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writing-and-wondering · 2 years

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You’re a Wonder

Part 1

Series Masterlist

Pairing: Rooster x Kazansky!Reader

Warnings: Alcohol, Swearing, Mentions of death

Request: Nope

Word Count: 7.7k (she’s kind of a long one sorry babes)

Synopsis: Y/n “Wonder” Kazansky is called back to Top Gun for a mission. It’s your first team mission in years, due to an accident in the past that left you shaken and scarred. This pretty much follows the events of the movie but with some changes and additions! One being you of course, dear reader.

A/N: Hello lovely people! This is my first multi-chapter Top Gun story and I am literally so so excited! I hope you enjoy! :D

You watch as Hangman throws his darts at the board, each one landing in the center. Next to him, Coyote lets out a scoff and covers Hangman’s eyes as he throws the final dart, and just like all the others, it lands in the dead center.

Hangman laughs and smacks Coyote’s hand. You roll your eyes, “No fucking way, man.”

Looking over at you as he picks up his beer, Hangman raises his eyebrows, “Oh? What makes you say, Wonder?”

“You’ve got to be cheating somehow, I swear.” You say, knocking back the rest of your drink. You frown down at the now empty cup and excuse yourself from the two in your company.

You walk over to the bar and place the glass on the counter, waving at Penny as she heads over, “Could I bother you for another, please?” You ask as she takes your cup.

Chuckling, she tosses her towel over her shoulder, “Like you could ever be a bother, Y/n.” You smile at her as she turns to get the ingredients for you drink.

“Ah, it seems that I need more limes. Excuse me, my dear.” She says to you before heading to the back. You let out a hum and drum your fingers on the counter as you look around.

It’s getting later in the evening and the bar is starting to fill up. You lean back and smooth out your khaki shirt, the uniform making you subconsciously sit a little taller.

Turning to the side, you feel a small gasp of surprise leave your mouth as you lock eyes with none other than Pete “Maverick” Mitchell.

His eyes go wide as a smile grows on his face, “Y/n?” He asks as you let out a laugh, “Holy shit. Hey, Mav.” You say as you walk into his already open arms. You hug him tightly before pulling away and shaking your head, “The hell are you doing here?”

Grinning, he shrugs, “Well, I could ask you the same thing but I’m pretty sure I already know.” As Maverick speaks he leans back and just stares at you for a moment. You notice and chuckle as you hold your arms out to the side, tilting your head down a little.

“Gosh, I haven’t seen you in years, kid.” He sighs, shaking his head.

Taking the seat next to him, you nod, “Yeah. I’ve been pretty busy.”

“No kidding,” Maverick says, “What- was it your graduation that I saw you last?”

You reach over and give his shoulder a light shove, “Absolutely not! That was way long ago. You’re age is showing, Pops.” He laughs at the comment, running a hand through his hair, “Glad to see that that nickname hasn’t gone away.”

“Did you think it would?” You ask, leaning your arms on the counter as you settle more comfortably into your seat.

With a shake of his head, Maverick spins his cup on the counter a bit, “No. I’m glad it didn’t. But it also has caused a bit of an issue, you know.”

“How so?” You ask, though you have a feeling about what he means.

“Well,” Maverick takes a drink of his beer, “Your dad and I have been in a three decade long debate on who’s the better wingman. But now the debate has shifted to which one of us you like more.”

You laugh, leaning back in your seat, “Oh my gosh, you two. Well, I love you both and you’re practically married at this point so I’d say it’s a pretty even tie.” You say, but then make a face, “Though I think Dad is a little more above you, as he did give me my wings.”

Maverick snaps his fingers, “I knew it.”

You clap a hand on his shoulder and give it a squeeze, “Aw don’t be too sad about it. He was always going to win.”

That gets a laugh out of him, “That’s fair.”

As you watch him, you realize just how much you missed him. Maverick has been in your life for as long as you can remember. Hell, Ice had even made him your Godfather. He had been there for every little thing in your life, and wow was it so good to see him again.

“Okay but seriously,” You start as you snap out of your little daze, “What are you doing here?”

He smiles at you, “Hmm. That’s classified.”

“Ah,” You hum, “It wouldn’t have anything to do with my dad, would it?”

Maverick’s smile only grows, “That’s... also classified.”

“Oh you’re no fun.” You scoff, a chuckle rattling your chest, “Ah well, keep your secrets. I have a feeling I’ll see you around soon enough.”

“I’m sure you will.” He returns.

Just as you're about to make your departure, Penny returns with your drink that you had completely forgotten about, “Sorry that took so long, kiddo. Jimmy must have misplaced the limes when taking care of shipment.” She says as she slides it over to you.

You gladly accept it, “It’s no problem, Penny. Besides, it gave me a chance to catch up with good ol’ Mav, here.”

“Oh, is that so?” Penny asks, sending a playful look to Maverick that you don’t miss. You smile at the two before looking over and noticing Phoenix entering the bar, followed by two aviators that you recognize from the academy.

“Well,” You state, standing up with your drink in hand, “It was really nice to see you again, Mav. But my friends just got here and just like you, I haven’t seen them in quite a while.” As you speak, a look of confusion grows on Maverick’s face as he glances over to where you walked over from.

He gives you a questioning look, “Were you not already with your friends?” He asks.

You laugh, “Who? Hangman? Absolutely not. Coyote, yeah. But not Seresin.”

Maverick makes a face, “That bad, huh?”

“I have a feeling you’ll find out.” You say with a grin.

“I’m sure I will.” Maverick agrees, glancing over to the growing group of aviators surrounding the pool table. You reach over and give Maverick’s shoulder a squeeze, “See you around.”

You turn to go but then look back, “Oh, and Penny-” You motion to Maverick’s phone on the bar. Penny gasps and a smile grows on her face as she walks over and rings the bell.

Everyone in the bar cheers and Maverick smiles even though it is very evident how confused he is. You hide your laugh behind your hand.

“What... is happening?” Maverick asks Penny, who simply just steps to the side to reveal her famous rule sign. In reading it, Maverick lets out a breathy laugh and looks to you, “Really, Wonder?”

You shrug, “Rules are rules, but thanks for the drink, Pops!” You say as you raise your drink to him before turning on your heel and heading over to your friends.

All you hear is Maverick’s defeated laughter as you walk away.

“No way- Wonder!” You’ve barely joined the group before Phoenix is colliding with you, her arms wrapping around you in a bone crushing hug. You return it, a wide smile on your face, “Hey, Phoenix!”

She pulls back and gives your shoulders a shake, “I haven’t seen you in forever, how have you been, babe?” She asks, the nickname making you chuckle.

You throw your arm over her shoulders and let out a breath, “Oh I’ve been good, honey, just flyin’ the skies.” The exchange between you two comes so natural.

Though she was a couple of years ahead of you, the two of you were inseparable during your academy days. People would often joke that you sounded like an old married couple with how you spoke to each other.

“I can’t believe we’re all here right now. This is nuts.” Phoenix says as she looks around the group, shaking her head in disbelief.

You nod along with her words, “Yeah... just seems like we’re missing someone.”

As if on cue, you look off to the side and see none other than Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw walking into the bar, signature sunglasses covering his eyes.

“Bradshaw,” Hangman says as he leans on his pool stick, “As I live and breathe.”

Rooster heads over and gives the man a grin, “Hangman,” He greets, “You look... good.”

“Oh, I am good,” Hangman says as he lines up his pool cue, “I’m very good.”

“Eugh, either get a room or move over,” Phoenix says as she nudges past Hangman to get to Rooster. She lands a punch on his shoulder, “This is how I find out your state side?” She asks accusingly.

Rooster shrugs, a smile tugging at his lips, “Yeah, it was a bit of a short notice.”

Phoenix sighs, “Shut up.”

You laugh as she winks at you before focusing back to the game of pool. Pulling your attention away from your friend, you find your eyes locking with Rooster’s.

The two of you take a step towards each other. You stare into his eyes, and he stares back, both of your faces expressionless.

“Bradshaw.” You speak first.

“Kazansky.” He responds.

There’s a beat of silence between you two before a wide smile grows on your face, at the same time as Rooster’s. You step forward and pull him into a tight hug, “It’s good to see you, man.” You say before pulling away.

“Good to see you too, Wonder.” He says, his hand straying on your arm for just a moment before falling to his side. A part of you wishes it hadn’t left so soon.

Hangman’s clearing of his throat pulls your attention away from the curly haired man, “So... Phoenix, you gonna introduce us to your friends?” He asks, a grin tugging at his mouth.

Rolling her eyes, Phoenix crosses her arms, “Fellas, this here’s Bagman.”

“Hangman, actually.” He corrects.

“Whatever.” Phoenix says, clearly unphased, “And behind him is Coyote.”

You watch as Coyote waves at the two behind Phoenix, who return the action.

“Guys-” Phoenix motions to the men behind her.

“I’m Payback.” You recognize the one to her right as he speaks.

“Fanboy.” You recognize him too. They had been at the academy the same time as you but you never really got the chance to get to know them since they were a couple of years ahead. The only thing you did know is that they were damn good pilots.

In fact, all of you were.

“Oh!” Phoenix breaks you from your thoughts, “I don’t think you guys have quite met Wonder yet. Not since before graduation, at least.”

You lean your back on the bar as you wave at them with a smile.

“Her and Bradshaw graduated a little bit after us.” Phoenix explains, “Making them first and second in their class.”

Fanboy takes a step towards you, squinting at your name, “Kazansky?” He asks, looking up at you, “As in, Admiral Kazansky?”

You nod, “The very same.”

“You’re his kid?” Payback asks, surprise showing in his eyes.

“That I am, boys.” You respond, taking a sip of your drink.

Payback lets out an excited laugh, “Holy shit. Y’know, I’ve heard stories about your flying, Wonder.”

“All good things, I hope?” You ask, a smile growing on your face as a little heat rises in your cheeks at the sudden attention.

Fanboy nudges Rooster with his elbow, “Hey, you’ve flown with her, yeah? Do the stories live up?” Rooster only nods as he glances at you with a smile.

You see an inkling of pride glisten in his eyes as you speak, “Yeah he did.” You pat his shoulder, “And he was up in the air when I beat his ass. Every. Single. Time.”

A chorus of oooh’s floods through the group, causing Rooster to run a hand down his face as a laugh shakes his shoulders, “Always a competition with you, Wonder.”

Your laughter brings you to miss step a bit and you find yourself bumping into someone next to you. “Shit, sorry!” You say as you turn, only to be met with yet another aviator in khakis, “Oh hey, what’s up?” You wave at him.

He waves back with a small smile, a cup of peanuts in his other hand.

“When did you get here?” Hangman asks, his attention now on the man.

You glance over to him as he answers, “Oh, I’ve been here the whole time.”

Hangman hums, “Ah, a stealth pilot.”

“Weapons service officer, a-actually.” The man responds, wiping crumbs off of his lap as he fidgets in his seat.

“One with clearly no sense of humor...” Hangman mutters. You shoot him a look and he holds his hands up in defense after catching it.

Phoenix heads over, “What do they call you?” She asks him.

He looks up at her, his eyes going slightly wider, which honestly you didn’t think was possible, “Uh, Bob.”

"No, your callsign.” Fanboy says from where he stands next to Payback.

Bob swallows and looks around awkwardly, “...Bob.”

“Wait, you’re Bob Floyd? My new back seater?” Phoenix questions as she eyes him up and down.

Nodding a little aggressively, Bob answers, “Y-yeah. I guess I am.”

Phoenix grins at him and hands him a pool cue, “Alright. Let’s see what you’ve got then.”

Bob takes the stick, clearly excited but unsure. You notice him still sitting however and give him a little shove to his feet, “Go on, she won’t bite.” You tell him as he grins at you before going over to the pool table.

You sip on your drink as you watch the game continue, politely declining when Coyote tries to get you to join.

“You backing down from the chance to beat someone’s ass? Unheard of.” Rooster says from next to you, earning him a light shove.

“I’m not always looking for a competition, you know.”

“Bullshit,” Rooster tries to cover up the word with a cough into his fist.

You roll your eyes and turn to say more, but your eye catches more aviators entering the bar, “Holy shit.” Your remark causes the others to look up.

Fanboy lets out a low whistle, “Is that... Harvard? Yale? Man, they’ve got everyone here.”

You turn back to the group, confused, “The hell kind of mission is this?”

“That’s not the question we should be asking,” Phoenix says, her arms crossed, “Whatever this mission is... it’s brought in the best of the best. So if we’re all here, who the hell are they going to get to teach us?”

Her question leaves the others in silence as they take a moment to think. You turn over your shoulder and glance at Maverick, the gears turning in your head, “I’ve got an idea..”

“What was that, Wonder?” Phoenix asks. You snap back to her, shaking your head, “Nothing. Just a hunch.”

“Oh, don’t tell me that the Admiral’s daughter has insight on the mission.” Hangman says, earning him a glare from you.

You get up and push at his shoulder, “Nope. I know as much as you do- besides, I don’t even think my dad knows I’ve been called in.” Leaning back against the bar, you shrug, “I just have a feeling, is all.”

“Do share with the class?” Hangman motions for you to continue.

You squint at him for a moment, “Hmm. No.”

“What? Why?” Hangman asks, clearly flabbergasted. You take a drink, “Because you’ll find out tomorrow, Bagman.”

Shaking his head, Hangman lines up his cue once more, “Unbelievable.”

His muttering is drowned out as you turn in your seat, resting your arms on the cool countertop.

You take a long sip of your drink, which was honestly mostly just juice, as Penny was very aware of your early call time and absolute hatred for mornings.

Bless her, you think as you notice Rooster walk up next to you. He leans his back on the bar, his body turned away from you.

“So...” He starts, nudging you a bit with his elbow, “I hear you’ve been going on a lot of solo missions?”

You nod and lean back so you can see his face, “You’ve heard right.”

He pulls his gaze away from the game of pool, his face suddenly serious, “Still flying alone then?”

You find it hard to swallow the lump forming in your throat as you stare into his eyes. The mixes of browns show nothing but concern, something that you hadn’t expected. Not yet, at least.

You offer him a soft smile, “Yeah. Still flying alone.”

He places his hand on your shoulder. It’s warm and comforting against your skin, “Are you okay?”

You take a moment to breathe in deeply and then slowly release, “I’m doing better.” You tell him.

“Do you want to talk about it?” He asks, his voice so full of care and caution that it makes your chest tighten. You look forward for a moment before leaning in closer to him as your voice lowers, “Bradley... you’re a good friend- one of the closest I’ve got. You’ve been there for me through thick and thin, but...”

You pull away just a bit, just enough to fully look at him. And so he can look at you, “I don’t want to talk about this right now. Not with you, not with anyone. Not ever.”

His face pulls in such a way that it makes you want to take your words back immediately, but you know you can’t. You’ve never talked about what happened. You’ve never been able to say it out loud. You don’t think you’ll ever be able to.

He reaches down and takes your hand in his, giving it a squeeze, “You’ll need to talk about it eventually...”

You turn back to your drink, suddenly wishing it were stronger, “...I know, but not today.” You say simply, your hand still clasped in his. He takes a step to be closer to you, and you’re thankful for him to just be near you.

Looking up from your hands, you lock eyes with Maverick. He’s giving you a concerned look, which you can do nothing but shoot him a small smile to ease his obvious worry. He returns one of his own before his eyes flick over to Rooster.

In that moment, you’re thankful that Rooster has his back still turned to the man, unaware of the holes that are practically being burned into the back of his head with how Maverick is looking at him.

With a squeeze to your hand, Rooster suddenly leans down and whispers in your ear, “I know what’ll cheer you up.” He says before heading over to the juke box. You turn and watch him unplug it before he walks over to the piano.

A wide smile grows on your face as his fingers begin to move over the keys. The others notice and Phoenix grabs your hand, “Come on!” She says as she pulls you over to Rooster.

Your hand subconsciously slides across his back as you make your way next to him just as he begins to play Great Balls of Fire, his hands moving so effortlessly across the keys.

The words to the song fill the room as everyone begins singing them at the top of their lungs. You feel your heart beat faster and your body fill with nothing but absolute joy as you yell the lyrics.

You don’t know why you’re all here. You don’t know what this mission is about or what’s in store for all of you. But what you do know in this moment is that this is a damn good song and you absolutely adore the people that are singing it with you.

Waking up to the sound of your alarm made you want to rip it out of the wall and chuck it out onto the tarmac so that it would be run over by a plane taking off. But you didn’t. Instead, you rolled over and turned it off, before literally dragging yourself out of bed to get ready.

The process of getting ready went by in a haze, the movements so natural to you that you could do them in your sleep. God, wouldn’t that be amazing.

Before you knew it, you were sitting down behind Rooster as you all filed into the hangar for your first day. Rooster had made a comment about how you looked like hell and all it had earned him was a not so friendly hand motion from you and your overly tired brain.

Only when Warlock stood in front of you all did you finally feel yourself wake up. He addressed you all and explained the mission that you were brought in for.

“Your instructor is a Top Gun graduate, with real world experience,” Warlock continues. You turn as your hear footsteps nearing you, “This is Captain Pete Mitchell. Callsign: Maverick.”

As he passes by, you can’t help the smile that tugs at your lips. I was right, you think. Your smile fades just as quickly as it comes when you notice how rigid Rooster’s shoulders go, and how he won’t meet Maverick’s gaze as he takes the podium.

“Hello,” Maverick starts. You don’t really hear what he says as you watch Rooster turn his head to the side, his hands clasped tightly on the table in front of him. You glance up as Maverick holds up the manual you had spent countless nights poured over, “I’m sure you all know this inside and out, right?” He asks.

A chorus of yes’s and a couple of damn right’s fill the air. You nod along with everyone, but then feel a truck full of confusion slam right into you as Maverick proceeds to through the text in the trash.

“Well forget it.” He says.

Sorry, what? you think.

“When you’re up there,” Maverick points to the sky, “nothing from a book is going to help you do what you need to do. All you need to do is to trust your instincts, and go.”

There’s a beat of silence as Maverick’s gaze drifts over all of those before him, “Don’t think. Just do.”

You let out a huff of a breath, tapping the pencil in your hand against the book that you were now supposed to just forget.

Maverick nods and faces everyone with a smile, “Alright. Let’s see what you can do.”

After doing checks on your jet, you headed over to Phoenix, who was kneeling on the ground next to hers. You engage in a friendly conversation before noticing that her eyes have drifted to something behind you. You follow it and find Rooster and Maverick in what seems to be a not so friendly conversation.

You let out a long sigh, a part of you having wondered how long it would be before those two would start at it.

As Rooster walks away from Maverick, you turn back to Phoenix, who is looking at you, “What is going on between those two?” She asks.

You purse your lips and opt for a shrug, “I’m not one to say.”

Phoenix nods slowly and stands up, brushing her hands off on her pants, “Well, I hope that they can amend whatever is between them before the mission.”

“I hope so, too.” You agree, though knowing what you know, you aren’t sure that it’s very possible.

Rolling your shoulders out, you reach over and give Phoenix’s arm a squeeze, “Have fun up there, dear.”

She grins at you, “You know I will, honey.”

You give her a little two finger salute before turning on your heel and heading towards your own jet. Running your hand over the nose of it, your entire body lights up with adrenaline. As you climb the ladder and sit down, securing your straps, your excitement only grows.

God you love flying.

Maverick had had you all warm up before splitting you up into pairs and having those not flying back at the hangar listening in. Right now, you were sitting by the radio as Payback and Fanboy took to the sky with Rooster as their wingman.

“Good morning, Aviators, this is your Captain speaking.” Maverick’s voice filters through the radio and you can’t help but roll your eyes as he continues. He explains that they’ll be doing dog fighting exercises, with him as the one they need to try and evade and shoot down.

“Hey, Mav, how about we put some skin in the game?” Payback asks, his voice light.

“What were you thinking?” Maverick returns.

“How about... 200 pushups?” Payback’s answer makes you groan. From next to you, Bob pushes his glasses up his nose, “He’s going to kill us.”

You lean back and cross your arms, “No kidding.”

“That’s a lot of pushups.” Maverick’s voice crackles over the radio.

“Yeah, well it wouldn’t really be a challenge then, would it?” Fanboy questions, the laughter evident in how he speaks.

There’s a beat of silence before Maverick chuckles, “Alright kids, let’s go.”

You learn forward in your seat as you hear Maverick take the team by surprise, their yelling immediate. It seems to happen so fast, how Rooster covers for Fanboy and Payback, only to be taken out by Maverick a moment later.

As the fight is called to an end, you frown. You could practically feel Rooster’s anger towards Maverick through the radio, and you’d be lying if you said it didn’t worry you.

The next to go are Phoenix and Bob with Hangman. You stand next to Rooster as he leans on his hands by the radio, muttering a, “Watch your back, Phoenix.”

Your leg bounces relentlessly as you listen in, only to hear Phoenix and Bob get shot down within minutes, having been left to hang out to dry by none other than Hangman himself.

He sure does know how to live up to his name.

You can’t help the slight chuckle that rises from your throat when Hangman asks Phoenix if she sees Maverick, only for her to respond with, “I’m dead dickhead.”

“See you in the afterlife, Bagman.” Bob puts in, just as Hangman is taken out by Maverick.

The groans that fill the room cause you to drop your head into your hands. Damn, Maverick was good. You knew that but still, what the hell.

Next are Hangman and Rooster, a duo that you had a bad feeling about. Your feeling was only proved when Hangman proceeded to speak, “So, Rooster. Do you mind if I ask you a personal question?”

“Would it matter if I did?” Rooster sounds very clearly uninterested in whatever it is Hangman has to say. The other, though, doesn’t seem to catch on. Or, maybe he does, and he just doesn’t care.

You’re pretty sure it’s the latter.

“What’s the deal with you and Maverick?” And bam, there it is. You sigh, your fingers coming up to pinch at the bridge of your nose.

“That’s really none of your business.” Rooster says, the annoyance evident in his voice, “Where is he, anyway?”

“Been here the whole time.” Maverick’s voice crackles through. You walk over to the window and peer out, just barely being able to see the three jets in the distance. You watch as Maverick flies up until he’s on top of Rooster, looking down at him from an inverted position, “Can you see me now?”

Maverick is met with silence, which he fills with an exasperated, “Come on, let’s get this over with.” Your stomach quite literally drops as you watch the two planes fly down in a spiral.

“What is with these two?” Hangman asks, no doubt confused as everyone else.

“The hell are they doing?” Fanboy asks from where he stands next to you. Shaking your head, you cross your arms, “Being children.” You state.

As they fly down, your annoyance grows into worry as they break the hard deck. You look over and share a concerned look with Bob. What the actual fuck, is all you can think as the two grow closer to the ground.

Their yelling is drowned out by the sound of the radio telling them to pull up. Pull up. Pull up.

Maverick is the one that pulls away first, followed by Rooster just as he was about to nosedive into the ground. Their pointless fight ends with Maverick taking the kill, once again triumphing over Rooster.

You let out a breath, your knuckles having gone white at your sides from how tightly you were clenching your fists. You don’t even wait to hear what Maverick says before you’re storming out of the room and towards the tarmac.

You hear feet run after you and you don’t even have to turn to know who it is, “Wonder, wait up!” Phoenix calls as she comes up next to you. She places her hand on your arm, “Hey, where are you going?”

Your feet come to a halt and you turn to her, “To go tell that little shit that he can’t get away with pulling stupid stunts like that just because he’s angry at Maverick.”

“What is he even mad about?” Phoenix asks, clearly as annoyed as you by this entire situation. You sigh and run your hand down your face, “Why don’t you come with me and ask him yourself?”

She does. The two of you stand off to the side as Rooster finishes his pushups. The moment he’s done, you're walking over ready to confront him.

“What the hell was that up there?” Phoenix asks as Rooster sits back, his head down, “Don’t worry about it.” He sounds close to tears as he speaks, not looking up to meet either of your gazes.

“Look,” Phoenix kneels down next to him, “I’m going on this mission, but if you pull a stunt like that again and get kicked out, then you leave us flying with Hangman.”

You see Rooster process this, but all he does is focus on pulling at the skin around his finger nails. You take a step towards him but remain standing, “Why did you do it?”

You already know the answer, but Phoenix doesn’t. Rooster still won’t lift his head, “He pulled my papers. Set my career back four years.”

“What?” Phoenix asks, her voice dripping with disbelief, “Why would he do that?”

Rooster looks over his shoulder at the setting sun, his head shaking, “I don’t know.”

Letting out a breath, Phoenix squeezes his shoulder, “Okay. I’m not going to just tell you to get over it because... I know I wouldn’t. But what I will say is to try and move past it for right now. Focus on the mission, not who’s teaching it.”

She rises to her feet, Rooster still opting to look at anything but the people before him. But he does nod in acknowledgement to her words.

That seems to be good enough for her, “Alright. I’ll see you around.” She pats your arm before turning and heading back inside.

You stay where you are, still looking at the defeated man before you.

“You gonna scold me too?” Rooster asks, his voice dry.

Though he isn’t looking, you shake your head, “No. I was going to ask if you wanted to get a drink.”

That gets him to finally look up at you. He meets your eye for the first time since you came out here, and he is visibly confused.

You scoff and offer your hand to him, “C’mon, Bradshaw.” He stares at it for a moment before taking it, his hand fitting into your own like a puzzle piece.

An hour or so later, the two of you are sitting in a booth at the Hard Deck, a couple of beers in each. You’re laughing over a story you’re telling from your first few years at the academy.

“Yeah, we flew those planes in such a way that I’m pretty sure if our instructor had actually seen us, he would have had a stroke on the spot.” You chuckle as you take a drink, “God, I’ve never been yelled at like that before.”

Looking over the brim of your cup, you can see the flush of Rooster’s cheeks as he laughs, “Yeah,” you continue, “-and to this day I still have no fucking clue what he was actually saying. Just that he was piiiissed.”

“Oh God, it was always you getting into the most trouble.” He sighs, finishing off his drink and wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

You lean back into the booth, “Yeah... Y’know I think when I joined a lot of people expected me to be like this, carbon copy of my dad or something. But no, I was the furthest thing from it.”

“You ended up being more like Maverick than anything.” Rooster points out, his eyebrows raised at you. You shake your pointer finger at him, “That I did. And I was breaking rules left and right, so much so that I’m honestly really surprised they didn’t kick me out.”

Rooster scoffs, “They wouldn’t. They saw how good of a pilot you are.”

“Psh, sure.” You wave him off, “For how often we got into trouble and how they yelled at and ridiculed us... we all still knew how much they loved us.”

Rooster’s mouth drops open, “Dude, everyone loved you.”

“No they didn’t.” You protest as you take a long drink.

“Uh, yeah they did. They either loved you, wanted to be you, or wanted to fuck you.”

You ball up a napkin and throw it at him, “Eugh, don’t be gross!”

He holds his hands up in defense as he laughs, “Okay, okay. But seriously, you guys were like this weird little infamous group that everyone wanted to be apart of.”

You reach across the table and poke at his shoulder, “Hey, you were apart of our group, too.”

Rooster shakes his head but a fond smile finds its home on his face, “Nah, not until waaay later.”

“Whatever, you were always a part of it in my eyes.” You say as you push your cup over to him. He gladly takes it and finishes the drink off, nodding at you in thanks.

You lean forward and rest your chin on your hands, “Yeah... gosh, what a time. Me, Ace, Ghost... and Comet. They were something else, huh?”

Rooster hums in agreement, his hands playing with the napkin that you threw at him earlier. You clear your throat and scratch at the back of your neck, “You know... I think about them every time I go up in the air. About everything we did together. All of us.”

Looking up at you, Rooster reaches across the table and you see the hesitation in the ways his fingers twitch before he gently takes a hold of your hand, “Do you still think about him?”

You stare down at your hands, at the way his thumb is softly circling around your knuckle. You nod and smile a little at him. With your free hand, you reach under your shirt and pull out your dog tags. Shifting them in your hand, you reveal to Rooster that Comet’s tags are on the same chain as yours.

“Him especially.” You say, your voice quiet as your throat tightens, “He’s always with me... still flying.”

“He’s still flying...” Rooster repeats, the softness in his voice bringing tears to your eyes that you didn’t welcome. You look off to the side, every part of you hoping that he didn’t notice.

He did. But he didn’t say anything. Instead, he held your hand just that much tighter and began telling stories of his own. Before you knew it, you were laughing again.

After a drink and countless stories more, you both decided that it was time to call it a night. As you walked out of the bar, he had his arm slung across you shoulders, your arm wrapped around his waist.

It was something so natural for the two of you. Wanting nothing more than to just be in the company of one another and know that the other is there. It was something that you truly cherished about your friendship.

“I could’ve stayed in there all night but wow these call times are insane.” You groan.

Rooster chuckles as you near his Bronco, his arm falling from your shoulders in favor of opening the door for you, “Why thank you, kind sir.” You say as you slide into the seat. He gives you a wink before making his way to the drivers side.

The music is loud the minute the car starts, and it only grows louder as he drives. The cool summer night air feels so good on your skin and you close your eyes, allowing yourself to forget everything for just a moment.

Just one moment.

“You never really were a fan of mornings.” Rooster’s voice breaks you from your thoughts. You look over to him and shake your head, “Nope, never.”

You shift to get more comfortable, “You’d think with being in the navy for so long that I’d get used to it but nah, I think it only grew my hatred for mornings more.”

“Most people become used to it, but not you?” He asks as he glances over to you.

“Absolutely not.” You run a hand down your face, “In fact, I think somehow it had the opposite effect.”

Rooster laughs at your inconvenience as he drives. Jerk, you think, but there’s still a smile tugging at your lips. You look over at him as you both fall into comfortable silence. His curly hair blows in the wind and his skin seems to glow under the moon. As he drives, you notice how at ease and just completely himself he looks. It’s nice... and kind of hot.

It’s unfair for someone to just look like that naturally, you can’t help but think. You shake your head at the thought, only then noticing that Rooster is looking back at you, having parked the car at your destination.

“Enjoying the view, Kazansky?” He asks, a playful grin on his face.

“Eh,” You say, a chuckle in your throat, “Could be better.”

That gets a laugh out of him. A good laugh, the type that makes his head fall back and his hand come up to his chest. God do you love making him laugh.

The next day is the same as before. Maverick continues to nail every single jet he flies against, sending every pilot down to their fate of 200 pushups in the blazing heat of the sun.

When you finally hear your name called to go up, you make a promise to not let him do to you what he’s done to everyone else. Or rather, you just really don’t want to do pushups. Why are those even a thing. Absolutely terrible.

Moments later, you’re up in the air with Phoenix and Bob, the three of you looking around for the captain.

“Oh Captain, my Captain...” You call in a sing song voice, your eyes scanning the terrain below you. Your head is off to the side when you feel your entire jet get flung off center, “Holy shit!” You shout as you put on your mask and clip it into place.

“The hell!” Phoenix calls as she steadies her jet.

“Morning aviators.” Maverick says to the three of you, “How are we feeling?”

You look back and see his plane behind you, taunting you. You snap forward, “Like I’m about to really enjoy seeing your ass do 200 pushups.” As you speak, you go off to the side until you’re covering Phoenix’s tail.

“Oh, a little cocky there aren’t we, Wonder.” Maverick tells you.

“Not cocky, Mav.” You state, your eyes constantly watching the man as he flies around you, as if he were a shark circling his prey, “Is that so?” He asks.

You let out a deep breath, “Haven’t you learned yet not to get into a fight with a Kazansky while in the air?” You say to him.

“Ooooh...” Phoenix's voice comes from her plane. You smile as your eyes flick over to her and Bob’s jet before focusing back on Maverick, who is laughing, “I’ve been told I’ll never learn.”

“I think today we’re going to change that.” You say, your hands firmly gripped on the yoke.

You can hear the smile in Maverick’s voice, “Let’s just see how this goes, shall we?”

As he speaks, you find him just a little off to the side of your two planes, “Phoenix, on your six.” You tell her.

“I see him.” She responds, “How we lookin’ Bob?”

“Like we’re ready to kick a fossil’s butt.” Bob replies.

You can’t help the wide smile that grows on your face under your mask, “Alright then, let’s show this old timer what we can do.” Right as you finish talking, the two of your planes break apart, leaving Maverick to choose which one to follow.

“Oh, leaving your wingman uncovered, are we? Who are you, Hangman?” Maverick quips as he turns and follows Phoenix. You feel your mouth drop open, “Low blow, Mav.”

He chuckles, “Hey, I’m just getting back at you for the old man jokes.”

You stifle a laugh, “Fair enough. But we’re just having a little fun out here.” You say as you pull on your lever and ascend, the pressure pushing you back into your seat. Your body is then lurching forward as you increase speed, following behind Maverick.

His movements are sporadic yet you can’t help but admire the control he has as he moves his jet to avoid your line of fire. You watch him closely and turn when he does, “Phoenix break left!” You shout at her. As she does you drop and fly out from under Maverick’s jet, placing yourself in between him, and Phoenix and Bob.

“Wonder just saved your ass, Phoenix. Now it’ll cost her.” Maverick says, the confidence in his voice only pushing forward your want to beat him at his own game.

“Oh!” You shout at him, “Who’s cocky now?” You yell out as you break right, Maverick following you. He’s close to you, but not close enough.

You tightly grip the controls as you watch him out of the corner of your eye, awaiting his next move. As he moves it feels as though he’s almost playing with you. Your growing annoyance is replaced with surprise as he suddenly shoots off in front of you. In the way he moves you know what he’s about to do.

You’ve seen it a thousand times and heard your dad’s stories of it a thousand more. You can already sense the infamous cobra maneuver before he even does it. In an instant, just as you anticipated, he breaks and flies right over head.

With a shout, you break along with him and pull back. Your entire body moves to the side as you turn and line up your planes. You see his head snap to the side, the surprise evident in his eyes for the split second that you see them.

In your next breath, you’re pulling up and flipping your plane over his. You see his head follow you just as you break and flip your plane back upright, landing directly behind him. Even before your plane fully settles in, you lock onto his jet and the tone is going off in your headset.

“WHOO!!” You scream, a little surprised in yourself for pulling it off, “Mav is dead!” You cheer, your hand reaching up to take off your mask as a victorious laugh rips from your chest.

You hear Phoenix and Bob practically screaming in your ear and look over to see their plane, both of them inside going absolutely ballistic, “That was insane, Wonder!” Bob yells to you.

You do a little spin motion of your hand to him before looking off to the right to Maverick. He is staring at you, his mouth hanging open, “Where the hell did you learn to fly like that?”

“Where do you think?” You ask, reaching up to tap your name plate. Maverick shakes his head and chuckles, “Of course.”

You smile widely at him, “How about we go see Hondo about some pushups, Mav.” You say to him, earning a not so kind hand motion from the man.

Laughing, you pull your plane off to the side and head back to the tarmac. As you come in for landing, you can see all the others running out.

The second your jet touches the ground, you jump out and are met with a crushing hug from both Phoenix and Bob. The three of you cling onto each other and jump in a circle like little kids, “That was fucking awesome!” Phoenix cheers.

“Hell yeah it was!” You shout as the three of you pull apart. Just as you're out of their hold, you feel yourself being lifted off of the ground and spun around. A yell of surprise escapes you, quickly followed by a fit of laughter as your brought back down, the arms around your waist releasing you.

You turn quickly and find that it was Rooster. He’s staring at you with a smile and a look that makes you feel like you could fight the fucking sun and win. As you stare at him it feels as if it’s just the two of you. Just you and him. He steps forward and looks as though he’s about to say something, but is interrupted as the others crowd around you.

Hangman and Coyote are shaking your shoulders and everyone’s cheering so much that it feels like you might as well have just solved world hunger or something. “WOOHOO!” You yell, both Fanboy and Payback yelling it with you.

You stumble slightly due to your laughter but a familiar hand is grabbing onto your own as you recenter yourself. Your eyes meet Rooster’s once more and the two of you share a look before throwing your head’s back and yelling a joint, “Whoooh! Great Balls of Fire!”

He pulls you into a hug and doesn’t release you completely as you all make your way back to the hangar. His arm is across your shoulders and yours is wrapped around his waist, a mirror of the night before, and it just feels so right.

As you walk, you look over and see Maverick getting started on his pushups, Hondo counting them out for him. You smile and give him a two finger salute in passing him.

He shakes his head but you can still see the smile on his face.

God does it feel good to win.

A/N: end of chapter one!!! woohoo!! I had so much fun writing this and can't wait to write more!! :D

Taglist lovelies:

@alanadetigy @wiltedloves @datingbtr @adorephina

#bradley bradshaw x reader #top gun: maverick #topgun maverick #bradley bradshaw #reader insert #rooster x reader #this was so fun #milano speaks #youre a wonder #slow burn #top gun #top gun maverick #topgun #fanfic #bradley bradshaw imagine #rooster imagine #milano writes a story

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