Title: Death Defying
Author: an-alternate-world
Rating: T
Characters/Pairing: Blaine Anderson/Sebastian Smythe/Barry Allen (aka: 'Nightflashtian')
Word Count: 998
Summary: [Six Hands, Three Hearts 'verse] The official story was a 'car accident', something easy for Sebastian - with his lack of knowledge about metahumans - to accept. The unofficial story was a ball of flame shredding his left wing, leaving him plummeting to the ground and shattering his bones. Barry knows he should have been there as The Flash to protect his Nightbird.
Warnings/Spoilers: None for this drabble.
Disclaimer: I am in no way associated with Glee, FOX, Ryan Murphy, The Flash, The CW, DC Comics or anything else related to the universe.
Anonymous prompted a fic which included the sentence: "I thought you were dead."
Author's Note: This had previously been posted as part of the drabble collection, 'The Secrets We Keep' and is being reposted as part of the "Six Hands, Three Hearts" 'verse.
His left side radiates with pain as he stirs awake. He's incredibly groggy, he has a headache the size of Jupiter, and his tongue feels swollen and wrapped in cotton wool. A quiet groan slips past his lips as he tries to shift into some sort of position that's more comfortable but that just makes pain flare, white hot, through his body and he hisses and falls still.
"Blaine?" Fingers wrap around his right hand, squeezing gently, and his breathing catches at the familiar cadence of Sebastian's voice. He tries to tilt his head towards it, cracking his eyes open a fraction as light threatens to burn his retinas.
"S-S-S-" He manages, weak at best, but he catches a faint glimmer of Sebastian's hopeful smile before the light turns down and some of the pain in his head recedes. He releases a breath and Sebastian's thumb rubs against his knuckles, slow and steady. A chair scrapes closer to the hospital bed and he struggles to open his eyes further.
"Hey." Barry sits at eye level, his hand lingering against Blaine's bicep. There are dark circles beneath his eyes and Blaine wonders how long he's been out and what the injuries he's sustained are. Barry's never been as good as concealing his concern as Sebastian.
Barry holds out a small cup of water with a bendy straw and he lowers his jaw, lips parting, soaking in water when the straw presses between his teeth. It's cool and wet, soothing the dry feeling that permeates his entire mouth. It feels as though he revitalises with the small sips of water, like a drooping flower that starts to straighten up again. Some of the fogginess in his head fades but when Barry pulls away the cup, he also feels completely drained.
His eyes drift from Barry to Sebastian and his heart hurts when he sees the faint shine of tears on his face. With too much difficulty, he gets his fingers to curl against Sebastian's and is rewarded with a choked smile.
"I thought you were dead," Sebastian murmurs, rubbing his spare hand across his face before Barry reaches for it, guiding his brother to sit in his lap. It's easier for Blaine to see them when they're sitting so close together, easier to admire each of them and wish he was able to reach out and soothe all their worries away.
He squeezes Sebastian's hand with whatever strength he has and Sebastian raises his hand to his lips and kisses each of his knuckles, his eyes never straying from Blaine's, as if he'll look away for a moment and Blaine will slip back into whatever sleepy world he's been in.
"You were…hit by a car," Barry says, his tone cautious enough that Blaine's attention drifts to him. "The…um… The Flash found you."
Blaine's eyebrows furrow, trying to remember crossing a road and not looking, or a car coming out of nowhere and hitting him. There's an uncertainty in Barry's voice that makes him glad that it's too much effort to speak because he's got a thousand questions that he can't ask with Sebastian around. That he-
A fragment of what happened pierces his awareness and he can tell from Barry's reaction that the other male realises too. The approaching rush of concrete as he'd fallen- He tries to remember why he'd been falling but the only explanation he has is his wings failing.
Sebastian sniffles and both Blaine and Barry look at him, a mess of emotions because he remains in the dark. It's better for him, they both know it, but it doesn't make it any easier.
"Hey, can you get me a coffee?" Barry says, rubbing a hand down Sebastian's back as his brother nods and kisses Blaine's hand again. Blaine's eyes follow him out but the second the door clicks shut, his eyes snap back to Barry. "What do you remember, B?"
He swallows, his brows crinkling together. "F-Falling," he whispers, fingers curling against Barry's when his hand slides against Blaine's.
Barry nods with a sad smile, reaching out to brush a curl from Blaine's face, fingertips lingering against his cheek. "You took a fireball to the left wing which shredded it. You couldn't stop the fall and I- I should have been there."
Blaine attempts a smile that might offer some sort of comfort to the guilt that must be overwhelming Barry. If Barry had caught him, if Barry had been there, if Barry had gotten hurt, then there wouldn't be all these tears and this much fear on Sebastian and Barry's faces.
"I had to get you into normal clothes so your gear is stashed at S.T.A.R. Labs. The hit-by-a-car story is what the doctors at the hospital came up with to explain your injuries." Barry pauses and licks his lips. His eyes lower and Blaine feels his heart sink through the floor. "Most of your left side was in pieces. Caitlin's- She was most afraid of the damage you sustained to the side of your head but Cisco… He's not sure about the range of movement you'll have in your arm and leg once everything heals. I- I'm so sorry, Blaine…"
A tear leaks from the corner of Blaine's eye as he turns his head on the pillow, staring at the ceiling and struggling to take it all in. He can hear Barry's soft cries but he tries to hold it together. He has a feeling it will hurt too much to properly start sobbing.
Sebastian returns and Barry's fingers slip away to grasp the coffee, swiftly replaced by Sebastian's hand which isn't as warm but just as familiar. He hears the quiet murmurs of their voices but tunes them out, tunes everything out, and waits until enough morphine seeps into his bloodstream that all he can do is fade to sleep again and pretend none of this is happening because he tried to take on a metahuman on his own without Barry's backup.
~FIN~