Top Gun Rooster

Chapter 2: Shut You Down

Tack it up, tack it up
Buddy, gonna shut you down
It happened on the strip where the road is wide
Two cool shorts standin' side by side
Yeah, my fuel injected Stingray and a four-thirteen
A revvin' up our engines and it sounds real mean
Tack it up, tack it up
Buddy, gonna shut you down

"Shut You Down" - The Beach Boys

The briefing room in the morning was set up as it always was, with the rows of hard folding chairs set up with military precision. The San Diego sun was just peeking through the fog, and the smell of moisture on the chaparral was in the air, mixed with the smell of the ocean. When Rooster walked in to the briefing area, several of the others were already there.

Like students in a classroom, everyone tended to sit in the same spot. Rooster noticed that Hangman was sitting in his usual seat toward the front left center, and was having a conversation with Logan "Yale" Lee and his Weapon Systems Officer or "Wizzo," Brigham "Harvard" Lennox. He was dangling a cup of coffee in one hand. He didn't look too hung over, which was a surprise given how drunk he had seemed. He was perfectly groomed, the uniform crisply pressed, his shoes shining with a mirror finish and his trademark arrogant smirk on his face. Rooster thought he could see a hint of darkness under Hangman's eyes, the only sign of a night spent partying. There was a slight twitch of his eyes toward Rooster as he entered, and the barest hint of a chin nod acknowledgement. But otherwise there was no recognition.

Payback had a smirk on his face as he walked up to Rooster, and greeted him with a "Good Morning, Sunshine! You look like something the cat dragged in!"

Rooster smiled and responded, "We had a good time last night, didn't we?"

"Let me see, a shitload of beer, some singing, and a fight. I'd say you did it right." Payback said.

"Looks like Hangman got back okay. You didn't kill him while he was passed out." Payback joked with him.

"Well considering that he didn't actually pass out, I never had the opportunity," Rooster grinned, but in his mind he was seeing Hangman lying on his bed, a hint of a smile on his face, his legs apart, and his head cocked a little to the side, like he was inviting Rooster to join him.

"What's that look?" Payback asked. "You look like you were up to no good."

"Oh it's nothing," Rooster replied, rearranging his features to be nondescript.
"I think you are remembering that civilian girl in the bar last night, Payback goaded him, with a smirk of his own. "She was hot! Oh how she wanted you!"

In truth, Rooster had no memory of this girl. He searched his memory again, and came up with nothing. Sure there were women in the bar, often women who had a thing for flyboys, and there were a number of them there last night. But Rooster couldn't remember any one in particular.

"Well..." he said, hedging.

"I knew it!" said Payback. "She followed you out when you were hauling Hangman out the door. Did you go home with her?"

Luckily, Fanboy walked in saying, "It's time, fellas!" and they all got to their seats, Rooster in his usual seat on the right side, several rows back from the front.

Maverick walked his cocky strut down the center and stood in front. "There are two things to tell you today," Maverick announced to the squadron. "The first is, and some of you may already know, that I'm retiring. This will be my last week with you." A sober silence filled the room. Although his being there to train them for the mission was not initially welcomed, and the training was in fact humiliating, most of the squad knew there was a lot to learn from him, and a lot that he could teach them. Rooster in particular was looking forward to learning the tricks that to Maverick were second nature.