#we'll always remember you as a traitor drew

[vanesawye]

drew barrymore did all that for NOTHING 💀

[kyber-crystal]

a lil hangman backstory drabble

ALRIGHT you got it :) sorry if this seems lowkey stupid. it sounded a lot cuter in my head i promise

everyone says hangman got his callsign because of his independent, overconfident nature

but the truth is that's not how it happened at all

you were actually the one that gave him the little nickname

he came from a broken family, and leaned on you a lot because you were all he had

since either of you could start walking and talking, you were best friends

so he was crying one day because his parents were fighting yet again. he was maybe 6? 7? years old. you heard him through your walls, and climbed through his window to get to him. (luckily, there was a tree between your houses so doing this was pretty easy)

being as young as you were at the time, you didn't know many was to comfort a distressed first grader

"jake? i can go back home and bring some cookies. mom made some new ones last night, 'cause she remembered snickerdoodle was your favorite"

he kept crying, which really worried you because he never turned down a request to your family's baking.

so you did the only other thing you knew. you pulled out a piece of paper and colored pencils

you drew a familiar series of lines. then thought for a bit, before you came up with a word and drew out a long series of dashes

"pick a letter!"

as expected, jake went through all the vowels first

it didn't take long for him to guess the phrase

through his tears he looked at you and started to smile. "jake and y/n forever? really?"

you grinned super wide. "duh! what else?"

"so we'll be together forever."

"yeah, dummy. whether you like it or not, i'm staying"

you two had set sights on the naval aviator dream for the longest time. so you pushed each other to the max, and always supported each other no matter what. through middle school, high school, and the naval academy, you stayed together

when you both received invitations to top gun you were beyond excited. you sprinted across the field, not caring that you were probably disrupting the whole commencement ceremony

and you jumped towards him and he spun you around and around

"we did it! we're going to california"

"we sure are," and he kissed your forehead - but he was so excited that he almost kissed you full on the mouth

but he stopped himself because you're his best friend and best friends aren't supposed to feel this way about each other. right?

right.

jake finally sets you down and you dust yourself off. your heart warmed as you looked at his nametag

"it suits you. hangman."

"now, who do i have to thank for that?"

you're so excited that you keep holding his hand through the entire 5.5 hour flight to san diego

and you keep holding his hand as you get in the taxi to the naval base

and as you get out

and as you introduce yourself to everyone there

"i'm phoenix, and i think we're going to be best friends," said the first person you ran into. "that your boyfriend?"

that's when you finally let go of hangman's hand. "no"

"i don't believe you for a second"

fast forward several years and you're all sitting around at penny's bar, talking late into the night

the subject of everyone's callsigns comes up and right away everyone starts roasting poor hangman

"hangman always leaves people out to dry!" - bob

"you left me hanging in the air, and during wii tennis. traitor. i can't believe you" - coyote

"i gave that loser his callsign, you know," you spoke up

and the gang is like wait wtf

so you gave a brief explanation on how it came to be. you'd been glued together since you were babies, and played the classic word game all the time. hence the name...

fanboy and payback are full on SOBBING by the time you finish and it's so hilarious

"might as well change both your callsigns to husband and wife at this point!" - penny

oh. he totally calls you wife up in the air the next morning

it throws you off track long enough for maverick to get a missile lock on you, dropping you out of the simulation's competition

"don't get distracted, ms. seresin" hangman said over your comms

after years of waiting, he finally kisses you when you touch down later that afternoon

tags, including people who may be interested (under the cut):

@walkonthewiidside @sarcastic-sourwolf @totomoshi @sebastianstangirl01 @dilfsandtherapy @purelyfiction @93joons @yeehawnana @lunamoonbby @hazelgirl355 @multifandom-fangirl4 @paintballkid711 @lyn-lc @azari-anna @thelifeofthelifeofme @spawn0fsatan @milestomaverick @teacactusworld @icemansgirl1999 @cherry-waved @newlibrary @ellabellabus07 @criminalyetminimal @whatlovegattado @lets-be-gay-for-the-angel @vane28282 @thisismypointofview @organabanks @hufflepuffprincesse @ice-mans-world @burnedbrisket @fangirlinc @marveljunkie45 @knowledgefulbutterfly @levis-butterfingers @minivture @teacactusworld @lunamooncole @skylynch03 @coastingline @chaoticassidy @hbstre @fantasias-creativebubble @mercury-mae @light-the-moon @winteryoungie @aie1840