Make You Feel My Love

Butter Rolls and Cancer

Abigail jumps out of the cockpit, her feet dropping to the ground with a loud thud. She carries her helmet in her left arm, waving over at Maverick who has just started his push-ups. He smiles and laughs, shaking his head as he continues.

Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Rooster making his way towards her. She walks faster, not wanting to give him the time of day. If he wanted to say things like that, then he could stay away from her. Thankfully, she ran into Hangman, who looks quite impressed. "I didn't expect that, Ice. You're quite the character if I do say so myself." He puts his hands on his hips like he was a cowboy. Abigail glances to the side, watching Rooster walk away. "Guess I'm full of surprises too, Hangman." She smirks, having to squint her eyes in the sun to see him. She forgot her Ray-Bans at home.

"Jake. Seresin." He blurts, pursing his lips shut. He had just realized he'd never introduced himself personally, just as a pilot. She chuckles. "Abigail Kazansky. But you knew that already."

Phoenix, Coyote, Bob, Payback, and Fanboy make their way over to the two of them, smiling widely. "Iceberg, how about we head out as a group for a bite? Cyclone cut our day short because of whatever Maverick and Rooster did." Phoenix asks, giving her a fist bump as a congratulations.

And so half of the pilots found themselves at a steak restaurant, stuffing their faces with buttered rolls while having a good bonding experience. Abigail is sitting between Coyote and Phoenix, listening to everyone tell their stories on how they became pilots or WSO's in the Navy. Abigail was the only one at the table who has the job running in their family. "My dad was all for it, he even went as far as teaching me how to fly an F-14 when I was 17. But Maverick tried to talk me out of it for quite a while." She explains, handing the cinnamon butter to Fanboy, who was on at least his fifth roll. Phoenix chuckles. "You know, even though Maverick is one of the best pilots in the world, he seems to hate the job. He's been stuck as a Captain for years because he just doesn't care if he gets fired or not. Of course, they won't fire him, but they won't promote him either." Phoenix rambles, stealing a fry off of Abigail's plate.

"Your dad really taught you how to fly an F-14? Damn, I'm jealous." Hangman questions, leaning back in his chair with his arms crossed. Unlike a few others at the table, he limited himself to two rolls so that he would have room for his steak. Abigail nods. "He said he wanted me to be able to fly a good few different planes if I were to ever get stuck on a mission and find one." She replies, poking at the leftover pieces of steak she had. She was so full she was scared she wouldn't be able to fly tomorrow. "I don't think that'll ever happen though, crashing in a foreign country that has older plane models." She shrugs.

"So, what's it like having one of the best Top Gun pilots ever as a father?" Bob asks, seeming seriously intrigued. He loves to hear about other people, he's the sweetest most wholesome man. "Well, he's an amazing pilot, obviously, but he's an even greater dad. I don't think I'd be sitting here with you guys, laughing like this, without his encouragement and support. I'm really lucky." The longer she continued on with the sentence, the more her heart sank and her smile disappeared.

The conversations carry on, and Abigail is thankful that they moved on from the subject. But her thoughts are ruining her mood, so she excused herself from the table, saying she needed some fresh air. She went outside and set on the rusty metal bench that the restaurant has bolted to the ground. She folds her hands together and sniffles, bouncing her leg up and down. Every day it gets closer and closer to her father's estimated time of death. The doctors told him he had six months, that was three months ago. It's stayed in the family that the cancer came back, not even Maverick knows. So Abby has been bottling it up, trying to be strong and loving so her last moments with her dad will be nothing but good memories.