#hangman seresin fanfic

[topguncortez]

Opposites Attract- J. Seresin

pairing: Jake "Hangman" Seresin x female!reader word count: 3.7k warnings: mentions of sex, mentions of child birth, top gun things synopsis: how can Hangman, cocky, arrogant Hangman fall in love with a girl who is so different than him and raise a family completely opposite of him. based on these requests:

He must’ve gotten it from his mother. She was a shy person. Usually choosing situations where she didn’t need to talk to anyone new, where she could just smile and nod and look to her husband to do all the talking. His fellow pilots were confused by them: how could loud, obnoxious, bragging, douchebag Lt Jake “Hangman” Seresin, find someone as sweet and quiet as Y/N. It was one of life’s great mysteries. Her very first interaction with the group of Top Gun aviators had them all puzzled on how Hangman had secured her as his wife and hid her from them all.

“Who’s the babe at the bar?” Payback said, eyeing her from across the pool table. Hangman looked at his line of sight and smirked. 

Sauntering over to where one of the pool balls was at, he leaned over, “That” he said, lining up his shot, “Is my wife.” He rammed the cue stick into Payback's gut making him double over in pain. 

“Her? The quiet little thing over there?” Phoenix said, looking at her. Y/N waited patiently for Penny to get around to her, not yelling and trying to catch her attention like the other patrons at the bar, “What did you do? Hypnosis? Stockholm Syndrome?” 

“Why is it so shocking that I'd be married to her?” 

“Cause you’re nothing alike! She’s nice and you’re an ass. She’s pretty and you’re an ass. She’s quiet and you’re-“ 

“An ass?” 

“Precisely,” Phoenix said as Hangman’s wife made her way back over to him. She walked directly to him, her head down not making eye contact with the other pilots. Hangman put his arm around her waist and pulled her in for a kiss, making her cheeks go red. 

“Penny is busy, i’ll go back up-“ 

“I got it, love,” Hangman said, kissing her again. 

“You sure? Cause I can-“ 

“It’s all good,” Hangman smiled at her. She nodded as he stepped past her, but not before giving her ass a light smack. She all but squealed at his action, turning even redder if that was possible. She turned her head slowly, looking at the eyes of his fellow aviators who were all looking at her. She gave them a shy smile, before turning her head and moving out of the way, and back towards Hangman. 

“There’s no fucking way,” Phoenix muttered. 

Everyone was enthralled with watching Hangman and his wife interact the whole night. It was a completely different side to him than any of his classmates had ever seen. His smile wasn’t a cocky arrogant one, it was bright and full of love as he twirled her around the makeshift dance floor in the Hard Deck. She giggled as he pressed kisses to her neck, singing the words of a song back to her. 

“How did we not know about this?” Rooster said, looking at his enemy. 

“This had to have happened recently,” Coyote said, taking a sip of his beer, “The whole aviator world woulda been talking about it.” 

“Or he never told anyone until now,” Bob said with a shrug causing them all to look at him, “What?” 

“It’s Hangman. He brags about everything. We would’ve known,” Phoenix said. 

“Never know,” Bob said again. 

But Bob was right, as much as Hangman wanted to show her off, and brag about her, he knew that she wouldn’t want that. She was quiet, and kept to herself and that’s what drew him to her. She was the shy girl at the bar in San Diego, his very first duty station, and Hangman knew the second he saw her, she was going to be his. She played hard to get at first, partially because she didn’t really trust him. She had heard the things the other girls around base had said about him. That he was just another pilot with a good smile, only there for a couple weeks before jetting off to the next place. He had a lot to prove, and he would be damned if he left without you by his side. 

So he worked his charm over the three weeks he was there. He managed to break down her walls completely, wooing her the old fashioned way. Hangman proved the chivalry wasn’t dead, as he opened doors for her, always greeted her with a kiss on her hand, bringing her flowers for every date and at random times during the day, texting or calling her goodnight, walking her to the door after dates or waiting in his car to make sure she got all the way in the house and turned her bedroom lamp on to let him know she was safe. 

When those three weeks came to an end, their goodbye was tearful and painful. Y/N stood in the airplane hangar with the rest of the aviator and naval wives, husbands, partners, kids, families, and hugged Hangman (or Jake as he had become to her) as fat tears rolled down her cheeks. He pulled away from the hug, holding her face in his hands and wiping the tears away. 

“Don’t forget about me when you find yourself surrounded by beautiful women overseas.” She said, sniffling. 

“Sweetheart, it would take a whole army and then some to make me forget about you,” Jake said, which made her blush. Any sort of pet name he called her had a red hue climbing up the back of her neck, “Just don’t forget about me.” 

“I could never, would never!” She smiled. Jake looked at her, her soft eyes looking into his. And for some reason, some spell was cast and Jake didn’t hesitate but to lean in and kiss her for the first time. 

That kiss had sealed the deal for both of them. The second Jake had landed back stateside, he went running to her house, finding her out in her garden, dirt and sweat on her face. Jake ran right to her, not having a care in the world, wrapping her in his arms and kissing her. 

“Marry me.” 

“What?” She said, looking at him like he had grown a second head, “Did you hit your head? Is this from the lack of oxygen? I know what they say about that, what is it, g. . . g-loc? Yeah, g-” 

“No, my brain is working just fine, sweetheart,” Jake smiled, “I mean it, marry me.” 

“This isn’t world war two, you aren’t going to-” 

“Y/N.” He cut off your rambling once again, seeing that glint in your eye was enough to get his answer. 

“Yes!” 

It was like a fairy tale come true for the both of them. They didn’t even tell their families when they ran off to city hall, getting married in a whirlwind, partially due to the fact that Jake had been selected for the Top Gun program. He had shared the news with her that morning, and he could hardly register when she told them “well we better go get married then.” And they did exactly that. Jake threw on his khaki uniform, and she dug out a white sundress that had been buried in the back of her closet. Once the papers were signed, Jake drove up the coast, finding a small hideaway he had discovered one night while driving around. 

That night she had given herself to him fully. She had never been touched the way Jake touched her, and he loved it. He was gentle with her, which was unusual for him. He took his time, letting her know every single thing he loved about her. The way her back arched when he kissed a certain spot, the way his name fell like a prayer from her lips, the way she dug her nails into his shoulders, the way she looked like a complete goddess in the backseat of his 1974 monte carlo. Jake held her tightly as her chest heaved up and down, coming down from the bliss. They didn’t mean for it to happen, but they fell asleep in the back of the small car, waking up to the sounds of seagulls above them. 

It was less than a year after they were married that Y/N found out she was pregnant. She was alone, sitting on the bathtub ledge, her head in her hands as she cried. Hangman was out on a mission, something short, and he promised to be home soon. But it didn’t make things any better. She was terrified. They had moved to the middle of nowhere, Lemoore California. The tiny naval base was nice and quiet, but far from the only family Y/N had in the whole state. She was used to being on her own, and being independent. Growing up shy, she had to learn to do things for herself. But raising a whole other human on her own was going to be hard. 

The second Jake came through the door, she told him. He stood there frozen in the doorway, duffle back still in his hand as his brain tried to process what she had just said. It scared her even more seeing his face go blank, but the second his duffle bag hit the floor with a loud bang and he was pulling her into his arms again, she felt relaxed. The two of them had spent all night getting reacquainted with each other, and then laying in bed naked, feeling each other’s bare bodies as they talked about their future child. Jake had promised to do the best he could to be there for every single appointment. 

The day that Alexander Miles Seresin was born, was the second happiest day of Jake’s life. Y/N had handled the past nine months like champ, and Jake had fallen in love with her more and more every day. Seeing her glowing and growing the child had set something off inside of him, something primal. The sex they had while she was pregnant was some of the best sex he had ever had. He could hardly keep his hands off of her. When her water broke, he went into a near panic, forgetting every single thing they had ever talked about. Jake, the cool, calm and collected naval fighter pilot, who had shot down a plane, felt like he was going to pass out watching Y/N deliver their child. He hated seeing her in pain, but the second their son was placed on his chest, he felt nothing but pure love. 

From the day Alex was born, he looked just like his father. Blonde hair, piercing blue eyes, naturally sunkissed skin. Jake loved every minute he got to spend at home with his wife and son. It made it harder to have to go on missions. He had missed birthdays, christmases, and big milestones. Y/N did a good job at recording everything and sending it to him so he could watch them out in the middle of the ocean. Y/N would call Jake almost every night, letting him read a bedtime story to Alex, watching over facetime as the little boy would stare intently at her phone screen at his dad. 

“Where dada?” Alex asked one night, his voice thick with sleep. 

“I’m on the ship, buddy,” Hangman said, his voice sounding faraway and sad. 

“The big ship?” Alex asked, his eyes growing wide with excitement. One of Alex’s favorite things was planes, which was a no brainer considering who his dad was. 

“The big ship,” Hangman smiled, “I promise I’ll be home when you wake up.” 

“Okay dada,” Alex said, and curled into his mother. Y/N patted his back and said goodnight to her husband before tucking her son in, “Dada flies planes?” 

“He does buddy,” Y/N said, making sure he was secure in his bed. 

“I fly planes too.” Alex said, clutching onto his stuffed F/A-18 that Hangman had gotten him. 

Alex had just turned three when Hangman got the call that he was needed back at Top Gun. Y/N looked at him, and all but ran to start packing. She had missed San Diego and was looking for any reason to go back and visit. But hearing that Jake would be going back to Top Gun made her nervous. She had all sorts of questions, which he couldn’t answer simply because he didn’t know. What he did know was that he was allowed to bring his family, which was his main concern. So, he packed the three of you up, packing his ford explorer (which he got after much grumbling from Y/N when she got pregnant with Alex) and drove his family the eight hours to San Diego. 

— — — 

The following week, after getting reunited with everyone at the Hard Deck, Jake had come home from training almost every day upset. He would sigh, and flop down on the shitty couch, and watch Alex play with his toy planes in front of him. The training was hard enough as it was but with his counterparts constantly teasing him about his wife that was the total opposite of him, he had had enough. The second Fanboy had seen the polaroid of Y/N tapped to Jake's dash in his plane, the teasing commenced. 

“Why don’t we invite everyone over?” Y/N asked one day softly, as she wiped her hands on her apron, “I would like to meet your friends.” 

“You would?” Jake said, turning to look at you, “But you met them the other night?” 

“More like they just stared at me like I’m some mythical creature,” She giggled. Jake stood up from the couch, walking over to her and wrapping his arms around her. 

“You are a goddess and they couldn’t take their eyes off of how perfect you are,” Jake said to her, making her blush and hide her face. He gently grabbed her chin, making her head turn back to him, “Don’t hide that smile from me, gorgeous.” Jake flashed her his perfect, beautiful white smile and then leaned down to kiss her cheek. 

“Daddy!” Alex called. 

“Yes, my man?” Jake said, and picked him up, groaning loudly as he did so. Alex let out a bunch of giggles as Jake held him upside down in his arms, “What did you do today?” 

“Went to the ship!” Alex exclaimed and Jake looked at her confused. 

“We went to the Midway museum.” 

“Babe, if you want to see some real ships and planes, just come in tomorrow.” Jake said, causing her to shrug, “You won’t get in trouble.” 

“Let’s start with dinner first, and then consider sneaking me on to base.” She said, walking back into the kitchen to finish cooking. 

By the time the weekend rolled around, Y/N was a nervous wreck. Everything had to be perfect, this was very important after all. She was meeting Jake’s friends, his coworkers, the best Naval fighter pilots in the US Navy. She woke up around six in the morning to start preparing and cleaning their small rental house. She had vacuumed, scrubbed the floors, and washed the windows, restocked the fridge, bought enough food to feed an army (literally), and hopefully enough beer (though she had seen the way these sailors think and was questioning if she should make another beer run). 

Jake had tried to help Y/N during the day, but she pushed him away, telling him she would let him know when he was needed. Around five in the evening, she had finally asked him to do something, while he was up off the couch running to her beck and call. He had fired up the grill, and started getting things ready to grill as she was getting dressed in a floral sundress. Alex was in navy blue shorts, a white button up and his birks. 

“Do we look okay?” She asked Jake, stepping out into the backyard. She held Alex’s hand and Jake smiled at them. He was wearing almost the same thing as Alex, except he had on a pair of white vans instead. 

“You both look great,” Jake said walking over to you. He picked Alex up, setting him on his hip, “You need to stop stressing.” 

“I want things to be perfect. These are your coworkers and your boss and-” 

“Everything is perfect, they already love you and they just stared at you from afar the other night,” Jake said, taking her hand in his free one, “You are easy to love, which is why I fell for you so fast.” 

“Stop it,” She blushed, and looked down at her feet. The doorbell rang, making her snap her head up. Jake saw the look in her eye, the anxiety of having to meet and talk to strangers. Jake kissed her cheek and set Alex down. 

“I got it, watch the burgers for me, please,” Jake said, and she nodded, as he ran to the front door. 

“Damn Hangman, took you long enough,” Phoenix said as he opened the door, “So how did you get the good shit off base while we are stuck breathing in the scent of black mold?” 

Jake just smirked, letting in Phoenix, Bob, and Coyote, “Sometimes, you gotta know people.” 

Y/N peeked her head to look inside the house to see who was here, when she felt a tug on her dress. She looked down to see her little boy with the same blue eyes as her lover. He too was full of anxiety about having to meet new people, and it was obvious in the way he held on to her leg and tried to hide behind her. Y/N felt her heart break and knelt down to his level. 

“Are you ready to meet some new people?” Y/N asked her son. 

“Are they nice?” Alex whispered. 

Y/N smiled, “The nicest, come on.” Y/N took her son’s hand and walked into the house, which was already full of loud aviators, cracking open beers and having a laugh. But all eyes seemed to fall on her the second she walked through the sliding glass door, the little boy’s hand in hers squeezed her tighter, “Hi.” 

“Hi,” Jake said, and then walked over to them. He picked up Alex, and side by side, they looked like twins, “This is my wife, Y/N, which you guys already know from the other night,” Y/N waved at the group of aviators, who waved back, but their eyes were on the little boy who was burying his head into his father’s neck, “And this is Alex, my son.” 

“You have a kid?” Rooster asked, completely shocked by the news, “Since when?” 

“Since about four years ago, keep up Rooster, shut your jaw you’ll catch flies,” Jake said and Rooster rolled his eyes. 

“Why didn’t you tell any of us this? She must’ve had him when-” 

“When you two were both stationed in Korea,” Y/N said, cutting Phoenix off, “You’re Phoenix, right?” 

“Yeah. . . Hangman, have you told her all about us?” Phoenix said with a smile, “You let me drown in the testosterone fest in Lemoore and didn’t tell me I could’ve had another female to hang out with!” 

She felt like a weight was lifted off her shoulders once the initial introduction of the family was over. Everyone fell into natural conversation. The boys gathered around the grill, as Y/N, Phoenix and Halo sat at the table in the backyard. Jake couldn’t get over how beautiful his wife looked in the setting summer sun. The gentle golden hour glow made her look like a goddess, her tan skin literally looked like there were gold flakes in it, her hair looked shiny. He paused for a second as he watched her laugh at something Phoenix said, he noticed her hand, the hand her wedding ring sat on, resting on her stomach. 

“Is she-” Jake asked himself. 

“Yo! You're gonna burn this shit!” Payback yelled, snapping Jake out of his trance. Jake shook his head and turned back to the grill, making note to ask her a question later. 

It brought joy to Y/N’s heart seeing her little shy boy grow comfortable around the group of aviators. He slowly warmed up to them, still clinging to Jake as he cooked the hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill for the group. But the second Bob had rambled off some facts about the toy F-22 raptor in the little boy’s hand, he had made a new best friend. 

Y/N couldn’t help but giggle as Bob and Payback chased Alex around the backyard with toy fighter jets in their hands. Rooster and Hangman seemed to put whatever beef they had aside and were civil to one another. Rooster had easily made friends with the little boy, making him giggle as he walked around the backyard with Alex on his shoulders so his plane could have a proper lift off and landing. 

“It must be hard when he is gone,” Phoenix said, as she helped you clean up from dinner. The guys were now sitting in the backyard by the fire pit, breaking into the bottle of scotch Rooster had once been gifted from Maverick. Alex was fast asleep on Jake’s chest as he rocked him slowly in one of the outdoor rocking chairs. 

“It was when Alex was first born and he had to jet off to Korea. Those six months were hell, it felt like Jake had missed everything,” Y/N said, drying a plate. She paused a second after putting it away, choosing her next words very carefully. She placed a hand on her stomach, taking a deep breath. The small action didn’t go unnoticed by the female aviator, “He won’t tell me about it,” She looked over at Phoenix, who froze, “It means one of two things, he’s not really doing anything, just sitting in classes and it’s boring, or. . . there’s a chance we could lose him.” 

Phoenix sighed and hung her head, looking down at her shoes. She thought to herself a second, closing her eyes. She turned around and leaned against the counter, facing Y/N. Phoenix didn’t have to say anything, Y/N could tell that it was the later option of her statement. Y/N felt tears in her eyes as she looked back into the backyard, seeing Jake’s bright smile as he laughed at some story Fanboy had told. Alex hadn’t even moved an inch, but cuddled deeper into Jake’s chest. Jake bent his head down and placed a kiss on the top of the boy's blonde head of hair.  

Y/N bit her lip and looked at Phoenix, “Make sure he comes home.” 

“I will,” She said to Y/N.

 “Make sure you all, come home,”

--- --- ---

inbox/requests are open! also lmk if you want to be added to my taglist:)

[valhallaas]

Lovin’ Touchin’ Squeezin’

pairing: jake hangman seresin x sunshine!reader

word count: 2.9k

summary: there’s been a hangman hole missing in your heart, maybe a rowdy night at the Hard Deck can make it all better. Or maybe make it worse.

a/n: i think she did it. part two?! will there be a follow up? bradley, Jake’s coming for your girl…quite literally 😂 anyway, i hope y’all enjoy it! feedback is always appreciated!

Three glasses sit on the table. One water, two rum and cokes. You’re not much for drinking and don’t understand why Rooster keeps bringing them to you. Your smile feels fake when you flash it to him, watching as he sets a third one in front of you. Maybe he’s hoping you’ll cave. If that’s the case, he really doesn’t know you at all. Which is really upsetting in the scheme of things. It can’t really be blamed on the drinks, or Rooster—because he does try.

Things haven’t been the same. Lifting your gaze from the taunting drink, your gaze slides past Rooster playing pool with Phoenix and settles on the familiar blonde who hasn’t been so familiar as of late. Your gaze is searing, you can tell he feels it by the way Jake’s spine stiffens. The subtle turn of his head in your direction. Acknowledging you without giving you his full attention.

Pouting, your head falls against Bob’s shoulder. Your rum and coke will go flat just like the other two did. Sitting there dripping condensation next to Bob’s water. You’ve got one of his hands resting in your lap as you fiddle with his fingers. Everyone’s out tonight celebrating. You of all people should be the life of the party, you’ve finally been placed on the elite dagger squad.

“He still isn’t talking to you?” Bob’s soft voice reaches you.

“No.”

“What happened?”

You shrug. “I don’t know.”

That’s a lie. You have somewhat of an idea of what happened. Casting your eyes back to Bradley, he’s leaning against the pool watching you openly long for another man. A couple months ago, you had caught Bradley and Jake talking. Or, more like Bradley had Jake backed into a corner, the blonde had steam pouring out of his ears. You don’t know what was said, only that Jake hasn’t been the same. He’s kept his distance. Talking to you if he has to, avoiding you if he can.

If you want her happy, let me make her happy. The words replay in his mind over and over. As if Jake couldn’t make you happy. He certainly wouldn’t leave you sitting with Bob, you’re pretty red lips sitting in a pout when you should be celebrating. Fuck, all he wants is for you to be happy. That’s why he walked away. Rooster is who you want. You have him. It doesn’t matter if the thought makes his blood boil. It doesn’t matter that he can’t go to sleep at night without thinking of that night. Your dress flaring out as he danced with you around the bar. How soft your lip felt against his thumb as he smeared the pretty color that painted it.

But he cannot deal with the way you look at him. The way your eyes linger, how they follow him across the room. The fucking pout on your cherry painted lips that seems to never leave. He can’t fucking take it. He’s playing darts with Javy, ignoring you. Trying to, at least. It’s only a few seconds that you give him some peace, your burning stare moved elsewhere. It’s killing him, and he knows without a shadow of a doubt it’s breaking you in two. There’s nothing he wants more than to pop Rooster in his caterpillar covered mouth. Glancing over at Rooster, he sees him staring at you. Watching you looking at Jake in longing. The guy has to know it’s his fault. He’s the one who told him to back up. It makes his ego soar either way, having your endless attention. You were the definition of his perfect girl, and to know that despite you belonging to another, you still desperately wanted him in any way possible, Jake smirks before looking away. His focus back on the dart board just in time.

You want your best friend back. There is a Jake shaped hole missing and you hate it. Makes you act up. You huff when Javy catches your eye, giving you a bright smile. He knows he's not who you’ve been staring at. Biting your lip, you run a thumb over the bright color of your lip. You wonder if Jake knew you put it on for him. His favorite color on you, always complimented you when you wore it. Never failed to poke the scar above your lip, saying it gave you a Marilyn quality.

It’s a bad idea. It’s a very good idea.

Slowly you stand from your seat, Bob watching you with raised eyebrows. Others are watching you too, but you keep your eyes straight ahead of you as you walk. Your hands shake, fingers trailing over the buttons of the jukebox. Swallowing thickly, you flick through the songs with a particular one in mind. You’re going to end up on top of a table, and it’s only slightly embarrassing because you’re stone cold sober.

You’re fairly confident that Penny won’t mind. But, you’re also sure that a raging pilot will carry you off before she can make her way to you.

Pushing the buttons, you twirl, making your way back to the group. The clacking of pool balls clashes with the opening notes of the song. Eyes closed, your fingers fiddle with the hem of your dress. There’s no one else, there’s no else. No one else is paying attention to you. What’s that one saying in every white lady’s living room? Dance like no one’s watching? The singer's voice croons out and your hips sway. Anybody who knows you knows how much you love this song. And you fucking love this song. It doesn’t take long before you’re losing yourself. The lyrics make their way past your lips. Hoots and sharp whistles are blending into the melody from the crowd.

You have to let go. It’s now or never.

Somehow Bob knows what’s going through your head. The table has been cleared off, and being the gentleman he is, he holds out his arm to help your dumbass up on the table. You flash him a smile in thanks, he only shakes his head in return. Hips swaying, your fingertips tickle the tops of your thighs. The drag of your hands lifting your dress higher and higher before dropping it back down. Head fallen back, the lyrics sinking into your skin. No, you aren’t aware of your surroundings. Not the shocked expressions of your friends, the way Bradley’s jaw dropped, or the way the muscle twitches in Jake’s jaw from clenching his teeth. You’re only up there for maybe a full minute before you're being carried off. Hoots and hollers following the roar of your heartbeat in your ears. You can tell by the hand wrapped around your thigh that it isn’t Rooster who has you. Tilting your head up, you see him still at the pool table, watching Hangman carry you away. You don’t miss his wink, and you blow a kiss his way.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” He says, a bite to his words when he drops you on your feet out back.

You can’t help but pout, bottom lip slightly wobbling at his tone. It’s been months and this is how he talks to you? You don’t say anything. Simply turning, kicking off your sandals and making your way to the sand. The moon bounces off the water, dancing with the wind as it tangles itself in your hair. Sea salt sticks to your skin. You’ve never felt so defeated before. You embarrassed yourself, and for what? To get scolded like a little girl.

“So fucking stupid, Sunny.”

No one else calls you that. Only Jake. You kind of hate how it's stuck, you’ve even started calling yourself that. You pause, groaning as you tug at the roots of your hair. You got his attention, but this isn’t what you wanted. A warm hand on your elbow makes you jump. A small gasp escapes as you turn to face Jake. You glare at his sheepish expression.

“Can I help you?” You snap. “Hmm? Come to yell some more?”

“I didn’t mean to yell—”

“Yeah you did,”

Jake runs a hand over his face. “Sunny. You can’t just do—”

“I can do whatever the fuck I want, Seresin. No one cares. No one but you.” You step away from him, closer to the water. “Who are you to stop me anyway? You haven’t talked to me in months.” He can’t argue with you. Can tell that he doesn’t want to. You sigh. “What do you want?”

He doesn’t say it. You. I want you. It rings out in the silence between you getting lost in the distant waves. You want him too. It’s not like you were hiding it. That’s why he picked you up and carried you away. You had been putting on a show for him. He had you all to himself now, but it seems like you're still on the wrong foot. It makes you ache. If there's one person who always got you, who never had to try, it was Jake.

You don’t say a thing, simply turn towards the water and peele your dress off. You’re naked underneath, biting back a smirk upon hearing Jake’s mumbled curses, you run towards the water. It takes your breath away. The waves crash against you, digging their fingers in, holding tight, reluctant to let go. You turn to face the shore, seeing Jake standing there with his hands on his hips staring at you. You giggle, the sound too light to reach him, but you can tell by the shake of his head he knows you're smiling.

“What are you doing, Sunshine?”

“Putting on a show. I’ve been told I’m good at it.”

“I’d say so.”

You move in closer, staying low in the water. It seems like you’re both waiting for the other to make a move. You know that this time around it’s his move to make. You sigh in defeat. Stupid. It had been a stupid idea from the start.

“Fine.” You say, eyes watering, voice cracking. “You don’t want me, it’s fine. Just know I miss you, okay? I can’t take it anymore, Jake. I can’t take missing you like this.”

He doesn't try to hide his stare as you walk out of the water. Snatching your dress from his hands you pull it over you and beeline for the parking lot. You had left your phone in Rooster’s truck. You needed out of here. He watches you walk away. But he can’t do it a second time.

You pause when you hear him say your name. Not Sunshine, not Sunny. Your name. It makes you breakout in goosebumps.

“Not again, Sunny girl.” His voice is thick with want.

You’re shoved backwards, shoulders slamming against the side of the Branco causing you to hiss. Fingers trail up your thighs before digging into the muscle, fingers splayed across your skin before he lifts you up off your feet. Instantly, your legs are wrapping around his waist, the skirt of your dress bunched up at your hips. Deft fingers hastily undoing his pants. No clumsiness, you aren’t unsure, there is no heistance. It’s in that moment that you look up over his shoulder, glazed over eyes meeting him in the mirror. He looks like the goddamn devil. He wants to tear you apart from the inside out.

Fucking hell, he’s going to take you against Rooster’s truck. You’re sure he won’t mind. Maybe. Out in the open where anyone can see, the ocean breeze dusting sea salt along your exposed skin. You’re sticky, still wet from your dip in the water, making you cling to Jake’s uniform.

The sound of his belt buckle hitting the floor pulls you back in. Glancing down, your teeth dig into your lip at the sight of him. He’s hot, a pulsing red as he sits heavy between you. He lifts your face so he can meet your eye. You give a hasty nod before he’s pushing into you. You glance down again, heat hitting your cheeks when you remember your underwear is sitting snug in Rooster’s pocket. Easy access, he told you. Not for him, obviously. There is nothing small about Jake. He’s big, and thick, and he has your eyes rolling towards the back of your head. The head of his cock snags at your entrance, you breathe in nice and slow, using his shoulders to lift yourself up before resting back down, swallowing him as you do.

“Jesus Christ,” You moan as his hips roll into yours. It’s better than you can imagine. It’s euphoric. You’d given him the opening, and he took it.

“Jake,” you whine, forehead nestling in against his neck and shoulder.

Jake nods. This was a long time coming. He knows. He knows you need this as much as he does. You're clinging to him, cunt clenching around him like he’d slip free at any moment. He groans when your teeth dig into his shoulder right where it meets his neck. His thrusts are slow and steady, building a fire inside of you. Your head falls back against the truck, eyes opening to watch. You grin lazily when you see him watching you. You draw back, hips moving in a smooth tempo. You hit a good rhythm, letting yourself move with him. It had never been like this with anyone else. It's different with Bradley. But you didn’t want to think about him. Just Jake, all Jake. Easy, full of complete desire and lust, not just a means to an end. You’re almost where he wants you. He meets your gaze and his eyes hold something akin to mischief. You clench around him and he groans. He thrusts up a little harder than before, causing your head to fall back.

“I’ve missed you, Sunshine.”

You watch each other, a breath apart as you take what he gives you. His hand slides up your front, warm fingers wrapping gingerly around your throat. Your breath catches as he muffles out a curse, his other hand lifts one of your legs higher on his hip so he can reach a deeper angle. His pace quickens, his thrusts are harsher. You’re loving every minute of it. Flexing your cunt, your lower muscles bear down as you grip him. He groans, the sound booming in the tight small space.

There’s pleasure coiling behind your pussy. “Jake, I—”

“What do you need, Sunny?”

“Jake,” You whine, pulling on his hair. “Please, daddy, please. I can’t—I need you—.”

His gaze drops from your face to where he’s burying himself in your tight cunt. He nods before lifting his eyes. “I’ve got you. I’ve always got you.”

You flash him a grin and he jolts, his cock twitching deep. You cling to him, desperate and a little dizzy. You moan, he’s so big and you’re so fucking full. He fills you up completely, cock dragging against your walls. You love every minute of it.

Your orgasm takes you by surprise. You lurch against him as a whimper escapes. You lean back against the truck, head hitting the window, boneless. You’re lost in the feel of the pleasure, your gaze watching as he pounds into you. His grip is tight, and a little desperate. You’re loose and wet and fucking perfect. His nose presses into your cheek as he grinds into you.

“I love the way you feel when you’re coming on my cock. Can’t tell you how often I’ve dreamed of the feeling, sweetheart.”

You laugh, wrapping your arms around him. Steady pants and grunts are heavy in your ear. It’s a brutal taking, and you are not wet enough. Tears pool in your eyes, threatening to fall with every harsh thrust. You feel him shift his weight, delivering a sharper thrust that nearly has you sliding up the side. He mumbles apology but his grasp on your waist is unforgivable. You’re bouncing on his cock now, meeting his every thrust. He’s deep, so deep you’re surprised you can’t taste him. You pull his hair, grinning when he hisses.

“Are you going to come for me again?” he asks, practically coos into your ear. “You look so pretty when you do, Sunshine.”

You can’t talk. He knows you’re fucked out, gone stupid on his cock. You asked for it, you know you did with your little performance earlier. But you don’t regret it. You shift, opening up your legs a little wider. He groans feeling himself sink deeper into you. You’re swollen and raw and you’re living for it. Nodding, his name falls from your lips, breathless—he’s sending you cloud nine and you aren’t ever coming back down.

It’s like a volcano, jolting you, overflowing and hot. A scream ripped from your throat and your nails digging into him so hard you can feel when he starts to bleed. Jake is right there. He holds you into place, lips kissing your cheeks. He fucks you through it, jamming himself into your searing overstimulated sex, he meets his end. His grip tightens, a low groan comes from deep in his chest, filling you up. Shuddering he falls into you, keeping you pinned between him and the wall as he gasps for air.

“Holy shit,” he mutters, breaking the silence.

You fall forward, hugging him tightly to you. You were drunk off of him. There isn’t anyway, ain’t no how he was getting rid of you now. You’re aching and sore but you refuse to move away from him. His eyes are still dark and heavy-lidded as he regards you. You give him a soft smile, a hand pushing his hair back.

“You’re a lot of trouble, Sunny girl.”

You lean forward. Running your thumb along his lip, your lipstick coming off on it. You stare at it for a moment before looking up at him, a deviant grin taking up your face.

“Oh, Hangman. You’ve no idea.”

part one

part three

[t-nd-rfoot]

please give me some seresin fluff to deal with my awful period cramps 🫠

lyra

CARE PACKAGE aka Period Pains

Jake Seresin, at your service!

Pairing Jake Seresin x female!reader

Theme as fluffy as period fluff can go I hope

Warnings periods; not really a warning but Jake giving off major Charlie vibes

Word Count 553

Note @natrace you and me both, bestie 😮‍💨

Pain. Terrible pain.

You’d think after years of bleeding for days on end every month that you’d get used to the cramps, but oh, how wrong you were.

A loud rapping of knocks on your front door echoed all the way to your bedroom, and you actually took a moment to decide if it was worth answering. But it seemed like you weren’t going to be able to sleep the pain away, so you figured the few dragging steps down the hall would hurt less than the boxing session going on in your uterus.

You took one look through the peephole and you swore you felt all the blood in your body rush up to your warm cheeks instead.

You winced as you slowly opened the door, revealing a one Jake Seresin with several bags in his arms.

“Uh, hi?”

He casually strolled in and headed straight for your kitchen as if it was his own home without so much as a ‘hello.’

You trailed after him as fast as you could—which was not at all, really—to see him unloading the contents of the bags on the counter

“Not that I’m not happy to see you, but what are you doing here? I thought we called tonight off.”

Jake scoffed with his infamous smirk, still busy sorting his deliveries, “you really thought I was gonna let my best girl suffer alone?”

As soon as the last bag was unpacked and folded, he clasped his hands at the spread laid out before you. “Okay, so! Three kinds of ice cream—already in the freezer. We have sweet, we have savory, and we have popsicles,” he informed with his hands gestured wildly at everything he talked about. “Passed by that new restaurant you wanted to try out—looks real promising, by the way—but I also brought a bunch of takeout menus for dinner options. We can always order from more than one place, if that’s what you want.”

Just then, your microwave dinged and borrowing your oven mitts, he took out something that looked like a weighted pillow. “Best heating pad you’ll ever use…at least according to the internet. The rice is supposed to be really good for you. So c’mon, get your cute little butt on the couch so you can cozy up with this while we look for something to watch.”

You were still trying to process the first thing Jake said as he made his way to your couch and started scrolling through Netflix for your comfort movie.

“C’mon, this heating pad isn’t gonna get any hotter,” he called out.

Deciding you had neither the mental nor physical energy to argue or question his actions, you took your seat beside the living Ken doll. As soon as you sank into the cushions, Jake placed the heating pad gently below your stomach. Almost instantly, the warmth soothed any discomfort you were feeling prior to now.

For the first time since arriving, Jake was quiet. All he had to do was reach out his hand to invite you to cuddle with him and you nestled your head on his lap as the movie started.

The cramping pain didn’t go away entirely, but you were thankful his presence made it tolerable.

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Add yourself to my tag list!

Disclaimer I do not own Top Gun: Maverick or any of its characters. Please do not copy my work or translate without my permission.

[kryptonitejelly]

Ok, but imagine this.... Jake letting the reader shave him in the morning. Just soft smiles, soft touches, loving looks, sweet conversation.... 🥺🥺🥺 ok. that's it. that's the idea

This is actually sooooooo intimate 🥺

You are seated on Jake’s lap, thighs straddling either side of him, both of you beside the sink, with the faucet running. He has his head tilted back, his neck exposed to you, and you work gently, hyper focused as you pull the razor against his skin, watching as the shaving foam gathers around the blade with each drag.

“Am I doing ok?” You ask, as you rinse the blade under running water, watching as shaving foam and tiny blonde hairs running down the white porcelain of the sink, before disappearing down in a whirlpool motion.

“Perfect,” is what Jake says as his fingers reach to squeeze your waist. Even with his head tilted back, eyes not looking, his hands know where to find you; they don’t ever miss.

“Did I nick you?” You ask, pulling the razor out of the running water, swiping it against the clean towel on the edge of the sink before turning your attention back to the next column of cream covering his neck, “I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You could never,” is what he says, fingers squeezing your hips again, secure, confident, trusting. You lean down to press a kiss to his bare shoulder.

[pmitchell]

getting the hang of it. (pt. 1) | jake “hangman” seresin x reader 

warnings: A sexual harassment scene, please tread carefully. MORE ANGST! I swear writing angst with Hangman is just fun, there’s a slight fluffy scene on this one, but the next one will have even more!

pairings: Jake “Hangman” Seresin x reader

word count: 2,539 (9 minutes reading time)

author’s notes: I’m proud of the title ok :) hahaha. Anyway, reader is Penny Benjamin’s younger sister; biological, adopted, half-sibling, you’re free to choose! 

EDIT: Part two is right here!

Your sister had warned you about the pilots who were regulars at her bar; do not engage in anything with them, and if one asked you to get on a plane with them, say no. Right off the bat, you already knew which ones are trouble. The guy that looked like a Malibu Ken doll was called Hangman; his friend Coyote was the cute and nice one, but seemed to be in the habit of hanging out with the wrong crowd; and then there’s Rooster. To quote your sister, Penny, he’s the sweet and damaged one.

There’s a table at the Hard Deck right by the jukebox that basically had your name on it; everybody knew that’s where you would always sit and for some reason there was an unwritten rule that only you and your invited guests can sit around there. The first day of TOPGUN training for the new recruits and Hangman was already leaning over the jukebox, putting in a quarter and picking an uptempo love song from the 80s.

“God, I love this song!” He said, looking at you. “Don’t you?”

You looked up from your book and shrugged, “I’m more of a Frank Sinatra kind of girl,” you said over the noise.

He acknowledged your answer with a slow nod, “Hangman,” he offered his hand to shake yours. 

“That’s unfortunate,” you shook his hand, pretending like Penny hadn’t already briefed you that the pilots would always introduce themselves with callsigns, just like your father did. 

“It’s my callsign,” he explained.

“Ah,” you nodded, going back to reading your book without introducing yourself or entertaining the fact that he was a pilot.

“Why are you reading at a bar?” He asked.

“I’m waiting for a friend, and generally when people see the book, they leave me alone,” you answered, hinting that he should do so as well.

Hangman pursed his lips, his ego clearly hurt by your rejection since he was used to having girls fawn all over him. “Duly noted, Ma’am,” he nodded out of respect. “I will leave you alone,” he said.

“Thank you,” you nodded in return.

“Are you following me?” Hangman suddenly asked while you were tending the bar one night.

“Excuse me?” You asked as you wiped down the beer glasses you had just rinsed.

“I thought you said you wanted me to leave you alone, and yet here you are at my favorite bar,” he smirked.

You shook your head, amazed how he could just twist and turn things to fit his little scenario.

“I think I should be the one saying that to you since this is my sister’s bar?” You raised an eyebrow.

Hangman raised an eyebrow to mirror yours. “Penny’s your sister?” He asked.

“Mhm,” you nodded. “So you be careful now, because one wrong step and I have the authority to ring that bell,” you looked over at the bell right above your head, and so did he.

Over the next few weeks, Hangman would continue to try and talk to you. Sometimes you’d help Penny at the bar when you’ve got nothing better to do, or just hangout there with your friends and he would be absolutely relentless. Asking Penny about you or even trying to woo your friend into giving him your number. You’d fall for his charms if you noticed how he could be just the worst bully at times.

Some college kids were learning how to play pool at the table, and he’d intimidate them enough into giving it up. Sometimes he’d even bully the other pilots, which you thought should be breaking some kind of bro code at the Navy. 

Hangman even bullied your date into dumping you right before your second date. He saw him pick you up at the bar and he had been fuming out of his ears all night, especially when your date led you out to the patio where he gave you a kiss and promised to meet you again next weekend. When next weekend rolled around, you waited for him at the bar, but he was a no show.

“Hangman told him to never come back,” Jimmy said, handing you a glass of beer.

“What?” You asked, incredulous.

“Young man was here half an hour ago, but then Hangman told him you weren’t interested and that he shouldn’t come back. So he left,” Jimmy shrugged, going away to the other patrons.

You turned to the pool tables where Hangman was bent over, lining his stick with the cue ball, and marched towards him. He looked up just in time to see you with smoke coming out of your ears.

“What is your problem?” You asked, keeping your voice level even if you wanted to slap that smug smile off his face so badly.

“I don’t follow,” he shrugged.

“You just can’t stand it, can you? You can’t take the fact that I refuse to fall head over heels for you and worship the ground you walk on, so now you make it a point to just vex me?” You called him out right in front of the other pilots.

Hangman was truly taken aback, never been called out in front everyone like this before. He tried to speak, but he truly could not think of any justifications for his action other than seeing you with someone else made him utterly jealous.

“You know what? If you hadn’t been such a jerk, you might have had a slight chance, but that is long gone now,” you said, turning back on your heels and grabbing your purse to head out. Disappointed and annoyed that you had gotten all dressed up and cute for nothing because of him.

Right as you were about to walk out the door, Penny rang the bell and looked at Hangman pointedly. First time in the history of The Hard Deck, a Navy pilot was going to have to buy rounds for everybody. The man sighed, mood ruined and completely defeated as everybody cheered. Your visits to The Hard Deck lowered after that, and if you did visit, you made it a point to stay far away from him. If you happened to be helping Penny tend the bar, he would not be the one ordering.

People say there is a thin line between love and hate. It was not the case for you. You strongly hated the man who thinks he was better than everyone else and that he can get away with anything. For him, however, the line was a little bit blurry. Ever since you confronted him and his ego was bruised, he had been living in denial; he didn’t know how to deal his feelings for you. So, like most babies and teenagers, he lashed out and decided that if you hated him, then he hated you too.

You remembered watching Hangman celebrate graduating TOPGUN with the rest of the pilots and that he had been at the top of his class. You helped Penny carry their beers and food out to the patio; you could feel his eyes on you, but you refused to look up to meet them. Setting the cartons of cold beer and a platter of seafood on the table, you went back inside and that was the last you saw of him.

That was until today. Wearing a blue satin dress that hugged your wonderful figure, you stopped by The Hard Deck for some drinks. You sat on one of the bar stools and pulled your hair up, fanning yourself at the heat and humidity even if your dress was revealing plenty.

“You’re back early,” Penny said, looking at her watch that said 8PM. How was the wedding?” Penny asked, handing you a cold bottle of beer that you immediately pressed to your neck, relieved to finally feel something cold against your skin.

“Horrible,” you said, taking a gulp. “There was nothing to eat over there. Oh, and her ex showed up and interrupted the best man’s speech during the reception,” you explained, taking another gulp.

“No way,” Penny chuckled, taking a rag and wiping the table off a little.

“That’s not the worst part. His ex showed up at the ceremony and said “I object!” during the whole “speak now or forever hold your peace” thing,” you stated.

Penny gasped. “Oh my God, I would’ve loved to see that!”

You chuckled, but then gasped again as you felt the heat creeping up on you. “It is like a thousand degrees in here!” You exclaimed, pulling your hair up again and fanning yourself. Penny ducked down to look for a piece of paper you could use as a fan, and your eyes caught something–or rather, someone–familiar approaching the bar.

“Penny, my dear,” he called out. Penny stood straight back up. Oh, you could not mistake that voice. “Four beers, please,” he asked.

“Coming right up,” she said, and finally moved out of the way so he could clearly see you and you could clearly see him.

Two years since the last time you met and he looked somewhat more mature, especially when he wasn’t wearing his Navy uniforms. You wondered if you should say hi or at least smile, but Penny came back with four beers and handed it to him before you could figure it out. He smiled sweetly at her, and just before he turned around completely, he took a glance at you. You weren’t sure if he was smiling at you as well.

“What the heck?” You leaned in close to your sister, slightly bent over the bar.

“They came back yesterday, called to do something about a top secret mission,” Penny filled you in.

“And you only thought to mention this to me now?” You raised a brow, putting on an offended face.

“The naval base is literally right there. They’re bound to come back sooner or later,” Penny said.

“And since when are you so chummy?” You asked again, referring to the way he called your sister ‘dear’.

“I always liked him,” she shrugged as if it was no big deal. “He never did anything to offend me because he doesn’t want to get on the other end of the bell again,” she pointed out with a classic Penny Benjamin smirk.

“Traitor,” you declared.

Your sister laughed as she handed a bottle of beer to another patron. “Come on, (Y/N), that was two years ago. How long are you going to still hate him over a date you don’t even know was going to work out?”

“If the date wasn’t going to work out, who was he to say anything? At least let me figure that out on my own since, I don’t know, it was my date,” you rambled on.

“Okay, calm down,” your sister said because other patrons standing around you were looking at you now. “Why don’t you head out the back and I’ll get you some dinner?” Penny offered.

“Fine,” you grumbled, taking your purse and beer off the bar stool before you squeezed your way through the crowd to the patio.

As soon as the cool breeze hit your skin, you sighed in relief. You gathered your hair into a bun and found a clip in your purse to hold it in place as you leaned on the railing. You couldn’t exactly see the ocean waves, but you could hear it crashing to the shore.

“Got stood up?” A voice called out. When you looked back you saw a man older than you standing in the doorway, his hand holding a bottle of beer. His hair was unkempt, his beard looked like there are crumbs of potato chips in it, and from the flush of his skin, you knew he was drunk.

“No, just came to check on my sister. I’m headed home soon,” you told him, hoping it was dismissive enough that he becomes discouraged.

You could hear the thump of his boots on the wooden patio approaching you, however, making you sigh. He stood right next to you, hand circling your waist and pulling you close. You could feel your heart beating against your chest, your palms sweaty and your fingertips cold as you twisted yourself out of his hands.

“Oh come on, you don’t have to play hard to get,” the man smirked. His hand moved again, this time grabbing your ass. You could feel your heart plunge to your stomach.

“Stop it!” You shouted, shoving his hand away. You could see that it did not discourage him, and when he moved forward again, your arm swung and punched him square in the nose. Your own action took you by surprise, not sure where you had found the courage to do that.

The man bent over, holding his nose. “You bitch!” He screamed.

The pain of your knuckles coming in contact with his nose shot right through every nerve in your body and you gasped in pain, holding your knuckle with your left hand to soothe the pain. Suddenly, the man grabbed you by your arms as he glared at you, a hint blood trickling down his nose. You tried to kick him away, but his firm grip pulled you flush against his body, immobilizing you. You could smell the alcohol on him and it made you wince in disgust.

“Hey!” Hangman appeared at the door, immediately shoving the guy away. The man toppled to the ground just as the other pilots came to your aid. Hangman shielded you from him and stared the man, who now looked shorter as he cowered, down.

“Apologize to the lady,” Hangman said, gripping the man by his collars. “Apologize!” He barked, jerking the limp man.

“S-sorry! Sorry!” He shouted, looking more scared of Hangman than actually feeling remorse.

Hangman shoved him away and turned to you while his friends restrained him and escorted him out. He gently placed a hand on your arm and you flinched a little until you saw that it was him and he guided you to sit down on one of the chairs.

“You’re hopped up on adrenaline,” the man said, kneeling right in front of you. He took off his jacket and draped it over your shoulders, leaving him in a white t-shirt. You didn’t realize that you were shivering until you felt the warmth on your skin. Hangman looked at your hand, red and raw after punching the man so hard.

Penny came running. “Oh my God, are you okay?” She asked, squatting down right next to Hangman right in front of you.

You couldn’t find the words to answer her but you nodded slowly.

“She’s in shock,” Hangman said. “She should go home and put some ice on that hand,” he said to your sister.

Penny looked back at the bar and then at you, realizing that she was understaffed tonight, but you were far more important than a few angry patrons. She brushed your hair back, “Okay, I’ll-uh, I’ll tell Jimmy to close down early. Let’s get you home, okay?”

“No, no, don’t do that,” you shook your head, not wanting your sister close down the bar at 8 PM when it was just starting to get busy.

“I’ll take her home,” Hangman offered.

taglist: @dindjarinneedsahug @thespeeder​ @nothing2113 @hazelgirl355 @lgg5989 @bellamy1998

part two will be up shortly!

[inej-ruination-ghafa]

CALL ME JAKE - J.S

Warnings: cheating, mentions of sex, make outs, swearing, aggression, fights, mentions of naval terms and flying

Summary: you are Bradley's sister and having not seen Hangman for a while, you realise that maybe he's worth it. After an incident happens with your boyfriend, you realise Hngman may be the one for you

Wordcount: 4.1k

You walked into the hard deck with a sigh, eyes scanning the room as you looked for people you recognised. This was Top Gun. 

It was a new frontier for you and it was here to show you that you deserved your peace in the top fighter pilots in the country. You spotted your WSO Venom in the corner talking to Hobbit, one of the guys you had gone to the Naval Academy with. 

Your brother was in the other corner talking to Phoenix - your best friend from the academy - and you couldn't believe how at home you felt already in this new bar. 

Your brother was Bradley Bradshaw, call sign Rooster and you were a pilot as well, call sign Songbird.

Then you spotted him. At the bar was Hangman. If there was one regret you had it was turning down his offer when he had suggested all those years ago. 

You walked over, sitting down at the bar next to where he was standing and he seemed just as shocked to see you as you did to see him. 

It may have only been three years but looking at Jake Seresin you thought of everything everything could have been. But he was cocky and arrogant and had little care for others, especially when he was flying.

You two had gone to the Naval Academy together and had spent four years as tumultuous frenemies. He had asked you out after graduation and you had turned him down.

"You're back Seresin," You said, looking up at the man. 

He looked good, more mature now and you could catch a hint of stubble on his cheeks. You blushed slightly, trying not to look at him for too long but he held your eye contact, a smile on his face.

"Bradshaw, it's been too long," he replied, a smile on his face. He hadn't forgotten that exhilarating feeling the first time he saw you and you looked even more beautiful now. 

"It's not been long enough," you said with a roll of your eyes.

He chuckled, a smirk on his face as he leant against the bar, "You're lying,"

"No I'm not," 

"You missed me didn't you sweetheart?" He asked, that cocky smile still on his face and you hated to say that yeah, you had missed him a little bit. 

"You wish Seresin," You stated but, yeah, you did miss him. 

It had been 3 years since you last saw him. It was the day you had graduated from the Naval Academy and maybe seeing him again brought up some old feelings. 

"I like it when you call me Seresin," he said, his face serious as he said that. 

He had missed you too, he had missed the smile on your face when he flirted with you, the fierce look in your eyes when you would win something. 

You groan, "You have to make everything awkward don't you Bagman," you said with a blush spreading over your cheek. 

"Ooh, that hurt Birdie," he winced before chuckling. 

You stood up, getting up from your seat at the bar and placing your hand on his shoulder, "I'm sure it did Seresin, I'll see you later, I've got to go catch up with my boyfriend," You said. 

"Boyfriend?" He said, the smile on his face falling. The word made his heart sink to his stomach and 

"Yeah, Scorch over there, we've been dating for like 5 months," 

"He looks like bad news," he stated, eyebrows furrowed. He seemed to be standing taller, his chest puffed out as he appeared to be almost threatened by him.  

"He's a nice guy," you reasoned with him. 

"I'd be a better boyfriend," he stated, almost matter the factly. 

"Shut up Hangman," you said, your smile falling as you walked away towards your boyfriend. 

Scorch wrapped his arm around your shoulders, pressing a kiss to your cheek. Hangman watched on with a sort of anger bubbling up in his veins.

You were talking to Hobbit and Nightmare, two of the other guys attending Top Gun and Phoenix but your focus still seemed to be on Scorchs and he hated it.  

He was taken aback when he realised what the feeling was. He was jealous of him. He wanted it to be him that was holding you like that, him. It was a sickening feeling and he hated it. 

He turned around, thanking the blonde bartender for the drink before downing half of it, taking his eyes off of you. He couldn't look at you, he couldn't. 

Later that night, you had kissed your boyfriend goodbye and your brother had driven you back to the apartment that you and Scorch had rented for the five weeks that you'd be at Top Gun for. 

Hangman was sitting at the bar, one of his closest friends Coyote came and sat down next to him, "Who is she?" He asked. 

"Who is who?" Hangman asked, finger running over the rim of the beer glass.

"You only drink that much when you're sad over a woman," Coyote said, nudging his friend in the side. 

He noticed the slight lovelorn look in his dyes and it wasn't often he had that look. Most girls were one night stands for him and he'd slept with most girls in the local area during their four years at the Naval Academy. 

Never had Coyote seen his friend look so sad over a girl and he knew that this one was special. 

"It's nothing man, I'll get over it," he said, taking another sip from his beer bottle. 

He was drowning his sorrows in alcohol even though he knew that there were probably many girls here who would sleep with him in an instant. But he didn't want any of them. He wants you. 

He looked over to the group of the other pilots and then realised that Scorch was missing. He furrowed his brow, cocking his head to the side as he saw some guy in the corner, "Isn't that Scorch?" He questioned. 

When he looked in the corner, he saw Scorch sitting down, a blonde on his lap as he made out with her. 

"Yeah, Isn't he dating Songbird though?" Coyote asked, looking over as well. 

That made Hangman's blood boil. He couldn't think about someone cheating on you because why would they. When they had someone as perfect as you, why would they ruin that by cheating with some stupid blonde bartender who hed never see again. 

He was about to get up but Coyote held him back, “Man, we gotta tell her tomorrow, don't cause a scene,” he said as he watched the blonde lady get up, Scorch giving her a longing gaze. 

The next morning Hangman walked in, unable to look at you. He hadn't gotten much sleep last night, having tossed and turned about what he was going to say to you. He didn't know if Scorch had slept with that girl afterwards but he hated to imagine it. 

He huffed, folding his arms across his chest, “I'm gonna head back, not really in the artying mood anymore,” he said, paying his tab before walking out, driving home in a state of seething anger. 

That's when he saw you, a wide smile on your face as you walked into the hangar in your flight suit, “Morning Seresin,” you said. 

“Can we talk?” he asked, his voice low even though it was just the two of you in there. 

The smile fell from your face as all of the worst case scenarios popped up in your head but you nodded, “Yeah, you can tell me anything,” you said, confused and worried about the outcome of this conversation. 

"I don't like you dating Scorch," he said, voice strained. 

"You don't like me dating Scorch?" You repeated, shocked at how he thinks that he can dictate who you can or cannot date, "Do you think you own me or something?" 

You were annoyed. He made it sound like he wanted to have a serious conversation that brought up serious issues but clearly he was just jealous and annoyed that he couldn't get what he wanted. 

"No, he's a bad guy Birdie," he stated, voice stern like he was giving orders to someone else. 

"How do you know he's a bad guy?" You asked. He's silent after that, eyes trained on his feet and you wanted to get angry at gum because he was trying to ruin your relationship but couldn't even be honest about why, "You just want me for yourself and I told you Hangman, I'm not interested," 

"That's not why," he said, eyes meeting yours. He seemed almost conflicted, his jaw locked and his brows creased together. 

"Then why do you not want me dating him," You asked, your tone exasperated as you flailed your arms in frustration. 

You liked Neil and the fact that Hangman of all people was trying to ruin it made your blood boil. 

"He cheated on you!" He exclaimed in a raised tone, the words spewing out of his mouth without his control. 

There was no simple way to explain it to you and he hated that he had to be the one who found out and had to tell you.  

"What?" You questioned, your voice quiet. You had shrunk back down, a sad tone in your voice as your face contorted into one of misery, your face turning down into a frown and your eyes went wide. 

"Last night, I saw him snogging that bartender, the blonde one who always wears those shorts so her ass is hanging out," He explained, running his hand through his hair, "I'm sorry. That's why I came to you this morning, you deserve to know," 

He hated the melancholy look on your face, the way you seemed defeated as the tears began to brim in your eyes. He wanted to reach out and comfort you but he knew he shouldn't. He shouldn't. 

"Why do you care so much?" you asked, almost as if you didn't believe his accusations. 

"Because I was cheated on once too, sophomore year. And it sucks when you think you love someone and I know you deserve better than that," he stated, hand reaching forward to rest on your shoulder in a comforting manner. 

You wanted to scoff at the idea of any girl not wanting Hangman but you were also shocked that he had admitted something so open and honest to you and maybe if you weren't grieving the fact that your boyfriend had cheated on you, you might have felt touched by such an intimate confession. 

"He wouldn't," your words were quiet, filled with disbelief as you looked up at him with big doe eyes. You could feel the familiar burn prick on the back of your eyes and you tried to hold in the tears that threatened to spill over; you weren't going to cry in front of Hangman. 

He sighed, his heart hurting for you, "Birdie, we both know he would," he said, an airy tone to his voice. It honestly pained him to see you like that and even Hangman was unsure of what this meant.  

Tears welled up in your eyes and you collapsed into his chest, deep sobs vibrating across his chest as he held you tight, his hand rubbing reassuring circles over your back. 

"It's okay," he whispered into your hair, his chin resting on the top of your head. You had your arms wrapped around him, hands bunched up into the material of his shirt as you just cried into his chest. 

He wanted to kill Scorch for even hurting you and his blood boiled at the idea of him somewhere out there, thinking he was so smart for having gotten away with it. 

"I thought he was different," you said in between choked sobs, eyes meeting his. 

He reached up, the pad of his thumb brushing a stray tear from your face, "I know Birdie, I know," he muttered. 

He hoped nobody would walk into the hallway and spot that Hangman had gone soft because he knew that he'd lose any reputation he had with helping you but he didn't care. He just wanted to make sure you were okay. 

The group walked in and you wiped the tears from your eyes, turning to look at the group when you saw Scorch. Hangman stood behind you, his hand on your shoulder still, feeling very protective over you. 

"What's wrong baby?" He asked when he noticed that your eyes were red and you seemed almost deflated. 

You wanted to have an amicable conversation with him but just seeing his lying face made your blood boil and you couldn't even bear to have a conversation with him. 

"You cheated on me!" You exclaimed, poking him hard in the chest, eyes watering with tears. 

"Who said that?" He asked, his voice not questioning, it was demanding. 

He was angry and you could tell. He didn't like being challenged and that was a trait you had never been a fan of. He hated criticism and even this hurt his ego. 

"Hangman, he saw you," you were getting choked up on your words but when you felt Hangman's hand on your shoulder, you calmed down, "he saw you kissing that bartender from the hard deck,"

He scoffed, "Come on Y/N, baby girl, you really trust that blonde himbo over me?" He asked. There was a smug tone to his voice, almost like he believed that you were just gonna roll over and that you didn't care about the way he was treating you at all. 

"I would trust Hangman over you any day," you spat out, nose scrunched up at the sight of him. He disgusted you. 

"You take that back," he said, the playful tone to his voice turning angry and aggressive as he stepped forward, easily towering over you. 

That action in itself made Hangman's blood boil, screw the promise he had made to you that he would intervene, he wasn't going to let this bully hurt you. 

"Hey, why don't you back off man?" Hangman said, walking over. 

Scorch scoffed, turning away from you and towards Hangman who was about an inch taller than him but he didn't care, puffing out his chest and squaring up to him, "You have an issue, Seresin?" He questioned, a challenging tone to his voice. 

"Yeah, I have an issue with cheating douchebags like you," he said, glaring at him

"You sleep around with women all the time and she doesn't hate you," Scorch said, raising an eyebrow at the man. 

"Because I'm single, and the women come to me," he said and you almost smiled, there was that cocky asshole you knew, "That's a brilliant woman and you don't cheat on women like her," 

"What are you gonna do about it, Bagman?" He asked, a smirk pulling on his lips as he looked up at him, stepping forward a little bit, "It was just meaningless sex,"

Hangman lipped his lips, a smirk appearing on his face and you knew this wasn't going to end well, "I'm gonna kill you," he said, his voice low. 

The man's face faltered for a second before Hangman jumped into action, leaping towards him. He grabbed his shoulders, tackling the man to the ground as he straddled him, fist coming up and punching him square in the jaw. 

You gasped, instantly rushing forward with some of the others to stop him. Phoenix grabbed one arm and your WSO Labyrinth grabbed the other as the pulled him off of him. 

He was still struggling, a fire burning behind his eyes as he tried to get to Scorch who was scrambling backwards on the floor, eyes wide and filled with fear.

Every single person in the room knew the cocky and arrogant and downright awful version of Hangman but nobody had ever seen him this angry before, venom in his voice as he yelled, "I'm gonna kill you man!" 

"Hangman, Scorch!" Admiral Bates called out as he walked into the room, your brother by his side, "What is going on here?" 

Hangman stopped struggling, Phoenix and Labyrinth letting go of him. He stood there, sweat on his brow, breaths coming out in pants as he clenched his fists, fighting the urge to knock the living daylights out of the man who was scrambling up off of the floor. 

"That psychopath attacked me!" Scorch announced, pointing an accusatory finger at the man in front of him. 

"Hangman?" Admiral Bates questioned. 

He sighed, "I was angry at Lieutenant Willis. I had recently found out that he had been cheating on my friend Lieutenant Bradshaw and he wasn't being honest about it, sir," he explained, head held high. 

Bradley looked over, his blood boiling as he looked at you, eyes wide, "Is that true Y/N?" He asked, now noticing the defeated look in your eyes and the way you tried not to look at Scorch. 

"Yes, it is true. I will stand by Hangman's decision because he beat me to it, I too would have done the same thing," you explained.

Your eyes flickered over to Hangman's and you shared a look of solidarity, if you were going down, you were going down together. 

Bates sighed, "Okay, my office, Songbird, Hangman, Scorch," he said, turning on his heel and walking out of the room. You and Hangman followed out first and before Scorch left, your brother grabbed him by the shirt. 

That night, you sat on the beach outside of the hard deck, watching the sunset as you thought about the events of today. Hangman had been suspended for the day and scorch has been thoroughly yelled at by bates because, to quote him ‘this is the military, we dont cheat like assholes,’ 

"If I see you even look my sister's way again, I will not hesitate to kill you," he said, letting go and allowing the boy to follow the group through the door. 

Your brother had been furious at the idea of ever seeing that man again and you both wouldn't be shocked if Scorch would drop out of this round of top gun and ask to join the next group in 6 weeks. 

The one thing that stuck in your mind was the way that hangman had handled it. To see just how much he cared for you allowed you to see a different side of Hangman hat was too attractive. You found yourself beginning to fall for the arrogant and obnoxious boy, knowing that it was really just a front and he was soft underneath. 

You wanted to thank him for what he had done for you today. Nobody - par your brother - had ever stood up for you like that. He was willing to get suspended just to protect you and that really meant a lot. 

So when you saw him walking out of the hard deck, a beer bottle in your hand, you called him over and he sat down next to you on the bench. 

For a second, neither of you said anything and for the first time ever, you and Hangman fell into a comfortable silence and you realised that your friendship had gone past that level and it was something else now. Neither of you said anything about it, not wanting to ruin the moment. 

You broke the silence first, “Thanks Seresin, for standing up for me in there,” you said, a smile on your face

“What else did you expect me to do?” he said, almost scoffing at the idea of not protecting you. He wished that you could be his but he didn't really know how to convey that, “Honestly Birdie, i'd do it all again in an instant for you,” 

“Hangman,” you muttered, unable to verbalise how you felt. 

Your heart was pounding in your chest and all you could think about was this stunning tanned man in front of you who was promising you the world. This was a side of him that you had grown to love, even though you didn't see it often. 

“I don't know what you're doing to me Birdie. I've never felt this way towards anyone before,” he said, placing a hand on your cheek and you leant into the warmth of his touch.

He wanted to kiss you. He wanted to show you that he was a better boyfriend than that prick who had cheated on you. But he wanted to give you it to get over that and grieve but he was so close that he could just kiss you now and get you out of his system. But he was sure that even then he'd be an addict, drunk on your kisses and always coming back for more because you would ruin any other girls for him. You'd kill the old Jake, instead bringing out a better side of him that loved and cherished you always. 

You would never admit it, but you had always had a thing for Hangman and now, with his warm hand on your cheek and his face so close to yours, you weren't sure how you hadn't combusted yet. 

“You're not as awful as everyone makes you out to be,” you said, your eyes meeting his. You were trapped, you stared into his blue eyes, almost able to see his soul. You were already getting lost, drowning in his attentive gaze. 

“Yeah, don't tell anyone that though,” he said with a chuckle. 

You couldn't take your gaze off of him and he felt the same way, almost hypnotisied as his eyes looked with yours. The moment felt intimate and there was a sort of tension in the air that you had never expected to feel with him. It felt almost magnetic as your faces moved slightly closer, like they were being pulled together by some omnipotent force. 

“God, you're so beautiful,” he said, a serious look on his face. You giggled at his words and he chuckled at the way you had laughed at his sentiment, “No, no, I mean it. You're stunning,” 

"Hangman, kiss me," you whispered, unable to think about anything else but him as he leant in, lips hovering over yours. 

"Call me Jake," he said, the words quiet, "Please," he'd never been that vulnerable with you and it just made you fall for him even more. 

"Jake," you muttered. It was like a prayer on your lips, and you wished he would never pull away, "Kiss me," 

He smiled, leaning in to press his lips against yours in a soft kiss that you would never have expected from him. 

You both pulled away, giddy smiles on your faces and you never would have thought even in your wildest dreams that you'd be here today, kissing Hangman on the beach outside of the hard deck. 

His eyes were dark as he leapt back in for another kiss, one hand on the back of your neck and the other tenderly on your cheek but there was nothing tender about the kiss. It was all teeth and tongue and you could taste the beer he'd drank earlier on his tongue. 

You leaned even closer, hands snaking up and finding their place in his hair, tugging lightly. He had never let anyone else touch his hair like that but for you, for you he would have moved heaven and earth. 

When he pulled away your lips were swollen and you felt like you were in a giddy daze. He began to pepper soft kisses along your jaw and down your neck, "Jake," you moaned out, words like a promise to him. 

The name felt natural to you and they rolled off your tongue like it was meant to be.  

The name spurred him on and he sucked harder against the soft skin of your neck. It felt like it was perfect, just the two of you together holding onto each other and you probably would not have even noticed if the world ended. 

You repeated his name again, tugging him back up so you could press your lips against his with a feverish haze. 

"Take me to bed or lose me forever," you whispered against his lips and he smirked, picking you up bridal style, one arm tucked under your knees and the other supporting your back. 

You giggled as he carried you to the car, your arms wrapped around his neck. He wasn't going to let go of you this time. 

A/N, this was already going to be a series and this was the middle chapter of three but I never made rhem so I thought I'd just post this. I might post a prequel set during the Naval Academy and then a sequel during Maverick but I'm not sure.

[honkytonk-hangman]

All This Love

Jake 'Hangman' Seresin x Reader

Summary: “Congratulations?” Rooster half-praises, half-questions, side-eying Jake, who stiffens just slightly, but finds himself relaxing when he looks back up at the grainy ultrasound. “Thanks,” he says, feeling his stomach flutter at the memory of the first time he saw it.

Warnings: not much in this one, unplanned pregnancy, some light smut, 18+ only!! <3

Jake feels his pulse jump once, then twice as he walks through his front door. He’d already known you were here, not just because of your car parked out front, but because you’d barely left his company since he’d gotten the news. Still, the sound of you moving around his kitchen, and the smell of something heavenly wafting toward him makes his heart leap just a little in a way that is honestly unfamiliar to him.

Jake Hangman Seresin is not a ‘relationship’ guy. He hasn’t exactly been a one-night-stand guy either these past few years, but certainly he isn’t known for his commitment. Partly he could blame this on his schedule, his various and frequent deployments, moves and busyness, but he’d be lying if he didn’t admit that taking an endless string of women home was taking a toll on him.

Quietly, Jake hoped he’d meet someone, have a constant in his life to come home to, maybe have a few little mini-Jake’s running around too, but it also wasn’t really something he was actively seeking out. He knew being with him meant a lot of lonely nights, and he’d internalised the attitude that most women were not up for that.

And then he met you.

You’d laughed sweetly like you’d thought he was just kidding when he’d flirted with you, told him outright you’d expecting him to cancel on your first date, and then rambled about anything and everything for the next three hours as he happily listened.

You weren’t really his normal ‘type’, you weren’t overly affectionate with him off the bat, making your intentions known, you weren’t tall or bleached blonde or anything he was used to from the women who showed an interest in him, though that wasn’t to say he didn’t think you weren’t beautiful. You were a little awkward, and dorky and you’d told him you thought he was funny, which wasn’t really one of the things most of the women he dated tended to point out. Needless to say, Jake had quickly found it very easy, very natural to adore you.

He’d gotten three and a half months with you before his orders came in. 

The two of you had grown close in that time, but you hadn’t really addressed or discussed what you were. He hadn’t really felt the need, or the pressure like he had in the past. He’d realised over the past few days that this might’ve been down to the fact that he hadn’t even really considered any other options besides the two of you eventually becoming ‘exclusive’. If Jake is completely honest, he’s been off the market since our first date.

Not until the imminent date of his deployment had he begun to take note of his rising anxiety, the complete opposite to the way he usually felt after informing a casual fling that he’d be going. With them, he didn’t expect more, he didn’t want to give them more either, but with you… Jake hasn’t been able to stop thinking about how much he’ll be able to contact you while he’s gone, if you’ll make time for him, even if you’ll send him those care packages so many of the guys he knows often received while on the carrier…

The idea that you saw his upcoming deployment as the official end of whatever this is you have going on haunted him, and Jake was determined to make clear that when he returned in fourteen months time, he still wanted to see you.

He toes off his boots as best he can with the large bouquet in the crook of his elbow, before padding down the hall toward where the delicious smell is coming from, finding you buzzing around his kitchen in a manner that forces him to stop dead in his tracks to appreciate the sight.

This is what Jake has been wanting, but it's not until this very moment he realises just how much. It isn’t even about you cooking for him, no, he just craves the domesticity of coming home to somebody who looks up from what they’re doing with an expression like his arrival is the new best part of their day.

“Jake! I didn’t hear you come in!” you say with a smile and a laugh. That wasn’t exactly unusual for you. You didn’t often hear many things, considering you were hard of hearing. You weren’t completely deaf, in quiet rooms when he was facing you, you could hear him enough, helped by lip reading, or if he spoke directly into your ear. However, it was still significant enough that Jake had downloaded an ASL learning app, partly to communicate better with you, but also so that he could see your overjoyed surprise whenever he correctly signed something very simple to you.

“These are for you,” he steps closer, holding out the large bouquet of marigolds and roses he’d stopped for on the way home, making sure his mouth isn’t at all obscured by them as he does. He hadn’t skimped when he’d bought them, requesting the biggest package the florist offered and paying double what he’d ever paid before for flowers. It was worth it though, especially when once you’ve processed what he’s said, your face lights up all over again and you let out a soft little gasp as you move to meet him.

“They’re beautiful!” you croon as you bring the flowers to your nose. Jake had only ever bought flowers for his mother, and for a few girls around Valentine’s Day. They were always roses. He’d never bothered to ask what their preferred flower of choice was. With you, though, you had inadvertently told him on your first date while lost in a story about a failed garden you’d tried growing and how you adored copper marigolds and peach roses, but that no man had ever bought either for you, including your last boyfriend who’d seemed to think flowers were lame and unnecessary. He’d filed that information away, but curses himself for not using it any sooner as you smile widely back up at him, and push the flowers aside so that you can wrap your arms around his neck and kiss him sweetly.

“Thank you! You didn’t have to!” you say in between pecks to his lips, and Jake wraps the arm still holding the bouquet around your back, in the hopes that maybe you’ll stay pushed up against him just a little longer. You do, giggling softly as you continue to deliver soft little kisses to his lips, Jake dutifully returning each one, becoming aware of his own laughter joining your own as he does.

You pull away to grin up at him, and Jake drops one last, final kiss to your lips before giving you a slight squeeze, his own smile growing as you stare up at him.

“Baby, the smoke alarm is going off,” he informs you, chortling when you jump away from him in surprise, and quickly return to the stove to remove the pan from the hob. Jake follows you, placing your flowers down on the counter, and moving over to where the alarm sits high on his wall, reaching up to tap the button in the centre that switches it off.

“Sorry! The good news though is that dinner isn’t ruined!” you tell him happily, turning back around to go digging through one of his other cupboards. You straighten again when you find a large pitcher, and he watches you mill about for a moment, filling it with water before moving to place the bouquet of flowers inside. He feels his chest swell with pride as you primp and preen the roses and marigolds, and pictures you two weeks from now, with more and more petals falling from the flowers with every passing day, but refusing to throw them away because they make you think of him. The swelling of pride begins to turn into a swell of dread, and Jake really, really wishes he wasn’t leaving you in the morning.

You turn back to him and smile.

“Why don’t you go clean up, and I’ll finish this?” you suggest, and Jake immediately pouts.

“Why don’t I just stay here and help you plate up?” he says instead, making you frown playfully and shake your head.

“Jake, you need to shower!” you scold lightly.

“I showered on base,” he shrugs, and pushes away from his counter to capture your waist and draw you near again.

“Jake… just let me do this for you… you leave tomorrow…” it’s your turn to pout. Jake’s heart makes a good effort to leap out of his chest and into yours.

“Exactly. I leave tomorrow, so just let me stay with you as long as I can,” he poses, and you soften, resting your hands on his forearms.

��Jake…” you sigh, and bite your lip a little. “What’re you gonna do for the next fourteen months, huh?” you question playfully, shaking your head.

“Wish I was plating up dinner with you.” he answers immediately, then feels his cheeks heat up a little. Your gaze drops from his face, but you’re smiling softly, and rubbing your thumbs over his skin in a soothing manner.

“Okay,” you relent, before reaching up to cup his cheeks tenderly. “Okay.”

Jake leans into your touch, closing his eyes as he memorises the feeling of you holding him. You remain in pleasant quiet as the two of you go about preparing for dinner, Jake setting the table as you portion out the salad you’ve made.

Jake refrains from insisting you sit side by side as you eat, because he knows you’d struggle to hear him if you did, but after dinner, he does insist that the dishes can wait, convincing you to come up and shower with him instead.

You’ve barely stepped inside the glass cubicle when he’s pulling you closer, lips reaching out for yours and you giggle as you kiss him under the full stream of the shower head, laughing properly when he pulls back to spit a mouthful of water sideways out his mouth like a cartoon character. He grins at having made you laugh, but crowds you up against the wall almost instantly after, his smile pressed back against yours.

“M’gonna miss you.” he says right by your ear, before slipping his mouth down to your neck, and immediately sucking a small mark there. He knows your opinion on hickeys, so he’ll make sure the rest are somewhere you can hide them. You seem to squirm in his hold, your hands dropping from around his neck to press against his chest, his abdomen, though he knows you aren’t pushing him away, simply wishing to see his face.

“I’ll miss you, too.” you say after a moment, watching the water drop from his eyelashes, before you wrap your arms around him, pulling him near once again and pressing your chest up against his in a delightful manner.

“Promise you’ll come see me when I get shore leave?” He’s never asked this question before, and his heart immediately jumps into his throat. Usually he’d wait around for shore leave to go bar hopping, pick up a girl or two and show them a good time while he could. This time however, all Jake can think about is how best he can maximise all his spare moments for the next fourteen months to make sure they’re spent with you.

“I promise,” you say with another giggle, and it makes Jake pull back to look down at you. He’s not sure what he wants to say, if anything at all, but a beat passes where the two of you simply watch one another. Carefully your hand rises, skims along his cheek, but ultimately continues upwards where you smooth back some of the hair hanging down over his forehead.

“By my count we’ve got just under twelve hours,” you say then, and he can tell you’re trying not to sound so sad. It makes his stomach flop about.

“No time to waste, then, huh?” He leans in and murmurs against your lips.

Miraculously, you make it back to his bedroom somehow, shower water replaced with sweat now as you both work to make the most of the short time you have left together.

You let out a heavy breath of air as you adjust yourself once more, hands pressing against his taut abs, feeling the way the muscles move and tighten under your palms and fingers as you bounce in his lap. Your thighs are burning, but that's not going to be enough to stop you from chasing down another high. Jake’s hands at your hips take some of the initiative out of your control though, his grip firm and deliberate as he helps you move for him, forcing you up and damn-near slamming you back down again, his hips flexing in time to make sure he’s fucking you as deep as he can.

Your sounds of pleasure are muted against his lips, swallowed by him as he kisses you hungrily, one hand shooting up to clutch at the back of your neck when you briefly break apart. With one hand helping you move now, he begins tilting his hips more and more, his legs bent at the knee behind you, powering his thrusts and completely taking you apart. He lets you break away from his mouth, but doesn’t move the hand on your neck, and through half-shut eyes, you can see him watching you intently, his jaw clenched as he takes you in. He slows down.

“You look so pretty riding me,” Jake’s voice is deeper and more gravelly than normal, and his words are punctuated by tiny grunts of exertion that make you mewl. “Gonna miss the way you feel around me,” he goes on, using his hold on you to grind up into you with each slow thrust. You gasp when his hand on your thigh pulls a little, widening your legs around him and making you take him even more.

“Fuck! Jake…!” you cry out weakly, doing your best to keep your momentum, but with this new positioning, you barely have enough strength to lift yourself from him. Jake doesn't seem to mind, groaning in approval and suddenly sitting up, twisting your still connected hips to spin you beneath him now, his hand hiking your leg up over his shoulder as you go.

You gasp again, your own hands clutching his shoulders as he begins fucking you impossibly deep, picking up his pace again as he hovers above you, one hand now in the mattress beside your head.

“Take me so well, sweetheart,” he grunts out, closing the distance between you to press his lips back to yours. You chase him when he pulls away again, whining in disapproval, but his lips dont go too far, as he falls to his forearms and really begins to fuck you.

“Gotta give it to you so good you’ll be stuck on me, huh? Won’t think about anyone but me while I’m gone?” he goes on, and all you can do is nod.

“You gonna cum?” he asks a little more coherently, and you nod, because the way he’s driving into you nearly has you toppling over already. “Yeah? Go on, let me feel you, want you to cum around me, honey.”

His words alone are enough to push you off the edge, more so when you feel him join you, and you arch up into him, curl your hips against his own ragged thrusts, desperate to keep him from pulling out halfway through. He doesn’t seem to be planning to this time, and you mewl and moan in delight at the feeling of him filling you up, the feeling of him dripping out of you when he gives you a few last firm thrusts.

Jake pants above you, the hand by your head slipping down to caress your cheek as you both take a moment to come down. He kisses you, long and deep and nearly enough to get you going again. You wait patiently when he pads off to his bathroom to find you a cloth, and you barely notice yourself dozing off until you wake sometime later.

The bed is empty, though the bedside lamp has remained on, and you sit up properly, rubbing your eyes.

“Jake?” you call out, but you don't see him in the bedroom or bathroom. Frowning, you scoot out of his bed and grab one of his old squad shirts, slipping it on as you move out of his bedroom in search of him.

“Jake?” you call out again, trailing your hand along the wall as you step softly down the stairs to the first floor. It doesn’t help that you can’t hear him, but your worries are belayed the moment you turn around the corner and into the kitchen, and you’re greeted with his bare back as he stands at the sink. He’d pulled some sweatpants on, but they’re hanging low on his hips, enough for you to see the little dimples at the base of his back, and you itch you wrap your arms around him again.

You try to be as quiet as you can as you move up behind him, relishing in the small jump of surprise he does when you trail your hands over his skin and around his front, pressing your cheek between his shoulder blades. You feel him chuckle, feel the deep reverberations through his chest as he does, before he’s pulling you by one arm around to his front instead, where your face now rests against his chest instead.

“I thought you’d fallen asleep.” he tells you, leaning down to absently press a kiss to your hair. You shrug, but peek over your shoulder to watch as he continues to wash dishes, moving with him when he has to move, loving the way he briefly wraps you up whenever he does so, as if he’s worried his twisting might scare you off.

“What are you doing?” you ask dumbly, even as he scrubs down the pan you’d used to cook dinner.

“I didn’t want you to have to wake up tomorrow and do the dishes.” He tells you quietly, like he was worried about admitting this to you, like it was something he should feel guilty about. You coo, and squeeze him a little tighter, just as another thought occurs to you. You’d meant to talk to him about it when he got home from work, but with all the messing around that had happened, you’d totally forgotten.

“Do you want me to drive you in tomorrow?” you ask, feeling the way he pauses. You look up at him after he stays quiet for another beat, and find him staring down at you oddly. Your eyes meeting seems to break him out of his reverie though, and he blinks rapidly a few times.

“You don’t mind? It’s an early start…” he tells you, trying to warn you off, but you see right through him. You can tell it means something to him, though you don’t know what, and a part of you wonders if he’d ever had a girlfriend drive him to base for a deployment before.

“I’m not going to see you for fourteen months, Jake, of course I don’t mind.” you say as if it's obvious. You watch him purse his lips, but smile softly.

“I’d like that.” he says at last, moving one arm to wrap around you permanently now, continuing his task one handed until you extract yourself from him to grab a drying cloth. He makes a sound you only feel briefly, but you shoot him an amused shake of your head and remind him that the faster the chore is done, the faster the two of you can go back to bed. He stops his complaining then, and when the sink is empty and the dishes all stacked away, he picks you up and carries you all the way upstairs again with your legs wrapped around his waist, keeping them there until you both fall asleep again.

Jake can’t stop looking back over his shoulder at you as he stands with the rest of Dagger, getting ready to board. You’re right by the front of the crowd of family that has gathered to say goodbye, which doesn’t make it any easier. If you’d disappeared amongst the people, he could fool himself into thinking you weren’t there, but as it is, he can see you clearly, and it’s eating him up.

Even Rooster can tell, watching and following his gaze every time Jake longingly glances back at you, his brown eyes trailing to the beautiful girl in the front of the crowd, occasionally conversing with the people around her, but mostly just eying the group of aviators with a sad little smile.

“You should say goodbye.” Rooster tells him quietly, eyeing up the officers ahead of them and correctly guessing that they would be about to board. Jake swallows, and pushes his sunglasses up his nose.

“We’ve already said goodbye.” He doesn’t mean to sound so snappy or cold, but he really didn’t want to think about leaving you anymore than necessary. Beside him, Rooster shuffles and shrugs.

“Say goodbye again.”

Jake stays quiet for a moment, before he turns to look at his wingman, and then at the line ahead. Quickly shifting his bag and stuffing it into the other man’s hands, Rooster only nods at him before Jake’s body is moving, easily pushing past the junior officers who step out of his way quickly. He barely takes note of the saultes he receives, because his eyes are set only on you, the way you watch him with a frown, but even as he gets right up to you, and you open your mouth to speak, he keeps moving, cupping your jaw and pressing a series of kisses against your lips.

When he pulls back you frown is gone, replaced with a lightness he hasn't seen since before he’d told you he’d be leaving.

“Will you wait for me?” he asks breathlessly, aware now that the carrier had begun boarding, and he needed to get back.

“What?” you ask with a slight laugh. Jake only leans in to kiss you again, and from somewhere behind him, he can hear a few servicemen whistle. You’re still giggling when he pulls back, but he digs into his uniform pockets and brings out his keys, pressing them into your hands.

“Wait for me.” he says again, waiting until you nod your assent before looking away from you. Through the crowd, he can hear someone, Rooster calling him, an edge of warning in his voice.

“I’ve got to go.” he tells you dumbly, and kisses you again.

“I know. Go! I’ll be here when you get back!” you assure him with a laugh, kissing him back but pushing him away at the same time. Jake grins upon hearing the words, and steps in to kiss you again, before finally dragging his body forcefully away from yours, and back to his team.

Phoenix is giving him a funny look that he ignores as he takes his bag back from Rooster with a silent nod of thanks. He receives a pat on the shoulder from the other man, who looks down his sunglasses at him thoughtfully. Jake sees his eyes trail off and he knows Rooster is looking at you again. He pats Jake’s shoulder once more, his lips tipping up teasingly.

“She’s cute,” Rooster tells him. Jake eyes him as he replaces his sunglasses.

“Yeah,” he says. “She is.”

“Hey babygirl, it’s good to see you,” Jake can’t help his wide grin even as he stares at your somewhat blank, reserved expression. Something in his chest wobbles as you eventually give him a weak smile, and he nervously adjusts his camera.

“Hi, Jake.” You say. It only makes his stomach wobble too.

“Is the software working okay? I have captions?” he asks, double checking the program on his end to make sure for the fourth time that everyone is tip top. You nod.

“Yeah, yeah, everything is working fine. I even put my hearing aids in… I’ve missed your voice,” you tell him.

Your words go a small way to alleviate his anxiety, but it’s been four months since he’s communicated with you via more than just email, and he can’t help but listen to the voices in his head from long before he met you, telling him that you don’t want to wait for him any longer.

“I’m honoured, you hate wearing those,” he says with a stiff laugh. You smile a little wider, but don’t seem to relax.

“Too much noise,” you agree. A quiet beat passes between you and Jake steels himself for what he knows is to come. You both speak at exactly the same time.

“Listen, baby, I’m really sorry I haven’t been able to do this sooner, but–”

“–I’m pregnant.”

Jake freezes, and so do you.

“Oh, thank god,” he hears himself say outloud, his entire body sagging as the weight of what he’d thought you were about to say leaves his body entirely.

“That’s… that’s not what I was expecting…” all stress seems to have left your body too, and for the first time since your call connected, you too appear to be completely at ease. “I thought you were going to break up with me…” you tell him, making Jake start.

“I thought you were going to break up with me!” Jake exclaims, before quickly quientening his voice. “Christ you scared me,” he tells you, letting out a sigh of relief.

Your face is a mixture of amusement and bashfulness.

“You’re more scared of me breaking up with you, than me being pregnant?” you ask, and Jake finds himself nodding immediately.

“I wouldn’t say scared, per se…”

“Your own words, Jake,” you remind him, and he chuckles, but shrugs. You both pause for a moment as you take in the wealth of new information and relationship security you now bask in. Jake jumps then, and leans in closer to his screen.

“How far along are you?” he asks, unsure of what really to ask in this situation, it’s honestly not one he’d ever been in before, but he’s proud to discover his mind immediately has calibrated for it.

“I’m going to the doctor in the morning, but I’m guessing around four months,” you tell him with a slightly wry smile. Jake laughs.

“I should hope so,” Jake chortles, before turning serious again when he sees you only laugh weakly.

“How are you feeling, baby?” he asks, then quickly, for your sake, adds; “For the record, I want whatever you want, I just want it with you.”

Your face travels through several emotions, but you at last give him a watery little smile.

“I really thought you’d break up with me, I haven’t even thought about anything else,” you admit, and Jake feels something else in his chest wobble.

“Honey, unless you’re planning on breaking my heart right now, I’m not breaking up with you any time soon… or ever, if I’m honest… I’m sorry that’s not been clearer…” he tells you, feeling a slight lump in his throat at the very thought.

You were it for him, he thinks, he can’t imagine not coming home to you. He’d even considered throwing his medical on purpose the other day, just so he could wait for your email he knew was likely to come. Jake has never even considered that before, not even for family. A knock on the door makes his face fall, and he turns to glare at the ensign who pokes their head in.

“Liuetenant Seresin, sir, Captain Mitchell requires you on deck.”

Jake sighs, but nods grimly.

“Tell him I’ll be there in a moment.”

“Sir!”

Jake looks back at you, already smiling sadly.

“I’m sorry, sweetheart, I need to go,” he says tiredly. He’d wished he got more time to talk with you, but especially about this.

“It’s okay Jake, we’ll be fine,” you tell him. Jake can’t stop the quirk of his lips as he stares at you.

“‘We’ huh?” he asks teasingly, feeling something like excitement, or perhaps pure, sheer joy race through his veins. You cock your head but your arm moves, he can’t see where exactly, but he suspects your hand now rests against your belly.

“Yeah. We.”

Jake swallows thickly, and nods, unable to fight the smile that pulls at his lips.

“Okay, baby, okay,” he hears another knocking on his door and huffs. “Send me everything you can, I don’t know when I’ll get to call you again, okay? Send me everything.”

Jake walks quietly alongside Dagger as they return to their ready room, listening to them discussing possible ‘new’ hand signs for each other to signal readiness for the manuevour they’d been working on not even twenty minutes ago, prior to landing. He checks back into the conversation long enough to watch the proposed sign that Payback suggests, and immediately begins shaking his head.

“That’s ‘math’ in sign language,” Jake tells him, earning a look from Phoenix.

“Since when do you know ASL?” she asks, not fully sounding accusatory, but certainly not shying away from that tone either. Jake looks up at her and opens his mouth, but it’s Bob who gets there before him.

“He’s been practising with me,” Bob informs her, making Phoenix only more curious. She turns back to Jake expectantly. Jake shifts on his feet as the group comes to a halt, clearly also wanting to know what this is about, and for a brief moment, he considers telling them to mind their damn business.

That thought passes though, his spite warmed into a quiet kind of glee at the mere thought of you, his chest tingling slightly under the picture he has tucked into his flight suit.

“My girlfriend is deaf,” he says at last with a small shrug. Phoenix stays eying him for a second, even more curiosity filling her gaze, but after a moment she relents. He knows she’ll have questions later, but for now seems to be content not to make him answer them in front of everyone.

“Huh.” she says, and with that the squad continues moving.

Eventually, Phoenix and Halo peel off to the women’s locker rooms, the boys moving on to theirs, Payback, Coyote, Fanboy and Bob making straight for the showers. Jake can’t shower yet, though, he has precious cargo to return to safety, so moves straight for his locker, peeling it and carefully removing the photograph from his breast. Using the wad of blu-tac he’d acquired a few weeks back, he gingerly sticks the image backup in its home when he’s not flying, making sure not to get any fingerprints on it as he does.

“That was a good exercise,” Rooster’s voice makes Jake almost jump out of his skin, and he turns to look over his shoulder, quickly shooting the other man a nod.

“Yeah,” he replies simply, his lips thinning into a line as Rooster steps closer, opening his own locker but inevitably glancing over at Jake’s in the process. Jake tenses up as he feels Bradshaw pause, but after only a few agonising seconds, Rooster is moving again.

“Congratulations?” Rooster half-praises, half-questions, side-eying Jake, who stiffens just slightly, but finds himself relaxing when he looks back up at the grainy ultrasound.

“Thanks,” he says, feeling his stomach flutter at the memory of the first time he saw it.

Jake reaches up and rapps the ultrasound fondly.

“Twenty-three weeks. She’s supposed to be the size of a peach, but hell if I know what I’m looking at,” Jake shrugs and rolls his eyes, even letting loose a small smile when Rooster leans over to get a closer look. After a moment he too pulls a face and they meet eyes.

“Yeah, looks like topography to me,” Rooster shrugs as well. Jake looks back to the scan thoughtfully.

“Oh. Yeah. There’s a mountain range…. Small valley…” Jake trails off as the showers seem to shut off in near-unisen. 

He quickly shoots Rooster a steely-eyed stare, which thankfully the other man seems to understand the meaning of, because all too soon their conversation comes to an end and Jake shuts his locker door protectively.

Their veil of secrecy is shattered however, when Javy, dressed in only his towel, waltzes right up to Jake, opens his locker door again, places a kiss to the ultrasound, then carries right on as Jake quickly closes it behind him. Rooster shoots him a look, and before the others can make an appearance, Jake explains himself.

“Only Javy knows,” he grinds out, but can’t find himself too annoyed. Javy had immediately taken to his Uncle role, sending little gift packages to Jake's house for you to discover.

The ‘My Uncle Is Single’ onesie was particularly cute.

Jake doesn’t even really have to push his way to the front of the line at the docks. Not only had Dagger made a path for him, but they were actively hauling at the collars of younger sailors, and from behind him he can hear various calls of ‘make way!’ and when one sailor protests a little too loudly, Phoenix saying ‘Hangman’s about to meet his kid for the first time, do you really want to get in the way of that?’. He makes a note to thank them later, but then he sees you, and he sees his baby, and all thoughts fly out of his brain.

He rushes up to you, gathering you both in one tight hug before you even seem to realise it’s him. But then he hears you laughing waterly, and he pulls his face back enough to plant a long, passionate kiss to your lips.

“Hey baby, hi!” he gushes cupping your cheek in his hand, before quickly extracting himself only a little, and focusing his attention on the bundle of excited squeals in your arms.

“Hi Princess, c’mere, I’ve been waiting so long to meet you!” Jake continues to talk before you can even get a word in edgewise. You laugh again, and shift the baby on your hip enough and Jake steps in again quickly relieving you of the weight. His daughter is immediately enraptured by the pins and shinies on his uniform, and she babbles talkatively up at him. Jake had shared his worries with you that she wouldn’t know him, recognise him, but all that is quickly abated when she stuffs a fist in her mouth and all but collapses against his chest.

His whole body fills with a warmth like he’s never known and he looks over at you.

“I think it’s too loud for her,” you say with a laugh, cuddling in closer to the other side of his chest. Jake looks between the two of you lovingly, adjusting his girl so he can show off some of the ASL he’d managed to learn in the last fourteen months.

Sorry, he signs carefully. Just – little – longer. Team – want – meet – you – both.

Your face lights up in recognition and your eyes get a little mistier. So – good – now! You sign back slowly for him, just as he feels several presences come to an anxious stop behind him.

“Bob helped,” he says, getsuring over at Bob, who steps forward with a short little wave.

“It’s nice to finally meet you, Ma’am,” he tells you, before his eyes shift to the baby in Jake’s arms. He tips his hat again at the girl who, as Jake turns, seems to be quietly inspecting the newcomers, drooling all over her tiny little hand. Bob does another little wave, more goofy this time, and she giggles, but turns her face inward briefly to Jake’s chest even more.

Jake uses his free arm to pull you in a little, and nods at his team.

“Baby, this is Dagger, that’s Bob,” he briefly pauses to show you Bob’s sign name, before he goes on to point out the others. “Phoenix, Rooster, Fanboy, Payback, and this is–” he gets cut off as Javy pushes his way to the front of the crowd.

“Uncle Javy!” he announces, balling you up in a tight hug. You laugh and nod.

“Thank you for all the gifts for her! She loves them!” you tell him, which only makes him smile wider, and puff his chest out some as he rounds on Jake and his daughter.

“Can I hold her now?” he asks, with his arms already out. Jake’s features drop into a friendly glare.

“No.” he says firmly, tugging the baby closer. He’s rewarded when she begins to fuss a little at all the new attention, and Jake quickly begins shushing and cooing at her, only for her to relax and fall quiet, her tiny fists now clutching desperately into his jacket.

“That’s right baby, daddy’s not gonna let Uncle Javy take you away from him.” He runs his hand comfortingly up and down her little back, snuggling her closer.

Javy rolls his eyes, but relents, pointing at Jake and you.

“Ya’ll got one week, then I’m crashing,” he tells you. Jake shakes his head, but you nod, looking up at him. You sign ‘babysitter?’ at him, then getsure at Dagger in general, and after he puts two and two together, he’s shaking his head.

“No. No way,” he says. You nod again and gesture back to the group.

“No,” he says.

“Yes.” you reply, Bob nodding quickly along with you. Jake rolls his eyes up at the sky, then back down at you. He looks over at where Rooster, Phoenix, Fanboy and Payback have all started cooing and making faces at his girl, making her giggle and kick her feet, and lets out a sigh.

“Fine. Maybe.”

[whohasthecards]

Bring your grandpa/dad to work day, but Jake got attached to this old man named Tom.

Tom was some old guy he snarked off at a coffee shop once and was pleased when the older man calmly gave a witty retort.

He keeps on bumping into the man in the same coffee shop, but he bumps into the old man at the park and grocery place at well.

Surprisingly they hit it off, and Jake looks forward to seeing Tom even though he'll never admit it. Tom's getting fond of the boy. Especially when he realized 3 months in that this was the same Jake "Hangman" Seresin who saved his husband and Baby Goose.

One day there was a bring your dad/grandpa/son to work day. Jake was talking about it to Tom, sad that he doesn't really have anyone to bring and was planning to call out because even tho Mav is great and Javy's family always welcome him, he feels like an outsider in those events. Tom hesitantly offered to come, not wanting to overstep, and Jake looked overjoyed.

Tom comes to the event and Jake was showing him around the base, and the shenanigans he gets into with his squad (Tom is delighted to gain some more blackmail against Mav). He also starts introducing Tom around, and some people are staring wide-eyed or straight up choke when they see Tom.

Why the fuck is the COMPACFLT here and in civvies!??? AND HANGMAN IS CALLING HIM, TOM???

Iceman makes sure to give his trademark glare to everyone who even thinks about mentioning his title or saying something to Jake. Everyone just snaps their mouths shut and smiles awkwardly.

It continues with Jake dragging THE ICEMAN around like an excited puppy, and Tom looking fond and ruffles Hangman's hair every few minutes. The base didn't realize how young Hangman really is until that day.

Eventually Tom and Jake run into Mav and Bradley and both have their mouths wide open as Jake introduces Tom to them.

Eventually ends with Mav saying, "Hey! I adopted him first!" While pouting.

"He takes after me more," Ice says giving Mav a grin as he slung an arm around Jake's shoulder to pull him against his side.

[justfandomwritings]

Who Did This To You? (Hangman)

Pairing: Hangman x Female!Reader (no use of y/n)

Word Count: 10.2k because I have no self control

Summary: In your most vulnerable hour, Jake 'Hangman' Seresin is the one to find you, and the one to ask you the ultimate question. "Who did this to you?"

Warnings: Mentions of Abuse and DV (NOT committed by Jake), nongraphic description of resulting injuries, a very one-sided bar fight, mention that a character is going to therapy, insults and confrontation by a past abuser. (This story is a who did this to you trope. While it is only dealing with the 'who did this to you' aftermath of what was done, please keep that in mind.)

Notes: This is just an excuse to write the who did this to you trope. This is self indulgence at its finest.

“Who did this to you?”

Your head shot up a little too quickly at the unexpected company, and the world began to spin all over again. With a groan, you laid your head back on the bartop, hoping the flat wood would help the world right itself faster.

You’d been lying there with your forehead pressed on the cool wood of the bar, sitting directly under an air vent, for the better part of thirty minutes. The Hard Deck’s AC was working overtime to keep the heat outside, and the rush of cold air blowing down the back of your shirt was doing wonders for your sore arms and back. 

“Hurricane, who did this to you?”

You hadn’t been expecting anyone to be there. Everyone else was down at the beach. You thought you’d have some time alone to lick your wounds and cover your bruises and emotionally recover from what had happened that morning. Penny was too busy watching Maverick. The aviators were too engrossed in a new game Maverick had invented called dogfight volleyball, and the bar was technically closed at this hour. You thought you could slip by and start your shift sight unseen. 

“Hurricane,” The voice was firm, but not demanding. Underwritten with a tone of concern that was very uncommon to that particular voice. “Hurricane,” it repeated. 

You opened your eyes and rolled your head to lay facing the voice’s direction and made eye contact with Hangman. 

You knew it was him before you turned, but for some reason you still did. 

Backlit by the sun’s rays bouncing off his perfect golden hair with an open button-up billowing in the sea breeze, he stood in sharp contrast to your current state. Like an angel stepping out of heaven and into hell. 

In some ways, this was your worst case scenario. Hangman was definitely not your favorite pilot and was very close to your least, and he was certainly not your friend. You were at best frenemies and even that was a stretch. The pair of you had been constantly bickering and making snide comments behind the other’s backs since practically the moment you made eye contact with each other. He intentionally made your life difficult behind the bar, and you rang the bell on him on multiple occasions. 

He was responsible for everyone calling you Hurricane. You’d come crashing through the doors on your first day working at the Hard Deck with a torrential downpour following you in from outside. A drowned cat would’ve looked less soaked through and pathetic than you, and the moment Penny introduced you to the squad, he’d made a snide remark about the Hurricane you brought with you. The rest was history. It became like a callsign to them; your name long forgotten by most. The only pilot who didn’t call you Hurricane now was Bob, and it ground your gears just a little bit more every time you heard it. 

On the other hand, this might’ve been the best case scenario. Hangman wasn’t someone who was going to make a big show of this. He wouldn’t rush down to the beach and ask for help. He wouldn’t fawn over you or ask you if you were okay a million times. He wouldn’t expect you to cry on his shoulder and incessantly pick at you until you broke down. 

“Who did this to you?” Hangman took a step in from where he’d frozen in the door out to the patio.

His expression was like his voice, hard and firm with undertones of the worry that anyone would be feeling in this situation. Hangman wasn’t the nicest guy you knew, but you knew from the other pilots stories of the many times he’d saved their lives that he wasn’t evil, and you didn’t doubt for a moment that he’d at least be somewhat concerned even if he didn’t care particularly for you. 

“You already know who.”

It was true. Devin had been in the bar about once a week for the last six months that you’d been dating. He’d made the rounds through the aviators, none of whom particularly liked him but all of whom had been polite enough not to say anything… except Hangman. 

The second Devin left after his first introductions, Hangman had made his distaste known. ‘Something’s off about that guy,’ he’d said before the door even closed. Phoenix had teased him about being jealous that his snarky banter was no longer the center of your world, but you’d seen it for what it was. A combination of being angry he wasn’t the center of attention and looking to defy you at every turn that was a uniquely Hangman blend. 

Hangman approached you slowly, taking one deliberate step at a time. Every step with such obvious forethought that it gave you the time and the option to back away. A detail you wouldn’t have expected from such an ego-centric man. 

You didn’t back away. Hangman was a lot of things, most of them negative, but you could say with absolute certainty that you weren’t afraid of him. For all the times you’d yelled at him, you’d never been scared of his physicality, and for all the times he'd yelled at you, his hand had never so much as twitched. 

Standing beside you, under the harsh glare of the fluorescent lights that threw your skin into sharp relief, Hangman had a full view of the damage. 

“That fucker,” his voice was a harsh, raspy whisper, “I’m gonna kill him.” His hand seemed to lift of its own accord. Flat, open palmed and always within your line of sight, he reached up and stroked his fingers along your cheekbone with a feather-light touch. 

“I already dumped him.” You don’t know why you felt like explaining yourself to Hangman of all people, but maybe it was the determination in his eyes. The way he stared down at your cheek like his eyes could will the twing of pain away. 

Hangman gave a half-hearted, inattentive nod. “That’s certainly a start.” He looked like gears were turning in his head, like he hadn’t given up on his first idea. 

A flood of memories came back to you. 

‘The only active duty pilot with a confirmed air-to-air kill.’ Coyote, introducing Hangman.

‘We call him Bagman, cause he’ll kill anyone and get anyone killed. He doesn’t seem to mind.’ Omaha commenting on Hangman’s aim at the dartboard. 

‘That’s his second air-to-air kill.’ Bob, telling you what he could about the mission they’d just come back from. 

‘Hangman’s deadly in the sky. I wouldn’t wanna cross him.’ Rooster, finally being honest about what he thought of Hangman, after the blonde saved his life. 

Hangman had killed before, and in his line of work, with his level of skill, likely would again. He definitely didn’t mean what he said, certainly not literally. He wasn’t about to rush out to his truck and go hunting Devin in the streets, but it wasn’t something he of all people would say entirely jokingly either. 

You slowly sat up in your chair. The world was spinning less now. Whether that was because the nausea was finally passing or because Hangman’s hand stayed on your cheek, grounding you in the moment, it was unclear. “I appreciate your concern,” you hedged, “but really, I’m fine. I can handle myself.”

Hangman snorted and let his hand fall away. “Obviously you can; you already kicked his ass to the curb on your own. Doesn’t mean I’m not gonna kill him for good measure.” Hangman hopped up on the bar and swung his legs over. 

You probably should’ve objected to his comfort level invading your workspace. Penny was very explicit that no one was allowed behind the bar who didn’t work there and even more explicit that that applied to all naval aviators. Somehow, though, you doubted Hangman would rat you out, at least not today. 

“Are you going to tell Penny?” Hangman mozied around behind the bar, picking up a rag and tossing it over his shoulder. He was looking for something, but he didn’t seem inclined to ask. You weren’t any more inclined to offer. 

It would’ve broken whatever moment was passing between you. Caring? Camaraderie? You weren’t sure, but there was certainly some level of understanding that remained largely unspoken. 

Hangman found what he was looking for in short order anyway. He flipped open the ice cooler and pulled the rag off his shoulder, filling it with a scoop of ice and tying the ends. 

“Not now,” you were disinclined to bring it up to Penny. 

The Hard Deck was a Navy bar, and Penny had made a lot of powerful friends. Hell, you had a lot of powerful friends if you were willing to use them; one of them, or at least a powerful person who was willing to help you, was standing right in front of you. You could only imagine what would happen to Devin if you told anyone. All of it would be deserved of course, but you doubted most of it would be legal. And that really wasn’t what you needed right now, and you weren’t ready to have that conversation anyway. 

“Hold this to your cheek. You wanna get the swelling down,” In a reversal of roles, he leaned against the bar in the place that was normally yours and offered you his makeshift ice pack. 

You took it with a quiet, “Thank you.”

Hangman nodded with a thoughtful expression, watching your hand raise it to your cheek, “I’ll let you tell them in your own time, but you’re going to go to someone to help you through this until then… professionally.” 

It wasn’t a question. He wasn’t leaving room for debate. It was an order as plain as any he got in the Navy. 

You nodded wordlessly against the ice pressed to your face. It was a reasonable expectation, a reasonable request. You weren’t sure if you needed it or not, but you supposed that was the point. You weren’t sure. Better to go too soon than too late. 

“Good,” Hangman sighed, seeming relieved, and pushed off the bar. His muscles flexed with the motion, bulging against the short sleeves of his open button-up shirt. They remained tense as he crossed his arms over his chest. His teeth gritted behind his closed lips. “I’ll keep him out of the bar.”

“Hangman, you really don’t have to-” 

“He hurt you.” Hangman cut you off with a dismissive wave of his hand. He looked serious, deadly serious. “That’s all I need to know. He’s not welcome here anymore.”

Before you had the chance to respond, not that you were entirely sure how you would, Hangman’s eyes left yours, staring at something over your shoulder out towards the beach.

“Do you have any makeup for that cheek?”

Your head turned, and you saw the outlines of Penny and Mav, arm in arm, making their way back to the bar. “Yeah,” you replied, “But my shoulder is a different story. I need to go find…”

Hangman jerked his button up off his shoulders and balled it up, tossing it across the bar to you. “Go quick. Put this on.”

“Hangman, I-”

“Go.” Hangman urged, and you ran off before Penny could see the two of you.

—------------------------------------------------

Your phone kept buzzing in your pocket, but you didn’t have time to check it.

You thought you knew what it was. Phoenix demanding to know why one of Jake Seresin’s shirts was wrapped around your shoulders. Hangman’s weren’t as distinctive as Bradley’s, usually solid colors with a barely-there logo on the pocket. None of the guys had noticed you were wearing it, but you knew Phoenix had the moment she came back in from the beach. She’d shot you a disappointed, skeptical look and immediately begun whispering to Bob as they walked away with their drinks. 

Penny hadn’t been much better. She hadn’t identified which pilots’ shirt it was like Phoenix clearly had, but she was two steps away from asking when the evening rush began to pour in without any sign of slowing down. 

The Hard Deck was slam-packed, and none of the bartenders had a second to spare. The newest class of TopGun recruits were graduating within a week, and it seemed that everyone had turned out for the upcoming occasion.

The bar was crowded with faces new and old. All of the graduating pilots were scattered around, and most of their instructors had made their way in at some point. Some of the pilots had families, wives and girlfriends, who had flown in and accompanied them to the bar that night. There were more than a few old friends in town to visit or siblings using the graduation as an excuse to get away. 

Even most of Mav’s squadron was there. Penny’s old flame had claimed a spot by one of the dart boards, and his lieutenants were all taking turns trying to dethrone Hangman as the king of darts. Normally, they would have migrated to the pool tables by now, but the bar was too crowded for even TopGun’s finest to leverage their way into skipping the line to have a game. 

One of the soon-to-be graduates hunkered down at the bar, some asshole who was billing himself as the new and improved Hangman, kept snapping his fingers at you to try to get your attention from behind the bar. You were dangerously close to ringing the bell on him the next time he did it, and Penny’s fingers were clearly itching to do the same. Tragically, neither of you thought that was a very good idea. Tonight might’ve been the one night where it was simply too busy to ring the bell.

There were so many people you couldn’t see past the sea of bodies pressing in around you, and it was a miracle that you didn’t bolt from the claustrophobia.

Marg after marg. Old fashioned after old fashioned. Beer after beer. The line never seemed to stop, and it was taking its toll on you. Tonight was simply not your night.

“Go,” Penny’s hand touched your shoulder and made you jump, spilling some of the tequila shot you were trying to hand off. “I’ll clean that. You look like you need a break. Take five.”

Normally on a busy night, you would’ve protested, insisted you could hold down the fort and done your best to help Penny push through the rush, but not that night.

Your shoulders slumped in relief, and you ducked under the gap in the bar without much of a second thought, pushing your way through the people towards the door to the kitchen. There was a ‘broken’ stool by the door to the kitchen that was in fact not broken at all but had a sign taped to it that said it was specifically so it was open for when workers were on break. The seat provided some much needed relief for your aching feet and even more aching shoulders.

Shaking cocktails was really aggravating the bruises just beneath the button up wrapped around your shoulders, and you found yourself hurting almost twice as much as normal this shift. That might’ve been why you felt like you were moving in slow motion the whole time. That or the sheer number of people had simply made the task seem insurmountable.

You were just closing your eyes and leaning back against the wall when your phone in your pocket buzzed again.

It wasn’t really a conscious decision to check it, more habit than anything else. And really, you hadn’t expected it to be anything that bad. You hadn’t heard from him all day. 

But there it was. His name. His name a half a dozen times over the course of your shift. Each text progressively more urgent and pressing than the last.

‘I’m  still coming to pick you up from work.’

Bile rose up in your throat, and you suppressed the overwhelming urge to bolt. The room was suddenly too hot and too crowded, and there were too many faces. Faces you recognized and faces you didn’t. A wash of faces that was the perfect place for him to hide, to wait, to lurk around for the opportune moment to reveal himself.

You couldn’t do this, couldn’t deal with this. Not here. Not now. Not in front of all these people. Not alone. 

You did the first thing that came to mind. 

It was stupid really. You couldn’t explain why it occurred to you, why you acted on it so immediately, why you thought it was a good idea at all. It probably wasn’t; it could just as easily have backfired in your face as anything else. But your gut told you it was what you should do. Really, your gut didn’t so much tell you as wrench you in that direction with an undeniable force. 

“Hey can I talk to you for a sec?” 

Hangman was an easy man to find, even despite the crowd, strutting around the dart boards like he owned the place, which he very nearly did, rubbing the other pilots noses in his shots that were somehow better blindfolded than theirs were with sight.

You interrupted him boasting loudly to Fanboy and Payback about how he didn’t even need to practice. Perfect marksmanship just came naturally to him. The rest of the pilots were all gathered at the high tops near the darts boards, mostly rolling their eyes. They were having some kind of tournament, or rather a competition to see if anyone could take Hangman down. 

Payback seemed almost too happy for the interruption, but Fanboy was a bit more perceptive, at least at the moment. Fanboy’s eyes darted away to Phoenix’s table, and you saw the jerk of his head when he caught her eye. Funneling the female aviator’s attention in the direction of what was unfolding. 

You, wearing Hangman’s shirt since he disappeared for half an hour earlier that day, asking to talk to him alone near the end of your shift. You knew exactly what it looked like. 

“Sure.” Hangman’s tone was completely casual, not giving anything away, but when his back turned on his companions, his eyes were burning. You quickly looked away from his gaze and led him from the group.

“I wasn’t checking my phone.” The words were tumbling out of your mouth the moment he was out of the others’ earshot. You didn’t even bite your tongue long enough to turn around. “He’s been texting me my entire shift. He was supposed to be my ride home tonight, and I think he might show up soon.”

When you faced Hangman, you knew the panic in your voice and in your eyes was painfully obvious. Now that you were semi-alone with him, with someone who knew, there was no hiding how much it jarred you. Your hands fumbled with your phone trying to show him the flood of texts you’d gotten, unnoticed, over the last two hours. 

Hangman didn’t look down even as you turned the phone to show him. His jaw was already clenched; his expression was agitated, visibly angry. His eyes weren’t looking at you or the phone. They were searching the faces in the crowd similar to the way yours had only moments before though far more thorough. The honed, trained eye of a military fighter pilot meticulously picked through the crowd for its target, finding nothing. 

“Could you…” You hesitated to ask. It was such a ridiculous request. Just yesterday, Hangman would’ve been your absolute last choice to be in this position with; you would’ve risked handling it alone before asking for his help. But here he was. The only one who knew. The first one you asked. “I’ll give you a round on the house for it. I just… Would you mind giving me a ride home? I don’t want to stumble on him alone.”

Hangman didn’t hesitate or pull his eyes from where they continuously scanned the crowd, as if his gaze alone was enough to keep a threat at bay. “No beers required, Hurricane.” The words seemed to be coming out of his mouth even as you offered. Like he’d already decided what he was going to do the minute you told him the problem. “Wait here a sec? I’ll handle it.”

Hangman walked the short distance over to the bar, glancing back over his shoulder at you every few steps like he was making sure you hadn’t disappeared, and flagged down Penny. Something on his face must’ve told her it was urgent because she forwent several regulars and big tippers demanding drinks to beeline towards him. He leaned over the bar and whispered something in her ear, gesturing back in your direction. 

Penny looked concerned, and she nodded along with what Hangman was saying until he turned to leave. 

“If Penny asks,” Hangman put a hand on your shoulder, a firm grip holding you to his side as he led you through the throng of people towards the exit, “a guy was bothering you, and I drove you home cause you were scared of him.”

“Not entirely a lie,” You mumbled, shifting closer into Hangman’s side.

No one tried to stop you. No hands reached out for you. No one called out your name. You made it through entirely unscathed. You could feel eyes on you, but they didn’t raise the hairs on the back of your neck. You doubted, highly, that they were Devin’s. More likely, Hangman’s squadron were watching him retreat from the bar with you under his arm without so much as a goodbye. More likely, they were plotting and planning the questions they were going to hound the two of you with the next time they saw you. More likely, Phoenix was pointing out to everyone that you were wearing Hangman’s shirt.

—------

“Does he have a key?” Hangman didn’t break the silence until he’d turned onto your block, until he’d brought his truck to a slow crawl, looking for your tiny, inconsequential cookie cutter house in a row of tiny, inconsequential cookie cutter houses. 

Yours was pretty much the only house without a Navy flag or Navy paraphernalia of some description sitting in the yard or stuck to a car in the driveway. The neighborhood was not far from the Hard Deck which was not far from the base, and the tiny houses geared towards first-time-buyers were crawling with Navy pilots and newlywed military couples who wanted to live offbase.

You were on the second sidestreet, the third house on the left. Hangman already knew the way without instruction. Penny had conned every Top Gun pilot with a car into driving you home at least a couple times. And while Hangman was usually the pilot she was least willing to ask, he was also the only one who was guaranteed to always be sober. 

His question came out very sober. His usual lilting, teasing tone had dropped off somewhere today and never fully returned. 

“He did. He… he told me he lost it, but…” You both knew better than to believe that.

Hangman pulled into your driveway and flicked the truck into park and turned it off. “Tomorrow I’ll drive you to the hardware store, and we’ll change the locks.”

“You don’t have to…”

“Do you feel safe with him having a key?” Hangman cut you off. He was looking down at you with just a touch of condescension, so classically Hangman. Like he knew the answer already, like he knew you knew the answer already, and that you were silly if you pretended not to or refused him. 

You knew where this was going, and you thought about lying, just to relieve Hangman of whatever false sense of duty or obligation he had imposed on himself by being the one to find you at the Hard Deck. But it was way too late. Hangman wasn’t stupid, but he was incredibly, irritatingly stubborn. And he’d already set his mind to helping you through this. “No.”

“Then tomorrow morning I’ll change the locks.” Hangman threw his door open and hopped out of the truck. It slammed closed behind him as he circled around to your side. You made to open your door, but Hangman beat you to it. “Alarm services are expensive,” He continued, offering you a hand, “but they make door jammers that have sound alarms on them at least, and my sister bought some cheap window versions a while back that I could help install.” 

You took Hangman’s hand and dumbly followed him up to your door as he rambled on about extra door locks and doorbell cameras. All options that you could pick up tomorrow for him to put in. 

“That’s too much effort,” You halfheartedly protested as you spun your keys around trying to find the one to your front door. 

There really weren’t that many keys. There were a couple to the Hard Deck, one to the shed where Penny kept beach supplies, and one to Devin’s place that you hadn’t returned. They were all distinct shapes and colors, but you couldn’t seem to focus long enough to find the plain silver key to your own door. Maybe because you knew there was another one, exactly like it, somewhere across town at that moment.   

“Not if it makes you feel safe.” Hangman leaned back against your door frame, his eyes skimming up and down your block as if he was still on alert in the crowded bar, still looking for signs of trouble, signs of him. 

“Would you…” Your words trailed off as you watched his darting eyes. The question came bubbling up before you could stop it, before you even really thought of it. It was less a question and more a response to his vigilance, to the thought that his vigilance might be warranted and necessary. 

“Would I…?” Hangman didn’t let it go. His eyes turned to look at you.

You chewed at your bottom lip, debating if it was worth asking, debating if it was necessary. 

He probably thought it was, if his mannerisms were any indication, if his talk about alarms was any indication, if walking you to your door and watching your back were any indication. 

“Would you come in?”

Hangman raised a doubtful eyebrow, sure you didn’t mean what those words usually meant.

“Not like that, it’s just… You’re right. He probably still has a key, and if we can’t fix it till the morning…”

Understanding seemed to wash over his face, and Hangman kicked himself up off the door jam. “If it’ll help,” he immediately conceded. “I’ll sleep on your couch.”

“It…” You hesitated, but only for a moment. “I think it would.”

The silence inside your home was almost palpable. It was late enough that going to bed wouldn’t have been awkward for either of you, but neither of you were tired. And neither of you seemed up to faking being tired just to get away. 

Hangman sat on one end of the couch, and you sat on the other. At some point, you mustered the effort to turn on the tv. The local news was a quiet, bland drone of background noise cutting through the still air around the two of you.

You felt like you should say something. Maybe ‘should’ wasn’t the right word; maybe you wanted to say something. But either way you didn’t know where to begin.

You had only ever been alone with Hangman when he was dropping you off as a favor to Penny, times that were filled with snarky jokes and constant nagging from both of you, and earlier that day in the bar. You weren’t close. You weren’t friends. You were barely acquaintances. He was only here because he was in the right (or wrong, depending how you looked at it) place at the right time.

“Thank you,” That seemed like a good place to start. “For today, thank you.”

“You have nothing to thank me for.” Hangman countered quickly. His eyes stayed on the tv, though they were clearly out of focus staring at the screen. 

“I do though. You could’ve told everyone.”

“You weren’t ready for that.” He added it under his breath, countering without cutting you off.

“You could’ve left me to finish out my shift.”

“Not with him coming to the bar.”

“You could’ve left after you dropped me off.”

“He has a key.”

“You could’ve turned and walked out the door when you first saw me at the bar.”

Hangman let out a heavy sigh, not of annoyance or exasperation but a sigh weighed down with duty and concern. “No, I couldn’t.” 

Your eyes met his over the center of the couch, and a breath rushed out of your lungs under the intensity in his gaze.

—-------------------------------------

You woke up in your bed, mouth open, with more than a little drool pooling on your pillow. 

You had no memory of falling asleep there, of getting into bed, of going to your room at all. 

You remember being on the couch, talking to Hangman. You remembered the way his eyes, intense, open, and honest, compelled you to speak. The way you couldn’t bite back the story pouring from your lips. The story of Devin asking you out, of falling for him in those early weeks, of how he changed after you committed to him. The story of what he did that night, of his buddies who sat back and did nothing, of the jokes you heard the three of them cracking as you ran from the room.

You remembered Hangman crossing the space between you and putting a hand on your arm, how cautious he was touching you, how much time he left you to pull away, how gentle his touch was against your skin. You remembered throwing yourself into his lap, sobbing into his shoulder as he held you against his chest and rubbed soothingly up and down your back, whispering promises that that asshole would never hurt you again. 

You didn’t remember anything after that. You must’ve fallen asleep in his lap.

Sitting up, you found the answer to your unasked question.

A folded piece of notebook paper sitting on the pillow next to you:

‘Thought the bed would be preferable to sharing the couch with me. If I’m wrong and you wake up in the middle of the night and don’t want to be alone, you can always wake me up. If not, I’ll have coffee ready for you in the morning. - Jake.’

As you read, his words the night before echoed in your head to the beat of a nonexistent drum as you read the note once, then twice, then a third time.

‘No, I couldn’t.’

You carefully folded the paper up and tucked it in the top drawer of your bedside table. 

True to his word, Hangman was wide awake, standing in your kitchen pouring himself a cup of coffee when you walked out of your room. 

“H-Hi,” you stuttered.

Last night, in the comfort of darkness, with exhaustion clouding over your mind and his arms holding you close, it had seemed the most logical thing in the world to open up to Hangman. And with the light of day glinting through the windows, with him dressed in the button up he’d wrapped around you the day before, with him lounging back against your counter as he sipped from your favorite mug, with an overconfident air that was too comfortable for any normal person’s first time in your home… It was odd to think that feeling hadn’t changed, that you still felt able to bare your soul to him, that you didn’t feel a need to run back into your room and get changed or freshen up, that you were perfectly comfortable being seen by him like this, a tired quaking  mess with puffy red eyes.

Part of you expected to walk out into your kitchen to an epiphany that you’d made a horrible mistake, that Hangman was exactly as much of a cocky asshole as you thought he was two days ago. But the epiphany never came.

“Morning,” Hangman took a sip of coffee and set the mug aside. He looked casual, at peace, like this was just another day, like he’d done this a million times. “I’m ready to go whenever you are. I found the toolbox in the bottom of your coat closet. Hope you don’t mind. We’ll probably need a few things if we’re gonna do anything more than replace the locks.”

“Y-Yeah,” You grabbed a mug off the drying rack and crossed the room to pour yourself a cup of coffee from the pot beside him, your shoulder brushing passed his as you poured. “Sounds good.”

“Hey.” Hangman seemed to immediately pick up that something was plaguing your mind. He didn’t reach out for you like last night, quite the opposite. He took a step away and turned to face you, crossin his arms over his chest, “If you want to be alone, I’ll head out. I’ll go to the store, pick up the locks, and change them myself. You can have time to yourself if you need it.” 

“No,” You immediately countered his obvious misinterpretation of your mood. “I-I don’t think I want to be alone. I’m just… antsy I guess.” 

He didn’t seem to fully buy it, but he let your excuse hang. “Okay then, we’ll head out when you’re ready.”

—----------------------

All day, as Hangman worked around your house first changing the locks then installing alarms then fixing a window that wouldn’t lock and then righting a wobbly chair leg that had absolutely nothing to do with your safety, neither of you mentioned the note he left or you crying in his arms or falling asleep on his lap or his quiet ‘No, I couldn’t’.

—--------------------------

You made a vow to yourself when Hangman finally left your house late Saturday afternoon. You were never going to ring up his card at the Hard Deck again. It couldn’t really repay what he’d done for you, the feeling of safety he’d brought to you in what was probably your most vulnerable moment so far on this earth, but you knew he wouldn’t want anything more showy. Hangman loved being the center of attention, but somehow you knew he wouldn’t want attention for this. 

True to your vow, the next Saturday evening, Hangman was on his third beer and had, unwittingly on his part, not paid a dime.

The Hard Deck was far less crowded that night. The graduating Top Gun candidates had all flown away, and only those currently stationed at the base, mostly Maverick’s squad, and some locals remained. A few dozen patrons milled around a room far larger than they needed with maybe a dozen pressed up to the bar. Most of the dozen fell under your responsibilities at the moment. Penny had, unintentionally, abandoned you not long before when Maverick had wandered in and taken up his usual stool. 

Omaha and Halo, the first aviators to arrive, had claimed one of the pool tables early in the night, and the rest of the squad had started rotating through matchups. It appeared Fritz was on a hot streak, one that was no doubt about to end as his next opponent in line was Hangman. 

All seemed right with the world. The constant buzz of voices, the crooning of the Goo Goo Dolls song that Bob had selected on the jukebox, the ready flow of beer to your usual patrons. Everything was fine.

Until the door opened one last time. Not that places of business ever ‘expected’ anyone because they hardly sent out invitations to come buy beer, but you really weren’t expecting anyone else that night. All the regulars were already inside.

The door banging against the wall as it was flung open was enough to draw your surprised eyes up to the entryway. 

Face lit by the sun setting over the beach through the windows on the opposite wall, he was unmistakable as he marched into view flanked by his two buddies. They immediately began scanning the room. 

Your breath rushed out of your lungs, exhaling in a gust that you couldn’t hold back any more than the wind. 

No, no, no. He wasn’t here. He couldn’t be here. He couldn’t confront you here. He couldn’t corner you alone.

There was no time to think, no time to check with Penny if it was ok to leave your station, no time to get to the door or bolt out the back. 

‘I’ll keep him out of the bar.’

It was your first instinct when you saw the text the weekend before, and it was your first instinct when you saw him that night.

“Hurricane?” Penny called after you as, without so much as a word in her direction, you ducked under the gap in the bar and made a beeline for the pool tables. 

You barely heard her, and if you did, it didn’t register. 

“Jake,” his real name leaving your lips was enough to draw most of his coworkers’ attention, all those in earshot at least. You grabbed his arm the second he was within reach, inadvertently clawing his skin with your nails as you pulled him up from where he was hunched over the pool table lining up a shot. 

Jake laughed and shrugged off your arm before he even turned around and saw who it was. “Hey,” he rubbed at the red marks in his skin, “I was just…” 

The words died on his lips when he turned and saw the panic in your eyes. It was brimming up inside you, overflowing and choking you off from every other sensation except the desperation for Jake to understand.

He knew better than anyone that there was only one thing that could make you look like that, feel like that. His head jerked up immediately in the direction of the door, as if he could sense the direction of the impending doom.

You watched the lighthearted smirk that constantly plagued his lips fall away. You watched the light in his eyes cloud over in darkness. As his gaze went up over your shoulder to the door, where one of the three men with angry expressions and dark eyes spotted your back amongst the khaki uniforms and began moving. 

Jake’s arm twisted in your grip and grabbed you by the elbow, jerking you unceremoniously behind his back. There was no time for pleasantries, no time to be nice about whatever he was about to do.

“Fanboy, stay with her.” Jake ordered over his shoulder to the nearest aviator. His gaze didn’t waiver from the three men approaching, even as he issued commands.  

Most of the aviators in Mav’s squad were scattered around the room. Mav was at the bar talking with Penny and Halo. Fanboy and Coyote had been watching Hangman school Fritz, who was being hyped up by Payback. Rooster was at a table not far from the pool game talking to a pretty girl. And Phoenix and Bob were half spectating from their perch by the jukebox discussing something that had gone wrong in a training run that afternoon. 

Fanboy caught you and held you up as Jake pushed you in his direction. “What’s going on?”

Jake didn’t answer. He side-stepped in front of you, half blocking you from view, and walked to the edge of the pool area. There was a buffer zone between himself and you. He was the first line of defense, and he was giving the second, Fanboy, room to react. 

“You fucking bitch!” If Fanboy didn’t know what was going on before, he instantly caught on. 

Fanboy’s arms tensed around yours. His back went rigged, as if a commanding officer had just called him to attention, and he curled away, pulling you back behind him and putting his body in front of you as a shield. Even with Fanboy hovering in the way, his body didn’t hide Devin’s eyes. They sought you out around Jake’s frame and over Fanboy’s shoulder; they found you huddled up behind the Navy uniforms and the fancy stars pinned to the pilots chests. No number of medals pinned to Jake’s chest could stop the chill that ran down your spine in response to the venom in Devin’s tone. You wanted to look away, but the daggers in his gaze skewered you in place, held you hostage. 

You wanted to curl up and hide, preferably behind Jake... Well, preferably in a home far away from there wrapped in heavy blankets with many deadbolts between you and Devin with Jake vigilantly standing guard at the door. 

Devin tried to walk straight past Jake, like he didn’t even see him. Jake wasn’t having any of it. 

A thick, muscular arm stuck out across the length of Devin’s shoulders as he tried to pass, holding him back.

Devin wasn’t a very big guy. He was well toned, but he was no naval aviator. He was no Jake Seresin. Jake had about an inch on Devin, but his well built frame made up for their near identical height. Devin had never been one to hit the gym hard while Jake certainly was, and it showed. It showed in the way a single arm without so much as a brace didn’t move even as Devin walked straight into it. 

If the rest of the bar weren’t looking when Devin shouted that you were a bitch, they certainly were when he glared up at Jake. “Out of the way you fucker!” 

Jake getting out of the way was about the last thing you wanted to happen, and Jake seemed disinclined to oblige either. His arm didn’t move from where it blocked Devin’s path, even as Devin glowered up at him.

The staring match lasted only a moment before Devin, impatient as always, gave up and turned back to glaring at you. He shouted, unnecessarily loudly, across the minimal distance between the two of you, “You changed the locks on me?” 

There was shuffling behind you and the sound of something clanging onto the pool table. 

You couldn’t bring yourself to turn your head away from Devin, couldn’t look away, couldn’t let him out of your sight. But there was the sound of footsteps as first Coyote, then Fritz, then Payback came into range in your peripheral vision. 

None of them knew what this was about, but it didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out where this was going. And any idiot could tell whose side they would be on in a fight between Jake and Devin. 

“She didn’t. I did.” Jake declared at a similarly loud volume, pulling Devin’s attention back on him, demanding Devin shift his focus off of you. “You got a problem with that, you take it up with me.”

Devin took a step back, finally abandoning his futile attempt to confront you in favor of squaring up to Jake. 

As Devin stepped back, the trio of pilots stepped forward. Fritz approached first, joining Fanboy in front of you. Payback followed after Fritz, lingering halfway between him and Jake, a bystander ready to step in if things got out of hand.

Coyote, however, had no questions about how any altercation would go down. His hand came down as he walked up behind Jake, slapping down reassuringly on Jake's shoulder to let him know he wasn’t alone. Coyote flanked Jake at such a close distance that it made it impossibly clear that, if this turned into a fight, it would not be three on one. 

It wouldn’t even be three on two for that matter. Devin’s buddies, who had crossed the bar with him had hung back a few feet, giving Devin the space he wanted to scream at you or confront you or whatever else he had been planning before Jake intercepted. The duo found themselves with two bar tables between them and Devin. One of which was, ever so unfortunately for them, occupied by none other than Bradley Bradshaw and his drinking companion. 

Devin’s friends would be forgiven for not realizing that they were offering up the chance to divide the group in half. Bradley, per usual, wasn’t in his Navy uniform, and a guy in a faded Hawaiian shirt didn’t exactly look intimidating. At least not while he was sitting down chatting up a pretty girl.

Seeing the escalation Coyote invited, and flashing his eyes to where you cowered behind his squadmates, Rooster got to his feet with a slow, lithe push off the table in front of him and turned his back on Devin. Not even bothering to give the belligerent asshole, currently one on two against Hangman and Coyote, the time of day, he turned his entire attention to the backup Devin brought with him. 

Never in your life had you been scared of any of the naval aviators, but there was something especially intimidating about the incredibly casual way Bradley put himself alone in a fight against two men. His relaxed stance, completely unbothered by the numbers game he was playing. His head, cocking to one side to crack his neck, and then the other. 

“You the latest pilot she’s spreading her legs for?” Devin snarled up at Jake, completely oblivious to what was going on behind him and unconcerned by Coyote’s presence. 

Jake was entirely unphased. His voice was calm and steady even as Devin’s got more and more red with each passing moment. “No, but I am a friend. And if you have a problem with her you’re gonna have to go through me…” Jake added as an afterthought, “And him,” jerking his head to Coyote.

“You think she’ll fuck you if you play hero?” Devin spat out the word fuck as if the thought of you and sex in the same sentence disgusted him. “You don’t gotta try that hard to get her to spread.”

Jake shrugged and casually dismissed the comment. “That’s really not my business or yours.” 

“She is my business; that’s my girl.” 

Devin jabbed a finger over Jake’s shoulder in your direction without looking away from Jake, and you instinctively shrunk further back behind Fanboy. Until you felt the material between your fingers, you didn’t even realize that your hand had reached up to fist the back of Fanboy’s uniform. 

You didn’t know, logically, why you were afraid. Whatever Jake was doing, he was doing a marvelous job of keeping Devin’s eyes off of you. You were absolutely certain that Devin would have to knock Jake out to get to you, not that he could even manage that. You were also absolutely certain that even if he did, he’d still have to make it through Rooster, Fanboy, Fritz, Payback, and Coyote, not to mention the dozen Navy guys from other squads currently spectating who would jump in to assist, or Penny or Mav. There was just something about his finger pointing at you, accusing you, that made that feeling of helplessness bubble up inside you again, that made you feel pinned, trapped under his hand.

“I’ll do whatever I want with her.”

It was like Jake knew or could sense your growing bubble of fear. He leaned ever so slightly to one side, like he was simply shifting his weight from foot to foot, before standing back up straight in between Devin’s finger and you.  

“Not anymore.” Jake declared firmly. “You’re already about a mile closer to her than I want you to be.”

That declaration made Devin’s lips twist up into something akin to a smirk. “I’ve been a lot closer to her than this.”

Jake’s shoulders tensed, and for the first time it seemed like Devin got to him. “I know exactly how close you got.” His voice darkened, and you could practically picture the look in his eyes, practically knew it by heart from the night you told him what Devin had done. “Where I’m from, we don’t treat women like that.”

Devin laughed humorously, heading tilting back to let the single tone ring out in the air. “Well we aren’t where you’re from. That’s my girl, and I’ll do what I want with her.”

You shivered involuntarily, like someone had dropped an ice cube down the back of your shirt. It sent a chill through you to think of Devin alone with you, doing what he wanted with you. You remembered what he did the last time he had that power over you. You couldn’t let it happen again.

“No,” It took a moment to register that Jake was the one snarling, not Devin, not even you. The word came out in a hiss between his teeth. “You’ll do what she wants. And right now she doesn’t want you here.” 

For whatever reason, Devin was getting to Jake. The unshakeable, unflappable Jake Seresin was rising to a rolling boil under the surface of his skin, and there was nothing he could do to hide it. From the tone of his voice to the tension in his shoulders, to the way his fingers twitched in and out of a fist, Devin and what he was saying was under Jake’s skin.

Devin saw it; you could tell. You couldn’t see his eyes around the bodies between the two of you, but you saw his posture change, his stance open up and his chest puff out. He leaned in and sneered, “She needed to be put in her place. She looks better roughed up anyway.”

You felt their eyes on you. The squad. The whole bar. None of them were actually looking at you. None of their heads turned, but you knew every one of them was staring at an image of you in their minds. Maybe they all figured it out before. Maybe they knew when Devin walked in or when Jake escorted you home. Or maybe they didn’t know anything at all, but either way Devin just gave them confirmation.

Payback was no longer content to play the bystander. His shoes clicked on the floor, echoing in the silence that existed throughout the bar as Jake and Devin sparred. He flanked Jake’s other side, shoulder to shoulder with him as Coyote had been since the confrontation began. 

Coyote didn’t move an inch except for the hand at his side that clenched into a fist. 

Jake took a step closer. But for the inch of height difference, he stood nose to nose with Devin as he said, “Where I’m from, a man lays his hands on a woman, and you take him out back and put one between his eyes.”

Devin pushed up, must’ve stood on his tiptoes to do it, to close the gap with Jake, to put himself on the same level as the pilot. “She’s mine, you fucker.” Flecks of spit, visible even at your distance, splattered against Jake’s cheek. “Get the fuck out of the way.” 

Devin’s hands came up and shoved Jake in both shoulders, hard.

Jake’s shoulders didn’t give an inch. His feet didn’t budge. His posture didn’t change. 

Jake’s voice dropped low, so low you barely heard it. If a single soul in the bar had been focused on anything other than the confrontation at hand, if the jukebox hadn’t run to the end of its queue of songs and left the bar in silence, if any more distance had been between the two of you, you wouldn’t have heard the rough, guttural retort from somewhere deep inside Jake’s chest, “You’re really, really gonna have to make me.”

Without warning, Devin swung.

He was standing too close to Jake, almost chest to chest with the taller aviator. There was no good angle from which to strike, and his arm took a wide arc away from his body to get the necessary momentum and distance to hit at Jake with any force.

It was like it moved in slow motion, Jake’s head turned, his eyes following the direction of the swing as it approached his face.

You gasped and clung tighter to Fanboy, who blindly reached back to clutch your arm, pulling you in closer to him.

The fear, entirely for Jake, was also entirely unnecessary.

Jake’s head leaned to one side and effortlessly avoided the blow. Devin stumbled a couple steps to the side as his momentum carried him past Jake.

It gave Jake the space he needed to counter, not with a wide, slow hook around to the side of Devin’s face, but with a swift, firm uppercut to his jaw.

The connection sent a crack echoing through the bar, and Devin’s entire body went slack before he even hit the floor.

Coyote caught his arm before he could collapse, not that it did Devin any good to be under Coyote’s care instead of Jake’s. Coyote’s grip was so tight on Devin’s upper arm that you were sure it would bruise not just the skin but the muscles underneath.

Jake bent down over the other man and bent a finger up under his jaw. Devin’s head tipped up into Jake’s face without any protest and fell back to bob loosely to one side the moment Jake wasn’t supporting him any more.

“He’ll be out cold for a while.” Jake declared, glancing up to give Coyote a nod.

Coyote dropped his grip on Devin and let him crumple unceremoniously to the floor.

“Now,” Jake left Coyote to deal with Devin, stepping over the unconscious body on the floor as one might step over a puddle in the street. He ambled over to Rooster, whose presence had been more than enough to hold off Devin’s two buddies for the brief ten seconds of fighting, if it could even be categorized as a fight.

“Are you two,” Jake wagged a finger between Devin’s two friends as he came shoulder to shoulder with Rooster, “the ones she told me helped him out last week? Cause I gotta bone to pick with them too?”

“No, we didn’t!” The shorter of the two declared loudly. “Look, we don’t want any trouble.”

Jake’s head turned to glance back over his shoulder, and for the first time since Devin confronted you, you made eye contact with Jake.

His eyes were hard, cold, unfeeling. He wasn’t angry anymore. He wasn’t upset or worried or fearful or any of the other emotions you felt warring inside of you. The mask was back on, the unflappable exterior that only you had seen beneath before tonight. He wasn’t waiting for them; he was waiting for you. A good soldier, waiting for his orders.

Imperceptibly to everyone but Jake who was watching you like a hawk, you shook your head. This had gone on long enough already tonight. You just wanted it to be over.

“Well then,” Jake turned back to the two friends in tow. “Why don’t you take your buddy and get out of here?” Jake stepped close, towering over the shorter one as he added, “Tell him if he comes back round here to bother her again; I will spend the rest of my life making sure he’s too afraid to even look at another woman.”

Beside Jake, Rooster began casually cracking the knuckles of his fist one by one, presumably for emphasis.

There was a dull thud that drew the quad of men’s attention back towards Devin.

Payback was squatting over the unconscious man. He’d seemingly been rooting through the other man’s pockets. The sound of his wallet dropping back onto Devin’s back was the noise that drew the men’s eyes and everyone else’s watching as a result.

Payback was waving a credit card in the air in Jake’s general direction.

“Good idea,” Jake wandered over and snatched up the card. “Call it payback for disturbing the bar tonight.” Jake’s teasing smirk was back as he used Payback’s callsign. He abandoned the group to amble back towards Penny at the bar, and his absence seemed to break the tension.

The patrons, scattered around, all began slowly turning back to their tables. The conversation was quieter, hushed whispers that were no doubt mostly about the fight they’d just watched ensue, but their eyes seemed to have drank in their fill of the scene.

Under the watchful eye of Rooster, with Coyote and Payback standing by, Devin’s two friends draped their friend unceremoniously across their shoulders. Despite the struggle they were clearly having, not a soul offered to help as they stumbled under his weight out of the bar.

“I hope they have to drag him to the car.”

You jumped and turned your head to find that at some point in the chaos Phoenix and Bob had come up on the other side of the pool table as a last line of defense.

“Please, I hope they faceplant in the gravel.”

You let out a humorous laugh at Phoenix’s comment as your body finally slumped under the weight of the evening, resting back against the pool table with a huff of air.

“Are you…”

“Fritz, if you ask me if I’m okay, I will walk out of this bar right now.” You held up a finger to silence him.

You were not okay. You would be okay, one day; you knew that much. But that day was not today.

In the distance, like you were hearing an echo from the other end of a long tunnel, you registered the bell ringing for a free round. Your vision was tunneling too, but you could make out Jake was leaning across the bar, ringing the bell himself as he slammed Devin’s card on the bar in front of Penny.

Maverick, always present in front of Penny’s bar, slapped him on the back and whispered something in his ear, but Jake seemed, for once, thoroughly uninterested in his commanding officer.

His eyes, you thought, appeared to be focused on you. He left the bar before he even got his own free drink and headed straight back towards the pool tables.

Coyote and Rooster tried to talk to him, but he brushed him off. By the time he reached Fanboy, still awkwardly hovering in front of you, his destination was clear, and Fanboy slid right out of his way.

“Come on,” Jake held out a hand to you. “Penny won’t mind if you don’t finish out your shift.”

It wasn’t a tunnel you were looking through now so much as a camera, the lens zooming in and zooming out, narrowing and expanding your field of vision around Jake.

Jake, the only thing in the world right now that felt safe, that felt ok.

You numbly, clumsily, flung your hand out to grasp his, and as his fingers laced through yours you thought you might have a different answer to Fritz’s question, not that you’d ever voice it.

—————————————

“Thank you.”

It was about an hour after you and Jake had left the bar.

He’d walked you out the back door of the Hard Deck and down the beach for the better part of half an hour before the two of you wordlessly agreed to find a comfortable spot to sit down in the sand.

The silence had been more comfortable than you ever thought silence with Jake could be. Every time he’d driven you home from the Hard Deck, he’d felt the need to fill every available moment with some kind of noise, compulsively turning up the volume on the radio or making snarky, sarcastic commentary about anything that passed by the window. Silence was not Jake Seresin’s forte.

Yet the silence between the two of you had felt like a comforting blanket, wrapping you in understanding. He already knew what happened between you and Devin; the hard part of that explanation was over. He already knew why Devin was there that night, what must have prompted him to show up, what he was hinting at in front of the whole bar. He knew nothing else about you, but he knew this, knew every detail of the most painful moment of your life, and he accepted it without question, gave you what you needed without question, helped you without question.

“You don’t have to thank me for doing the right thing for once in my life, Hurricane.” Jake murmured. “It’s a nice change of pace.”

You wished you could deny that, say that Jake was a great guy, say that he always did the right thing or that he was a good man. But the truth was he often wasn’t. He was flawed, deeply so, rude when it was uncalled for, inappropriate when the moment was serious, lewd when he should have been respectful, confrontational when he should have been kind. He was as flawed as any other human being, maybe more so.

But when you needed him he was there. When no one else was there, he was there. And that, to you, forgave any multitude of sins.

“What did Mav say to you when you left?”

“What?” Jake did a quick double take, looking down at you beside him. “Oh,” He chuckled to himself. “He said, ‘Good man, no push-ups tomorrow when I shoot you down.’”

“Well,” you smiled, “I owe you a lot more than a few push ups.”

“You owe me nothing.”

You squeezed his hand, his fingers which had been laced in yours since he led you out of the Hard Deck, “How about a second chance? If I remember correctly we didn’t get off to the best start.”

Jake smirked, “Not a chance am I starting over. You’re still my Hurricane.”

[topguncortez]

Opposites Attract 2- J. Seresin

pairing: Jake 'Hangman' Seresin x shy female!reader word count: 5.6k (Issa long one) warnings: top gun shit, mentions of death, mentions of sexual themes, angsty synopsis: The day of the faithful uranium plant mission is upon us, who will return home to their loved ones, and who will not. part 1

a/n: I will probably be making Opposites Attract into a mini series! let me know what you would like to see in it! also request are still open!!

Hangman had never liked deployment day, and he grew to hate it even more when he met his wife. He hated having to leave his friends and belongings behind to spend months on end on an aircraft carrier in the middle of the ocean. When he was young and single, he loved it. He would almost volunteer for any chance to go out to sea, but that all changed when he met Y/N. The first time he ever left her was the hardest. Being in the middle of the ocean, no way to contact her, no way to hear her voice or see her. The only thing he had from her was a letter she had stuffed into his duffle bag when he wasn’t looking. He would read that letter every night to the point he had basically memorized it. The second his boots hit the ground in Coronado Island, he was running to go find her. 

The goodbyes never got easier, but the welcome homes did. Hangman could hardly keep himself contained as he would stand on near the edge of the aircraft carrier, as they would salute as they came into dock. He’d have to constantly remind himself not to run in his dress uniform, that the admirals and captains were watching him, but he would fail himself and take off running towards her. And She was always there, waiting for him. From just standing by herself, to supporting a growing baby bump, to holding a small child on her hip, Y/N never missed when Jake would come home off the ship. 

Now, Jake prayed he’d be able to have that moment again. 

Jake knew Phoenix had probably told Y/N a little more detail than what Jake was willing to give to her. But that night after putting Alex to bed, Jake walked into their shared bedroom and found her crying on the bed. His heart broke at the sight, and he moved to her quickly, wrapping her in his strong arms as she cried. 

“Please,” She hiccuped, “Please come home.” 

“I will do everything I possibly can to come home,” Jake said to her, and kissed her temple. 

That night Jake helped her unwind, knowing her mind was running a mile a minute. He drew her a bath, filled it with the lavender scented bubble soap she loved so much. He helped her undress and made sure to tell her how beautiful she was. He lit some candles he found lying around the house, and helped her get into the bath. Jake sat on the ground by the tub, holding her hand and answering any questions she may have about the mission to the best of his ability. 

“So you’ll still be gone for three days?” Y/N asked. 

“Yes, a day to get out there, the mission day, and a day to come home,” Jake answered. He knew he should’ve just told her about it to begin with instead of dancing around the details. 

“So this. . .mission, plan thing, you don’t know who’s actually going on it? Captain Mitchell hasn’t told anyone yet?” 

“No,” Jake sighed, “Kind of annoying too that we don’t know who’s flying with who yet. But there will be six of us, two foxtrot teams, two solo pilots.” 

“And the goal is to just fly in and blow up this plant thing and then fight these missile things and come home.” 

Jake smiled, he loved hearing her try to explain his job. Y/N had grown up around the Navy, her dad being a WSO prior. She knew a little bit more than the average person, but at the same time she didn’t want to know. She would rather live in a world where she didn’t need to know her husband was flying at supersonic speeds to destroy the enemy a hundred some feet above the pacific ocean in his own flying death trap. But, whenever she did talk about it, her face would light up with this sort of childlike innocence, that reminded him of Alex, and it would bring a smile to his perfectly chiseled face. 

“That’s the goal,” Jake nodded, “If everything goes well-” 

“You survive,” Y/N said, “But if it doesn’t. . . someone comes home with a flag draped over their body.” 

Jake looked down at their hands. It was times like these where Jake wished he could’ve found an easier calling in life, like a doctor or math teacher. Y/N had heard the screams of wives and mothers as they opened the door to see two naval officers in uniform. Or watched as an officer stepped off the ship first, carrying a perfect folded flag and walked over to one of the family members waiting. Y/N could remember her stomach dropping as she watched an officer walk directly towards her, folded flag in his white gloved hands. She felt like she was going to be sick as he handed the flag to the woman next to her. Y/N had to act quickly and hold her up as her knees gave out and she screamed so loudly, the sound would stay with Y/N forever. 

“Hey,” Jake said, and moved to wipe a tear falling from her eye, “Don’t think like that, okay. I know it’s scary, but I am flying with the best of the best. We will all do what we can to come home, that’s our main goal, is to come home.” Y/N sniffled and nodded, nuzzling into the warmth of Jake’s hand, “Now come on, before the water gets cold.” 

“No,” Y/N pouted, “I wanna stay here forever!” 

“You’re like Alex,” Jake laughed, “Come on, sweetheart, can’t have you turning all wrinkly on me.” 

“Would you still love me if I was?” 

“Sweetheart, I will always love you, even when we are both old and wrinkly,” Jake smiled and leaned in to kiss her soft pink lips. 

That night Jake held her close, neither one bothered to wear anything to bed, sleeping completely naked. Y/N used to shy away whenever Jake would look at her body. She would cover herself up, or make him close his eyes and turn around. The first time Jake had ever seen her completely naked, he just wanted to stare at her for hours. She was perfect, every single thing about her. Jake took his time memorizing her curves and lines, telling her how perfect she was. She slowly got more comfortable with being nude around him and letting him see her. Jake about creamed his pants the first time she ever walked over in lingerie. He had no idea she could be such a minx. But now, it was almost second nature for them to sleep somewhat, if not completely nude, wrapped in each other's arms, feeling each other in their most vulnerable state. 

When the sun came up the next day, the two of them fell in sync getting each other ready for a busy day. Y/N and Jake both made breakfast, as Y/N prepared lunch for him to take. Jake also got Alex up too, the little boy only seemed to be happy waking up when it was Jake who got him out of bed. Y/N smiled at her two boys as Jake walked in carrying him on his hip. 

“Morning, love,” Y/N said and kissed his cheek, “We got a fun day planned. Penny is going to take us sailing!” 

“Penny?” Jake asked, looking at her, “Since when do you talk to Penny?” 

“Since she told me about the farmers market when I was at the grocery store the other day,” Y/N shrugged and went back to making Jake’s lunch. 

Jake nodded and kissed Alex’s temple before setting him down, only for him to run straight to Y/N. Jake was happy that Y/N was slowly breaking out of her shell. He worried about her when he was gone on missions or detachments like this one. She was shy, and tends to stick to herself. He remembered some of the hard phone calls when Alex was a newborn. Y/N would break down and beg for Jake to come home, or even threaten to leave and move back to San Diego to be closer to her family. She felt alone, she had no one there in Lemoore. But overtime, she had taught herself how to ask for help when she needed it and found solace in some of the older navy wives in their neighborhood. Now, being down in San Diego for the time being, she had found a friendship in the local bar owner. 

It made Jake happy, knowing that if something were to happen while he was gone, Y/N wouldn’t be alone while planning his funeral. The last thing he ever wanted to do was leave her alone to have to plan his funeral on her own. He had taken the precaution, and written down most of what he wanted. All the details, including his will and letters to his family were tucked away in a manila envelope that usually sat in the bottom of his desk at home. But for this mission, he had taken it with him, and it sat in the bottom of her suitcase. 

The days went and faded into the next. Jake spent as much time as he could with Y/N and Alex. And the rest of the squadron seemed to want to spend time with the two of them as well. They had become a small family in the matter of two weeks, all of them knowing the weight of the situation at hand. Y/N had even opened her home to them the night of Admiral Kazansky’s funeral, letting them drink and eat their sorrows away. She had only met the Admiral once, when she was young and her dad was still in the service. 

Alex had made new friends, calling them Uncle Bob, Uncle Rooster (much to Hangman’s dismay), and Aunt Phoenix. Jake had even gotten both Alex and Y/N on base one day so Alex could see some real planes take off and land. The little boy would not stop talking about how cool it was to see Maverick fly over them upside down. Y/N almost had a heart attack when Jake came home telling her that Bob and Phoenix had to make an emergency ejection. She insisted on inviting them over for a meal and sending them home with plenty of leftovers and homemade cookies. 

The dread morning of the mission, Jake didn’t want to move. He didn’t want to pack his duffle bag, or zip up his flight suit, or put his boots on, or shave his face. He wanted to lay in bed and hold his wife close to his chest. But, he woke up to a cold bed, and his wife was not by his side. Jake pushed himself out of bed, scanning the dark room. The sun hadn’t even risen yet, so he was very confused where his wife was. She was not a morning person, no matter how many early mornings she had with Jake, going to drop him off or pick him up, she hated mornings. 

Jake shuffled down the dark hallway, rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he made his way to the room his son was in. His heart broke at the sight in front of him. Y/N holding Alex in her arms, rocking him as he sniffled against her chest. The soft glow of the lamp showed the little boy’s red nose and eyes, and his blonde hair sticking to his forehead. He looked like he was sweating but he was shaking as Y/N pulled him in closer and adjusted the blanket on him. 

“Hey, I didn’t think-” 

“Is he sick?” Jake asked, walking over to them. 

Y/N sighed, “Running a little bit of a fever. He came in and woke me up, he wet the bed.” 

“Why didn’t you wake me?” Jake asked, kneeling down in front of the two. He ran his hand softly over the sleeping boy’s cheek. 

“You need your sleep. It’s a very important day.” 

“Screw sleep. Screw the mission. He’s sick.” 

“You can’t go AWOL.” 

“I can try and pull some strings. I’ll call your dad and-” 

“You can’t,” Y/N whispered, and leaned forward to place her hand on Jake’s cheek to stop his rambling, “You can’t. As much as I would love for you to stay here with us, you can’t. We will be okay.” 

“But what if you have to take him-” Jake knew she hated going to the doctor’s. She felt as though they never really listened to her, and would talk over her head using medical jargon that was hard for really anyone to understand. Jake would go with her, to help her ease her nerves and hold her hand. 

“I will be fine. We will be fine,” She tried to assure him, but Jake could see through it. He could see through it anytime he left, but all he could do was nod. There was no arguing when it came to her, or the contract he signed to protect and serve. So, he pushed himself up from the ground, kissed her softly and began to get ready to ship out. 

Y/N sat in Alex’s room, still holding him as he slept, and looked up at the ceiling, trying to push back tears from falling. She leaned her head down, and placed her lips to the top of Alex’s soft blonde hair, and sniffled back tears. She could hear Jake shuffling about their room, packing things away and putting his flight suit on. Jake paused and looked at the purple suitcase that she had open on her side of the bed. He was yet to tell her about the envelope at the bottom of her suitcase. He felt his throat tighten up as he walked over, kneeling down and dug to the bottom, pulling it out. He felt his hands shake as he placed it on top of their freshly made bed.  He placed his elbows on the bed, and folded his hands in prayer as he closed his eyes. 

“Please God, let me come home to them,” Jake whispered. He opened his eyes to see the first rays of the morning sun start to peek over the horizon. He knew it was time to go. 

Y/N had gotten up from Alex’s room, but still held him in her arms. He was somewhat awake now, as she had him on her hip and was making Jake something to eat that he could take with him. Jake placed his duffle bag by the front door before making his way into the kitchen. He wanted to freeze the moment forever, watching his wife and son in the kitchen. If the last thing he ever saw was those two, he would have no complaints. Jake made his way over to the two of them, and Y/N gave him a sad smile. He kissed her forehead and took Alex from her arms. He was still sleepy, so he cuddled right into his father, burying his face into his neck. 

“Are you feeling okay buddy?” Jake asked him, running a hand over his blonde locks. 

“My tummy angry,” Alex pouted. 

“I know,” Jake frowned. 

“You gotta leave now, or you’ll be late,” Y/N said, softly and Jake nodded. Jake took her hand as they walked to the front door. He handed Alex back to her as he picked up his duffle bag. 

Rooster was waiting for him in the driveway, his head down and full of thoughts as well. Y/N felt her heart break for him, he didn’t have anyone waiting at home for him. Jake threw his duffle bag in the bed of his bronco, making Rooster lift his head up. It was like deja vu, watching the way Jake held his wife and kissed his son goodbye. Rooster looked at his dashboard, of the picture of his parents and then back at Y/N and Jake. His heart felt heavy as he watched Jake hand Alex back to Y/N, the little boy crying and reaching out for his father. Y/N put a hand on his head, trying to console him, but it was useless. Jake yelled another ‘I Love You’ before turning fast on his heel to get towards Rooster’s bronco. Jake knew it was easier for all three of them to leave fast, than to dwell and spend more time breaking each other’s hearts. 

“Is he okay?” Rooster asked. 

“Yeah,” Jake’s voice cracked. He shook his head and wiped a tear, “Just go.” 

Jake could see in the rearview mirror, his wife standing on the doorstep, holding their crying son, tears falling down her own cheeks as she watched the bronco disappear down the street. She placed her free hand on her belly, rubbing the area softly and saying a prayer in her head. 

— —  — 

The next day was hell. She sat on the beach at the Hard Deck, watching as Amelia and Alex played in the waves together. He was starting to feel somewhat better, and Y/N thought sunshine and giggles would help him feel better. The sun made her feel better than sitting in the house and staring at the clock, waiting for the hours to pass by agonizingly slow. 

Penny frowned at the sight of the young woman, sitting in the sand alone watching the two kids. That had been her once, waiting for any sort of notice that Maverick was alive and not lying dead somewhere. She was more than happy to keep Y/N distracted, knowing it wasn’t easy being the one left behind. Penny walked down from the deck and sat in the beach chair next to her, handing her a glass of lemonade. 

“How are you feeling?” Penny asked her. 

“Want me to lie?” Y/N asked, not turning her head from the little boy who was giggling as Amelia splashed him, 

“That wouldn’t do us any good.” 

“Well, if my timing is correct, he’s either flying towards the uranium plant or he’s sitting on the aircraft carrier,” Y/N said looking down at her watch, “I wish it was none of those.” 

“How far along are you?” Y/N snapped her head towards her. She opened her mouth to protest but Penny held her up, “When I ran into you at the store you had saltines and ginger ale in your cart, I’m guessing to help with morning sickness. And that first night at the Hard Deck, you had nothing but water and lemonade the whole night. You also have this glow about you.” 

“Eight weeks,” Y/N said, her voice tight, “I haven’t told him. I was going to before we came down here but. . .there was never a good time. And now he might die and never-” 

“Oh honey,” Penny said and pulled the girl in for a hug, “What can I help you with while you’re here?” 

“I don’t know,” Y/N said, pulling back from her. She wiped her eyes and looked at her wedding ring, “I guess all I can do is wait. He. . . Jake has this envelope, he’s had it since we first got together. It has everything in it, everything I could possibly need if he,” Y/N’s lip trembled and she choked back a sob, “Darn hormones, I’m not usually this weepy when he leaves.” 

“It’s okay,” Penny smiled and grabbed her hand. 

“It has all his wishes and stuff written down in it. I guess. . . If he doesn’t make it back, can, can you-” 

“Yes,” Penny said, not making her fight to say anything more. Y/N nodded and Penny squeezed her hand as Alex came running up to them, with a seashell in his hand. Y/N wiped her tears and put a smile on her face the best she could as Alex showed her the shell in his hand. Penny admired the girl’s strength as Alex grabbed his mother’s hand and pulled her towards the water. 

Penny had made dinner for all four of them that night. Y/N tried to help her, but Penny shooed her away, telling her she needed to rest, that she was working hard enough creating another Seresin child. Amelia helped Alex set up a fort in the living room, which Y/N made him promise Penny that he would help clean it up. Y/N and Penny spent the night laughing and bonding over the joys of motherhood and telling stories of growing up as military kids. Y/N shared her dreams of hopefully one day going back and visiting Italy, or taking Alex to Hawai’i to see the Pearl Harbor museum. 

When it was time for them to leave, Y/N was dreading going back to the quiet house. Alex was practically spent, and could hardly keep his eyes open as Y/N put him in his carseat. Penny invited her to go sailing with them tomorrow, but she declined. Y/N wanted to stay near home, knowing that tomorrow Jake and the squadron would be returning home. Tomorrow Y/N would know if he was dead or alive. Penny understood and hugged the girl goodnight. 

Y/N let Alex sleep in her bed that night, snuggling him close to her. That manila envelope sat on top of the bed side table, and seemed to be mocking her. She laid awake almost the whole night, the only thing bringing her some comfort was the gentle sound of her son’s breathing. Eventually, out of pure exhaustion, she fell into a dreamless sleep. 

The second the sun hit her face the next morning she was awake. Alex was still fast asleep, and she tucked pillows around him so he wouldn’t roll out of the large bed and onto the floor. Y/N threw on a pair of shorts and one of Jake’s sweatshirts, and began on her cleaning list. The house wasn’t really even that dirty, they had hardly brought anything with them, but it still brought her a sense of relief being able to do something rather than just sit and worry. When Alex finally woke up, she made him breakfast and then they both got dressed and went to the local grocery store to get things to make for Jake’s favorite welcome home meal. 

“Guess what today is, baby?” Y/N said, as she brushed Alex’s blonde hair. 

“Dada come home!” Alex smiled, showing his teeth. 

“Yeah! Dada comes home!” Y/N smiled brightly and kissed his cheek. 

The day ticked on, and morning faded into day, and Y/N watched the clock, feeling her nerves grow as the day progressed. Usually they were home by morning when it came to deployments and detachments but Y/N knew that this was a special assignment. She tried to not let her anxiety get the best of her, but when it was nearing early evening and she still hadn’t heard anything from him, or had seen him, she felt her heart drop. She bit back tears as she watched Alex color a picture for Jake at the kitchen table. 

“Momma, will dada like it!?” Alex asked with excitement, holding up the scribbled drawing. 

“Yeah,” Y/N bit back tears, “I’ll be right back, don’t move.” Y/N said, and felt her heartbreak as she looked at the door waiting for the moment that Jake came back through it. She looked down at her phone, no missed calls or texts, but time was ticking on, “How about you help me with dinner?” 

Y/N and Alex ate Jake’s favorite meal on the back patio. She tried to put on the best act that she could, smiling and telling Alex that Jake would be home soon. But as the sun set behind the clouds it was clear to Y/N, Jake was not coming home. Y/N gave Alex a bath and dressed him in his favorite pajamas and tucked him into bed. She held him extra tight, and read two books instead of the usual just one. 

“Momma,” Alex asked her, “Dada come home?” 

“No,” Y/N said, tears escaping her eyes, “Dada isn’t coming home.” 

“He still on ship?” Alex asked, his blue eyes filled with confusion. 

“I don’t know, baby,” Y/N said. How does a parent have this conversation with their four year old? How do you explain to him that his father is never coming home?, “Go to bed, sweetheart, I love you.” 

“Love you, momma,” Alex said, and Y/N kissed his forehead. She turned his bedroom light on, making sure the night light was on before going down to her room. 

Y/N let out a shaky breath as she sat down on Jake’s side of the bed and looked at the manila envelope with her name scrawled across it. She let out a sob as she picked it up, her vision becoming blurry with tears. She held it to her chest as she sobbed out his name. Never in her years did she think she would have to open it. She never thought that she would be living in a world where Jake wasn’t by her side. He was her everything; her protector, her equal, her other half, the love of her life. She knew she would never find a love like him again. There was no way she could allow herself to kiss another man, let another man touch her, lie down next to another man, let another man raise her kids. Jake was it for her. Jake was all she would ever need. 

She placed the envelope in her lap, running her fingers over his handwriting. Her fingers found the opening flap, and pulled it open. She closed her eyes as she grabbed the stack of papers on the inside, and set them on top of the folder. Opening her eyes, she noticed the handwritten note on the top of the stack. Her tears hit the paper as she held it up to read. 

‘To the love of my life, this is all you will need. I promised to always take care of you, and I will keep that promise. Even in death. I love you- your Jake.’ 

“No,” Y/N sobbed again, holding a shaky hand to her mouth, as she flipped through the documents. Jake had prepared everything, it was all written out in her hands. Her heart hurt too much to even read, as she set the stack back on the bedside table, and laid down on the bed, grabbing a pillow and burying her face into it. She let out screams that were muffled by the pillow she held to her face. She knew that she needed to calm herself down, that it wasn’t good to be this worked up for the baby growing inside her. 

The baby Jake will never meet. 

Y/N placed her hand on her stomach, and cried even more. All Jake ever wanted in life was to be a father, and the moment she had told him that he would be one, his eyes became so bright with love. Jake spent every moment of Y/N’s first pregnancy fighting with his inner demons on if he was going to be a good father or not, and he had told her about his fears of becoming a father and not getting to see his children grow up. The story of Goose Bradshaw was one that was somewhat known in their world, and Jake hated it. He hated the idea so much that at the drop of the word, Jake would leave his whole navy career behind to be a dad. 

At some point in time, Y/N must’ve cried herself to sleep, because she didn’t hear the opening of the front door, or the drop of a duffle bag, or the steps of boots down the hallway, or the soft call of her name. She woke up at the feeling of someone’s hands shaking her gently. She turned quickly, and gasped at the sight of her husband sitting in front of her. She let out a sob as she wrapped her arms around his neck. She hugged him with so much force it caught him off guard, having to steady both of them before they went crashing to the ground. 

All Jake could do was hold her as her body racked with sobs once again. He buried his face in her hair, taking a dip sniff of her shampoo. He felt safe being back in her arms. Y/N held onto him with all her strength, scared that this was just a dream and the second she opened her eyes, he would be gone. But once she somewhat gathered herself, she pulled back and hit his chest with her fists. 

“Where the hell were you!” Y/N cursed. 

Jake was surprised, she never cursed, “I was-” 

“I thought you died!” She hit his chest again, and continued to hit his toned chest as she spoke, “ You didn’t come home! I put your son to bed and then came in here and opened that blasted damn envelope and read the letter and-” 

Jake cut her off by pulling her into his arms again. He couldn’t believe the words that escaped her mouth. She thought he died. She opened the envelope and thought he was dead. A couple tears escaped Jake’s eyes as he pulled back and held her face in his hands. He smashed his lips to hers. She relaxed a bit in his touch. 

“I will never, ever leave you, ever,” He said, looking into her eyes, “I’m so sorry. Things hit the fan yesterday. We almost lost Maverick and Rooster-” 

“Are they okay?” 

“They’re fine, a little banged up, but they’re okay,” Jake said, “I’m so sorry baby I made you think that I. . . I’m sorry.” He hugged her again, “Is the little man still awake?” 

“No,” She shook her head and pulled back from the hug, “He’s long since been to bed.” Jake wiped a tear away with his thumb. Y/N looked up at him, and connected their lips. Jake kissed her back, as one of her hands went to pull on the hair at the back of his neck. His hands went to her waist, roaming her back, before going to her ass and pulling her into his lap. She gasped at the feeling, as his lips went from her mouth to her jawline, kissing up and down her jawline to her collarbones. 

“I missed you,” Jake said against her skin. 

“Show me,” She said breathlessly, “Show me how much you missed me.” 

Jake nodded, and rolled them so she was on her back and he was hovering above her. Jake took his time loving her. Every kiss had passion behind it. Every touch was like being touched for the first time again. Every thrust was slow and deep, making her feel him deep within her. Her back arched and Jake assured her over and over that he was there, and that he loved her and that he’d never leave her. When her orgasm hit her in waves, Jake held her tightly, and emptied himself deep within her. When they both came down, they laid next to each other bare, talking about random things and Jake would share bits and pieces of the mission. That was how the rest of the night would play out, making love to each other and letting each other know that they weren’t ever going to leave. 

— — — 

Jake sat on the back patio the next morning, watching the sunrise as the waves crashed, a cup of coffee in his hand. He wore nothing more than a pair of sweatpants and enjoyed the quiet morning. He knew after the activities of last night, that Y/N was probably going to sleep until late morning. He smirked at the memories of her clawing at his back or pulling on his hair, her soft moans in his ear. But then he frowned, remembering her tear stained face when he walked into the bedroom, and how she had thought he had died. He turned his head at the sound of the back door sliding open and smiled at his wife. She walked towards him and put her hands on his shoulders. He grabbed her hand and kissed it. 

“I thought you would still be sleeping,” Jake said looking up at her. 

“The bed was cold,” Y/N smiled, “And then Alex woke up not long after.” 

“Where is he?” Jake asked, just as Alex came running out of the house. 

“Daddy!” He smiled and Jake stood up from his chair to catch him in his arms. 

“My baby!” Jake smiled and picked him up in his strong arms, kissing all over his face. Alex giggled and tried to push his father away. And that’s when Hangman noticed Alex’s shirt. Y/N watched as his face contorted in confusion and then surprise as he looked at her, “Are you. . . Really?” 

“Yeah,” She smiled, biting her lip. 

“I knew it. . . I knew it!” Jake exclaimed and wrapped her in hug, “The night of the grill out, I noticed the way you placed a hand on your belly, you did that all the time with Alex and the-the you haven’t been cooking eggs in the morning and-” 

“Dada, I be a big brother!” Alex smiled, looking at his shirt. 

“Yeah, yeah you are!” Jake smiled, “I’m going to be a dad again.” 

“Yeah, you are,” Y/N smiled. 

And nine months later, Olivia Monica Seresin was born.

-- -- --

taglist: @positivelyholland @nessamc @n3ssm0nique

taglist form:)

[thewulf]

Good News || Jake "Hangman" Seresin

Summary: So i saw somewhere where a woman got into trouble for "destruction of government property" but it's just her giving her military husband hickies, and i think this would be so hilarious with Jake Seresin.

A/N: This one came so quickly to me. It's just pure fluff. All the Jake Seresin fluff! Short but sweet. Hope you all enjoy :)

Pairing: Jake "Hangman" Seresin x Y/N

Word Count: 2.3k +

Your eyes flipped back to the calendar on the wall with a big red circle around today. You’d probably looked at that calendar a thousand times over the last six months as you waited. Waited agonizingly every single day praying you wouldn’t get a knock on your door or the dreaded phone call.

Jake had been deployed on a carrier off the coast of Israel in the Mediterranean Sea for the last six months. You knew it came with the territory when you started dating him all those years ago. It terrified you every single time he came to tell you he was off on a mission or going on orders overseas. You’d never show it, only your utmost support and confidence in the man. But you knew how dangerous it was. He told you about all the men and women he’s seen gone down and some never making it home in his short span as a pilot in the Navy. It didn’t just terrify you, it rocked you all the way down to your core. What if he didn’t make it home? He was a hell of a pilot, one of the best that was flying, but things didn’t always go your way. He knew that. You knew it. Everybody seemed to know it.

But today was the day. He was coming home. After the months of shitty less than communication and trying your best to stay distracted it was here. He was safe. He was alive. You’d talked to him just a few hours ago. Waiting.

Jake’s parents picked you up from your shared home just off base that’d been eerily quiet in his absence. They didn’t want you driving in your hyper-fixated state. They never wanted you driving when it came to these kinds of events. They knew how much it tore you up when he was gone on deployment. If you didn’t fly down to Texas they made sure to fly to you. Just to keep you company. You hadn’t a clue how you’d gotten so lucky to have them in your life. And hopefully in the future as family. You never pushed it though. You didn’t want him to panic and ran. And truth be told you’d be fine never marrying him so long as he was like this in your life. Your best friend and love wrapped up in one.

“Are you excited?” His mom asked seeing you nearly bouncing out of the backseat once the car rolled onto base.

“Oh Nancy,” you could only nod your head in confirmation, “I’m more than excited.” Your cheeks were starting to burn from the big cheesy grin you were wearing.

His dad, David, spoke up, “I know Jake is just as excited.” He smiled just feeling the excitement in the air. These days were truly the best. Six months was a long time to be away. The longest deployment he’d been on in years.

The three of you made small talk as David drove to the base. Once parked, you happily led the older couple over to where the sailors would stand before they waited to be dismissed. You watched as the hundred or so men and women aboard the ship departed to their designated formation. Your eyes scanned for your loved one. Your Jake.

Finally spotting him you waited anxiously as the rest of the crew lined up. You just had to wait it out another ten minutes or so. They had to officially be dismissed before they could break for the family reunions. These last few minutes always seemed to draw on for decades trying to be as patient as possible.

You kept your eyes on him as he kept his forward. You hadn’t a clue that he already spotted you moments before you did him. But he had to keep his attention forward. No matter how anxious he was to see his favorite girl again.

They second they were dismissed Jake made a beeline right for you. Your face lit up in surprise as he headed right at you. Your body responding by moving forward you jumped right into his arms once he got close enough. He was more than ready. He wrapped his arms right around you securing you tightly to his chest while your feet locked behind him.

“Jakey.” You grinned hugging him tightly, afraid he’d be gone from your arms again you cherished every second like this. It made you realize how much you really did love the man you were holding so tightly. How much you craved him, everything about him. You’d rather not have had him gone for six months though. That was far too long for your liking. As if you had any say.

“Honey.” He cooed gently rocking you side to side. One arm snaked around your waist, one arm gently cradling your head in his hands, “You’re so fucking pretty. How’d you get even more beautiful? God I missed your face.” Jake leaned down capturing your lips in his. As gentle as he normally was with you this was hungrier. He really had missed you. Giving your hip as squeeze you felt him smile into the kiss as you squirmed away from his grasp.

Once you stopped giggling you looked right into his eyes smiling dopily, “And I missed yours, handsome man.” You gave him a wicked smirk before doing the unthinkable. Jake had warned you time and time again how he couldn’t show visible marks on the skin, or the Navy could have his ass. And maybe even yours if they were angry enough. You’d known they were empty threats, but you’d never dreamed of potentially hurting his flying in anyway. So, you’d never leave any marks.

Sliding his collar to the side you decided to throw caution to the wind seeing everybody lost in their own world with their own families. Jake’s parents were even admiring all the reunions around them instead of having their eyes fixated on the two of you. They loved watching all the joy every time. Nancy always made sure that every sailor was feeling the love. That was just one of the reasons you’d fallen in love not only with Jake but his entire family. His mom was as sweet as they came. His dad just as caring but even more tough. It was no wonder Jake was the way he was. Albeit a little more of an asshole than either of them even combined.

“Ma’am. That is abhorrent.” A vaguely familiar voice made you focus on your surroundings once more, “This is Destruction of Government Property.” You heard a cough from behind Jake drawing you away from your boyfriends neck. The look you sent could’ve killed him if it were at all possible. Bradley fucking Bradshaw. Was he actually serious right now?

You felt Jake’s laughter in his chest before you heard it. Flicking your eyes up momentarily at him you kissed him on his cheek before flipping Bradley off, “I don’t care Bradley.” You continued flipping him off while Jake held you tightly to his chest.

“Sweetheart…” Jake tried to warn you. The government really did own his ass. But his Commanding Officer was cool. He wasn’t expected to be back on base for another few weeks… what did a few hickies hurt? You knew the drill, but it didn’t seem to matter as you clung to him like he was about to vanish at any second. He looked down at your doe eyed expression, “I missed you.” He finished realizing just how hard deployment really was on you. The two of you were going on year five together. He’d been a pilot for all of them. He’d flown his hardest missions during that time. Your support never wavered. But seeing you like this? Like you’d never see him again… it hurt him. It hurt knowing you were feeling like that.

“You’ll care when there are Naval Officers on your doorstep.” Bradley tried. He really did. But you really didn’t care. You missed him more than anything. You didn’t care that his parents were there watching. You just missed him. Missed his corny ass jokes and the soft touches he always threw your way. You missed the sweet smiles and laughter that came with being around him. 

“So be it. Worth it.” You giggled as Jake pinched your sides again bringing your attention back to the man you’d dreamed about every day.

“Eyes over here darling.” He made sure to flip Bradley off before holding you back in his arms once again. He wouldn’t let you drop your hold on him. He wanted you close. He didn’t care either. He’d craved you for those months. He’d forgotten just how bad deployment got. Bradley mumbled some incoherent words before disappearing off into the crowd.

Kissing his cheek once more you nodded, “Sorry Jakey.” Brushing your hands through his hair it felt like it really was just the two of you there. Like nobody else was around.

“No need to apologize.” He whispered in your ear sending immediate chills down your spine, “You didn’t answer my question though. How’d you seem to get even more beautiful while I was gone?”

You truly felt like a little schoolgirl was a nasty crush on a boy way out of your league. He was so sweet to you and only you. Not having a clue why. You loved watching him interact with everyone else. He was so different than the man who came home to you every night. But that was Jake. Tough as they come. Sweet as can be. The biggest fight the two of you had was when he came home and told you about the six month long deployment a year ago. You didn’t even fight you were just sad. Sad that he volunteered to go. Volunteered and didn’t tell you. The two of you worked through it though. You always did.

“Shush. You’ve just been trapped on a big boat for so long I’d be offended if you didn’t think I was pretty.” You wanted to kiss him so bad. You didn’t even remember the kiss you gave him once you spotted him walk off the ship. You blacked out, truly.

“Never ever.” He grinned, “I’ll never stop complementing my beautiful girl.”

You squeezed your arms around him pulling him so much closer. You’d melt into him if you could, “You’re too sweet to me Mr. Seresin.”

He shook his head, “Not enough, I’d say.” He took the lead this time leaning down to give you a soft, sweet kiss that was far too short for your liking.

“I love you.” You whispered to him feeling oh so happy. So beyond excited he was holding you in his arms once again. You tried to step away to give his parents a chance to say hello, but he only held you tighter. Shaking his head.

“Love you too, gorgeous girl.” He hummed placing a soft kiss on your forehead, “That was it, by the way.”

You scrunched your eyes together in confusion, “What?”

He nodded his head with that larger than life smile on his face, “You’re looking at Captain Jake Seresin. Command Ground Officer.” He emphasized ground with wide eyes.

“Jake! Congrats. You didn’t tell me! Does this mean you’re here? Permanently?” Looking at him expectedly. It hit you just how good it could really get once you knew he’d be sleeping by your side every night.

He nodded his head in excitement, “At least for this job. I’ll still be flying but more on the leadership side. Training. Preparing them.”

You didn’t think your heart could swell any larger in love. But there it went. Only Jake could do that. You knew it. He knew it, “You’re not kidding right? Like you’re being serious?”

“Yes sweetheart. So serious.” He kissed your nose this time. He missed you more than you could’ve imagined. It was an impossible six months. He didn’t want to do that anymore. He couldn’t be away from you anymore. Lucky for him he had options. They let him choose. He choose to ground himself from missions. It was time to grow up and move on. He’d accomplished everything he sought out to and more already in the air. Now he was on a mission to rise to the top. Admiral Jake Seresin had a ring to it. 

You wanted to squeal but knew you had eyes all over you. Anybody could’ve been watching, “That’s the best news I’ve heard in a while J.”

“Just you wait.” He grinned ear to ear leaning down once more, whispering into your ear, “Won’t even be the best news you’ve heard all day.” Leaning all the way down he kissed you with a little bit more but keeping it PG. His parents were standing there a little annoyed that he’d chosen to be with you for so long before he even acknowledged them. But they knew. They knew the raw power of love. How much it could sway and dissuade. How deeply Jake was in love with you and how much you were with him.

“Oh? Do tell.” You pulled away looking at him curiously.

“You’ll see.” He wiggled his eyebrows just to egg you on.

You narrowed your eyebrows in on the man you loved so dearly, “You know how much I hate surprises.”

He laughed gleefully, “Oh darling, I know.” He pulled you back into him momentarily, “Promise, it’ll be worth the wait.”

“Promise?” You knew he’d keep true to his word, but you wanted to hear him confirm it.

“I promise you darling. Just you wait.” Squeezing your hand, he finally walked over to his parents bringing you right along with him. Only dropping your hand as he went in for the hug with his mom.

Taglist: @stuffingbuttsandshit @genius2050

[t-nd-rfoot]

JAKE 'HANGMAN' SERESIN fanfiction by t-nd-rfoot

BACK TO NAVIGATION

ONE-SHOTS

CWJBHN Can we just be happy now? - Jake Scott, Josie Dunne

HEADCANONS

Good Morning A recipe for a guaranteed good morning with Jake.

Family Tree A special Seresin twist on a beloved Christmas tradition.

Gather 'Round Hangman is a fire man! Oh no, sorry, not that kind of fireman...

Hung(over)man Even when Jake isn't so good...he's good.

BLURBS

Care Package Jake Seresin, at your service!

MOODBOARDS

Destination Nowhere New! Can't promise tomorrow, but I promise tonight.

[kryptonitejelly]

waittttt can you write a blurb about jake coming home for 6 month deployment 🥹🫶🏻 preferably set in the flyboy universe <3

i sure can! set in the flyboy universe (readable without)

-

You stand by the pier, alone and slightly behind the majority of the crowd which is standing closer to the ship’s gangway. Your eyes, hidden by a pair of shades, are focused intently on the top of the gangway, waiting for the first person to appear. Waiting, hoping, that the first person is a familiar head of light brown, almost blonde hair, your person. It isn’t, but you keep watching, waiting for that familiar face which you have missed so much to appear.

Your twist your hands nervously in one another, feeling the thrum of your heart beat in your chest, which stops, silence buzzing in your ears and mind as you see Jake’s face finally appear. You weren’t previously able to tell from the numerous face time calls with him, but seeing him in the flesh makes you realise that he is a smidge more tan than he was before he had left. You see his eyes combing through the crowd, scanning the faces and heads for you. You push up your sunglasses, just as he locates you, and your eyes lock with a piercing green that you can see as clear as day, even from where you stand.

Jake is moving down the steps of the gangway as fast as he can, and you are taking steps forward, weaving through the crowd to meet him. His boots hit solid ground, the same ground that you are standing on and you break into a run, your sandals, anchored to your feet by thin straps, slapping against the ground. Jake drops his belongings, extends his arms, and you leap - straight into his embrace, jumping up into his arms, your legs wrapped around his waist, hands twined around his neck, your face buried into the side of his neck, dress billowing around your thighs. Jake’s arms land around you, one around your waist, the other supporting your ass. You breathe in deeply, taking in the scent of everything that is Jake.

“Baby I missed you so fucking much,” you can feel the slight scratch of stubble against your cheek as he speaks, his voice deep, the edges ragged with emotion, and you cling onto him tighter as a wetness from tears spill out from the corners of your eyes, trickling down his neck, where your face remains pressed against, seeping into the collar of his uniform. Your sobs grow, the cumulated weight of missing Jake and being without him hitting you harder than you had expected it to in the moment, and Jake just holds you tighter, his fingers squeezing your skin to the point of hurt, arms wrapping closer around you, to let you know that he is there, and that he knows - you’ve missed him too.

[eternalsams]

Your Woman ⇴ J.Seresin

pairing: Jake Seresin x fem!reader

warning/content: 18+ (dear minors, interact and I'll block you), nudity, fluff, smut (dry wet humping, thigh riding?)

summary: when Jake and you decide to shower together, you realize you also have to share the playlist.

word count: 728 (this is so short i'm ashamed)

a/n: English isn't my first language so please take that into consideration. Please don't come at me for the mockery of the country music, I love country music and I love Texas (only because they give us men like Glen Powell and Jensen Ackles)

masterlist

"Right... Cause saving water is the only reason you wanna shower with me?" You chuckle as you grab two fresh towels. "Of course! What other reason would I have?" Jake peaks his head from behind the shower curtain with a sly smirk. You huff and start undressing, not having it in you to deny your boyfriend what you both know you want. As you were about to open the curtain and step into the shower with him, he stops you. "Wait, can you put some music on? My phone's on the bed." You roll your eyes and chuckle before leaving the bathroom to grab his phone.

You see a text from Javy, telling Jake to hurry up if he wanted free beer. You chuckle once more and open Jake's music app. You click on the first playlist suggested and lock the phone before stepping into the shower. Jake's arm immediately wraps around your waist and you let out a gasp as you almost slip on the wet tile. "I gotcha', darlin'." He leans in to you and brush his lips against yours. "My hero..." You mutter and he smiles widely before kissing you.

The hand on your waist slides down to your ass and kneads the flesh, making you giggle against his lips. His other hand snakes at the back of your neck as he parts your lips with his tongue, licking deliciously into your mouth. Jake grabs the back of your thigh and pull you more into him, slotting one of his legs between yours. The friction of his muscular thigh against your core has you whimpering but Jake doesn't do anything more than just swaying his hips with yours. You pull away from him, taking a quick breath after he just kissed the air out of your lungs. That's when you hear it, the music. The sounds of the electric guitar playing country has you rolling your eyes and scoffing. "Don't make fun of my music, sweetheart." Jake purrs, looking down at you. "I'm not making fun. I just don't like it." You defend yourself. The swaying of his hips in rhythm has you quietly whining as his leg rubs perfectly against your pussy. "I feel like you're rather enjoying yourself." He chuckles, dipping his head to place a kiss on your lips. "You're not playing fair." You sigh, trying to suppress the shiver that's threatening to make your body tremble.

"I can't believe how much it turns me on..." Jake's low voice sings along the music, making you chuckle. "There's no hurry, don't you worry..." He keeps singing, swaying his hips in rhythm and pecking kisses along your jaw. "We can take our time." You finish the lyrics and Jake pulls away to look at you with a surprised smile. "You do know the lyrics. Come a little closer..." He accompanies his words by pulling you even closer and dragging your clit over his thigh and having you whining for more. You can feel his hardening cock poking at your hip but you don't care, you cannot think of anything else than the delicious feeling of his skin rubbing on your clit. Your lips latch onto his neck and your teeth nibble at his skin as you start to feel the knot in your tummy tightening.

Never in your life you would have thought you could have an orgasm to country music. But here you are, gasping and squeezing Jake's shoulders as you came on his thigh, listening to him singing along some stupid country ballad. "That's it, let go for me sweetheart." He purrs next to your ear, holding you firmly as he kept swaying his hips to help you ride out your orgasm. You let your head fall on his shoulder and he tenderly kisses the back of your head as you're catching your breath. "Such a good girl." He grabs your face and makes you look at him, giving you a soft smile. "So good for me." You return the smile weakly and reach for his face to kiss him. The song finally ends and when you think you can go back to having a normal shower, another country song starts. "Nope, not doing this again." You say as you step out of the shower to change his playlist. Jake only laughs and try to ignore to throbbing ache between his legs.

taglist:

@hardballoonlove

@blue-aconite

@iliketopgun

@callsign-hummingbird

@roosterforme

@jessicab1991

@atarmychick007

@hangmansgbaby

@callsigns-haze

@mamachasesmayhem

@els-marvelvsp

@djs8891

[frost-queen]

It comes with perks (Reader x Jake 'Hangman' Seresin)

Requested by: anon Forever tag:@missmelodramatic, @merlin-dahlia, @alex--awesome--22, @elllie-does-the-posts, @floatlosers, @merlieve, @queen-of-books, @glimmering-darling-dolly @denkisclown, @wildieflower, @meyocoko, @bubblybrianna, @justanothercoco, @subjecta13-thefangirl, @m-rae23, @harleyquinnswifeyfrfr, @swampthing07, @melsunshine, @panhoeofmanyfandoms, @venomsvl, @the-uncoordinated-house-cat, @rosecentury,  @imagines-by-her,  @evilcr0ne, @vviolynn

Summary: When you need someone to be your fake boyfriend to get you out of a situation with your ex, Hangman is the closest guy you find. What needed to be a one time thing, turned out into a long term act of fake dating. Certainly now that your dad Iceman is involved in as well. Slowly the lines of fake dating fade as Hangman becomes obessed with you, a ray of sunshine. When your ex tries to get back in your life, Jake becomes protective, finally ending those unclear lines of fake dating.

Phoenix and you entered Penny’s bar when your phone suddenly rang. Taking it out, the nametag on it made your eyes widen. You touched Phoenix on her shoulder, letting her know you needed a moment. She simply smiled, heading further into the bar to the booth were Bob, Coyote and Fanboy already were. The phone kept buzzing as you weren’t sure what to do. Panicking a bit as to say. You knew not picking up, would do nothing as he would just keep calling you.

Answering was even terrible, as you knew he’d say anything to get you to yield. Like a collective caller, kept he calling you. Looking around frantically, you spotted the first person at Penny’s bar. You rushed over to the bar, pulling Hangman back by his shoulder. – “Emergency, you’re my boyfriend.” – you breathed out, holding the phone out to him. Hangman smiled cocky. – “Well, well. If you were desperate for a kiss, you’d just had to ask Y/n.” – Hangman replied all smug to your annoyance.

“No. No! You’re not actually my boyfriend.” – you informed him hastily. Hangman furrowed his brows, frowning. – “Make up your mind girl.” – he let out confused to what was happening. You moved your phone higher up for him to notice. – “I need you to be my boyfriend and make him stop calling me!” – you called out almost frantically at how slow he was catching up.

“Right.” – He simply said, setting a beer down and taking your phone in his hand. He answered the phone, giving you a cheeky eyebrow wiggle. Hangman didn’t even listen to what the other person was saying on the phone. – “Listen bud, stop calling my girlfriend.” – he spoke through. He heard an immediate response. – “Uhm her boyfriend.” – Hangman answered, showing you a goofy look at how obvious it was who he was talking to.

The man kept blabbing in his ear as Hangman had little interest in keeping him on the phone. – “Stop calling us, bye.” – he spoke in such a manufactured voice, he could work in sales and be dealing with a terrible customer but still upholding his work voice. Hangman hung up, giving you the phone back. – “Thank you!” – you let out relieved, bending a bit through your knees out of gratitude. – “So what do I get in return?” – Hangman asked.

“This beer?” – you suggested, placing your hand on the counter by it. Hangman tsked his tongue. – “Already paid for it sunshine.” – he said with a chuckle. – “Fine.” – you breathed out. – “I’ll clean your locker.” – you took out another suggestion as Hangman thought. – “How about wash my clothes?” – he responded. – “Deal.” – you agreed it was just that. Hangman shook hands with you to seal the deal.

He picked up his beer, throwing his arm over your shoulder. – “Who was the dude anyways?” – he asked, leading you to the others. – “My ex.” – you sighed out. Hangman looked half in shock at you. – “I didn’t know you dated someone.” – he called out as you had to shush his loud voice. – “It was like 6 months ago.” – you informed him.

“And he’s still calling you?” – Hangman blurted out as you hummed with a nod as response. – “I can’t shake him off.” – you sighed out nearing the booth with your friends. – “Well good thing your boyfriend saved the day.” – Hangman winked with a ridiculous smile. – “Not my boyfriend.” – you reminded him before sitting down.

Back in the locker room, you were washing Hangman’s attire. Washing them by hand as he called them delicate and needed to be handled with care. – “Uhm what are you doing?” – Phoenix asked seeing you in the locker room as she had walked by. – “Are those Hangman’s clothing?” – she pointed out when you had pulled it up to see if it was clean enough, revealing his nametag. – “Phoenix!” – you called out startled, splashing some water as your arms lowered immediately. – “Why are you washing his clothes?” – she wanted to know. – “I owe it to him.” – you responded, scrubbing his pilot gear.

“You dared to bet with Hangman. Bold.” – she answered impressed. – “It’s not that.” – you told her with a soft sigh. – “He did something for me, so I have to return the favour.” – you explained. – “Right.” – Phoenix widened her eyes briefly in delight. – “If your dad could see you know.” – she chuckled a bit. – “He’d flip that you fell so low.” You grunted soft. – “Good thing my dad.” – you emphasized. – “Can’t see me.” – you replied bitsy. – “Ohh cold touch.” – Phoenix teased touching her own shoulder. You scooped up some water, splashing it at her to wipe that smile off her face.

Phoenix screamed, dodging away when the water came her way. Half laughing, you teasing her with another scoop as she already darted away. When you were finished up with Hangman’s uniforms, you hung them neatly to dry. You came out of the lockers, making your way out of the hangar when you got pulled aside by Rooster. He pushed you firm up against the wall. – “Are you dating Hangman?” – called out at the brink of losing his mind. – “What?” – you responded confused.

“Are you dating him?” – Rooster wanted to know with a stern look. – “What, no, no…” – you replied waving your hands across. Rooster exhaled deep moving his fingers through his hair. – “Who told you this?” – you asked curious. – “Hangman has been bragging to everyone he’s dating you.” – Rooster let you know. Your eyes widened with shock.

You pushed Rooster a bit back, to make some room for you to leave. You needed to find Hangman and you needed to find him now. Jogging out of the hangar into the open. You saw a group of people near the F16’s going over to them. The closer you got, the clearer you saw Hangman amongst them.

“Hangman!” – you shouted drawing his attention. – “Looks like my girlfriend needs me.” – he said to Fanboy and Coyote all smug. Coyote rolled with his eyes as Fanboy shook his head. Hangman turned round to you, welcoming you with a warm smile. – “Yes my love.” – he said as you grabbed him firmly by the arm, dragging him away from the others. – “So eager.” – Hangman whispered to his friends with a chuckle. You came to a stop, letting harshly go of him.

“What are you doing?” – you called out giving him a little shove. – “Au.” – Jake mouthed pretending to be hurt from your shove. – “Jake!” – you called out wanting an answer out of him. – “What?” – he replied loud, making himself taller. – “Why are you telling everyone we are dating?” – you freaked out. Jake scoffed loud, turning his head away. – “Are we not?” – he answered cocky, wanting to slip his arm over your shoulder. It made you puff annoyed, crossing your arms.

“Oh come on Y/n, don’t be such a baby about it.” – Jake said taking you by the elbow, wanting you to uncross your arms. – “It’s a joke, sunshine.” – he kept tugging at your arm, trying to be smooth and cool at the same time. – “Sunshine!” – you suddenly heard loud, making you straighten your back. Hangman’s back straightened as well. Cyclone appeared coming to you. – “Iceman wants to speak to you.” – he said firmly, making your shoulders slouch. Jake was snickering quietly at you with a little point. – “He asked for both of you!” – Cyclone made clear, making Jake’s smile drop.

You tugged on his elbow, pulling him with you. Following Cyclone inside and up the stairs to Iceman’s desk. Cyclone knocked on the door, before popping his head inside. – “They are present.” – he said to Iceman. Cyclone stepped aside, expression flat as he allowed you to walk in. – “Tell me, am I hanging?” – Jake whispered to Cyclone wanting to know his outcome. Cyclone ignored him, giving him an extra shove into the room. – “Dad!” – you said with mixed expectations, opening your arms to a hug.

Iceman got up from behind his desk, coming to hug you. – “How is my little girl?” – he asked. – “Flying and thriving.” – you told him, making him form a smile on his lips. His gaze then shifted to Jake, who swallowed nervously. Iceman got all serious. He went to sit again, gesturing for you to sit as well. Jake and you sat down, unsure what to expect. – “So you are the one dating my daughter.” – Iceman spoke. – “Dad no…” – you blurted out, waving your hands across.

Iceman observed Hangman closely as it made him move uncomfortable in the chair. – “How’s his flying?” – he asked. – “Superb… sir.” – Jake replied loudly, humbling himself immediately. Iceman glanced your way. You could only smile sheepishly at him. – “I’m a bit saddened you didn’t tell me Y/n.” – Iceman began. – “But he looks decent enough. As long as he doesn’t hurt you… or else…” – Iceman gave Hangman his death stare.

Jake swallowed again. – “Dad we’re not…” – you began wanting to explain as Jake grabbed your hand out of the blue. – “No, no sunshine, it’s okay. He knows now.” – Jake spoke upholding the image of dating. You stared confused at him, why he would even want to go on with his stupid joke. – “Jake, this is my dad.” – you said between clenched teeth to him. Making it clear that he didn’t need to mess around. – “I’m so happy for you Y/n.” – Iceman said cheery.

“The man’s happy Y/n, let him be.” – Jake said to guilt trip you. You sighed soft letting yourself fall back in the chair. Jake got up. – “Well it was nice of you to call us in, sir.” – Jake said, nudging you to get up as well. Your dad chuckled happily at his manners as you could only roll your eyes. Jake extended his hand out to Iceman. Iceman took it to shake. – “I’m not one for favours, but if you ever need one for my daughter.” – he whispered to Jake with a wink.

Jake breathed out a laugh of surprise, glancing your way. Just to rub his it more in your face. – “Now we must really go.” – Hangman spoke tapping your elbow, to get you to follow. – “Give her a kiss.” – Iceman replied. Jake’s expression dropped. – “S’cuse me?” – he blurted out. – “Give her a kiss.” – he repeated gesturing at you.

Jake looked sheepishly at you, chuckling nervously. – “Sir truly…” – Jake began wanting to talk his way out of it. – “I want to see just how much you care for my daughter.” – Iceman persisted. Hangman took your hand, pulling you closer to give a kiss on the cheek. – “Give her a real kiss!” – Iceman shouted out of good sports. Jake sighed loud with a soft drop of his gaze. You raised your eyebrow at him, curious to see what he would do. He took you by the elbow, pulling you even closer.

“Just a quick one.” – he whispered to you. – “One second.” – you responded. Hangman held his finger up to his lips, looking all smug. He lowered his finger, giving you a quick nod before he’d kiss you. Your lips touched for a split second, pulling away quick. Iceman shook his head with disappointment. – “We have to go dad!” – you called out, opening the door. Dragging Jake with you out of his office. Downstairs, you let go of Jake.

“Your joke just escalated Hangman. Now my dad knows!” – you called out panicking. – “Hey you asked me to be your boyfriend.” – Jake replied loud. – “For like a few seconds.” – you shouted back. – “You asked for this Y/n.” -  Jake answered loud taking off. – “Where are you going?” – you called out to him. Jake turned around, pulling his shoulders up. It made you groan loud.  

Phoenix and you were stretching before exercise. – “Boyfriend coming over.” – she pointed out, turning her torso, holding her arm by her elbow. You looked up seeing Hangman come over with the other boys. It made you look at her with a certain glance. Phoenix stopped, walking off when Hangman came near. She joined the others behind him. – “You know for a sunshine, you frown a lot.” – he pointed out, touching your forehead.

You slapped his hand away. He grabbed you by the shoulders, moving his head closer to you. – “Smile, your dad is going to watch.” – he whispered making you widen your eyes. Jake moved aside from you, throwing his arm over you as he led you to the others. Maverick, Cyclone and Iceman neared. You all followed Maverick to the beach for a match of rugby. A good team exercise Maverick would call it. Cyclone and Iceman sat down, watching the pathetic play of rugby.

Hangman and you were on opposite teams. Fanboy had the ball, throwing it at Coyote. Hangman jumped in front of him, catching the football before his eyes. He then ran with it to your side, throwing his hard on the ground. He called it out in victory, pointing towards Iceman. Iceman clapped for Hangman’s score. He then looked all smug at you. Phoenix nudged you as you rolled your eyes at him. Trying not to find it sweet. Rooster caught the ball wanting to throw it at you. You caught it, wanting to run when you got picked up from the ground. 

Hangman had picked you up, making you squeal loud out of surprise. Your feet hit the ground again, as he kept his arms around you. – “Try getting out of this now, sunshine.” – he breathed out. You wriggled in his grip for freedom. When you weren’t getting any, you tried running. Hangman laughed loud, squeezing his arms tighter around you. – “Where are you going sunshine?” – he laughed out. You tried so hard not to laugh as well, not to enjoy it too, but you failed.

You stopped trying to run, laughing loud. You tossed the football over to Bob. You showed him your empty hands, showing him his attempt to stop you failed. Hangman picked you up in response, making you squeal again. He then pressed a kiss on your cheek so quick, he barely caught himself doing it. You turned round in his embrace, staring a bit at him. Jake stared back at you.

Swallowing, he let go of you, scratching his neck sheepishly. You looked blissful away. The two of you hesitantly got back into the game, questioning whether you were actually starting to like each other or that it was the drive of fake dating for a while now.

After practise, you were all exhausted. Having been playing till the sun had set. Worn out, you all decided to grab a few drinks at Penny’s bar. You went up to her bar as Jake followed. Almost instinctively. You held four fingers up to Penny, ordering beer. Jake leaned with his elbows on the counter, throwing you a smug smile. Your phone vibrated in your pocket. Confused, you pulled it out holding it to the front. Jake’s eye fell on the caller, taking the phone from your hand before you could react.

He picked up, turning around to lean against the counter with his back. – “What do you want?” – he said bothered. Your ex didn’t even have to finish his sentence when Jake spoke again. – “Listen asshole, if you call her one more time. I’ll make sure you’ll never see daylight again. You won’t see me coming. I’ll fly above your house, aiming for your pathetic bedroom and you’ll be burned to crisps in a matter of seconds.” – Jake threatened making you stare in shock at him.

“She doesn’t want you cause I’m her boyfriend. She’s mine and let me tell you ass, I don’t like sharing.” – Jake said over the phone. – “This was your last call or you’re dead!” – he angrily hung up the phone. – “Thank… thank you…” – you said astonished by how hot that was. Jake tugged your phone in his pocket.

Penny arrived with the drinks as he took them, motioning with his head for you to follow. You slid into a booth with him as the others were waiting. Hangman threw an arm over your shoulder, pushing you closer to him. It made you feel like squealing. The lines of pretend and real blurring away. Jake caught you staring at him, melting as he saw you smile like the sun back at him. He moved his head closer to you, wanting to kiss you in that moment, but caught himself just in time.

He shifted his head to the side, kissing your cheek instead. It didn’t feel satisfying, but he wouldn’t dare himself to kiss you out of the blue with everyone around. Your friends were so used to the two of you dating, they hardly had any eye for it. Not clear it was all an act, started from a joke. After an hour or two, checked Jake his watch. – “I’m taking Y/n home.” – he said removing his arm from you. He got out of the booth, taking you with him.

You said goodbye to the others. Jake grabbed your hand, walking out of Penny’s bar with you. Outside he was still holding your hand as it made you snicker soft. – “No one’s watching Hangman.” – you told him. Hangman looked at you with eyes full of affection. – “I know.” – he responded, pausing you. – “Are we still faking it?” – he asked catching you by surprise. Unsure, you pulled your shoulders up. That seemed to answer Hangman enough as he cupped your cheeks, kissing your lips.

The kiss was long, anticipating the moment till he could finally kiss you. His tender kiss moved to longing and desperation as his hands grabbed you tightly. You kissed him back, fully surrendering under his spell. The lines of fake dating having been shattered long ago.

--------------------------------------

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[honkytonk-hangman]

When Jake Met Polly

Jake 'Hangman' Seresin x Reader

Summary: Jake likes to flirt with his Air Traffic Controller or Jake Seresin has never seen When Harry Met Sally.

Warnings: Not much, fluff, flirting and refs to sex.

Note: This is just a short little idea i've had for agesss... reader has a 'name' but it's just her callsign, Polly, as in, short for Polaris. Ty to @hangmanssunnies i wuv u <3

“Hangman to Tower, I am coming in hot.”

You roll your eyes at the all too familiar voice that crackles through your radio, a smile pulling at your lips as you adjust your microphone and briefly throw a glance over your shoulder, just to make sure your commanding officer wasn’t lingering.

“Tower to Hangman. We are appalled at the gross lack of radio etiquette on display,” you respond. Barely a few seconds pass before you receive a reply.

“Come on, Polly, we've been working together for over a year now, what’s a little informality between colleagues?” Hangman says, and despite his jet only being a blip on your horizon still, you know he’s grinning.

“A commercial airline, Lieutenant.” You deadpan, your own smile growing as his laughter comes down the line. “You are cleared for landing, proceed to runway B,” you continue, not wanting him to have to ask again seeing as his approach was cutting it close already.

“Polly, have I ever told you that you’re my favourite Controller?” He asks as you watch him enter the pattern, and click your pen.

“Only every day we work together, Lieutenant.” There’s a beat of quiet as he expertly manoeuvres his jet toward the correct runway.

“And how sexy your voice is?” He goes on, sounding vaguely distracted.

“Once again, Lieutenant, this is not a commercial airline.” You respond, twirling your hair around your finger at his compliment anyway.

He doesn’t reply, and a shock of horror flickers through you as you watch the jet touch down once, something happening with his landing gear that makes the jet shudder, then seem to bounce momentarily before it drops back onto the tarmac and skids to a stop.

“Hangman, do you require the emergency crew?!” You ask quickly, eyes scanning the aircraft as it powers down fully. You wait tensely as the canopy pops up, and a broad figure jumps out, scrambling down the ladder, and once on the ground, he bends low to get a look at the problem.

“No, Polly, thank you. Seems the landing gear malfunctioned, must’ve been in a position to sustain damage once I landed…” his voice trails off, and you watch him straighten, and greet the ground crew who’d raced over to help.

“Glad you’re safe, Lieutenant. Tower out.” You say as he begins discussing with the crew, but briefly turns up toward the tower and raises a hand.

You let out a sigh of relief and settle back in your seat.

–

Around lunch time you make your way down to the tarmac. Hangman’s jet had been cleared off some time ago, and by now you know reports would have been filed, including your own, and his aircraft will have been taken in for inspection and repairs. You’re milling around the ‘crash’ site, inspecting the scrape marks left behind when you hear footsteps from behind approaching you.

“Can I help you ma’am?”

You know his voice immediately, but you know his face too, and when you at last turn back to him you’re graced by the sight of it, bright and unworried, despite the accident he’d had earlier.

“Oh, don’t mind me! I just watched someone bounce their jet off my tarmac earlier, just checking for potholes,” you tell him wrly. It takes a moment, but his face flashes with recognition and soon he’s taking a step towards you.

“Polly?!” Hangman asks, sounding surprised. You hum in response, then round on him.

“Where is it that you found your qualifications, Liuetenant? We should probably return them,” you tease him. Hangman only takes up a stance and stretches his arms out, his flight suit stretching desperately around his biceps as he does.

“Oh, Polly, if I’d known that was all it took to get you down here, I’d have started chipping bits off months ago,” he flirts shamelessly. You smile at him but don’t speak and after a moment, he drops his arms again, crossing them over his chest instead and blinking at you curiously. “What?” he asks.

Your smile grows, and you shake your head at him.

“Your terrible lines work better when I can see you, that's all,” you inform him, making him uncross his arms and laugh.

“I would say that’s generally the case, even if a guy ain’t me,” he replies coolly. You only shake your head again, and look back out at the expanse of tarmac ahead of you.

“Thanks to you getting your pilots lisence off the back of a cereal box, we’ve ruined our Sleepless in Seattle thing,” you say with a forlorn sigh.

When you look back at Hangman he’s frowning at you in confusion.

“Our what?” he asks. You roll your eyes and turn to face him fully at last, waving your hand as you speak.

“You know, our Sleepless in Seattle thing. We talk all this time, but never meet, and if we cross paths, we don’t realise it? It’s ruined now,” you accuse him lightly. Hangman hums, and seems to think for a moment.

“I get to be Meg Ryan in this situation, right?” he says, making you chortle.

“Well you’d have to be. No way I’d leave 90s Bill Pullman!”

“Well, what if we’re not Sleepless in Seattle? What if we’re more… When Harry Met Sally?” he suggests. You squint at him.

“Have you seen that film? I’m not sure that’s the implication you want to go for…” you ask him, making him falter for a moment.

“That’s the one with the emails right?” he responds unsurely. You laugh again, and shake your head.

“No, that’s You’ve Got Mail.”

“What the hell did I just suggest, then?” 

You stare at him for a moment, and can’t stop yourself from grinning up at him.

“More or less not speaking for like ten years, but on the rare occasion we do meet up, we argue,” you tell him, watching him frown even deeper, and shake his own head this time.

“That would be kinda hard, considering you’re the voice in my head,” he says.

“Oh, so we’re doing Her now!”

Hangman fixes you with a deadpan expression and a slightly smirk.

“I don’t even want to know.”

You laugh at him, and begin walking, unsurprised when he immediately joins you, falling into step at your side. “So,” he begins again after a moment, peering down at you. “Despite playing hacky sack on your tarmac, you still gonna let me take you out?”

You falter briefly, but keep walking, this time glancing up at him.

“I didn’t think you were being serious all those times you asked me out,” you don’t bother hiding your surprise. Hangman looks back at you, squinting, and cocks his head.

“At this point I think you’ve shot me down more than Dagger combined, why would I not be serious?” he asks you, sounding oddly serious. You chuckle.

“Right, so, say if, I don’t know, Rooster got a few more hits on you, you wouldn’t leave me hangin’ would you?” you know you’ll say yes, but you can’t help but tease him a little longer.

Hangman raises an eyebrow at you and grins wide and beautiful.

“You? Never,” he says. “Mostly because I’m legally obligated to respond when you speak to me.”

You lift your own eyebrow and fix him with a wry smile.

“I like that in a man.”

Hangman laughs.

–

“I mean it, your voice is sexy,” Jake tells you once he’s sat back down from replacing your drinks. You can’t help but chortle and stir your cocktail with the straw.

“Really? Me telling you to line up and wait in the pattern gets you going?” you ask. Jake grins, but nods very seriously as he takes a short sip of his beer.

“Absolutely. I also like when you tell me about the weather and conditions, and direct me to land.”

Leaning forward with your elbows on the table between you, you put your chin in your hands.

“I liek when you flirt with me,” you begin, waiting for him to smirk at you before continuing on. “And you don’t realise my boss is in the room, so I just have to respond ‘roger’ and ‘acknowledged’ whenever you say something stupid,” you finish. Jake rolls his eyes and leans forward to meet you.

“To be fair, I’d probably be saying something stupid anyway,” he tells you.

You have to let out a laugh at that and finally lean back again.

“Oh yeah, that reminds me, are you ever gonna tell us all how to ‘bury a fossil’? You know, those things that you famously dig up and do not bury?” you tease, earning another eyeroll. Jake shrugs and copies your movements.

“I foretold Mav’s career comeback, didn’t I?”

You laugh again, but this time, get a good look at him sitting casually across from you, out of uniform and seemingly more relaxed than you’ve ever seen, or heard.

“I like your voice too,” you tell him at last, smiling a little at how he seems to preen at your praise. “Your accent is more pronounced face-to-face though, and you don’t sound like you’re performing all the time.”

Jake takes a sip of his beer and shrugs again.

“Can’t be Hangman all the time,” he says. You make a face.

“I like Hangman. He entertains me at work… but I think I like the guy who hasn’t seen When Harry Met Sally, and has a Fisher-Price pilot's lisence even more.”

Jake laughs and nods at you.

“Splash one,” he says before he leans in to you again. “Toddler’s generally have pretty good taste, in my opinion, they’re all about shapes and colours and boobs… can’t fault ‘em!”

You have to laugh and concede that at least, the two of you clinking drinks before you continue to flirt and chat for the rest of the evening.

When Jake drops you back at yours, you invite him inside, under the guise of lending him your DVD copy of When Harry Met Sally, but when he simply lingers in your living room, you start to consider other tactics.

“Jake?” you say, standing up from ‘searching’ your stack of DVD’s and facing him. “This is the part where you save me from admitting I don’t really own a physical copy of the film by having sex with me,” you inform him dutifully, watching as he straightens up and blinks at you. Then, he’s shaking his head, smiling, and taking a step closer toward you.

“I guess every good rom-com does have an earth shattering lie at its core, doesn’t it?” he steps closer, and this time, anchors his hands at your waist, tugging you into him a little more.

“Let's skip the conflict part and go straight to the happy ending, shall we?”