M21 cursed himself. He should have noticed. The signs were all there. M24 being quiet and fidgety since morning, and the fine sheen of sweat on his forehead that he had attributed to the weather. He knew M24′s insecurity and his desperation to rid him of the leash tying them to the Union. He was aware M24 could do something foolish like neglect his medication in a vane attempt to eliminate his over dependence on them. Yet he had been so oblivious.
Or it would be correct to say that he was just too concerned about this current mission to give anything else much thought. Union had thrown them in this area riddled with enemies much more powerful with next to no resources. M21′s anger had been at bubbling point, he was sure if they didn't make their stop short here this would be their last mission. Neither death nor a journey back to labs were acceptable solutions for him right now.
So M21 had just wanted to finish the mission, take M24 and get away from this godforsaken place. He was focused so much on this goal that he completely ignored M24s symptoms until it was too late. Guilt and concern twisted his insides.
And to their good luck, the strongest attack hit M24 just when they were in middle of a fight. M21 had heard a hacking cough and whipped his head around, ready to jump in and cover M24 thinking that he lost his fight. Only to see both his comrade and the opposition down on the ground. Enemy dead, clearly by M24′s hand and M24 twisting on the ground all on his own.
M21 didn't need even a second to recognize the withdrawal symptoms of the medication they had been forcing down their throats daily and was momentarily distracted enough for the enemy's attack to land on him.
Shit! He scrambled back and put up a defensive arm just in time to avoid injury to his vital organs. His heart was saved but the blade cute deep into arm instead.
M21 hissed in pain, and realized it wasn't his reflexes, but the timely intervention of M24s mind control making his opponent a split second too slow that had allowed him to get away.
Not to be undone by the injury and not wasting a second, M21 took full advantage of the momentarily respite provided by his ailing friend and rushed forward. Sharp nails sprouted up and a single well aimed swipe to the neck was all that was needed to dispose of the enemy.
Phew. M21 slid down the ground at the same time the enemy did, exhausted by the battle. He could already feel the injury stinging by what he presumed was enemy's poison.
Still his foremost worry was M24, who despite being in worst situation had stepped in to help him. He forced himself on his feat and ran to his friend and started rummaging around his jacket for medication.
In M24s condition, his bulky body wasn't exactly easy to navigate however, and M21 had to bodily haul himself on his friends back to reach his chest pocket. This position unfortunately also meant that M21 couldn't quite dodge M24s flailing arms, and while it took some heavy hits to his face, he eventually managed to find the medicine in a hidden pocket. He kept running circles on M24′s back and neck to ease the swallowing and avoid the pills getting lodged in his windpipe and create another problem.
There! He did it.
The effect was instantaneous and M24 stopped withering. He was still twitching some and it would take a few minutes to stop, but the worst had passed. M21 almost sagged in relief.
The danger was far from over however. The stinging wound on his own arm was throbbing wildly and needing attention. He quickly went about tying knots at each end to avoid the poison from spreading. It took him no more than a few seconds to slash himself wider and suck all the poison out, but he had all his nerves standing at their wits end in frustration and alert during this short duration.
In just a few minutes the local security would be there. Exposing signs that could lead to the Union were strictly prohibited, so he very much wished to get rid of opponents bodies. But he didn't have much time left before the guards would catch up to them. M21 furiously ran his brain, still dizzy and weak from the poison in his system, but there simply was no option. M24 came first. If push comes to shove he'd just try to take all the blame on himself, so M24 atleast remained safe.
He could already hear the police sirens at some distance and without further ado he jumped up to his comrades side to collect him.
Damnit. It would have been so much easier had M24 been less wide. He could have just slung him on the uninjured shoulder and put on his long coat to avoid anyone noticing. Much like M24 had done with his body the few times they'd lost with him out cold and made a dash for it, but that was not a possibility here.
He sighed and grabbed M24 under both shoulders and began dragging the bulky body backwards fast, as much as he could in his condition and disappeared around the dirty alley before anyone could arrive at the scene.
He dragged him all the way down the alley, into the nearby bushes to the abandoned houses a mile from their attacker's spot, right up to the empty steel warehouse they had been using as their temporary residence. He was wheezing in exertion by the time he had arrived at this destination. The after effects of the injuries and poison in his system were doing their job well.
Dumping M24 on his back in the middle of warehouse, he hastily went back to the door and closed it tight. Only the narrow splits in the walls their source of sunlight. He peeked out the slits at ready. He had been careful not to let his blood fall to the ground. But each step of the guards in his direction made him less sure. A few tense minutes and the guard dogs moved in the opposite direction.
Immediate danger out of the way, M21 whirled back to M24 to check his condition.
M24 was still, but his chest rose up and down steadily which gave M21 the indication that he was on time. The medicine had worked and M24 was safe. Only then M21 released the breath he had been holding in for a little too long.
He would give M24 a piece of his mind later on his foolishness, but right then all he could do was smile and sigh in relief noticing M24s light snoring confirming he was alive. As adrenaline left M21, the pain in his arm started becoming more apparent. Not that he could have done anything but to wait it out. They had to spend the next few days hidden in this warehouse till the situation outside had calmed down.
Already drowsy, he knew that they'll be in trouble with the Union later anyway, but now was not the time to think about it.
M21 took his long coat off and gave it a tug to rid off any dust and then carefully covered it over his sleeping comrade. Then he laid down and rolled himself into the smallest possible ball beside M24 burrowing under the same makeshift blanket.
He squeezed M24′s sleeve in his hand to wake up in case he stirred, or attempted to leave alone in another of his misguided attempts to relief M21.
Because he should know that as long as they had each other by their side, they would be alright, and M21 dozed off himself.
Authros Note: Written for tumbler Noblesse summer event. Prompt: Concerned.
I just love M21 and M24 relationship, their explored and unexplored past. This whole fic was meant to be payed off by M21 hauling and sleeping besides M24. Its taken from a response I saw on a site asking whats the most romantic thing your partner ever did for you? To which a reply was that his half sized girlfriend hauled his drunken ass all the way to the living room, then put blanket on him and even curled up sleeping on the floor with him all night. The guy married this girl he was so touched. lol+sweet! I see M21 M24 as bromantic (I was so tempted to name fic bromance) but scenario still fits.
And it did felt odd to keep focus on M21, 24s plight when two others had just lost their lives at their hands. But to avoid this ive canonized (fanonized?) those 2 were evil like Shark and Jake so rest assured.