Work Text:
Sam didn’t understand. It had been a good, easy run that morning. The sun had been shining and only two small hordes of zoms had chased them. That was quite a few less than normal. As far as Sam was concerned, everything went swimmingly (especially the bit of the mission where runners Five and Four had to actually swim across a small creek).
Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Not that he would have really noticed if something did happen, it wasn’t like Five was particularly talkative on runs in the first place. But when Five brushed right past him, shoving their headset into his hands without a glance in his direction, he knew that he had missed something.
He wracked his brain for any minute details of the mission that he may have overlooked. He had to have noticed something. Five wasn’t exactly the most talkative person, but that didn’t mean they weren’t friendly. And typically after a good, easy run like this, Five would always be up for a round or two in the tequila shack.
But not today.
He was about to follow after the runner until he felt a hand on his shoulder, stopping him in his tracks. Behind him was Runner Four, slightly red and covered in sweat, and solemnly shaking her head.
“Wha-what’s going on?” he said, catching himself mid-sentence and lowering his voice. She glanced over his shoulder and pulled him back into the Comms Shack.
The screens continued to flicker, scanning through the running cameras like they did when no runners were in the field. He walked further into the dim room until he heard the distinct click of Jody shutting the door. She followed behind him, holding out her headset after she made sure it was off.
“So, do you-“
“Not so loud,” she shushed him as he took her headset and moved to recharging station. “Look, it’s not... I just… I don’t think Five wants many people to know, alright? They’re not exactly, well, open about their life before, you know?”
He rose onto his toes to look out the small window that he had begged Janine to let him install. He spotted the Five quickly. They were nearly back to their bunk, walking with a sort of solemn determination he had only seen a few times before. “I know, Jody,” he whispered, turning back to face her. “Are… are they alright? I thought the mission went fine today, but-“
“Five’ll be fine, Sam,” she reassured him in a hushed voice. “It’s just… well, Five’s never really talked about this much. And honestly I’m not really sure why they told me… especially not before you, but…” She sighed and pulled her ponytail holder out of her hair, letting her fingers massage her scalp for a few minutes. “Look, I’ll tell you, just… just don’t tell them know, yeah?”
He nodded, curious.
“So, today’s… well it’s kind of a hard day for Five normally, you know. I mean, I don’t know if you knew, but Five… well… Five had a family… before,” she explained, stepping over to him and looking out the small window as well. “Specifically, they had a kid. A little girl. You didn’t know that did you?” she asked, staring out at the darkening sky. People were rushing back and forth across the courtyard, trying desperately to finish their evening chores and activities before curfew. They could hear the yelled conversations through the thin walls, but it was all muffled into white noise.
“Ah… no. I had no idea, they never told me,” he explained quietly, feeling slightly dejected. He had thought that the two of them were friends and friends shared everything, right?
“Don’t feel bad about it, Sam,” Jody said quickly, spotting the look on his face. “I don’t think they had told anyone. I didn’t even know until a few days ago. And then they only told me when we got our schedule for the day. Said something about probably not being at their best today because… well, it would be their daughter’s fifth birthday today. And, I mean you know what it’s like, remembering.” She finally turned away from the window to glance around the room. “Five’s just always been so… so strong. They never show their feelings and then we went to that toy store today. Tons of things to remind them of a would be five-year-old in there, you know… I think… well, I think it kind of took its toll on Five, is all. They’ve kept this bottled up for so long that-”
Sam was out the door before Jody had the chance to finish. He could hear the sharp crunch of gravel under the worn soles of his shoes as he jogged to the bunks. It was well past sunset, but the windows to the small shack were dark. Sam had a feeling the runner wasn’t asleep.
He slowly opened the door, cringing at the shrill creek from the hinges. “Five?” he called, his voice still a low whisper. “Five, are you in here?” Stopping, Sam took a minute to let his eyes adjust to the dark room. When he could finally see, he spotted them.
Runner Five - his strong, stoic Runner Five – was curled up on their bed. He could hear their choked sobs as he inched his way over. Gently, he laid his hand on their shoulder, hoping to give them what little comfort he could, when he saw something clutched in their hands.
A tiny pink teddy bear.