Time seemed to have slowed down as the trio awaited the impact of the missile but it had never came, as a loud boom echoed through their ears causing them to look behind them and find the aircraft burning and tumbling to the waters below.
Through the black smoke, an F-18 appeared and an all-too-familiar southern, cocky voice filled their cockpits.
"Good afternoon, ladies and gentleman. This is your saviour speaking." Jake said, a cocky grin evident in his tone. "Please fasten your seatbelts, return your tray tables to their locked and upright positions, and prepare for landing."
The trio released breathes of relief, and Bradley had surprisingly let out a chuckle as the pilot pulled up next to them.
"Hey, Hangman!" He said as Emerson gently hit the side of her fist against the canopy as a sign of gratitude. "You look good."
"I am good, Rooster." Jake replied with a smirk. "I'm very good."
"Of course, you are." Skye responded with a small smirk of her own as she playfully rolled her eyes.
All of a sudden, another F-18 had appeared from beneath them and pulled up, inverting itself between the two F-14s.
"Greetings!." Pete's voice echoed over comms as he stared down at the trio - Emerson, Bradley, and Skye laughing at their father and uncle. "You kids will be the death of me."
"Well, we gotta keep you on your toes and make sure that heart of yours is still kicking, Pops." Emerson teased with a smirk.
The Captain chuckled lightly with a fond shake of his head as he rolled his F-18 back over to the side, relieved that his daughter, godson, and niece were safe and unharmed.
"We'll see you back on deck." Jake stated and turned his jet off to the right, with Pete in tow - the two pilots guiding the F-14s back to the carrier and landing with ease.
"This is Lieutenant Skye 'Siren' Kazansky, coming in for landing." Skye announced to the carrier control tower. "Deathwing and Rooster are downwind, no front-landing gear and no tail hook. Pull the cable and raise the barricade."
Emerson and Bradley watched as Skye landed aboard the carrier before the brunette had turned the F-14 onto its side, flying past the bustle of the crew raising the barricade and, at the same time, buzzing the tower.
As they made their turn around, Emerson released what was left of the landing gear before the F-14 gave a sudden jolt at a loss of one of the engines.
"Please don't tell me that we lost an engine." Bradley mumbled and closed his eyes regretfully.
"Alright, I won't tell you that." Emerson responded with amusement evident in her tone.
"Okay." The tall pilot said as he prepared himself for a very bumpy landing.
The brunette giggled as they neared the runway of the carrier. "You're such a stressball." She teased.
Gently easing the joystick forward, the F-14 was caught by the barricade that had jolted the couple forward roughly in their seats for the lack of a front-landing gear.
Emerson breathed a sigh of relief as crew members scrambled towards the jet with extinguishers in hand. "You good, babe?" She quizzed, glancing at her boyfriend behind her.
"Yeah, I'm good." Bradley replied.
With that, Emerson opened the canopy, and the couple immediately unbuckled themselves and removed their masks and helmets. As they stood in the cockpit, the brunette wrapped her arms around the tall pilot and kissed him passionately before climbing out - all while Naval officers rushed towards the two F-14s with loud cheers.
Skye, who stood beside their F-14, with her helmet on her hip, smiled at her cousin and best friend and pulled them both in for a tight hug.
Natasha, Bob, Reuben, and Mickey made their way towards the trio and pulled them into hugs of their own, relieved that their friends were safe.
"Don't you ever do that again!" Natasha scolded as she let go of the girls. "We thought we lost you both."
"I can't make any promises, Nat." Emerson smiled apologetically before she set her eyes on Bradley, who was smiling and hugging the guys. "To save him, it's worth it."
"But two crash-landings in a space of a few weeks?" Skye quizzed. "Can we take it easy?"
The brunette giggled at her best friend and WSO. "You got it, Skye." She said and hugged her best friend for a brief moment before her brown gaze fell onto Jake as he approached them.
The cocky pilot stared at the female pilot's boyfriend in silence before holding his hand out.
Emerson and Skye exchanged a look with each other as smiles graced their lips before they watched as Bradley shook Jake's hand; both pilots smiling at each other.
"Chalked yourself another kill." Bradley stated.
"That makes two." Jake replied.
"Mav has five." Natasha pointed out with a grin. "Makes him an ace."
Bradley and Jake chuckled lightly, the latter settling his gaze onto the blonde pilot and WSO as the former wrapped his arms around his girlfriend.
Jake stepped closer towards the blonde. "Skye, I'm sorry." He breathed. "I am so sorry for what I said all those years ago. I didn't mean a word that I said. And I know that's a bullshit excuse, but it's true.."
"Jake.."
"Let me finish, please.." He pleaded as she peered up at him. "You are not a nothing. You were right in calling me a dick."
"You were acting like a dick." She corrected.
"No, I was a dick." He responded. "The way I handled everything. The way I handled that night with you, the way I handled the situation with Bradshaw.."
The blonde pressed her lips together and nodded her head slightly. "Yeah, that wasn't really awesome." She admitted softly. "Why did you say those things to Coyote?"
The cocky pilot swallowed nervously, it was now or never. "I was scared.. Skye, that day that we spent together, that night we shared over grilled cheese just talking and getting to know each other better.. You lured me in with your song like a siren does to a sailor. You saw the real me behind this façade I put up and I couldn't handle Coyote's words about someone I.. I started falling in love with."
A small smile tugged at the corner of her lips. "That night was the first time I've felt fire in a long time."
Jake gave her a smile of his own. "I love the way we banter and fight. I love how smart and how much of a damn good pilot and weapons systems officer you are, and I love the way that you can easily put me in my place." He admitted. "And most importantly, I love you, Skye Kazansky, but if it's not me that you want.. If I don't check all your boxes, if I'm not the one, I get it. I'll understand.. But that would really, really fucking suck."
Emerson and Bradley, alongside the remainder of the graduates, watched the tender moment between Jake and Skye - majority of them shocked and even surprised by the cocky pilot, never having seen this side to him before.
Skye stared up at him, the smile that graced her lips broadening slowly as she tilted her head to the side slightly. "So, are you gonna kiss me now, Lieutenant?" She asked.
A charming smile spread across Jake's face, his green eyes sparkling with admiration and relief that she had accepted him. "Yeah.." He breathed. "Yeah, I am."
And with that, the pilot stepped forward and pulled the blond into his arms, lowering his head down to hers where he met her lips in a soft, but passionate, sweet kiss as she wrapped her arms around his neck - the pilots, WSOs and officers all erupting into cheers and wolf-whistling at the display.
"Did I just fall through the looking glass?" Bradley questioned as he held Emersyn. "Seresin has feelings?"
Emerson giggled and swatted his chest lightly before her eyes caught sight of her father approaching them.
"Dad.." She breathed and she let go of Bradley and hugged her father tightly.
Pete held onto his daughter as if she would disappear at any moment before he pressed a kiss to her head. "I am so proud of you." He said with a smile and turned to his godson.
"Captain Mitchell, sir.." Bradley began, but before he could say any more, he was pulled into a tight hug by his godfather.
The tall pilot closed his eyes briefly as he held onto the older pilot before pulling back, swallowing thickly.
"Thank you for saving my daughter's life." Pete said gratefully as he placed his hands on the young man's shoulders.
Bradley glanced over at Emerson, who watched the both of them with a smile and tears in her eyes before shifting his gaze back towards his godfather.
"I'd do it again in a heartbeat." He replied. "It's what my Dad would have done."
At the mention of his best friend, Pete swallowed thickly and pulled the young man that had resembled Nick so much, back into another tight hug.
Emerson watched the two men in her life with a proud smile gracing her lips as she blinked back her tears, silently thanking Uncle Nick and Uncle Tom for that push that they very much needed knowing fully well how stubborn they both could be.
This was the start of their healing.