Written for:
Medieval & Renaissance Studies - Task 5 - Soldier!AU
Race to the Top of Mount Potter - Day 8: huddling together for warmth
Written for the Picture Perfect Challenge on the Challenges & Chill Forum
this is the very first page
In the midst of an unknown attack on the country, people evacuate to the underground. Remus is lucky enough to catch the attention of one of the soldiers. Wolfstar.
Remus can barely manage the stairs. His mother has an iron-tight grip on his arm, and if he wanted to fall down them, he couldn't. He's sandwiched between people in each direction. There's a wall of people preventing him from falling.
He can't breathe. As much as people are rushing, the crowd is moving slower than Remus thinks it should be.
"Hospital on the left," they hear someone shout. A man in an orange hi-vis vest is waving people towards different platforms. "Hospital and Medics - and anyone who can help, to the left. Families or those with children or elderly… or vulnerable, to the right. Everyone else, go straight."
It's one of the main stations. Remus isn't even sure which one. The escalators aren't moving, and it's two of the four escalators and a wide staircase all full of people trying to get down to the bottom floor. So many people are moving in the same direction, but all pushing and shoving because of the utter fear up above.
Remus has seen soldiers carrying people who can't get down the stairs. That's what the third and fourth is for. Men and women carrying buggies. Pregnant women who can't handle being pushed and shoved. People with crutches. Everyone else has to handle the blind panic. People have tried to push their way on, but the soldiers have guns, and are clearly not afraid to use them.
There was blood on the floor when Remus got here from the hospital next door. People don't need to be told twice when the soldiers standing guard are diverting them.
"Aliens", the news says.
"Nuclear attack from another country," another headline on another channel proclaims. No-one actually knows the truth. All they know is that every channel is telling them to do one of two things.
Get underground, or get somewhere encased in metal. Every building has been evacuated. The hospital basement is reserved for all of the new-born babies and the mothers. Women in labour. The people who can't be moved from the hospital. A handful of medical staff remain behind, but the rest of them are moving.
Remus feels dizzy. His vision has black edges. He can barely focus, but he's forcing himself to stay awake, to manage until they get down as far as they can go. They're almost there.
He blacks out almost, just for a second, as they hit the last step, and he stumbles forward into one of the soldiers. The man grabs him, steadying him.
"You alright, mate?" the man asks. Remus has never actually met a soldier before and the man sounds a lot more posh than Remus expects.
"We're from the hospital," Hope explains softly. "He'll be fine once we're sitting down."
"Let me help you." Remus feels his arm being pulled over the man's shoulders and he's led down to the left. "Either of you get hurt in the panic?"
"A few bumps, but we'll survive," Hope replies, trying her hardest to sound calm. Remus knows this voice. It's the panicked voice where Hope pretends all is well. He heard it a lot when things weren't good between her and Remus' dad. He heard it when Remus' dad left. When Remus got diagnosed. In fact, a lot of that stuff happened in the same couple of years. He hates that voice.
"Well, I'll come back and check on you," the soldier says. "I'm Sirius. Name, not emotion."
"Hope, and my son, Remus," Hope says. "What's happening up there?"
Sirius is quiet for a long moment. They reach the platform and he leads them up the train to the first carriage, where another soldier is waiting, gun in hand.
"James, he's got a temperature. Get my brother to keep an eye on him, yeah?"
James nods. "You want him in the first carriage?"
"Yeah. It's just the two of them," Sirius says. "Okay, James has you from here. I gotta get back out there. It's a rush, everyone is panicking… but there's still troublemakers and we're needed."
He passes Remus over to James, and Remus stumbles his way onto the train and James leads him towards some of the seats.
"Reg, your brother specifically asked for you to watch over this one," James says.
"Close the doors!" someone roars. "Close the doors."
"What good will that do?" another shouts. "They said underground."
"Double defence. Surrounded by metal," comes a different shout.
"There's no power."
People shout and Remus is startled out of his sleep from the noise. He looks around and soldiers are pacing around, attempting to calm people down.
"Radios have gone dead." Another soldier comes running. "It's happening. We're in for a long night tonight. Men, with me."
The soldiers start moving again, and a blanket is placed on Remus' lap. He glances up, and, well, soldiers tended to be gorgeous, and this man was no exception to that. Stormy-grey eyes, with high-cheekbones and a jaw-dropping smile. Dark curls fall around his ears, though the rest are hastily pulled back.
"Are soldiers even allowed hair that long?" Remus asks.
The man laughs softly. "No, we're really not. I keep getting in trouble," he says. "Glad you like it though. What was your name again? Remus?"
"Have we… met?" Remus checks.
"Forgotten me already?" The man's smile gives away that he's joking. "And I thought we really hit it off when I got you on the train earlier."
"Oh. That… that was you? I'm sorry. My health… sorry."
"Don't apologise for being unwell. But hopefully this time I've made a more lasting impression. I'm Sirius, one of the soldiers at your beck and call for tonight - until things… I don't honestly know… and maybe after that, if I'm lucky." He winks at Remus before continuing around the carriage, handing out blankets.
Another guard follows with bottles of water and bags of sandwiches and snacks that look like they were hastily grabbed, regardless of type and flavour.
"Anything you like. It'd be good if it's meat or fish or… well, anything that other people could be allergic to," the guy says.
"Any tuna?" Remus checks.
He's handed a tuna sandwich and Hope takes a ham one and they're handed other snacks from the bag, and Remus unfolds the blanket, wrapping it around himself. It's cold on the train and he's actually quite terrified.
He listens to the soldiers shouting to each other, and though he wants to go back to sleep, he doesn't. He's cold and scared, and he doesn't want to leave his mum alone.
Everyone has settled for the night. People wrap themselves in the blankets, and the soldiers are patrolling in small numbers, just checking on people. No one is going upstairs until they're signalled and Hope is crocheting whilst talking to one of the other women in the next set of seats, and Remus is glad that she brought her wool and hooks along as something to do at the hospital when visiting him. It'll distract her and give her something to do.
Sirius, James and a man called Peter take the vacant seats, and Sirius does the introductions. Peter pulls out a deck of cards. "I've just finished my shift for the night and can relax," Sirius says. "Today has been exhausting."
"My shift isn't for an hour, how about we pass the time a bit?"
"How about it, Remus? Up for some strip poker?" Sirius asks.
"It's cold, you prat," James says. "Aren't you freezing?"
Sirius gives Remus a wink. "Maybe I just wanna get someone out of their clothes."
Remus can't stop his cheeks from going red. "If we survive this, you'll get the chance," he says, stumbling over his words a little as he does, because is he really flirting with a gorgeous soldier?
"Deal!" Sirius' grin widens. "Probably best not to strip right now. I don't want you to get even more ill." He nudges Remus with his shoulder. "So… what should we play first? Also, you're single, right? Interested in blokes?"
"Uh… anything, yes and yes."
"Great. Me too!" He leans in closer. "Though… the single thing… hopefully not for much longer."
With the aid of torches, they play a few rounds of cards, and when James and Peter get up for their shift. Sirius' brother comes and takes the empty seat, pulling his blanket around him. In the torchlight, his eyes seem to glitter silver. When Remus turns to look at Sirius again, his eyes are the same. The brothers look quite alike, but Remus is quite happy with the brother he's picked. More than happy.
"You," he says, looking towards Sirius. "I was going to have a cuddle with my boyfriend and try to stay warm. Stop stealing James away."
"I saw him first," Sirius teases, but he shifts closer to Remus as he says this, as though he's worried that Remus will think he's being serious.
Regulus chuckles. "It's freezing," he comments. "How do you think it's going up above?"
"Radio silence," Sirius replies solemnly.
"Do you think Mother and Father made it to safety?"
"Knowing my bad luck, they're completely safe," Sirius mutters. "You checked Remus over?"
"Earlier. He's explained his illness and I don't need to monitor him," Regulus says. "Doctor/Patient confidentiality though, don't you worry yourself."
Sirius slips his arm over Remus' shoulder. "I'm not worried," he says. "Just looking at the silver lining to this whole mess."
Remus smiles brightly. Maybe something good can come out of the situation. His eyes start to close again despite his desire to stay awake, and the last thing he sees is his mum coming back over, taking the last spot by them.
When Remus wakes up again, it's because it's even colder now. He can't help but shiver. It's pitch black, the lights completely shut off. He can't even see the shadows on the walls anymore. Just outlines. In the distance, he can hear children crying on the train on the other platform.
"Mum?" he checks, trying to determine if one of the nearby figures is her.
"She's next to me," Regulus murmurs quietly. "Sitting facing you. She's fast asleep. She beat me at cards and also made plans for the lot of us to come over on Sunday for dinner."
Remus laughs softly. He glances at Sirius by his side, and realises that Sirius is shivering quite a lot. His arms are wrapped around himself and he's paying little attention to the conversation.
It's freezing down there. Remus is cold even with the blanket. He can't imagine how Sirius is coping, but assumes that the soldiers gave all the blankets out and didn't get to keep any for themselves.
"Sirius?"
"Remus, are you alright?" Sirius quickly asks. "Need anything, my love?"
"Yeah. Do you wanna share my blanket?" Remus checks.
"No. I'm good. You stay warm," Sirius says, reaching out, pulling the blanket tighter around Remus.
"Actually…" Remus says, realising that Sirius isn't going to admit he's cold. "I'm freezing. I… I was thinking that… well, body warmth. Sharing body warmth, and… do you want to?" He's glad that Sirius can't see his cheeks reddening.
"Let me get this straight," Sirius says, "you're asking me if I want to cuddle up to you? The answer is always yes!"
Remus smiles smugly, glad Sirius can't see, and he lifts the blanket and helps Sirius wrap it around himself, before Sirius pulls Remus into his arms and they cuddle close.
"So…" Sirius whispers, as they ensure there is no space between their bodies. "Tell me all about yourself."
"You first. What's your life like outside of this train?"
"Not as good as this moment right here," Sirius says, and Remus snickers at the cheesy line. "Okay, I hear it. It's cheesy, but… but I'm liking this. When we get off this train - when we can go up into the world and… and I dunno what we'll expect after this, but whatever it is, I'm at your side from now on." He pauses for a long moment. "But all you need to know for now is that I am brave, strong, loyal and I give great hugs."
Remus shifts closer and realises just how close Sirius' face is to his when he feels the warm breath on his lips. He closes the distance, letting their lips brush together. His heart is pounding against his chest and he's forgetting about how cold he is, because all he can think about is Sirius and how close they are right now.
"Do you think we'll survive whatever is going on up there?" Remus checks, when the kiss ends. "Do you think it's the whole planet, or…" He's not sure he wants the answer right now. That's something to worry about tomorrow, or the day after, or whenever they're allowed out of the tunnels and back into the world. There will be other people planning what's happening next.
"Luv, I've got it all planned out," Sirius says. "If we're quick enough, we can call the positions of King before anyone else can call dibs on it," he says. "We're going to live a great life when this is all over. We can still find hope." He pauses. "We need to come up with edgy backstories though, like in the films. So people fear us, and whatnot."
"I agree," Remus says. He can tell that Sirius is trying to joke around to hide his worry, and this is an attempt to change the subject a little. "So… from here on out, I'm a pretty dangerous character."
Sirius clearly finds this hilarious, though he tries to stifle his laughter. "Whatever you say, luv," he replies instead. "I thought my type was guys in cardigans, but it's clearly cardigan-wearing bad boys."
Remus can't help but laugh, and Sirius' lips find his.
He's completely terrified of what's happening. But at least they're not alone.
At least they'll face it together.
2319 words
Reviews are very much appreciated and really make my day :)
Days of the Year - 21st December - National Flashlight Day: Write a fic set at night
Jewellery Month - 39. Planet: (word) Planet
National Author Month - 5. George Orwell - Genre: Dystopian
Game and Puzzle Week - 16. Apocalypse!AU
Indigenous Peoples Day - 15. (item) blanket
Comic Book Day - 8. Attack on Titan: (dialogue) "We can still find hope."
World Farm Animals Day - 12 (trait) anxious
Colours - 5. Silver
Crystals & Gemstones - 4. (word) glitter
Tarot Reading - 5. King of Cups: Write about someone having a calming influence on others.
Moony's Neon Cafe - Food: Haunted Forest Cake - (trope) Huddled together for warmth/safety
Writing Club
Gotta Catch Them All - 26. Darumaka: (plot point) staying warm
This or That - Winter - 4. (Trope) Huddling together for warmth / Autumn 4. Blanket
Showtime - 8. Driving Down the Strip: (word) headline
Film Festival - 7. (Dialogue) "I'm a pretty dangerous character."
Lizzy's Loft - 15. Avalanche - Sometimes you only get one chance
Elizabeth's Empire - 15. All That Matters - Finding Neverland: Prompt: (emotion) hope
Amber's Anime - 1. "I'll leave tomorrow's problems to tomorrow's me."
Lyric Alley - 7. You're not alone
Artist Appreciation - 7. Enchanted: Prompt - (trope) strangers to friends/lovers
Buttons - Words: 5. Shadow / Action: 3. Crocheting
Resolutions - 9. Write a fic of one of your favourite OTPs
Celebrating Women - 23. Princess Scorpia (She-Ra): (dialogue) "I am brave, strong, loyal, and I give great hugs."
Sandwich Day - Toppings: 18: blanket