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Patton stumbled to the side, breathing in through his nose as he wrapped an arm around his waist. He wasn't doing good, he knew that. Everything hurt, and he was running out of breath, and he really wasn't built for this at all. That last fight with those soldiers hadn't gone well for Patton, not at all. He hadn't checked himself out yet, not wanting to alarm the others, but he imagined he'd been injured pretty badly, the pain in his chest wasn't fading and as he clung onto his shirt he felt a... wetness, of sorts. Blood? He desperately hoped that wasn't the case, but couldn't be too sure.
His friends slowed down, looking at him with concern. Patton smiled weakly at them, as he leaned on a rock at the side of the path. "You guys go on ahead," Patton said, as calmly as possible. "Just need a moment."
"Pat-"
"Seriously, guys, go," Patton reiterated. "I'll catch up, yeah?"
The three of them exchanged a glance, before continuing their journey up the mountain. Patton's gaze fell to the floor as he breathed in and out, trying to get his breathing back to normal. It was proving to be a lot more difficult than it sounded. Especially with the sharp pain in his side, which only seemed to worsened the more he tried to breathe. It was better for the rest of the group to go on without him - they had a world to save, and Patton would only be a burden. He wasn't fit to be climbing mountains and fighting dragons and all that crazy stuff his friends could do. Maybe he should just head back to the village-
"Patton, would you mind if I have a look at your stomach?"
Patton almost jumped out of his own skin as he heard a voice next to him, a man sitting down. Glancing over, though, he noticed it was just Logan. Oh. "I thought you'd gone with the others."
"I'm not leaving you here alone, Patton," Logan said. "If someone attacks you, you won't be able to defend yourself alone - no offence, of course, but you're not exactly-"
"I get it." Patton breathed out. "But seriously, you really should go on ahead. The others need you."
"We need you, as well-"
"You don't," Patton said, giving him a sad smile. "You just said yourself that I'm not a brilliant fighter. I'm not really useful to any of y'all."
"That- That isn't exactly what I meant-"
"It is." Patton sighed. "It's fine. I don't really care."
There was a long silence, in which Patton returned his gaze to the ground, counting the stones and pebbles buried in the dirt, before Logan cleared his throat. "As I asked before, would you mind if I had a look at your-"
"Yeah, sure." Patton ran a hand through his hair, gripping a few strands tight as Logan slowly lifted his skirt. He didn't dare look down, but felt a sting as Logan's hand connected with his skin, wincing from the pain.
"Have you... been walking with this the whole time?" Logan asked.
"Only since that last fight, I think-"
"Why didn't you tell anyone?"
"Didn't want you guys to worry."
"Patton-"
"Don't worry. I'm fine." He wasn't fine, and he knew that. He was beginning to see spots dance around in his vision, and a headache had emerged as well. He felt dizzy, like he could collapse at any moment. But he couldn't let Logan know any of that.
"I hate to break it to you, Pat," Logan said, "but you're not fine."
He dug a first aid kit out of his bag and began to tend to Patton's injuries. Patton let him do whatever - it wasn't as if the pain could get any worse, right? Couldn't exactly get any better, either - no matter what happened the pain wasn't going to go away. Once Logan was done, his chest felt tighter, restricted, and he was still struggling to breath, but no blood dripped down his skin anymore at least. Logan had just put a bandage on him, that was really all he could do.
He heard footsteps in the distance, a group of people approaching. Patton's eyes widened. Logan reached down for his sword, gripping it tight. Patton did the same, but less effectively, as his hands shook. An army of people were approaching, more enemies, a few of the same people they'd fought previously. All wearing the same uniform of the previous soldiers, at least.
Patton knew he wouldn't make it out this battle alone. He doubted he'd even be able to make it through with help - perhaps if Roman and Virgil were also here, perhaps if Patton could escape, but that wasn't happening, was it? No, no, Patton wouldn't survive longer than five minutes.
Logan maybe would, maybe he'd survive a little longer, take down some soldiers at least, but he'd eventually be taken down too. Especially without Patton's minimal amounts of help. But Logan needed to survive more than Patton needed to survive - Logan needed to go and save the world, he'd be able to do that. Besides, there were always some sacrifices that had to made on journeys like these, some sacrifices that needed to be made for the good of the world. Patton just never expected that sacrifice would be himself.
"Run," Patton whispered, stepping in front of Logan and holding up his sword.
Logan blinked. "What?"
"Run," he repeated, more forcibly.
Logan grabbed his hand and tried to drag Patton along with him, but Patton planted his feet firmly in the ground, refusing to budge even an inch. "Patton, c'mon, we need to-"
"No," Patton said, looking Logan in the eye. "Go without me. I'll only slow you down." He could see tears welling up in Logan's eyes, and almost felt like crying himself. But no, he had to stay strong, had to give Logan even a little bit of hope, even when he knew there was no hope in him left.
"Patton-"
"I'll hold them off," Patton said, calmly. "You need to get out of here, okay? You- They need you more than they need me. I'll be fine, okay?"
Logan seemed to understand that Patton wasn't going to change his mind. Logan squeezed his hand tight, then leant over to plant a kiss on Patton's lips, a farewell. Patton smiled at him, then looked away, as Logan let go and ran off in the other direction. Patton raised his sword and braced himself for impact, braced himself for darkness.
~*~
Logan sat on the edge of the mountain, trying his best not to cry. Roman and Virgil were setting up camp in the background as Logan kept watch, waiting for the upcoming army, or- or for Patton's return. He desperately hoped for the latter, but knew the former was more probable. He hated that he knew that.
As the sun set over the horizon, he noticed the army marching up the mountain, towards the group. He looked back at his friends, signalling to them that a fight was about to take place. They all got into formation, trying their hardest not to notice the empty space where Patton usually stood.
Logan looked out over the mountain again. Patton was nowhere to be seen.