Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

He honestly doesn't know how he's made it this far.

As a doctor, Edward Richtofen knows that surely, it isn't humanly possible to grow flowers in the lungs. Well, there might have been that one instance where Maxis had eaten something particularly seedy and had began to cough violently, which resulted in Richtofen asking to open up the other's chest to examine the source of the wracking of his body, wondering if the other had something stuck in him that was potentially life-threatening. Of course, Maxis insisted that he was only coming down with a cold.

The memory was a pleasant one, albeit Maxis' reluctance to let Richtofen anywhere near him; he remembered the two laughing about it together later on in the day. He hadn't had such a thought in a while, having been busy killing thousands of zombies. He knew that he had to right all the wrongs that his other self had caused, and that didn't make for any time to reminisce about happy memories. There was no time to relax, except for the dark and snowy nights on the castle, where Richtofen would have to be alone with his thoughts as he diligently scribbled down his progress in fixing the world he had corrupted with his own hand.

However, it was only recently that he found himself with a dilemma that he didn't know how to fix by normal methods; it was on a night of a particularly heavy snowstorm that Richtofen had come down with something that had his chest in pain with every breath that he took. The undead had stopped coming in hordes, and the mismatched quartet was thankful for that, bodies aching and desperate for a rest.

It seemed that Samantha granted them a reprieve from the ever-amounting zombies that seemed to show up every hour whenever dusk arrived, which led to the latter hours of the night thankfully being unoccupied by growls of nightmarish undead. Edward mentioned that even demonic little girls needed some well-deserved sleep sometimes.

Nikolai just grumbled something about how dead people didn't need sleep and then took a swig of water from his canteen before getting comfortable. Takeo breathed out what looked like a quiet sigh of relief, pulling his goggles over his eyes, while Dempsey reassembled his Argus from its cleaning and propped himself against the toy box, settling in for the night.

Edward, in the meantime, fiddled with his void bow. Ancient rumblings of foreign words hummed into his ear whenever he held it close, reminiscent of the voices he'd heard from his constant paranoia by the infection of 115 at the dig site. He took it away from his head and folded his arms over his chest, rubbing away at his tired eyes. He was thankful for the fact that his mind was blank this night, seeing as how he'd been exhausted by the Apothicans' incessant ramblings for a lot longer than he would have liked. Richtofen figured that he should get some rest before the next horde came once again when Samantha 'woke up' and decided to impose her wrath upon the four again.

The howling wind cut through what was left of the stone bricks of the castle, and Richtofen almost contemplated going outside so that he didn't have to stay in Samantha's room to sleep. From what they had scouted on arrival, her room was the only one that had a proper bed in it, along with enough room for the four of them, and although he knew that laying in it would cause a flood of painful memories to resurface, he took a seat on the downy bed and threaded the red, velvety fabric between his fingers, sighing to himself. A shiver coursed through his body, and he wasn't sure if it was because of the frigid air, or because he felt something else that wasn't of this world sitting beside him. Richtofen dared not look at the little girl kicking her legs out next to him; rather, he just closed his eyes and willed her away.

In that time, he found that he'd fallen asleep, but only for a few hours; it was still dark out when he checked the sky through the gaping hole in the door, and he gave a breath of relief. It was short-lived, though, as when he tried to sit up, a hand nudged him for a second before it pulled away. He hadn't noticed half of his body was still hanging over the side of the bed from where he'd been sitting, and when he peered through the darkness to see what or who had touched him, a gruff voice came to his ears.

"Fuckin'- stupid teddy bears.. damn toys.. getting in my way." It was Dempsey. Wearily, Richtofen sat up in bed and watched the man stepping around the other two sleeping bodies, tip-toeing past fabrics of clothing and limbs. At the sound of shifting fabric, Dempsey glanced over only to find green eyes looking right through him. A barely audible, startled gasp escaped him before he craned his neck, trying to make out the figure in the dark. "Oh," he whispered once he could make the lanky body out.

"Shit, sorry, Doc. I didn't mean to wake you up. I was just gonna go out and get some ammo for my gun, won't be too long." He explained, pausing briefly. Richtofen stared at him for a few seconds, bleary, before he shrugged and laid back against the bedsheets. "No no, no need to apologize. Carry on. We always need to be ready for the next waves." He muttered sleepily, and closed his eyes once more, counting sheep to the rhythm of the man's heavy, receding footsteps.

It seemed that Edward couldn't sleep longer than a few hours at most. His mind was plagued with glowing eyes of various colors, moans from a writhing mass of horrendous decaying corpses attacking his ears as he struggled to scramble away from an unending loop of time that he'd found himself stuck in. He was chased by a black clump of pointed and spined tentacles that reached for him at every chance it could get until Richtofen found himself in a circle of blue and glowing unintelligible descriptions.

Hooded figures rose and descended from different areas of the circle, locking hands around him and closing in on Richtofen. They chanted an unknown dialect, and Richtofen shouted something that even he himself didn't quite catch, waking with a start. His chest felt tight, as if something heavy lay on top of it.

Three pairs of disturbed and mostly annoyed eyes stared at him. Richtofen stood swiftly from the bed, rubbing his eyes. "I.. I'm sorry," he apologized promptly, pulling his coat over his shoulders and clearing his throat; he felt unusually stuffy. "Just a chill."

Richtofen left in a hurry.

As he sprinted out of the castle, he leaned over the balcony beside the giant stone wall and heaved violently, cough wracking his entire frame. His mouth was unusually dry and it felt as if something was resting on his tongue. When he reached in to pull whatever it was out, he was perplexed; between his fingers, rounded at the corners, was the pink and white bud of a flowering cactus.

Richtofen stared down at the petal for what seemed like an eternity. He was absolutely stunned; where had the flower come from? It was the middle of winter, and he was fairly certain that no flowers should be blooming in Austria at this time, let alone a cactus. He clenched the petal tight and shoved it into his satchel, confused. If it were an omen of some sort, he would try and make the most sense of it that he could, but he was shell-shocked from the absurdity of it. The rattling in his chest was no comfort either. As he pondered how crazy it was, the Sun barely peeked over the stone walls as the unmistakable wail of a shambling zombie was heard through the air. Edward sighed and flicked the safety off of his Pack-A-Punch-ed KN-44. Samantha had woken up and was back with another one of her bouts of demonic fury. He could only hope that her temper had been dampened by her sleep.

Richtofen made his way back into the crumbling castle, where Nikolai glanced at him with tired eyes and a drooping face. Still, a fire was flaring behind his gaze, and he knew that although they were reluctant, they believed in Edward to save them and preserve their futures. Barely. He couldn't help but pity them; Richtofen didn't even know if he himself had the strength to carry on, but he was persistent, and he was determined to save the world.

He shook the other two men awake, who had fallen back asleep when Edward had left to cough his lungs out. Takeo, once woken, bore a heavy gaze, staring down at the Haymaker 12 that lay in his lap. He was unmoving, and if one didn't look close enough, they'd think he'd fallen back asleep. Dempsey rose sleepily from the ground beside the toy box and, looking around hopefully, wondered if they would have time to get shit done without zombies on their asses. His lips parted to speak, but before any words could fall, the groan of a nearby zombie tearing down a board made his face fall. He gave a sigh, picking up his Argus from where it rested against the box.

"Can never get a break, can we?" Came his voice, rough with overexertion, and there was a scoff from Takeo, who finally stood as well. "Don't be foolish," he said firmly, although his voice held the smallest hint of amusement. "We should be thankful that we can rest every night."

Dempsey grunted understandably and aimed his Argus straight ahead, popping the cap off of the zombie that had been tearing at the boards. Edward was silent, inspecting the plans he'd laid out for the day. Tank had already stalked off, grumbling about how he needed to go and hit up the Pack-A-Punch, muddy bootsteps trailing behind him. Nikolai sighed and fiddled with the string of his wolf bow before leaving the room, Takeo following suit. Richtofen was left alone to his own devices.

In truth, the plan of 'going around dimensions and killing themselves' was going to be difficult. Hell, it was difficult already! He suspected that Dempsey knew he'd have to kill the other him, but that didn't mean there wouldn't be any repercussions to Dempsey's mental health afterwards. He stared down at his sketch of the Summoning Key for a long while, and then to the house, and then back to the Summoning Key.

Edward brushed his palm gently over his journal where his innermost thoughts and emotions lay hidden and stood, determined. He would not fail. He could not fail. He would not leave his allies- friends, even- stuck in a state of fear and paradox for the rest of their lives.

He left the room. He had plans to make, plans to finish- and he had to shoulder them alone. He could not place these burdens upon his crew, and especially not upon Dempsey, not now- Richtofen couldn't have him lose his sanity or feel hopeless when the worst had yet to come.

As Richtofen stepped out onto the wooden bridge above the courtyard, he could see Nikolai and Dempsey exchange a firm, brotherly handshake, whooping. The white snow was littered with zombie blood, the two men's spirits high, and the German paused, feeling his chest tighten.

How odd. Dempsey's smile was as bright as the sun. Richtofen couldn't remember the last time he saw it, if ever.

Within moments, he felt a cough come on.

Chapter Text

"Come on, box! I thought I told you to stop doing that!" Dempsey groaned as the rather modern looking box shook violently, a demonic laugh sounding from it before it skyrocketed into the air and vanished. In its place stood a few metal crates and a bloodied teddy bear, mocking him. He glanced around to see where the box was headed before he remembered Nikolai was still with him, hammering rotted boards in front of one of the windows that the zombies always came through. Dempsey called over to the Russian and struck up a conversation.

"Hey, Nikolai. A word?"

Nikolai blinked in response, nodding his head. He set the boards down and sent his companion an intrigued yet impatient look. Dempsey continued.

"This.. artifact of Richtofen's. Has he shown it to you?"

Nikolai shook his head and brushed some snow off of his shoulder. "No, he has not. I don't think he's shown it to any of us."

Dempsey sighed and ran a hand down his face, looking Nikolai dead in the eyes. "Listen, just- call me crazy, but I'm starting to think Richtofen may actually know how to get out of all this. I mean, this 'Dr. Groph' guy seems like he knows him pretty well, and if Richtofen's betraying him, well shit, he's gotta be sacrificing everything he's got just to fix what happened and save our lives."

Nikolai sighed, averting his eyes. "It cannot be denied that Richtofen has great intelligence. I.. suppose that it is up to us to trust his word. I hope that he has a plan to save all of us, though. As of right now, it seems that he only has a plan of saving you."

Dempsey quirked a brow, skeptical. "What are you talking about? You think he would go through all this if he didn't already have plans to save you and Tak either?"

Nikolai tutted and turned back around to continue hammering the wooden boards across the broken doorframe. "I am unsure. It feels as if he's making up these plans as we go along.. but think what you will, comrade. If anything, I believe he has more to do with you than any of us. Perhaps, even himself."

Dempsey frowned at Nikolai's crypticism. He looked down at his empty blood vial and sighed, holding the cold glass in his hand before stepping away and thanking Nikolai for his thoughts. The Russian simply hummed in response, mind elsewhere.

Not the answer he was expecting, but it was an answer nonetheless. As conflicting as some of their beliefs could be, it was refreshing to hear the others' thoughts. Perhaps Takeo could provide him with a different perspective, mulling over what Nikolai had said as he made his way to the death ray.

Dempsey decided to meet Richtofen at the clock tower first. He couldn't find Takeo for the life of him and thought, since Richtofen always seems to be hiding shit, he might as well ask in case he's hiding him, too.

"Richtofen." He said simply as he leaned against the stone doorframe, arms folded across his chest.

"Ah, Dempsey!" Richtofen greeted him with false delight (who could be happy in a place like this?), closing his journal and rising from his desk. "I assume everything is alright?" He asked. His chest felt a little tight, but it was nothing he couldn't handle. He'd fared worse before.

"Uh, yeah.. everything's fine. I was just wonderin' if you've seen Takeo recently. I wanted to ask him something." He questioned, voice gruff, leaning away from the other's imposing presence. Richtofen tapped his chin in thought and, fortunately, something seemed to come to him.

"Yes, I do believe he mentioned he was heading down near the tram room for a bottle of Juggernog, if I remember correctly." The German informed his ally with a hum. "He's also looking around for new guns to buy right now, so if he's not down there, you might find him running around doing who knows what."

Dempsey grunted, turning. "Thanks," he muttered as he left, but Richtofen stopped him before he trudged down the stairs. "Wait! Dempsey! Before you go, may I ask you a favor?" The doctor called to him, and the marine turned slowly, his impatient breath visible in the cold air.

"What?"

Edward drew in a breath to speak, but his speech was mangled by a dry, painful cough. Dempsey hesitated, quirking a brow. "Er.. you alright?" He asked cautiously, and Edward nodded, thumping on his chest with his fist. "I'm alright, thank you. This cold air really does a number on your lungs, you know?" He sputtered, catching his breath. Dempsey grunted in response, muttered a "you're tellin' me", and gestured for the doctor to continue. 

"I wanted to ask if you could meet me in the teleporter room after the next two waves. I need your assistance with something."

Dempsey sighed in response, irritated. He couldn't have asked Takeo earlier when he'd seen him? "This better not be some bait to get me alone and do a crazy fucking experiment on me or something," he said suspiciously. Richtofen rolled his eyes and frowned. "Believe me, Dempsey. If I wanted to do that, I would already have done so. Besides, who's to say I haven't tried yet?" He chuckled, tone light and lilted in amusement despite their circumstances.

Dempsey remained annoyed, stepping back. "Shouldn't you be making emergency plans in case of a disaster that always ends up happening instead of cracking terrible jokes?" He muttered, fire bow crackling against his jacket. Richtofen cocked his head to the side innocently. "Jokes?" He hummed in response, teasing, but Dempsey was having none of it. "Don't get smart with me. Just- I'll meet you there. Don't be late."

With that, he walked off, leaving Richtofen to spit out the petal he'd been holding under his tongue. The heavy feeling in his chest seemed to recede as Dempsey walked off, and he looked down at his chest in confusion.

"My God.. what is happening?" He murmured to himself, trying to gather his thoughts. Was this somehow Dempsey's doing? Had he been the one to plant a seed in his lungs? Had the American poisoned his nightly can of beans? There were simply too many possibilities and unanswered questions, all of which Richtofen had no way of resolving. He adjusted his shirt collar and drew in a deep, rattling breath, irritated. As fun as it was to tease Dempsey, the pressure in his chest seemed to increase tenfold whenever he talked to him. It was maddening.

"Damned flower," he spat, kicking it under the snow and returning to his work.

Dempsey's least favorite room in the entire castle was, without a doubt, the tram room.

It wasn't because it was difficult to keep all the windows boarded up or because one could become trapped if they didn't pay good enough attention; rather, it was because it was where this whole damn mess had started. It was safe to say that Richtofen's plan, as fool proof as they had drawn it up, had failed miserably. They had failed to capture his other self, and in the time everyone had to recover from their 'crashing inside a giant fucking robot' injuries, the damn Germans had already shot him off into space. 

As they traveled up the tram in silence to the mountain castle, the marine remembered that Richtofen looked particularly distressed. In fact, he seemed even more silent than he usually was, his eyes never leaving the floor of the tram. That's not to say the entire ride wasn't silent, anyways.

Saving the universe and pulling themselves out of a time loop was, of course, a daunting task. He imagined that Richtofen had just been busy drawing out a new plan in his head after the first one had been so easily foiled, but now that Tank thought about it, maybe the other was thinking about something else entirely.

Was he untrusting of them? Did he believe that the three of them had no hope because the first plan had failed? Had he himself lost hope? Was he embarrassed that things hadn't come to fruition as easily as they had envisioned?

"You seem troubled."

Dempsey nearly jumped out of his skin with a "Christ!", whirling around to find Takeo, mirth, leaning against some metal railing behind him. The marine groaned, not looking for Takeo to impart any wisdom onto him. "It's nothing," he said curtly, rolling his eyes. "I was just thinking."

"About?"

"I said it was nothing," Dempsey bristled. "I was looking for you anyways. Care to answer something for me?"

Takeo hummed. Dempsey scoffed- as if Takeo had any other thing to be doing right now. He moved to lean against the same rail as Dempsey's, looking down at the tram's control panel. The American took it as a gesture to go on.

"I wanted to ask if you believe Richtofen actually knows what the hell he's doing." Tank began, kneading his knuckles under his gloves. "Don't tell him I said this- Hell, I feel like I shouldn't even be telling you this, but I want to trust him. As far as I know, he hasn't pulled any crazy, behind our back bullshit since this started, but you saw how he was acting the ride up here, right? You think he might've messed up in his plan somewhere? You wonder if he's all there in the head right now?"

Takeo was silent but he bore a smile, although it was small. Rare still, considering he hardly ever made any emotion past one of contentment after meditating.

"You are worried about him."

Dempsey's side eye was incredulous. "What?" He asked, in disbelief at what he just heard. "Uh, no. Worried about whatever he's got planned, maybe, but did you even hear what I said? I asked you if you trusted him."

Takeo tapped a finger against the rail, jaw working around the gum he was chewing.

"I cannot place my full trust in him, considering the nature of the ones before him," Takeo said finally, "but he has done no harm so far. It would be unwise to have a lack of faith in him."

Dempsey scratched the back of his neck with a sigh, pulling away from the rail. "Can't believe everything you see," he huffed, "but I guess Richtofen ain't so bad right now. Thanks, Tak. You sure as hell were a lot less cryptic than Nikolai.. usually it's the opposite," he said, clapping a hand on the other's shoulder as he walked off. Takeo stopped him briefly. "You know," he began, peering around the other's shoulder to a barrier in disrepair, "Perhaps you would trust the doctor more if you were not so hostile in his company."

Dempsey frowned. "Why bother? We're practically sworn enemies. Have been in every, uh.. 'dimension'. Making friends with him isn't exactly the first thing on my agenda." He said. The Asian sighed and crossed his arms. "Hm! When you two are not parading around each other every second, I will believe that." He hummed, and Dempsey pulled back, turning away from Takeo.

"Whatever you say. See you around, Tak." He muttered, fire bow snapping and popping on its holster, the ancient quiver's flames lapping at his collar. He pulled his jacket in tight as he stepped out into the winter winds, scowling in thought over what his ally had said.

'Worried about him'?

Yeah, right.

Not in a million years. The only time Tank would ever be worried about Richtofen would be if he was on the verge of incapacitation or worse, death. Takeo and Nikolai's stupid little quips about he and the doctor's 'friendship' were more than enough to worsen his already abrasive attitude, but he would do his damndest not to let them get under his skin anymore than they already had.

Dempsey spotted the Double Tap machine and sighed in relief. The taste of a cold, sugary, sickeningly sweet root beer would definitely take the edge off of him before he went to meet Richtofen.

Chapter Text

"I'm here," Dempsey called out, holstering his Dingo after killing a zombie particularly interested in the 115 Well Launcher. He peered around the entrance of the teleporter room, stepping in when he heard nothing. "Doc? You around?"

Silence.

His watch read 11:00 sharp, and the marine frowned. Richtofen was nowhere to be seen. Dempsey took it upon himself to give him five minutes, but if he didn't show up, he was high-tailing it outta there. This room gave him the heebie-jeebies, what with its bloody sinks and holes in the walls that the undead never seemed to stop coming from. Tank always felt an overwhelming sense of pain and frustration emanate from the area. 

He leaned against the wall, picking at some dried blood on his jacket. He'd seriously have to wash this soon, with what little clean water they spared for cleaning. In the silence, he pondered if what they were doing here was truly the right thing; did they even know what kind of forces they were meddling with? Richtofen claimed to have knowledge beyond this mortal plane, and if Dempsey was being honest, that made him nervous. He felt like a little pawn in Richtofen's game of chess against the universe, a puppet for something much greater than himself. He wondered if Nikolai and Takeo felt the same way.

His thoughts were interrupted when the lights in the room flickered and the floor of the teleporter started to crackle, the circular glass emitting a beam of light. In an instant, Richtofen stepped out of it, smelling strongly of smoke and pulling up his sleeves. The tip of his hair was singed, chest rising and falling hurriedly as he tried to catch his breath.

"What the hell?!" Dempsey exclaimed, pushing himself off the wall. Richtofen held his hands up, keeping Dempsey away, reaching up to pinch the embers at the tip of his whorl. The American was speechless, letting his hands fall to his sides as Richtofen finally caught his breath.

"The rocket.. was getting trip mines.. barely made it in.. My God, who the hell forgot to activate the rocket pad's Wundersphere?" He groaned.

Dempsey felt a little guilty. That was probably him. Not really guilty, though, because Richtofen was annoying, but a little.

The doctor ran a hand down his face and blinked, hard, before shaking his head and finally standing up straight. "Alright, I'm late, I know," Edward sighed, leaning against the wall of the teleporter. "But we're both here now, so let's worry about what I've called you here for, yes?"

Dempsey rose a brow as Richtofen began to scuttle about the teleporter room like the scummy little roach he was, grasping at papers and shoving one in the American's chest. The marine scowled, barely managing to catch it in his arms. "Hey, kraut-"

"Hush! I have no time for interruptions. Just listen to me, Dempsey. I have other things to attend to right now, so I, unfortunately, have to trust you with this task. I'm going to need you to swap your bow out for the old one.. I promise this won't take long at all."

"Will I-"

"Yes, you'll get your bow back soon. Follow me," Richtofen ordered, leading the American to the crypt where they had originally recieved the Wrath of the Ancients. Once Dempsey had swapped his bow out, he pouted at the loss of his special one, but knew he'd get it back soon anyways.

As they headed back to the teleporter, Dempsey stepped to the other's side. "Hey, Doc. I know I said I was free to do this and all.. but you couldn't get Nikolai or Tak to go and do this? Working alone with you isn't really my idea of a good time, you know." Dempsey said in a desperate attempt to charge the negative silence.

Richtofen tutted and began to tweak at some knobs and levers at the teleporter's side. "Oh, you won't be working with me. I'll be leaving once you start," Edward began, stepping back as the teleporter's prongs began to flicker and change in color. "And Dempsey, I'm afraid I don't see the logic in asking either of those two after I've already asked you. So as I said, this won't take long." Edward explained, and an uncomfortable heaviness settled in his chest; the German leaned against the warm metal of the teleporter and hacked out another petal. Dempsey, thankfully, was squinting down at the paper Richtofen had given him, so the doctor kicked it behind the teleporter and turned to face the marine.

"Do me a favor and shoot those coils with your bow, my dear American friend," Edward said as Dempsey nocked a golden arrow, expression deadpan at the other's words. He shot the coils with ease, and the doctor tried his best to seem as if he wasn't examining the other's physique.

That was normal, right? To admire his male friend's manliness? Edward was not the epitome of strength or masculinity- he was simply too scrawny and bony to do a lot of brute work. Surely, if Richtofen explained himself thoroughly to Dempsey, even he would recognize that there would be nothing wrong in saying he thought the marine looked quite muscular!

"Hey!" Dempsey shouted, snapping his fingers in front of Richtofen. "That 115 finally getting to you or something? You've been acting weird all day.. weirder than usual. If you got a cold or something, stop telling me to do shit for you and do it yourself. Got better things to do than get sick and beg around for chicken soup."

Edward frowned. "I'm quite healthy, thank you. You don't think I, the doctor, would maintain the best health out of you three?" He exclaimed, and Tank snorted, holstering his bow. "Some kinda doctor you are! Cutting people's brains out of their heads and shit.. just tell me what the hell to do now before I get bored."

Richtofen straightened his vest, carrying himself at the other's words. "That paper I gave you has eight locations on it inside this castle. Out of those eight locations, four of them will have these.. itty bitty little blue lights on them. All you have to do, Dempsey, is find where they are and shoot them as quickly as you can."

Dempsey looked down at the paper, scanning over the locations written down. "Shouldn't be too hard, I guess."

Richtofen beamed and patted Tank's shoulder. "Ah, it's good to hear that my task is easy enough for you, my simple-minded monkey." He left the other's side and began to walk off. "Good luck! Come see me when you're done!"

Dempsey glanced over the shoulder that Richtofen had patted with a grumble. Leaving the teleporter to crackle with electricity and hearing the roar of zombies far away, he could see Takeo looking at him with his barely visible smug, crooked smile. Dempsey figured he was feeling quite proud of himself for observing that the marine and German spent a lot of time together. He frowned and flashed his middle finger at the Asian, his already annoyed face quickly being taken over by a scowl as he trudged off to go find the stupid wisps that Richtofen had told him to.

A handful of petals and thorns rested in Edward's palm. His breath was shaky and hot tears threatened to spill from his eyes, but he wouldn't let them fall. He couldn't. To cry because of something as trivial as flower petals? It would be an insult to the 'even in the face of death, I will do my best to persevere' mentality he's tried so hard to cultivate. He wasn't going to die by these flowers- he was sure of it. They were simply a nuisance. He swallowed thickly and although he felt as if he couldn't breathe at all, he knew he'd been through worse. He couldn't just allow himself to break down at something so small, no matter how unbearable it was.

"Doctor!"

Richtofen visibly winced when a rough Russian voice called to him from afar.

Heavy footsteps came closer and closer, and Richtofen forced himself to stand up straight, wiping his eyes quickly and clearing his throat. Not wanting to look weak in front of the Russian brute, he turned and gave him a stern look.

"Richtofen, my arm was- Richtofen?" Nikolai's eyes squinted slightly as he studied the man before him. "Have you been crying?"

The German steadied his voice and scoffed. "Crying? Me? Do you know what I've been through? I can assure you, nothing we are doing here is cause for tears. I'll be honest, the wind just got in my eyes and made me tear up. Now, what about your arm?" He asked, gesturing for Nikolai to present his wound.

The Russian eyed Richtofen warily before holding out his arm, rolling up his sleeve. He was sporting what seemed to be a rather gnarly gash across his forearm.

"While I was boarding up windows, a zombie appeared and scraped my arm. Takeo gave me painkillers, but it's starting to hurt again. Do we have any bandages in storage?" Nikolai asked. He sounded as if he were trying to be polite, but his voice was bitter and aggressive, as if he hated to be asking the German for help. Edward understood. He wouldn't want to ask for help from himself either.

Richtofen opened his mouth to speak, but the only thing that left him was a horrendous dry wheeze that had his eyes tearing up once more, three pink petals getting caught in the air in front of him as they fluttered to the snow under his boots. In horror, he looked up from the petals to see Nikolai with shock and disbelief plastered on his face, glancing from the petals up to Richtofen's face over and over with awe.

"Are-" Nikolai began, but was interrupted by the sound of the Panzersoldat siren, the two of them looking instantly over to the first courtyard as a giant hunk of metal shot down into the castle. The two of them were stunned for a moment before Richtofen pushed Nikolai forward and took to his side. "Move!" He snapped, an order Nikolai followed with haste. "Whoever it is over there cannot handle the Panzersoldat on their own!"

Of course they wouldn't be able to. Even with the strongest bow one could have, the robot suit could deflect most attacks not directed to their face, and last time Richtofen checked, none of his allies were proficient in nocking and shooting a bow on the fly with a horde of zombies on their ass. 

"I believe it is Dempsey over there," Nikolai told the German as they ran across the death ray's platform. "He was looking for those blue things you told him to find! You knew that iron thing was going to come soon! Were you trying to get him killed?!" The Russian spat at Edward, distrustful, but he stayed silent, eyes focused ahead. He couldn't waste time trying to calm Nikolai down.

Before focusing back on the path ahead of them, Nikolai noticed Richtofen's speed pick up just a little.

Chapter Text

It wasn't that the wisps written on the paper were hard to find, it's just that when Richtofen said that they were 'itty bitty'.. he meant it.

Dempsey already wasn't fond of acknowledging his flaws, but if there was one in particular he didn't ever want to see the light, it was that his sight was a little.. subpar. He'd hoped Richtofen hadn't picked up on it when trying to read his handwriting of the wisp locations, nevermind the fact he could barely read his cursive anyways. Maybe he should find a way to mention he needed glasses in passing.. he imagined he'd look quite charming in them.

"Christ.. can barely see you little guys." Dempsey muttered as he pulled back the string and let an arrow off into the glowing car tire. He'd shot at least two others so far, running around the castle, avoiding zombies whenever he could. As bad as he felt making his allies do all the dirty work of killing zombies, not having to clean zombie viscera off his gun was as nice as nice could be. He jogged into the courtyard where the first dragon they fed was, admiring the bloodshed he and Nikolai had left here earlier that day with a "Damn, freakbag guts couldn't be more sexy."

Of course, he still had a job to do. He couldn't ogle at undead entrails all day. "Alright.. what's next," he huffed to himself, pulling out his paper, squinting down at the locations that had been written. "Typewriter.. clock.." he mumbled, going down the list of possible locations, on high alert for anything that might be trying to take advantage of his solitude. He had only barely just skimmed over what was there before the ground beneath him began to rumble, and the unmistakable sound of the Panzer's fucking air horn rang out behind him. He instantly went straight as a statue, pulling his bow back out as a precaution. Warily, Tank peeked over his shoulder to find the metal-clad zombie charging at him like a raging bull, claw outstretched, ready to grasp at Dempsey's waist.

"Oh, fuck!" He shouted, backing up, barely managing to shove the paper back in his pocket before hauling ass up the staircase, nearly slipping on the icy steps.

"Dempsey! Up here!"

Tank turned to the two men shouting his name, yelling in panic when he felt flames licking his ass, dancing and hopping around the electric stakes being shot at his feet. What the hell were they doing? They didn't even have their guns out! Were they just going to watch him die?

"Pull your guns out, dumbasses!" Dempsey shouted as the two quickly did so. There was no use, however- there was little chance they could kill the Panzer without wounding the American, either. Amidst the chaos of Nikolai and Richtofen trying to avoid shooting Dempsey through the skull as they fought the Panzer, Takeo appeared from the power room, wondering what in the hell all the ruckus was, but the rumbling at his feet was all the answer he needed. "Come here!" He shouted, grabbing his allies by their collars and tugging them to where they could be safe from the death ray.

Dempsey was fucking mortified when he saw Takeo pulling Richtofen and Nikolai back like a mother cat to its kittens, wondering if they were going to abandon his annoying ass for sure this time; but in a moment of mid-panic clarity, it was completely apparent what the other's were doing in their retreat. He raced up the steps like a bat out of hell, turning back to give the Panzer a well needed shooting before running into the safe zone of the ray.

Richtofen fiddled with the controls in a frenzy, and the group breathed a collective sigh of relief when the Panzer lifted into the air, cracking and popping with electricity. It roared and kicked in dismay, glare vile and deadly as it tried to ground itself.

After they all caught their breath, Dempsey laughed, shaking his head in disbelief. "Ha! You guys scared of that thing?" He huffed, breath heavy, chest heaving as he slumped against the Wundersphere. His voice was barely audible above the static. "Hell.. damn Nazi-Bot's lucky it didn't get a taste of this heavy artillery." He said as he flexed a muscle.

The crew blinked at him, unimpressed. Richtofen coughed. Nikolai gave the suspended Panzer a few shots to the head with his gun. It resisted, trying to put a claw up to its face, but its body gave way, and it crumpled to the ground as soon as the death ray powered off. Nikolai gave it an extra shot as it was on the ground, just in case, sneering down at the abomination. As the four hesitantly stepped out of the death ray's safe zone, ready to get back to work, a deep fog rolled in, along with thunder rumbling in the background.

"..Shit." Dempsey cursed, reaching up to only remember that damn it, he still didn't have his special bow back yet.

Richtofen waved a hand dismissively to Dempsey's negative thought. "Ah, they are just puppies. We handled them perfectly at Der Reise! We'll be fine." He told his allies, voice lilted with delight as he pulled out his void bow, ready to wreak havoc.

He was always more of a cat person, anyways.

Following the wave of hellhounds, Dempsey managed to find the last wisp within the comms room, returning to Richtofen proudly. "Read 'em 'n weep," he beamed, passing the other the paper that accounted for all the needed wisps. "Got exactly what you asked for right there, Doc."

Richtofen hummed and held the paper up against the dim light, examining the chicken scratch Tank had left on it in his boredom while searching. "Yes, yes. This will do." He hummed, and Dempsey sighed in relief, knowing he wouldn't have to go on another wild goose chase anytime soon. "Fantastic. Anything else you need your butler to do next?" He mocked, folding his arms across his chest.

There was an exhale of laughter from Richtofen, breath visible in the cold air. "No, your services will not be needed for some time, Dempsey, although I appreciate the initiative." He stated, turning away from the other to place the paper on his desk. "There is one more thing I need you to do, though. Everyone will need to meet at the teleporter in thirty minutes, so please be there on time. This is very crucial to my plan."

Dempsey set his jaw, sighing. "Yeah, whatever, Doc. Just make sure we got a back-up plan this time. Don't want to ride another rickety ass gondola up to a castle again," he said finally, peering around Richtofen's side curiously at the sight of petals resting on his desk. "I'll, uh.. I'll see you there. Let's not screw up whatever plan we're following now, okay?" He prodded gruffly before stalking away from Edward's study, wondering where the hell those petals came from.

The German felt pressure rise in his chest until he hacked out another handful of pink onto his desk, groaning at the soreness in his torso. He had yet to figure out why Dempsey was the cause of this debilitating illness, and it irritated him to no end. He could not afford to waste time investigating the phenomenon, though; instead, he needed to study the wisps before they went into the teleporter, knowing that it would only string him out more, as necessary as it was.

However.. he was sure he could make some time to meet with Takeo and ask him if he knew what was going on. He'd have to talk with Nikolai about his injury as well. He left the papers on his desk, scattered and in disarray, exiting his office to seek out the Asian and the Russian.

Chapter Text

"Of course, when Dempsey shot his bow, the fire went the other way! Funny man," Nikolai laughed heartily. From around the wall, Richtofen smiled gently as he heard Takeo reply with a quiet chuckle and an "I suppose that's.. quite funny."

The two worked well together, considering the relationship their other selves had. They had definitely despised each other enough to show it, but in this new dimension, it seemed like the two had come around and were making acquaintance. Unfortunate as it was, Richtofen had to interrupt their rest with some important news of his own.

Rounding the wall, he stepped in front of the two resting men and cleared his throat. Nikolai stopped his elaborate story about how he had once wrestled a bear for an extra cracker ration and looked up at the doctor, smile falling almost instantly.

"Yes?" The Russian said with an upturn of his brow. He seemed impatient, as if he wanted Richtofen to leave. Richtofen did not, instead glancing down at the man's arm, stunned to find that it was already wrapped in gauze. "Your arm!" He exclaimed in surprise. "Who patched it up?"

"Takeo did," Nikolai replied proudly.

Richtofen almost snorted. "A certified doctor, I see?"

Takeo tapped his satchel and shrugged. "Every warrior learns to dress his wounds. It has come in handy many times when you are not around."

Richtofen nodded and placed his hands on his hips, looking as if he were to reprimand the two soldiers for lying around, but he was far from it. "I'd like you two to meet up with me and Dempsey in the teleporter room to discuss the next step to getting out of here. We'll also be getting in the teleporter, so make sure to get anything done that you might need to before we go." He explained as briefly as he could, hoping that the two could get it in their heads. He turned to Takeo once the two nodded.

"Takeo, I need to talk to you in private."

The Asian eyed the man warily, but slowly got to his feet and wished Nikolai a farewell. Nikolai waved him off and did the same, deciding he would finish his ration of beans before going on with his day. "Follow me," Richtofen asked, turning around and leading the Japanese to a secluded spot down the staircase at the back of the clock tower. Takeo paused and crossed his arms, gesturing for the man to speak.

"So, er.. hm.." He murmured, trying to figure out where to even start. "Okay, listen. This may sound entirely insane, and frankly idiotic, but I need your help with something." Richtofen finally said with a defeated sigh, as if it hurt him to say he needed assistance. Takeo looked astounded. "You need my help? With what?"

"I need you to tell me if you've ever heard of a.. condition," he said with a strain in his voice, staring down at the ground. "As of recently, I've been having incidents where whenever I think of Dempsey, I start coughing up these petals. Flower petals," he said. "I believe they're from a cactus. They hurt like all hell, and sometimes, I even cough up thorns. I haven't told him about it yet, so he doesn't know, but Nikolai has seen me coughing them up and.."

Richtofen glanced back up to Takeo and was surprised to find him absolutely dumbfounded, an unbelieving 'O' on his face. He was sure if jaws could fall to the floor, Takeo's would have done so. The German frowned, clearly not expecting this reaction. He crossed his arms. "What?" He asked as Takeo just shook his head in disbelief. "What is that face? This could be life-threatening!"

Takeo looked as if he'd just seen a ghost.

At Richtofen's exasperation and embarrassment, he finally stopped and drew in a deep breath. "You.. you said this happens whenever you think of Dempsey, yes?" He questioned, unable to believe it. Richtofen bit at his lip. "Yes, why?"

The Asian closed his eyes, mentally preparing himself. He had no idea what the doctor's reaction might be to hearing what he had as an explanation to his troubles, but he had a feeling that he would deny it quickly.

"Listen to me, Richtofen. You may want to.. sit down for this." He suggested, nodding approvingly when Richtofen sat on a barrel beside a wooden beam.

"When I was a child, a fairy-tale was often spoken of around my village during springtime," he began, leaning against the stone wall beside the wooden stairs under the tower. "It was foolish and no-one really believed it, but.. there were a few who thought that it was real, and that was enough to keep it alive." He began, thinking deep back into his childhood to remember all he could about the story.

Richtofen looked like a boy hearing it for the first time, completely captivated as Takeo went on. "The tale involved a man being infatuated with a beautiful, young woman who was not aware of his love. He refrained from professing his feelings to her in fear of rejection, but with each passing day, he began to fester from inside with flowers; every breath he took caused pain deep within his lungs."

Richtofen stretched against the beam, sighing. "I feel like I don't like where this is going," he muttered aloud, and Takeo fixed him with a sorry gaze. "He went to the village doctor to ask him what was happening and was diagnosed with what we call 'Hanahaki Disease'- flowers growing in your lungs because you are too cowardly to admit your feelings. The doctor gave him three options; confess and have her return his love, remove the flowers and in turn, remove his emotions as well, or let them fester until he could no longer breathe."

The German narrowed his eyes warily at Takeo. "Well.. what option did he choose?" He asked, and Takeo bit his lip, shaking his head. "The ending differs with each repeat based on how the person telling feels. But, if you must know.. when I was a child, my favorite ending was the one where he loses his emotions. It always sort of.. appealed to me." He told Richtofen, who looked unimpressed. "Anyways," Takeo went on quickly, "you said you had thorns coming from your lungs, along with petals?"

Feeling as if he wouldn't accept the answer already, Richtofen nodded slowly, wringing his hands together as Takeo drew in a deep breath.

"You are refusing to acknowledge the fact that you are in love," Takeo said promptly. Richtofen's head fell, and he rubbed tiredly at his eyes, at the bridge of his nose. "With Dempsey, I assume." He groaned, running a hand down his face. As difficult a pill it was to swallow, it wasn't like Richtofen hadn't.. seen it coming.

Deep within the pages of the Kronorium, tales told of dimensions where the members of their crew were closer than the majority of their counterparts, be it in fully romantic relationships or purely promiscuous ones. He knew they existed; he just hadn't expected that their dimension would be one of them.

But.. if he played his cards right, it wouldn't have to be.

There had to be some way he could stop himself from falling into the pit that was love blossoming in a dangerous time.. or love in general. He feared the worst, though, if he tried to go against what the Kronorium laid out for them. Richtofen gave an incredulous laugh, shaking his head. "Maybe I've been pushing these feelings away longer than the book can allow me," he thought aloud. "Maybe this is its way of telling me to hurry up or face failure."

Takeo drew back with a frown. "Don't say that," he huffed, patting the German's shoulder reluctantly, although as consolingly as he could be. "We will not fail. You've said it yourself, time and time again." He offered to the other, helping Richtofen off of the barrel and nodding reassuringly at him. "You'll be alright."

As he stood, Richtofen felt a sudden surge of dryness strike his chest, curling inwards to try and stave off the terrible feeling. He choked, barely being caught by Takeo, four perfect, pretty, pink petals falling from his lips as he coughed. He retched out a handful of thorns just after, squeezing his eyes shut as he slammed a fist against his sternum. Takeo just grunted and helped Richtofen clear his throat, offering him his canteen. The man took a generous swig, voice hoarse.

"What a disaster," the German spat irritably. Takeo stepped back a little, not wanting to be by Richtofen when his mood was.. disagreeable. "I have so much to focus on.. I do not have time for petty matters such as this. If I die from it, I.. I die from it." His breath was ragged as he straightened himself up, adjusting his back to stand upright. "It would be impossible for me to operate on myself and pull a cactus out of my lungs, so that's off the table.. and I am not professing my 'love' to Dempsey. That is ridiculous, and Samantha herself could not pressure me to do such a thing," he said indignantly, tilting his chin up with defiance.

Takeo shrugged and took back his flask of water, settling it against his waist. "Do what you want, Richtofen, but the pain will become so unbearable in the coming days that you will want to do something about it."

The Japanese walked out of the clock tower's archway, leaving Richtofen with a heaving chest and a pile of petals and thorns at his feet. He grit his teeth and stomped his boot down on the mound, stalking off to the undercroft to prepare for teleportation.

"Now, when we go back to the past, this must be done within a few minutes- as such, we have to move quickly. There will be three things that we need to do," Richtofen began, pacing around the teleporter room in front of his allies, mind elsewhere. "The first thing we'll need to do is to grab the blue fuse that is resting on the table opposite Dr. Groph. Beside that table is a soul canister that we'll also need, so someone must get that before we leave. The last thing we'll need is the code that Dr. Groph enters in the safe- we'll need to memorize that. Everyone still with me?" Richtofen explained, looking at his crew's focused stares.

"Wunderbar. Let's assign roles. Hm.. Nikolai, you can wait by the safe and get the symbols that Groph types into the pad. Takeo, you can grab the fuse, and.. Dempsey, you can grab the soul canister."

Dempsey rose a brow. "What're you doing, then?"

Richtofen hummed, turning to calibrate the settings on the teleporter's control pad. "I'm going to make sure that you all don't mess this up. It's not that we can't come back if we forget something, it's just that poor Dempsey would have to be my little guinea pig again and fetch me those wisp locations should we fail." The German crooned, to which Dempsey groaned in distaste. He'd sooner rather die than be called a guinea pig again anyways.

"Now, listen- when we're in the past here, try your damndest not to make a sound until Dr. Groph is gone. If we speak while he's still in the room, he will hear us, and call down an immediate scan of the room using the Element 115. Since we've all had some form of 115 in us at some point in time, we'll be drawn to it, manifest immediately, then promptly be erased from time itself. Everyone ready? Let's go!"

"Wait, what? Rich-" Dempsey began in horror, but he couldn't finish.

Richtofen pressed the large green button on the metal panel, grinning as it whirred to life while Dempsey grabbed his shirt in his fist, shouting that he should've said that earlier. The teleporter shuddered violently before he felt his feet lift off the floor, a flood of purple, white, and blue washing over his eyes. He quickly closed them to try and hide the flashing, only opening them once he felt his feet touch solid ground.

Everything was.. monochrome. Once Dempsey had realized he should shut up and move, he let go of Richtofen's shirt, shoving him away.

Straightening his mussed clothing, Richtofen glanced around the room to make sure everyone else had arrived safely, and they had. Silently grumbling to himself, Dempsey searched around the small, greyscale laboratory for the compact soul canister that the kraut had been talking about. Richtofen, in the mean time, stood still in the center of the room, admiring his allies' scrounging. He always had a fondness for watching others do his bidding.

He felt Dempsey brush past him to grab the soul canister by the table he was near. In an instant, he felt his entire chest blow up with a burning pain that had his eyes watering. He was forced to take an immediate knee, unable to make a grunt of pain as he knew it would compromise their position. He choked out another petal as silently as he could, and as Dempsey walked past him with the canister in hand, he stared at him with wide eyes, unaware that his bump had caused such a reaction.

'What the fuck?' Was Dempsey's immediate thought, watching as the petal fluttered to the ground. He looked around himself, wondering if anyone else had just seen what he did, stunned.

Despite his shock at seeing the doctor cough out a petal, he mouthed a quick sorry to the man and set the canister down for a second to help Richtofen stand. He picked up the canister once more as Richtofen stood firmly, gaze dull. The American gave him a questionable thumbs up, wondering if he was alright. Richtofen nodded, although exhausted, and he drew in a shaky breath that he tried to make quiet.

As that was happening, Nikolai was peering over Dr. Groph's shoulder, memorizing whatever he could of the other's actions. Richtofen hadn't said that they would be found should Dr. Groph move through them, so Nikolai figured he was safe. The code he got from Richtofen's friend was a rectangle, a circle, and then a lightning bolt. Nikolai memorized the combination, turning to motion to Richtofen that he'd gotten it; however, at that moment, Groph moved his arm to close the safe, and his elbow passed right through Nikolai's gut.

The feeling of a cold, ethereal arm passing through him was enough to make Nikolai gasp in shock, Dempsey slapping a hand over his mouth before he could make anymore noises. Dr. Groph paused, looking around the room with narrowed eyes. He set his jaw, as if he were planning on calling out to whatever he'd heard, but ultimately, it seemed like he'd decided against it. Groph adjusted his coat before taking a few steps and then seemingly disappearing from sight, like a fading memory. Everyone looked at Richtofen, who nodded, and there was a collective sigh from within the room. Dempsey removed his hand from Nikolai's mouth and held the canister against his hip. Takeo had the fuse in his hand, and Nikolai mentioned the retrieved code to Richtofen. Once he was sure that they had gotten everything that they needed, he motioned towards the teleporter.

"Alright," he began, voice hoarse from coughing, "now that we've gotten everything that we need, we need to go to the death ray once we return. Takeo, once we get there, you must put the fuse in the slot on the side of the machine and switch the ray over to protect. That will turn on the computers by the clock tower, and Nikolai, that's where you come in. You'll put in the code you got from Groph and repeat it into the computer. That'll open the safe back in the teleporter room. We'll grab whatever he put in there and then get back to the death ray. I know that's already a lot to take on, so once we finish the last step in this plan, I'll tell you the rest."

Dempsey cleared his throat and tapped the top of his soul canister. "What about this thing? I didn't grab it just so you could watch me lug it around."

Richtofen bit his lip, lost in thought. "Hm, just- you're going to have to hold it until we get to the last part of the plan."

Dempsey snorted. "I can't carry this everywhere I go, Richtofen. It's heavy as shit and I can't even pull my pistol out." He griped, and Richtofen frowned. "Then just find a place to hide it. It's crucial, Dempsey; if you leave it and zombies attack it, we're stuck here until Samantha gets tired of her play toys.. us."

Chapter Text

He despised his other self with a hatred unbeknownst to him how to describe. His upper lip tickled lightly, and he ran the back of his hand under his nose, wincing at the sight of a nosebleed. He dared not let his thoughts cross with the other's thoughts, as he didn't want his own to be corrupted. Just being near the 115 at the dig site gave him cases of paranoia and night shivers- they'd probably made his thoughts worse, anyways.

Takeo patted his shoulder as he walked beside him briefly, giving him a weird look, before jogging up the staircase as the two men followed suit. The three made their way to the ray, leaving Richtofen alone. From where he was, it seemed like Dempsey and Nikolai were whispering amongst themselves, sending suspicious looks Richtofen's way, but he had no problem with that; it was Dempsey talking with Takeo that worried him.

If Dempsey asked Takeo what was happening to him, Takeo would most likely send Dempsey his way with the suggestion to pry it out of the German himself. Not that Richtofen wouldn't mind talking to him again; he just preferred not to have his secret choked out of him.

Edward ordered Takeo to put the fuse in and turn the dial, watching as Nikolai made his way over to the computer, leaving Richtofen and Dempsey idly and awkwardly standing around each other. There wouldn't be too big an influx of zombies after they teleported, so they had some time to kill.

Dempsey cleared his throat, wanting to speak, and Richtofen felt his throat seize.

"So, about this whole 'flowers in your throat' thing.. how the hell you plannin' on getting rid of it? What even got a plant in there anyways? We're in the middle of the Austrian Alps." Dempsey began curiously, wanting to make conversation.

"I must've inhaled the seed of one during our journeys together," Richtofen said quietly, and for all he knew, that could be the truth. "I don't know where it could've happened, but it seems that it just.. took root in my lung."

Dempsey quirked a brow and crossed his arms, pursing his lips in thought. "Alright, I'll bite. Any chance this won't kill you if you just let it be? Me, Nik, and Tak are no doctors, but we won't just stand by and watch you go belly-up if there's something we can do about it. Besides, you're the only one who knows how to make sense of all this 'Apothican' and 'Keeper' shit, so as irritating as you might be, we need you around anyways," the marine huffed, glancing the doctor's way expectantly.

Richtofen stared ahead, refusing to look at the male talking to him. Looking at Dempsey would probably cause him to swoon, so he kept his gaze forward, responding with a sigh.

"Takeo apparently knows a lot more about this disease than I do," he admitted, trying to ignore the stunned look on Tank's face. "From what he told me, I know that leaving it in me without intervention will surely kill me. Taking it out would be as big of a death sentence.. either I have one of you three take it out of me, or take it out myself, and believe me," Richtofen chuckled, "as good of a doctor I am, I'm not good enough for that. However, there's one more thing I could do to get rid of it, but that option is risky.. and frankly, I'm incredibly opposed to it."

"What is it?"

Richtofen balked for a second. He'd been so caught up thinking about what Takeo said that he'd almost mentioned the 'confess my undying love for you' option to the man he would've needed to confess his undying love for. He worked his jaw around his words, trying to find the right thing to say. He eventually decided on playing it off.

"It's nothing. Forget about it."

"You sure? I hit a nerve or something?"

"Just let it go, Dempsey. We have more important things to focus on."

As the conversation dwindled, Nikolai came back from the computer with a satisfied grin on his face. "Simple code," he said proudly. "No match for me. I could do one million more of those!" He exclaimed, and Dempsey took Nikolai's return to slip away from Richtofen, giving his brother-in-arms a hearty slap on the back.

The German looked past Takeo's shoulder to see the sun setting behind the peaks of the smaller mountains beyond the entry tram. He cleared his throat to get the others' attention, gesturing back to the comms room. "You guys can set up for the night," he said. "I'll go grab whatever's in the safe before I come back. Don't worry about me," the doctor offered before turning back on the three, descending down the staircase towards the courtyard.

He just really needed some time alone to mull over everything he'd been exposed to today.

When he returned to the upper part of the castle, safe files and objects in hand, around an hour had gone by- it was dark save for the ever-lit torches and candles scattered about the rooms. As he entered, he saw that Nikolai was on night watch, eyes drooping and gun poised sleepily in his hands. He seemed to shape up when Richtofen arrived though, raising his gun in surprise before lowering it when he recognized who the body was.

"Oh!" He exclaimed, putting his gun on safety and rubbing his eyes tiredly. "You scared me, doctor."

Richtofen exhaled gently and let his hands fall back to his side. "Sorry, Nikolai. I promise, you will not have to watch much longer. I'm just going to go wash up. When I return, I'll take over your post so that you can get some much needed rest, Nikolai."

Nikolai dipped his head thankfully as Richtofen moved past him towards their makeshift restroom. "It is appreciated," the Russian said as he resumed his stance, staring back out into the snow.

As he entered Samantha's room, he saw Dempsey and Takeo passed out, bodies strewn lazily on the floor, the American snoring obnoxiously as Takeo lie against the wall, unmoving, goggles strapped over his eyes. A few bean cans were discarded haphazardly around a small can fire they had jury rigged together upon arrival, and although it was small, the warmth it gave off was comforting.

He tiptoed around his sleeping companions towards the restroom they'd put together, shedding off his bloodied vest and other contaminated, filthy articles. He wasted no time sinking into the cold water, grimacing as he watched dried blood and other unsightly pieces come off of him.

As the German washed himself down with the melted snow that the four had been harvesting for water, be it for drinking or bathing, he could only think of the sight of his swollen chest in the dirty mirror that hung on the wall opposite him. The area around his sternum was bruised purple, and every breath he took barely moved his upper body outwards.

He traced his fingers over the scar of a zombie bite, shivering. It was impossible to forget what had happened that day; it was back at the dig site. They were on the 4th step of their 8 step plan to Agartha, and Richtofen had found himself trapped between the path of an incoming giant and a Panzersoldat. When he'd made a mad dash for the lightning tunnel, Odin had stomped down into the mud, leaving Richtofen at an impasse between the metal wall of the foot and the swarm of Panzers and zombies rushing him.

His lightning staff was completely drained of its energy and his Magna Collider was broken from his earlier crush with Freya, so his means of defending himself effectively and surviving were slim to none. He feared that this was the end, that no one would come to rescue him; all he could do was take it when he felt a rotting corpse latch onto his shoulder and crack the bone underneath with its bite, one of the Panzers striking him across the chest with a heavy metal claw.

He blanked; his mind and eyes went white with the most unbearable physical pain he had ever felt. Odin blared its siren and lifted its foot as Richtofen fell back into the mud, gnashing teeth and rotting hands following him. He could barely hear Dempsey's shout of alarm before the hottest flame he could imagine swept over his upper body; it scorched every inch of his skin and Richtofen curled in pain, but every hellish wail that had plagued his ears had now vanished. There were no groans of the undead, no clinking of metal armor. He could barely lift himself out of the mud to see Dempsey kneeling down beside him, focused, syringe in hand. He looked concerned, was muddy, and covered in scorches from earlier confrontations with Panzers, but to Edward, God; he swore the other was an angel, the white in the corners of his eyes only adding to the thought, and Richtofen was by no means a religious man.

He was sure that when Dempsey took ahold of his uninjured arm and hoisted him up to lean against him, he was being brought to Heaven; but he knew his luck wasn't that good, that he could just let go of all his worries like that. Dempsey took him out of the mud and the path of the robot, delicately pushing the syringe into him so as not to hurt him more.

So gentle, Edward remembered thinking. So tender.

The syringe was, basically, a burst of adrenaline; something meant to keep them from passing out during the most extreme of times until they could bring them back to HQ to be treated. His shoulder still burned with pain everytime he rolled it, but it'd become a number of times more bearable than it was back then. He wondered what Dempsey would think if he saw how ugly the scar was.

"No," Richtofen said instantly, voice low. He was not going to let Dempsey just.. invade his thoughts like that. He was not in the mood to get himself worked up over some.. some silly American that he's supposedly had a puppy crush on, even if that puppy crush is killing him. Literally. Instead, he focused on what he and his teammates needed to get done to get out of Griffin Castle, what they needed to have and not forget. Of course, Richtofen still had yet to divulge to Dempsey that he'd have to.. basically end his own life.. that was definitely something he needed to mention soon..

Dempsey.. fuck.

Could he not get this man off of his mind? It was as if no other thought could tear his focus from him, despite his best efforts to try and think about something else.

Richtofen grumbled to himself, irritated. He rubbed at his bloodied skin and dipped his head under the water, scrubbing at his scalp and greasy hair, sighing into the cold air. The water was just as cold, so he huddled in as close as he could to himself, trying to keep himself warm. It was certainly still freezing outside, snow falling in heavy waves as icicles threatened to break off of gutters and sills.

And yet, despite the cold around him, Richtofen felt oddly.. hot. A bubbly feeling troubled his chest, and he..

He wondered if Dempsey would ever return his feelings.

How would that impact their teammates? No- No, there was no 'their' yet. As far as he knew, Dempsey still despised working with him, and although Richtofen liked to think that the two were becoming acquaintances, he knew it was only because of their bound destiny. However, the part creating flowers in his body longed for them to get closer, and he was certain that if he ever admitted his feelings, Dempsey wouldn't return them. In the end, he was positive he'd be left with no feelings whatsoever as he ordered his teammates to cut the cactus out of his chest. He didn't want that, but.. he supposed there was no going around it.

He rubbed his body down with the small bar of soap that Nikolai had found inside the worker's quarters beside the undercroft, and in the deepest, most repressed, subconscious part of his mind, he wondered, 'What if these were Dempsey's hands on me?'

Upon realizing what he'd just thought, Edward groaned to himself and buried his face in his hands, because he knew, he knew, that he would never be able to get off scot-free from a crush without at least one inappropriate thought about them. The thought wasn't unappealing, however, and he knew this was where the heat of his chest was blistering from.

Masculine, determined hands running over his body with a low voice murmuring against his ear like velvet made Edward's heart thump in its chest and his head whirl. He knew that he wasn't the epitome of the peak of male performance, but Dempsey was; he knew that, because he'd made him that way.

Well, maybe not him, per se, but still- the thought of such a dominant presence over him had Richtofen's cock throbbing. He willed it to stay down with a frustrated 'Damn it, no, no no,' because he had more pressing matters to attend to other than pleasuring himself in the bathtub, but.. it wouldn't hurt to have just a few minutes to himself, could it?

Hesitantly, he ran his hand down his navel, under the bathwater. His fingers wrapped around himself, and his breath hitched; he hadn't touched himself in a long, long time. When had he ever had the time for it? He rested his other arm on the edge of the tub and threaded his fingers through his hair, a hiss of pleasure escaping him as he ran his thumb over the slit. Although certainly in no state to be the dominant role in a relationship, he wondered how it would feel to have the American at his mercy once more. A tempting thought, indeed; it had Richtofen biting his lip as he squeezed his cock, this time a little harder.

He grit his teeth and moved his hand faster, tightening his grip in his hair. He wondered how big Dempsey was, if he would fit in his mouth. He wondered if the other would hold his head as he sucked and call him handsome when he let him cum down his throat. Was it wrong to imagine what the other sounded like when he grunted or moaned?

'How filthy', The doctor thought to himself. 'You're disgusting, Edward.'

How he longed to hear Tank murmur out his name in the throes of pleasure. It was so demoralizing to hear his name always accompanied by a 'that dumbass', or a 'fucking kraut', but perhaps, with some time, such derogatory terms would be dropped entirely.

Until then, he could only imagine how the other would groan his name, 'Eddie, Eddie,' and rut his hips into his mouth. Richtofen bucked his hips into the tight curl of his hand, a breathy 'Fuck!' leaving his throat as he came, sticky ribbons of white surfacing onto the top. His entire body was racked with a shiver as he lived out his afterglow, chest rising and falling with every exerted breath.

"Richtofen?"

Richtofen nearly leapt out of his skin in surprise, the bathwater sloshing in the tub. He hurriedly swiped away the cum that remained on the surface, unplugging the cork that kept the water in for whoever the next person was going to wash up. He couldn't be any more ungrateful that Nikolai was knocking for him right now, but he knew that the other was probably just wondering what was taking him so long.

Richtofen cleared his throat and spoke quickly. "Don't come in!" He shouted, stepping out of the tub to dry off. "What- What do you want?" He called out, reaching for the towel (more of a glorified rag) to wipe himself down. As he began to put his old clothes on with a wince, unsatisfied with their cleanliness, Nikolai spoke.

"Just wondering what is occupying you for so long, doctor. It is not like you to waste time." He said from beyond the door, and Richtofen sighed, opening up and stepping past Nikolai. "Apologies," he said. "I was just.. lost in thought. You may rest now, my Russian friend. I'll see you in the morning."

Nikolai harrumphed. "Yes, well. Good night then, Richtofen. Stay safe." He murmured, returning to the fire where his companions lay and settling in. Richtofen took his post by the open doors near the bridge, sighing gently.

It was going to be a long night.

Chapter Text

"Up and at 'em, kraut! Wakey wakey!"

The word was punctuated with a hard slap to the ass that gave Richtofen quite the rude awakening, stumbling from its force. He blinked wearily in the rising sunlight, murmuring in discontent and trying to remember his surroundings. As he recovered from the blow, dirty glare pointed Dempsey's way, he spotted Takeo moving close to reprimand the marine for such inappropriate behavior. "Was that really necessary?" Richtofen grumbled while Dempsey laughed heartily.

Nikolai sat aside as he polished his HVK, watching the three blubber with contempt. He was tired of wasting time with pointless talk and 'team-building'. He cared little about the camaraderie they should be creating, because as far as he was concerned, they would have time for all that when their 'eternal souls' were safe and preserved; whatever Richtofen said. Just thinking about the doctor and his blatant disregard for his allies' trust made him irritable.

He stood, clearing his throat and getting the others' attention. "We have no time for these trivialities," he said seriously. "We need to get to work. There is no reason to stay here longer than we should." He stated firmly. Dempsey groaned, irritable in this early, freezing morning. "Ugh.. Lighten up, Nik. It's still early in the morning.. I haven't even cleaned my gun yet!" He said as Richtofen appeared behind Dempsey's shoulder and nudged him aside, facing Nikolai. "Well, there is.. some merit to what Nikolai is saying.. I suppose It would be appropriate to tell you what we should be doing today while everyone prepares themselves." He offered, letting his allies be seated.

"So, depending on how well Nikolai and Dempsey are at memorization, we might be able to finish quite early today.. tomorrow will be quite extreme, however. As such, when we are done today, it is quite important we stay as well-rested as possible." Edward cleared his throat. "First we'll have to tend to the death ray, and then the computers.. but after that.." he looked Dempsey in the eye, preparing himself.

"You, Dempsey, will be the next to face an unimaginable fate."

Silence from the trio in front of him. He was met with suspicion and doubt.

"Why the crypticism, German?" Nikolai asked on behalf of his comrades, anger in his tone. "Is there something you are hiding from us? From Dempsey? Why refuse to say it out loud?" He snapped, shoving a finger into the doctor's chest. Edward did not budge, tilting his chin up to the Russian. "Do not attempt to intimidate me in matters not concerning you, Nikolai. The question of your fate will be decided as well.. when we get to it. So please be patient, my Russian friend," he said, gesturing for the other to sit back down.

As Nikolai begrudgingly complied, Dempsey stopped cleaning the grooves in his gun, looking up at the doctor. "You know, he's got a point, Doc." He huffed, sending the other a dull gaze that had Edward's heart fluttering. "What's the point of keeping it a secret if I'm just gonna figure out tomorrow?"

Richtofen sighed heavily, pinching thr bridge of his nose. "Dempsey, if I told you now, the chances you would still actually go through with it would go from already slim to absolutely zero."

"It feels like zero already when I don't even know what it is!"

"Dempsey," Richtofen huffed, "I am truly sorry, but you simply cannot know what it is right now. If you'd like to get to it today, then by all means, let's pick it up and start moving."

The doctor wrung his hands together to warm them from the cold and sighed. "While it won't take long initially, the waiting period will be what takes all day. Dempsey, Nikolai, I want you two to play that odd password game on the terminals. You know where they are- the one on the rocket pad, the other by the clock tower." He turned to Takeo. "As for you, Takeo.. hm.."

The doctor tapped his chin in thought, looking down at the fuses he'd attached to his bandolier. "Ah! After Dempsey and Nikolai finish with the computers, I'll show you what I want you to do with the death ray. It shouldn't be too hard." He explained, and then gestured out the door to the bulk of the castle. "Well? Are we ready to start moving?"

Tank held his hands up. "Woah, hold on now. We haven't even had breakfast yet. We gotta get something in us before we start running around all day! I'm a growing boy, you know," he griped, but paused when he saw Takeo shake his head beside him.

"Apologies, Dempsey, but our current rations cannot allow breakfast for the next few days," he told the American. "There was very little food to be salvaged here. Everything is in disrepair.. scavenging was almost impossible," he said to Dempsey, regrettable. "Until we travel to our next destination.. rationing will have to be more strict."

In the silence following the news, Dempsey closed his eyes and breathed out slowly. He coursed a hand through his hair as Takeo offered him a consoling pat on the shoulder. "Fine." He snapped, turning his gun off safety. "If that's the case, then these meatsacks aren't gonna know what hit 'em," he grumbled, "because Tank Dempsey is never in a good mood on an empty stomach!"

A rallying cry they could all get around.

After sending off the two burly men and telling Takeo what to do when they returned, Richtofen was, once again, left alone. Not like he didn't mind it- besides, if he thought about it, the company of zombies was almost preferable to that of his allies. At least they didn't cause emotional trouble and debilitating chest pains whenever you thought about them. In his lonesome, Richtofen often found himself wandering about aimlessly killing zombies as they ran for him, ever drifting towards the power room.

He enjoyed being there. The constant electrical hum from the generator and unforgettable jingle of the Stamin-Up machine always did wonders to overpower the horrific voices that plagued his every waking moment.

"Are you scared?" A sudden, and yet familiar voice came to him. Edward paused and closed his eyes, impatient and irritated.

"Leave me alone." He bit out.

"You are."

"What would you even know about me?" He whirled around to face the taunting voice behind him, but was met only with a stone wall, said voice laughing at him before fading from earshot. Frustrated, Edward rubbed tiredly at his eyes, yawning, coughing as he exhaled. Petals fluttered wildly in the Austrian wind, and as he watched them, he grit his teeth angrily, shouting his frustration all the way into the castle.

Was he really so unfortunate that the Kronorium had to give him a disease to hurry up his confession? He wracked his brain for any kind of idea, no matter how stupid it may be, that could be used to get rid of his ailment. "Okay, think, Edward.. think.." he murmured hastily to himself, trying to find a way to get rid of this flowery disaster without having to convince Dempsey that he loved him.. more than allies should.

Obviously, he couldn't just tell Dempsey he loved him. He couldn't! He didn't even know if he actually loved that dumbass, or if it was just that damned book telling him he should be in love with him! And what would he even say?

"Tank Dempsey, I love you." Richtofen tested out loud, scoffing to himself afterwards and rolling his eyes. He may not be Dempsey's best friend, but he was pretty sure he knew him well enough to predict what the other's reaction would be! He leaned against the Stamin-Up machine and sighed, bumping his head against it, aching for its delicious, lemon beverage. It took forever, but eventually the machine clunked itself to life and dispensed Richtofen's favorite drink.

After a swig of its cold, bubbly goodness, Richtofen drew in a deep breath. "I love you." He began again, shaking his head. No, that wouldn't do. "Tank, I love you. Dempsey, I have feelings for you." The doctor bit out. "No. Damn it, no!" He cursed to himself, slapping his forehead as if to get the creative juices flowing. Why was it so hard to to share his emotions? Had he really gone without exposing them for so long?

"I want to be intimate with you. Would you want to be intimate with me? Would it surprise you if you knew how much I want you to hold me? Would you hold me if I asked?"

Following this bout of passionate questions, Richtofen groaned in his pitiful, embarrassing, romantic hopelessness and unleashed hell on the zombie approaching him from behind, spraying it down quickly. Wallowing in his want for love and validation was no way to spend his time. He had teleporters to align, souls to preserve, allies to reluctantly deceive and lead astray! He had no choice but to keep moving forward. With a forlorn sigh, he stepped away from the Stamin-Up machine, kicking away the yellow-stickered bottle he'd drunk from as he stood.

"How pathetic," he muttered to himself, wishing briefly he'd grabbed another Stamin-Up for the road.

Leaving the castle in his tragic, lemon-flavored stupor, he was stunned to find his favorite marine leaned against the door closest to the power switch, arms crossed, eyeing him closely.

"Tank!" Richtofen exclaimed, instantly straightening as he came face to face with the American. "How.. what brings you to the power room..?" The doctor asked, sheepish. Said American grimaced and shook his head. "First of all, it's Dempsey," he corrected flatly, but before the doctor could say anything more, Dempsey motioned towards the Stamin-Up machine with intrigue. "And second of all, I heard you shouting. You wanna tell me what the hell was going on over there?"

Richtofen laughed dismissively, avoiding Dempsey's intense gaze. "Ah, it.. was nothing, really. Just an overpowering wave of existential dread and the constant threat of failure looming over our heads. A moment of realization regarding our situation. Happens to the best of us," he lied right through his pearly whites, but to some degree, it was true. Their situation certainly wasn't the best.

"Mm, that so," Dempsey hummed to himself. The low tone of his voice gave Richtofen goosebumps. He decided not to focus on whether or not they popped up because he found it attractive, instead staying silent. "If that's the case then, Doc, then why'd I hear my name in there?"

Ah.

Richtofen bit the inside of his cheek as Dempsey looked up at him expectantly. "Alright, you caught me. You caught me reciting what I was going to say to you tomorrow. Are you happy now, Dempsey?" He huffed to the marine, gaze stern. How accustomed he was to lying nowadays. "I can assure you, if you heard anything unsavory while you were.. eavesdropping on me, there is little chance you will hear it tomorrow. I was revising."

For a moment, the ground beneath the two of them rumbled. Pebbles bounced from the stone gently, but settled just as quickly as they were seen. Dempsey raised a brow. "Unsavory?" He repeated in confusion. "What the hell is in that speech of yours?"

"Must you know everything about everything, American?" Richtofen exclaimed in exasperation. "Surely you have the patience to wait one day. You marines are always in such a hurry!" He huffed, pushing past Tank to get back to work. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have work to do that doesn't concern running around like a headless chicken and killing zombies." He snapped as he trudged out into the snow. He was instantly followed, Dempsey hovering at his backside. "Richtofen, I'm just wondering-" Richtofen furrowed his brows. "Do you have nothing better to do than follow me around like a lost puppy? I have to go see if it's time to go start the next step of our plan!" He scolded, but Dempsey didn't budge. Instead, he held Richtofen still by the shoulder, voice stern. "I just want to know what the hell a word like 'love' is-"

At the word, Richtofen flared up like a cherry tomato, turning on a dime to face Dempsey, but whatever his rebuttal was going to be was interrupted by Nikolai's shouting.

"Oh! Oh! Dempsey! Doctor!" He exclaimed, eyes wild. Richtofen couldn't have been more thankful for an interruption, ever. "Come quick! It's- it's- in the courtyard!" Nikolai couldn't spit out the words as he tried to point frantically at the lower courtyard, and Richtofen stared at him with confusion. "What, what? Talk, Russian!" He snapped, Dempsey urging him to do the same. Nikolai looked as if he were on the verge of just saying it in Russian because of how much he was struggling to find the words in English, finally managing to say what had his tongue in a twist.

"Dempsey, it's you! You're in the courtyard!"

Chapter Text

When the three made it over to the crash landing, Richtofen could see Takeo inspecting a golden, almost rhombus-like object in his hands. His head throbbed in pain at the sight of it, most likely some kind of interference with his other self, and he quickly reached for it, pulling it away. "Don't touch that!" He exclaimed, taking it from Takeo and holding it close to himself. "This.. this is a very important artifact that must not be tainted!"

Richtofen stared at the artifact in his hands for a long while. Distorted, demonic voices seemed to emanate from it, dancing hypnotically into his ears and swirling about his head with the intent to corrupt. In his abrupt state of catatonia, he felt something thick drip down the inside of his nose, trickling onto the snow. He ran the back of his hand under his nostril, grimacing at the sight of a blood trail. As he held the golden rod tightly in his palm, two conflicting memories collided in his head- he could only hope his own would triumph.

He felt a hand tap his shoulder, and he looked up to find Takeo offering him a handkerchief. Embarrased by his earlier behavior, the doctor took it with a quiet but earnest "thank you" and held it closely to his nose.  He flipped the rod between his fingers, trying to study it without his nosebleed and headache distracting him.

Richtofen huffed quietly, annoyed, pocketing the rod. His head and chest throbbed as he coughed out more petals, the coughs wracking his wiry frame while he leaned against the well to support himself from keeling too far. His illness sounded much too loud in the silence of his companions, the trio waiting to be directed on what to do next after this groundbreaking event, until Dempsey decided to take matters into his own hands.

Boots crunching the snow beneath them, he marched up to Richtofen and tugged him away from the well, furious. "What the hell is that?" He asked, pointing behind himself to the pod. "You know why he's here, so tell me what the hell we need to do with.. with me!" He exclaimed as Richtofen looked at him wildly.

"I would love to explain what he's doing here, if you'll put me down," the German replied, glaring at the expectant marine as he was released. He pat his clothing down and, without a second glance, turned to Takeo to discuss the wisps they'd needed to take care of. Dempsey, from the corner of his eye, was clearly offended. "Hey!" He snapped. "You fucking stupid, Doc? You said you'd tell me what the hell another me is doing here if I put you down!"

Richtofen scoffed, putting his hands on his hips and looking disappointedly at his ally. "How vulgar!" He chastised, Dempsey looking at him in bewildermint. "If you had a brain, Dempsey, you would watch your tongue before cursing out the man who is trying to save your eternal soul!"

Dempsey scowled at the mere thought of Richtofen trying to save his 'eternal soul'. "Yeah fuckin' right," he scoffed, rolling his eyes. "You aren't trying to do shit to save us. You're probably just trying to suck all our souls into that weird artifact of yours so we can't stop you from taking over the world, like all the Richtofens before you! Isn't that right?" He snapped back, gaze burning a hole through the doctor's placid demeanor. Richtofen stiffened.

"You still refuse to acknowledge the burden I carry, hiding the truth from you all," Edward revealed irritably. "I know well that you three will never truly trust me, and in the face of that truth, I have decided it is best that you, Takeo, or Nikolai do not know what plans the Kronorium holds!" He retorted, hair askew from his outburst. As the two stared each other down, trying to find that one weakness within the other, Richtofen steadied and fixed his hair, standing straight and tall as always. "So, no. I will not tell you why another you is here. You can figure that out tomorrow."

The American grit his teeth, fuming, but backed off when he realized there was no point in arguing. "Whatever," he scowled, turning to gripe about Richtofen to Nikolai instead. For a moment, the German felt a nervous tightness settle in his stomach. It was dangerous to live in an echo chamber, and he knew well that the two were in cahoots about Richtofen being a lying, scheming, son of a bitch Nazi. And, admittedly, it was true; however, Edward was not big on becoming the object of mutiny, not that it wouldn't be hard for his allies to do anyways. He was just one man, and as friendly as he liked to think he and Takeo were, he was sure if the samurai was given the opportunity, he'd jump ship right onto Nikolai and Dempsey's side and start berating him too. Out of the corner of his eye, Richtofen could see that Takeo was waiting expectantly for what he was going to talk to him about, so he went on despite the nervous coil in his gut.

"Takeo, would you mind coming with me to shoot wisps for the teleporter again?" He asked. "I don't want another event like last time happening again. I want to talk to you about.. it."

The Asian simply nodded and peered over Richtofen's shoulder to see Nikolai and Dempsey chuckling amongst themselves. Their laughter stopped when Richtofen ordered them to guard the soul canister, stares pointed before they acquiesced and trudged along towards the undercroft. "Comm Takeo with the radio if anything goes wrong. We'll be back soon," he called over his shoulder, walking beside Takeo towards the death ray. If he remembered correctly, there could be a wisp in Samantha's room.

A pregnant silence moved between them until Takeo decided to clear his throat and speak. "So then, Edward," he began, and frankly, Richtofen had no problem being called that, as he supposed they were friends, "what did you want to talk about?"

Dempsey kicked idly at a pebble, sighing loudly into the dusty air.

"Don't you find it odd?" He said in the silence, looking to his left to find Nikolai flipping a bullet between his fingers. The Russian grunted, curious, meeting the other's eyes and catching the bullet in his palm. "Find what odd?" Nikolai responded, squatting to inspect the canister they were 'protecting'. The marine sighed and kicked his pebble away, leaning against one of the pillars around the pyramid.

"Richtofen's sudden disease. I mean, doesn't it kinda freak you out that he just started coughing up petals out of nowhere? What kind of sickness even does that to a person?" The man thought aloud, shoving his hands in his pockets. "You think it's contagious?"

"More contagious than his bad moods? I doubt it."

Tank chuckled, but it dissolved quickly. Nikolai sent his friend a concerned glance, setting down the canister and sitting beside it with a grunt. "You are concerned with the other you, no?" He prodded, and Dempsey deflected it instantly. "No, I.. come on, Nik! What, you think Tank Dempsey's afraid of a little parallel universe hopping? Of some doppelganger shit? Have you been paying attention to me at all? Do I seem like the type to freak out at shit like this?" He asked with a defensive laugh, avoiding Nikolai's gaze. "Besides, even if I was.. we got bigger fish to fry. Do you.. ah, shit, Nik. Do you think Richtofen is telling the truth? About his flower disease?"

Nikolai scoffed. "I care not about the doctor's trivialities. If you're so interested in what's going on with him, why not just ask him to explain it yourself?" He huffed. "I have little interest in his disease until it threatens us as well. As of right now, I have no reason to be worried." He stated pointedly, grimacing to himself as he cracked his own back. Dempsey dismissed the idea initially, but perhaps it really was the right thing to do. If anything, if he didn't get the truth out of Richtofen, he probably at least would've garnered some respect from him for caring.

"I might just do that," he said, glad that the dead air he'd needed to fill was now being permeated by the rattles of the undead. "But let's kick some ass, Nik. I was starting to get bored, anyways."

Chapter Text

The crew had agreed over Takeo's radio to regroup inside the comms room in two hours to discuss their next plan. It gave time for Edward and Takeo to mull over the complexities of his disease while it gave Dempsey and Nikolai.. well, an exciting two hours of complete zombie annihilation; not to say Richtofen and his ally didn't enjoy decimating the undead, too.

..No. What a foolish thought. Nowhere in that forsaken book did one escape their fate. They all had their duties; Richtofen could not shirk his by trying to avoid death.

The sound of Takeo's radio crackling brought him out of thought. Richtofen glanced at the clock tower, barely able to make out the time from their position. Had the hours really flown by so fast?

When Takeo picked up, Nikolai yelled right into the mic, a static-riddled "Hello?!" prompting the samurai to rip the radio away from his ear with a grimace. The two bickered back and forth through it before Takeo just grumbled and turned the radio off, turning to Richtofen with visible frustration. "Come." He said, jerking his head towards the courtyard exit. "The loud one and.. even louder one are waiting for us."

Despite their uneventful walk and Takeo's hesitant- albeit understanding- accommodation of the doctor, the Asian had the distinct feeling the other hadn't gotten the information he wanted. "Wait, wait-wait-wait-" Richtofen said quickly, distressed, grasping at Takeo's wrist and holding him back. "That can't just be it. There has to be more to this illness than what you've told me. If.. if anything, I just need you to tell me when a deadline is." He pleaded, backing up with a sheepish laugh when the Asian jerked his arm away. "I need to know how long I have left before I succumb to this.. cursed love sickness!"

Takeo tapped his chin, seemingly deep in thought, before shrugging unsurely. "You question me as if this is more than just a legend," he said as they traveled onwards, gaze directed watchfully across the courtyard. "If I had to guess, Richtofen, you may have as little as one week left before your choice is made for you."

The doctor's heart sunk right into his feet at the news. "A week?" He repeated, voice empty. Although one gained very little comfort in knowing they've only a few months left to live, that comfort far surpassed the one given knowing they only had one week left to live. Richtofen laughed nervously.

"Ha! Takeo! Surely, you say that just to get a rouse out of me. You forget that I spend almost every waking moment staring death in the face! What worry are you hoping to instill into me when you say that?" He exclaimed, eyes wild, tone.. afraid. Takeo blinked in response, ascending the short staircase into the comms room. "You asked," He replied simply, unconcerned at the doctor's panic as they arrived in front of Nikolai and Dempsey. The marine looked especially serious, staring intently at Richtofen, arms folded across his chest.

Nikolai exhaled and glared towards the various flashing lights on the wall beside him. "Are you two done shooting wisps?" He asked, frowning. "It has been almost two hours and we haven't heard anything from you while you were out."

Richtofen scratched idly at his chin as Takeo assured the Russian that there was no funny business happening between them, surprised at how.. hairy it felt; situation included. He'd really have to shave soon.. did they even have a sharp enough straight razor at camp..? He could've sworn they didn't have any shaving cream left, either.. perhaps he would look good with a beard.. he quite liked the way Dempsey looked with one..

"Well?" Nikolai impatiently, and thankfully, interrupted that flustering train of thought. "You are going to make Takeo cover for the reason you two said nothing for so long?"

Richtofen sighed. He supposed he ought to come up with some excuse that could roll Nikolai's attitude back to its usual indifference. "Oh, my dear Russian friend," Richtofen tutted, shaking his head, "my sincerest apologies. I can assure you, whatever 'fun' you think me and Takeo got up to while away, it's nowhere near what you think it is- although, learning more about zombie viscera is always fun to me," he replied, placating Nikolai's always flaring temper with a delighted grin.

The corner of Nikolai's mouth just twitched downwards in response, grunting as he motioned towards the undercroft. "You have some merit, German, but let us go now. That teleporter of yours will be less trouble if we hurry up."

He was right, Richtofen thought as he led the trio down to the undercroft. The longer that thing stayed on without anyone using it just made it more unstable by the minute. Even now, he could hear it crackling and popping with electricity despite their distance from it. As they entered the massive stone catacombs, the doctor felt a weightlessness settle in the pit of his stomach, the room having taken on a deep, blue hue. He knew well what this was, as they'd had to utilize it to grab the head of the shield off the wall. How it'd gotten up there, Richtofen decided not to question.

They approached the teleporter in silence, the crackles and jolts jumping across its metal prongs making the hair on Richtofen's arm stand on end. In its imposing presence, the doctor stood in front of his teammates, fixing each of them with a serious gaze. This, they could not afford to mess up. Richtofen cleared his throat. "This won't take long," he reassured the three, "but the tablet we are about to fetch is invaluable to our task. I could not begin to describe to you the agony we would endure should something happen to it. We cannot afford to lose this.. precious artifact."

Nikolai's brow furrowed. "If it is so important, we should get on with it."

Richtofen huffed, turning to fiddle with the teleporter's control panel. "Just making sure you all know the stakes," he commented lowly, stiff in the proceeding silence. The metal shook with every knob turn and keypad press Richtofen provided, the air around the machine's frame seeming to bend and shift. Past the hissing of the teleporter's moving parts and the drone of its static, the German could hear Dempsey clear his throat behind him.

"Doc."

"Yes?" Richtofen replied instantly, mentally kicking himself in the face for answering as quickly as an expectant child.

The marine's boots squeaked on the stone as he shifted his weight. "I want to talk to you after we get this artifact." He went on, voice stern.

Richtofen pulled back from the panel, motioning for the others to step inside. "Not a problem, Dempsey," he responded dismissively, but it most definitely was a problem, because Richtofen couldn't hold in a few petals at the thought of talking to Dempsey alone. He took his spot in the center of the glass pad, nudging the petals out by the toe of his boot. Dempsey walked in beside him, followed by Takeo, then Nikolai. Beyond the warped sounds the large machine made as they traveled through time, Richtofen had barely managed to make out what the American said afterwards.

"Alone."

Ah.

'..Well, shit.' Edward thought to himself, heart in his throat as he and his allies began to float up from the floor. Had the teleporter not already put his stomach in knots, that one word would certainly have done the trick.

Richtofen patted Takeo's shoulder firmly, a prideful exhale leaving him as he admired his handiwork. Though the gnarly gash and rotting bite deep in the samurai's forearm wouldn't be healed for some time, their blood protected them from infection; as such, there wouldn't be much to worry about other than the ache of it slowly scarring over. Takeo was grateful, flexing his hand apprehensively so as to test the limits of his wound. He grimaced at a sudden twinge of pain, but dutifully maintained his stoicism afterwards.

"Thank you, Doctor," he said, letting his arm down to rest, a heavy breath escaping him. To Richtofen's left, as he packed up the little first aid supplies they had, he could hear Dempsey whittling at some firewood, grumbling to himself. Nikolai was shuffling zombie corpses away from their camp, kicking their rotting bodies down the hole in the balcony railing. Dempsey grunted. "Some shit luck we got, teleporting back in the middle of a Panzer's fucking birthday party," he muttered, wincing as he sat up against the wall. He'd been battered by the Panzer's claw just before they leapt out of the crypt via well launcher, his ribs badly bruised and struggling to catch a full breath even when just walking. Thankfully, however, Richtofen and Nikolai were in prime condition save for a few scratches.

Takeo ran his fingers across the stone tablet they'd retrieved, gazing deeply into the etchings. How odd, it seemed to him, that they seemed so familiar when he knew he'd never seen them before. Nikolai returned with a deep sigh, the tips of his boots stained with black blood and innards. "It was unfortunate, yes," he said after Dempsey, shooting a glare Richtofen's way. "It almost feels as if someone was trying to get us injured."

Richtofen scoffed, adjusting his vest as he set aside the kit. "Do you expect me to predict the future, Nikolai?"

Nikolai seated himself by the fire, leaning into the flame for its homely warmth. His frown was deep. "With all this time jumping? German, I would expect it from you." He spat in return, lifting his cap to scratch his head. "Do not think you are so sane that you wouldn't try to go to the future."

Dempsey cleared his throat as he set down the firewood, sending an intense "shut the fuck up, Nik" look his way. As much as he liked poking fun at Richtofen and getting into fights, the last thing they needed was their two most able-bodied men injuring each other, putting them all being out of commission. In the silence after, Richtofen chuckled, leaning against the wall and setting his bow aside. Nikolai bristled. "What? What is so funny?" He snapped, brows knitted. Richtofen shrugged, but his smile was evident. "Oh, it's nothing. I just find it funny that our favorite American meathead has more sense than you, Nikolai."

Takeo interjected with haste. "Let us talk with honor, and not like animals," he said quickly, looking between the quarreling men. The tension in the air was heavy, and if Takeo could liken it to anything, he saw it as the calm before two samurais dueled.

Dempsey rose to his feet, cradling his roughed-up side, wincing as he drew in a deep breath. "Speaking of talking," he began, breath strained as he lugged his gun over his shoulder, "Richtofen. Let's go make the rounds. We can talk while we're out."

Richtofen paused. Could he do this? He'd withstood the test of repairing broken timelines and an ongoing zombie apocalypse. Would it really be such a challenge to walk alone with Dempsey and talk about what the hell was going on with him? He'd traveled with him before, just the two of them; why was it such a hassle now? The doctor hesitated, eyeing the marine's injured side, then outside to the the frigid winter air. That surely wouldn't be good for him. "I shouldn't really be letting you walk around with such a..  deadly injury.. perhaps we could have this talk later?" he offered reluctantly, but he and Dempsey both knew this couldn't be avoided.

Dempsey shuffled to the decrepit entrance of the castle and motioned for Richtofen to follow. "No." He replied simply, and walked on out of sight. The doctor exhaled deeply, determined to make it through what he hoped was just a talk, and followed suit without another word.

The wooden bridge that stretched across the courtyard croaked in protest against the two men, the oak splintering and groaning beneath their feet. While the moon hung high in the sky and the undead were less likely to pop out as the crew slept, that didn't mean they couldn't dispose of any shamblers that might have been left behind. Richtofen gnawed anxiously at the inside of his cheek, kicking a pebble in front of he and Dempsey as they walked on. The marine finally broke the uncomfortable silence when they made it to the collapsed stone bridge, eyeing the mountains stretching far beyond what the eye could see.

Tank leaned forward and rested his hands on the mossy stone wall. "So.." he began, looking at Richtofen over his shoulder, "you really don't know where those flowers came from, huh?"

Richtofen laughed breathlessly, avoiding the other's gaze. "If I told you that I did, would you even believe what I'd say?"

Dempsey's chuckle was raspy as he let his head hang, exhaling a hot breath into the frigid air. "Nope," he sighed out, reaching into a jacket pocket and pulling out a small white carton. "But I'd still have an inkling you were telling the truth." He pulled out a cigarette and flicked his trusty box lighter to its flame, holding the cigarette up to it. He took a deep drag and pointed the box Richtofen's way, expectant. At the notion, the doctor tilted his chin up indignantly and frowned. "Smoking-"

"Is bad for you. I know. Take one."

Although he knew it was wrong, after a moment of contemplation, Richtofen took one.

"It's been a while since I've last smoked," Richtofen admitted, almost ashamedly, flitting ash off the side of the mountain. "You forget how calming it is once you know the terrible things it does to you." He said. Dempsey shrugged. "Is it really any worse than relaxing in a time of need?" He asked, and in a brief lapse of thought, Richtofen suddenly realized; talking to Dempsey.. had gotten so much easier. Why had he gotten this sudden sense of comfort just being around him? Did he finally come to terms with the fact that running away from his illness was worse than going towards it?

Edward glanced at the marine, taking in his features. He could see the wince in his face when he inhaled too quickly for his damaged side, the crease in his brow loosening from the nicotine, the way the snowflakes melted on his skin and caught on his jacket. He could see the way his upper lip wrinkled when he got a bad drag, as well as the slight shiver that encompassed him when the wind blew a little harder. He quite liked the way Dempsey's lips quirked upward whenever speaking about a pleasant memory, or the way his eyes twinkled in the light of the moon. All these little features made Dempsey seem more human, and when surrounded by undead, all Richtofen wanted was someone who felt alive.

There was a sniff of laughter from Dempsey as he stomped his cigarette butt into the snow, catching Richtofen's attention. "Americans consider staring rude, you know."

Richtofen choked on his smoke, sputtering at the words. "I wasn't-" he managed to hack out, but before he could say more, flowers were leaving him too. The cigarette tumbled out of his fingers as he pounded his chest, petals following the gray puffs of air. They fluttered in the wind, and when he glanced at Dempsey, he could see the shock in his face. That bastard. He knew exactly what he was fishing for when he said that, so why the awe in his handsome fucking face? The doctor looked down solemnly at his now soaked cigarette and retrieved his gun, waving his petals out of the air irritably as he walked towards the tram room.

"We should probably finish the rounds." The doctor suggested in the pregnant silence. "The faster we finish, the faster we can get you back to camp."

Dempsey frowned and voiced his disapproval, but Richtofen could tell well that the other was struggling to keep pace with him. He was a doctor, after all. Besides.. after that embarrassing debacle, the last thing he wanted was to spend time with Dempsey as he railed on him for staring at him like a schoolgirl. For a while, the two traveled in silence, the only sounds being the harsh breath of the wind, the groan of a lone zombie, and the occasional wheeze from Richtofen or Dempsey.

As the wind whispered in his ear, carrying hushed voices of previous and future lives, it was hard to think of things other than what could be for his crew. His crew? Could Richtofen consider himself a leader when he knew he relied so much on the others? Did the others think him their leader? How could he be a trustworthy pioneer for their expeditions when he was plagued with such awful beings in his head? Despite the cold weather, Richtofen felt as if he had a fever, his head reeling. Of course, he couldn't let anyone know that his feelings of inadequacy and ever-present fear of mortality were so palpable that it made him a nervous wreck. He supposed there was no harm in shoving them down deeper into the pit of despair that dwelled behind his brain.

The next words weren't shared until they reached the entrance to the clock tower, in which the marine spoke first.

"Doc."

Richtofen leaned up hesitantly from where he was peering over the castle wall. "Hm?" He replied, turning, rubbing the snow from his lids. When he could see, he drew back a little, concern instantly welling in him. Dempsey looked as white as a ghost, and he seemed to barely be holding himself up. "I think I need to go back," He murmured, swaying on his feet. How could Richtofen have been so foolish! To let such a valuable ally go out in freezing weather with an injury, all because he wanted his company! He hurried to Dempsey's aid, barely managing to catch the other before he sank to the ground. Edward's heart whooped in his chest at the feeling of being so close to his supposed love, and his throat felt tight with how many flowers wanted to erupt out, but he suppressed these feelings in order to help his.. friend.

"Shit," Dempsey cursed, grasping Richtofen's vest as he felt a terrible pain in his chest. He laughed, nervous, in agony, and the doctor quickly hobbled the other into the clock tower and laid him down on the wood. While Richtofen was by no means a frail twig, there was no way he could lug a 200 pound injured marine behind him back into the castle! He looked around wildly for a moment before he remembered- his radio! Surely Takeo or Nikolai wouldn't be asleep by now. He could tell them to run his supplies to him, or get Nikolai to haul Dempsey back to camp.. he couldn't have Dempsey die from internal bleeding, God, no, he couldn't..

"Richtofen. Richtofen!"

He ignored the call, instead panicking over the other. What was he doing? Why did he feel like he was about to throw up? Maxis would be ashamed of him. He was a doctor! He was supposed to stay calm under extreme duress, supposed to soothe his patient's worries, and here he was, floundering like a fish out of water!

"Edward!"

He paused. Dempsey's voice was hoarse, and his chest was barely moving. "I-I'll call Nikolai," Richtofen said quickly, fumbling with his radio, but Dempsey just shook his head and shoved a hand over Richtofen's mouth. The doctor looked down at him, brows furrowed together, befuddled. He wanted to ask "What the fuck, Dempsey? What are you doing?", but all words left him when he saw the other begin hitting his chest, guttural coughs and sputters leaving him. The doctor's heart leapt into his throat at the sight before him.

Between them, a single petal akin to Richtofen's hovered in the air.

Chapter Text

Takeo had grown concerned. He was sure that Richtofen and Dempsey should've been back by now. Had something happened? Had Dempsey not been able to make it back to the camp because of his injury? No, that couldn't be it- Takeo knew that the American could hold his own, Richtofen especially, but if they hadn't radioed in to ask for help, then what was taking them so long?

He felt as though he should mention it to Nikolai, wanting to voice his concerns to the other to see if he was just as worried about them being incapacitated. Although certainly drowsy after an intense day out, he pulled his goggles away from his eyes and spoke loud enough for Nikolai to hear.

"They've been gone a while, haven't they?"

Nikolai raised his eyes from the fire and looked Takeo's way. "Dempsey and the doctor?" He asked, pursing his lips in thought when the other nodded. "You're right," he replied slowly, glancing down at his watch. It had been an hour since the two of them left. "It does not take that long to walk around the castle. What do you think they're doing?" He asked aloud, meeting the Asian's eyes.

There was a moment of silence between them before a coy chuckle left Takeo, the darkening of his cheeks barely visible in the flicker of the fire. Nikolai scoffed in exasperation and stared back at the fire in bewilderment. "You are the last person I would have suspected to say that!" He exclaimed, coursing a hand through his hair and leaning back. Takeo shrugged dismissively, but his smile faded as Nikolai went on. 

"Maybe they.. just got hung up on something. The doctor's teleporter seems to short out often," he suggested, believing that his explanation was much more plausible than that of two mortal enemies getting it on in the middle of a snowstorm. "Or.. maybe Dempsey is having trouble with his side," he said, glancing over his shoulder to the castle corridor where one usually returned from the perimeter check.

Nikolai picked up his radio from the floor and brushed his thumb over the power button. It beeped for a moment before turning on, gentle static resonating from it in the silence. His brows were turned upwards as his finger hovered over the voice button, gnawing on his lip with hesitance. "But.. even if that did happen.. surely they would comm us for help." he reasoned, lowering the radio from his lips.

Takeo hummed apprehensively, weighing the possibilities of something happening to their allies, sighing as Nikolai turned his radio off and set it aside.

"Besides, Takeo," Nikolai began, voice hushed as he looked around to make sure he and Takeo were alone, "Do not let the doctor or Dempsey know I told you this.. but I don't think Dempsey even likes men."

When Richtofen looked up from the petal that had fluttered down onto Dempsey's chest, he was met with panicked eyes and a heavy fist right to his jaw.

Recoiling in pain, the doctor felt Dempsey scramble away from underneath him and take off. With a wince, Edward cradled his jaw, moaning at the low ache that throbbed there with every touch. He tested its movement with a loud hiss, infinitely grateful to whatever god out there that the American hadn't busted his face open. As he tried to recover from the soreness that settled into that area, he could hear the other's receding footsteps along with his heavy coughing, stumbling to his feet and shielding his eyes from the now much heavier snowfall.

"Wait!" He called out to Dempsey, wiping the white from his lashes and nearly slipping on the slush beneath him. Of all the times his ridiculous American friend had decided to run out on him, one had to be now? "Dempsey!" His voice, muffled by the whistling winds, would surely not be audible to the marine, and yet Richtofen tried once more to get the other to stop. "Where are you going?"

He was, as expected, met with silence. Freezing, stunned, and not having completed their stupid perimeter check, every fibre in Richtofen's being shouted at him to just go back to what he was doing, but the ache in his chest begged him to go find his.. ally. Even so, despite the crazy shit that had just happened, Richtofen had only one thought racing through his head;

That.. was his petal.

And Dempsey had coughed it out.

What the hell did that mean? Richtofen had no idea. And why had Dempsey punched him like that? Did he believe that the doctor could have infected him? Hell, even if Dempsey didn't think that, he'd probably still have punched him anyway.

Yet, through it all, there was a question running through Richtofen's head that had his heart in his throat and his palms clammy; could Dempsey.. possibly be in love with him, too? The very idea made Richtofen's body flush with warmth, or perhaps that was just the hypothermia- regardless, he swayed on his feet, blinking blearily and beginning to take the first few steps to follow Dempsey. The snowstorm made it almost impossible to tell where he'd run off to, but there weren't many places worth running off to anyway.

Arm raised to shield his unprotected face from the blizzard, Richtofen staggered forward, intent on reaching the power room before he became a Doc-sicle. Still, despite the terrible climate, the warm feeling of the possibility of Dempsey actually returning his feelings made him trip over his feet and his heart feel floaty. Thankfully, after a bit of stumbling across the snowy cobblestone and slippery steps, he managed to get inside of the power room and was met with a cold, metal barrel pressed to his forehead.

"What the fuck did you just do to me," came Dempsey's coarse, perturbed voice. A small lump of petals, his petals, lay on the ground just over his shoulder. After a moment, the German parted his lips to speak, but the other just shoved the metal further into his brow at the motion. "Actually, no. Shut the fuck up for once." He began, teeth gritted. "I know what this is. Did you just get me fucking sick, Richtofen? Huh? This another one of your ridiculous experiments? You try to kill yourself with some weird fucking- flower disease, and now you're gonna infect us, too? Just to see how we react to it?"

He met Dempsey's eyes. "If I did actually get you sick, it certainly wasn't my intention," the doctor responded, even peppering the words with an anxious laugh. Dempsey's scowl only deepened, and it made Richfofen's next words feel bitter. "Besides. You could always just let me open you up," he murmured, leaning in, gaze intense. The crease in the marine's brow deepened as Richtofen dipped his head into the gun ever so slightly.

"Just to figure it out, maybe?" He offered, unable to get another word out as Dempsey tackled him into the stone with a furious yell and a pistol whip to his cheek.

It wasn't long into their shouting and shoving match when Takeo and Nikolai butted in and tore the two men apart, guns poised between the four of them in case someone decided to try an incredibly stupid move. It didn't take a lot of coercion from Dempsey before he spilled the beans about what was happening, which prompted a concerned glance from Takeo towards the two star-crossed.. teammates. Indeed, it would not be wise to tell Richtofen about the implications that two supposed lovers having this cursed disease would have.

"In love with me?"

Richtofen looked ashamed, his head hung low and eyes cast towards the floor as Takeo tried to explain the situation to the agitated marine. His shirt was slowly drying from its snow-soaked state, the warmth from the fireplace a searing heat against his already burning face.

"This is a joke, right? Some kind of sick prank?"

Richtofen's head sunk even lower.

"It wasn't on purpose," he said aloud, the vials on his sash twinkling in the firelight as he pensively picked at a loose button on his vest. "Please, believe me."

Dempsey scoffed and turned Richtofen around from where he was pouting at the hearth,  shoving a finger into his chest. "Shut up," he hissed. "I don't want to hear anything from you. Your- your voice, it-" he was interrupted by a sharp pain in his chest, turning away and pounding a fist against his sternum. A few petals erupted out of him, definitely silencing the doctor, who only stared at them in wonder as they fluttered to the stone floor. Dempsey watched them with contempt before turning back to face his "fated" lover, disgust and annoyance clear on his features. "Your voice fucking irritates me!"

"Settle down, please," Takeo asked of the soldier, desperate. "As long as he doesn't die before we can finish our task here, everything can be completed without interruption."

"How is that possible? The doctor looks like he is already on the verge of dying! How long has this been going on?" Nikolai interrupted, gaze stern. "What if he dies tomorrow? Infecting Dempsey with his illness surely cannot mean he is long for this world!"

"Enough!" Richtofen said as he stood from where he sat in front of the fire. "That is quite enough. You say these things as if they hindered anything I've done so far. What does it matter if I have feelings for Tank?"

"Dempsey." The American interjected from against the wall, scowling.

"..Dempsey. What does it matter?" He repeated, pointing towards the Kronorium that lay on a nearby desk. "That damned book lets me know, far beyond what any of us can even perceive, the end that is in store for me. Death by flowers is not in there. It wouldn't be in there even if God willed it in himself!" He shouted, chest heaving. "There is no failure in sight. There can be no failure. We will finish our task here and move on, with no such talk of this wretched disease from here on out. Does that make you feel better, Nikolai?" He seethed, eyes upon the Russian.

There was only silence from him as he set his jaw.

"Takeo?" He questioned, and the other averted his gaze with a curt nod.

"Dempsey?" He asked, and the other shrugged dismissively, peering around at his teammates. "A consensus? Finally," Tank huffed, pushing himself away from the wall and nodding towards the gaping hole leading out of Samantha's room. "Let's get moving. I'm already tired of hearing about this shit. What's the plan, Doc?" He offered, and Richtofen straightened, excited to be back on course after this incredibly embarrassing endeavor.

"It will be no more difficult than the other hardships we have faced thus far," he began, holding the golden vril device out in his palm. "This is our key to salvation. With this, we will be able to activate the spirits of this place and utilize their power to save our souls."

"Again with the spirits and magic and souls," Nikolai grunted, rolling his eyes. "Is there ever a time in that cursed book where we don't have to use these ghosts to get things done?"

"No," Richtofen murmured, his smile bitter. "There isn't. After all, don't you find it all a bit fun?" He asked, brows raised as he gripped the relic in his hand.

"Find what fun?" Nikolai hummed, eyes narrowed.

"The inevitably of death, my Russian friend."