Chapter Text
dagger group chat
Wednesday 21st August
08:41
Phoenix: wait guys isn’t Mavs birthday next week?
Rooster: yes??
Bob: I think so yes
Payback: yup
Bagman: oh yeah, what are we doing for it?
Fanboy: idk ask bob he’s the brains
Bob: hey don’t look at me!
Phoenix: shut up all of you
Bagman: bossy much
Phoenix: just know if you weren’t the other side of a screen I would have decked you by now
Bagman: oh I’m sure sweetheart
Phoenix: your on thin ice bagman
Phoenix: anyway as I was saying before I was rudely interrupted, is why don’t we make mav a cake? Between us surely we could pull something together.
Halo: that’s actually a really good idea
Bob: seconded
fanboy: thirded
Payback: fourthed
Bagman: you might be onto something here phe
Phoenix: I know I’m a genius
Rooster: I know mav loves this bowling alley downtown, we could take him there first?
Fritz: sounds good
Phoenix: this is sounding like a plan
Bagman: shocker
Phoenix: shut. up. now.
——
Bradley turned off his phone as the group chat descended into chaos. He’d have to tell Ice that the daggers intended to take mav out for his birthday. for 11 supposedly ‘the best of the best’ they could be seriously oblivious at times. All of them were still clueless as to the fact that maverick was married despite the numerous pictures mav had displayed everywhere. Meh, rooster sighed, it would make the reveal all the more funny.
He picked his phone back up from where it had been dropped next to him on the sofa and quickly shot off a text to ice
Rooster: the squad want to take mav out for his birthday, the plan is bowling alley and cake.
Rooster: and since I’m Mavericks kid I’ve been lumped with cake making duty! how ridiculous is that I can barely boil hot water! Apparently because I can make it ‘in secret’
Bradley knew he was whining now but he didn’t care. He thought it was stupid to ask him to make a cake. The three dots popped up surprisingly fast since Ice was at work.
Ice: give me timings and any details I should know, I’ll help you with the cake.
Rooster could practically feel his pseudo-fathers eye roll through the screen. He also knew the ‘help’ would be more ‘do it for him’ because they both knew the limit of roosters cooking abilities was pasta.
Rooster: pick mav up at 14:30, take him to the bowling alley for 15:00 and bring him back for 19:00 which is when we need the cake for.
Ice: got it.
Rooster: also you should know, none of them know mavs married to you
Rooster: scratch that, they don’t know he’s married, period.
Ice: oh god.
As rooster finished up his conversation with ice, since ice had to get back to work, there was stuff to finish before he could come home in two days, in time for Mavericks birthday, he started making a mental list of stuff needed in a cake.
———
Maverick on the other hand had no idea this was being planned. He didn’t care all that much for his actual birthday, he was more exited for today, the day before, since Ice was coming home for the first time in 2 months. He’d been away on conference and they’d been texting and calling daily but it wasn’t the same as having him actually there.
what maverick was aware of however is that his squadron still didn’t know he was married, let alone who he was married to. he’d been waiting for the penny to drop for the last six months after the uranium mission. Did the fact that ice was on the fucking carrier the day of when he had no known reason to be tell them nothing? Apparently not, he thought as he checked his phone for the umpteenth time. he knew the daggers were getting suspicious, especially phoenix, since he’s been on edge the entirety of that morning. Slider had come in an hour ago and that scared the shit out of his class because ‘why the hell was Rear Admiral Kerner here’ in Fanboys words, but he’d whispered something to maverick that caused him to almost cheer out loud but after 30 years with ice he’d developed some sort of poker face and managed to hide it from the rest of them. or so he thought.
It wasn’t much later when the group were in the locker rooms. “Somethings up with maverick” Phoenix announced. Bradley stayed quiet, knowing full well what was up. “Seems like he’s waiting for something to me” hangman hollered from the other side of the room as he slammed his locker shut. “Maybe he’s waiting for someone?” Bob put in quietly, but he wasn’t heard over fanboy screeching when he found a spider in his locker. Payback clamped a hand over his WSOs mouth to make him shut up before adding “do you think he knows our plans for tomorrow?”
“He couldn’t possibly” Phoenix put in, deciding it had to be something else
Rooster finished gearing up in silence before shouting at them “you better hurry up before Mav has our hides for being late” putting a firm end to the conversation as everyone scrambled to finish getting ready before maverick came to hunt them down himself.
—-
“Tower this is dagger 2 requesting take off”
“Dagger 2 this is tower, Take of granted, wind speed is 15 knots, have a safe flight”
Rooster joined Phoenix & Bob, Payback & Fanboy and hangman in the air, settling into formation easily enough. Maverick had briefed them saying that the task was to try and fight off intercepting enemy aircraft, in other words a mock dogfight. He’d also mentioned there would be a guest joining him on the opposing side and not to worry that there was someone extra. Bradley had a gut feeling of who it would be and grinned to himself behind the mask in the privacy of his aircraft. Ice was returning that day and he’d kept himself certified to fly saying ‘I’ll be damned if I loose my license just because I have a few stars on my collar.’ So logically it made sense to rooster why maverick had been so pent up that morning but he kept these details to himself. If Mav was happy then he was happy.
His thoughts were cut off abruptly as maverick came up between the four aircraft leaving them surprised and unawares. “Good afternoon aviators. I am an enemy aircraft sent to intercept you on the way to the plant. Let’s turn and burn” and with that maverick abruptly split the throttles and came around behind payback, causing them to panic and brake left just as Bob started yelling that a second plane was being picked up “Five miles out, 500 knots closure.”
“Holy shit” hangman said as a second aircraft passed undetected underneath both himself and rooster, breaking and coming above and around the back of them both before going after hangman. Rooster could only watch for a few seconds before maverick came around on his tail and he had to work out an escape plan. ‘The scary thing’ Bradley thought to himself as he tried to evade Mavs tone lock, ‘is that they don’t need to talk to each other so we have no idea what the hell their plan is’
Within minutes all four of the daggers were metaphorically ‘dead’ and all of them were speechless. They hadn’t heard maverick or the mysterious guest utter a single word.
“How?” Fanboy questioned incredously.
“30 years of practise” the unknown person said and it confirmed roosters train of thought that ice was up here. None of the others recognised the voice and maverick and rooster were content to let them go crazy over who it was. They could see maverick and ice about three miles out above them, flying side by side.
“Alright everyone return to base, mavericks got the lead” Mav announced after a moment of silence. “Christ maverick” Bradley managed to pick up ice curse his husband as they watched maverick turn away sharply, the force of the air pushing ice back and it was all he could do to contain a laugh. However it didn’t take ice long to turn around and dive back down after mav, having lost none of his practised precision over the years, leaving the rest of the aviators to gape, open mouthed.
—-
Back on the ground rooster played along, acting as if he had no idea who’d joined them since ice had vanished, his plane no where in sight when they’d landed back on the tarmac. In the briefing room fanboy had asked who that was and maverick, the little shit, had replied “that’s for me to know and you to potentially find out.”
But at the house he couldn’t stop himself laughing with maverick over how stupid it was when ice joined them, sitting down on the sofa next to maverick with his book.
”I can’t believe they haven’t worked out your married yet” Bradley sighed. “We’re gonna have to do some crazy reveal just for the kicks”
Maverick nodded enthusiastically at the same time ice said “I don’t want the death of 12 of my best aviators in my file because I scared them” mav pouted at him “ice” he whined and ice shut him with a quick “no.” maverick dropped the subject in favour of curling up under on ice’s shoulder and falling asleep.
Bradley smiled at the two of them from across the room, he hoped he’d one day be like them, so in love still even at 60. After subtly taking out his phone to get a picture that ice still managed to give him the finger in (seriously, the guy knew everything happening around him) bradley left them alone, mav to sleep and ice to read, burying his head in his phone and reading the dagger group chat messages he’d missed which was mostly everyone confirming what they were doing tomorrow and making sure Bradley knew to make sure mav was ready to go at 14:30 hours sharp.
——
After some absent minded scrolling, rooster remembered none of them had eaten dinner yet and he was starving. However he couldn’t cook anything more than pasta, mav was asleep and is useless in the kitchen anyway and he didn’t want to ask ice to cook as he’d returned from Washington not 4 hours ago and he’d flown a hop on top of everything else. But something needed doing.
“Hey ice?” Bradley asked quietly, he didn’t want to wake maverick and ice heard everything no matter how quiet.
As if on cue, ice looked up. “Yeah kid?”
“You want anything from take out? I’m starving so I’m betting you are too”
Ice huffed a laugh “I forgot about dinner. The usual curry will do thanks Roo. I’ll pay you back in the morning.”
Bradley resisted the urge to scream. Ice always insisted on paying him back when he really didn’t want him to and had made that clear many many times. It didn’t matter who is was, it could be slider and he’d still insist, but it was just so annoying.
“No seriously, it’s on me”
“Bradley”
“Pops”
There was an intense stare off which ice unsurprisingly won and Bradley sighed, just getting on with ordering.
—-
when the food arrived, ice gently shook maverick awake who complained until he smelt said food which they were eating on the sofa all together, maverick and Bradley practically inhaled theirs while ice ate a more respectable pace.
As ice was finishing up he felt a dead weight that is mav against his shoulder again and adjusted his arm so he could throw it around maverick, resigning himself to a night on the sofa, choosing not to think about what that’ll do to his back in the morning. He motioned for rooster to come join them and by 23:30 hours, the Mitchell-Kazansky & Bradshaw household was dead to the world