Chapter Text
Chapter One
(Rooster Loses A Bet)
Clear skies, big smiles, people in attendance from all over, all to bear witness to a schmuck reaping the rewards of his good craft, a real talented schmuck, at that. One of the greatest achievements as a fighter pilot: The coveted Flying Cross. It was one of the most highly respected honors in their field, showing both extreme valor and heroism but Rooster knew better: This was all part of his grand scheme. Just the fact that one of the most selfish people he's ever known was getting an award for his selflessness on this beautiful day was enough to drive the right man insane. It was such a good day, in fact, with the sun in the sky, and the grass green and clean below everyone's feet; yet the man of the hour was nowhere to be seen. Rooster shook his head, already facing inevitable defeat. And it was clear to everyone in attendance, even those who were new and not in the know, that an air of hidden subtext loomed over the event. He could already imagine his smug look backstage. Maverick stood on the stage, smiling down at Roo. He already had the cross at the ready.
Then the curtains pulled back and there he was: Jake Seresin. With a grand entrance. Rooster switched his gaze to anywhere but Hangman as he came up on stage, proudly grinning as he was awarded a Flying Cross, placed neatly on his chest. Hangman had a thousand yard smile plastered on his face like he was born with it. The eyes of the Daggers momentarily slid to Rooster's direction once they saw the look on Seresin's face – That smug look on his face was dedicated to one man and one man only.
Phoenix raised an eyebrow, nearing Rooster's side “You sure you wanna go through with this?”
Rooster nodded slowly. Slowly and begrudgingly. “I've never backed down on a bet.” He said, gritting his teeth.
Bob was by Phoenix's side, cautiously peering at Rooster like he was an animal that could bite at any moment. Though at that moment, he might as well have been. “What exactly was the basis of the bet anyway? What's the consequence?”
Rooster groaned. “I'll let Phoenix take this one.” He waved dismissively.
“Oh he's in for a real treat.” Phoenix grimaced. “The bet was whoever had the most drones downed would determine the trajectory of the vacation of the other.”
“Oh. Wait what?!”
“Basically I won.” Rooster tried not to flinch as Hangman suddenly patted him on the back. “Got the badge to prove it anyway, baby.”
Hangman chuckled at his own joke. “Honestly, the cross wasn't even the main objective. All I wanted to do was blow more drones into the ocean than Rooster would, but hey, this is a neat bonus too.”
“Unfortunately, it's winning grounds. He has to decide where I will spend the next month.” Rooster muttered.
“That's right!” Hangman winked. “For the next three weeks Rooster's gonna be my bitch.”
A reluctant smile began to form on Rooster's face as Hangman put his arm around his back, “Look, but in all seriousness, congratulations. This is huge for you.” Rooster admitted, trying his best to be modest and polite.
“That is right, Rooster!” Hangman's grin was as wide as the ocean now, making it all the more ridiculous that he was even getting this cross in the first place. “You know, this has been such a huge achievement for me that I just can't hide my enthusiasm. How about we get dinner too? All of us, actually. All on me!”
The Daggers cheered.
Rooster already shuddered at the possibility.
“Where are we going?” He gulped.
“Oh no,” Hangman put his index to his lips gently, “It's a surprise.”
_____________
Everyone was bewildered to see Hangman had brought them all to a kid's restaurant. The Daggers were there, and so was Maverick, arriving in his red pickup with Rooster. From what he'd heard from Payback it seemed Cyclone and Warlock were given an invitation, and so were the rest of the unfamiliar superiors at the prestigious awarding event. Yet Hangman had no shame. He's probably never even heard of the word.
Rooster had never been so indifferent and afraid. He didn't even know two emotions could be felt at the same time so opposite to each other.
“A little Phoenix told me you lost a good old fashioned airman bet.”
“Yup.” Rooster said, each syllable sounding like it hurt coming out of his mouth.
“What's the catch? What're you doing?’
Rooster tensed. “The thing is… I dunno.”
“So you went into a bet with no knowledge of your fate if you lost.” Maverick chuckled, shaking his head. “Rookie mistake, Rooster.”
“I mean, he could send me to the gulf of Mexico for all I cared, I… I would like to think I'm an optimist.”
“Oh. An optimist. Really?”
“Yeah– Yes, really! It's my vacation, and I sure as hell won't let him ruin it!” Rooster crossed his arms.
"You know, all this talk of him, I mean, I still can't believe the whole Flying Cross deal." Maverick shook his head. "Not even I have a Flying Cross."
"EXACTLY!" Rooster crowed. "I mean, well... He did nearly sacrifice his own life to get those enemy drones which is admittedly an out of left field act of heroism from him but come on..!" He ranted. "Amelia Earhart got the same award for crying out loud! Do you think Hangman is Amelia Earhart level Mav?!"
An embarrassed silence filled the car. “You got any clue what he'll get you into?”
“No idea.” Rooster frowned. He had shared his fair share of vacations with Hangman in the past, a past where they were much friendlier with one another. Still, they were never really planned either, most times they were to a beach resort or a State up North to cool down while the summer scorched the West.
Then, there they were. Coming up to an outlet mall, just shy from the highway, you could already see the jungle themed decorations and the red neon sign from far away. Maverick pulled up into the parking lot.
“Welcome to the Rainforest Cafe, Bradshaw!” Hangman had sunglasses on, and he had a full blazer and necktie situation going on, like they were going to some high class fine dining experience. Rooster didn't want to get out the car. The gleam from Seresin's Flying Cross, still practically strapped to his chest; it was blinding.
Maverick lowered his car window.
“Sir.” Hangman nodded.
“Hangman.” Maverick examined the airman's getup from head to toe. “Special occasion?”
“Oh yeah. Very special.” Hangman raised his eyebrows.
“Special ‘cause he never wins these damn bets!” Rooster interjected.
“Oh hush,” He knocked on the hood of the pickup, “Up and at ‘em! Everyone's waiting for you!”
Rooster didn't want to give Hangman the satisfaction of rolling his eyes at his antics.
Going inside, Rooster didn't know what to expect. Instantly all his senses were bombarded by loud, grating animal noises, all of which coming from old jungle themed animal animatronics who, every time they shook, gave off a big puff of dust. The dim lighting made the whole place feel ominous, and the creatures certainly weren't helping. Rooster couldn't admit to himself all the times he jumped at the sudden screech of a monkey.
As he and Maverick followed Hangman's lead, they were eventually led to a long table. All the Daggers were already waiting for them, clearly there was no dress code because everybody else was wearing the most comfortable clothes they owned. Either that, or Hangman was just rubbing it in to Rooster that he'd emerged victorious. Rooster believed it was the latter.
“Phoenix.” Rooster sighed, pulling up the chair next to her.
Hangman paused, his hands on Rooster’s shoulders. “Up, up, up now… wait just a moment..!”
“Dude. What now.” Rooster sighed.
Phoenix rolled her eyes.
“See, I don't think you noticed this because I'm not sure you can even – uh – read, Bradshaw.” Hangman lilted, “But as you can see, there's assigned seats.”
“What?” Rooster looked down at the little triangles beside every seat. Customized with a little logo of Hangman's winking face, there were the full legal names of everybody there, the one beside Phoenix clearly reserved for a Billy Avalone: Fritz, now returning from the bathroom.
“No, no, let me direct you to where you really should be sitting.” Hangman guided Rooster to the end of the table, his hands still on his shoulders. Hangman picked Rooster's name off from the table, “Lt. Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw” written in a flowery cursive font, different from the others he'd seen. “Oh look!” Hangman pretended to be shocked. “We're seatmates.” He revealed, holding up his own name tag with a cocky smile on his face.
“Aw. Very funny, Jake.”
“What can I say? I'm quite the comedian.”
Rooster sits down, already fearful of his future when lightning hits above him.
“JESUS CHRIST!” Rooster shouts out loud.
“Relax, Rooster, it's just the iconic Rainforest Cafe thunderstorms.” Hangman rolled his eyes, taking a sip from his water.
“The 'Iconic Rainforest Cafe Thunderstorm’?”
“They happen every twenty minutes.” Noted Bob. “It– we waited here for some time…”
Soon a waiter came with a menu. Rooster chuckled at the food options. Iggy's Piggy Sandwich, Mojo Bones, and Rooster certainly wasn't even gonna attempt a guess at what Rasta Pasta was supposed to be. “Do I have to say these all out loud?” Rooster hesitated.
“No, no, I gotcha. This time around.” Hangman smiled with confidence, swiftly ordering flatbread and sides for the table. Rooster couldn't help but notice the slight glares people were giving him across the table, Coyote was clearly holding a laugh in, so were Omaha and Halo, who were whispering indistinctly to each other, pointing at Rooster subtly every now and then thinking they were slick. Even Maverick was smiling, but he didn't even try hiding it.
“Okay clearly you all know something I don't.” Rooster groaned, eyeing everyone suspiciously.
“Us?” Fanboy said, his ears perking up in a similar vein to a dog's, “We know something?”
“Fanboy cut it out.” Payback cried. “You're making it so obvious!”
“Well saying someone's making something obvious is just making it even more obvious, but sure.” Phoenix facepalmed.
Rooster stopped himself from a rebuttal when the food started coming in. Hangman ordered some Jungle Steak for him and Rooster, and as soon as he took a bite out of it, Rooster could tell the quality was not the best. It was dry, it was gamey, but it's not like he expected quality from the Rainforest Cafe either.
“I'm just so excited to talk now.” Hangman was practically giddy.
“So what? Is this all part of your plan, Seresin?”
“Would it kill you to call me Jake for once?”
“You're the one calling me Bradshaw.” Rooster shrugged.
Hangman's expression faltered for a bit, before that similar smug look returned to his face. “So…” He started, digging into his steak, “How are you liking the venue?” Said Hangman in a sing-song-y voice.
“Clearly not the best place. Not entirely the worst I've ever been to either.”
“Oh well that's no fun!” Hangman sat back in his chair, “Say, how will you enjoy our little summer trip then?”
Rooster's eyes widened. Oh shit. He shot Maverick a look – he was still smiling. He turned to Phoenix – guilt was stuck on her face like chewing gum.
“Tell me you're lying.” A deep seated fear crept up on Rooster from behind like a slithering snake. He recollected, all at once, all the memories he and Hangman had, had on the road. All the Summers they would go to New York, all the times they would kiss under the sky of a city whose name Rooster couldn't pronounce.
“I’m not a liar, Roo.” Hangman smiled knowingly. The thunder struck behind them. “We're going on a little road trip. Together.”
The Daggers erupted in scattered laughter. Flustered, Rooster buried his hands in his face.
“See, I don't like the way you were talking about poor old Rainforest Cafe.” Hangman shrugged, the superficial thunderstorm still obnoxiously loud behind him. “Rainforest Cafe is a Texan treasure, and all around us, they're closing. There were nearly fifty locations back in the day– now, well, there's only eighteen! You know, this is a national emergency!”
“I don't like where this is going–”
“Say. Rooster.” Hangman smiled. “I’ve been online recently and, well I don't know who started it, but netizens all over North America have been making their little Rainforest Cafe pilgrimages, visiting each little location because a bunch of pals did it a couple years back in solidarity of the place. How's about we go on a little buddy trip ourselves? A… How do I put this? A challenge. We run the ‘Rainforest Cafe Gauntlet' so to speak. Pay our respects to this American treasure.”
“I hate you.”
“You know you can't say no..!” Hangman shrugged, “Cause you literally can't, amirite!”
Applause erupted from the Daggers, a bunch of jeering too.
“You can do it, man!” Fanboy shouted excitedly, clapping on Rooster's behalf. Phoenix, Bob, and Payback followed after.
“That's our champion, Rooster!” Maverick smirked as he called out. Rooster bet it felt so nice to get that out for him because by the looks of his face he'd been holding it since they were in the car.
Rooster chuckled nervously “Guys…”
“Hey, you said it yourself, huh?” Phoenix said, beginning to walk towards Rooster, still in shame, “You don't back down from these sorts of things.”
Rooster was already looking forward to an exhaustive three weeks.
“Look: Hangman, if this is about –”
“You can't sway me any longer. I've made up my mind.” Hangman bit his lip with excitement. “Alright. Like I said– dinner's on me.”
“Oh and,” Hangman turned as he called for the check, “The trip starts tomorrow, Roo!”
“What – are you crazy?! Tomorrow?!” Rooster exclaimed. “I mean I didn't even have time to pack it's– this is lunacy–”
“DON'T BACK DOWN!”
“DON'T BACK DOWN!”
“DON'T BACK DOWN!”
“DON'T BACK DOWN!”
The Daggers chanted.
“Or you could always..? Not follow through, right?” Hangman teased.
He could feel the acid rising in his stomach. He did not want to do this trip. He didn't even like going on stupid trips like this in general - not anymore, at least. Lest he remember the wounds that would have to be reopened if he spent another day on the road with a certain Jake Seresin.
“DON'T BACK DOWN!”
“DON'T BACK DOWN!”
“DON'T BACK DOWN!”
“DON'T BACK DOWN!”
“Ah so this is what this is.” Rooster groaned, his face now inches from Hangman. “Oh don't worry. I won't. Matter of fact, I'll stay for all three weeks of your shit just to show how little this means to me.”
Hangman went up to Rooster's face, just inches away from him like two boxers at the weigh in. "We are gonna have the time of our lives, Roo."
"Sure we are." Rooster smirked. "You know I love a good road trip."
“WOOO!!” The Daggers shouted, clapping and annoying the other tables.
The trip would only get more annoying for the two from here.