A/N: Wanted to try something new. Meaning I wanted to write something from someone other than Danny's point of view. Hope you like it.
Disclaimer: I don't own.
Wingman
It was another warm Hawaiian night. The humid tropical breeze swept through the open windows of the Army Air Corps barracks, ruffling the sheets and kissing the sweaty skin of the pilots both sleeping and awake.
One such wakeful pilot lay staring broodingly at the ceiling, listening to the steady breathing of his fellow warriors of the sky. Red sat up in bed and looked around the slightly crowded room. He sighed: all the pilots were sleeping comfortably despite the combined affects of the heat and grief.
'Maybe all that's the reason they're sleeping so deeply.'
"Red, what are you doin' up?" Said pilot jumped slightly and turned towards the entrance of their barracks. He shook his head at his alarm. He should have known that deep, accented voice anywhere. He shrugged and grinned wearily at the other man.
"Oh you know…couldn't sleep." The figure in the doorway laughed painfully before slowly moving to sit on the edge of Red's bed and stared at the full moon through the windows.
"Don't I know it." His fellow pilot ran his fingers through his dark hair and sighed in a way that made Red think he was trying very hard not to start crying. The other man's obvious emotional distress made Red uncomfortable and stirred within him an urge to comfort.
"H-Hey, Danny…d-do you think you'll be alright?" Red flinched slightly when he practically felt Danny stiffen at his nervous question. Slowly, Danny turned from his silent scrutiny of the moon to stare incredulously at Red. The redhead could feel himself almost unconsciously moving away from the anger he could feel building in his friend's body. Sure enough, the emotional dam inside Danny broke under the unwilling catalyst Red's badly worded question of concern had become.
"Red, I just found out my best friend was killed! How the fuck am I supposed to think about after when I can barely think about now?" Somehow Danny still remembered to keep his voice down while still conveying all his anger and heartache to Red. Red swallowed nervously and slowly gathered his courage and moved to the edge of his bed. Danny glared at him warily but allowed him to approach.
"L-Look, Danny…" But Danny shook his head slowly; halting anything Red might have said. Sighing softly Danny stared at Red, his soft dark eyes gazing soulfully into Red's. Red looked away suddenly unable to breathe with Danny looking at him, his stomach twisting into knots.
"Don't, Red, just don't. It…nothing anyone can say will make it better. No one can bring him back so why bother?" Red tentatively wrapped his arm around Danny's shoulder and pressed him into a one-armed hug. Red swallowed and schooled his nervous voice into a pale imitation of Danny's lower voice, hoping to soothe him with the lower tone.
"Sometimes the thing we need most is someone to cry to so we can think about after and survive through now." Red had thought Danny's hissed outburst from before had been something to see, but nothing he'd done earlier could compare to how totally Danny broke down now. He basically threw his arms around Red's torso while he buried his handsome face in his friend's neck and sobbed, screaming his unexpressed despair into the sweaty warmth of Red's skin.
Red frantically glanced around their barracks to make sure no one else was witness to Danny's breakdown and sighed in relief when he assured himself that everyone else was still peacefully sleeping. Red could feel Danny's hot tears sliding off Danny's cheeks and dripping onto the left side of his bare chest, but he did nothing to stop him; instead he wrapped his arms around his friend's hunched figure and rocked him slowly back and forth, making soothing noises in the back of his throat as he did so.
An eternity seemed to have slipped by before Danny's heart wrenching sobs abated, and he lifted his head to watch at Red with red, stuffy eyes. Slowly, an equally slow and watery smile made its way across Danny's features, and Red felt his own features lift to mimic him.
"Thanks, Red. I needed that more than I thought." Red nodded and yawned widely: all this emotional discharge had left him, finally, tired enough to sleep. Danny laughed shakily and rose for his own bed, slapping Red's shoulder as he went. Both pilots made themselves comfortable in their respective beds.
"Yeah, Red." Said pilot jerked back to semi-wakefulness.
"Huh?" He heard Danny snort.
"Your question from earlier. Yeah…I think I'll be okay." Red grinned sleepily and closed his eyes.
"That's good…I didn't think Rafe would want his wingman to be sad." But Danny was already asleep.
-- Different, but I hope made the more enjoyable by this difference.