Good day my faithful followers/readers! This is probably the first real slash story I've ever written, since those parts in Indestructible don't count because it's not supposed to be the main focus… But anyway, yes there is slash, major slash! If you don't know what slash is it means there's male x male relationships! Consider yourself warned, if you don't like the idea of it then don't read, I don't want any flames concerning the pairing because it's two guys! You can be harsh with your reviews if you want, so long as you explain what's wrong and how I can fix it, otherwise, keep it to yourself please! Enjoy the story! ^_^
Thanks for Reading, Fly High Aim Higher
~Spitfire out
Synopsis: Toad, Archer, and the rest of the 141 are stationed in Afghanistan when the unthinkable happens. The usually boisterous Christian "Toad" Williams becomes secluded when his partner and mentor, Ian "Archer" Richards, is severely wounded and Toad blames himself for it. Meanwhile, Archer is recovering quickly and both are discovering feelings that they didn't know they'd been trying to hide all this time are surfacing, and they are certainly coming in hot. Can the two expert marksmen remain stoic? Or will their walls crumble?
CH 1: Gone and Back Again
There was a deafening bang as Archer neared the solitary humvee. The vehicle went up in a mix of orange and red flame and Archer was thrown twenty meters back into a brick wall.
"Archer! Toad called, running toward the unmoving sniper, "Man down, man down!" he called over the radio.
Archer had landed on his stomach after being thrown into the wall. The old wall crumbled a bit from the force of him hitting it but no rubble had fallen from it.
As Toad got close, someone shot at the wall, causing several large chunks to fall. Two landed on Archer's back and left leg, making the man scream in pain.
Toad looked around quickly , hoping to catch the culprit. He saw a figure retreating from the scene with a rifle that had smoke coming from the muzzle. The figure was dressed in a black robe with a hood covering his head. Taliban… Why did they have to get sent to Afghanistan where the fucking Taliban was…
"Hey! Stop!" he yelled, running after the man.
Toad stopped, not wanting to leave the senior sniper behind. He went back to his injured partner. Archer was groaning loudly in pain as the rubble weighed down on him. Toad carefully pulled the stone chunks off of his partner, rolling the injured man to his back once he was clear of the debris.
"C-Chr-is-Chris-tian…" Archer struggled to get the name out in little more than a pained moan.
That's how Toad knew that shit had gotten serious, Archer never used names, just call-signs.
"Hang in there, mate! You're going to be okay, just stay awake!" Toad shouted in a panic.
"Toad!" Jayhawk yelled as he ran up, "Christ… What happened?" he asked, kneeling by Archer.
"IED threw him into the wall, someone shot it and it crumbled on top of him," Toad said quickly, the panic obvious as his voice trembled.
"Hey, calm down man, he's gonna be okay," Jay reassured, sliding the guile suit hood off of Archer's head.
Archer gave a small smile to Toad. A thick line of blood trickled from the right corner of his mouth.
"Y-yeah, C-Christ-tian… I'm okay…" Archer said quietly, straining to speak at all.
"Yeah, I said you're going to be okay, not you are," Jayhawk said, examining the burns on Archer's face, "Just take it easy, try to stay awake, mate…"
Archer didn't say anything after that and Toad restrained himself from panicking as Jay worked. There was a growing pool of blood spreading around Archer and he was looking paler by the second.
"Captain MacTavish," Jay said into the radio, "we need immediate exfil," he said quickly, "Archer's going Red," he added quietly so that neither sniper would hear the practically damning statement.
Red, short for Code Red. It was only called when someone was in critical condition and had little to no chance of survival.
"Solid copy, do what you can for now, scratch LZ points, we'll come to you, ETA five mikes," Tavish responded.
Jayhawk tilted Archer's head to the side, exposing his neck. He pushed the tip of a syringe through the tight skin and let the pain killers do their job. Then moving to inspect the jagged piece of shrapnel sticking out from below the right side of Archer's ribs.
"Relax, mate, exfil's coming, you're gonna be alright," Jay said quickly and quietly.
"I… know…" Archer responded weakly, "How'd I get… stuck on EOD… duty anyway…" Archer struggled to speak past the blood, he coughed and a bit of the red liquid came splashing out, "Damn IEDs…"
Archer's breath was heavy and labored and he was looking paler than could be healthy.
In the five minutes it took for the chopper to arrive, Jay tried to slow the bleeding.
"Just stay awake, Archer," Jay urged, "You can't rest yet!"
"I'm…trying…" Archer gasped in pain as Toad and Jay lifted him carefully and moved him into the chopper.
They laid Archer down on the floor of the chopper and the blood continued to spread. Archer could feel the coldness of blood loss consuming him and his eyes slid closed.
Archer forced his eyes open, realizing he wasn't going to make it back, they were too far from the base and he had already lost too much blood, "Chris," Archer said weakly, blood streaming from the corner of his mouth, "t-take… t-t-the…shot…"he struggled to say the simple three words as his grip on Toad's hand weakened.
"Ian! No, you're gonna be okay, man, wake up! Ian!" Toad shouted as his friend's eyes slipped closed again.
The snipers had always had a code between them. When the primary sniper was unable to make a shot or missed it, the spotter would take the shot in the primary's place. To Toad and Archer, 'Take the shot', meant 'Take over I'm finished'.
Toad was leaning over Archer's still body, gripping the older sniper's hand tightly, "Ian… wake up, please…"he begged quietly.
Jayhawk and MacTavish exchanged worried glances as Toad struggled to hold back the tears that were threatening to fall.
The rest of the ride was silent aside from Toad's hopeless urging Archer to wake up.
Somewhere along the way Archer had stopped breathing, causing Toad to panic and, after a little while of Jay's work that proved uneventful, break, letting the tears trail silently down his face.
Toad didn't even follow Jayhawk when he took Archer to med-bay. He just walked slowly back to his and Archer's shared room, avoiding everyone's glance and attempting no conversation with the guys that greeted him.
The next two months consisted of Toad drowning himself in alcohol, missing shots he should've easily hit during practice when he bothered to show up, being slow and unfocused during training, and rarely leaving his room otherwise.
MacTavish got the spare key to the sniper's room when Toad hadn't been seen for two days. He found Toad in the room, lying on his bunk, back towards the door, crying silently. He really thought Archer was gone but that was his own fault, he wouldn't listen to anyone when they tried to talk to him. Couldn't really blame him though, if it had been him and Ghost, he'd have the same reaction, they were best mates. 'Tavish closed the door quietly, locking it again, he had to do something.
He thought about it for a minute. Before crashing the first time Archer had spoken to Toad using his first name, no one had bothered to address Toad by either first or last name since Archer was moved to med-bay. He figured it was worth a shot and put the key in his pocket.
He knocked loudly on the door three times, "Christian!" he called, "Open the door mate."
A few seconds later, the door opened. The look on Toad's face gave away the fact that he hadn't slept in days and betrayed the depression he was trying to hide.
"There's something you need to see," MacTavish said, motioning for Toad to follow.
Toad did follow, albeit hesitantly. They stopped outside a door in the infirmary. Toad hadn't been paying much attention. He blamed himself for what happened to Archer, if he had been quicker maybe he'd still be here to tell him to stop fussing and practice.
"We didn't lose Archer," MacTavish said, facing the troubled sniper, "we tried to tell you earlier but you weren't listening to anyone, you barely even tuned into what Ghost was saying during training," a moment of silence ensued what he said, Toad just stared blankly at the door, not believing that Archer was in the room, "He's in there… hasn't woken up in a few weeks, he's okay."
Toad was somewhat comforted by the news but wouldn't believe it until he saw it. MacTavish left, leaving Toad on his own.
He opened the door carefully, stepping inside the small room.
To his disbelief, Toad saw Archer lying on the bed, the steady beeping of a heart rate monitor and the slow and steady rise and fall of his chest told Toad all he wanted to know. He told himself that he'd be there when Ian woke up.
Toad sat down in a chair by the bed. Archer had bandages wrapped around his whole torso, his right shoulder and arm, and the sheet bulged where his left leg had been wrapped. The thin sheet covered him waist down.
Toad couldn't help blaming himself for what happened. The way Archer looked so weak, Toad had never seen him like this. Of course Archer had been hurt before but never this bad. He could've stopped the Taliban guy, if only he had been more alert, he could've noticed the obvious wires of an IED and the suspicious man standing nearby.
Toad was so caught up in his thoughts that he almost didn't notice Archer's small groan… almost. Toad stood quickly, gently taking Archer's left hand in his right.
"Ian!" Toad called happily as Archer slowly blinked his eyes open, "I…uh…I-it's good to see that you're okay," Toad stammered quickly, unreasonably nervous.
"Good to see you too, Christian," Archer said with a small smile, noticing that Toad was still holding his hand but said nothing of it, "You seem nervous, mate."
"On the chopper… you don't remember what you said?" Toad asked; Archer just shook his head, "Y-you told me to… take the shot…" Toad said with a slight tremble in his voice.
"Well, I don't know what I was thinking but obviously, I wasn't in my right mind," Archer said confidently, gently squeezing Toad's hand as if to give assurance that he was okay.
Toad flushed a little at the gesture, "Y-yeah, I guess…"
"You lost it, didn't you?" Archer asked knowingly.
Toad sighed in defeat, he couldn't hide anything from the observant eyes of his mentor, "Yeah… I lost it…"
"I can tell you've been losing sleep, Christian," he pointed out.
"It's nothing, Ian, don't worry about it," Toad said quickly, rubbing his tired eyes with the back of his free hand.
"Chris, I need to know, if something happens to me, that you'll be able to keep going, without shutting out the world," Archer said steadily, holding Toad's gaze, "Promise me you won't lose yourself again?"
Toad nodded, "I promise, Ian, I won't lose it again," he said quietly, knowing the sniper would want to hear him say it instead of just agreeing.
"Good," Archer said with a swift nod, "Now, you need to get some sleep."
Toad gave a small smile, "Okay, I will," Toad answered, hesitant to let go of Archer's hand, "I'll… see you later…" he added, still not letting go.
Neither of them wanted to let go of the other's hand. They both flushed, noticing each other's hesitation and Toad slowly left the room, leaving Archer to his thoughts.
Now that Toad was gone Archer felt colder. He gave a sigh, somewhat satisfied that at least Toad was going to get some sleep.
When Toad got back to the room it didn't feel as empty, now that he knew Archer would be coming back.
Toad sat down on his bunk and thought for a bit. His hand felt cold after he let go of Archer's hand. He wondered if the senior sniper had felt the same way. Toad was soon asleep with these thoughts.
He woke up at 0600. He had to report for training, along with the rest of the task force, before he could go see Archer.
They were going to run the pit first, "Toad! You're up!" Ghost yelled.
Toad snapped from parade rest to attention and jogged towards the start after equipping an Intervention and M9.
When the buzzer sounded he took off at a run, shooting every target almost perfectly and reloading quickly as he kept moving.
"Good," Ghost said when Toad finished, "Looks like you're back in the game."
Toad gave a nod and got back on the line. Everyone ran the course and when they were done they moved to sparing drills.
When they finally finished training for the day it was noon. Toad ate and decided he'd wait a bit before seeing Archer, taking a rest in the mean time.
He woke up about an hour later and went to the infirmary to check on his friend.
"Hey, Archer," Toad greeted as he walked in.
Again, he hadn't paid attention, just followed the route he knew 'Tavish had taken to find the room.
"Hey, did Ghost give you hell in training?" Archer responded, he was now sitting up with the sheet at his waist.
"Yeah," Toad answered with a laugh, "Got my ass kicked by Roach."
Archer laughed a little, "You never could fight worth a damn," Archer joked, "How's your shooting?"
"Same as it was before you got your ass kicked by an IED," Toad quipped.
"Oh, ouch!" Archer responded with a laugh.
They both laughed for a while. This was a new side of the stoic Archer, he never joked or laughed this much. Toad liked this change though, it was good to see his friend laughing and smiling.
"You're looking better," Toad commented when their laughter died down.
"Yeah, doesn't hurt as bad," Archer replied, "Might even get out soon," he added hopefully.
"That'd be good," Toad responded, standing right next to Archer, subconsciously taking the injured man's hand in his own.
It felt good to Archer, to be able to feel his friend's strong hand, he knew the same went for Toad, it was written all over his face.
"Yeah, it would," Archer said quietly, "What about you? Looking better than you did yesterday."
Toad gave a small smile, "Yeah, I'm good."
They were silent for a while. Toad flushed under Archer's gaze.
"Y'know, mate," Archer said quietly, "You're pretty obvious…" Toad flushed a deeper red and Archer smiled, "Don't worry mate," he comforted, gently squeezing Toad's hand, "I'm taking the shot."
They both smiled at each other.
"We've been partners since we were picked for the 141," Toad pointed out.
"We were together before we even decided to enlist together," Archer added with a chuckle.
"Yeah, I remember how we met too," Toad responded with a small laugh.
"Yeah, so do I," Archer said fondly.
"You were that one scrawny nerd and I was the jockey prankster," Toad said, smiling.
"Biggest prank of the year was on me," Archer continued.
"Girliest fuckin' scream ever," Toad laughed.
"Hey! You'd have screamed too if you got bit there! Especially by a damn snake!" Archer defended, laughing as well.
Toad laughed, "Still not sure how I pulled it off. Lucky for you the snake wasn't poisonous."
"Yeah but I still hunted your jockey ass down!" Archer replied.
"Who knew a scrawny little nerd could hit so damn hard?" he commented, still laughing, "And it somehow led to us being friends."
"Yeah, then you got me hooked on air soft. I was the best shot there and you had me teach you how to shoot as well as I could," Archer continued with a smile, "then we decided to enlist together and both became snipers cause I taught you so well."
They both laughed at the memory for a while. Doc walked in soon after they had stopped and they quickly let go of each other's hands.
Doc greeted Toad who responded with a smile. Archer seemed partly annoyed.
Doc tilted Archer's head to the side a little and injected him with something.
"Toad, while you're here, you could help me with something," Doc said after asking Archer a couple questions.
"Sure," Toad shrugged.
Archer rolled his eyes, "Here we go again…"
"I can't hold him up, but I need to see you much weight he can put on his left leg. I usually get Jay to do it, but he's off doing something or another," Doc explained.
Toad nodded in understanding and positioned himself to help Archer up and to his feet. Toad carefully lifted Archer, careful of his chest and right arm.
Once Archer was up with his weight on Toad and his right foot, he began carefully putting a little weight on his left. When he had almost all of his weight on his left foot it starting hurting and he winced. Toad took the weight he had been putting down.
"Alright, Archer, that's enough," Doc said, writing something down on his clipboard, "Another day or two and you should be good to go. Assuming Toad stays with you in case something happens."
Toad carefully set Archer down on the bed again, smiling at the news that he'd have to stay with Archer at all times. Okay, maybe that was a bit excessive, but still, he'd be there if Archer needed him and he didn't plan on being anywhere else.
When Archer had gotten situated Doc checked his chest, arm and shoulder, writing things down along the way.
"Alright, everything checks out. In the mean time, Archer, try to get some rest," Doc suggested as he left the two sharpshooters alone.
Toad instantly took Archer's left hand again, "What was all that about? Thought after two months you'd be walking," Toad asked.
"Still waiting for a few fractures to heal, Doc's been worried about them for some reason," Archer explained.
Toad sat in the chair next to Archer, still holding his hand.
They stared into each other's eyes, faces only inches apart, and, without either noticing, getting closer. Their lips brushed before Toad captured Archer's mouth in his.
Archer, surprised by the sudden and passionate kiss, froze but was quick to return it. Nothing mattered to the two at that moment, the entire task force could be watching and they wouldn't notice. The only two that existed in that moment were the two snipers. The kiss only ended because they needed a breath. Their foreheads were pressed together.
"I-I should let you…" Toad started but never finished on account of Archer silencing him with another passionate kiss.
"Stay?" Archer asked simply when the kiss ended.
Toad just nodded slowly, their foreheads still pressed together.
"I love you, Ian," Toad said quietly.
"Love you too, Chris," Archer responded.
Nothing else was said. Toad soon fell asleep next to Archer. Archer fell asleep soon after.
Well there it is, my friends, the first chapter of my first 'Acceptance Fic': Stoic. Please let me know what you think in the form of either a PM or a review, it is very important to me that I get any response at all; I can only improve if you guys review! The first chapter was originally supposed to be both one and two but I decided to break it up so I could post it faster, Chapter Two will be out as soon as I get off my lazy ass and type it up!
Thanks for Reading, Fly High Aim Higher
~Spitfire out