It's dark. So, so dark.
Am I dead? Where am I?
You hear a voice and you begin to follow it. You follow and follow until you see a light.
Maybe I really am dead this time.
The voice you hear is singing a song and it is guiding you towards the light.
Here goes nothing...
You open your eyes. You are in a bed and you have an IV in your arm and a tube coming out of your nose. You realize the singing is coming from in the room. You try to sit up but you're weak and in pain. Ow! What the... You look to your left. Mitchell. Mitchell is the one singing. He has his eyes closed, so focused on his singing that he doesn't realize you've woken up. You look to your right and Gideon is fast asleep. It makes you smile. You have two of your favorite people with you. Where's Soap?
Mitchell finishes his song and his eyes are still closed.
"That was beautiful," you say weakly. Mitchell stands up so fast that the chair he was sitting in falls over. "[your name]?"
"Uh yeah, who else would it be?" You say and try to laugh but it hurts. You slide your hand down your side and find the source of the pain. Your stomach is wrapped in bandages. Before you can ask Mitchell says, "You got shot." He looks over at Gideon, "He's been blaming himself." You look over at Gideon. "Why would he do that?" Mitchell shrugs, "He thinks he's supposed to protect everyone..." he stops but you can tell he has more to say.
"What is it Mitchell?" Mitchell looks at you nervously and sighs, "Soap blamed him. He said that if Gideon would had made you leave that this wouldn't have happened."
Soap said that?!
You shake your head. "It's no one's fault but my own."
"Maybe when you tell him he'll believe it. I've told him more than once that it wasn't his fault but he won't listen to me."
You both look at Gideon and almost as if he can sense it, he wakes up. He blinks a few times before realizing that you're awake. You can see a small smile on his face. "You gave us quite a scare there, girl. Don't do it again," he says.
His eyes are red-rimmed and you have a feeling its not from the sleep. He won't exactly make eye contact with you.
"I'm gonna go tell the doctor you're awake," Mitchell says. He kisses your forehead and walks out. Gideon still won't look at you.
"Gideon, look at me," you say. It takes him awhile but he finally looks at you and his eyes are full of unshed tears. You hold your hand out to him and he walks over to hold it.
"I think I signed up for the wrong job." You try to lighten the mood and Gideon starts to laugh. That laugh slowly turns into something else. He's crying. Gideon is crying. You squeeze his hand, "It's okay. I'm okay."
"This wasn't supposed to happen," he says quietly.
"It happened and now its over. You can't change it now."
He rubs your knuckles with his thumb.
"It's not your fault. You didn't shoot me."
"I know but-" he starts.
"Shut up, Gideon. Mitchell told me that you've been blaming yourself and I need you to stop," you say. Gideon looks at you and you reach up to touch his face. He closes his eyes and rubs his cheek into your hand. "If you blame yourself again I'll shoot you." He looks at you and smiles, "I actually wouldn't put it past you." You want to laugh, but you remember how much it had hurt last time so you just smile.
The door opens and Mitchell walks back in with the doctor...and Soap. Gideon's grip on your hand tightens and you squeeze back as a warning. You notice Soap has a cut on his lip and a slightly black eye. You look at Gideon and frown. Men...
The doctor comes over and you immediately ask, "When can I leave?" The doctor looks at you and shakes his head, "You need more rest. You lost a lot of blood and you need time to heal."
You roll your eyes, "I think I would heal better in a more...familiar place. The doctors at ATLAS can help me just as well. They probably have better stuff than..whatever this place is."
"I wouldn't recommend traveling..." the doctor starts.
"I WANT TO GO HOME!" You say loudly. I must sound like a child right now, but I don't care.
"I already see that I won't be able to stop you no matter what I say, but can you at least stay one more night so I can monitor you?" He asks. You sigh, "I guess." The doctor smiles.
"Can you please take all this shit off me? And can I have something to eat, I'm starving," you say.
"She's baaaaack," you hear Mitchell say. Soap smiles and Gideon laughs. The doctor starts to remove the IV and the tubes. "I'll go see about getting you some food."
"Great," you say. The beeping has stopped and you hear Gideon take a deep breath. It must have been bothering him too.
Soap walks over to you and you glare at him. "What the hell is your problem?" You ask him.
"I'd rather talk about this when we're alone," he looks at Gideon and Mitchell then back at you. "No," you say defiantly, "We'll talk about it right now, John." You can see him flinch. You never use his real name.
"How dare you accuse my captain, my friend of causing this?" You ask and Soap stammers, "I...I was angry. You know people say and do things they don't mean when they're angry."
"Actually, that's not true. I've found that people tend to let their real feelings out when they're angry."
Soap looks at you unsure of what to say.
"We were all working towards the same goal: saving Captain Price and we achieved that goal. What happened to me is no one's fault. I got shot and I'm alive. Even if I would have died I wouldn't want any of you blaming yourselves. Now apologize," you look at Soap and he widens his eyes. "I-" he starts and you cut him off, "Apologize."
Soap looks at Gideon reluctantly and says, "I didn't mean what I said. I'm...sorry."
You can see how tough that was for him, but you're glad he did it.
Price walks into the room which is awkwardly silent now. "What did I miss?" He asks and walks over to you. "What did you do?"
"Why do you think I did something?" You ask and Price gives you that "cut the shit" look and you just smile. "It's nothing sir. Everything is fine now."
You sit up carefully to hug him and he whispers to you, "Don't you ever scare me like that again." You smile, "Yes, sir."
"I heard you already had demands." You shrug, "I just asked for food...and to go home." Price just shakes his head.
"I'll be leaving tomorrow." He looks at you. "I'll be okay captain. I just need to be somewhere familiar. Somewhere a little safer than this. ATLAS has the best doctors, I'll heal in no time."
"You better."
Price gives you another hug and and leaves the room. You're alone with Mitchell, Gideon and Soap again. Where the hell is that food?
You suddenly realize that you really have to use the bathroom. You look under your blanket and of course you're only wearing a gown. You know you probably won't be able to get up and walk without some help. You look at the three men suddenly shy. "Can one of you..." you start to say and they all turn to look at you. You're pretty sure you're red now. "Can someone please help me out of bed. I need to..."
The men look like they're about to turn just as red as you. Mitchell finally says, "Let's go" and walks over to the bed. You pull the blanket off revealing the small gown and your bare legs.
"I'll give you some privacy," Soap says not looking at you and he leaves the room. Mitchell and Gideon are looking at you. You swear Gideon has a small smirk on his face. "Have you never seen legs before gentlemen?" Mitchell has the decency to blush and look away. Gideon continues to look. The man has no shame.
You drape your arm around Mitchell's shoulders as you swing your legs over the side of the bed. Mitchell holds on to you as you lower yourself to the ground slowly and wince.
"Are you okay?" Mitchell asks. You nod. He's too tall to you move your arm down to his back for support. Mitchell has a good grip on you and you feel stable, "Ok...let's go."He nods and starts walking. You look back and Gideon is still looking at you but not at your face. You feel a draft and realize the gown is open in the use your free arm to try and hold the gown closed, "Stop it, Gideon!" He looks up at you smiling, "Nice...legs."
You glare at him and Mitchell opens the door. The last thing you see is Gideon wink as the door closes.
You make it to the bathroom and when you're done you come out and Soap is standing with Mitchell outside the door. "Hey Soap." He looks at you and averts his eyes quickly. They're just legs... You roll your eyes inwardly.
"I..uh..brought you some clothes," Soap says.
"Thank you very much. I was getting tired of all you acting weird because of my legs."
Mitchell laughs and Soap smiles still avoiding looking down. You take the clothes from Soap and go back into the bathroom. You take the hospital gown off and look at yourself in the mirror. There's a scar on your arm from where the bullet grazed you. Your stomach is bandaged tightly so you can't see how bad that wound is. You look at the pile of clothes Soap got you and your bra is there along with a clean pair of underwear. YES!
You put everything on, happy to be in clothes again. Ugh, I look horrible. I need a long shower and more sleep. When you come out of the bathroom this time Soap isn't there. Mitchell looks at you and smiles, "Better?"
"So much better."
Your legs feel a little stronger now that you have been able to walk, but you still use Mitchell for support as you walk back to your room. Gideon is standing outside the door when you get back. "Took you long enough woman."
You make a face at him and walk closer, "How fast did you expect me to move, captain?" He smiles at you and opens the door. He helps you get back in bed, his hands lingering on you hips a little longer than necessary. You lay down and look at him, "You look like shit."
"Thank you, sweetheart. Someone thought it was a good idea to get shot and scare the shit out of everyone so I haven't been able to rest properly." At that moment the door opens and the nurse walks in with some food. "Finally," you say. It's not what you would get at ATLAS but it's food and you eat what you can. "Aren't you guys hungry?" Both Gideon and Mitchell say no. Mitchell looks exhausted, "I was going to see if they had any extra beds or something so Gideon and I could get some rest before leaving tomorrow."
"I'm fine in the chair, mate," Gideon says. "Well, I'm not. I haven't slept yet. I'm gonna try to find a bed," Mitchell kisses your forehead again and nods at Gideon and leaves the room.
"I don't want you sleeping in that chair again. You need better rest than that."
Gideon looks at you with a serious look on his face, "I'm not leaving you alone."
"Gideon, I'll be fine. I think I'm out of immediate danger."
He runs his hand through his hair and suddenly his face is right in front of yours, your noses almost touching. "Can you stop being so stubborn for once in your life," he says quietly. You look into his eyes, "That's something coming from one of the most stubborn men I know."
You subconsciously lick your lips and you can hear Gideon's shuddering breath. "You have no idea what I want to do to you right now for making me worry like that," Gideon says and his lips brush against yours. We can't. Not here, not now. You move away and slide over on the bed. Gideon looks at you and you touch the space on the bed next to you. "You need to sleep in a bed, sir." He looks at the bed and then at you. He climbs in next to you and drapes his arm over your body. "Is this okay?" he asks.
"It's fine." You look at him and bring your hand up to run through his hair. His eyes close and you smile. He's asleep before you know it and you soon follow.