Maverick gasped awake. The first sensation to return to the naval aviator was brought by the snowfall landing peacefully upon his soft pink tongue. His canines were licked clean; the blood of his enemies had crusted over and left a foul taste in their wake. Maverick hated the taste of blood and always had, but it had become a necessity in his line of work recently.

Following an abrupt cough meant to dislodge the snow mound growing on his palate, Maverick found himself leaning up from the snowy coffin he had crafted for himself with his recent ejection. Looking around, staring at the foreign frost-capped land he was now lost and isolated within, Maverick was hit with a sudden feeling of relief. This sacrifice was the redemption he had been reaching for since the death of Goose and the loss of his own humanity all those years ago.

The only sound Mav could hear was the constant thumping of the blood pumping through the doe somewhere nearby; his innate ability to track and feed was alive and thirsting even at a time like this. It was an eerie sensation, knowing that as long as he stayed here, his thirst would never be truly sated. He had never been able to fully understand that kind of hunger before - it had always been a burden that he had struggled with - but now he knew what it was to desire something so much that it consumed all else.

Maverick watched the snow fall for a while, thinking about Rooster, about how much he loved h im , and how much he missed h is mustach e already. He had to be alive, flying back to the ship by now, surely? Those were the thoughts that kept him going when the cold be gan to bit e, or when the blood seemed too far away for comfort.

Maverick thought about Rooster's warm smile when he had first come into contact with him on that training exercise in San Francisco; how it had never left him even after they had been separated by distance and duty stations. It was a smile that had lit up his world, one that still shone brightly when he thought of it now, even after what must have been hou rs of absence.

Eventually, it was time to move and figure something out. Maverick couldn't sit her e a ll day ; his blood would only last him so long before he became too weak to move, let alone find anything edible as the sun began its descent . He crawled slowly from his snow tomb and started to walk, slowly at first, but soon picking up pace as his muscles began to warm up and free themselves from the numbing cold's grip. The steadily falling snow flurries began to melt as they landed upon his skin, his blood warmin g from the exercise.

Maverick came to a stop when he heard a terribly familiar sound... The purr of a copter nearby.

He looked up into the falling snow and could see it on the horizon; only a couple of hundred yards away, hovering just above the treeline like an angel of death with a gun barrel glued to its bow.

'Fuck!'

Maverick didn't waste time thinking; he just turned and sprinted in the opposite direction, towards the nearest hillock and away from the copter's sight line. It lurched into action behind him almost immediately, speeding forward in pursuit, but Maverick was already climbing, taking his last mortal moments in this life for what they truly were - running on adrenaline and pure instinct - as he leaped into the air and reached out for a tree branch high above him with both hands. It took him seconds to find purchase with his feet against its trunk and then even less time to kick off from it again and launch himself into the air once more towards another tree trunk closer by.

The helicopter's guns followed him and Mav saw the shadows of bullets streaking past his head over the treetops as he made for another tree trunk that was up ahead in the distance. He was almost there; just a few more leaps and he could cr ou c h for cover in the cove he had spotted .

There were more helicopters now; Maverick could hear them circling his position. Cursing, he b egan the final leap to cover when he felt himself losing control as a bullet rammed into his side ; another dug into his shoulder in retaliation. The pain was excruciating, and he felt his hands lose their grip on the branch he was prepar ed to swing upon. He fell heavily, landing hard on a patch of snow below him as another bullet grazed his cheek and then embedded itself into a tree trunk just inches from his face.

'Fuck! Fuck!' He was out of breath and could feel blood dripping from his mouth as he tried to make himself focus on the situation and how he could possibly escape. There were too many bullets flying in his a re a , too many source s; even with his enhanced strength and speed , it wouldn't be enough to win this fight against so many gunships at once. He could see them hovering above him now, waiting for their target to make another wrong move so they could pick him off like a piece of meat between a pack of hungry wolves.

Maverick looked down at his wound s in despair then back at the circling gunships above him in what seemed like slow motion... When suddenly...

That smell: that familiar scent that filled his nostrils with memories long forgotten when it caught up with him again at that split second before his end... The scent of his blood... Rooster's blood...

'Rooster!' Mav screamed out loud in desperation as one last burst of adrenaline coursed through his body like never before and sent him flying up and out of the canopies, towards the enemy.

The two gunship s on his flanks fired their guns as soon as t hey realized what Maverick was doing; dozens of rounds tore through the air where he had been a few seconds before, w hi zz ing past as he continued his herculean leap towards the original craft he had spotted. He cut into its path, close enough now to smell the stench of fear and death; close enough now to reach out with one hand and rip its wings off...

But right as it was about to happen...

The helicopter suddenly lurched sideways - out of Maverick 's cours e - then sped back past where he had been lying just seconds before when all this had started... Whistling past over the treetops , followed by its comrades, on its way out into open space beyond... Almost as if it w ere fleeing from something.

Just moments later the copters were ravaged by anti-air fire from above, exploding into pieces in mid-air one after another as Maverick watched in awe from afar... Then there was silence... Complete silence... Until that smell came back again... That scent that filled his nose with such memories of the joy life could hav e... This scent was so strong now that Mav could feel it coming off of everything around him like some invisible fog... The kind that comes off an oven full of freshly baked cookies... Or freshly brewed coffee beans... That smell that takes you back home... That scent that means you're home... That smell that means everything is alright again... The smell of love...

'Rooster!' Mav screamed out loud again in surprise as he saw the sleek black jet come emerge from the clouds towards him at last... It slowed its speed and began its descent to land near him where he lay in wait for it , clutching his wounds, Maverick couldn't help but let a grin cross over his face as the craft landed. Rooster's face appeared over the side of it smiling down at him like some angel come down from heaven itself just for him...

'Rooster!' Mav said again as Rooster leapt down onto earth beside him where they embraced one another tightly together while their tears mingled together into one warm stream down their cheeks while they held each other close...

'It's ok,' Rooster said looking up at him with those beautiful eyes of his, 'it's ok Mav... I got you .'

'I never wanted to leave you.' Mav said softly after some time passed between them as their embrace began to loosen slightly, 'I never wanted to leave you.'

'I know,' Rooster replied softly back to him while wiping away some tears from under each eye with a thumb, 'I know Mav.'

Maverick placed one hand over Rooster's heart where it lay exposed by the suit's open collar while still under his own rhythmically beating heart; Rooster replicated the ges tur e .

'There must be something we can do,' Mav said as he looked into Rooster's eyes , desperation evident. Rooster smiled warmly at him then ran one hand over Mav's cheek before kissing him on it tenderly. It was a kiss full of warmth and tenderness; full of love and compassion for everything they'd been through together over these last hour s they'd been apart.

'There is,' Rooster replied after letting go of Mav's cheek with both hands now between them with such passion that no doubt made their lips bleed together slightly from their contact alone; 'but we'll have to go back home first.'

The two let go of each other then looked up at each other again in silence for a moment before Mav nodded slowly at Rooster's words: 'Are you sure?'

Rooster nodded back at him: 'I'm sure Mav.' He moved closer then laid one hand upon Mav's chest as if feeling for something there. His fingers traced across Mav's ribs before reaching their final destination: just behind Mav's sternum where he exposed the flesh to reveal a bleeding wound. Rooster's hand moved further still across Mav's body then finally came across his beltloop. He reached inside Mav's pants and took hold of Mav's cock firmly there inside of them before pulling it out towards himself - pulling it further out than anyone had ever pulled out Maverick's cock before - until its head touched against Rooster's lips... That beautiful mouth full of smiles and kisses for everyone who'd ever wanted them... Rooster opened up wide and took Maverick's cock into his mouth fully without hesitation or reservation - giving it such treatment that made Maverick feel like nothing else mattered in this world anymore... Nothing else mattered but this moment in time when feeling belonged only to them now... Nothing mattered but this connection between them that had been growing over these long hours they'd spent apart... And now finally came full circle as their bodies came together once more in new ways that were far different than any other before them... Two beings united together in an act so intimate it felt like all other existences had been forgotten completely into oblivion by this one act alone. They were no longer men; no longer soldiers; no longer anything other than two souls entwined together with one purpose no matter what else happened around them: To bring each other pleasure beyond measure until they could no longer move or speak or do anything else besides remain in this moment forever... And so they did... For a while at least... Until death finally claimed them both later on that night .

The End.