Call Sign Elvis - Top Gun: Maverick

003

"Well good morning."

When Shannon arrived on base, Hangman was already there.

"Morning. Here bright and early I see."

"Always." He grinned.  They took their seats. "So why 'Elvis'?"

She smiled. "When I was a kid I was playing around, pretending to be a pilot, naturally, and my dad was asking what my call sign was. The King just happened to be on the radio, so I said him. Then, I eventually became a pilot and I got a call sign, and it just seemed right, it sort of stuck. It's a special thing I have with my dad. One of many." She smiled warmly, trying hard to focus on those good memories, not her father currently at home in pain. 

"Ah, look who showed up," Hangman announced as Phoenix, Fanboy, Payback and Rooster strolled in. "Ready?"

"Ready to finally find out who'll be teaching us," said Phoenix. 

Pretty soon everyone had gathered, ready to start their training for the mission. 

"Attention!"

Everyone got to their feet. 

"Your instructor, Captain Pete Mitchell, callsign: Maverick."

The looks on the boys' faces was priceless, as they finally put two and two together and realized who they had literally thrown out of the bar the night before. Shannon sat in the back row, biting the end of her pen to stop herself from laughing too hard. 

Bradly, on the other hand, was a mix of surprised and fuming. He spun around in his seat to look at her, she flashing a small smile back. He whipped back around to face the front, lips pressed tightly together. 

Mav didn't talk long and soon everyone was on their way to their planes. 

"Good luck out there," she told him, patting his shoulder.  "And don't get fired on the first day!"

He half-chuckled and half-winced. "I'll try my best."

"Good morning aviators, this is your captain speaking. Today's lesson: dogfighting. The objective: try to shoot me down as a team, 'try' being the key word there."

The pilots that weren't up first sat in the lounge, listening to the radio chatter from below. 

"This guy needs an ego check," stated Hangman.

Shannon scoffed. "Says you!"

"Hey Captain, how about we put some skin in the game?" suggested Payback. 

"What do you have in mind?"

"First to go down has to do two-hundred pushups."

"Guys, that's a lot of pushups."

"You can call it exercise, Sir," chuckled Fanboy.

"All right, you have yourself a deal."

Bradley was the first to go down, and, coincidentally, the first to have to do his two-hundred pushups.  She found him out on the tarmac pressing down while Hondo counted each and every one. "Did you prove your point?" she asked, watching Bradley dip up and down with each pushup. He said nothing, just grunted with the effort. 

Next up were Phoenix, Bob and Hangman. She chuckled while listening to the radio at Hangman's arrogance.

"You hear that Phoenix? He called you a man."

"So long as he doesn't call you a man!" she shot back.

Mav shot them down, adding three more to the tarmac for pushups. 

"Hey so what's up with Maverick and Bradshaw?" Hangman swiftly slid into the seat next to Shannon in the lounge where she had been sitting going over her notes, flipping a pen between her fingers and blowing big bubbles with her gum. He was sweaty and breathing heavy after all those pushups. 

"Done those pushups already?" A pause.  "What are you talking about?" She feigned innocence. There was definitely something up with Mav and Brad. Anyone could tell. Even, it seemed, self-obsessed Hangman. 

"I mean it's clear you're close with both of them - surely you know something."

"Well, maybe I do, but it's none of your business, Bagman." She got up and moved away. "You should have a shower - you stink."

Bradley tried again after everyone else had had their shot - their unsuccessful shot. Shannon listened while he and Mav spun lower and lower, nearing the ground.

"Christ, Bradley," she muttered, tossing her clipboard aside and hurrying out to the tarmac. 

"What the hell was that?" She chased after him as he left after doing a second set of pushups.  
"Don't ignore me, Bradley. What were you gonna do? Nosedive? Crash headfirst? You think that'll show him?"

"How could you not tell me?" he shot back, spinning around and finally facing her.

"It was classified."

He scoffed.  "You could have given me a heads up."

"But you'd be pissed either way."

"Damn right." This time, she let him walk away. 

"Everything all right with you and Rooster?" Mav caught up to her, evidently having seen the whole exchange from a distance. 

"He's just upset that I didn't tell him-"

"-I would be here," he finished. "I'm sorry, Shannon. I hate coming between you and Bradley."

"Hey, it's not your fault-" She regretted it as soon as she said it.

Because he insisted.  "Yes, yes it is."

(Notice the like father like daughter references from Ice in the first movie? ;)  Haha, I try!

Saw the movie again and it was just as good, if not better, the second time! I love you, Ice!

So you probably noticed that I changed this to a RoosterXOC story - I love Hangman, but as I thought about it, I felt the emotional weight and connection between Shannon and Rooster made more sense, so I changed it. There's a lot of Rooster fics out there, so I'll try my best to make mine unique - not that Rooster doesn't deserve all the love! 

I'd still like to write a Hangman story, and a Phoenix one as well... We'll see! ;)

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! :))