Fear

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. All property belongs to Rooster Teeth.

Summary: Simmons gets injured and Grif worries about him.

Grif paced in front of the door to the make-shift hospital in Armonia. He was so anxious that he couldn't even stand still. He couldn't even turn to his normal coping mechanisms, like emotional eating. When he'd try to eat the food had just turned his stomach, even his beloved oreos. He groaned to himself as he crossed his arms.

Grif wondered how it had all gone so wrong...

Back on Hargrove's ship the Red and Blue teams had held their ground against Hargrove's forces. The bottleneck provided by the door had helped them immensely as the group had chipped away at the enemy's forces.

But like everything the group did, it had all been going too well.

It seemed that Hargrove's forces were almost done and the group had been feeling cocky when it happened...

An enemy had snuck round from behind the corner and shot at the group. The bullets had landed in Simmons abdomen in a small gap in his armour.

Time had slowed for Grif as he watched Simmons fall to the ground. He felt helpless as he watched Simmons' blood and what he assumed was oil pool underneath him. Grif remembered feeling sick as he froze, staring at Simmons.

A bullet whizzing past his head had pulled him back into the moment.

He never left Simmons' side as he killed a few more of the enemy before dropping to Simmons' level and let the others handle the rest of the enemies. Grif had pressed his hands to the wounds in a desperate attempt to stop the bleeding. He heard the hiss of pain Simmons let out.

"Come on Simmons. Just hold on until we can get you back to Grey." Grif said, hoping his voice wasn't shaking with the fear he felt.

After what seemed like both an eternity and mere seconds they had managed to get Simmons back to Armonia.

While the population of Chorus celebrated the defeat of Hargrove, Grif's focus was on the fate of his maroon friend.

Which was how he had found himself pacing in front of the hospital door. He couldn't bring himself to leave his post in case word was given about Simmons' condition. Simmons' blood had since dried on his gloves, not that Grif would ever forget the feeling or sight of Simmons' blood all over his hands.

Grif was so focused on his worry that he didn't hear the footsteps coming his way.

He jumped as a hand touched his arm.

"Hey man. Any news?" Tucker asked. Grif shook his head and having stopped his pacing. Tucker felt bad for the orange soldier. As long as he had known the pair they had been pretty much inseparable. Now there was a possibility that Simmons wouldn't make it.

Grif's eyes never left the door as they stood there. Tucker felt his heart go out to the guy at the expectant look on Grif's face, like he expected to be told that Simmons hadn't made it at any second.

"You really care about him, don't you?" Tucker asked as a few things finally aligned in his head. Grif clearly hadn't been paying attention to what Tucker had been saying as he blurted out,

"I love him."

Tucker froze as his eyes went wide. He'd figured out long ago that there was more than platonic feelings between the pair, but love? Love was something he hadn't expected. Grif however didn't seem to notice that he had divulged his deepest secret.

There was silence for a few seconds before Tucker's brain caught up with him, "Dude, you love Simmons? Like love, love?"

Grif's mind finally caught up as he registered what Tucker said, "Uhh, yeah." He replied quietly.

Before more could be said Donut came bursting out of the hospital door. "Oh hey guys. Hope you haven't been here too long. Things are getting really complicated. Dr. Grey just kicked me out but I think it was to get Doc..." Donut began rambling. "Shut up Donut." Tucker and Grif exclaimed together.

"How's Simmons?" Grif asked, nervousness evident in his voice. "Well he's still in surgery. His cybernetic upgrade back in Blood Gulch is making the surgery a little bit more tricky than Dr. Grey is used to, so they're trying to upgrade his cybernetic parts. Won't that be cool? It'll be like Simmons 3.0..." Donut replied. Grif took a deep breath and interrupted the pink, sorry lightish-red, soldier, "Donut I really do not want to deal with your rambling right now. Go find Doc and talk his ears off."

"Okey dokey. I'm sure Simmons will be fine. See ya later." Donut answered as he waved at the pair before leaving them alone again.

Grif had gone stiff at the news that Simmons' surgery had been complicated by what Sarge had done to him in Blood Gulch. Guilt ran through him as he thought about how he had most of Simmons' internal organs and some of the guy's skin. What he wouldn't give to give it all back and make sure the maroon soldier was okay.

The orange solider was brought back to reality as Tucker laid a hand on his shoulder. Taking a deep breath he began to shake.

"I can't lose him."

Tucker barely heard the whispered phrase before Grif moved over to the seating next to the door. The aqua soldier sat down to say something but it seemed Grif wasn't done and had remained standing..

"He can't die. He just can't. He doesn't get to leave me on my fucking own! Why did I have to fall in love with that loser?!" He said with increasing anger not realising that he had begun to yell.

"Woah dude. Maybe you need to calm down." Tucker realised as soon as he said it that it was the wrong thing to say.

"Calm down! Why would I do that?! Hargrove attacks Chorus, we deal with it even though its not our fucking business. And now the love of my life may potentially die. I swear if Simmons makes it out of surgery he owes me a lifetime supply of oreos." Grif said angry at Simmons, Hargrove, Chorus and the situation.

Plus he now really wanted some oreos.

He picked up his helmet from the chair and sat down. He released a shaky breath trying to calm himself down. With his helmet in his hands Grif was again unaware of what he was revealing to the aqua soldier in his emotion fuelled rants.

Tucker sat back and leaned his head against the wall. 'This is way too much for me. I don't do emotion. Why do people always try to talk to me about the emotional stuff?' He thought feeling overwhelmed with the information overload.

Grif, on the other hand, was concentrating on not having a breakdown.

Silence reigned between the two men. The tension in the corridor was thick enough to cut with a knife.

Neither man was aware of how much time had passed when Grey came through the door.

The two men looked up at the young doctor.

"Oh hi. Simmons' surgery went a-okay with only some complications. But I was able to fix those by replacing some of those old cybernetics with some of my own. He's currently resting but you should be able to see him soon. He's in room 1." She said, her high pitched voice sending an unpleasant shiver up the two men's backs.

And with that the young doctor left.

Silence won out again but this time it wasn't so crushing. Both men let out a sigh of relief that Simmons had made it. Tucker rested his head back against the wall while Grif let his shoulders fall as he slumped forward.

To a passer-by it would look like Grif had fallen asleep but Tucker could see the tears collecting on his eyelashes. Grif let out another sigh as he rose from his seat and put his helmet back on.

The orange soldier hesitated and Tucker couldn't help but smile to himself.

"Dude, go and see him. I'll drop by later after letting everyone know that he made it out of surgery." Tucker said as he placed a hand on Grif's shoulder before walking away.

A couple of hours later Tucker dropped by Simmons' room and to no-one's surprise he found Grif seated in the chair next to Simmons' bed. Again sans helmet.

"Hey!" Tucker called as he threw something at Grif. Grif caught the object more on reflex than anything before looking down and seeing just what it was that Tucker had thrown at him.

A packet of oreos.

He looked up at the aqua soldier with a mix of bewilderment and gratitude. "Dude, you are a fucking life-saver. Where did you even find these?" He asked as he stuffed one into his mouth.

"Does it matter? Just know that you owe me for those. Big time." Tucker answered as he moved to stand beside Grif.

"So...how is he?" Tucker asked. The mood in the room becoming sombre. Grif ate another oreo, the packet already half eaten before he answered, "Don't know. He hasn't woken up yet." A moment of silence stretched between the two before being disturbed by Tucker.

"You ever gonna tell him how you feel about him?" The question slipping out before he could stop himself. Grif's head shot up to look at him, "Dude you have the worst fucking timing for questions ever?" Tucker looked at Grif, "Yeah its a gift. But don't change the subject. When are you gonna tell him you love him?"

At that Grif stood up abruptly and pushed Tucker to the other side of the room. "Could you not say shit like that out loud and around Simmons." Grif said before taking a deep breath, "Look Simmons and I have a system. It's shitty and fucked up all kinds of ways but its ours. I don't intend to do anything that could ruin it. I like it exactly like it is."

"Dude don't you want him though? Kinda goes with the whole being in love territory." Tucker asked. Grif shook his head, "Yes I do but I also like what we have at the moment and I am not going to be the one to ruin it." Stating it as if it was obvious.

Tucker narrowed his eyes at the orange soldier as questions raced through his mind. 'Damn they're more fucked up than I realised.' He thought as he sighed and moved away from Grif.

"Whatever. Just don't expect me to listen to you drunkenly go on about how much you want him because I now know how you feel about him." Tucker said as he walked towards the door.

Grif chuckled as he took his seat next to Simmons again. "Dude don't worry about it. You won't hear a thing from me." The mood in the room more jovial and similar to the pair. Both having tired of the sombre mood.

Tucker hovered by the doorway and watched as Grif stuffed more oreos into his mouth as his hand gripped Simmons' which laid still on the bed. He wondered just how long it was that Grif had felt that way about Simmons and said nothing.

It was at that moment when Simmons began to come back to consciousness. It took a few minutes but Simmons eventually opened his eyes. But not before groaning about the pain he was in. Grif stood up and their usual banter began again.

Looking at the two of them Tucker realised why Grif never said anything to Simmons. He believed that his feelings were unrequited. 'Idiots, the pair of them!' he thought. Seeing the two of them now it was obvious that there was more than platonic feelings between the two. He honestly had no idea how the two even functioned when their feelings were so obvious. 'Apparently obvious to everyone but them. My god what a fucking cliché.' He thought as he smiled and turned to walk away from the, quite frankly nauseating, scene.

A part of Tucker just wished that someone could find some happiness in the fucked up world that they lived in. Heaven's knows they deserve it.

Reviews welcome