It turned out that paying for skydiving lessons from a DJ of all people with cash, wasn't a great idea if the wooden cage that he and Grant were tied against the bars of. Jason grit his teeth in the midst of his frustration, clicking uncomfortably against the dirty gag that had been haphazardly shoved in his mouth.
He looked around, trying to gauge just how awful of a situation they were in. Grant was in front of him, tied down just as effectively as he was. Right outside the threshold of their cage, was an intimidating looking Hispanic man who seemed to enjoy singling Grant and him out for some reason.
He hadn't seen this man before, but he had heard about him. Often the other pirates around the camp would walk around, talking inanely to each other and he would hear about their leader, Vaas. It didn't take a genius to think that this might be him.
"I like this phone," he said, casual as all hell. Like they were three friends having a pleasant conversation. "This is a nice fucking phone. What do we have here? Grant and…" he glanced over at Jason, looking at him like he recognized something about him. He didn't want to think about what it was that he recognized. "…Jason. From California. Well, I hope your mama and papa really love you. 'Cause you two white boys, you look very expensive. That's good because I like expensive things…"
While Vaas had been monologuing, Grant started grunting behind the gag – probably calling him every name under the sun, even though it came out basically unintelligible. Jason fixed him with a purposeful glare as if to tell him telepathically to keep his mouth shut. He would have thought Grant would know better than to antagonize and instigate someone like that.
Grant did not get the message and within moments it got on the man's nerves and he started speaking again, "I'm sorry, what did you say?" he asked in an obviously rhetorical fashion. Jason squeezed his eyes shut, not wanting to see what might happen. "What did you say? DID YOU WANT ME TO SLICE YOU OPEN LIKE I DID YOUR FRIEND?! SHUT THE FUCK UP. Okay? I'm the one with the fucking dick. Look at me, look me in the fucking eye. HEY! LOOK ME IN THE FUCKING EYE."
Completely on instinct, Jason opened his eyes again to see the pirate practically inside of the cage, posturing at his brother like he was about to kill him. This was fucked up. This was so fucked up.
"Look me in the eye; you're my bitch." He told Grant, surprisingly restrained once again. "I rule this fucking kingdom. Shut the fuck up. Or you die." Jason had kept quiet, hoping to be small and insignificant enough that he just disappeared, but he still managed to garner his captor's attention.
"What is it, Jason? Jason, what is it? Why aren't you laughing now like you did up there? What, what is this not fun anymore? Have I failed to entertain you? You see the thing is, up there, you thought you had a chance. Way up in the fucking sky, you thought you had your finger on the pussy trigger but Hermano, down here… down here? You hit the ground."
His mood changed once again from the menacing, vaguely threatening affect to something almost friendly and suddenly it was clear that it was directed just at Jason now and he began agonizing over why this man was so damn familiar to him."It's okay, I'm gonna chill. Because you and me and your tough guy brother are gonna have a lot of fun together."
Vaas was prone to mood swings, Jason realized with horror as something in the air changed just then and he zoned in on Jason with eyes full of fury that the omega couldn't understand the meaning behind. "What the FUCK do you think you're doing here? Trying to use your pretty little omega tricks on me? You want to fuck with me? You think you even can?" Vaas questioned him, asking them rapid fire without even giving him the chance to answer – even if he wasn't gagged.
Jason shook his head, more out of placation than out of defiance. He knew how to control his scent but he didn't really like to do that. Not because it was manipulative – being manipulative never really bothered him – but because it took a lot out of him, it drained him both physically and emotionally. This was too fucked up. This was way too fucked up. Jason didn't want any of this. He just wanted to go home.
The alpha didn't believe him and he quickly became tired of what he assumed Jason to be doing to him – despite all of Jason's protests to the contrary – and came into the cage and roughly grabbed Jason who – while at the same time, Jason couldn't help but just be happy that he hadn't decided to kill him yet – immediately took to panicking and thrashing in the alpha's hold.
Grant, who had been quiet enough not to anger Vaas – knowing how horribly unstable he had already shown himself to be – was even more full of panic and rage than Jason himself. He screamed behind the gag, squirmed and flailed in his binds as Jason was half dragged and half carried across the camp.
Jason didn't gain any traction with it, if anything Vaas just gripped him tighter, the omega quickly tired himself out and went limp enough that he was practically dead weight. He was carried into a small, closed off room and didn't bother at all to stir until he was dropped down onto a lumpy mattress.
Even then, he barely made a movement other than a startled gasp behind the gag when Vaas grabbed a fistful of his hair and pulled his head back, exposing his throat in a display of forced submission. He let out a whimper when Vaas nuzzled against him and buried his nose against the omega's neck. It was a strange sensation, being scented out of nowhere like he was, not exactly comfortable but not exactly unwanted either.
It was like something was pulling him towards the alpha and the more he tried to fight it, the more he was pulled in. It was overwhelming enough that he felt like he was drowning in the conflicting sensations that he was feeling. He didn't need to even look at Vaas to see that he was feeling the exact same pull as he was, maybe even worse with how fervently he was scenting Jason.
The alpha growled into his shoulder, turning Jason around and gripping his face painfully enough that he was forced to look at him. "Why… the fuck… do you smell so good, huh? Huh?!" he snapped, coming off as both furious and confused at the same time. "What the fuck do you think you're trying to do here, huh?! You think you can fuck with me, pretty boy? You think that you can fuck with me?!"
Jason tried to tell Vaas that he wasn't doing anything to him, at least not on purpose, and tell him to go fuck himself all in the same sentence but all he could manage behind the gag was a series of muffled out grunts and whines.
So instead, he does the next best thing and pushes his scent onto Vaas – practically assaults the alphas' senses with it – just to show him that if he had wanted to use his biology to manipulate him he could have gotten much farther with it than he had with this naturally unnatural pull that the two of them had been afflicted with.
Vaas felt the push and pull of it intensely and nearly fell off of the ratty mattress and onto the floor below them, "Pinche omega putana." he grumbled barely under his breath, the reality set in for him just as clearly as it was for Jason.
That wasn't to say that he wasn't still angry, just that his ire wasn't really directed towards Jason anymore, now it was just aimless, directionless and volatile. Vaas let him go and took to pacing around the tiny room, fuming and growling to himself, inadvertently giving Jason a chance to fight the binds that were still wrapped tight around his wrists and ankles.
It took him a few minutes to free himself from the binds but once he did, Jason crashed into Vaas, pouncing on him so hard that the two of them hit the ground with a thud. His heart raged inside of his chest like it was trying to break out of him as he straddled the alpha and placed his hands over his neck with the intent to maim him if he had to. His chest heaved, his breath bordering on hyperventilation.
Jason had never killed anybody before and it clearly showed. Still, he was the only one here and he had to be strong. "Fucking tell me where my friends are or I'll, I'll kill you. I swear, I'll kill you." he stuttered out, panic taking hold of him once again. His fingers shook against Vaas' collarbone as he threatened to push down and squeeze.
Vaas was not all that impressed by Jason's intimidation tactics if the cruelly amused smile he has on his face gave him any indication. "You wanna kill me white boy?" he challenged the omega,"Go ahead. I fucking dare you to go on and try. I promise you, Jason, I promise you that you won't get far."
Jason wanted to kill him and he didn't – it was like he wanted to want to do it more than he actually had the will to go through with it. He tried to tell himself that Vaas was dangerous and had kidnapped him, he could kill him and probably would when this was all over. He just couldn't bring himself to go through with it and something told him that it wasn't just because he had never killed someone before.
With a defeated groan, Jason let Vaas go and got off of him. He herded himself back into the corner and sat with his knees pressed to his chest, defeated. He needed to kill Vaas to get out of here but… for some reason that he couldn't quite put his finger on he couldn't. He couldn't bring himself to cut off Vaas' airways or stab him in the back or shoot him in the fucking face.
Fucking something more than what he was doing right now – sitting there all slack jaw and glassy-eyed like some brain dead ingenue in a terrible "romantic" novel straight out of a time before strictly enforced personal grooming habits and civil rights.
Vaas decided not to hold the assault against him, he would have done the same in the omega's position. He would have gone through with it, though. Maybe he should do something about it – make sure it doesn't happen again – but he doesn't particularly want to kill Jason, either so the two of them are stuck in a strange limbo. "You feel better now, Hermano?" He asked in a mockingly friendly tone as he steadily moved towards him with the intent to pull him back where he was again.
Jason responded to that with little more than a quietly spoken out, "Fuck you." to the alpha without any care for whatever consequences that Vaas decided to dole out to him. He didn't think that Vaas had any intentions of killing him, just yet, and he was emotionally drained enough that that was all he could bring himself to care about.
Vaas was decidedly tired of Jason's shit attitude and pulled the omega to the ground so that Vaas was on top of him and Jason was forced into a very vulnerable position. "Fuck me? No, no, no. Fuck you!" He snapped, "You don't get to be pissy with me, blanquito. You don't get to choke me out and act like a little bitch about it." baring his teeth at him once again, allowing them to lightly scrape over his bonding gland without even thinking about it. "You either man the fuck up and get it right next time or you shut the fuck up about it."
It was then – right when they were pressed so closely together – hits the both of them what it is around the same time and all the tiny clues piece together like into something concise and clear. The two of them had bonded unwillingly to each other, that was why they had a magnetic pull to each other – they were true mates.
It should be a good thing – a great thing even. He had always been told that having a true mate was something to dream about. But he supposed that "Dream About" was the key phrase here because it was rare as all hell. You had the roughly same chance of being struck by lightning as you would have with having a true mate.
Jason couldn't believe this – this wasn't something he had ever thought would happen to him. He smacked his head against the dirt floor in his frustration. Vaas was a little less torn about it than Jason was, using his position above Jason to his advantage to keep the omega pinned down beneath him.
Jason squirmed around a little to get out from under him, but Vaas wasn't giving him any room for it and he kept up with the surprisingly tender molestation, "You and me are gonna have a lot of fun together, cariño." He promised, turning the borderline threat from earlier into something sweet. "Just you wait," he added, equally as promising in tone.
Jason found whatever resolve – or self-respect – that he had and pressed forward to kiss the alpha hard on the mouth and Vaas returned the affection with equal vigor. It felt a lot more like fighting or fucking than it did like a kiss though, with teeth and rough movements punctuating the whole lot of it.
The fact that none of this made any sort of sense still hadn't changed, but Jason couldn't bring himself to care about it. He was enjoying himself and that was all that mattered right then. He let out a soft moan as Vaas' hands dove underneath his V-neck to grope, flick and scrape at the omega's nipples, almost tearing at the already thinly stretched and worn fabric of it as he did.
Jason responded to that as viciously by firmly biting down on the flesh of his shoulder as viciously as he could, managing to elicit a groan and a muttered out curse from Vaas as he managed to tear through flesh and even make him bleed a little bit.
Omegas had naturally sharp canines and nails – supposedly for protecting themselves from predators or unwanted contact, but they were also pretty useful for kink and even maybe a bit of petty revenge like Jason wanted to exercise right then. The omega pulled off of him, a bit of blood dripping from his chin as he pulled off with an almost apologetic kiss to the wounded spot.
Jason was content to continue on with this – he would have been happy to kiss and touch the alpha for hours, maybe even let him fuck him but they weren't able to get all that far, as a pirate with a bandanna for a mask came in to the room, greeting Vaas with an awkward cough punctuated by a hesitantly spoken out, "Boss." to get his attention.
Jason looked at the pirate, mortified not only at being caught like this but also at being interrupted just when he was starting to enjoy himself. Vaas showed his frustration clearer when he snapped at the masked pirate, "Fucking, WHAT?!" in a harsh tone, baring his teeth at the other man as he did so, and for a moment Jason thought that he might actually kill him for the lack of indiscretion.
The pirate at the door didn't seem all that fazed by Vaas' threatening stance, "There's a situation with one of the hostages." he explained in a matter of fact sort of way without giving away any information that Jason could clearly glean anything from.
"Stay here," Vaas told Jason before he let him off, "If you try to run, I'll know," he added and Jason didn't doubt that one bit.
Once Vaas was gone, Jason let out a shaky sigh of relief. Without the alpha in the same tightly enclosed space that he was in, the overwhelming cloud that he was under eased up. A part of him wanted to leave, to run the fuck away from the camp but still, something inside of him didn't want to stray too far from Vaas – the same thing that pulled them towards each other.
Jason could only hope that it would get less overwhelming with time, but he couldn't be sure. He knew next to nothing about bonds like this. In that moment, he would have done anything for Vaas. It scared him how willing he was to just let Vaas do whatever he wanted. It was jarring as all hell.
In the midst of his thoughts, someone came in – more like burst through – and for a moment he wondered – with both excitement and apprehension – if Vaas was already back to finish what they had started.
Jason was more than a little shocked to see that it was his older brother, looking more or less like he wasn't any worse for the wear. Without thinking about it at all, he bounded up and practically crashed into his elder brother, enveloping him in a tight – practically bone-crushing – hug.
"Grant! Not that I'm not happy to see you but what are you doing here?" He asked his older brother as they separated, who looked more or less like he wasn't hurt or injured. He was happy to see his brother but at the same time, he couldn't be all that glad that Grant was here – it was dangerous for him to be here.
"What are you doing in here?" The elder Brody replied, "That fucking pirate dragged you off somewhere, I thought you were dead. I'm just glad you're alive but you're not hurt, right?"
Jason really did not want to get into it with Grant about all this, he knew that there was no way that he'd understand. So, instead, he decided to say it as simply as he could, "No I'm not hurt. At least not much. Vaas, he likes something about me. I can't get into it right now but I'll be fine." he tried to explain quickly and simply, "He probably won't hurt me but if he finds you here, it's not going to end well." That was the understatement of a century. If Vaas found Grant with him, then he might kill Grant in front of him and he didn't want that.
Grant took about as well as you might think, "No," he shook his head, disgust prevalent in his voice."No, I'm not leaving you here with that psychopath. Come on, you have to come with me. We still have some time, I think, to escape but we have to hurry."
"Grant…" Jason started, voice barely above an exasperated whisper, – this is exactly what he was worried about. Grant had practically raised him and Riley after their father died and he was always a little overprotective over them both. Jason knew that if he told Grant that he was bonded with the pirate, that Grant wouldn't listen and might even go so far as to force him out of the camp. Jason wouldn't even blame him for it, "It's more complicated than that." he said instead. "I have to stay here."
"More complicated? This isn't complicated, Jay." He replied firmly, "What did he do to you?"
"Grant."
"I swear if he hurt you-"
"Grant! Just listen to me!" Jason snapped, grabbing his older brother's shoulders hard, like he was trying to rouse him from a deep slumber. It shocked him enough that he was stunned silent, giving Jason the chance to say everything he needed to say. "Just- look, if he finds you here…" he sighed heavy and world-weary, knowing that his brother would take some convincing.
Jason really didn't like the idea of manipulating him, but he knew that he probably had to if he wanted Grant to make it out of this encampment with his life. "If he finds you here he'll kill me and then he'll kill you too. Is that what you want?" he lied through his teeth, "No? then you need to go! Go on and get the hell out of here and find everyone else because they need you more than I do. Alright? I'll be fine, but not if he finds you here. He's not that- look, just go! Please."
Grant didn't look like he was entirely convinced, but he understood Jason's point. He couldn't make Jason come with him in any case, "Alright." he said, "Look, I don't know what you think you're doing with this guy but… just be safe, Jay." he said as he backed off and made his escape.
"I will." He said, with a surprising amount of resolve. Surprisingly, he found that he believed it. If Vaas was just about as affected as he was by this bond, then maybe he could use this to his advantage and get his friends back home.
He just had to be strong and he could do this. Maybe.
