Work Text:
When an alarm wakes up Albert, he shoots up from his bed and quickly puts on an overall and his workshoes, grabbing his helmet as he runs out of his room. When he runs out to the deck of the platform he's on, he passes Races room and for a second he wants to stop and check if the blonde boy is there. But he quickly remembers Race was on duty so was probably already on deck.
Apparently, some stuff caught on fire and now, because of a leak in one of the giant pipes that pump up oil from the ground, the platform was at risk of blowing up.
"We have to get down there and fix the hole. That way the flames can't get in the pipes" Albert says, taking charge of the situation, after all, he was the leader of the day crew. Racetrack shakes his head "we can't ask that of any of the crew, the people going down will get burned alive! We just need to evacuate and pray it won't explode" he says and Albert remembers that Race is in charge of the night crew.
"If we don't do anything, oil will spill in the ocean and thousands of people will die! I'm going down there and anybody who is willing to help can come along. Ideally, I need 4 people" Albert says, turning to all the people on deck. Race gaped at him, not knowing how to stop his boyfriend from doing this.
"Albo... don't do this. You'll die" he says softly to the redhead who was getting his and his crews gear ready. Albert can't help but smile at the nickname. "If I don't, you might die. Elmer or Spot might die. And, I might survive. Just have hope okay? You can not stop me" he says, pulling a oxygen tank on his back and helping one of volunteers to do the same.
"We're just going to go into the pipe, weld the hole close and come back. If we aren't back in 30 minutes, leave the platform." Race starts shaking his head but Albert grabs his shoulders "promise me, you'll leave and get home safely" the blonde boy nods before kissing Albert, not caring about the fact that the whole crew saw.
-----
Albert felt his skin burn and knew he wasn't going to survive this. But, he still lowered himself into the pipe and told the crew to wait there and only come down if he would ask for help. As he was hanging near the hole, welding it as fast as he could, he could feel his tears evaporating before they could even fall.
When he saw more holes, he wanted to scream about how this could happen. But, instead, he called his crew who all came down and together they were done fairly quickly. But, because of the fact that he had been hanging there for 15 minutes more than the rest of the crew, Albert was covered in burns, his clothes melted to his skin. He couldn't move so the crew pull him out and carry him up to the deck.
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34 minutes after Albert left, said boy came back. Only, Race almost didn't recognise his beautiful boyfriend. As two men carried him to the medics, Race quickly walked next to them, helping them take off the oxygen tank, forgetting it was really hot so burning his hands "did it work? Are we safe?" He was only asking these questions because then, he wouldn't feel guilty about leaving the crew to fly with Albert to the hospital on land.
One of the people that went with Al nods their head "yeah, now go. We'll handle it ourselves, we'll mail you details" the person pushes Race in the med copter and Race couldn't be more thankful.
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As the medcopter arrives at the hospital and Albert gets rushed into intensive care, Racetrack calls Spot, hoping he would pick up, despite the time difference.
"Hello, this is Sean Conlon"
"Spot, thank fucking god you picked up. It's Al, he's in the hospital. He... h-he saved us all but it w-was too hot and he got burned... I t-tried to stop him, I s-swear" Race starts sobbing. The line stays quiet for a while.
"How bad is it?" Spot asks softly and Racer tries to calm down a bit so he can answer.
"His clothes were almost all burned away and melted on his skin. His face is not that bad but I almost didn't recognise him because there are some bad burns on his forehead and neck" his voice luckily stays steady but when he hears Elmer sob in the background, he starts crying again.
"Where are you now?" Elmer asks, letting Race know he's on speaker.
"A hospital in Dubai"
"Shit, okay uhm, we can't get there fast but I'm sure we can get tickets so we'll be there in max a day" Spot says and Race hears him type on his old pc keyboard.
"Spot... w-what if he d-dies?" Racer sobs into the phone and Elmer starts crying louder and excuses himself for a second to calm down.
"You can't think like that. I can't find tickets... Elm, honey, can you please help me look? Track, my battery is dying sweetheart. Is it okay if we call you back?"
Racetrack nods before remembering he's on the phone and muttering a quick "yeah, love you guys" before hanging up.
-----
When a doctor walks up to Race, the blonde is sleeping on a bench in the waiting room. The doctor clears his throat and Race bolts up, wide awake.
"Mister Dasilva just came out of surgery, he will be fine" the tired looking doctor says with a thick accent and Racetrack almost cries in relief.
"Can Is see him?"
"He won't be awake for a while, a 6 hour surgery isn't nothing. But, as long as you're quiet, you can go see him. I have to warn you though.
He was in really bad shape when he got here so he will have permanent damage to the skin and muscle tissue on his arms and a little less on his legs. We tried to minimise said damage by using donated skin and such but you can never be sure. The only thing we couldn't really fix is his face. The burns are too light for us to use plastic surgery but they will definitely be there the rest of his life. Don't be too shocked when you see him. He's in room 246"
During the doctors speech, Races eyes had filled with tears again and it took everything in him to not run to Alberts room halfway through. When the doctor was done though, Racetrack runs to the room Al is in and sits next to the bed. Albert is covered in special cooling bandages and honestly looks like shit.
Race carefully takes his hand and starts crying again. He soon cries himself to sleep.
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When Race wakes up, it's because of two things. The first thing is noises from outside the room and the second more important one is Alberts hand moving and said boy waking up.
"Track? Did it work?" The ginger boy asks, his voice cracking a few times. Racetrack nods, his eyes filling with tears
"You almost died. I told you you were going to get burned alive" he says weakly.
Before Albert can respond, the sounds from outside get really loud.
"What's that"
"I don't know, I'll go look" Race gets up and looks outside, down the hall. Standing there, arguing with a nurse was Spot. Next to him was Elmer, trying to stop Spot from kicking the nurses ass.
Racetrack runs to his boyfriends.
"Guys, you made it" he says, sounding like a kicked puppy. The two boys turn away from the nurse who quickly walks away, and pull Race in a hug.
"Where's Albo?" Elmer asks and Race takes them to the room. He quickly tells them what the doctor told him before opening the door and letting his boyfriends into the room.
"Hey guys, what are you doing here?" Albert asks with a smile as Spot and Elmer both take his hands.
"We're here to check if you didn't die" Spot says, his eyes on the bandages that cover Alberts forehead.
"How dare you do this? Why did you have to play the hero? You should've listened to Racer! You are so stupid" Elmer says, crying and not looking at Albert.
"I'm sorry Eli, but if the platform had exploded, so many people would've died... I promise I won't do it again" Albert says, looking a little sad.
-----
After 2 months, Albert could finally go home to New York. After 4 more months, his burns had healed. They still hurt but the doctors said that that was normal.
His boyfriends had been such a big help in his recovery, he didn't know what he would do without them.
But, there are things Albert doesn't tell his boyfriends. Like the fact that he has nightterrors every night and the fact that he fears his boyfriends leaving him one day when they finally realise they don't want to date Wade Wilson.
So, when Elmer finds him in the bathtub at 3 o'clock in the morning, crying and shaking, it's a bit of a shock.
"Albo, honey... what's going on? Are you in pain?" his youngest boyfriend asks, reaching out to touch him but stopping halfway, not wanting to hurt him. He didn't realise that not touching Albert actually hurt him more.
"El... I've been lying. To everyone. I- I'm not okay. Sometimes, I wish I had died in the fire. I'm in so much pain every day. And I haven't slept more than 2 hours per night since I'm home." Albert doesn't have to look at Elmer to know his boyfriend was crying. That didn't stop him, though
"You guys... you guys are amazing but really, I know you're just with me because you feel bad. And I know that, and I am too selfish to leave. I know you are going to say that it's not true, that you love me. But I know Spot gets panic attacks after he touches me, I know Race cries himself to sleep and tries to work as much as possible to not see me. And I know you won't even touch me.
It's fine though, I get it. I look disgusting." Elmer was sobbing now, shaking his head and trying to stop Alberts rant.
"It's just, I have nowhere to go so please let me look for an apartment before kicking me out" the redhead says, finally done. Elmer takes a few breaths to calm down
"Albo, no. We are not kicking you out... we do still love you but we are s-so scared of hurting you... Spot feels so fucking guilty when you flinch away from his touch even though it's not his or your fault. Race blames himself for what happened and is trying to make it right. He is working himself to the bone... and I just don't want to hurt you by touching the wrong spot..."
Albert doesn't look at his boyfriend, hating himself even more now he made the normally positive boy cry.
"listen, we need to discuss these things with the other fellas. I'll tell Race and Spot to cancel work tomorrow and we'll work this out... Should I wake them now? I know Race calms you down better than me" when Al shakes his head, Elmer sighs "okay... At least come cuddle with me on the couch? The bathtub can't be comfortable"
Albert lets Elmer help him out of the tub and onto the couch where Elmer carefully clings to Albert like he used to do before the incident. Albert wraps his arms around the younger boy and pulls him closer
" 'm not made of glass" he mutters before kissing the top of Elmers head and smiling for the first time in what feels like months.
-----
After that, everything got a bit easier for Albert and for the first time in 6 months, he felt hopeful. Hopeful his boyfriends weren't going to leave him, hopeful his pain would get better, hopeful he would get better.
Of course his arms and legs still ached most days and his face would never be the same but Spot started holding his hands again, Race stopped working as much and Elmer clinged to him when they all cuddled. He wasn't better but at least he had his boyfriends