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You trusted in Illya’s ability to hold his own in a fight, but not when he was injured. His opponent, who would normally be no match for him, was beating him up and still Illya didn’t surrender.
Trying not to distract yourself from the man you were fighting as well, you kept sneaking glances towards Illya. Every time you quickly glanced at him you caught a hint of crimson staining his face, and so you were fed up.
Slamming your elbow against your opponent’s nose, you brought the fight to an end. Just as the man fell, you turned in time to see Illya falling himself. Your voice mixed with Solo’s as you both called out to him in concern. He was strong, you told yourself, he would be fine. For the time being, however, you had to make sure he got enough time to recover before that man killed him.
“Y/N!” Solo called you, reading your intentions, and tossed you something. Your body was trained enough to reach out for it in an instinct, and you caught it in the air.
Wielding the knife Solo had given you, you yelled and threw yourself to the man in order to avoid him giving the finishing blow to Illya before he could fight back. Your adrenaline-induced shout, however, had alarmed him of your presence.
“No…” You heard Illya weakly call out when the enemy turned to you.
You were thrusting your knife against him, but he moved quickly enough to hold on to your wrist and twist it painfully. You screamed out, kicking him in the knee. It didn’t help. This man that had nearly outmatched Illya was definitely a challenging opponent for you.
The two of you struggled, seizing each other’s strength as his was mildly greater than yours. You strained as you made your best to avoid the inevitable, but the knife’s blade was slowly pointing toward you now. The blood was pumping through your veins at a dizzying speed and making your heartbeat resonate in your ears.
With a groan of pain, you felt the knife sinking into your arm. You grit your teeth and prepared to retaliate. Gathering all the strength you had, you planted your foot against his chest and pushed him off you, sending him tumbling down the ground. Given their proximity now, Illya took this to his advantage and trapped him in a headlock.
Knowing the situation was under control, you relaxed slightly. Your body seemed to weight the double it usually did and you stumbled as you found it difficult to stand. You pulled the knife out of your arm and immediately put pressure on the wound. You were losing blood, which added to the many cuts and bruises that already plagued your body and the exhaustion that made your muscles ache. Your vision started to blur.
To return you to the reality of the fight, you felt a hand on your back. Tensing up, you held your fists up and readied to strike. You barely stopped yourself before you could punch Solo in the face.
“Are you okay?” He asked, to which you feebly nodded your head.
“Y/N” Illya rushed to his feet and closed the distance between you in one big stride.
“It’s fine” You reassured him before he could ask, yet still you felt his eyes worriedly looking you up and down just like yours were him.
“I must admit…” Napoleon started, watching you two with an unfazed expression despite the worn-out appearance you presented. “You two make a great team”
“Yeah, yeah…” You waved him off with a gesture of your hand. “Can you call for pick-up? I want to go back to the hotel”
“That is a good idea” Illya agreed, vehemently nodding his head.
“Okay” The American said before he turned around and left.
“Are you alright?” Illya asked you despite your words, taking your face into his hands.
Your grumpy mood seemed to vanish with his touch, and so you managed a smile.
“I am, and you?”
“I’m alright”
You sighed in relief, suddenly feeling the exhaustion completely catch up to you. As a result, your knees buckled and you let yourself fall to the ground to give your weary body some rest. You refused to move from there until Solo was back announcing a helicopter or some sort of transport had arrived to carry you to the hotel. One thing was for sure, you weren’t going to take another step.
“You did well today” Illya muttered, calmly sitting by your side.
“I know” You smirked at him, even if your gesture hid a smidge of sweetness. He grinned, putting an arm over your shoulders and pressing you tight against him.
You knew what was going through his head without needing to hear it, without needing to look into his eyes to see the truth. You knew because you were thinking the same. This mission had been more complicated than you anticipated and you could have lost each other so many times in so many different horrible ways. The thought made you want to snuggle closer to him, and so you gave in to the temptation. His warm closeness seemed to put an end to the nervous trembling of your muscles caused by the adrenaline.
“Thank you for having my back” Illya muttered, tenderly combing his fingers through your hair.
“I always do” You nuzzled his neck, speaking against the fabric of his shirt. “We will always have each other’s back”
“That’s right” He took a deep breath, pressing his cheek against your head.
The stress slowly melted away as you told yourself that the mission was truly over. There was no danger anymore, you two were safe, and so was…
“Sorry to interrupt” Solo cleared his throat, announcing his presence.
You jumped up slightly, still feeling on edge while the last of the adrenaline wore out. Illya, on the other hand, didn’t move an inch. He only languidly looked up at him.
The American was towering over you, bearing a strangely fond and amused look that you hadn’t quite witnessed from him before.
“What?” You dared him, but Solo only grinned.
“Nothing” He playfully crossed his arms over his chest. “You two are just adorable”
You rolled your eyes and instead looked at Illya, who was glaring at his partner while the latter remained calm. Despite it all, you had to suppress a chuckle.
“You’re not looking so dangerous now, Peril” Solo still pressed on, but Illya’s hands remained firm around you despite the provocation.
“I could still kill you” Was his response nonetheless.
“And I personally might, actually” You added, glowering at the American. Instead of feeling threatened in the slightest, he raised his eyebrows in a further amused gesture.
“Don’t get too comfortable” Solo grinned before facing his back to you again. “Helicopter’s on the way”
“Don’t listen to him” Illya whispered on your ear, pausing to then kiss you in the forehead. “Rest, you earned it”
“How many times have I saved you today?” You teased him, even if you snuggled closer to him and comfortably closed your eyes.
“I’ve lost count” Illya laughed, squeezing you tight against him. You laughed too, losing yourself to that peaceful respite you so badly needed.
You were uncomfortable, bloodied and hurt and sore and annoyed. But at that moment, feeling Illya’s gentle cares and his warm arms around you, everything felt alright. You didn’t care about when would the helicopter arrive anymore, you were more than okay with sitting there with him and forsaking yourself to his loving comfort.