I thought about Mav passed out at his work desk with headphones on and it spiralled into this whole thing
Mav always felt a little lonely.
Even when he had people around him who loved him, he always ended up on his own one way or another and felt that loneliness seeping in. Goose was the first to notice. Before Goose's trips back to Tennessee to see Carole included Mav, he would come back to base to hear about how his pilot had lost a bit of his shine while he was away.
That's when Goose started making the recordings.
It was a small gift, but it meant the world to Mav. A brand new walkman, headphones and all, and a single cassette tape. This tape didn't have music on it, no, it contained a three hour recording of Goose reading though the F-14 Tomcat Flight Manual and adding in his own comedic commentary.
He wasn't sure what Mav would think of it, but when he returned home from another trip and found his pilot curled up asleep on the lounge, headphones on, walkman clutched in his hands, the tape run through, he realised he had made the right decision. Once Mav stirred, realising Goose had returned, he pulled the RIO onto the couch and thanked him for how thoughtful and considerate of a gift it was. That it made him feel less alone.
Goose continued the recordings. They were simple things he could make while completing other work. An hour recording here of Goose rambling while he completed chores, half an hour recording there of Goose muttering while he completes some paperwork. Even after Mav started joining him on his trips to Carole and they inevitably became attached at the hip, Goose continued making recordings. They grew more sincere over time, telling Mav that he was loved and he was strong and could get through anything.
Maverick was very glad he continued making them. It was a piece of Goose he could always carry with him.
Because one day, Goose wasn't there anymore.
Ice was never quite certain why his wingman was always listening to music on a busted walkman, but he never questioned it.
That was until he was packing Mav an overnight bag after an accident and Mav had specifically requested the walkman. Ice had taken a closer look at it and seen the writing on the cassette.
โGOOSE - 12โ
Curiosity got the better of him and he pulled on the headphones and pressed play.
โY'know, Mav-โ It was Goose's voice, Ice realised with a pang deep in his chest, โ- I'm pretty sure, by like, most, if not all, the laws of aviation, you should have broken our Tomcat's airframe several times over. I honestly don't know how she's still together-โ There was the clinking of dishes and sloshing of water along with the distinct sound of a bristly, sudsy brush scrubbing metal. โ- What sort of demon did you make a deal with to manage this? I'm not arguing, I'd rather not face a board of inquiry again, but I'm curious.โ
Ice paused it.
He realised very quickly what the cassette was and that, judging on the number, there were more of these.
Mav was always listening to Goose talk.
He packed the walkman into the overnight bag with much more care than he offered possibly anything.
Mav stared.
He blinked once, then twice. But it changed nothing.
There was a cassette sitting on his bed. On it, was scribbled a name and a number.
โICE - 1โ
Beneath it was a small, simple note.
โListen to me.โ
Mav pushed the cassette into his walkman and, sitting down, let it play.
โHey, Mav. Sorry if this is weird for you, it sure feels weird for me. I- uh- I realised what the walkman is for. I'm sorry I teased you for it, it's not dumb and old. I know Slider thought you were pretty cool for having one. He's got one too. But anyways, I found a recording of Goose and I realised why you have this so I thought, y'know, maybe I could make you some new ones? To make up for the teasing at least. I mightn't be as good as Goose but I'll give it my best shot. I've got a book here, I'm just gonna read it out loud for a while, okay? Okay. Here we goโฆโ
Mav listened to the whole thing in one sitting. It was long and sweet and Mav felt something aching inside him, something that hadn't ached in a long time.
Every week or so, Mav would find another cassette in his room with an increased number on it. It was just Ice for a while, but then he found one labelled โSLIDER - 1โ. Then another a few months later labelled โHOLLYWOOD - 1โ, then โWOLFMAN - 1โ. His collection grew as more people helped continue Goose's legacy.
The day he found โVIPER - 1โ he felt like he was five again. Viper's recording was two hours worth of him recounting childhood stories of Mav, stories of him with his parents, of just his parents, and deployment tales of his dad.
Once Mav buys his first proper home, an old hangar out in the Mojave Desert, he builds a small shelf to hold all of his cassettes instead of keeping them in a bag or a box. It's then, when they're all neatly organised together, that he realises just how many he has.
The original thirty-one from Goose.
Three from Carole.
One short one from Bradley.
Seventeen from Iceman.
Ten from Slider.
Seven each from Hollywood and Wolfman.
Four from Chipper.
Three from Sunny.
And, so far, Two from Viper.
He doesn't feel so lonely anymore. Everyone he loves has put time and effort into making sure he doesn't feel alone. That instead, he feel loved.
And he sure does.
Even now, years down the track, Ice will stumble upon Maverick passed out at his work desk late at night ontop of a half finished project, with his old walkman next to him, headphones on, listening to Goose laugh his way through the Tomcat manual.
