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Clicking

Relief

The storm outside wasn't dangerous in terms of wind and precipitation, more in a sense of lack of visibility. The cold still chilled to the bone, but their tent was enough to protect them, unless an indegen wandered around to the cranny of the formation to find them.

Inside the small shelter, Irina soon curled up, hugging her knees with her head down. What a stupid way for him to die…gathering Jagitos Copper… A plan formed so fast in her head—if Gwin wouldn't wake, she would devote every waking moment to finding that Life Core, and if even the Life Core wouldn't bring him back to her, she would end all of the pain, loneliness, and suffering to join him and Leon again. Yet, if she could return Gwin back to her, she would owe him a date, maybe…try…to-

Click…click…click…click...hummmmmmmm.

Her head shot up as she heard the noise.

Clickclickclickclick

His body was rebooting.

Her grey eyes focused on his as she hovered over him. She placed her hand onto his cheek as his eyes closed slowly.

Clickclickclickclick

The sound meshed with that low humming.

A grunt escaped him, and Gwin's brow furrowed slightly.

"Gwin, thank God!" she gasped, feeling the wash of relief.

He lifted his blue-green eyes to see her staring at him; she had a look of absolute worry. He lowered them again and winced.

Clickclickclickclick

He obviously heard the sound, too, and he shifted his body, "Irina…"

She began to panic again when he lifted onto his forearm. Her hand left his face, "don't move too much!"

"If I move a bit, it'll stop," he slurred, sitting up slowly.

The clicking ceased, but the humming didn't.

Irina pressed his hand onto his unharmed shoulder, "there's a foggy storm right now, but as soon as we can see, we'll leave-"

"I'm okay," he smiled weakly as he saw she was fussing over him. He hated when she did that.

She sighed shakily, "no you're not! You couldn't even move when that Aetrygon attacked us!"

He frowned, "I got some shots in-"

"Gwin!" she scolded. "You're not okay! You-" She stopped for a moment, and a new wave of emotions hit her as she realized something. "Wait…you…you knew how to stop that clicking noise."

His expression showed a hint of shame as he continued to stare at her tiredly.

"How long have you been damaged?" she asked angrily. "How long have you known about your malfunction?!"

"It's not like that-" he started.

She grabbed both of his shoulders, "how long have you neglected this?! Why didn't you get it fixed?!"

"I didn't think it-" he tried to explain again.

She shook him with one jerking motion as she cried out, "what the hell is wrong with you?!"

His face twisted with emotion, and he snapped sadly, "I'm sorry, Lieutenant!"

"How is sorry going to bring you back?!" she screamed angrily. "You don't maintenance your weapons, you don't take care of your mim!" She cringed when his good arm lifted to grab onto hers, "now, your arm is too damaged to even move! You idiot! Stupid! Why, Gwin?!"

He was in a state of shock; she was technically crying over him.

She lowered her head and sniffled, "don't you understand…? If you die, I won't see you until we recover the Life Core… What if we never find it? Why would you be so reckless? Are you really that stupid? If so you don't need to be an Interceptor."

"I was going to get fixed," he murmured, discarding her mean words. "But you wouldn't leave the Barracks."

Her brow furrowed as she looked at him again.

He had that sad Gwin frown, "I knew you would ask me where I was going, so I tried to wait for you to leave for a mission or something, but you would always come back home and wander around. So…I ended up lying in bed for two days straight."

"Why wouldn't you tell me? Why did you want to hide it? I've been damaged before, and you were the one to carry me back to New LA, so why in the world would I get angry at you for something like this? Do you think I'm such a jerk that I would be so petty?" she asked.

"No…" he murmured sadly. "I just didn't want you to know, because you've been worrying me lately. You've been so…depressed. I didn't want you to add this to things you blame yourself for. I planned to be fixed by the time you returned from a mission, and you would be none the wiser."

Her eyes widened, "how dare you assume that of me! You think I blame myself for every single thing? Why would I-"

"Because you did this time…accidentally," he cut her off in a low tone.

Her heart hurt. "Wh-what?" she asked worriedly.

"The clicking noises and glitches started the night I returned home from our last team mission. I think something was jarred loose when I fell from the rock…you know…when I was going to catch you, but you shoved me…out of reflex," he explained. He continued when she stared at him in shock, "the first day it wasn't that noticeable, but it has gradually become worse and worse. Actually this morning when I woke up, my entire upper body froze up while I was showering." He offered a chuckled, "it was sort of horrible, because by the time I could move again, the water had gone cold."

She slowly let his shoulders go and bit her lip, "I…"

He frowned again and spoke as gently as he could, "see; that face… I can't stand when you give me that guilty look. It really was an accident, but you blame yourself…you always do." He lifted his left hand and touched her upper arm, "I'm really sorry. I thought I was doing you some good by not bothering you with this. I ended up making things extremely worse just like always."

"I want to wring your neck," she breathed sadly. "You risked your life to just avoid my feeling bad about this."

"I know. I'm stupid…" he murmured.

"And…really sweet, I guess," she huffed. Her eyes connected with his again, "please, don't ever do this again. Even if I somehow shoot you in the head, tell me the truth!"

He offered another chuckle, "if you shoot me in the head, how am I even going to speak?"

She couldn't help it any longer, and her arms wrapped around his head and back, pulling him to her. She embraced him tightly, relishing the opportunity to have him in her life for a little bit more. She squeezed her eyes shut and breathed in his scent. He was alive…

He awkwardly hugged her with his good arm and held her gingerly, happy that he was getting affection.

The humming inside his body continued, but instead of annoying, Irina only felt a mix of fear and worry. She wanted him there with her for as long as they lived, but he was still hurt. She had to get him to New LA for maintenance. She had to save him. Her head rested against his shoulder. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

His body flinched when he heard that, but he oddly accepted her apology instead of fumble out some words about how it wasn't her fault. He thought she needed him to just agree. "Me too," he murmured.

Why did it feel so right? She felt so comforted, even if he was the one who needed comfort. It wasn't the first time she had a hug from him, but they always felt so fresh and wonderful. It was something she craved but never acted upon unless it was a dire situation. She figured he would appreciate more of her affection, but she was a very withdrawn person, someone who didn't want to admit defeat. Though, it was something to think about…

Only one more chapter to go. I know these chapters were very short, but I sorta wanted to do a 5-shot kind of format.

Any feedback welcome! Even if its alike a super mean one out of spite, because I will give out free hugs to those who feel nasty that way. :3