As Long as I can Stay

Scientist!Sirius

Thanks to Em for betaing

I am considering this idea as a longer fic - maybe even a Multi-chapter exploring the world. If you'd like this, let me know.

Sirius carefully examined the blood-work of one of the girls from floor seventeen. She had been working on some plants that she had made grow in the dark of the rooms, but had collapsed. Sirius suspected that it was spores. The air they breathed was a struggle for the body still, even with the filters that cleaned the air as it came in… but adding in the unknown effects of the plants, well, he had warned them that they would need to introduce themselves slowly to the change.

Marlene had been too eager with her work, losing track of her one hour allocation to the plot. She had been the last shift that night, sticking around for six hours instead as she documented the plants.

Sirius' job in the bunker was to examine any changes that happened. He was working with the girls on their project to introduce a strawberry plant to the bunker, and had been the one to set the strict schedule. The girls had other plants to work with, but the strawberry one was new. Each person from floor seventeen had one to two hours with the plant.

He also covered the doctor when she wasn't well. Lily had been suffering some migraines after having to help others on floor twenty-three. The travelling between floors and change of air and lights had taken a bit of a toll on her. Sirius could understand—he felt the same way, though he knew the previous doctor hadn't suffered. It was something they needed to adjust to.

After asking Marlene to come back the next morning and ignoring her pout, Sirius shut up the office and began to head back to his lab. He was just opening the door when he heard the alarm.

There had never been a record of that alarm going off before. Well, not in his lifetime. Maybe in the earlier generations with the bunker back when there were people trying to break in to raid the place… but now, they never had to worry about that.

Radiation had killed off anyone outside of the bunker and the few scouts that went out never saw a single sign of life, though they had procured various seeds. But apart from plant-life, there was nothing.

And Sirius knew the scouts had returned two days prior, which meant that someone or something was trying to get into the bunker.

...oOo…

He pulled on his radiation suit before rushing towards the isolation chamber at the entrance. It was the sealed room where people had to be checked for radiation after coming into the place, which kept everyone else safe. Sirius usually dealt with radiation damage in his lab.

In front of him stood many of the enforcers in the bunker, led by the scouts: the ones trained to fight and shoot. Someone stepped forward to click the lock open and the click of many guns echoed through the room.

"Why are you opening it?"

"If we don't, they may break it down," Frank whispered from his side. "Then we're open to other lifeforms out there. After all, if there's one, there could be more. We don't want to lose the door security."

Sirius nodded, realising it made sense. He watched the door move slowly, before a single figure appeared, wearing a less advanced version of their radiation suit.

The man stopped in front of them, frozen. He slowly raised his arms from around his body, showing that he was unarmed. Though as he let go of his side, blood was revealed showing through his suit. The man—his hands shaking— slowly brought them down around his body again, trying to put pressure on the wound.

Sirius pushed through the crowds with the scanner, shoving people out of the way. He had a job to do and this man clearly wasn't a threat.

"What attacked you?" he asked, waving the scanner from the man's head and slowly bringing it down his body.

"There were ten of us in my bunker and they're all dead."

Sirius froze for a moment before coming to his senses. There were other bunkers? He would ask later. "Been out long?" He would re-ask the stranger what attacked him later, as he didn't seem to be fully able to answer in his condition.

"Few hours. Grabbed anti-radiation on my way out, but it probably wore off. I was hoping to just find somewhere safe. I didn't realise that there were others…"

"We didn't either," Sirius admitted. "Radiation, but not too high. We can walk you through to my lab and I'll patch you up."

"I can do it myself, just give me…"

"No, I'm going to fix you up. What's your name?"

"Remus," the man murmured, his legs barely keeping him up. Sirius grabbed Remus on his other side, away from the wound and began to lead him through the people who were lowering their guns.

"Mate, what's happening?"

"He was attacked by something. I suggest we check out how strong the door is and see if we can get cameras or alarms set up if anything approaches. There are other bunkers out there, James."

"Other bunkers?" James' eyes widened. "I'll speak to Moody, I'm sure he'll be along to see you soon."

Sirius nodded, not paying attention as his friend ran away.

Sirius' lab was on the top floor and he carefully helped Remus onto the examination bed. "I'll need to cut you out of that suit," he said.

The man nodded, trying to stay still as Sirius grabbed some anti-radiation tablets and swallowed them down before approaching him. A mask was slipped over Sirius' mouth and he grabbed some scissors and began to cut at the suit.

Below the suit was a slim body wearing a cardigan and some jeans in a style Sirius had never seen before. He turned his attention away from the man's body and began to look at the wound.

"Can I take the helmet off?" Remus asked.

Sirius nodded. "Sure. I'm going to have to stitch you up. It's a nasty wound. What happened?"

"Raiders," Remus murmured, his voice clearer without the helmet on. "A bomb of some sort. I wasn't too close, but it still threw me. I don't know what I hit, but they were still there when I came too. I knew I'd be dead if I stayed, so I left. If they survived out there, then maybe I could find a way too? I thought this would be abandoned. I was just looking for medical supplies."

"Medical supplies?" The man groaned in pain as Sirius cleaned the wound as best he could, trying to take off the dried blood from around Remus' skin.

"I was the doctor back in my base," Remus said.

Sirius turned his head, finally looking up towards Remus' face. They only had one doctor on base instead of two and being the stand-in interfered with Sirius' work. Maybe they'd let Remus stay. The words stuck in his throat however as he finally met the man's eyes. Beautiful amber looked back at him.

Suddenly Sirius understood what James had talked about before, stating that he had just looked at Lily one day and fallen in love. He had scoffed back then, but now… now he was looking at a stranger and feeling the same.

"Hi," Remus whispered nervously.

Sirius smiled warmly. "Hi yourself. I'm Sirius. I'll… I'll make sure you're okay, Remus. I'll see if they'll let you stay."

"If you do, I'll owe you my life." Remus looked just as taken as Sirius and reached out his hand, brushing Sirius' for a moment. He made to pull away as his eyes widened and he realised his actions.

Sirius turned his hand, grabbing Remus'. "You won't owe me anything," he insisted. "But maybe you can choose to stick around. I'd like to get to know you better."

"Me too," Remus admitted, wincing as Sirius pulled his hand away and returned to Remus' wound.

"This will hurt," he said as he began to prepare Remus for the stitches.

"A little pain to save my life? I can survive."

"I do have to warn you that I'll have to do things like blood tests. I need to study you and make sure you can survive here. Where you lived might be different."

"Anything as long as I can stay."

Review please :)

Thanks to those that reviewed my Writer!Sirius fic. I had felt disheartened, but the response was wonderful and it gave me confidence in my work again. Knowing you all enjoy it means a lot to me. :)