When We Were Young (Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw x FEM reader)

Chapter Eighteen

We've been flying for an hour and haven't seen or heard anything. No Rooster, No Maverick. "You alright there Daggers?" Hangmen asked me. I break away from my cloud of panic and protectiveness. "You care?" I ask back, not caring if he had a chance. "Well if it affects the way you are flying, then yes. I don't want my life at risk because you can't keep it together?" He sassed, letting me know that he was still Hangmen. I roll my eyes and focus on...what if we never find them. I can't lose my father, my Godfather, and the love of my life in the same week. What if they are dead? I breathe slowly, trying to keep myself steady. Beeping suddenly interrupts me. "What is that?" I ask Hangman, not seeing anything on my radars. Then I suddenly see it. "It's Rooster," Hangman mutters.

"Right. Here's what we are gonna do," I start and Hangman scoffs. "Look. I know that you and I have had a rough patch. And yes, you don't like the people that I do. But you do this. And you will be a hero. And I know this is something you have been wanting for years. So do this. Save Maverick, save Rooster. And you will be marked a hero." Hangman sighed and finally spoke, "I'll track the location and follow." I smile a little as he thrusts ahead. I follow quickly on his tale. We follow the exact location of his radar. That is when we see them. "Is that-" "an F-14?" I ask. And that's when we spot the other bandit. We must have gotten close enough because their mics connected with ours. "We can't outrun this guy. We gotta eject." Maverick's voice called. He's alive!

"What?" Rooster's panicked voice spoke. "We need altitude. Pull the election handles-" More beeping interrupted his thoughts as another bandit came hurdling towards them. This time at their nose. "Oh god," Rooster muttered. Maverick cursed quietly and pulled his stick, shooting them high into the atmosphere. I let out a shack breath. "What do we do?" Hangman asked me. He too had panic in his voice. "We fight. You take care of the one on their rear. I'll take care of this one." I drop and swing around. I lock onto the enemy jet and fire at him. I cracked his shell casing., but didn't hit anything good. "Eject, eject eject," Maverick calls out to Rooster. I want to glance back behind me but this jet has spotted me. I fire a missile at him and it hits him before he knew what to do. "Hangman, I've gotten the new Bandit taken care of. What is your statice?" "I can't get a clear shot. He's following Mav's tale to close. I don't want to risk hitting them." "I'm sorry Goose." I hear Mav whispers. "Hangman. Do it now!" "What?" "Just do it." Hangman fires and nails the jets.

"Good afternoon, Ladies and Gentlemen. This is your savior speaking. Please fasten your seat belts, return your trays to their locked and upright position, and prepare for landing." Hangman said as we flew right next to them. "Hey Hnagman you look good," RoosteI called out "i am good Rooster. Very good." He said and I roll my eyes at him "but this wasn't all me." "Hey kid," Maverick called out to me. I turn toWhatk at him "what are you doing up here?" He asked. "What? Do you think I'm letting you two dipshits die because you wanted to 'save each other?' Ye, ah, no." "Well, you did great. You took out an Su-57, without enough time for him to react." "And she managed to get me to take a shot I didn't want to." Maverick looked over at me, with questioning eyes. "Well Maverick, it's like you always say, Don't think. Just do."

Rooster chuckled in the back seat. "I'll see you all on deck. Daggers, don't stay out too much longer. We gotta refuel." I nod at Hangman as he departs. "Hey, Daggers?" Rooster called out. "Yes?" I glance over at him. "Hurry up and get on deck. I gotta something I wanna ask you." I blink at him and nod hesitantly. I turn around and make my way to the Cruiser. I land and hope out of my jet, being met with people cheering. Phoenix ran to me and pulled me into a tight hug. "Glad to see you made it back in one piece," she said. I pull away from the hug. "Good to see you too." I watch Mav and Rooster slide onto the deck. I gasp and ran over to them. "What the hell?" I ask as Rooster runs over to me. He picks me up and spins me, planting his lips in mine. "What happened to your landing gear?" I ask him. "Maverick lost them, he took off on a taxiway." I smile and let out a small laugh. "Of course."

"So is he the only one who gets a welcome back?" Maverick asks. I let go of Bradley and grip Maverick. "Please don't ever do anything like that again." "I promise you I won't." I pull away. I pull away and look towards Rooster, who was shaking hands with Hangman. "You know he loves you," Maverick called out to me. "And how would you know?" I ask, feeling a little shocked. "I just do. I know that look he gets in his eyes when he's around you. It's the same one his father used to get when his mother was around. Go. Go to him. You and I will talk after." I nod and make my way toward the two pilots. "Chalked yourself another kill," Rooster spoke, nodding. "That makes two," Hangman smirked. "Mav's got Five. Makes him an Ace," I add. Rooster smirks at me as Hangman rolls his eyes, but leaves behind a small smile. The crowds surrounding us contained to cheer as Rooster turned to me. "So what was that thing you needed to tell me?" I asked. "Well I was-" he started and looked around. "You know what? Screw it." He lifted me again and planted a long gentle kiss on my lips again. It felt like the first time. New passion and feelings opened. This was our new normal.