Two Ghosts (A Rooster/OC/Iceman Fanfic)

Chapter 4

Mongoose kept her head down and tried to stir up as little trouble as possible.

Of course, Iceman had continued to goad her when they were in air and she was this close to punching him in his perfect face. She couldn't remember bickering with anyone this much. Not even Hangman.

Luckily though, she'd slowly earned the respect and admiration of her fellow pilots. She'd already completed the program (which had been much harder in the F-18's), but she was still studying with Maverick in one of the rec rooms.

Charlotte "Charlie" Blackwood walked up to her and Maverick.

Mongoose ignored the woman until she heard, "Lieutenant Grenier."

Mongoose looked up. "Mongoose, please."

Mongoose was still resisting 'Minx' as her callsign, despite it being approved by the higher-ups. She'd even received a new helmet with the callsign. It was black with white stripes and a pair of yellow cat eyes on the back. She kept her Mongoose helmet just in case she ever made it back to 2022.

"Mongoose. Congratulations on the Top Gun program. I'm sure you'll be an inspiration for women fighter pilots everywhere."

"Thank you, ma'am." Mongoose didn't want to be an inspiration. She wanted to go back to her time and fly with her team.

Charlie walked off and Maverick nudged Mongoose.

She looked down and saw a dinner invite scribbled on the piece of paper Charlie handed Maverick. "And you call me a minx," Mongoose teased him.

They got up to leave and Slider, who was holding a model plane, made a crashing noise. "Crash and burn, huh Mav?"

Maverick leaned in close to him and sniffed. "Slider, you stink."

Mongoose let out a high pitched giggle at the comment.

Maverick smiled and threw an arm around her shoulders as they walked out.

After training that day, the aviators decided to go down to the beach and play a few games of volleyball.

Mongoose found a spot on the sand and laid down a towel.

"You gonna be my cheerleader, Minx?" Iceman asked her.

"In your dreams, Kazansky!"

Iceman gave her a wink. "How'd you know you were in my dreams?"

Mongoose cursed herself for blushing. Iceman was smooth. She'd give him that.

Mongoose slipped her aviator sunglasses onto her face and looked at the aviators on the court.

It was Slider and Iceman versus Maverick and Goose. Maverick was playing volleyball in jeans of all things.

The apple doesn't fall too far from the tree.

Rooster had played dogfighting football in a pair of jean shorts.

Goose was the only one dressed for volleyball in a pair of swim trunks and a white t-shirt.

Mongoose tried to not let her eyes linger on Iceman's chest and stomach, but it was nearly impossible.

There was a break in the game and Iceman walked over to Mongoose. He slipped off his dog tags and said, "Hold onto these for me, sweetheart?"

Mongoose just stared up at him. Iceman taking off his dog tags was a big deal since service members rarely ever took them off.