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They’re in the ready room, preparing for their debrief. Phoenix is surprised to see Maverick and Rooster out of the med bay. She wonders how they got out that quickly. But they’re both stubborn as hell, so they’re here with the rest of the team.
Admiral Kazansky steps into the room, looking incredibly frustrated. “Cyclone, have you seen…” he catches sight of Rooster and Maverick. He is filled with tension, eyes wild and angry. “You…” his voice is low and dangerous. Maverick and Rooster share a look before pointing to themselves, the silent question of us? clearly being asked. Admiral Kazansky storms towards them, hands shaking at his sides. “What the fuck, what the actual fuck was that?” he shouts in both of their faces.
Stone cold Iceman, swearing and shouting. What had they done? And how does he know Rooster? Phoenix thinks.
“You, I expect this from,” he yells in Maverick’s face. He has stopped directly in front of the pair, much closer than professional. “But you?” he turns to Rooster, “what were you thinking?”
“I wasn't thinking, sir,” Rooster says calmly, making almost defiant eye contact with the man. “I just did what needed to be done.”
“Don’t think, just do,” he mocks. “Your lack of thinking lost the US government two multi-million dollar planes and almost killed you today! I’ve let both of you get away with that bullshit for long enough. I should have you both grounded permanently,” he rants. There is clearly context they are missing. What does he mean by ‘for long enough’, Phoenix wonders. She glances around the room, and everyone is in various states of confusion and shock. At least she isn’t the only one who has no idea what is going on. “Never do that again!”
“I did what I had to do to get my pilots home, sir,” Maverick speaks just as calmly as Rooster, “I have a duty to protect them.”
Ice steps even closer to Maverick, “You have a duty to me, too,” he spits out. He reaches out and grabs Maverick by the front of his flight suit. Before anyone can move to break up the fight, Admiral Kazansky is slamming his mouth into Maverick's.
Phoenix's brain goes offline. What is happening? She glances back at the rest of the group. About half of them have their mouths open in shock.
They kiss for a moment before Ice pulls away. He reaches over and drags Bradley into his embrace as well. “Never do that again,” he says, much quieter this time.
“I'm sorry, love,” Maverick sighs. “I had to, you know I did.”
“I'm sorry, this is all my-” Bradley starts to say as he pushes away.
“Oh, sweetheart, no,” Maverick tries to comfort Bradley, reaching for him.
“But if I hadn't-” he cuts in again.
“Not your fault, baby goose.” Maverick's voice is soft.
“Baby goose?” She doesn't even realize she's spoken until the room turns to her. “I'm sorry, sir, I didn't mean to speak,” she says, keeping her voice steady, her face flushed with embarrassment.
“You’re fine, lieutenant,” the Admiral assures her. He turns to Maverick. “Do you have anything to say about that, Mav?”
“Uh, well…” he trails off, glancing towards Rooster.
Rooster sighs, “Baby goose was my nickname as a kid,” he pauses, “My father’s callsign was Goose.”
“You knew Maverick as a kid?” Hangman asks, curious.
“I’ve known him my whole life,” Rooster explains. “My father was his best friend. He was there for Mom and me after he died.” Rooster glances at the other two and raises his hands to sign something to them. Admiral Kazansky signs something back, and Maverick nods his head. Apparently, Rooster knows sign language. “And they took me in after she died.” His face morphs into a shit-eating grin, “Mav is my Dad and Ice is my Pops.”
There are a few seconds of stunned silence, and then they're all speaking at once. “Attention,” Ice snaps. There is silence again. “One at a time.”
Hangman raises his hand, as if they were in school. Ice points at him. “Respectfully, Mav, how did you pull him?”
“By being a twink and being obnoxiously good at everything and feeding my competence kink,” Ice grins a shark-tooth grin. There are a few embarrassed squeaks and noises of disgust, and Rooster bursts out laughing. Mav looks as amused as he does fond, chuckling a bit.
“When did you get together?” Payback asks.
“1986, right after the Layton mission,” Maverick explains with a smile.
Phoenix makes a motion, and Ice points towards her. She stares directly at Rooster for a long moment. “Nepo baby,” she smirks. As his best friend, she has to make fun of him, at least a little.
Rooster sputters as Maverick laughs. Then he gasps and curls forward, arms coming up to wrap around his abdomen. Rooster lets out a panicked noise as he reaches for Maverick. His arm moves stiffly, and he grimaces.
“Why did medical even release you?” Ice asks, incredulously, “You’re in no condition to…” he trails off. The other two are silent, looking like a child caught with a hand in a cookie jar.
“You snuck out?”
“I don’t think they went at all, sir,” Phoenix remarks, after thinking about it for a moment.
They send her identical betrayed looks as Ice sighs. That reaction says everything. “Like father, like son,” she mutters. By the snort from Hangman, she knows he's heard her.
“We're both fine, just some bruising,” Maverick tries to placate.
He looks them over. “What's happening with that shoulder, too? And why are you both swaying?”
“My shoulder just feels a little weird?”
“Is that a question or an answer, Bradley?” Ice questions.
“My shoulder hurts, it’s hard to move it,” he admits with a grimace.
“Mav?” Ice prompts.
“My ribs are fucked up,” he grimaces.
“You two need to take care of yourselves,” he sighs. “I have to escort these idiots to medical, continue your debrief,” the Admiral calls over his shoulder as he drags the pair away.
“Uh…” Cyclone trails off as he stares out the door. He shakes his head, as though to clear his thoughts, and starts the debrief again.