Chapter Text
With this goal in mind, Jared wrenched himself out from underneath the taller mercenary and made a run for it. Just as Jared climbed a tree to camouflage himself, he saw a glistening silver hook.
Hank wasn't alone.
Jared decided to play it smart. Stay low and attack from a distance. He was already injured from the day, his arm still throbbing. A hook in his leg wouldn't do him any favors.
He grabbed one of the grenades in his leg pocket, pulling the pin and stalling until he caught sight of the hook shining near Hank.
The explosive made a loud pang as earth and gravel was shot into the sky, raining back down onto the ground.
His head swam with the shock wave that hit him, ears ringing slightly as he advanced further into another patch of forest.
With his adrenaline spiking and hearing impaired temporarily, he didn't feel or hear the bullet pierce his leg until he hit the rocky ground.
Jared's skin caught on the jagged edges, ripping open and allowing for more bleeding. He'd been out of shooting range of Hank and the other person, so there was a third guy affiliated with them.
The situation was getting out of hand. Jared knew any more escape attempts would look desperate.
So, Jared sat up, shirt torn to expose a bloody cut on his right side, origin unknown. "Fine! You got me! What's the deal with me that you have to roll up with your colleagues and gang up on me??" He asked, voice loud and filled with disdain for the situation. The pain was getting to him and only irritated him more.
It wasn't as dark anymore since his eyes had adjusted to the lack of light. Jared could make out the people approaching him. Judging by the way they wordlessly grabbed Jared and injected some narcotic into him told Jared that they weren't the type of guys to make small talk.
Soon after that, Jared passed out.
When Jared woke back up, he noticed that he was simply tied up and left in a corner. There wasn't much to do here other than stare at the little furniture inside. At least they were kind enough to patch his injuries up.
The itch in the wound on his arm was gone, hinting at the use of some kind of antiseptic.
It didn't take long until the door to the room opened and a guy smoking a cigarette walked inside. He wore bandages around his head as well as a cap and headset. The person was clothed in a simple shirt and open jacket paired with loose-fitting pants and sneakers.
"So, tell me about your time at the A.A.H.W." The guy demanded, a grin on his face. Jared's confused and annoyed expression was on full display.
"Was this the entire reason why you captured me? You could have just talked to me. Like, walked up and asked." Jared complained, now finding less reason in this entire situation.
"I guess. Just answer the question. We didn't go through all the trouble just for you to criticise our efforts." The person pushed, sitting down on a chair to appear less threatening. This was probably some kind of tactic to make Jared more comfortable with sharing information.
"Well," Jared started with an annoyed sigh, "I can't tell you a lot because I barely know anything. They're a pretty closed ecosystem in there. But one of the projects I worked on was a new type of weapon. To my knowledge, it uses radioactivity to attempt to kill Hank." He explained, leaning against the wall behind himself. The look of slight worry on the other person's face didn't go unnoticed for Jared.
"Tell me more." He demanded.
"If I do, they'll kill me. So if you ensure that I won't be killed, I'm willing to give you more information about it. I'll even quit my job as a mercenary and work for you, if that's what you want." Jared offered, knowing that there was a good chance that they would accept. If their organisation had been keeping an eye on Jared for some time now, they probably took a peek into his workshop before.
The guy with the cigarette shot Jared a look before sighing and getting up. Apparently he'd listened to someone on the outside.
"Fine. If you quit your job as a mercenary and work for us as well as give us information on their little project, we'll take you in. Don't expect to get special treatment, though." The man explained, reciting all the agreed upon terms.
"Never expected it to begin with. But we have a deal." Jared agreed, pushing himself up to his feet, standing just about the same height as the man.
"Call me Deimos. What's your name?" Deimos asked, seemingly more calm with Jared's hands still being restricted.
"I'm Jared. Sorry about the way I unceremoniously tore Hank's jaw off. It was self defense." Jared apologised, realising he should probably be respectful to the organisation that had just employed him.
"Pretty sure he'd rather hear that said to his face." Deimos quipped, grabbing Jared by the shoulder and bringing him out of the room. Jared took in the look of the base. It was furnished and decorated, even though it wasn't much. Just a few books and plants scattered thoughout. The walls were painted in warm, brown colours.
Judging by this, Jared could safely assume that this either was a smaller organisation or just a building reserved for higher ranking people.
Either way, he still had no idea where exactly he was.
"Since you're now part of the team, we're responsible for you now in some capacity, much to the dismay of a few people here. Anyway, I'll untie your hands now so you can actually eat lunch. I suppose you're hungry." Deimos muttered, not masking the fact that Jared was essentially the new guy who was hired though seriously injuring two people. Jared rubbed his wrists as the ropes fell to the ground, careful to not scratch his skin.
The last thing he needed was Deimos or anyone else to grab medical resources.
"Thanks. I appreciate it." Jared hummed to both the fact that he was untied as well as the offer of food.
In the small canteen, Jared saw a few more people, about a dozen grunts as well as Hank and two other people. One of them was the shirtless guy and the other was someone with an overgrown mohawk.
"The guy with the mohawk is 2Bdamned and the other is Sanford. You already know Hank. Grab your food and sit somewhere with the other grunts. I don't think it's that much of a good idea for you to sit anywhere near Hank right now." Deimos suggested, glancing over at Hank, who was obviously trying to kill Jared with the way he glared at the guy.
"Agreed. I'll see you around, I guess." Jared decided and wandered off to get some food.
Jared sat somewhat alone, not trying to make any friends today. His head hurt and he still felt slightly disoriented from whatever they had injected him with. At least the food looked appealing, something his ex employers should consider implementing in their canteens. Perhaps that would have boosted the work morale.
Jared remembered his part of the deal again, to provide information. So he dug though his many pockets for a bit before landing on a list with planned features for the new weapon. Food wasn't the main focus anymore as he pulled out a piece of paper and wrote down his log in data to one of the systems of the A.A.H.W, which was purely designed for this project. He then took to making a few rough sketches of what the weapon would look like.
However, in the end he knew that he would have to return home to look at some of the photo copies of the blue prints. Jared wasn't dumb, he could probably construct part of the weapon himself and use it against the A.A.H.W.
It took him a while, but after 15 minutes he had a piece of paper with bullet points of some of the implemented mechanisms. In his room would surely be more information he definitely didn't steal without anyone noticing.
Then again, returning home would include asking for permission which meant he'd have to be in Hank's general vicinity. This, in turn, was equivalent to asking for a slow and agonising death. "I'd be pissy too if someone not only killed me but mutilated my body twice." Jared thought to himself.
For a moment, he toyed around with the thought of risking it, but that would be like disregarding a direct order. Perhaps he could get the whoever was in charge through a third party. Better socialise than be torn to shreds.
Jared noticed one of the grunts eyeing from time to time, so Jared gave him a small wave.
"You're new here, right?" The grunt asked, scooting over to sit opposite of Jared. "That I am. It's nice to meet you." Jared smiled, something that luckily came naturally to him when he needed it.
"I have a question, or rather a favour. Could you maybe ask whoever is in charge if I could speak to them after lunch?" Jared asked, receiving a nod from the grunt before a confused look crossed his face. "Why don't you go there yourself?" He pried, understandably.
"Well, I did some serious damage to Hank and Sanford in self defense and being near Hank is... reasonably unsafe." Jared explained, hearing a small laugh from the grunt, who got up and shook his head. He went to talk to 2Bdamned before returning to Jared, giving him a thumbs up. "Just meet him in his office after lunch. It's upstairs and then down the left corridor straight ahead." The grunt replied with a smile, returning to eat his food.
"Thanks, I owe you." Jared said almost out of habit, but still making it sound nice. "Not for that. Although you could show me some of the things you build sometime. I heard you're an engineer." The grunt replied, seeming more relaxed in Jared's presence than before. Jared nodded in agreement, finishing his already cold food.
After lunch, he waited for a reasonable amount of time before making his way to 2Bdamned's office. Passing a mirror, Jared noticed that he was wearing a new T-shirt, most likely from a spare uniform they had. It was a more loose fit, exposing one of the handful of scars on his shoulder.
Jared knocked at the door, entering when he was given the ok.
"So, what's your question?" 2Bdamned asked, turning around with his desk chair. "I wanted to ask if I could leave to return home. I'll come back, of course, but I need some things from my workshop." Jared explained his situation, watching his new superior ponder before nodding.
"I'll send Sanford to come with you. You'll be leaving this afternoon. Get everything you need and then return." 2Bdamned ordered, following up with "go tell him now so he can get ready. I expect you to leave in 30 minutes."
"Understood. Thank you." Jared said, turning and leaving to office to go to the common room.
