Work Text:
Today, Dan came back from his station in Afghan. He was set to arrive at 3 pm, GMT time.
Gavin arrived at the airport two hours early, just in case Dan's plane happened to arrive early.
For the first three hours, he stood, bouncing on the balls of his feet, never sitting down. He didn't stop pacing in front of the arrival gate.
After his three hours of standing, he finally sat, but on the edge of the filthy airport seat, ready at a moment's notice to spring up.
He sat like this for two more agonizing hours. He risked a short trip to the bathroom, but when he got back, nothing had changed.
Five, six, then seven hours passed since Gav had arrived at the airport. He laid back in his chair, exhausted.
He had stayed up most of the night, too anxious about Dan coming back to sleep. That's why he had arrived so early, he couldn't stand it any longer. It was better pacing at the airport itself then pacing at home.
When the eighth hour that Gavin had been there passed, he couldn't stay awake any longer. Running on three hours of sleep and only two cups of coffee didn't work for him.
Passed out on a dirty airport chair, he didn't notice the sky darken and night start to fall. He definitely didn't notice the people streaming in from the terminal gate that Dan was set to walk out of.
Something did trigger Gavin to wake up though. Some might have called it animal instinct.
Through the haze of sleep, he saw a familiar figure emerge into the building.
The haze was suddenly gone, and Gavin was on his feet, sprinting at his best friend. Just in time, Dan threw his bags down and opened his arms to embrace Gavin. Thankfully, due to his training, he didn't even stumble.
"B!" Dan exclaimed. Afghan had been immensely lonely without him.
Tears were streaming down their faces, it had been so long. Too long, and they knew it.
They stood like this for ages, or what felt like ages. It may have only been a few minutes or maybe even seconds. But they were just happy to be together.
While they were hugging each other tightly, they didn't notice the reactions of people around them.
Most were a kind, sweet gaze, revealing that they understood the feeling and they found their reunion heartwarming. A loved one being gone like that truly is heartbreaking.
Others seemed to have something nasty-smelling underneath their nose. No one knew what their problem was.
When Gav and Dan finally broke apart, they immediately started talking. Nothing too important, the important information would come later in private areas where thinking was clearer and talking easier.
Dan's plane was delayed because there had been a delay at the airport he was departing from. This naturally concerned Gavin deeply, but Dan assured him that it was fine, and that they found a "criminal" with only a pistol and revolver in his suitcase, each with no bullets in them and with no ammo stashed anywhere.
Gavin made a noise of disbelief, because why in the world would a flight be delayed for guns with no bullets. They made a big deal out of a small one.
Well, it wasn't a "small deal" to everyone who had gotten their flight delayed for seven hours, as Dan put it. It was a ridiculous amount of time for a pretty ridiculous reason.
But Gavin was still overjoyed to see him, even though overjoyed didn't even cover it. Delighted, ecstatic, and enthusiastic weren't enough.
He had been absolutely beside himself with joy, some may even say hysterical. They'd both missed each other so much.
But Dan was back home, where he belonged, and that was all that mattered.