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It started with one...
Coming out of the grocery store after a quick trip, Maverick paused as he noticed something between the door handle of his jeep. It was a small rubber duck. No markings on it. Just a small toy.
He looked around the parking lot wondering if a child had perhaps dropped it and a kind soul had mistakenly placed it on his vehicle instead (though he wasn't sure what part of his vehicle screamed 'small child here'). Finding no one else and feeling bemused, he gently set it on the concrete parking block just in case its owner came back for it.
Thinking no more of it, he loaded up his groceries and went back home.
--
The next time it happened, Rooster was with him. The two had carpooled to The Hard Deck. It was a rainy evening and the Bronco was making a funny noise to Maverick, so after he promised to work on it tomorrow, they took the jeep.
Running out to the maroon SUV, Mav shook his head in confusion as he found yet another small duck between his door handle. Taking it with him this time, he hurriedly climbed in and shut the driver's side door. As the two men sat in a moment of relief of getting out of the rain, he showed the item to his godson. As Bradley turned on the interior light to see it better, Maverick noticed the duck was the same color as his jeep. Hearing the younger man huff a laugh, he turned to him quizzically.
At Maverick's unspoken question, Bradley held up the toy. "You've been jeep ducked." he said as if that would clear everything up for him.
"Okaaaay-"
Mav drew out the word as he started the car and began the trip back out to his rental.
"I'd normally say something about how you're such a boomer here, but honestly, this trend is pretty new and I only learned about it recently because Phoenix's mom has a jeep too." Rooster explained. He spent the next fifteen minutes giving a rundown of what it meant to leave and display the ducks as well as all the various upgrades Jeep owners did to their vehicles. During this time, Mav's face morphs into bewilderment.
"I get customizing a ride to suit one's style, but I never meant to get involved in this community." he admitted. "I only purchased this car because Ice insisted I needed a vehicle that 'actually had doors and some manner of protection from the weather'."
He chuckled.
"His face when I drove up in this without the doors on it is something I'll never forget."
Fondly taking the duck back from Bradley, he set it on the dashboard.
Rooster opened his mouth to let his godfather know that that was seen as an open invitation for more ducks, but held his tongue. An idea struck him and he subtly pulled out his phone and sent a message to a group chat.
He was going to have fun with this.
--
Over the course of the next few days, several of the Daggers were back in town, and having been notified via the group chat, they were fully on board with Rooster's plan. They had perused local stores and Amazon looking for just the right ducks. Now that they had collected what they wanted, they set to work to get said plan in motion.
Naturally being who they were, it was going to be a competition.
The rules were as follows:
-no breaking into the garage overnight-it had to be when Mav was working in there, or when they were invited over (this prevented Rooster from automatically winning at advantage)
-if you spotted the Jeep while out on the town, it's fair game
-if your duck got featured on the dash, that's a point
-if you got a picture of Mav with your duck that's another extra point
-if you got caught, you lost all your points
-the game was over when he caught on.
This challenge was made all the more difficult due to the older aviator rarely using said vehicle. However, the Daggers were determined.
--
Phoenix and Bob were first. The pilot had recruited her WSO to help, so they could both get points, and to utilize his stealth pilot energy. The two of them having selected their ducks very carefully, they lucked out to find the maroon car outside the grocery store nearest to the base. Taking turns keeping a lookout, they placed their ducks on the hood of the car and dashed back to their own car a row down and several spots over.
They didn't have to wait long for the short man to return. Patiently waiting for him to unload his cart into the back, they got a picture the instant he sat inside and noticed the black duck with flames and the pink duck with glasses sitting innocently and staring at him through his windshield. Snickering at the picture of Maverick's head tilted in confusion, Phoenix posted it to the Dagger's group chat (the one without Mav).
She and Bob fist bumped as he drove away from the lot. They were the first ones on the board.
--
Next up were Fritz and Coyote. They almost missed their chance due to a civilian trying to do the same thing at the same time. The only reason they lucked out was that Maverick saw her first before them.
He easily struck up a conversation with her while she shyly handed him a duck and told him she liked the name of his jeep. Creeping closer, the two younger aviators crouched down on the other side of the car, debating what to do. Using a strange mixture of looks and hand signals that really didn't mean anything, they decided that Coyote would be the one to place their ducks on the dash due to his longer arms. Leaning up and around the side (Mav had the doors off which was great for getting the ducks inside but bad for their lack of cover), Javy streeetched and set down a grey duck with wolf features (it was the closest to coyote he could find, sue him) as well as a normal yellow duck holding a laptop. It was then he realized the civilian had made direct eye contact with him. Frozen like a deer in headlights he felt Fritz move.
The other pilot made a rapid hand crossing horizontally over his throat motion, shaking his head 'no'.
A brief moment of confusion but thankfully taking mercy on them, the civilian brought no attention to the two and allowed them to take their pic and go. Upon posting it to the group chat, they realized that the picture was blurry but it was worth it anyways when they were duly awarded their points.
--
Everyone thought that Rooster would have the easiest time placing his duck but it was in fact the opposite. With the rules set in place for him not to be able to go in the garage late at night, he was having a hard time finding a time to slip away for sixty seconds. But whenever Maverick was at home he was either working on something in the garage or he was asleep. (He spent more time doing the former instead of the latter, much to Bradley's - and Iceman's - chagrin).
It was a no-brainer that Rooster had chosen a toy that had a bright Hawaiian shirt, but what the other Daggers didn't see coming was that he also added a miniature duck with sunglasses. In a way, his choice had been two-fold: one bigger brightly colored duck must always be paired with a smaller, cool one.
Having been foiled several times in the past few weeks, Rooster had the feeling that Mav was toying with him. But he couldn't prove it. The older man always seemed to walk back in or look over right when he was going to place his contribution to the 'pond' on the dashboard. At long last, during a trip out the hangar, he got his chance.
Maverick was a stickler for maintenance on all the vehicles he used, both professionally and personally. That meant frequent tune ups and washing his jeep, bikes, and plane.
The two men started on the biggest (the P 51 Mustang) and worked their way down line to the smaller, more detailed ones. At some point during the morning, they had shed their shirts, having worked up a good sweat despite the nice temperature of the day. Several hours later, with just one bike left, Mav waved Bradley off with a "Take a break kid. You deserve it."
Knowing how exact his godfather was with ensuring no water marks would be left, Rooster nodded and walked back across the tarmac to locate his discarded shirt. It was then he realized it was the perfect opportunity to place his ducks.
Keeping his pace casual, he leaned down and grabbed his shirt while he simultaneously reached into his board shorts' pocket for the ever present ducks. He slowly opened the driver's side door and placed his two next to the others. (he recognized the other Dagger's ducks and was pleased that Mav had kept them all-that was extra points for those who had already gone).
Pulling his phone from his other pocket, he lined up the shot perfectly. The group of ducks were in focus and then through the window-short stature clearly belonging to no one else-was Maverick, lovingly finishing wiping down his Kawasaki.
Mission accomplished, the pic joined the others in the group chat.
--
Never one to be outdone, Hangman called in the big guns. Literally. Some might consider asking the COMPACFLT to be a distraction to be a) below his pay grade and b) a cheap shot. But Thomas Kazansky was also a little shit at heart (which the man fully blamed his wingman for) and after the explanation of what was happening, smirked and replied "Just leave it to me."
Jake knew the time had come when all the Daggers who were currently in town were invited to a barbecue at the Kazansky house. Maverick had been instructed to pick up a new gas tank for the grill, resulting in him needing a vehicle large enough to carry it. He had also been tasked with connecting it to Ice's grill, which made the man reply sarcastically about how Iceman could fly complex aircraft but couldn't handle a simple grill. The Admiral replied impassively which then caused the two to share a smile before Maverick hauled the tank to the backyard.
Time for Hangman to get to work.
He and Payback-the tallest of them all-finished inflating the four foot tall duck and secured it to the roof of the jeep. Cackling, Reuben snapped a pic.
"He's gonna lose his mind when he sees this!" he said gleefully.
Hangman preened.
"Now the others will know who really is the best of the best."
Payback rolled his eyes.
"Ok Bagman. Don't forget you didn't do this alone. You had to use my Amazon Prime account to actually buy this one and get it here fast enough to pull this off."
Jake shrugged and walked back towards the house.
"Just make sure to get the actual moment Pops sees it so we can get the extra points."
Later that afternoon, as everyone pretended to disperse from the party (but were actually waiting to see the Captain's reaction) they didn't have to wait long.
A bark of laughter brought them all out to see.
Maverick was sitting on the bottom step of the porch, mirth having made him sit. He kept collecting himself, then looking back up and seeing the colossal duck, and dissolving back into giggles again. Both Hangman and Payback got the photographic evidence they needed (plus some extra video) and sent it to the chat, thus earning their points.
No one noticed it at the time, but another small duck with frosted tips had mysteriously made its way into the small collection.
--
Several months had passed and the competition had slowed to a halt as most everyone who was available had gotten their ducks in the pond.
However, one night, Fanboy was watching late night reruns of the Original Star Trek series (sue him; he enjoyed every iteration of the show). Halfway through "The Trouble with Tribbles", he was struck with a horrible idea.
A fantastic idea. But horrible.
He was also going to need help to pull this off.
Pulling out his phone, he texted Rooster his idea along with screenshots of the idea's origin. As soon as he received confirmation, Mickey ordered several large packages of ducks.
He had to wait another week due to Maverick being overseas on assignment and the rules still standing about no breaking into the garage. But Rooster had checked with Admiral Kazansky and found out that Mav was due back in four days.
Exactly four days later, Fanboy sat by his door, playing Mario Kart and waiting for the moment he got the message he could come over and execute the crazy scheme.
His phone buzzed and he immediately drove over. When he arrived, Rooster met him at the door.
"He's asleep." the mustached aviator said lowly. "Jet lag's a real bitch. However, he's also a light sleeper so we still gotta be quiet."
Fanboy paused. "Do we need to abort? I don't wanna get disqualified."
Rooster shook his head. "No. It's not the middle of the night and I live here and invited you so it still counts." He leaned down to pick up the box. "Holy shit, how many are in here?"
Fanboy grinned. "I have two more in the car."
The two young men finished their task within ten minutes, both keeping an ear out for any movement in the house. Coast clear, they settled back in the living room and played the waiting game once more.
The sun was beginning to go down when a sleepy Mav made his way out into the main part of the house. "Hey Roo." he mumbled, rubbing his hands down his face. He blinked a few times and smiled when he focused on Fanboy. "-and Mickey. You two ok?"
"We're just fine." Rooster answered easily. "But we were just talking about dinner plans. Wanna go out?"
Always willing to spend time with his family even if he was still half asleep, Maverick nodded and went back to his room to put on real clothes. When he came back out he had the keys to the jeep. "I can drive. Is that ok?"
The younger men agreed (perhaps too easily) and the three went out to the garage. Fanboy pulled out his phone and waited.
"How does the steak house on Willow sound? My treat. It's got this great-"
Whatever great thing the restaurant had, they wouldn't find out until later because as soon as Maverick opened the driver's side door, he was almost buried under an avalanche of rubber ducks. Having captured the entire thing, Fanboy almost lost it when a few more straggling ducks fell down the pile and bopped Mav in the head. His face blank as he tried to process what happened could be (and would be) compared side by side to Captain Kirk who had been half buried in a pile of tribbles.
Rooster's mustache twitched as he tried to keep a straight face. He stepped forward to help his dad from the pile. As Mav's tired brain finally rebooted he took stock of all the Starfleet ducks surrounding him. Grinning, he deliberately picked up a yellow shirt one, (Fanboy had always been partial to Sulu as he was a fellow pilot) and set it on the dash with all his other collected ducks.
Mickey knew the jig was up but he posted the video into the chat anyways. It had been worth losing his points just for this moment to occur in real life.
(He still thought he won in the end because he got to eat a great steak with garlic butter.)
--
The rest of the Dagger's officially ended the competition when they learned that Maverick had found out. Having never really settled the prize for the winner, they decided bragging rights was enough. (Having their ducks still displayed helped sweeten the deal too)
Maverick shook his head and smiled but stayed quiet.
--
"Of course I knew what they were up to." Maverick informed his audience. "I'm old, not blind. It didn't help that the kids picked ducks to represent themselves either."
He laughed and explained how he had seen Bob's car parked nearby, how he'd had to keep a straight face when he noticed Coyote contort himself, Rooster not being subtle in the slightest, and how he could literally see his car from Ice's backyard.
"I'll give it to Mickey though, his did actually catch me off guard. He had our kid to help so at least Bradley redeemed himself."
Maverick stood.
"Which reminds me. I have plenty now so I figured I'd share the wealth with you."
Placing another set like the ones Rooster had added to his car on top of the stone, he arranged the Hawaiian shirted one to sit right next to the smaller sunglasses one.
"Duck Duck Goose." He murmured, patting his brother's gravestone. Fondly touching Carole's stone as well, he said his goodbyes and drove to the Hard Deck.
His ri[duck]ulous kids and Ice were waiting for him.