Call Me Jake Part 2
CW: adult language, PTSD, character using derogatory language towards herself that can be triggering to differently abled people, references to kinky shit
WC: 3226
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Jake always knew he was the golden child. It wasn’t necessarily fair but that was how it was. He was the apple of his ma’s eye, pa’s favorite, even his older sisters all adored him. Ma claimed he came out of the womb charming and with a wink that had the nurses all swoon. But Jake’s favorite person was Gramps Seresin.
Gramps had earned a Purple Heart and a Distinguished Flying Cross in World War II. But Gramps always said he did his duty with a twinkle in his eye. Much different than Pa who bragged about how many commies he shot down in Vietnam whenever he got a chance. Jake noticed that Gramps always looked tense when Pa got drinking and started bragging.
“Jake, my boy, war is serious business. Taking life isn’t easy and is nothing to brag about. The most important thing I am proud about is as Commander, my whole team made it home after serving in the Pacific. Duty and Honor, that’s what matters the most, Jake,” Gramps had said while Pa was bragging to his friends.
Even though Jake was cocky, arrogant, and very sure of his skills as he made it through Annapolis, Flight School, SERE, and Top Gun, he kept those words from Gramps in his mind. After going through air strikes in Afghanistan and Iraq, he wouldn’t now, not with Maverick and Rooster still there-
Jake sighed as he sat up in bed, the sheet falling down to his waist. The nightmare was back again. It only happened occasionally now but when it did, it was with a vengeance.
The nightmare was always the same: Admiral Simpson didn’t give the okay, Jake flew off anyway, but he didn’t make it in time. The enemy got Mav and Bradshaw and Jake watched them die before the enemy took advantage of his indecision to take him out too.
Reality was much different but there was always that what if lurking in his mind, ready to torture him at night.
Groaning, Jake got up, opening his blinds. It was a new day and he had a bunch of Fucking New Guys (FNGs) to corral on this shore tour at NAS North Island. For some reason, Cyclone thought he would be a good mentor to some newly winged lieutenant junior grades before they joined their squadrons. Not that he cared; Jake had a plan for his future and stuff like this was part of it as he made his way up to lieutenant commander, commander, to one day being Admiral Seresin, air boss and future Fleet Commander.
Pulling on a pair of shorts, Jake made his way to the bathroom so he could take a leak. Right after he washed his hands, there were several knocks on his door. “Fuck off,” Jake yelled.
“Can’t, you fucking douchebag,” was the answer. Jake shook his head before brushing his teeth, making the person wait. After several minutes, he strolled through his apartment to the front door.
“Bradshaw, as I live and breathe. Why the hell are you at my front door?”
Rooster snickered. “I was checking to see if Dot was here, Hangman. You two got kinda hot and heavy the last several nights.”
Jake gritted his teeth. So, he had put the moves on the only person to beat him at pool at The Hard Deck. She flirted back but in un-Hangman-like fashion, he didn’t seal the deal that night or the other night. “Actually, she’s not here. Why?”
Rooster furrowed his eyebrows, suddenly feeling concerned. “I hadn’t heard from her since Wednesday.”
Jake’s expression went from mocking to concerned. That was about three nights ago. “I’m sorry, but I haven’t talked to her, Rooster, not since she turned me down and got in her car.”
“At least you saw her get in her car. Alright, I gotta go.”
Curious, Jake wanted to know where Rooster was going because he was feeling worried himself. He didn’t even really know the damn woman, he didn’t know why rooster came to his place, but fuck, he cared.
Slamming his door closed, Jake’s ambivalent mood turned sour. Dorothy Kazansky was hot, she had a mouth filthier than the average aviator, and legs that went on forever. Also, every time he flirted with her, the glares from Mav and any other old timers there were worth it. Plus, that ass would look amazing bent over for him to spank and bite.
Brewing himself some coffee with a stove top percolator, Jake went to his fridge to take out breakfast. This week, it was protein overnight oats with chia and flax seeds for breakfast, quick and easy. Grabbing a spoon, Jake took a bite while waiting for his coffee to finish brewing. It seemed like Dot was probably more trouble than she was worth but Jake had enough experience to tell when someone had sub tendencies. Dot definitely had sub tendencies and Jake wasn’t above teasing her to poke at them. Grinning to himself, Jake decided that he would stop flirting with her to get her in bed for now. But the entertainment that came from teasing and flirting with her wasn’t worth giving up, yet.
****
Some nights were better than others. Some days were worse than others.
Dorothy sat up in her bed, rubbing her eyes. The past two days had been hell on earth. Her head hurt, her body hurt, but worst was the phantom pain from her right leg.
Dorothy’s right leg shouldn’t hurt, it was a complete prosthetic leg below her knee. But whenever the nightmares about the crash returned, the phantom pain came back with a vengeance. It was so bad, it hurt to move.
The pills were looking at her from her vanity, mocking her. Percs 10, enough to kill the throb, make it go away, but also make her feel like a zombie. It would make all the pain go away, including the grief for Dad, her career, everything. It had been two years since Dad passed away but whenever the pain was this bad, Dorothy felt fresh new waves of grief. The last time she saw Dad, she was at NMCSD after being transferred from Walter Reed. Dad saw his only daughter crippled in her bed, right leg gone under her knee.
Dad had written her letters and sent her texts, telling his Dot that she was going to be fine. But Dorothy didn’t feel fine, she felt horrible and she was ready to leave home again. Then an image of a sun kissed man with sea green eyes filled her mind and Dorothy cursed, “Fuck.”
Hangman Seresin was going to be a fucking problem.
“Fuck fuck fuck fuck.”
Dorothy was out of water too. Grumbling, she finally got herself out of bed. Unfortunately, water was a necessity. Grabbing a bottle of water, Dorothy chugged it before grabbing an energy bar. Biting it, she dropped it as she heard footsteps outside her room. They were faint but getting stronger and Dorothy thought of her options as she clocked her potential weapons next to the bed. Then the door was flung open and Rooster came in.
“Good, you’re alive.”
Dot pulled a hand over her face as Rooster flicked on the light. “What the fuck, Bradley?”
Rooster moved quickly to Dorothy, pulling her in his arms for a quick hug before letting her go. Then he pulled the chair from her vanity and sat down. Dorothy sat back on her bed and looked at Bradley expectantly.
“You went incommunicado for long enough that we got worried. Be happy it’s me and not Mav or your mom.”
Dorothy bit back what she was going to say. Rooster was right; she didn’t want her mom or uncle Mav to see her like this. Instead she watched as Rooster grabbed a bottle of water and one of the pill bottles on her vanity table. Then he came over to her bed and sat on it. “Here Dot, it’s a Perc 5. You need it, I can see how much you’re in pain, princess.”
“Fuck you,” Dorothy grumbled as she took the pill and the water from Rooster. Swallowing the pill, she downed half of the bottle of water as well.
Dorothy felt a sense of shame as she fell back against her pillows. Before the crash, she had her life together, as an Air Force officer and with the help of Kevin. Now, she was a hot mess and if Kevin was here, he would be completely disappointed in her. So disappointed that the punishment would be straight up punishment, not funishment.
“You know, Dot, you’re miserable. You gotta stop beating yourself up and making yourself miserable for what happened,” Rooster started.
“That’s easy for you to say—”
“Dorothy, Kevin left me a letter that explained somethings that went on between you two that he told me to open a year after he passed.”
Rooster felt extremely weirded out; Dot was basically family, like a little cousin. The letter from Kevin basically said that he and Dot were in a consensual dom/sub relationship and that if Dot was still spiraling a year after he passed, Rooster should encourage Dot to join a kink community and possibly find someone to replace Kevin.
Rooster really had no idea what it all meant but given how Dot was starting to withdraw more often, he decided it was time to say something.
Staring at the ceiling, Dorothy bit her lip. “Kevin did tell me in his last letter to me, that I had a year to mourn before he would start to get me together.”
Bitterly laughing, Dorothy turned her head to look at Rooster. He wouldn’t understand, none of them really did; the only people she told were her parents. Kevin was a fellow officer; they had met the first time Dorothy was sent to Afghanistan. Within a week, they knew they were meant for each other. After a year, they went from a vanilla relationship to a BDSM one with power exchange. It was bedroom/home only but it gave the reckless Dorothy the structure she loved and gave Kevin someone to take care of. Then the crash happened and Dorothy was honorably discharged from the Air Force.
Kevin stayed in the Air Force but he got shot while on leave. Exactly thirteen months ago today, he passed away. Dorothy looked at the date on her watch and she sucked in a breath.
Rooster gave Dorothy a hug. “Remember, we are here for you, Dot.”
****
If you had asked Jake a week ago if he would have enjoyed dealing with a bunch of FNGs, he would have laughed in your face.
Becoming an instructor at a Fleet Replacement Squadron (FRS) during this shore duty hadn’t been part of his plans. Jake was still assigned to VFA-151 but on loan to the Dagger Squadron out of San Diego. But they had just finished their latest classified mission and most of the other members had rejoined their previous squadrons. So far, it was just Jake, Rooster, Omaha, Payback, and Halo still left.
VFA-151 was not up for deployment for at least another year and Jake was in no rush to go back to Lemoore. So getting his flight hours with boys who were set to go to VFA-154 and 192 was worth it for him. Now, the workday was over and he was headed to market because his ma had raised a man who could get himself his own groceries. Then he was going to something called a munch.
Jake hadn’t even planned to mention anything about looking for something more permanent to Coyote. He was Hangman; women were never an issue. Shit, the boys in Lemoore were glad he was still in San Diego. Better chances for all of them. But it had come up while Coyote came over for beers before flying back to Oceana.
”So, do you think you’d have a problem if I got back with Phoenix,” Coyote asked while staring out into the San Diego night.
Hangman snorted. So he had messed around with Phoenix a couple of times and so had Coyote. It hadn’t taken long for Hangman to realize that two dominant people like him and Phoenix couldn’t coexist in anything outside of a platonic relationship. Part of him was surprised that Coyote was talking about getting back with Phoenix but Hangman wasn’t going to judge. “No issue at all. She’s not my type either.”
“Please tell me you’re not saying she’s hot-“
“Phoenix is a smokeshow but I like my women submissive and willing to do whatever I want them to do.”
“Ohhhhhhhh.”
There had been a companionable silence before Coyote finally said, “You know, Hangman, you can try something like a munch to meet someone willing to do that for you. That’s how I ran into Phoenix.”
“Oh wow… okay, I had questions but they are now answered, Yote. But what is this?”
Now, Jake was headed to one later, in civilian mode. DADT had been repealed but this was still something he had to be very careful about. But if it was a bunch of bronies and neckbeards, Jake was going to leave immediately and take all of Coyote’s money at pool for the next year.
After changing into a black tee, some jeans, and flip flops, Jake got into his truck and made his way there. It actually wasn’t bad; there were a couple of neckbeards but it was mostly people his age who lived in the area. There were a couple of people Jake knew from base but they all politely ignored each other. It was easy as Jake used his middle name, Chandler; easy to remember but still not his first name or call sign.
However, Jake found his composure shaken when Dorothy walked in. She wasn’t new to this as a bunch of people yelled hi.
“Ohhh, you need to meet Snow White,” the woman to Jake’s left said. He already forgot her name but she had sweet brown eyes. “Snow White hasn’t been around in a while but I have a feeling you two are in similar fields.”
Jake wasn’t paying attention as he watched Dorothy greet everyone else. She hadn’t even realized he was there until the woman called, “Hello Snow White! Over here!”
Dorothy turned around, her eyes blinking in surprise as she recognized Jake. But the woman bounded up to her and gave her a hug. Jake slowly smirked as he realized that Dorothy was Snow White. This night was definitely looking up.
****
Rooster had told Dorothy to tell him no details when she told him she was going out to a kink community event but she felt like he would want to know how this happened. Hangman was sitting next to her and she wanted to snuggle into his heat. But then, Rooster would probably want to haul her back into the house.
Uncle Mav had told her that Hangman got around when he found out that she had been flirting with him. Her mom had helpfully said that Hangman was a younger version of Mav which had made everyone laugh at Sunday dinner last week. Dorothy was far from a virgin but she had needs and she didn’t think the cocky asshole could meet them. Then tonight happened and she was thrown for a loop. She had found Hangman very attractive that first time she played pool with him, but now, she wouldn’t say no if he asked if he could come over.
The munch was coming to a close and Dorothy reluctantly stood up. It felt good to be out and about again but the real world was calling. “It’s good to see everyone again,” she called out as she got ready to give out hugs.
“Snow White, wait for me,” Jake drawled. The slight Texas drawl to his voice definitely had an affect on some of the other people there, to Dorothy’s annoyance. But she just nodded as she finished giving hugs and saying goodbyes.
After finishing, Dorothy turned to Jake, motioning for him to follow her outside. Once outside and over by her car, Dorothy sighed. “You’re the last person I thought I would see here, Hangman.”
“I’d say the same except everyone knows you. But I’m new to this.”
Playing with her keys, Dorothy paused for a second. “New to this?”
“New to actually coming out in public. But to this… no. Just the longest I’ve been stateside.”
Jake closed his mouth as he realized he was starting to ramble. Steeling himself, he moved closer to Dorothy to where they were close but not touching. “Not going to press you but the last time we were at the Hard Deck, you said you’d think about letting me take you out. I know it was a joke but I want you to honestly think about it.”
“Why should I think about it,” Dorothy questioned as she put her hands between herself and Hangman. His cologne smelled so good and the whole vibes, this was so fucking different than pool at a Navy bar. Maybe it was pheromones from something else, something unexplained going on. But Dorothy looked up into Jake’s eyes and those green eyes were like emerald fire.
“I may not have done anything in public before but I can tell there is a good girl inside you looking for someone to tell her what she needs to do.”
Jake brushed a hand over Dorothy’s hair before leaning closer. “When you’re ready, you know where you can find me.”
Straightening up, Jake smirked as Dorothy took in several deep breaths. “Whatever,” she finally muttered before she opened her driver’s side door.
“Get home safe,” Jake instructed before Dorothy gave him the finger. Chuckling to himself, he made his way to his Ford F-150.
****
A week passed since the last time he saw Dorothy. Hangman from a couple of weeks ago would have cut his losses. Jake, however, was willing to wait a bit longer. According to Rooster, Dorothy had VA appointments and other shit that was just a bit more important than him. But Jake was very close to becoming impatient. Then the doors to The Hard Deck opened and it was Dorothy in a pair of sinfully tight blue jeans and a pink tee shirt. Licking his lips, Jake put a toothpick in his mouth as he watched Dorothy make her way over to him.
“Hi darlin’.”
Dorothy rolled her eyes as Hangman checked her out. He looked absolutely delicious in his summer whites, a marked difference from the usual service khakis they wore. Then he stood in front of her, sunglasses hooked on his shirt, pool cue in hand. “Missed you yesterday.”
“I had something more important to do than hangout here,” Dorothy teased. It was true, she had her therapy appointment and it had gone well.
Jake smirked, his green eyes twinkling. “Something more important than me? Sugar, you just hurt my feelins’”
“So dramatic, Hangman. Anyway, I thought about your offer.”
“Ohhh?”
It was just one word but there was a lot of meaning in it. Dorothy bit her lip, noticing how Hangman’s eyes followed her action. Moving closer to him, she whispered in his ear, “Pick me up Saturday at 6 and you’ll know my full answer.”