HARD DECK
a top gun: maverick fanfiction

CHAPTER SIX: DINNER DATE

Summer found herself relaxing in the sun, a beer in her hand and SPF on her face, as Joey rattled on about their latest battle with their work rival.

"All I asked was where he learned to code, because the middle schoolers I volunteer with understand Python better," Joey said, shrugging their shoulders. "And that made him cry."

Summer stifled a laugh, looking over at her friend from under her sunglasses. The two friends were relaxing on Joey's back porch, taking in some much-needed vitamin D and relaxation time. It was Friday, and the two friends were trying to enjoy the last of the day's sun.

"Go easy on him, Joe," Summer replied. "Not everyone is a genius like you."

Joey scoffed and took a sip of their wine cooler, rolling their eyes. "I'm just saying. If the boss is going to put us in the same pay grade, then he should probably produce a similar quality of work as I do. Instead, I just spend half of my day fixing the holes he leaves in his codes."

Summer didn't understand coding, nor did she want to. Joey felt the same way about the human body. They were a perfect pair.

"But anyway, enough about work. How are you? How are the pilots?" Joey asked, sliding their sunglasses down the brim of their nose to lock their curious eyes on Summer.

The doctor shrugged. "They're fine," she said, a slight blush filling her cheeks.

"Are you blushing?" Joey asked, leaning out of her chair to inspect Summer's face. "Oh my god, your cheeks are red."

"Well of course they are," Summer replied. "We've been sitting outside for two hours. I probably should go re-apply my sunscreen."

"No, no no. You literally just put some more on," Joey replied, grinning mischievously. "This is about the pilots. Or maybe, one pilot in particular," they said, poking Summer's arm. "Mister Rooster."

Summer rolled her eyes and turned away, so Joey couldn't see her face. "Whatever. Speaking of the pilots, how is Lieutenant Trace?" She asked. Joey and Phoenix had hit it off quite well at the bar the other night.

"Sexy as always," Joey said, sighing. "But I don't want to talk about Phoenix. I want to talk about Rooster."

"Well, there's nothing to talk about. And actually, I can't talk about him to you. The only reason you are allowed to know who he is at all is because he introduced himself to you at the bar," Summer said, smirking. HIPAA saved the day once again.

"No no, don't pull that HIPAA shit on me, Doctor Hackett. He's a sexy pilot who is clearly into you. And you guys hit it off pretty well the other night," Joey said.

Summer shrugged, thinking about the previous day, when Lieutenant Bradshaw had stopped by her office on his lunch break. She had to admit, she enjoyed talking to him. It was easy to be around him. He was polite, kind, and funny. There was something about him that sucked her in, leaving her wanting more.

She was a moth, and he was a light. It was dangerous.

She didn't dare tell Joey about any of that.

She also couldn't tell Joey about the mission: how in two weeks, Rooster would likely be going on a mission that he wouldn't return from. She didn't know for sure that Lieutenant Bradshaw would be chosen, but she felt that he would. He was the best. There was no denying that.

"Joey, I don't want to talk about him," Summer said, crossing her arms over her chest.

Joey sighed and pursed their lips. Summer could tell they wanted to say more, but Joey remained silent. "Fine."

Summer cleared her throat, glancing awkwardly at her best friend. "But seriously, how are things going with Lieutenant Trace?"

Joey began to ramble on about the female pilot, and how great she was, and how much they'd been texting back and forth since exchanging numbers on Wednesday. Summer couldn't help but feel a pit in her stomach, knowing that Lieutenant Trace also would likely be going on the same mission and would probably find the same fate as Lieutenant Bradshaw. She couldn't tell Joey though, not legally. It wasn't her place anyway. It was up to Phoenix to break the news.

"I'd love to have her take me up in her jet, if you know what I — Summer? Hey, Summer?" Joey paused and looked over, poking Summer once again. "Hey, are you alright?"

"Hmm?" Summer looked over, her face flushing as she realized she hadn't been paying attention to what Joey was saying. "Sorry. I'm fine. Just tired. Work has been a lot lately."

Joey studied her for a moment before nodding and reluctantly continuing her story. "But, in your experience, do the pilots ever, you know, take civilians up in their planes? Because that would be so freaking cool."

Summer sighed and shook her head, then looked at her watch, seeing the time. "We should probably get going, if we're going to meet Thomas for dinner at seven."

Joey gasped and sat up almost immediately. "Oh my god, dinner with Thomas! I'm so sorry, Summer. I completely forgot! I made plans with Natasha."

Summer groaned. "What do you mean, you made plans with Natasha? We've been sitting here all evening, since I got done with work, waiting to go get dinner with Thomas. Why did you think I came over?"

Joey shrugged. "Sorry, I've been super preoccupied with ... you know. Natasha."

"Right," Summer said, rolling her eyes. She stood up, prying her legs off of the sticky vinyl material that made up Joey's chairs. "Well then, I better get going. I guess I have dinner with Thomas."

She loved Joey, she really did. And they were incredibly intelligent. However sometimes, Joey was a bit scatterbrained.

"Tell him I'm sorry," Joey said, pouting. "I promised him I'd tell him about my new project at work."

Summer laughed. "Don't worry about it. Go have fun with your pilot," she said, smiling, though it didn't quite reach her eyes. She was still thinking, in the back of her mind, about the upcoming mission. Joey would be heartbroken if Phoenix got selected.

"Yes, Doctor," Joey said, waving goodbye as Summer made her way back into the house, and towards the car. She located the t-shirt and pair of black denim shorts she'd worn over to Joey's, pulling them on over the bikini she'd been tanning in. She slipped her feet into her sandals, relishing the comfort of not having to wear closed toed shoes and socks for once.

Summer hopped in her car and drove across town to the restaurant she and Joey were supposed to meet Thomas at. His car was already in the parking lot, so she parked next to it and headed inside, finding him at a booth alone.

"Hey, Summer," he said, waving. "Where's Joey?"

Summer laughed and rolled her eyes as she slid into the booth. "You're never going to believe this..." she said, before explaining to him what had happened.

After she was done with the story, Thomas let out a chuckle, shaking his head. "And to think, they're probably the smartest out of all three of us."

"Book smart doesn't equal street smart, at least when Joey is involved," Summer replied with a laugh.

"Gotta love them," Thomas replied, picking up his menu. "What are you going to order?"

"I don't know..." Summer said, scanning the menu. "I could demolish a burger right now, I'll tell you that much—"

"DOCTOR HACKETT?"

Summer's eyes widened and she and Thomas exchanged a look before she turned towards the restaurant's bar, where a large group of civilian-dressed pilots stared back at her, whooping and hollering as they waved.

She let out a groan. "Are you kidding me?" She muttered. What were they doing here?

Two of them left their seats, making their way towards her and Thomas.

"Dr. Hackett? What a surprise!" Hangman said loudly, his beer wobbling precariously in his drunken hand. "What are you doing here?"

"The real question is, what are you doing here?" Summer asked. "Is the Hard Deck closed or something?"

Hangman nodded. "Yeah, Penny closed her down tonight for some personal business, so we came here. And I'm so glad that we did," he replied, smirking down at Summer. "Aren't you glad we came here, Bob?"

Summer turned to Bob, who let out a nervous laugh and quickly made eye contact with her through his glasses. "Sure. It's nice to see you, Dr. Hackett. We should probably leave her to her date, Hang—"

"No no, I want Rooster to see this," Hangman said, crossing his arms over his chest. "He's in the bathroom right now. But I have to see his face when he sees that his beloved doctor is on a date with some other guy right now."

Summer's mouth fell open and she exchanged a glance with Thomas. Both of their faces contorted as they attempted to hold in laughter. Did the pilots actually think she was on a date? With Thomas?

Oh, this was going to be fun.

"Bob, go get him," Hangman said, pointing towards the back of the restaurant, where the bathrooms were located.

"Are you having fun, Lieutenant Seresin?" Summer asked, smirking up at the pilot. "Is this enjoyable to you?"

"Well, it will be, in about five minutes. He's so smug all the time, thinking we don't know he's got the hots for the doctor," Hangman replied with a laugh. "Oops, I probably shouldn't have told you that."

Summer rolled her eyes, a blush creeping up her neck. So, she was right. Rooster was into her. As if it wasn't obvious, from his constant stops by her office.

"Lieutenant, I really don't think this is appropriate," Summer said, crossing her arms over her chest. She could tell the other people in the restaurant were getting annoyed.

Bob came back, walking in front of Rooster, the latter chatting away with the kindhearted pilot and not at all paying attention to Hangman or Summer.

"Hey, Rooster! Get over here, I have someone I want you to meet!" Hangman called out, causing the tables next to them to look at him in annoyance.

Summer glanced over at Thomas, who was watching the pilots with a bewildered expression on his face.

"Are they always like this?" Thomas whispered across the table.

"Yes," Summer replied. "Now you see why I don't date any of 'em."

Thomas chuckled and leaned back in his seat, his eyes on Hangman once again, awaiting his next move.

Rooster rounded the corner, an annoyed look on his face, which was commonplace when dealing with Hangman. "What is it, Hangman? I'm starving and I have a basket of boneless wings coming my way—" he paused, his eyes locking on Summer. A grin filled his face and he nodded at her. He then caught sight of Thomas, and his face fell. He glanced between the two, momentarily confused, before walking up to the table and stopping next to Hangman.

"Dr. Hackett," he said, smiling slightly. "Hangman, Dr. Hackett and I have met before. This is who you wanted me to meet?"

"Nah, just wanted you to see her here," Hangman replied, clapping Rooster on the back. "Although we probably should get back to our table, I think we're interrupting her date." He accented the word date, shoving it in Rooster's face.

"Yeah, we probably should," Rooster said, his eyes locked on Thomas. "Sorry about him," he said, elbowing Hangman in the ribs. "He was ignored as a child. Excuse us." He turned to Summer one last time, nodding slightly, before walking away, Hangman trailing behind him in laughter.

"Oh my god, Summer!" Thomas said, erupting into laughter. "Why didn't you stop them? They thought we were on a date!"

Summer laughed, smirking. "I don't know, it's fun to mess with them sometimes. Just like when Hangman, that was the blond one, tried to hit on me at the bar, and I neglected to mention that I was their doctor. Although I can't believe they actually thought you were straight," she said, pointing to Thomas.

Thomas laughed. "What is that supposed to mean? Is there something about my outfit to indicate that I'm gay?"

"Really?" Summer said, rolling her eyes."You're wearing a shirt that you got at Drag Con last year."

Thomas scoffed. "They're far too straight to know what Drag Con is, Summer. Besides, I work in finance. I could be, you know, a finance bro or something."

Summer let out another laugh, her eyes on the pilots again. At her loud laugh, Rooster looked over again, meeting her eye. He quickly turned away, looking down at his basket of wings that had finally arrived, though he wasn't eating any of them.

She sighed. "I should probably go tell them the truth. Do you want a drink? If I'm going up to the bar, I might as well get us some alcohol."

"Yeah, just get me whatever you get," Thomas said. "I'll order us some burgers if the waiter comes back."

"Thanks, Tommy," she replied. "You're the best date," she said sarcastically, fluttering her eyelashes at him.

Thomas let out a fake gag. "Please never do that again."

She laughed and left the booth, making her way to the bar. She elbowed her way between Rooster and Hangman, clearing her throat. "Excuse me, boys."

"Oh, hey, Doc," Hangman said, a cocky smile on his face. "How's the date going?"

Summer ignored him and waved at the bartender. "Hi, can I get two Manhattans please?"

"I thought you said you didn't date," Rooster said, finally acknowledging Summer's presence at the bar.

Summer scoffed and turned to him. "I said I didn't date Navy boys. That doesn't mean I don't date at all."

"Well, really," Hangman said, looking at Rooster. "What's the point of dating a man if he's not in the Navy?"

Summer groaned. "For one, civilian men are far less insufferable," she said, rolling her eyes. "And, two: why did you just automatically assume I'm on a date?"

The two men turned towards her. "You're not on a date?" Hangman asked.

She shook her head. "God, no. Thomas and I have been friends since my first year of undergrad, and let me just say, he is not at all into women."

The two pilots looked over the bar at Thomas, who was watching the exchange with an amused expression.

"And if I was on a date, I would hope to god you would not act that way," she said, glaring at Hangman. "That was so immature. Exhibit one of why I don't date Navy boys. You all have the maturity of twelve year olds."

The bartender returned, bringing Summer her two Manhattans.

"Actually, could I also get two shots of rum? I'm going to need them."

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ author's note ✫・゜・。.

annnnd here's another chapter! thoughts?

i don't really have much to say but THANK YOU! when i started writing this story, i never thought it would reach so many people in such a short amount of time.

thank you so much! please remember to vote and comment!

xx,
madi