Home (Top Gun: Maverick, Rooster)

[Chrysanthemum]

Hello everybody! I'm new here! I've been eyeing this forum for a while, desperately wanting to contribute to the lovely collection of fanfiction here, but honestly having no idea where to start up until this point. Finally, I had this idea come to me, so here we are!

I've been on a Top Gun Maverick kick for a while, because I cannot help but squeal over a found father + found son dynamic!! So, this is my take on what sick Rooster trying-to-hide-it-from-Mav would look like!

This is my first fanfic, so I'd appreciate it if y'all took it easy on me. The set-up to this story retcons the ending to the movie a little...but that's just so I can keep all our favourite pilots together in one place. Apologies in advance for any mistakes in either story background or grammar/spelling - I tried my best to edit, but I'm not perfect.

Hope you enjoy! (Part 2 may be on the way)

~
 

         As it turned out, the “Dagger” training detachment, and the destruction of the unsanctioned uranium enrichment plant, would be far from Rooster’s last special training detachment at North Island. In fact, it seems it would be his, and the rest of his fellow Top Gun graduates’ first one of many.

         It was widely agreed upon by the central command of the US Navy that the training detachment and subsequent mission had been an astounding success, and not only did Captain Pete “Maverick” Mitchell assemble one of the most cohesive and deadly pilot strike teams in all of America’s combative forces, but also earned himself a reputation as one of the best piloting instructors the Naval force had to date. So why disassemble such a successful combination of pilots?

        When approached with the opportunity of continuing to work together as the “Dagger” team, working in both advanced pilot training and the Navy’s most difficult and top-priority missions, there was an astounding “YES!” throughout the entire team. In the weeks they had spent training together, every one of the pilots had become incredibly close, and were perfectly content with the idea of staying together and taking on one of the most decorated assignments the Navy could offer. Plus, it would infinitely boost Hangman’s ego. Besides that, the team had come to really enjoy working together. Phoenix clicked with Bob like no other back-seater of hers, and hell, even Hangman was making peace with Rooster. 

       But for Rooster, what overjoyed him the most about the posting was Maverick. Finally, with an understanding of what Mav did for him, and no parents left to turn to...how could he refuse the offer that would let him work with, and in general be with his mentor and father-figure? There was nothing Rooster wanted more in the world. He owed Mav his life.

       All that buzz was three months ago. Since then, Rooster and the others had been permanently stationed in the barracks at the North Island Naval base. Though, with how unordinary and special this essentially permanent detachment was, there were talks of the pilots being allowed to leave the Naval base and adopt permanent residency in San Diego. Mav was already ahead of the game, with that permission surprisingly granted from the Navy (how shocked he was, considering his history with Naval men in power) and had found a place to settle, with the help of Penny, of course. A nice little bungalow not far from where Penny and Amelia were. The offer to move in with her was still open, Penny had said, but Maverick had declined. He figured it would be best to give her and Amelia their space first before he totally crashed in on them.

       And all had been quiet ever since. Everyday was continued training, and they’d been on one or two additional missions since this new posting began. Rooster and the guys would pop by The Hard Deck every other weekend to celebrate their exploits, and he’d spend time with Maverick whenever he could, trying to heal the bond between them he had broken so long ago. Things were looking up: that’s what Rooster thought. And he hoped it would stay that way.

~

       Rooster bolted upright in a cold sweat to the steady beep of his alarm clock. He swallowed thickly as he turned over to shut it off, wincing at how dry and painful it had been. He coughed to try and clear his throat, being greeted with a throaty, wet, cough. He sighed, blowing a breath through his nose, only to realize it was running.

       Well shit, he groaned, reaching over to his nightstand and grabbing a tissue. He gave his nose a wet blow, which only triggered the last piece of evidence he needed:

 Hihrhrrshoo!

       Great, he mumbled under his breath. Sick. Just what I needed right now.

       Today was the first day of what Maverick called a very important training regime. They were getting their first critical mission in the detachment since the uranium enrichment plant, and today, Maverick would begin instructions on the complicated new flight techniques and patterns they’d need to learn to fly it. He could not miss this.

       Ever since Mav had pulled his papers and set his career back, he had always felt he had the need to prove himself more than his fellow peers, as a pilot with a significantly shorter career than them. This was going to be his biggest opportunity yet…but if Mav saw him like this…he’d ground him for sure; and that was something that Rooster just couldn’t contend with.

       After a quick shower, a skipped breakfast, his uniform on, and just a hop, skip, and a jump away from the designated classroom area on the base, Rooster sat dazed and quiet at the desks with his fellow aviators, unnaturally unfocused and disinterested in their conversations. His attention wasn’t drawn to anything in particular, until he was hit in the forehead by a wad of paper. The familiar sound of Hangman’s laughter followed.

      “Hey Rooster, aren’t you supposed to be the loudest animal of the bunch?” he chided. “C’mon and crow for us! Stop brooding over there, it’s not very good for your hero-complex.” Rooster grumbled under his breath, which was muffled by the sounds of lively conversation from everyone else around him as they waited for Maverick.

      “Cut it out, dickhead!” Phoenix said as she walked in from behind, smacking him lightly with the notebook she was carrying. She walked over to Rooster and sat next to him after throwing Hangman a menacing glare, which seemed to get him and the others to return to their previous conversations.

      “Bradshaw, are you good?” she asked, scanning over Rooster’s face. He looked pale and tired, and was sniffling. That wasn’t normal-Rooster-behaviour. “You seem…out of it. Since when do you let Hangman get in your face like that and say nothing?” That wasn’t standard Rooster-behaviour either.

      “M’fine'' he mumbled, wincing slightly. “Just…Juus-t-huhrrShoo!” He didn’t finish or let alone start the rest of the sentence, before quickly turning away from Phoenix and sneezing into his elbow. It was so harsh it seemed to wrack his brain, and he didn’t even remember what half-ass explanation he was going to give her for this.

      “Bless you,” she said, taking one more concerned look at Rooster. “Are you sure you’re good?” Rooster nodded, sniffling thickly and rubbing his nose.

      “Positive. Never better.” Phoenix eyed him, unconvinced, to which Rooster offered her a weak smile.

      “You know, you’re such an idiot,” she said, lightly punching him in the shoulder. “But hey, at least you’re not as thick headed as Baghead over there.”

      “Hey!” Hangman shouted over. “You could’ve at least gotten the ‘man’ part right! I think I like ‘Bagman’ better.” Phoenix laughed.

      “I could’ve, but like I’ve said before, since when did you earn the respect of being called a man? That hasn’t changed since the last time I checked, one more air-to-air kill or not.” Rooster sighed, for once grateful that Hangman had opened his all too big mouth. At least it kept Phoenix’s attention off of him, and he could go back to nursing his growing headache in peace. He appreciated Phoenix’s concern, but there was no way in hell he’d risk getting grounded. Not now, and not ever again. Those four years were long enough.

        Rooster had drifted off into a gentle sleep for god knows how long when he was suddenly awoken by the sound of chairs screeching on the floor. When he brought his head up from the desk, blinking away the fogginess in his vision, he was met by another confused glance from Phoenix next to him. He shrugged it off to her, his only response being a tiny, wet-sounding cough that she winced at.

        In front of the room stood Maverick, hence the ruckus from the chairs, as the aviators prepared for the pre-training briefing. Maverick scanned the room as he stood in front of the pilots; his routine check of everyone’s presence and attention. All was accounted for, it seemed…except for Rooster, whose eyes seemed dazed and glassy instead of determined and focused, as they usually were. Instantly, a pit of worry bubbled up in his chest; he looked so pale and exhausted…but Maverick swallowed it down. He had a job to do…and even after three months, still couldn’t risk getting fired.

       “Good morning, aviators,” he began. A polite chorus of response followed, from everyone except Rooster, who stayed silent and nodded along. “As you all know, today, we received a new assignment. A new, dangerous, mission that's going to be littered with dogfights and close-range combat. A debriefing in paper will be provided to you,” he said, waving manilla folders in his hand, “and we’ll go over it in full detail after nailing a few exercises that will help to better understand the mission parameters. Is that clear?” A formal round of “yes sir!”’s chorused around the room. Again, Rooster remained silent, except when he turned to hack out a cough in the midst of everyone else’s noise, hoping it would be drowned out. Worry continued to swell in Maverick, but he realized there was nothing he could do right then and there; not unless he wanted to publicly humiliate Rooster in front of everyone. He had already done that once when he had pulled his papers; he wasn’t very willing to do it a second time.

       Maverick continued to talk for another half an hour, going over the techniques and exercises he planned to teach for the mission. Rooster tried to pay attention, but Maverick sounded like he was underwater. His eyes were so heavy, he was having trouble staying focused, and between the pounding in his head, the rawness of his throat, and the building sinus pressure from the sniffling he kept doing (and the sneezes he was suppressing) while Maverick was talking…he was wincing at almost every moment.

       Rooster was startled out of his thoughts once again by the sound of scraping chairs–he hadn’t even noticed that Maverick had stopped talking. Following suit, he slowly got up from his desk, beginning to trail behind the other aviators on the way to suit up, when he felt a hand clasp his shoulder from behind. Rooster then turned to face Maverick, who was standing in front of him, worry knit in his brows.

       “Rooster, are you alright?” he asked. “You’re quiet…and pale. You didn’t seem to have that head of yours in the game, either. Is something going on?” Rooster gulped painfully, then produced a hoarse cough to clear his throat. Maverick frowned; he didn’t like the sound of that. 

       “I’m fine Mav, nothing’s happened,” he said. “I’m just really tired, I didn’t sleep well last night.” It wasn’t a complete lie; he hadn’t slept very well…he’d felt so groggy and achy the night before, and couldn’t sleep. Now that he was thinking about it though…it seemed to him a clear and early sign that he should have been prepared to wake up feeling like he did now. Maverick sighed, remaining unconvinced.

       “Are you sure you’re feeling alright Bradley?” his voice had gone softer, and Rooster knew he was being serious if he pulled out his first name instead of his callsign. “You look like you’re going to keel over…and I don’t like the sound of that cough.” Rooster sighed, buying himself time to think of another excuse to convince Mav, but as he opened his mouth to say something, something worse began to come instead, and he quickly pulled up his shirt to compensate:

      “Hihrhrrshoo! Huhrrushoo! HUhrhrrUSHOO!”  Rooster stumbled back slightly at the force of his sneezes; and so did Maverick, taken by surprise.

      “Bless you.” Rooster sniffed what he could, harshly coughing, and ran the back of his hand under his nose for the rest. After all this sneezing, his nose was starting to run like crazy, and as disgusting as it was to use his hand, it was better than admitting he needed tissues.

     “Thangks,” Rooster responded, congestion building in his voice. He certainly wasn’t helping his case here. As if thinking the same thing, Maverick continued:

     “Bradley, I really think you should get looked at,” Maverick said. “You’re in no state to be flying like this.” Rooster sniffed again as he shuddered at the thought of a military infirmary.

     “Mav, I promise, I don’t need to get looked at. I’m f-fine, I told…y-you…Hihishoo!”

    “Bless–”

    “Hihrhrrshoo!”

    “Bless you, again,”

    “HIhrhrrishoo!”

    “Done yet?” Maverick asked. Rooster shook his head, mouth hung open, as he ducked into his increasingly wet shirt one last time.

    “HuhrhrrUShoo!”

     Maverick sighed as Rooster turned away, flushed deep red, and desperately wiped his dripping nose on his sleeve, hoping Maverick wouldn’t see.

     “Jesus kid, bless you.” Rooster grumbled something in response that he assumed was a ‘thank you’, but hadn’t turned back to face him yet.

     “Alright kid, you’ve got a choice here,” Maverick began, waiting for Rooster to turn and face him again. His pale skin was now contrasted by flushed cheeks and a pink, still running nose, and his eyes continued to be dazed and glossed over with fatigue…and potential fever.

      “I can either take you to the infirmary and get you looked at, and they can clear you for flying…or you can accept defeat, and we can get you out of here to a hot shower, a warm bed, and some better food than whatever the hell they serve nowadays in the barracks. What’s your choice?” Rooster went silent for a few moments, then sighed.

      “Home,” he whispered. Maverick’s heart melted; for a moment, it was almost like that little boy that was around when Goose was had come back out of his adult shell. But that melty-feeling quickly turned back into worry. If he was this quiet, and hadn’t put up a fight…he must’ve been really sick.

      “Alright, that settles it. I’ll make a quick call to Cyclone to call off the others. Today’s class is canceled.”

      “Will you be allowed to do that?” Rooster croaked, coughing again. Maverick chuckled.

      “Technically not, but I’ll make up some excuse. I’m typically pretty good at sneaking by admirals.”

      “I’m not sure that should be something you’re proud of-f…of…Hihishoo!...ugh…m’sorry.”

      “Bless you…and it’s okay kid, you’ve got nothing to apologize for–and maybe I shouldn’t be proud of it, but hey, how do you think I survived in the Navy this long?” Rooster sniffled, giving a congested chuckle.

      “Ice?” He suggested. Maverick was somber for a moment, but then smiled in the happy memories of his friend and laughed.

      “Yeah, I guess that too.” The moment of remembrance didn’t last long though, as he was quickly brought back to reality by the sound of Rooster next to him.

      “Hihrhrrshoo!”

      “Bless you again. Now enough of me talking. Let’s go find you some tissues and get you home.” Rooster nodded, humming.

      “Home…” he repeated in a whisper. Maverick smiled, putting an arm around Rooster to guide him as they walked to leave the base. But as the waves of heat radiated off the younger pilot, Maverick knew he needed to get him out of here, and fast, before that fever got any higher.

[Loverofreading]

Love!!! Can't wait for the next part  (if there is one!) 

[Mygyn]

soooo good! Welcome to the small but mighty top gun fans on here! ❤️ 

 

loved your paternal Roo and Mav vibes!

[spn27695]

I love this! Can't wait for more xx

[solitaire-au]

I look forward to the next part!

[lillian]

Aw I love this!