Two Ghosts (A Rooster/OC/Iceman Fanfic)

Chapter 5

Mongoose was studying when she heard a knock on her door and Maverick and Goose walked in. "Mav, Goose, how can I help you?" she asked.

"We're gonna go pick up my wife and son if you want to come along," Goose told her.

All the breath left her lungs.

Carole and Bradley were coming?

Mongoose remembered Rooster telling her that he was on base when his father died.

Goose's days were numbered.

"Um, no. I'm sure you haven't seen your wife and son for a while. I wouldn't want to intrude."

"Oh, okay. Another time then," Goose said.

"Yeah."

Maverick and Goose turned to leave.

"If you change your mind, they'll be here for a few days," Goose said.

"Thank you."

Goose nodded and he and Maverick left.

Mongoose sat in her room for a few more minutes. Her thoughts were swirling with Rooster and Goose. She threw her books aside and stood up. She needed to get off base for a little while.

Mongoose searched through the barracks until she found Wolfman and Hollywood in one of the rec rooms. "Can I borrow your Walkman?" she asked Wolfman.

"Sure." He searched through his stuff and handed it to her.

"Thanks." Mongoose left the pilot and his RIO and slipped the headphones on, sorely missing her AirPods. Luckily for her, she knew how to operate a cassette player.

Mongoose left the base and started jogging. Running always helped her to clear her head and keep her anxiety levels low.

She ran until she felt like her legs were going to give out. Mongoose collapsed onto the sand of the beach and laid on her back, letting the sun beat down on her.

Did she tell Goose that something was going to go horribly wrong and result in his death? What he say if she told him? Would he believe her or think she was being paranoid?

Mongoose picked up her dog tags, selecting Rooster's. "Talk to me, Roo."

Tears filled Mongoose's eyes.

She wanted to go home.

She wanted to go hang out with the Dagger squad at the Hard Deck.

She wanted to harmlessly flirt with Bob and watch his cheeks go red.

She wanted to play pool with Hangman.

She wanted to get into Star Wars debates with Fanboy and watch Phoenix roll her eyes at them.

But most of all, she wanted to fall asleep with Rooster after an all-night classic movie marathon.

The longer Mongoose was stuck in this era, the more she missed her life in the future.

"The bogey has good position right here," Viper said as they watched monitors.

They had just been through a drill and much like Maverick had done before the uranium mission, they were analyzing everyone's performance.

Mongoose sat next to Maverick with Slider and Iceman right behind them. Iceman was leaning forward on the railing with one hand on the back of Mongoose's neck, gently stroking the side of her neck with his thumb.

If the public display of affection went noticed by any of the pilots in the room, no one said anything. Probably because they were afraid of getting punched in the face by either Iceman or Mongoose.

"Alright, freeze frame. Moment of choice. The F-14 is defensive. He has a chance to bug out right here. Better to retire and save your aircraft than push a bad position. Charlie, jump in here anytime. Now, you stay here in that diamond another three seconds, the bogey's gonna blow you out of the sky. You take a hard right, select zone five, you can extend an escape. You made a bad choice. Charlie..."

Charlie stepped forward. "Aircraft one performs a split S? That's the last thing you should do. The MiG's right on your tail. Freeze there, please. The MiG has you in his gunsight. What were you thinking at this point?"

"You don't have time to think up there. If you think, you're dead," Maverick said.

"Don't think, just do," Mongoose added, backing Maverick up.

"We'll, that's a big gamble with a $30 million plane, Lieutenant."

Iceman whipped off his aviators and sat back in his seat, but not before lightly squeezing Mongoose's neck. Both he and Maverick heard her sharp intake of breath.

Charlie walked back towards the monitors. "Unfortunately, the gamble worked. The MiG never got a clean shot. Maverick makes an aggressive vertical move here, comes over the top, and he defeats the bandit with a missile shot. The encounter was a victory, but I think that we've shown it as an example of what not to do. Next."

Slider leaned towards Maverick. "Gutsiest move I've ever seen."

Maverick smirked and held up his fist.

Mongoose tapped it with her own.

When class was over, Maverick stormed out of the classroom.

"Hey! Mav! Wait up!" Mongoose said, chasing after the fuming aviator. He turned to her.

"What do you want, Noel?"

"Ouch. First name basis?"

Maverick shook his head. "Sorry."

"Don't listen to her. You're the best fighter pilot I've ever seen, so don't let her get to you."

"Better than your boyfriend?"

Mongoose laughed. "Yes. Even better than Ice."

"Lieutenant!" Charlie called.

"Uh oh. Here comes the missus," Mongoose teased.

Maverick rolled his eyes and stormed off, Charlie following.

She stood there watching the couple until a pair of hands landed on her waist. Mongoose jumped and spun around to face a smirking Iceman. "Don't do that!"

Iceman chuckled. "You know, for a fighter pilot you sure are jumpy..."

"I just don't like people sneaking up on me is all."

"How about you and me go get that drink I owe you?"

"I believe you owe me a date too, Kazansky."

Iceman wrapped an arm around her waist. "Indeed I do, Grenier."