Chapter Text
Rooster couldn’t pay attention to anything Mav was saying, neither could anyone else in the room. His eyes wouldn’t leave Mav’s left side of his face though, so Mav must’ve thought he was paying attention.
A dark bruise was forming around Maverick’s left side of his face, and Rooster couldn’t help but assume the worst. Someone hit him.
He wanted to ask about it and see who had done this, but Mav was too into teaching.
So, all he could do was think quietly to himself. Maverick wouldn’t let anyone pick on him, so Rooster overall ruled that out. Maybe someone attacked him at a bar or something? But that didn’t settle right either.
The way that Mav was blinking quickly and he couldn’t maintain eye contact for that long, was red flags for Rooster. Someone must have hurt him. He kept thinking. He needed to get the bottom of this.
He looked over and met both Hangman’s and Phoenix’s gaze, and after looking at everyone else, he knew, all of them were worried for their friend. This wasn’t right.
As soon as Maverick dismisses them, Rooster got up, shooting everyone a glance that told them that he got this, and walked up to Mav’s desk. Who’s back was turned to him as he looked at his paper in his hands like it was interesting.
“Mav?”
Maverick’s whole body tensed. Like he knew why Rooster was there. He was hiding something.
“Yeah?” He asked, trying his best to swallow the fear in his voice, but Rooster caught it.
“What’s going on, man?” Rooster asked softly, his eyes gently resting on Mav’s when he turned around.
That bruise was bad.
“What do you mean?”
“The bruise, Mav. Where’d you get it?” Rooster asked, pressing his eyebrows into a worried position.
“It was stupid, I just fell down the stairs.” Mav tried to laugh it off.
Creative. But Rooster knew otherwise. “Mav, come on. Who hurt you?”
Maverick’s smile faded and in its absense, a gloomy look appeared. “Nobody.” He said after a long period of hesitating.
Rooster frowned. Why wouldn’t he just tell him? “Please tell me, Mav. That bruise is bad.” He realized he didn’t ask something. “Does it hurt?”
Maverick shrugged, setting the papers down on his desk. “Not really.”
Lie.
He had never seen Mav like this, so to find out that someone had hurt him only angered him.
Rooster took a step towards Mav, getting around his desk which was the only thing in between them in an attempt to get Mav to tell him.
To his surprise, Mav stumbled back, into the wall behind him and shook his head hastily. “I can’t tell you, Bradley.”
Rooster stopped, looking at the broken Mav in front of him. It was heart-breaking to see him like this.
“Why not?” Rooster took another step, trying not to scare Mav. “I’m not gonna let him hurt you, okay? Just tell me.”
Maverick shook his head again and looked away. Until a pair of gentle hands grabbed either side of his face and gingerly made him look at him.
Maverick froze, his eyes looking into Rooster’s.
Rooster smiled lightly, it was a reassuring smile. He had known that yelling would only get Maverick to get professional. Not to open up. So they only way to get him to tell him was to coax him.
Maverick sighed, looked at the door, and his hands started to tremble.
“Cyclone.”