Seven (and a half) Minutes in Heaven

Chapter 1

It started, like most of their bad ideas did, with a note slipped under the door of their shared housing assignment.

Goose picked up the paper from the entry mat as Mav flipped on the lights to the living area, dumping his duffle-bag on top of the empty pizza boxes scattering their coffee table. Mav beelined for the fridge, no doubt in search of the cold slices left over, while Goose shrugged himself out of the sweatshirt to flop down on their tiny sofa.

"Whatcha got?" Mav mumbled through a mouthful of cold pizza, dumping an outrageous amount of hot sauce over the remaining slices.

"Hollywood's throwing a little shindig" Goose waved the note in the air as if to emphasis his point, smoothing his thumb and forefinger over his moustache. "1608 palm boulevard 6pm

Bring alcohol. HW." he read out, throwing the note among the cardboard. "You up for it Mav?"

Mav snorted, fixing Goose with his trademark smirk. "Do you really have to ask?" he quipped to which he rolled his eyes in response, shaking his head amusedly.

"The last time I asked that I ended up with half an eyebrow and you couldn't feel your fingers for a week"

"We had fun though, didn't we?"

Goose rolled his eyes again, flipping the bird his way.

"Speak for yourself"

~

God he was so fucked.

Correction.

Mav was the one who was so fucked and by the rules of friendship, Goose was also in deep shit.

He watched the bottle spin as if it was in slow motion, hearing every little clink over the grooves of the table they were lounged around, eyes flicking between it and Mav – who to all observers seemed at ease with the current predicament.

The bottle slowed and rested pointing at Iceman who raised an eyebrow to the wolf-whistles and cheers of the squad around them.

"I dunno fellas" Mav grinned, tapping the bottle of beer against his lip. "He doesn't like to take risks remember."

"You're an asshole" Ice replied, throwing back the rest of his vodka and fixing Slider with a glare as his RIO whistled low.

"No, I'm dangerous" Mav countered, and Goose could feel his head hitting the metaphorical table, immediately wishing his pilot would just shut up for the love of god. Mav had poured a double of the cheap bourbon they were using as a forfeit punishment and pushed the glass over towards Ice.

Ice didn't take the bait.

He hauled Maverick up by the collar of his jacket roughly and shoved him in the direction of the spare room they were using at the 'closet'. "I'll show you who's dange-"

The door slammed shut, cutting off whatever Ice was going to say and the rest of the group burst out into laughter.

"So is everyone ok with cleaning up a murder?" Sundown asked, dealing a new hand of Texas Hold 'Em to the group as Slider (designated Time-Keeper) set his watch).

"Are you kidding?" Chipper said with a scoff, opening a new beer. "They're totally fucking."

Goose looked up at that, already shaking his head in defence of his pilot, finding Slider doing the same.

"Come on guys" he continued, flipping off both RIOs. "You can't tell me I had to sit behind both of those assholes making love-eyes at each other for 5 fucking weeks for them NOT to take advantage of this"

Hollywood emptied one of the bowls of chips into his mouth and placed it into the middle of them all, dropping a $20 bill into it. "I've got 20 on them hooking up," to which Wolfman laughed and dropped another 20 into it.

"I agree."

Chipper also threw in 20 on side of the pilots taking the plunge, while Sundown, Sprawl, Bingo, Dallas, and Midnight pitched in on the side of murder.

The peanut gallery turned to Goose, who sighed, dropping a $20 into the bowl while maintain eye contact with Slider.

"Fucking."

The wolf whistles started up again, Chipper nodding his head sagely as Sundown and Midnight scoffed. Slider slowly took out his wallet and slid out a 20, holding it over the bowl for almost 15 seconds while everyone waited for his verdict.

"Fucking."

Hollywood and Wolfman burst into delighted cackles, shaking Slider's shoulder as he flipped Goose the bird. "Shove it Goose."

They made it through a few rounds of cards when Slider's watch started beeping.

"Time's up assholes" he yelled, throwing more chips in to meet the current bet. Hollywood folded, as did Dallas and Midnight, Chipper and Bingo met the raise with cheers.

"Ace-high flush baby" Wolfman crowed, revealing his cards. Chipper booed, throwing his 3-pair down with a huff and grabbing the bottle of bourbon to swig from it.

"8-high straight" Slider said, dropping cards face down and turning to launch a tennis ball at the bedroom door. "OI. Get your asses out here."

Goose chuckled, draining the last of his beer and set his cards down with a triumphant smile. "Full house honey" he said, chuckling as Bingo threw his cards in his face and Wolfman double barrelled him with the finger. He'd just begun to collect his winnings when.

"What's taking them so long?" Sundown said, eyes fixed on the bedroom door, drawing the gaze of the rest of the squad. Hollywood and Wolfman shared a knowing look, while Slider met his eyes warily.

"Come on Mav," Goose called, shushing Chipper with one flapping hand. "Quit playin'."

More silence.

Slider stood up, strode over to the door and knocked heavily. "Thomas Kazansky and Peter Mitchell I swear to God that if you two don't come out here right this instan-"

The door swung open and Slider stepped back, glaring at the two pilots with such force Goose wasn't sure how they didn't burst into flame immediately. Maverick's face was flushed, hair wild like he'd been through a wind tunnel, pulling the collar of his jacket up around his neck. Ice looked as cool and calm as ever – if only his lips weren't so swollen and spit shined, and Goose could already see the hints of a hickey forming under his ear.

"Get fucked" Chipper hollered and dished out the betting pool with a laugh, snorting as Mav blushed even redder, flipping him off playfully as he sat by Goose.

He reached over and grabbed Mav's chin, turning his head this way and that to inspect the litany of bruises adorning his pilot's neck and collarbones.

"You're lucky I like you Kazansky" he drawled, fixing Mav's jacket up and patting his shoulder in a motherly fashion, fixing the other pilot with a hard stare. "But just because Mav's finally made it into your pants doesn't mean we're giving up that trophy."

He had to duck as Ice threw a cushion at his head, the blush finally creeping up his neck. The group laughed and settled back into the poker game, finally able to give the two pilots the good natured ribbing they deserve every time blue eyes met brown.