Chapter Text
There’s a ringing in his ears, and every muffled sound feels like an explosion to him.
Or maybe they are just that – he vaguely recalls putting himself in harm’s way again.
It’s what he does, who he is, he’s here to shield others.
He wonders if he managed it, but he can’t focus. The lights are too bright.
He’s half-covering another body, and he won’t stop now – he’ll get them out safely, in one piece. He moves his shield to cover them once more, and he’s glad it’s still strapped to his arm so he doesn’t let it go when he cries out in pain.
He coughs, and it hurts. The explosions stop, and the other is talking to him, but he can’t make out anything – neither the words or the face. Well, all things considered – the face is covered, so there isn’t much to make out.
It doesn’t actually matter because he’s fixated on protecting them.
He passes out before he has a chance of putting together that he succeeded.
When he wakes up again, he wishes he hadn’t. It’s so noisy, it hurts his head – but the lights aren’t as bright anymore. The first thing he notices, is that his head feels a little better – and he’s not wearing his helmet anymore. After that, it’s that Doc’s hovering above him, frowning.
“Blitz, your teammates told me what happened. Your head wound might make you feel groggy, but you need to stay awake, can you do that for me ?” Gustave asks him, looking grave.
He weakly tries to bat away at the doctor’s hand which are checking his head – it hurts, sure, but he doesn’t need the attention. Surely there’s someone else who needs it more ?
“Hello, sleeping beauty. You took a short nap to the helicopter.” he hears nearby, in a low gravelly voice that he recognizes.
When he turns his head toward it, he finds IQ fidgeting nearby and Bandit failing at looking casual.
He smiles groggily and tries to tell them that he’s fine – see, he didn’t spring a leak. But he coughs, it hurts, and it doesn’t come out as intended. They rush over to his side immediately, IQ holding his hand and Bandit kneeling next to her, trying to remain impassive.
He weakly tells Dom, still smiling, that he looks like Scheiße.
They’ve both removed their helmets and balaclava. Bandit’s face has a few cuts, which have been already tended to – IQ, most likely.
“I don’t speak a lick of German, but keep him talking. Keep him awake and tell me if he says anything about how he’s feeling.” Doc’s talking, but not to him. The Frenchman has a really smooth and soothing voice – no wonder he puts his patients at ease.
Bandit takes that as a prompt to angrily call him a Dummkopf. And also to tell him he‘s the one who actually looks like Scheiße.
Monika smacks Dominic, telling him he should be grateful he‘s even here – and it‘s all thanks to Blitz.
Oh, so he was protecting Bandit. Good. He wouldn‘t want Dominic dead, so he tries to say it with a smile. It comes out with a wince, and most likely slurred. In fact, Elias would be really sad if Dominic had died. He has such pretty brown eyes too, it would be a shame. Plus, he’s all lean muscles and soft hair, like a... a... pretty deer.
There’s an amused feminine laugh at that. Is he broadcasting his thoughts ? Telepathically ?
As for the other man, his features seem to ease a bit, and a small smirk turn up on his lips. It looks better on him than a frown. IQ squeezes his hand, and smiles as well – but it doesn‘t quite reach her eyes. Which are really pretty too, you know, he‘s sure she knows how pretty she is.
IQ is like a swan, she‘ll peck your eyes out if you piss her off, but she‘s so beautiful.
“Thank you Elias, that‘s very kind of you.“ Monika tells him, with a light blush and a smile as she soothingly rubs his hand in her own.
“Oh I sure as hell won‘t forget any of this, Kötz. Do keep broadcasting your thoughts, please. I love hearing how -pretty- we are. I think I‘ll call her Swan Princess from now on.“ the taller man says with a smirk.
And that's Bandit‘s way of saying everything will be fine. Or maybe it won‘t be fine, and he‘s distracting him. Talking with Dominic is an acquired taste, because sometimes it‘s so confusing to figure out what he actually means.
The smirk disappears, and his demeanor turns stiff – he‘s gazing at the ground, missing the way IQ stares at him disapprovingly. She turns back to him, and her two hands hold his in sympathy.
He wants to protest that it‘s not Dom‘s fault. He loves him the way he is. He loves Monika and Marius too, just the way they are. There are no words following his thoughts, this time. But Dom‘s hand joins in, and he wants to bring his second hand to cover it.
He tries, and he lets out a garbled noise of pain – it just won‘t move, it hurts too much. This seems to alarm everyone.
Doc‘s been gingerly removing his vest and cutting into his jacket all this time, and it feels easier to breathe now. It still hurts, but it feels better. He‘s so tired now, he just wants to curl up in his bed and sleep forever.
“Sleep later, humor us now. Me and IQ want to hear you wax poetics about Marius too. We‘ll tell him how highly you think of him. You can even say his face is ruggedly handsome with those little scars, ja ?“ Bandit is frowning even as he‘s joking, and it scares him a bit.
“And his voice, Dom, don‘t forget his beautiful voice. If I am a beautiful swan, then what is Marius ?“ Monika adds, shaking her head with a laugh in her voice. Monika is somehow better at faking it. Though it IS funny, he‘ll give them that.
He smiles, and proposes nothing - he can‘t really focus right now. He manages to get out that he thinks Bandit‘s voice sounds better than Marius‘. He also wants to point out that they are the ones waxing poetics now.
Except that Doc‘s just prodded at his shield-bearing arm now that he can breathe better, and suddenly all he can think of is pain. He tries to jerk away, but it just hurts even more.
He hears the man mumble something, just before he loses consciousness.