Maverick woke up to a pounding headache, a sore body, and a cold face. He thought he heard something but ignored it.
Until it got closer.
He sat up quickly when he recognized that sound. He tried to get up and run, but he was still attached to his parachute. He disconnected it and ran as he heard the helicopter warming up its guns. He dove behind a fallen tree right as they started firing.
Suddenly, the firing stopped. He let out a sigh of relief as he sat up. That sigh was interrupted when the helicopter flew around and got him in their sight. Maverick watched as the guns moved so they were pointed at him.
There was an explosion but not the one he thought. Instead of him, the helicopter was the one that exploded. Maverick watched as a certain F-18 flew by.
"Oh, no, no." He mumbled. Rooster flew by, briefly forgetting about the SAMs. Maverick jumped when Rooster's plane was hit.
~ • ~
"Dagger Two is hit," the comms officer said slowly.
That did it.
Maddlyn couldn't hold back her sob anymore. Hondo jumped up and wrapped his arms around her as she sobbed.
"Dagger Two is hit."
"Dagger Two, come in. Dagger Two, do you copy?"
Maddlyn grabbed Hondo's radio before anyone could stop her. "Rooster? Rooster, answer me. Please. Bradley?"
Maddlyn's sob came back the longer it took for Rooster to answer her. With the radio still in her hand, the trainees could hear her break.
"I lost them," she whispered. "I lost both of them."
Hangman couldn't listen to this.
~ • ~
Maverick instantly started running towards the crash site when he saw the parachute. He ran through the woods, focusing on where Rooster landed.
"You all right?" He asked as he ran to him.
"Yeah, I'm good. You all right?"
The second he got to him, Maverick allowed his anger to push him down.
"What the hell?" Rooster yelled as he threw off his helmet and jumped up.
"What are you doing here?" Maverick shot back as he threw his own helmet down.
"What am I doing here?" Rooster repeated.
"You think I took that missile so you could be down here with me?" Maverick scoffed. "You should be back on the carrier by now!"
"I saved your life!"
"I saved your life. That's the whole point," he said, calming down. "What the hell were you even thinking?"
"You told me not to think!"
Maverick studied Rooster as he threw his hands up in defense. They both breathed heavily as they tried to catch their breaths.
"Well," Maverick sighed, "now we need to think."
"About how to. . ." Rooster started to agree but Maverick cut him off.
"Maddy."
"Shit," Rooster mumbled as he ran his fingers through his hair. "She thinks. . ."
"We both went down," Maverick finished for him. "Now, we need to do everything we can to get back to her."
"And fast," Rooster agreed. "So what's the plan?"
"Working on it."
* * * * *
As they hid on top of the ridge, Rooster knew Maverick was crazy. They looked down at the runway the ship had blown up.
"You're not serious."
"Unfortunately," Maverick sighed, "if we want to get back to Maddlyn, this is how."
Maverick got up and started jogging down the hill. Rooster watched him for a few seconds, his mind on the woman he loves back at base who is trying to put her mind around the idea that her father and the boy she loves are gone.
Rooster jumped up and followed him. They were able to take cover right at the edge of the woods.
"You've got to be shitting me," Rooster scoffed. "An F-14?"
"I shot down three MiGs in one of those," Maverick shrugged.
"We don't even know if that bag of ass can fly," Rooster added. "I highly doubt we can get back to Maddy in that thing."
"Let's find out."
"Mav!" Rooster yelled as Maverick jumped up and ran towards the F-14. "Okay," he sighed as he started running after him.
"There's guys up there, Mav," Rooster warned as they ran across the runway.
"Yeah," he said, sounding like he wasn't phased.
"There's more over there."
"Okay."
"And you don't seem worried," Rooster sighed.
"Focus on Maddy," he instructed. "Focus on her and you won't worry about them."
"Focus on Maddy," Rooster repeated. "Maddy. Right."
They ran into the hangar, Maverick instantly looking at the controls. Rooster, on the other hand, kept nervously glancing over his shoulder.
"Once I give you the signal for air, you're gonna flip this switch until the needle gets to 120," Maverick instructed. "When the engine starts, you got to pull out the pins and disconnect everything. You understand?"
"Yeah."
Maverick started powering it up, holding his breath as he waited for the plane to kick on. "Yes!" He laughed. "Once I'm up, stow the ladder."
Maverick climbed up the ladder and got into the seat. "Okay," he said under his breath. "Wow. It's been a minute. I could really use you right about now, Mads."
He powered it up and sent Rooster the signal. Rooster instantly turned and flipped the switch that Maverick told him to. As soon as the engine turned on, Rooster ran and disconnected the plane from the fuel line. Once it was all disconnected, Rooster jumped onto the wing and got in the other seat.
"This thing is so old," he mumbled.
"All right," Maverick sighed as the plane rolled forward. "Canopy?"
"Clear."
As they pulled onto the taxiway, the canopy shut. "Um, Mav? Both runways are cratered. How are we gonna get this museum piece in the air?"
Without saying anything, Maverick pushed the lever that activated the wings.
"Why are the wings coming out, Mav?"
Maverick didn't respond. "Mav, this is a taxiway, not a runway," Rooster warned. "This is a very short taxiway, Mav."
"Just hang on."
"Holy shit!" Rooster yelled as Maverick didn't ease into taking off.
"Come on," he mumbled. "Needle's alive. Come on."
"Mav?" Rooster questioned when he saw the giant fuel tanks blocking the rest of the taxiway.
"That's it," he mumbled. "Come on, come on! Alright."
"Mav!"
"Here we go." Maverick pulled back, making the nose of the plane lift.
"Holy shit," Rooster gasped.
They both let out relieved laughs as they barely made it. As they went up, Rooster sent a signal with his ESAT.
~ • ~
"Sir," a comms officer back at the base said, "we're receiving a signal from Rooster's ESAT."
Maddlyn froze. She looked up at the screen, barely able to see Rooster's signal on the screen through her tears.
"Bradley," she whispered. "He did it."
Hondo tightened his arms around her.
"Of course he did," he whispered.
"He couldn't have done it alone," Maddlyn started to say before the comms officer interrupted her.
"But there seems to be a malfunction."
"Have you lost him?" Admiral Bates asked quickly.
"No, sir. He's supersonic."
"He's airborne," Admiral Bates mumbled.
"In what?" Admiral Simpson couldn't help but laugh.
"Sir," another comms officer said. "Overwatch reports an F-14 Tomcat is airborne and on course for our position."
"It can't be," Admiral Simpson said slowly.
Maddlyn started giggling. Her laughter made Admiral Simpson know exactly how Rooster was still alive and how he was in an F-14 Tomcat.
"Maverick."
~ • ~
"Okay, Rooster, get us in touch with the boat."
"I'm working on it," he said, his thoughts only on hearing Maddlyn's voice. "Radio's out. No radar. Everything's dead back here. What do I do? Talk me through it."
"Okay, first the radio," Maverick started. "Throw the, uh-- the UHF-2 circuit breaker. Try that."
"There's 300 breakers back here," Rooster sighed. "Anything more specific?"
"I don't know. That was your dad's department."
"I'll figure it out."
Rooster started scanning the different breakers. Something out of the corner of his eyes caught his attention.
"Mac, tally two, 5:00 low. What do we do?"
"Okay, listen. Just be cool," Maverick said calmly. "If they knew who we were, we'd be dead already."
"Well, here they come. What's your plan?"
"Just put your mask on," he said as he did the same. "Remember, we're on the same team. Just wave and smile."
The two waved as one of the planes came up next to them. Maverick tried to signal that their radio was down. The other pilot signaled back.
"What's that signal?" Rooster asked. "What's he saying?"
"No idea," Maverick sighed. "I have no idea what he's saying."
"What about that one? Any idea?"
"No, never seen that one either."
"Oh shit," Rooter mumbled. "His wingman is moving into weapons envelope."
"All right, listen up," Maverick instructed. "When I tell you, you grab those rings above your head. That's the ejection handle."
"Mav, can we outrun these guys?"
"Not their missiles and guns."
Rooster slowly tore his eyes away from the planes. "Then it's a dogfight," he said under his breath. "I'm sorry, Mads."
"An F-14 against fifth-gen fighters?" Maverick asked. "I'm sorry too, Maddy."
"It's not the plane, it's the pilot." Rooster recited. "You'd go after them if I wasn't here."
"But you are here," Maverick sighed. "And I promised Maddy. . ."
"Come on, Mav," Rooster pushed. "Don't think. Just do."
Maverick thought about it, weighing his options. The one thing that finally made him snap out of it was the thought of Maddlyn having to go through the rest of her life alone.
Rooster gasped as Maverick rolled the plane to the side. He rolled over one of the planes, setting off his guns.
"Tell me when you see smoke in the air," Maverick said.
"Smoke in the air! Smoke in the air!"
"Hang on."
Maverick moved so that the missile hit the plane that shot them.
"Yeah, Mav!" Rooster laughed. "Splash one! Splash one! Here comes another one."
Maverick pulled up. He waited until they were going straight to tell Rooster to send off their flares.
"Splitting the throttles," Maverick said going into autopilot. "Coming around. Give me tone, give me tone."
Maverick smirked when the target locked.
"You got him, Mav! You got him!" Rooster cheered.
"Taking the shot."
They watched as the plane dodged the shot.
"What the. . ."
"Holy shit," Rooster gasped. "What the hell was that?"
"Hang on. We gotta get low. This terrain will confuse his targeting system."
"Here he comes!"
As they flew through the canyon, Maverick was right. The lower they flew, the more it confused the other plane's sensors. They grunted when the other pilot just started firing.
"Talk to me, Rooster. Where is he?"
"He's still on us!"
The pilot lined up behind him and took the shot. "We took a hit!" Rooster yelled. "We took a hit!"
"Damn it!"
"Come on, Mav," Rooster said as they barely got away from the pilot's next couple of shots. "Do some of that pilot shit."
"Brace yourself," Maverick warned. Maverick got out from in front of the other plane and was able to line them up behind it.
"I got the tone," he said once his target locked. "Taking the shot."
"Damn it!" Rooster yelled when the guy shot their missile.
"Out of missiles," Maverick said. "Switching to guns."
Maverick didn't keep track of how many rounds he had left as he held down the trigger.
"Come on, Mav," he mumbled to himself.
"You got him, Mav!" Rooster cheered when Maverick finally hit the guy.
"It's not over yet," he sighed. "One last chance."
"You can do this."
Maverick finally hit the plane, letting the bullets string across the back of the plane. They watched as the pilot ejected and the plane crashed against the mountain.
"Yes!" Rooster cheered. "Splash two!"
Once they were safe, Rooster resumed his search for the radio. He sighed in relief when he pushed a button and the system powered up.
"Mav, I got the radio on."
"Outstanding," he chuckled. "Get us in touch with the boat."
"Copy that."
Suddenly an alarm started going off. "What the. . ."
"Are you kidding me?" Rooster scoffed. "Where the hell is this guy?"
Maverick's stomach sank when he found him. "He's on our nose." He tried to start shooting but the clicks were empty. "Damn it, we're out of ammo."
His stomach sank even lower when the plane in front of him sent off a missile. "Smoke in the air! Rooster, flares!"
Maverick turned them as Rooster released the flares. They both sighed in relief as their flares took out the missile.
"That was close," Rooster said. They gasped when the plane flew a little too close to them. "We're out of flares, Mav. Shit, he's already on us."
The chase was easy for the enemy but tough for Maverick and Rooster. It didn't matter how good of a pilot Maverick was, he couldn't shake an F-18 in an F-14.
"We took another hit!"
"No, no, no, no, no!" Maverick mumbled.
"We can't take much more of this," Rooster warned.
"We can't outrun this guy," Maverick sighed. "We gotta eject."
"What?"
"We need altitude. Pull the ejection handles the second I tell you."
"Mav, wait!"
"Roosters, there's no other way. If we want to get back to Maddy, we need to eject."
Before Rooster could try to talk him out of it, Maverick yanked them backward and made them go straight up.
"Eject, eject, eject! Rooster, pull the handle. Eject!"
"It's not working!"
The higher they got, the harder it was to breathe. Maverick knew he couldn't get them out of this.
"Mav!"
"I'm sorry," he said through his heavy breathing. "I'm sorry, Goose."
Suddenly, the F-18 was hit by a missile and exploded. Rooster and Maverick both turned around to see a different F-18 flying through the smoke."
"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen."
"Son of a bitch," Rooster laughed. Maverick shook his head as Hangman put his plane next to theirs.
"This is your savior speaking," Hangman continued. "Please fasten your seat belts, return your tray tables to their locked and upright positions, and prepare for landing."
"Hey, Hangman," Rooster smirked, "you look good."
"I am good, Rooster," Hangman said instantly. "I'm very good. I'll see you back on deck."
The two laughed as Hangman turned his plane around. "Come on, Mav," Rooster chuckled. "Let's get the hell out of this fossil."
"We're on our way, Maddy."
~ • ~
The Admirals quickly ran to the bridge as Hangman landed. Admiral Simpson grabbed some binoculars and watched the F-14 come into view of the ship.
"Maverick is downwind," Maverick told the ship. "No front landing gear. No tailhook. Pull the cable and raise the barricade."
"Foul deck! Foul deck! Raise the barricade!"
Maverick flew around as they got everything ready for them. Something exploded, making the whole plane shake.
"Please don't tell me we lost an engine," Rooster sighed.
"All right," Maverick cleared his throat, "I won't tell you that."
"Okay."
There was no turning back now so Maverick went ahead and landed on the boat. They landed rough, but the barricade caught them.
"You good?"
"Yeah," Rooster said. "I'm good."
Maddlyn looked up at Hondo with tears in her eyes. "Are they. . . Did they. . ."
Hondo walked over and kissed Maddlyn on the top of the head.
"They made it, kiddo," he whispered. "Let's get you to that tarmac and you can tell them how unbelievably stupid they were."
"I like that plan," Maddlyn said, her voice getting caught in her throat. "But I might need you to push me. My arms feel like Jello."
"I got you, kid."