Facing Demons
Disclaimer: If you recognize it then I don't own it.
A/N: For Whumptober 2023 #16 "Would you lie with me and just forget the world?"
"Don't go where I can't follow."
Nick came awake with a jolt. It was dark. He was surrounded by dirt. He sat up with a panicked gasp. He half expected to hit a low ceiling, but he didn't. He was stopped short by a painful weight on his lower body, the space above him appeared to be clear. The band tightening around his heart loosened slightly. He was still in a bad situation but at least he wasn't trapped in a box. He coughed on the dust in the air. He writhed, still somewhat disoriented, trying to escape his prison, even if it seemed to be one without walls. His streaming eyes did little to help him figure out his location. He vowed he'd never die trapped alone in a hole, not after he had already come so close to that fate. He didn't know if he was strong enough to survive it again.
"Nick!" A frightened but familiar voice cut through his own panic. He wasn't alone. As much as he hated that his friend was trapped with him he rejoiced deep down inside himself at the fact he wasn't alone.
"Greg!" He called out hoarsely, "Where are you?"
He heard the younger man stumble towards him in the dark. He was breathing heavily when he finally plopped down next to him. Nick reached out until he was gripping his colleague's shoulder. He felt them quiver under his hand. Reaching farther up he was concerned to feel the fast and uneven pulse. Greg's breathing had yet to regulate. He wished he could get his body to straighten from its trapped half-reclined position. His friend needed him. He bit back a pained yelp as he tried again to free himself. His vision started to swim before his eyes in the shape of dark blobs and shadows, everything grew more dim in the darkness around them as he passed out. The last thing he heard was Greg shouting his name as he tried in vain to stay awake.
"Nick! I can't do this alone," Greg cried in a strained voice filled with tears and fear. He shook the older man's slack body as Nick slowly clawed his way back to consciousness a short time later. He couldn't stop the groan that forced itself passed his lips, every ache and pain made itself painfully known the more he grew in awareness. Greg had stopped talking as Nick came awake but had started hyperventilating as his body started to feel the effects of terror and shock. They couldn't afford to have another person passing out in the dark, especially when one of them was trapped and couldn't be of much help anyway. If Greg passed out too far away from him there was nothing Nick could do to really help him. He needed to help calm his friend down so he stayed close and conscious. He reached out and weakly pulled his panicking friend closer to him.
"Hey, stay with me, Greggo."
"I can't breathe!" He gasped out, panting more short and labored as his lungs struggled to fill.
"Yes, you can. Just take it slow. Take deep breaths."
Nick had had lots of practice taking deep breaths to calm himself. The dark-haired man reached up at an awkward angle and rubbed the shaking shoulders. Whispering soothing words as he tried to coach his friend's breathing.
"We're going to die!" The younger man's voice went up an octave in his panic.
Nick bit down hard on his own rising terror, "No, we're not. We're gonna be just fine." He hadn't died so many times over the years when he rightly should have and he wasn't planning on dying trapped down here today. He wasn't going to let death take Greg somewhere he couldn't follow either. Greg had been in an explosion before and had been through just as many precarious situations as the rest of the team. The younger man was made of sterner stuff than anyone gave him credit for. Neither one of them would die here. They lay next to each other with only the sounds of their heavy breathing breaking the silence around them.
"Nick. Hey, Nick, are you still with me?"
"Yeah, I'm still here," He slurred, forcing his eyes back open, not realizing he had closed them.
"Stay with me." Greg quietly begged.
"I'm not going anywhere."
"Of course not we're trapped with no way out," Greg let out an only slightly hysterical laugh.
"The others know where we are. We just sit tight till the cavalry gets here."
"What if it all comes crashing down on us?"
"Just don't go shaking any walls," He tried to smile reassuringly but felt it turn into a grimace. He swallowed hard at the thought of being buried alive again. His own panic threatened to claw its way up where he had been desperately trying to push it down. His younger friend's fear mirrored his own as he voiced it, but Nick tried to focus on helping Greg calm down instead of panicking alongside him. That wouldn't help anyone. Nick loved helping people. There wasn't much he could do about his own growing fear or current predicament but if he could focus on aiding another person maybe he could get out of here without losing his shit. Alone, trapped in that box, he had lost himself, there was so much he regretted doing and saying during that time, and knowing it was all caught on film for his friends and family to see made it that much worse. He'd vowed to himself to become better, stronger.
"What if we run out of air?"
"We won't," His own breathing started to speed up as he remembered what it was like running out of air.
"How do you know?"
Nick sniffed loudly as a distraction to get his breathing back under control, "Nothing's burning. We got time."
"What if…"
"Nope, no more what-ifs," Nick cut him off.
"I hate getting blown up." Greg sounded more like himself, calming slightly under his friend's steadiness. If Nick could stay strong trapped underneath all that rubble then Greg could try to remain as calm as he could be until rescue arrived after they had both been caught in an explosion.
Nick couldn't help a quick huff of a laugh, "Gotta admit, I'm not a big fan of it either." Or being buried alive went left unsaid but not unheard.
As they waited for their friends to come and save them at least they had each other as they both faced the demons of their past.