Danger Zone • Top Gun: Maverick

• Chapter Five •

Having arrived in Miramar just shortly after 11pm, the girls had gone straight to their apartment where they had immediately collapsed onto their beds and passed out.

It was shortly after 1pm in the afternoon when Emerson released a tired groan as she heard some loud noises coming from the kitchen.

"Skye, I love you, but please.." She whined, throwing the pillow over her head, but the noises had continued, only for the brunette to open her eyes as she heard yelps of pain.

"What the hell?" She muttered and climbed out of bed, quickly making her way out of her bedroom and down the hallway, into the kitchen where she was met with the sight of her best friends engaged in a fight.

Well, more like Bradley taking a few hits and punches from his youngest cousin.

"Skye, ow!" Bradley yelped as he tried to pry his short, blonde cousin off of him and get away from her attacks.

"You dumbass!" Skye exclaimed, landing one last slap on his back before she ceased her attacks and shook her head. "What are you doing in my apartment?"

"Well, I was hoping that you had food." The tall male replied as he rubbed his arm.

"Figures." The blonde rolled her eyes slightly. "How did you even know that we were here?"

"Call it 'Best Friend Intuition.'" He answered with a small smirk before he turned towards an amused Emerson standing in the hallway and opened his arms. "You gonna show me some love and not abuse me like some people?"

Skye scoffed with a playful roll of her eyes and nudged her cousin lightly in the side. "Nice."

Emerson giggled and raced towards the tall aviator and jumped into his arms, wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist.

She hadn't seen Bradley in five years. Sure, they face-timed, but it wasn't the same as seeing him in person.

They were never in the same place at the same time anymore, and this was one of the rare moments they had.

"I missed you." She said and buried her face into his neck.

Bradley released a soft chuckle, holding the brunette tightly in his arms. "I missed you too, Em." He said and kissed the top of her head.

Skye had hopped onto the counter and watched her best friend and cousin with a knowing smile, her green eyes sparkling as she knew exactly how they had felt towards each other but were too afraid to admit it.

"Hold on.." Emerson stated as she pulled back slightly and dropped her legs from around his waist, allowing her feet to hit the floor. "You weren't stationed here as far as I know. Were you ordered back here, too?"

Skye smirked playfully at her cousin. "So that whole 'Best Friend Intuition' was really Mom and Dad." She teased.

"No!" Bradley argued, only to become silent for a brief moment. "Yes." He mumbled, further broadening his cousin's smirk. "But I also knew that you both would be called back."

"Uncle Tom did say the best." Emerson mentioned.

"That's why I came back." Bradley stated and grinned mischievously at the brunette before him. "So why are you here?"

The brunette narrowed her eyes playfully and gave him a gentle shove as a smirk graced her lips. "Remind me who graduated top of the class and has their names on the Top Gun plaque?" She quizzed.

"Yeah, yeah." The tall aviator chuckled and glanced between the two girls. "Ready to go down to the Hard Deck?"

Emerson glanced down at her pajamas and met Skye's gaze before they both shrugged, the brunette releasing a light giggle. "Nope, but if you can give us a minute, then we will be."

Bradley nodded his head with a smile and hopped onto the counter, taking his cousin's place since she had jumped off. "She said a minute, not ten, Skye." He called teasingly after his youngest cousin.

Without turning around to face him as she made her way down the hallway towards her bedroom, the youngest Kazansky threw her hand up in the air and flipped her cousin off in response, earning a laugh from the dark haired man.

Emerson laughed at the cousins' antics and walked to her room where she had quickly changed out of her pajamas and into a pair of black, ripped jean shorts, a black crop top with a white shirt wrapped around her waist and paired the outfit off with a pair of white sneakers.

She pulled her dark locks up into a messy bun - having opted to have her hair out of her neck in the warm Californian heat - and left a few strands to hang loose.

Exiting her bedroom, she saw that Skye had also opted for a pair of jean shorts and a white tank top, completing her look off with a black and white flannel and a pair of white sneakers with her blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail.

Together, the two best friends made their way back into the kitchen, where Bradley had been kicking his feet back and forth as he waited. 

"Finally." He said and jumped off of the counter, pulling the aviators that had belonged to his father that he had hooked on his tank. "Ready?"

"Let's hit the Hard Deck."