Chapter Text
Jake was exhausted. No, that doesn’t cover it. He was tired, worn out emotionally, scared and pissed off. Getting shot down over enemy territory and taken hostage will do that to you. Jake, Javy, Bob and Natasha were all in this together and exhausted to the same extent. Jake wishes that if he was going to be taken hostage, it at least would’ve been on a higher stakes mission. How they all managed to get through the uranium mission without being taken hostage and all four of them getting taken on an easy flyover, Jake didn’t understand. Maybe they let their guard down too much, but that wasn’t even right because his anxiety and need to be the best wouldn’t let him let his guard down, and he knew that none of the others had either. On one hand, it was kind of nice to be stuck with pilots he knew and got along well enough with. They had all managed to keep it easy while on the carrier together. Besides the obligatory teasing and little insults, no fights had broken out. Getting through a suicide mission together seemed to bring people together. On the other hand, it would have been easier to be stuck with people he didn’t know and didn’t care about.
After being shot down, which was humiliating in and of itself, and ejecting over a brushy field, Jake had seen the other two jets fly over his position. He probably should have been paying more attention to what was going on in his surroundings, but after crashing to the ground and twinging his ankle, he lost track of them very quickly. Based on how dizzy he had been, he wouldn’t put the idea of a concussion out of the realm of possibility. He doesn’t even remember what he could’ve hit his head on, but the blood that got into his eye confirmed it had happened at least. So, yeah, between his ankle, his head and all the bruises and aches from his harness, Jake was exhausted.
He hadn’t even realized the others had been shot down, too busy stumbling around and holding a hand over his hairline, where he assumed the blood was coming from, for who knows how long. The rumbling of vehicles pulling up to his area was all the warning he’d gotten before three suburbans surrounded him and men rushed out with guns. Five men, all wearing masks, pointed their guns at him and yelled at him to get down, he assumed, because they weren’t speaking English. He was forced to his knees and down on his stomach before his arms were wrenched behind his back and his wrists were tied; that was an experience Jake would love to have not had. Being shoved into the back of the suburban and seeing Javy in the same position, yeah, he could have gone without that. Getting to what he assumed was the enemy’s base and being shoved alongside Javy into a cell that already contained Bob and Natasha, he can’t begin to explain how much he could have gone without that. Honestly, the whole day was something Jake would have been happy to not experience.
It was cold in their cell, and not just because their flight suits had been taken and they were all stuck in their t-shirts and underwear. The cell and hallway were lit well enough, as if Jake wanted to be able to admire the shitty view of dirt and grime on the walls and floors and the empty cell across from theirs. Jake had tried to get closer to the bars to see more down the hallway to see what was there, but Javy had yanked him back, telling him, “Stay with the group”, as if Jake would’ve been able to just walk right out.
Rolling his eyes, he turned back to the group. “Where am I gonna go, Javs? Out the locked gate?” He came back over and sat down in front of Phoenix, while Bob and Javy stayed on either side of her. Jake, Javy and Bob were all in their t-shirts and boxer briefs, while Phoenix was in her t-shirt and underwear. And yeah, they were all basically wearing the same thing, but they all knew what could happen when there was only one woman in enemy territory, and they’d all be damn sure they blocked her from view and kept her as safe as they could. “We’ve been here for over an hour, the least they could do is offer us some water while we wait.”
“I can’t imagine they’re very worried about keeping us hydrated.” Phoenix replied, leaning her head back against the wall.
Jake glanced back at the bars of their cell “Yeah, well if they want us to stay alive for whatever we’re here for, water’s gonna be pretty important.”
“Do you think they’ll try to ransom us back home?” Bob asked. That was the question on all of their minds. Were they being held for ransom or were they going to be used for something else. Nobody wanted to voice the worry that they could be subjected to something so much worse.
“That’s the best case scenario, I think.” Javy answered for the group after a long pause that none of them wanted to address. Jake knew that was the best case scenario, but he was sure the others had the same fear he did. They were prisoners here. They knew the risks that came along with officially becoming prisoners of war. Jake could only hope that they’d all be left alone and quickly returned to America.
Silence fell over the group for another hour. They all took the time to rest their eyes. Javy, Phoenix and Bob leaned their heads back against the wall while Jake leaned his head forward onto his crossed arms on his bent legs. His head still hurt even though the blood had stopped flowing from the cut, but his ankle had finally relaxed enough to stop throbbing.
Maybe another hour passed, long enough for them to almost fall asleep before a guard stepped into view on the other side of the bars keeping them in their cell, looking for all the world like there was nowhere he’d rather be. They all jerked out of their semi restful states and looked back at the guard. Jake knew the look on his face, he could see how much the guard was enjoying this. They all subconsciously shuffled closer around Phoenix. Bob stayed on her right, against the wall, while Javy stayed on her left by the wall. Jake stayed in front of her, his back facing her and glared at the guard, waiting for him to say something. The guard seemed content to wait them out, but Jake knew none of the others would be first to break the silence. The man stared at each of them for a moment before returning the glare Jake was sending him and smiled.
“You. Come here.” He nodded at Jake. Jake could feel the other three stiffen at the words directed at himself. He shifted forward slightly before Javy grabbed his arm and kept him down. The guard noticed and huffed a laugh. “Come here. Now.” The guard said again.
Jake looked at Javy, silently requesting permission to be let go, and glancing at Phoenix and Bob. Javy let him go with a grimace, and Jake stood up and faced the guard. He took a few steps forward but stayed two feet back from the bars as he heard the others shuffle behind him.
The guard stared at him with irritation coming over his face. “Closer.” He said.
“This feels close enough.” Jake responded. He didn’t want to be any closer than he needed to be.
The guard reached into the cell and grabbed his shirt and yanked him the rest of the way to the bars. Jake just barely managed to keep his face from hitting one of the bars and grabbed onto them to steady himself, his heart was racing. He heard the others all flinch. “Your name?” The guard asked.
Now less than a foot away from his face, Jake glared again. “Seresin.” He gritted out. The guard grabbed his arm and took his other hand off his shirt and moved the collar down to grab at his dog tags.
“Jacob ‘Hangman’ Seresin….why do they call you hangman?” The guard asked, releasing the tags and putting his hand on the back of Jakes neck, keeping him in place. Jake cringed and tried to pull away but the man just held on tighter.
“What do we call you?” Jake asked, not answering the mans question. The less the enemy knew about them the better.
The guard smiled. “You can call me Captain. Why do they call you hangman?” he asked again.
Jake fought not to roll his eyes. It wasn’t just him in this cell, he couldn’t provoke the enemy into a fight Jake couldn’t win. “I really like word games.” He responded. He didn’t even know if they knew the game he was talking about in this country, maybe they had it, but it was named something different. It didn’t even matter.
The guard nodded, seeming to know what he was talking about anyway. “So, you’re the Hangman…” The silence that settled did nothing to let Jake get comfortable. The hand on his neck and his arm made his skin crawl, he tried to cringe away again before the so called ‘Captain’ nodded his head down the hall. Two more guards came in to view and stood on either side of him. The captain looked back at Jake and told the guards, “Hold his arms here.”
Jake tried to pull away again harder before he felt both guards hands on his arms, holding him in place tighter. His chest was flush against the bars and he kept his face back now that the Captains hand was off his neck. He glanced behind him at Javy and met his wide eyed stare. None of them knew what was going on, but they all knew it was dangerous. Jake looked over at Phoenix and Bob and saw Bobs eyes widen even further before he felt something slide over his head and he jerked away again and felt something tighten on the back of his neck. He looked back at the guards and tried to pull his arms back to feel what was on the back of his neck when he saw the Captain pull some rope in his hands and Jake felt pressure all the way around his throat. A noose. It was a fucking noose they’d put around his neck. He jerked and thrashed, finally getting his arms away from the other two guards and pulling them closer to his own body and grabbing at the rope around his neck.
The Captain smiled again and jerked the rope further back and Jake couldn’t stop himself from hitting his face against the bars, grunting. The noose tightened around his neck and he panted, pushing against the bars with one hand while the other stayed at his neck, trying to pull the rope away from his throat. He growled, “What do you want?”
That fucking smile stayed on the Captains face. “The Hangman….you’ll hang.” A man of few words, obviously. Jake couldn’t tell if the Captain didn’t know much English or if he just enjoyed saying as little as possible. Before Jake could respond, the Captain pulled the rope again, harder. The pressure on his neck increased and the feeling of the rope tightening on his throat was enough for him to choke out a gasp. He grabbed onto the bars in front of him, trying to push away, only making the noose tighten further. He choked and grabbed at the noose around his neck and tried to pull it away as he panted harder. Black spots started to dance across his vision and he thrashed, his torso twisting, his knees starting to buckle.
“Stop.” He choked out, feeling so light headed he couldn’t even tell how he was still standing. His neck was on fire. It hurt so bad, he could feel the rope squeezing his skin, so rough and dry. Tears came to his eyes when he felt the noose tighten even further and he let out a choked cough. He couldn’t breathe, but he could hear himself wheezing. He felt his knees give out and felt something grab at his back. The bars felt so rough against his face as his arms dropped to his side. He couldn’t even drop all the way to the ground because of the horizontal bar the Captain had put the rope over. He felt himself hang there, his knees a foot off the ground and his hands laying useless at his sides. His mouth opened again on reflex, trying to take in any air he could. The grabbing at his back moved to his sides and lifted him as best they could. He could hear voices but couldn’t understand any actual words. The pain in his neck increased again and he felt himself go unconscious.