Jaguar ~ Top Gun Maverick

Chapter 2

'Phew. Here goes. No turning back.' I thought while hopping off my dirt bike. I opened the door to the bar and sat down. From the corner of my eye i could see Hangman throwing darts with Coyote. I looked to my right. Maverick. I looked away. Not after what he did.

"Well what do we have here?" Hangman said to Coyote as three pilots walked in. Fanboy, Payback... and Phoenix. I watched with interest before debating wether to join in. 

"Here I thought we were special,Coyote. Turns out the invite went to anyone... Keepin' it tight, I see, Phoenix." Hang man says looking over to her.  Phoenix smiles, annoyed but patient. As she approaches. "Fellas, this here's Bagman." I chuckled at her joke. "Hangman." he corrected. "Whatever." she then added to Payback and Fanboy "You're looking at the only Naval Aviator on active duty with a confirmed air-to-air kill." I rolled my eyes. 'Hah. That's nothing compared to me.' I said to myself. She continued "Mind you, the other guy was in a museum piece from the Korean War." Hangman's smile fades. Coyote jumps in to defend him. "Cold war." Payback replies "Same century." "Not this one." Hangman looks at Coyote. "Thanks for nothing." Coyote turns his attention back to Phoenix "Who're your friends?" "Payback, Fanboy." "Who's he?" "Who's who?" Coyote asks

Phoenix motions, Coyote sees a guy with glasses sitting in the corner "When did you come in?"  "I've been here the whole time." "The man's a stealth pilot.Literally" Hangman jokes. "Weapons Systems Officer, actually." "With no sense of humor." Hangman walks away toward the bar. "What do they call you?" "Bob. "No, your call sign." Payback asks "Bob." there's an awkward pause. Phoenix studies him. "You're my new back-seater. Sent from Lemoore." "Looks like it." There was a long pause. No telling what Phoenix thinks about this until she grabs a pool cue.  "Nine ball, Bob. Rack 'em." She says handing him it.  Hangman approaches with an empty bottle, and gets Penny's attention. "I'll have six more on the old-timer." Hangman sees me and freezes. Rooster enters the bar. Hangman is still frozen. Phoenix strides over with open arms. "This is how I find out you're stateside?" "I thought I'd surprise you." He goes to hug her. I start to feel jealous. She feints a punch to his gut, he flinches. "Guess I surprised you back." "It's good to see you."  "Good to see you, too." Penny hands Hangman his beers. Hangman snaps back to attention and grins at me. 'Oh shit. He's gonna blow my cover.' I thought. 

"Much obliged, Pops." He says to Maverick and heads back to the other pilots. "Look who it is! Cortell! As I live and breathe." All eyes turn on me. Phoenix raises an eyebrow. 'No turning back now' I say to myself and walk over. He hands me a beer. "You look good, Hangman." I said. "I am good, Jaguar. I'm very good." He replied. Phoenix and Rooster share a glance. "Who's he?" Payback asks pointing to me. A man came up behind me and said "This is Jaguar. Best pilot you'll ever meet. 3 confirmed air- to air kills." I turned to see Rookie. "Good to see ya bud." I said and he stood beside me. I watched as Phoenix eyed Rookie. "You got taller." she said to him. "Thanks." He replied. "So anybody know what this "special detachment's" all about?" Fanboy asks. "A mission's a mission. That doesn't confront me. What I wanna know is who's team leader? And which 'a y'all have what it takes to follow me?" Hangman winks at me, needling me.  "Hangman, the only place you'll ever lead anyone is an early grave." I shot back. This caused some tension. Hangman looks up from his next shot, stands and walks to me face-to-face.  "Anyone who follows you is just gonna...run outta fuel. Just like your old man." I can feel the anger boiling inside me. The song changes. Hangman continues. "I love this song." He walks off. I  exhale as Phoenix steps up, unimpressed by the high-chesting. I never take my eyes off of Hangman.  "He hasn't changed." "No, he sure hasn't." I replied Then she added. "But you have. And i like it." she pats me on the back before walking off. I smile at this comment. 

Hangman steps up to the jukebox, smiles and makes a selection. "Check it out. More patches." A second wave of pilots enter the room. "Omaha, Halo, Harvard, Yale... Shit, that's Fritz." "The hell kinda mission is this?" Fanboy asks. "That's not the question you should be asking." she then adds. "Everybody here is the best there is. Who the hell are they gonna get to teach us?" The look on Rooster and my face darkens as we realize. A hand grabs a power cord and yanks it from the wall. All of the music in the bar stops. The crowd groans, catcalls, whistles.  Hands pull up a bench, open the lid of a piano.WIDE SHOT of the crowd, all heads turning as someone starts pounding on the piano. At the bar, Maverick turns and sees Rooster at the piano, playing away, the reaction in the room skeptical.In the back, Phoenix smiles, nods to Payback and Fanboy to follow her. They do, unsure of what's going on.Hangman stands up from his next shot at the pool table, left alone with Coyote. The party is no longer his.CLOSE ON: Rooster banging away on the keys, finishing the intro. He starts singing. Phoenix joins in, motions for Fanboy and Payback to do the same. I'm sitting down talking with Rookie when i hear the bell ring again and the crowd starts to chant. "OVERBOAAAAAAAARD!" A hand grabs Maverick's shoulder. He turns to see Hangman,backed by Coyote, Payback and Fanboy. Maverick looks back at Penny. She waves him away. Maverick is dragged back, hoisted bodily into the air, carried to the door as the crowd chants "OVERBOARD. OVERBOARD!" At the piano, Rooster plays on, his friends singing. His back to the action, he doesn't see Maverick being hauled out. The "Over-board" chant builds. The back door blows open and Hangman and Payback force Maverick off back steps into the sand. A raucous cheer erupts inside. "Thanks for the beers. Come back anytime." Hangman says before leaving. The pilots all laugh and head back in. Hangman high fives Coyote, greets the other pilots. But his smile fades when the music at the piano changes. The first strains of Great Balls of Fire.Rooster has them in his hand. "You shake my nerves and you rattle my brains/that kinda love drives a man insane..." He started to sing. 

I watch as Maverick walks to his bike and stops to hear the song. He walks closer to see Rooster playing on the piano. I know what's going through his head. I feel bad. But what he did was wrong. not only did he pull Rooster's and my papers but when Dad died he became more distant. He was like a father figure to me. He was my Uncle Pete. Then Dad died and he was gone. I was suddenly angry. I looked over my shoulder to see Phoenix. 'Maybe that's why i came back...' I wondered. She caught my stare and rather than smiling looked away. 'It's gonna take some time. Lets just hope i have enough time' I thought to myself before getting up and leaving.