Code Red

Category: Angst/Drama/Romance

Summary: After the explosion of Proxima B, Eva and Brice deal with the fallout of the instability of Ark One. S01EP12 Everybody Wins tag.

AN: If you haven't watched The Ark I definitely recommend it! If you're here as a fan of the show, tell me how I can find you, haha.

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Sweat trickled down Brice's forehead as hope of Evelyn Maddox's rescue faded into obscurity, the strain in his chest growing tighter. On the floor of the bridge beside him, Lane slumped, the lieutenant's bloated ego falling against his shoulder as the man lost consciousness.

Cut off from the rest of the ship, he cursed the tin-can wall that kept him from Eva and the Ark's crew. There was nothing he could do for anyone, including himself. However, the upside to suffocating was that hypoxia had a numbing effect on his guilt.

His head lolled back, and he closed his eyes, startled when a hand slapped him hard across the face. "Oi!"

Dazed and disoriented, he glared as Garnet's blurry figure loomed over him. "At least buy a lad breakfast first," he wheezed, clumsily rubbing his cheek.

Sharon took Lane by the shoulders, gently laying the lieutenant down on the floor as she whipped her head around to Brice. "Do you want food, or do you want to save the people on this ship?"

"Fair point," he mumbled, realizing he could suddenly draw air into his lungs. But his boot still scuffed along the ground, failing to get traction as he tried to stand.

"Take a minute," she ordered. Unlike Brice, Lane and Alicia, her genetically advanced DNA had kept her mobile and conscious, and in contact with Evelyne. "Maddox's team fixed the breach and are venting O2 back into the bridge. They can't open the doors until the cabin is pressurized."

"The rest of the ship?"

The grim look she shot him sobered his oxygen deprived hangover.

"Maddox's team was told to retrieve command personnel first," she answered, lifting her fingers from Lane's neck. His pulse was strong, same as Alicia's, and she was grateful, even though she didn't necessarily agree with Evelyn's standing orders. "We'll find a way to help everyone. Including Eva."

"Aye, you do that."

Determination coursed through him as he struggled to his feet. Bureaucracy was better left to Garnet and Lane, who thrived doing risk assessments. As a pilot, he needed a throttle under his grip to steer his decisions. He relied on instinct, and his gut told him that sitting and waiting wasn't an option.

"Brice!" She called his wobbly steps to a halt. They didn't know anything beyond the fact people were working to get them out, and she wasn't going to sanction her third in command going on a suicide mission. But just because she wouldn't give the order didn't mean she was going to try and stop him. Now that Proxima B was gone, they needed a plan — a plan which served every single person still alive on Ark One. "Be careful."

He nodded, wasting his energy on a smirk. "Aren't I always?"

A whoosh signaled his cue to leave, and he pushed through the suited-up rescue team, prepared to go as far as life support would take him and beyond, if possible. If there was one upside to having Klampkins, it was that his body had become accustomed to bouncing back after an episode. Eva could vouch for that resilience. Before her, he'd given up hope of finding a cure for his terminal disease. With a death sentence hanging over his head, he'd been ready to sacrifice himself for everyone on board the Ark. Now that he was cured of Klampkins he wanted to live for the crew.

An adjustment that would take time to get used to, if they all survived.

His default setting was still set to reckless, and he ran through the damaged corridors of the ship, stopping to help who he could. People were hurt, but they were collectively pulling together, and he made his way through the chaos, stumbling, when out of nowhere a palm slammed against his chest.

"Gde si dođavola bio!" Eva smacked him, repeating her frustration in English."Where the hell have you been?!"

Seeing her, he struggled to keep from tugging her straight into his arms. But they were in the middle of a crisis, and she'd probably slap him if he tried. "Oh, you know… a near catastrophic event held me up a bit."

He motioned over his shoulder with his thumb, but her expression didn't share his playful amusement, and as he took in her singed jacket, his relief spiraled into concern. "Were you hurt? What happened?"

His hands traveled down her body, but Eva quickly pulled herself back. EMI from the engines had knocked out their comms, and she'd feared the worst for him, but she'd been too busy stabilizing critical life support to let herself drown in her worry. There wasn't time to be emotional. She had to run diagnostics on the structural integrity of the ship, and she couldn't afford to lose her focus. "I'm fine. Felix needs help doing triage in the mess. I have to go."

Catching her arm, he knew better than to let her go when anything could happen to either of them once they parted. They weren't just sleeping together. She'd aided a mutiny to save his life, and he'd fallen for her just as hard. Even if they did have to compartmentalize their feelings for the sake of the mission, the ship could spare them a few seconds. "Hey." He dropped his voice to a whisper. "Eva, look at me."

She struggled to keep her gaze averted. She was mad at him, and for reasons that weren't fair. But then his fingers curled beneath her chin, and her head reluctantly lifted, meeting his warm brown eyes.

"Don't be giving up on that hope you love so much." He smiled cheekily, feathering his hand through her hair. "Or me. I'm right here, see?"

Her body responded to his calm touch, and she hated how easily problems like imminent engine failure disappeared into the background as he teased her.

"That wasn't so hard now, was it?"

She glared at his smug grin. Hope was an option when it was his own stubbornness that had been the only thing getting in the way of saving his life. The situation they were in was different. Yet, she still reached up to catch his hand, daring herself to be optimistic, because that was the effect he had on her. "Stay alive," she ordered. "Don't do anything stupid."

"Aye, sweetheart, that goes both ways." His smile softened, and he leant his head down, resting his forehead against hers. He wasn't the only one who was a magnet for trouble. As an engineer, she was just as hands-on at trying to fix the impossible, and equally blind to danger in her field. But she was damn good at her job, and so was he.

Stealing as much as he could from the intimate moment, he held her right down to the wire, as a blaring alarm suddenly pulled them apart.

They shared one last look then she started running and he scrubbed a hand through his hair as his feet bounced in the opposite direction. Triage would have to wait. The first thing he needed to do was figure out how to get comms up and running.

If either of them were going to do something stupid to save the ship, it would be him, not Eva. Because he'd rather go back on his word than venture into the unknown without her.