"So Jake is part of the squad? Isn't that a conflict of interest or summit?"
Abigail sighed sat on the floor staring at herself in the mirror as she curled the ends of her hair, Gabrielle her best friend from Texas on the phone with her
"Well no because in a courtroom I'd be defending the team anyway, so Jake being there means nothing" Abigail explained
"San Diego treating you right?"
"I've been here less than 24 hours"
"Well, are there any cute guys?"
"I've been here less than 24 hours" Abigail repeated emphasising each word
"And you went to a bar!" Gabrielle defended
"I only met Jake's team and I guess there were a few cute guys there" Abigail shrugged "Ooh~" Gabrielle sang
"They wouldn't like me," she said "Oh please! You're hot!" Gabrielle cheered "You know what Navy guys are like, I don't exactly fit that" Abigail said
"The right guy will be fine with it you know that right?" Gabrielle said
"Yeah, thanks Gabs" Abigail smiled "Besides you don't need some guy!"
"No, I don't" Abigail stood from where she'd been doing her makeup, simple and natural with a slightly winged eyeliner
She was already dressed, checking herself over in the mirror, a light pink buttoned shirt, a black pencil skirt that came to past her knee with black heels and a black blazer
"I've got to get to the base, I'll talk to you later," Abigail said "see ya later babes," Gabrielle said as the two hung up the phone
Abigail walked through the small one-bedroom apartment that the navy was providing for her as she worked there
It was simple and small but that's all she would need, she didn't plan to have any guests, at most maybe Gabrielle would visit and crash on the couch
"Maybe I should get a blow-up mattress" she mumbled to herself, scribbling it in a small notebook by her door
There wasn't much personality in the house yet, all creams and browns in its decor but for now, it was her home
Abigail picked up her briefcase and keys from next to the door and went to her car
An old well-loved vintage chevy she'd kept up well and it look exactly like it did when she first got it
Grabbing the sunglasses from her glove compartment, cat-eyed black and silver sunglasses
San Diego sun was no joke
"Let's do this" she sighed bracing her hands on the steering wheel for a moment before relaxing into the seat and starting the, decently short, drive to the base, country music playing on her radio as she hummed along
Parking in the lot, Abigail got out of the car gracefully, locking the car behind her dropping the keys into her briefcase
"That's a sweet ride you got Mini Sersin" Fanboy called followed not too far behind by Bob
Abigail looked over to the two WSOs smiling "Thank you, Lieutenant Garcia, my da gave me it when I was 20, he wasn't trusting 16-year-old me with a day-old licence with a beauty like her" she smiled nodding hello to Bob
"As beautiful as your car is, you lose points because these-" Fanboy plucked the sunglasses from her face "-Aren't aviators" he tsked handing them to Bob "Are they, Bobby?"
"No, no, they're not" Bob confirmed inspecting them as though they were a complicated plane part ". . .There cat-eyed sunglasses right? You're a big vintage fan" he observed handing the glasses back
"You bearly know me" Abigail took the sunglasses, placing them on top of her head
"Just a hunch" Bob shrugged "We have to get you a pair of aviators though, seriously, be part of the family!" Fanboy interrupted with a cheer as he slung his arm around her shoulders guiding her towards the units
"I'm good with these" she assured "Now I need to go see Captain Mitchell if you could please direct your kidnapping that way," Abigail told them
"And I wanted to give you a tour" Fanboy faked his hurt gripping his chest as though he were in pain "You can give me the tour up to Captain Mitchell's office" Abigail giggled
"I'm going to go find Phoenix and Hangman" Bob announced after he'd been following like a silent puppy "Alright, I'll catch up man" Fanboy nodded "Bye Lieutenant Floyd, nice seeing you again" Abigail smiled with a small wave goodbye
"You too, Ma'am" Bob nodded walking away
"Well this is the runway" Fanboy took back Abigail's attention as he motioned to the planes out on the tarmac, Abigail nodded as though she hadn't seen this exact set-up a million times
"The hanger turned classroom" Fanboy took her through the open hanger which had rows of chairs and desks facing a podium that was backed by a ridiculously large American flag
"You know I may be from Texas and literally work for the American government but the amount of American flags around these bases is ridiculous" Abigail tutted "And I've seen men at barbecues decked out in an American hat, wife beaters and shorts!"
Fanboy snickered slightly "this way is the comms room and Admiral Beau's office. . .Don't piss him off," he told her
"Oh so I've heard," she said as he lead her through where a couple of other recruits were lounging around, a couple of wolf whistles following them
Abigail rolled her eyes silently "Um. . .Maverick's office is just down here" Fanboy said awkwardly
Abigail nodded silently holding her head high
They came to a dark oak door with a golden plate screwed into it
Cpt. Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell
"Thank you, Lieutenant Garcia, I appreciate your help" she smiled "It's Fanboy," he said "You're welcome mini Seresin" he nodded
"Don't call me that!" She called after him as he left down the hallway they'd just walked down
Abigail sucked in a breath knocking on the door till a voice called for her to come in
Abigail entered "Good morning, Captain Mitchell," she said, Maverick looked up from his files "Ah! Ms Seresin" he smiled standing up and holding his hand out
Abigail shook his hand placing her case down "Please sit, we have a lot to talk about" he said sitting again
Abigail sat poised on the chair "I assume you're Hangman's sister or cousin or something?" He asked, "You didn't look at my file?" She questioned
"I prefer to hear from the person, as you probably know, a file isn't always flattering" Maverick sighed leaning back in his chair and holding up a file with her name stamped on it
"He is my older brother, by 3 years to be exact" she stated
"I want to be clear, for both our sakes on what exactly you're here for and what you'll be doing and involved in during your time at Top Gun," Maverick said "What have you been told at this point?" He asked
"Admiral Beau requested for my boss to send one of his team to top gun so that they could aid in the issues a new team, the dagger squad, seemed to be bringing up, I was put forward by my Boss and I took it, unaware of my brother's involvement in the team honestly, I have been told my responsibilities will include looking over flight plans, training plans, contracts and over issues that may be presented by your. . .Unconventional teaching methods" she said
"In simple terms, you are mine and my squad's handler," Maverick said "One could see it that way" Abigail agreed
"Now my one real question to you Abigail is this, How much are you planning to interfere in my training of my squad?" Maverick asked, his stare pinning Abigail to the spot
"Not much at all sir, I simply ask for you to give me copies of your training plans and other things that are not within usual Top Gun training parameters so that I can see them and potentially suggest changes if I see something that could potentially get you or the squad in legal troubles, those suggestions are also completely changeable and I'm willing to negotiate and figure them out with you" Abigail explained calmly
Maverick smiled "I look forward to working with you Abigail, your office is two down from me, it'll have no name on it"
She smiled with a small nod "I look forward to working with you as well Captain Mitchell"
Abigail stood from the chair picking up her briefcase "Actually, Ms Seresin" Maverick said as Abigail took hold of the door handle
"Yes sir?" She asked turning to face him again "Do you have a call sign?" He asked, ". . .No?" Abigail said confused
"Oh it's nothing, just the little I did see of your file, you spent a lot of time with a Texas base and I know aviators become fond of the people they work with, our medic, Charlotte gets called Sweeper for example," Maverick told her
"By the time you're done here, you'll have a call sign as well Ms Seresin" Maverick warned
"It's just Abigail, Ms Seresin is my mother"
"Then it's Maverick," he told her
Abigail left the office walking down the hall to the office door with no plaque on it
She stepped inside, the office was completely blank, with oak cabinets and a metal filing cabinet with an oak desk and rolling office chair, the walls were off-white and completely blank
The ghost of someone else's office
"Time to get to work" she sighed setting her case down and setting her laptop out to start working