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The moment the truck pulled into the makeshift hanger I jumped off the back, making a beeline for- well, anywhere solitary.
The day had started out perfectly normal, mundane. My team and I were heading out on a pretty routine recon, nothing we hadn’t done before. A few hours, tops, and then back to the base for a beer and shit talking. It was an easy job, so just the three of us were sent; myself, Flash and König.
The closest friend I’d made since joining the faction, Flash, was nicknamed for her speed. Quick, quiet, gone in an instant.
But she wasn’t fast enough today.
The shot that rang out took me by surprise. We were all used to the sound of gunfire, but none of us had expected it that day. A rookie mistake. Flash was on the ground flat on her back, her hand clutching at the bullet in her gut, blood everywhere. Off to the side I vaguely heard a scuffle and two shots, followed by some angry words spat out in German which I didn’t bother trying to translate.
‘It’s okay, you’re okay, it’s not that bad, shh-’
I pressed my hands to her abdomen and made a lame attempt to comfort her. She was already pale, the pressure from my hands a feeble attempt to stop the bleeding. The look she gave me is something I don’t think I’ll be able to shake off. Her glassy eyes were wide and full of fear, mouth opening and closing, trying to talk through her gasps for breath.
‘It- hurts…’
I heard shouts coming from the distance. The shooter wasn’t alone.
Flash’s eyes started to roll back in her head as she clumsily grasped at my vest. I felt a large hand wrap around my arm and yank me to my feet.
‘We need to go.’
I looked around desperately, trying to figure out what to do. I don’t think I’d ever felt so hopeless in my life.
‘We need to go now!’ König hissed.
I bent down and snatched the tags off her neck. She’d gone still.
König’s hand grabbed the front of my vest and pulled me in his direction, and I stumbled for my footing before running after him.
*
I slipped into my little cell-like room and stood with my back against the door. With shaky hands I bent down to untie my boots and carefully removed my gear, muscle memory spurring my body on. I moved over to my bed and sat down, elbows on knees and wrapping my arms around each other. I vaguely remembered the last exchange Flash and I had, just seconds before shit went down. I think she reminded me that I owed her a beer.
Luckily, that train of thought was interrupted by a soft knock at the door. I didn’t make any move to answer it, though. After a few moments a knock came again, slightly louder this time. I stood and shuffled to the door, opening it just a crack. Instead of being met with eyes, I was face-to-face with a chest. It wasn’t covered in gear, just a black t-shirt, tucked neatly into the standard issue beige trousers. Despite the sniper hood, the height and nervous stance was unmistakable.
‘Come in, König.’
I opened the door wider and stood aside. His hands were buried in his pockets and he hesitated for a moment before ducking through the door frame. I closed the door behind him and moved to sit back on the edge of my bed.
‘Need something?’ I asked.
He watched me carefully for a moment, and shook his head. Although we'd developed a friendship, I didn’t really feel like making conversation, especially when the recipient is so shy he can barely handle more than one syllable at a time.
He shifted his weight from foot to foot, his gaze low. He look like he was contemplating something. And then, he moved closer to me, hesitating before carefully taking a seat next to me.
‘Are you alright?’ was all he asked.
I nodded.
‘Yeah. You?’
He nodded back, but as I looked over to him, his eyes looked exactly how I felt. Sad. Defeated. You’d think wearing a sack over your head everywhere you go would make it easy to hide your expression, but König’s eyes always gave him away.
I reached into my pocket and pulled out Flash’s dog tags, turning them over in my hands.
‘Not really sure why I took them.’ I said, with a nervous laugh.
‘You were close, yes?’ he asked, watching my hands intently as I fidgeted with the tags.
Yes.
I shrugged.
‘It was bound to happen eventually.’ I said, trying to keep my tone light. ‘She was always forgetting to look over her shoulder.’
It wasn’t fair to blame her. But I was the one who was supposed to have eyes on her, so if I didn’t blame her, there was only one alternative.
König said nothing- just held his clasped hands in his lap while he studied me. After a beat of silence, he reached out and placed a hand gingerly on my thigh- slow and gentle, watching for my response. His hands really were huge. I hadn’t really seen them up close before.
‘I always knew she’d get herself into trouble.’ I said, and tried to laugh at my sorry attempt to lighten the mood. To my horror, it come out as a sob. I briefly saw König’s eyes widen in panic before I turned my head away. I know crying isn’t weak, and in that moment I would be completely justified if I threw myself across the bed and sobbed hysterically into my pillow. Still, I hated other people seeing me cry.
But it was pointless now. I hunched over and sobbed into my shaking hands, my whole body heaving with the force of my crying. I felt König move his hand away, which didn’t surprise me. I probably scared the poor guy off, as his temperament off the field was something akin to a stray kitten caught in the middle of a highway.
I suddenly felt two strong arms wrap around my torso, squeezing me tight as they pulled me in close. I turned and buried my head into his chest, covering his t-shirt in tears and stale sweat. He didn’t seem to mind, though.
‘Es tut mir leid, schatz.’ he said quietly, resting his chin on the top of my head. 'Ich liebe dich.'
I wasn’t entirely sure what it meant, but I could guess from his tone. Soft, gentle, quintessentially König.
I don’t know how long I cried for, but he didn’t move or loosen his hold. He just gently rocked me back and forth, whispering little words of comfort. I all knew is that for now, I felt warm and safe – a true luxury in this line of work – and I was content in staying here all night.