Behind Enemy Lines
By: TG
Summary: When Jack Frost, a disillusioned Lieutenant in the United States Navy, is shot down behind enemy lines, he begins to realize that his yearning for adventure might be his downfall. Luckily he's got Tooth, North, Aster, and a whole boatload of people trying to get him home, and he might just make it…if the mysterious tracker doesn't get to him first.
Warnings: Language, sex, scenes of war, misused history
Author's Note: So when I started writing this fic I had a different idea in mind haha. I meant for this to be a slow build, but then sex happened in this chapter so yeah.
Enjoy!
Over the course of a few weeks the commodore watched as the normally stoic, cold aircraft carrier transformed into a winter wonderland, complete with Christmas trees in the mess, garish garlands wound around all the banisters, sprigs of mistletoe hanging from the doorways, and random splotches of what appear to be red and green tissue paper taped to the hallway walls. Aster thinks the whole thing is utterly ridiculous, but he can tell that seeing the decorations raises morale, and he reluctantly admits to himself that even though the execution is shoddy, and even though this is Christmas and not Easter –his favorite holiday –the idea has merit.
Of course the admission may have something to do with a certain white haired lieutenant; under normal circumstances, Aster prides himself on strictness and the ability to get the job done, morale be damned, but lately Jack's more laid-back attitude has rubbed off on him somewhat. Aster keeps bumping into the man more often than he expects on a ship that carries nearly six thousand men and women, which kicks his naturally suspicious mind into overdrive. Jack even insists on eating together as often as possible, almost like they are dates.
It certainly doesn't help that Jack flirts with him every chance he gets –in the mess, on the flight deck, wherever they bump into each other. Most of the other crewmen ignore it, used to Jack's flirtatious nature, but Aster finds himself drawn in my the sincerity in Jack's eyes and the quirky grin on his lips. He's made it perfectly clear he's interested, but Aster hasn't taken the bait yet.
Aster knew he was physically attracted to Jack as soon as he set eyes on him in the mess weeks ago (if his dreams are anything to go by), but with each accidental run-in, he is discovering more and more things to like about Jack Frost –he is sharp-tongued and intelligent, not afraid to knock Aster down a peg or two when he needs it (which is often), and he is witty and a fantastic conversationalist when he isn't busy being a pain in Aster's backside. He challenges Aster in many ways; perhaps that is why he feels so drawn to him. It drives him crazy in more ways than one, because on an aircraft carrier there is no means of escape.
Speaking of no escape, Aster thinks as he rounds a tissue paper strewn corner and discovers the man he's been thinking about. Jack has evidentially been talking to someone on the telephone, because Aster's caught him in the act of hanging up.
"Oh hey Bunny!"
"Commodore," Aster automatically corrects, smiling despite himself as Jack jogs over to him.
"Whatever," Jack dismisses. "So, you gonna miss me while I'm away, Aster?"
"How can I miss you when you won't leave?" Aster scoffs. He frowns when Jack's words catch up to him. "What do you mean, while you're away?"
Jack grins and shrugs, playing it off as no big deal, but Aster can see something is bothering him. "Sandy and I are runnin' a recon mission on Christmas Day. I think Admiral Pitchiner doesn't like us or something, scheduling us out during the one good meal of the year."
"Nah mate, it's you she doesn't like," Aster says, smirking. Jack fakes a pout and it looks so ridiculous on him that Aster has to laugh.
"Yes, Jack," he chuckles, rolling his eyes. "I'll miss you for all of the two or three hours that you'll be gone."
Without his noticing, Jack has shifted closer, and when Aster looks back up into Jack eyes he realizes that their chests are nearly touching. His breath catches in his throat.
"Good," Jack murmurs, "'cause I'll miss you."
The mood has changed from playful to electric just like that, and Aster is helpless against it. He licks his lips and nearly groans –Jack's eyes follow the movement of his tongue, and the way the younger man's adams apple bobs as he swallows is enticing. It makes Aster just a bit breathless. "Jack…"
He actually does groan when Jack presses up and kisses him –he's wanted to kiss that sinfully sarcastic mouth for weeks, and it feels so good, so right to finally be doing it that he doesn't even care that they are in the hallway where anyone can see them. He slides his hands around Jack's waist and god Jack is so slim –with both of his thumbs resting on Jack's hip bones, his fingers can just about meet at Jack's spine.
Jack sighs and presses closer, dragging his hands up Aster's chest to tangle in his hair and rest against his jaw. Raw desire flows through him, setting his nerves on fire as Jack nips at his mouth, asking for access.
Jack's mouth is hot, and his tongue slick as it rubs against Aster's. One of them moans –Aster isn't sure who but at that point it would not have mattered anyway –and Aster slides a hand up to cradle the back of Jack's head, trying to create an angle –
They both jerk back when their teeth clack painfully, and for a second Aster fears the mood has been totally ruined, but he looks down at Jack –at his glistening, kiss bruised lips and his beautiful smile and twinkling eyes –and can't help but laugh.
"Sorry," he says, grinning. Jack just grins wickedly back and shakes his head.
"Little eager, are we?" He teases.
"Might be. Been wanting to do that since the first time I saw you, mate."
Jack wraps his arms around Aster's neck and leans against him. "Mmm, that so?"
"I can show you just how eager I am, if you'd like," Aster suggests, rolling his hips into Jack's and praying that he hasn't read the situation wrong. The younger man gasps and flushes, his eyes glazing over just slightly as he nods.
"Finally."
They don't quite make it to Aster's room –they end up shutting themselves in a custodial closet while Aster tries to kiss him and Jack just laughs (Aster is quickly coming to terms with the fact that he loves the sound of Jack's laughter).
They make out like teenagers, bumping noses and forgetting to breathe. Jack lacks the finesse of some of Aster's previous lovers, but it is both refreshing and incredibly sexy, and Jack certainly makes up for any fumbles with his eagerness to please his partner.
Not that they have time for finesse –Jack breathlessly informs Aster that they have about fifteen minutes before he is due somewhere while Aster is busy unzipping Jack's pants with his teeth.
"They why did you start something if you can't finish it," Aster grumbles, voice rough as he slides his hands up Jack's thighs to pull at the waistband.
"Oh I can finish it all right. Just has to be fassst," Jack hisses as Aster tugs, sliding his pants and boxers down to his knees and off in one go. Jack's hiss turns into a sigh as Aster's hand comes up to stroke teasingly at his cock. "Aren't you a little overdressed for a closet quickie?"
"Might be," Aster murmurs, standing up the grind his clothed hips against Jack's. The younger man's head falls back, eyes closed in pleasure as he reaches between them, fumbling with Aster's fly as their hips rock. He manages to pull Aster's cock free from the confines of his underwear and Aster groans as Jack wraps one of his cool hands around to stroke the both of them.
"How –how are we going to do this?" Jack asks, moaning as he thumbs at his slit.
"Hadn't thought abou' that," Aster mutters. He can't quite wrap his head around the fact that something he's wanted for weeks is actually happening.
Jack snorts and shakes his head, and Aster almost whines as the loss of Jack's fingers as he braces his hands behind him for leverage and hops up onto the workbench. Aster can feel his mouth go dry as Jack spreads his legs and gestures for him to come closer.
He steps into the cradle of Jack's hips, hands coming up to rub a clumsy massage into his thighs. "Like this?"
"We don't exactly have time for anything else," Jack answers, breathless. He reaches down between them again, grasping them both. It isn't ideal –Aster would rather have had the time to learn his lover's body, the things he likes having done to him and all his secret spots, but it has been so long since someone else touched him that all of his concerns fly out the window when Jack begins to stroke in earnest.
Pleasure sparks along his nerves, everywhere their bodies touch, and breathy moans and sighs fill the air between them. It is probably a good thing this is going to be a quickie, because Aster doesn't think he can last that long anyway, not with the sounds Jack is making and the way he twists his fist around their cocks.
"Nng, god," Jack moans, his movements becoming jerkier. Aster leans in and kisses him as his hand reaches down to help them along. Someday he'd like to hear all the noises Jack can make during sex, but there is a time for everything, and everything in his time; so instead he kisses him long and hard and swallows Jack's cry as he comes, seed spilling out over both of their hands.
Aster comes a few moments later, to the sound of Jack panting his release into his ear.
"Launch the alert, launch the alert," the voice over the carrier's PA system announces. It is strange to see the carrier's flight deck, home to many a football game, transform into something more sinister. Aster can't see them very well from the island, but he can imagine the normally friendly and open faces of the men and women of the flight crew being replaced with stony vigilance as they don their yellow and orange safety vests and race across the deck into position.
Jack and Sandy pop out from below decks, decked out in full flight gear, and make their way through the sea of flight personnel to clamber up the ladder and into the cockpit of their F/A-18 Super Hornet. Aster watches Jack vault himself into the aft seat and enthusiastically jam his headset on; in front of him Sandy is doing the same thing.
He can't help tracking Jack's movements; he convinces himself that it's because Jack is so insanely talented at what he does and that it has nothing to do with his attraction to him. He had confided in Aster a while back that he'd joined the military because he wanted to help people and give them the means to protect themselves and their families like he would his own. The confusion with the Bosnian conflict may have disillusioned him a bit, but he easily sheds his prankster personality to become a serious flight officer whenever his feet touch the flight deck. He'd discovered that Jack is a great pilot, but his innate sense of direction and ability to quickly process information are what make him a fantastic navigator.
Behind him Admiral Pitchiner clears her throat and Aster nearly jumps in shock; he had been so lost in his musings that he'd forgotten what he was supposed to be doing –not exactly an auspicious start to his career with NATO. Glancing down at the flight deck, he notices that the crew has got the plane turned and headed in the proper direction, and the towbar and holdback are clanking down the deck. He watches with a closer eye as the jet blast deflector raises behind the Super Hornet, and the catapult officer begins pumping the steam into the catapult cylinders. At a signal from the catapult officer, Sandy blasts the engines and creates enough thrust, combined with the release of the catapult, to launch the plane off the deck.
Aster allows his eyes to trail after the Super Hornet until the plane is out of sight, a strange feeling settling into the pit of his stomach.
"This is essentially your mission, Bunnymund," Pitchiner says, voice hard and unyielding. "Your responsibility."
"…Ma'am."
"Nothing like going from zero to 165 in two seconds!" Jack shouts into his headset, grinning. There is nothing he loves more than flying, even if it is for some crap recon mission.
Flying is incidentally the only time he ever hears his pilot speak. Sandy had been born with weak vocal chord muscles, a condition called paresis, and for the first several years of his life didn't speak at all. He'd gone through therapy and was able to overcome his disability, but speaking for long periods of time is often painful for him. At least, that's the story he'd told Jack right after they'd partnered up.
Sometimes Jack feels smug, being one of the few to actually hold a vocal conversation with his pilot, but mostly he just feels sad. Sandy is witty and smart as a whip and it is too bad that he is so often silenced or dismissed by others just because he doesn't always have a voice.
"I like flying, but it's too bad that it has to happen on Christmas. You know this is 100% your fault, Jack."
"Just shut up and fly the damn plane," Jack grouses, siting back in his seat and crossing his arms in an exaggerated pout.
"Yeah, yeah," Sandy rasps, laughing. Jack rolls his eyes and glances at the route blinking in red on his dash. Minutes pass as they sit in silence, both focusing their attentions on the water passing like dirty glass beneath them.
These kinds of missions always pass in the same manner –fly the highlighted path, take a few pictures with the new on-board IDEM digital camera, and fly back. Jack is pretty sure it is just to keep the pilot/navigator duos busy, to keep them from getting restless, and most of them are pretty all right with that. He didn't sign up to baby sit, he'd signed up to do good somewhere –something he'd complained about to Aster. He wants to serve his country and help people, and he feels like he isn't doing either of those things.
He watches the water change to craggy land, and then trees.
And then, out of nowhere, Sandy sighs and says, "I heard a rumor that you're going to turn your resignation letter in."
"…It's not a rumor."
"So you're telling me that I'll have to find a new navigator?" Jack can tell that Sandy is upset at the news. He'd meant to talk to him personally about the letter and the fact that he is planning to resign after the Carl Vinson docks in a few days' time, but he'd been rather distracted by a pair of striking green eyes.
"The plan was to resign when we dock next."
"…Wait. Was? Past tense?"
"Yeah, that is what past tense is. So glad you learned something in school," Jack teases, earning an amused huff from the front seat.
"Cut the crap, you little shit!" Sandy says, getting a laugh from his partner. "Come on, I want to know!"
"All right, all right! I just…might've found a reason to stay, that's all."
"Not going to tell me what that might be?"
"Three degrees to the right and stay on that heading. And nope. That's all you need to know, little man."
"Aw come on Jack, I thought we were friends," Sandy whines. "Higher pay?"
"Nope."
"Promotion?"
"Nada."
"Relocation? Which, if that's the case, I may have to kill you for not resigning and still leaving me behind."
"Huh-uh."
"Hm… Oh, would it happen to have something to do with the new guy? You've been acting awfully friendly with the commodore lately," Sandy says slyly.
"…"
"I knew it! I bet you're blushing right now, Frost! Oh Aster!" Sandy says, voice going high and feminine. "You're such a strong, handsome man!" The pilot throws his own arms around himself and makes noises like he is making out with someone.
"You're a lying liar you shut your lying mouth right now or I will pee on all the things you love, do you understand me?" Jack can hear Sandy laughing his ass off in the front seat and feels his face heat up even more. "You're such a dick, you know that?"
"Hey," Sandy's voice suddenly turns serious. "Do you see that smoke over there, 9 o'clock?"
"Yeah." It's coming from section Four Alpha. Supposed to be a demilitarized zone. What do you think it is?"
"Huh. Not sure."
"…Want to go investigate?"
"Jack, you know that's not on the flight path. Pitchiner would have a coronary."
"…"
"Okay, let's do it."
"Puttin' our tax dollars to work!"
Sandy urges the plane low and fast to the left, its belly almost brushing the snow-laden treetops. The golden haired man holds the course steady while Jack reaches down along his seat and flips the switch for the IDEM camera.
When Sandy makes a questioning noise, he says, "Hey, I want photographic evidence of there being something suspicious for when Pitchiner reams our asses."
"You mean Bunnymund? Pitchiner put him in charge of this mission."
Jack blinks, surprised. He hadn't known that. If he had, he wouldn't have suggested going off course, because not only is their deviation on them, but it's also on their CO –and while Pitchiner can handle herself with all her years of experience, Jack is sure Aster will get some major flak.
But it is too late to go back. The path on his dash says they are already off track, and not in a subtle, 'oops I wasn't paying attention' kind of way –no, they are heading in pretty much the opposite direction of where they are meant to be going.
"Shit. Bunny's gonna kill me," he groans.
"Better hope something comes out of this," Sandy rasps. The blond lowers the altitude so that the plane skims the trees, and Jack is about to chastise him for showing off when suddenly there is nothing under them.
They have reached a clearing. Jack's eyes widen in shock –this is the origin of the smoke, which had been suspicious enough in a demilitarized zone, but there are also tanks, and anti-aircraft artillery, and…people. Lots of people. People in camo.
"Shit!" Jack hisses. "We are so dead!"
He can hear Sandy's hoarse cursing through the headset and he feels the g-force pulling at his body as the pilot pulled up out of the treetops. "Think they saw us?"
AN: Crossposted to AO3 and my writing blog. Follow me at americaengland. tumblr. com or trumpet-geek. tumblr. com for updates ^_^
