Work Text:
It was Finan who found him.
The raiders had rampaged through the camp in the dawn light taking everyone by surprise. In the ensuing chaos, the warriors grabbed whatever weapons they could lay their hands on and defended what little they could.
As the raiding party retreated with their haul, Sihtric sensed immediately that Uhtred was missing. He shouted his name, hoping he was simply out of sight, but knowing in his gut that something was wrong. Very wrong.
Finan had witnessed their Lord wrestle a Dane from his horse and they were last seen fighting one-on-one at the edge of the clearing.
The men spread out, calling for their leader, all of them distraught at the possibility that something had befallen him.
As Finan crossed the tree line and shouted for Uhtred again and again, his eye caught sight of two bodies floating face down in a shallow pond. He recognised his Lord immediately, and leapt without hesitation into the water. As he waded deeper, Sihtric was beside him. They grabbed the back of Uhtred’s clothing and hauled him upwards to clear his face. His body was heavy and limp. The second man in the water had an enormous head wound and was clearly dead. Uhtred showed no sign of having met a different fate. Between them, Finan and Sihtric dragged Uhtred to the bank, brushing away offers of help.
Laying Uhtred’s body on his back on the mud, Finan was beside himself. Panic-stricken, unable to comprehend that the man he would follow to the end of the earth had gone. Finan’s breathing was ragged, he was talking, but his words were unintelligible as he knelt next to the Lord he loved more than his own life.
It was Sihtric, the youngest of the three who kept a calm head. He had seen people be saved from drowning in Dunholm when torture had gone too far and prisoners had to be made to live to retain their bargaining value.
Sihtric quickly and firmly tilted Uhtred’s head back. There was no way he was going to let the Gods take him without a fight. He placed his mouth over Uhtred’s and breathed air into his lungs. He desperately wanted this to work, he wanted to scream at the Gods to give Uhtred back to him. But he knew he needed to stay in control and think what to do. Uhtred did not respond to the first breath, or the second. Maybe it really was too late, maybe he really had left them.
Sihtric was desperately chasing a memory around his head. “His heart Fin! Pump his heart”.
Fin stared, not understanding the words.
Sihtric reached out and placed Finan’s hands on top of one another on Uhtred’s chest. “Make his heart beat Fin! Do it now!” Finan was incapable of thought, but could follow Sihtric’s desperate instructions and he pressed down on Uhtred’s chest with a pulsating beat.
The world stood still while these two desperate men tried to bring back the man they loved. One breathing for him and one willing his heart to pick up the rhythm and beat on its own. It seemed to last forever. They could not stop. To stop would mean that they’d lost him. Sihtric was quiet as he continued to breathe into Uhtred’s lungs. Finan was weeping now, unable to wipe away his tears as he would not remove his hands from Uhtred’s chest, praying for his heart to respond.
The two men were deliberately avoiding each other’s eyes. To communicate would mean asking the other if they should stop. And that was a question neither wanted to have to answer.
Finan’s strong arms were weary, but he felt nothing. He would keep going forever if it kept hope alive. Sihtric’s calmness was beginning to waver. It had been too long. Would he be able to tell Finan to stop? Would the Irishman hate him for the false hope and eventual failure?
And then he coughed. Uhtred coughed and drew in a huge, gasping breath. Sihtric instinctively rolled him onto his side. Finan froze, not daring to hope that their Lord was back with them. As Uhtred’s breathing slowly regulated, and the greyness of his skin recovered some colour, his piercing blue eyes found his two saviours. He started to comprehend what had passed. He owed them his life, and the heart that belonged to both of them would now owe every beat until the end of his days to these two most precious men.