her from seeing them. Last he’d heard they were in San Francisco according to Halo. How the hell were they in a hospital in San Diego? 

He was too lost in his thought to pay attention to the first few words Halo said as she approached Omaha, “-too good to us. Really the best friend and pilot I could have asked for,” she was mumbling. Halo without coffee normally was a zombie. After the lack of sleep she got last night asking Megan what was wrong, she was far worse today than she usually was. 

“Ya ya of course,” Omaha stated, brushing off the compliment awkwardly, sliding the bag off his shoulder and holding it out to her, “I tucked the diet coke in the side pocket,” he explained pointing to the silver can that was peeking out barely from the side.

“Thank god,” Halo breathed in relief, “I need the caffeine even if it’s a little bit.” 

“You got to stay awake to see that daughter of yours Callie,” he teased. He hoped she wasn’t able to tell the tension in his voice that he was trying to hide. She’d always been able to read him, but in this sleep-deprived, anxiety-filled state, he may be able to get away with it.

“Yes I know Neil,” she teased back, rolling her eyes before slinging the back up over her shoulder, “Want to come up and quickly say hi to Megan?” 

Omaha shook his head no. Though it would probably be the quickest way to get Halo out of this lobby he couldn’t. “She literally kicked me out for being too antsy earlier. Iceman and Maverick are arriving soon too so I’m supposed to meet them at the mouth of the parking garage,” he explained. 

“Oh let me wait and say hi to them with you,” she responded, “I didn’t realize they were coming and I still need to ask them to be grandparents.” She adjusted the bag on her shoulder and hooked an arm through Omaha’s to turn him around and walk back towards the parking lot. “To be honest Megan basically kicked me out too and told me to take a 15-minute walk so this will fill it.”

Omaha prayed, and he never prayed, that the two at the desk didn’t notice them pass as Halo kept talking. Somehow his luck held because they were able to reach the parking lot without any incident. 

“I swear if I’d let her bring her computer she would still be reviewing rocket blueprints while in labor,” Halo was complaining. 

“You did marry a rocket scientist.” 

“Ya, but I didn’t realize it meant this Omaha,” Halo groaned. It was clearly a light complaint, something to take her mind off the incoming responsibility of a child. “Literally working through bringing life into the world and still thinking of jet fuel.”

He opened his mouth to respond but before he could the sound of Mandarin echoed through the entrance and into the parking lot.

“I cannot believe the audacity of that woman to say we didn’t have a right to information about our own daughter,” the feminine voice complained. Their luck had run out apparently. 

Halo’s eyes flicked with recognition and she turned to look towards the older couple that was making their way into the empty parking lot. And Omaha prayed that this would go smoothly but knowing what he’d heard about Halo’s conservative parents it likely wouldn’t. 

“Mother?” Halo gasped as she looked at the woman. Her mother’s hair had more strands of white than when she’d last seen her. It was jarring to see the proud and strong woman who seemed invincible lose to the battle of aging and admit it, not dying her hair. “Father?” she questioned looking towards the man. 

“Calliope!” her mother greeted sternly. 

“ What are you doing here?” Halo asked, her eyes flickering back and forth between her parents as she changed to Mandarin. 

The woman clicked her tongue in clear annoyance, “Your cousin Lily told us you were expecting a child. We came to meet our grandbaby. It is still our grandchild.”

“How are you in San Diego? How did you get to this hospital?”

“You still have us listed on your military contact list. They told us you were stationed here and an old friend of mine who works here informed us when you came in for visits before and this morning so we flew down,” her father explained as if that made any sense. 

“I had hoped you’d finally given up the military and settled down with a husband when I heard,” her mother admitted, disappointment evident in her tone and use of words, “ Clearly only one of those things is true. Even if you’re doing a surrogate at least you’re finally building a family and realizing that the gay thing was a phase. Now introduce us to your husband.”

“This isn’t my husband,” Halo corrected her mother in straight English, her tone sharp and unwelcoming, “This is Omaha. He’s a pilot, he’s who I fly with.” 

“Neil,” he introduced, sticking his hand out to shake. He didn’t like Halo’s parents. He probably never would after hearing the story of how Halo got thrown out at the end of high school when she tried to come out. How she went to the military because of the scholarship and guarantee to cover her degree. But he could be civil for as long as it took to get them out of her hair and off of hospital property. 

“So you’re raising a child on your own? Why do you wear that ring then?” her father asked, “A kid can never have a full life with just one parent. I thought we raised you to know that.” 

Omaha wanted to rip the other man’s face off at those words, his own single father in his mind as he worked tooth and nail to show him the world. He thought of Bradley with his mother and Mav. He thought of Megan with her father who had raised her alone since she was 12. 

“I’m married,” Halo snapped back. She was clearly reaching the end of her rope too, “I am married to an amazing woman, who is in labor right now, giving birth to our child and I am not saying here longer to listen to you. You chose to kick me out!”

“Halo,” Omaha warned his hand on her right shoulder to hold her back and ground her.

She stopped and looked back over at Omaha. He could see the building of her tension, the look she always had on her face when she was about to cry.

Before any of them could say anything though a shout of “Halo! Omaha!” was called out, echoing through the structure. The two addressed turned their heads from looking at one another to looking at who was approaching.

Maverick was walking up towards him with Iceman right behind them. Maverick was in normal civilian clothes, the signature leather jacket on, but Ice was in his uniform, a clear marker that they’d come from the base because of Ice and not Maverick. Ice had a soft look on his face and Maverick was beaming with joy and energy somehow. 

“Hey, Kiddos how is it-” Mav began as he got closer but froze when he noticed the serious look on both their faces and how close Halo was to crying. His eyes narrowed and he flicked a look to Halo’s parents then back to Halo.

“Sirs,” Omaha greeted, noticing how Maverick had started to sign at Halo quickly in silence asking if she was ok.