One Thing Always Leads To Another (Top Gun, Rooster)

[Wolfwings22]

It’s been a little bit since I wrote a Rooster Top Gun story and thought that I would ease my way back into it with a good old allergy fic. Most of the sneezing is found toward the beginning with the end mostly fluff between Maverick and my OC Savant. There will be mentions of unconsciousness as well as taking too much allergy medication but there was no adverse side effects besides drowsiness. It’s a fun little fic that I hope you all enjoy!

 

 

 

 

    When the crew ends up using a new type of cleaning solution for the jets, Rooster isn’t expecting to react so heavily to it. A surefire remedy comes with some side effects that he’s not expecting and ill equipped on how to handle it. If only he had anyone who was watching his back. Or wait….

 

 

 

 

    “C’mon, Roo. If you think I’m going to let you win our warmups then you’re sorely mistaken!”

 

    Rooster rolled his eyes as he turned on his heel, walking back as he eyed Hangman in amusement. “Warmups aren’t even a competition. None of this shit is anymore, Bagman. We’re going out on patrol and that’s it.”

 

    “Anything can be a competition if you’re brave enough,” Hangman shot back, eyes blazing in determination. “Unless you’re scared.”

 

    “My God, can we have a calm day for once,” Phoenix cut in with a roll of her eyes. “You’d think after everything you two wouldn’t do this everyday. Don’t you ever exhaust yourselves? Because I’m exhausted just listening to you!”

 

    Rooster and Hangman exchanged a glance before eyeing Phoenix, feigning innocent. Beside her, Bob chuckled and muttered something under his breath about how they fit their competitive egos in their helmets. Fanboy leaned over and elbowed Bob to echo his thoughts, the two laughing and whispering together as they stole looks over at Hangman and Rooster.

 

    The closer they came to the airstrip, the more energy stirred between them. No matter how many times they did this, Rooster still felt that excitement like it was the first time. The feel of the acceleration before the jet finally took off with the blood roaring loud in his ears. There was nothing that could match that feeling. Everyday he got to spend in the air was a good day.

 

    Rooster’s heart swelled as they arrived at his jet, hand coming up to stroke along the wing. Immediately the scent of sanitization reached his nose and although it smelled different, it wasn’t unbearable by any means. He continued to walk the length of the plane, the sounds of chatter from the other pilots fading slightly as they veered off to their own jets. Rooster kept by his, enjoying the feel until he felt a light prick in the back of his sinuses.

 

    It started off mild at first before increasing in intensity, scraping at the back of his throat as well until the tickle became all consuming. Swiftly, Rooster tipped his head to the side in a half raised fist. “Rsh’Shew! Rshs’Sh’Shew!” Rooster’s head gave a rough shake, eyes blinking against the building pressure in his sinuses.

 

    “Bless!”

 

    Rooster spun as he heard his father’s familiar voice, instantly relaxing when he came beside him. “Mav, what are you doing here? I thought you had meetings all day?”

 

    “Blew ‘em off,” Maverick replied with a shrug. “It wasn’t anything that couldn’t be an email. Besides, I’m much more useful in the sky with you all. I thought maybe we could do some dogfighting drills if you all are up to it. I already have Warlock’s approval.”

 

    “And does Uncle Ice know that’s what you’re doing today instead of taking it easy after that ejection last month?”

 

    Maverick waved him off fondly before reaching out to ruffle Rooster’s hair. The younger man ducked away before giving Maverick a playful shove. “What Uncle Ice doesn’t know, won’t hurt him. He’s got enough on his plate without worrying without we’re up to. I can make it up to him later.”

 

    Rooster made a face and forced a whole body shiver. That was the absolute last thing he ever wanted to think about was Maverick’s and Ice’s love life. They were all adults now and he recognized that, but thinking about it in detail was enough to make his stomach flip. Whatever the two of them did in the privacy of their own room was fine so long as Rooster didn’t have to witness it.

 

    “Alright, alright, don’t have a conniption over there. I don’t want to have to explain to Savant why you just dropped out the sky,”Maverick pointed out.

 

    “Wait, Savant is back? I thought he was on leave?”

 

    “Only for a week. Had some personal stuff he had to get done from what I heard.” Maverick knew the relationship all the Daggers had grown to foster with Savant, relying on him just as Maverick and his class had done for decades. “I’m sure he wouldn’t mind if we stop in later, especially if none of us actually need medical attention for once.”

 

    Rooster nodded as a faraway look cast over his face. “That would behhhh….hih…nihhhh’sSh’Shew!” Any attempt Rooster had of finishing that sentence was short lived as he was forced to duck his head into his elbow as he felt how full his nose was becoming. “Rsh’Shew! Rshc’Shew! Rsh’Sh’Shew!” Rooster patted his pockets with his free hand knowing he would come up empty. He rarely kept napkins or tissues on him since he sneezed so infrequently, and now he was beginning to really regret that decision.

 

    “Jesus, kid.” Maverick pulled a small stack of napkins from his own flight suit and handed them over. Rooster wedged them between his elbow and nose in an effort to conceal the mess. He didn’t even ask why Maverick had them as even after Ice’s bouts with cancer, Maverick still had that fear that Ice would start to cough things up. Sometimes he still had fits and Maverick was always there with anything that would make him feel better.   

 

    Rooster just hadn’t expected to also be thankful for Maverick’s preparedness.

 

    “Excuse me,” Rooster croaked after he had cleaned up his nose to the best of his ability.

 

    “You’re excused. You sure you’re alright? Feeling alright?” Maverick took a step to rest his hand to Rooster’s forehead when the taller pilot skirted away, eyes wide and fearful like a trapped animal. That wasn’t exactly an encouraging sign, giving Maverick enough worry for his brow to furrow in concentration. “Roo?”

 

    Rooster opened his mouth to defend himself when he was forced to take a step away from the jet when he realized whatever building inside of him wasn’t going to be dislodged with one or two sneezes. The tickle bloomed all the way from the bridge of his nose through the tip, to the back of his throat. He gave a soft cough as his breath started to hitch. No amount of napkins was going to quell this and he was forced to pull the collar of his flight suit over the lower half of his face.

 

    “Rhs’Shiew! Rsh’SHiew! Rsh’Shew!” Rooster blinked hard, air hitting the back of his throat and causing him to sputter before that cusp of ticklish misery won out. “RSH’Shew! Rsh’SHew! RHsh’SHew! RSh’SHiew! Rsh’SHiew! Rsh’SH’Shiew! Rsh’SH’Shew!”

 

    “Rooster? Bradley!” Maverick rushed forward and planted a hand surely on Rooster’s shoulder and started to tug him even farther from the jet. “C’mon, let’s get you standing over here. I think I might know what’s going on here.”

 

    Rooster momentarily surfaced with streaming eyes, struggling to focus on Maverick beside him. “Whadt?”

 

    Maverick didn’t answer as he kept pulling Rooster with him until they were halfway off the air strip and back in the hanger. Rooster slowed every couple feet to continue sneezing helplessly, unwilling to lower the collar from his face for fear of what he may find underneath. Sneezing rarely for him turned messy unless he had a bad cold and being almost incapacitated by them now was not something he felt equipped for. Part of him was starting to wonder if someone could die from sneezing too much from lack of oxygen or something.

 

    “Keep breathing for me,” Maverick encouraged as he hauled Rooster to a nearby bench and set him on it. “Stay right here and I’ll be back.”

 

    “RSH’Shew!” Before Rooster could protest, Maverick was already gone. Rooster felt himself wanting to call back for him before he fell forward with a violent triple with almost no time to take breath in between. It was exhausting keeping this up and all he wanted was to do was rub the itch away with such intensity that it may just rip his nose off and he would be fine with that. He hadn’t been this miserable in forever.

 

    It took Maverick less than seven minutes to arrive back, and in that time Rooster counted that he had sneezed twenty four times. The fits we’re finally coming with more of a break in between, though now he was almost too exhausted to even care about how many times he kept sneezing or how much of a spectacle he was probably making of himself. All he cared about was this ending sooner rather than later.

 

    The first thing Maverick handed him when he returned was a huge box of tissues. Rooster’s fingers brushed over the top and he almost blanched at how soft they were.

 

    “Took them from the secret stash in the back corner of the Admiral’s office,” Maverick explained as he swung his leg around so he could sit on the bench across from Rooster. He frowned as he leaned in close, even as Rooster stifled another five sneezes into a bundle of tissues. “Shit, your eyes are starting to swell. You’re definitely having one hell of a reaction.”

 

    “A whadt?” Rooster trailed off as he shot forward. “RSH’Hs’SH’ShIew!” The sneezes was monstrous even for him, echoing through the hanger and searing his throat in the process. A few itchy coughs followed, unable to truly combat the soreness that he was plagued with. But hell if it didn’t feel amazing to finally chase away that itch for at least a few seconds.

 

    “Bless you! Now you’re really starting to sound like your dad.”

 

    Rooster was even more confused as he blew his nose heavily, too bugged up for it to do much good. The pressure was building through his sinuses until he felt like they might burst.

 

    “Your dad had allergies too if I’m not mistaken. Certain perfume would really set him off. I remember your mom picked some new stuff out while he was on deployment and when he came back instead of having a romantic evening, he spent the whole time sneezing his head off. Carole called me panicked when he started to wheeze.” Maverick shook his head as he let out a small laugh. “Guess I thought you dodged the bullet on these type of allergies.”

 

    “I’d dnot allergic do adythig,” Rooster argued.

 

    “I think I’d beg to differ. Unless you suddenly caught the sneeziest head cold imaginable in ten seconds, this has got to be allergies. I’m just trying to figure out to what,” Maverick argued as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a bottle of pills. “But in the meantime you need to take some of these and try to take it easy before you start to wheeze.

 

    Rooster barely had time to snag the bottle away before he was turning to the side once more, narrowly avoiding sneezing on Maverick this time. “RSH’SHiew!” Rooster set the pills down forcefully in favor for another couple handfuls of tissues, clamping them roughly over his nose as he spasmed forward. “Rhcxxght! Rsxghxxt! Rshghxt! Hshxcght!”

 

    “Oh, no you don’t.” Maverick battered Rooster’s hand away from his face, eyes narrowed. “You’re going to blow your eardrums if you keep that up. Didn’t Savant get on you about that last year when you and Ice had the flu?”

 

    Rooster shrugged bashfully. “Ice does id too,” he protested weakly.

 

    “Doesn’t mean you should as well.” Maverick stifled a groan at watching Rooster struggle, now rubbing a knuckle fiercely over his eye to chase away the itch. He was half tempted to grab his wrist to stop him, but he couldn’t exactly blame him when he knew that was potentially the only thing that was bringing him any semblance of relief. He would let this slide for now until they came up with a more permanent solution.   

 

    “Bav.” Tears streamed down his face while his nose continued to run. “P-Please, I dond’t dknow whadt’s goig od.”

 

    Maverick heard the fear creeping into Rooster’s voice and it broke his heart. Rooster was the bravest soul that Maverick had met, and yet sometimes medical situations could rattle him unlike anything else. They brought back all the memories from his mom and Ice. Maverick couldn’t blame him; he woke enough times in a cold sweat thinking that Ice wasn’t laying there beside him. He just wished he could save Rooster the same pain.

 

    “I take back what I said earlier about Savant. I think this is going to require his medical expertise. Do you want to come with—“

 

    Rooster’s eyes practically bugged out of his head at the mere suggestion of it. Maverick immediately backtracked and waved him off. “Okay, I’m sure Savant won’t mind a trip down here. You stay right here, alright? I’ll be right back.”

 

    Any protest that Rooster felt was short lived as he sniffled heavily. He was relieved this time when it didn’t lead to a sneezing fit, though he was certain it wouldn’t last long. After all, the feeling hadn’t disappeared, and he suspected it would come back with a vengeance when he was least prepared. The only good part was that Maverick wouldn’t be around to see him fall apart again, or anyone for that matter. He hoped he wasn’t missed in the air as the last thing that he needed was anymore concern from anyone else when he still wasn’t certain of what was going on.   

 

    His mind then drifted to the pill bottle that Maverick gave him before he left. He easily popped off the lid and tipped the bottle so a single tiny pill fell into the center of his palm. It was so tiny. How could something that small even hope to help him? Discouraged, Rooster tapped on the bottom until two more fell out. Face screwed in distain, he immediately tossed the pills into his mouth and swallowed them, wincing as he swore that one he caught in the back of his throat. After another firm swallow seemed to chase that feeling away at least for now.

 

    A few more stray sneezes slipped past Rooster, all of which he managed to cover with the tissues and blew in the aftermath. His nose was running like a faucet and it seemed that there was little that he could do to halt it, so he kept the tissues pressed against his nose to catch the residual drips. His throat was still scratchy, eyes puffy and watery, but it seemed whatever he had taken was doing the trick.

 

    That was until he felt drowsier than he had ever felt in his life. Everything seemed far away, from the sounds of the engines to the few mechanics that passed by down the long hallway. Even his body seemed to be far away from his conscious, nothing making sense as the world bobbed in front of him as if he was underwater, fading in and out of consciousness. His hand started to lift in front of his face and yet it seemed like he had grown fingers out of nowhere. A husky laugh escaped him as he started to slump sideways. His eyes fluttered closed as he felt tightness settle in his chest as he finally felt himself begin to fade.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

    “And he just went off. I reminded me of Goose back in the day,” Maverick explained as he walked alongside Savant, who had his hands rested in his lab coat. He looked a little worse for wear himself, but Maverick wasn’t about to bring that up. “Or that time that Thunder got into that stuff. What was it?”

 

    That had Savant cracking a small smile. “Rose essence. Don’t ask me how he found it, but I sure as hell made sure it didn’t find its way around him ever again,” he joked fondly. It wasn’t too often he had these moments of remembering a simpler time and not immediately feeling grief first. It was almost nice.

 

    “Imagine that but even worse. Thought he was going to start pass out from the lack of oxygen. I’m a little at a loss about what I can do.”

 

    “Let me examine him and see what I can do. Unfortunately it’s a little difficult treating allergies besides removing him from the environment and using some antihistamines, but once I see what we’re working with I can—“

 

    “Rooster!”

 

    Savant snapped his head to the side as he saw Maverick bolt. Although not entirely sure what he had seen, Savant was right there with him, thanking everything that he could still keep up with the younger pilots for the time being. He was sure that wasn’t about to last much longer when he turned the corner into the hanger and found Maverick rushing to a man’s side as he laid almost flat on is back on a bench. It didn’t take long for Savant to recognize the frame and shape of the face as he drew closer as Rooster. Maverick had said he had only an allergy attack. Why was he suddenly passed out?

 

    “Give me some room,” Savant commanded as he nudged Maverick aside to rest two fingers against Rooster’s throat. There he felt the strong pulse, which eased his fear slightly. Still, even giving Rooster a firm shake wouldn’t rouse him. However, it didn’t appear that he was unconscious just…..asleep.

 

    “What’s wrong with him,” Maverick growled as if Savant had been the one to cause this.

 

    Savant took a step back and eyed the scene carefully. “He’s asleep but dead asleep. Someone doesn’t usually get that way from merely being just exhausted. There’s something else going on.” He began to kneel beside Rooster’s sleeping form to where he saw a knocked over pill bottle tucked almost behind one of the legs of the bench. Scooping it up, Savant turned the label and frowned. “Antihistamines. Benadryl? Did you give him any of this?”

 

    What little color Maverick had left on his face completely drained, eyes turning almost haunted as he looked from his godson to the bottle in Savant’s hand. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he fought to swallow, dryness settling in his mouth and making it nearly impossible to speak.

 

    “I-I didn’t give him any. He did that on his own.” Maverick reached up a hand to clutch at his chest, feeling as though his heart was going to burst from his chest. “Did he……”

 

    Savant was quick to shake his head. “No, no! He’s just asleep.” Savant took the bottle back and unscrewed the cap. The pills inside rattled about and he felt himself relax even more. “Is this a new bottle?”

 

    Maverick nodded. “Yeah, I got it for Ice when we went to that cabin in the middle of spring, but he didn’t end up needing it. Brought it back here just in case but I haven’t taken any.”

 

    Savant was only half listening, doing mental math in his head as he began to count each individual pill. He had gotten his callsign for a reason, and although it took a little longer than it did when he was still in his 20s or 30s, he felt confident enough in himself to figure it out.

 

    “He only took three. While certainly more than I would suggest, the only thing it should make him is tired. Now, I want to observe him at least until it’s out of his system at the infirmary, but from what I see now, he’s going to be fine,” Savant assured as he tucked the bottle in his pocket and eyed Maverick warmly. “You can take a breath, Mav. Everything is going to be fine.”

 

    “You mean I don’t have to call Ice and tell him I fucked up?”

 

    “I mean, I would probably let him know what went on, but it’s nothing that can’t be fixed with some sleep and then education on how to properly take allergy medication. It’s a truly wonderful thing, but the ones that make you drowsy will knock you out.”

 

    Maverick sighed as he looked to Rooster, who had now started to snore. Truthfully he looked more peaceful than he had looked since the whole ordeal started, as now his eyes were a little less puffy and he wasn’t sneezing every couple seconds. That may change when he woke up again, but for now he seemed as comfortable as he could be considering what had went on. Maverick felt almost guilty that they would need to wake him up to move in into the infirmary.

    

    “Can we just let him sleep like this for a bit longer,” Maverick requested as he took a seat on the end of the bench, fingers threading through Rooster’s curls.

 

    Savant’s shoulders rose in a faint sigh, before he came to sit on the opposite side of Rooster, still with a pointed view at both of them. “Only for a bit. Although this should only cause fatigue, having him sleep on a bench in the hanger isn’t going to be the most comfortable for him in the long run.”

 

    “I hear ya. Just need a minute.” Maverick’s voice trailed off towards the end as he continued to brush Rooster’s hair from his forehead, relaxing just knowing that Rooster was safe and merely tired, even if it was the allergy medication that got him there.

 

    Savant felt himself doing the same, leaning back and feeling the wind through his now thinning hair. It was hard to say that this was really peaceful when it seemed like there was always something going on with someone he cared about. This was considerably mild by comparison, but still something that had to be dealt with. This was just life with their family, and although chaotic, Savant still wouldn’t trade it for the world.

 

    The End