Chapter Text
Team Rainbow was on a mission in the french alps. Terrorists had chosen a chalet in Courchevel as their hiding spot and Kapkan had been sent out along with Twitch, Sledge, Jäger and Pulse. Thatcher was the head of mission and his assignment had been quite clear: Five in, five out. Taking down every hostile operative, securing possible evidence of terrorist activity and a quick retreat via helicopter. Intel had been good, whole mission should be completed in less than 5 minutes. „A piece of cake“, as Thatcher had concluded his briefing.
The mission had run smoothly, the five operators had wiped out the majority of the white masks in an instance. Only a handful of hostiles offered resistance and got the team involved in a firefight. Kapkan managed to withdraw from the commotion to hunt down a single tango that caught his attention. He had seen his opponent’s shadow out of the corner of his eyes and his hunting instinct took over. He managed to get the white mask right in his line of fire and with a single precision shot the man went down. Kapkan was self-satisfied to say the least, but his smug grin didn’t last long. The russian hunter prided himself to be alert at all times, and while this was especially true when on missions, he had missed a vital information. The white mask he had pursued had not been alone. Another hostile had hid beneath the fireplace. When Kapkan saw the white mask running towards him, he pointed his SASG-12 at the man und pulled the trigger. He felt a stabbing pain and before he knew what had happened he was falling to the ground. Something had knocked him off his balance. He was thrown to his back and realized in horror that he had missed the person shooting at him. Kapkan raised his shotgun and managed to kill his opponent with a single headshot before turning his attention to the source of his severe discomfort. A red stain had formed on the sand colored part of his combat trousers but he was pretty sure that the source of bleeding wasn’t his leg. A variety of russian swear words escaped Kapkan’s mouth as he began to search for the entry wound. Definitely didn’t take a bullet to the leg. He began unfastening his bulletproof waistcoat with bloodied fingers. He peeked down his Gorka suit and tried to figure out what damage had been done to his body. He ripped the top open only to find a bullet hole in his lower abdomen. This was bad. He put his left hand on the wound and crawled towards the nearest wall. He leaned back and exhaled strained. His breath was going heavier than usual. With his left hand pressed on his side he used his remaining hand to operate his comms, spreading half-dried blood on his cheek. „Operator down. Took a shot in the abdomen", he informed his team members. As the gun fire was still going on, he didn’t expect an immediate response but he got one. "Take cover, return fire and provide first aid if possible!", Jäger shouted over the comms. Kapkan rested his head against the wall before answering: "Trying my best. As long as the adrenaline covers the pain I will hold the fort." He drew his PMM and checked the ammunition. He felt safer using a lighter weapon in his current state. Kapkan still had his hand on the wound and kept an eye on his surrounding. Not being able to flee made him feel vulnerable and kept him at alert. He just hoped that the mission would be finished before the adrenaline level in his blood dropped. Being an expert on firearms didn’t make getting shot any more pleasant. It was actually quite the opposite. He had seen enough of his comrades die from shots to the stomach and he knew it would be extremely painful once the endogenous protection stopped working. If he was honest, he felt the first indications of something close to pain but he was to proud to give in yet. He pushed the thought away and focused on any movement in his vicinity. The gun fire was still going on in the rest of the building but seemed to die down when Kapkan heart his comms click." Almost done here, I'll pick you up as soon as I can Kapkan", came a familiar voice over the transmitter. It was Sledge, the sturdy Scotsman. Kapkan sighed in relief. Even if he didn’t want to show it, the injury was taking its toll on him. Sitting up had become quite a task for him in the past few minutes. He took a moment to look down to his left hand. Blood kept seeping through his fingers and as self-sufficient as he was, he knew he needed medical attention. As he had received basic medical training and was familiar with the procedures of tactical combat casualty care he began estimating the amount of blood he had lost. And as Doc kept preaching about the golden hour of shock, he was well aware that time was working against him. „A casualty’s chances of survival were best if they received medical attention within the first hour after sustaining a serious injury.“ He almost could hear Doc lecture him. Kapkan hasn’t exactly happy about this insights but he had a very strong instinct for survival and no intentions to die in a goddamn chalet in France.
Suddenly he heard steps coming into his direction and immediately raised his weapon. "Don't shoot me, I'm here to rescue you!". It was Sledge. Kapkan lowered his weapon in relief. "Let me see this!“ Sledge kneeled down to take a look at the wound. He carefully lifted the bulletproof waistcoat and earned a sharp inhale and a deadly glare from Kapkan. He lifted the ripped fabric nonetheless." You lucky bastard, that shot passed clean through.", he grinned. "Seamus, you really know how to cheer people up", Kapkan answered through gritted teeth, but he knew it was a good sign. The easier a bullet passed through a body, the lesser the impact. But of course the Spetznas member still knew the abdomen was a bad place to catch a bullet. Kapkan was cursing internally, trying not to show his pain. "I really need to get him out of here as long as he is capable of joking. Can't be long now until the situation changes", the Scotsman thought to himself. „Can you walk?", he asked. He helped Kapkan get up and put his hand around his shoulders to support him walking. After a few steps Seamus noticed that Maxim sank down with every step and was breathing hard. „Oi, mate, you’re not dying on me, right?“, he turned his head to look the hunter into the eyes. „Haven’t decided yet“, the russian gave a strained grin. The scotsman knew that Kapkan was a fighter, he had proven to be one before. He was definitely holding up pretty good for the severity of his injury. But there was just no use, Sledge knew he had to carry Kapkan and his equipment plus his own gear to the helicopter landing zone. The tall SAS member lifted his fellow comrade over his shoulders in a fireman’s carry and made his way outside towards the fixed helicopter landing point. Sledge felt the warm blood running down his shoulders and he heard that Kapkan’s groaning was as quiet as it had been in the beginning. The pain had definitely set in and it wouldn’t get any better. Sledge almost felt bad for having to put his fellow team member through this ordeal as he trotted through the snow. Finally the helicopter was in sight. Pulse, Twitch and Jäger were waiting for them and Twitch had already prepared a blanket to isolate the casualty from the cold ground. Sledge carefully laid Kapkan down in the helicopter and placed him on the blanket. Twitch gave him a knowing look as they got on the helicopter. The golden hour of shock was running, they needed to get Kapkan medical attention in order to increase his chances of survival.