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1
Doc leaned her head back on the storeroom wall, waiting patiently as Chris found some way to block the door. Once the chair was in place Chris turned around with a grin, “There. Now we can get some fucking peace and quiet.”
“That’s good,” Doc held a hand out, “Though it probably won’t last long.”
Chris took her hand and leaned against the wall next to Doc, taking a deep breath as Doc leaned her head on Chris’ shoulder, “You okay hun?”
“Tired. How about you? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine Doc, no pain and I don’t feel like shit.”
Doc smiled, leaning up to press a kiss to Chris’ jaw. Chris responded by wrapping her arms all the way around Doc and holding on tight, resting her head on Doc’s.
It usually made Doc laugh when Chris did that and normally Chris would make some stupid comment about the height difference(for example, the first date they went on Chris had jokingly called her an armrest) but now they just sat together in blessed silence.
Until someone knocked on the door.
“Who is it?” Doc asked.
“It’s Phillips, is Chris in there with you?”
“Yes.”
“Can I talk to her?”
“No, leave us alone.”
Chris had to cover her mouth to stifle her laughter as Phillips sighed, “Doc, I know you two want time alone, but I need to get her opinion on something.”
“Will someone die if I don’t let her out?”
“No.”
“Then fuck off John,” Doc grumbled slightly, “I’m going to spend time with my girlfriend and unless someone’s in danger of dying, you can’t do shit about it.”
That’s when Chris couldn’t hold her laughter anymore, cackling as Phillips started chuckling on the other side of the door, “Alright. I’ll leave you alone.”
“Language baby,” Chris ran her fingers through Doc’s hair, “Nearly cussed him out.”
“We are going to spend time alone and I know how to scare John into leaving us alone,” Doc gave Chris a quick kiss, “And don’t lie, you're not sad about it.”
“No, I’m not.”
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2
Chris tucked the pillow into the sleeping bag, folding it over and moving it to the edge of the tent where Doc’s was. Snow had finally hit Fort Hope, and for the time being everyone was either in tents or working.
Doc was finishing whatever work she had in the med tent before coming back to get ready for breakfast. Chris had already grabbed it, along with some tea, and set it on the small tray they had in the tent.
Snow crunched outside the tent and Chris looked up, smiling softly as Doc entered, “Hey hun, everything going okay over there?”
“Yup, people are still sick but it doesn’t seem to be getting much worse,” Doc scooted closer to Chris after taking off her snow-covered jacket, shivering slightly as Chris took her hands, “Oh, your hands are warm.”
“And yours are cold as hell. I need to get you some gloves.”
“Chris, I have gloves.”
“You have medical gloves. What you need is some winter gloves that’ll actually keep you warm,” Chris handed Doc one of the mugs of tea, laughing a bit to herself, “Perhaps a scarf as well.”
“Why a scarf? I don’t…” Doc trailed off as Chris looked at her neck, “You didn’t.”
“I did.”
“Chris!”
Chris laughed at Doc’s tone, pressing a playful kiss to her neck, right where the hickey was, “I doubt anyone saw it. It’s still dark out and your coat covers most of it.”
“You drive me insane,” Doc blushed and drank her tea, picking at her breakfast, “How are you feeling?”
“I’m alright, just been focusing on cleaning, organizing, and getting the tent ready for winter. Your leggings are all patched up by the way.”
“Thank you. The cold hasn’t been too much?”
Stop worrying Sue, you’ve kept me warm,” Chris began eating her own breakfast, “Now eat before you pass out. I know you didn’t eat dinner last night.”
Doc rolled her eyes, taking a bite of the corn mush and sitting as close as she could to her girlfriend. Chris put an arm around Doc, eventually wrapping a throw blanket they had grabbed(Chris went back to their old home recently and grabbed it, along with a few other effects. Doc almost cried when Chris showed her their old photo album) around Doc’s shoulders.
“Chris…”
“I want you warm. You get cold so easily Doc, let me take care of you for once.”
“What about you?”
“I’ll just hold you,” Chris leaned down to pepper kisses all over Doc’s face, making Doc laugh, “Now eat your food and drink your tea. Then we can cuddle and stay warm all day.”
“Until we get called away to work.”
“Shush. We got a few hours, let me hold you.”
Doc finished her food and laid her head on Chris’ shoulder, closing her eyes as Chris played with her hair.
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3
It wasn’t often that Doc broke down or panicked, so when Doc sat down near Coach and burst into tears, Coach was understandably surprised. She had tried to calm Doc down and see what was wrong, but after a few minutes of Doc pushing Coach away and sobbing into her hands, Coach ran to get Chris.
It wasn’t often that Doc showed her emotions, even to Chris, usually bottling them up until they came bursting out. Often she could find a place to be alone when this happened, but today…
Watching Holly and Evangelo almost die on their last mission was the last fucking straw. Doc couldn’t get it out of her head and it kept replaying in her mind, Holly getting thrown into a car by a tallboy and Evangelo nearly getting crushed by the same tallboy trying to get Holly out of the way.
The more it replayed the more Doc’s vision blurred and the harder it became for her to breathe. It felt like a weight was pressed to her chest but she was floating at the same time.
“Sue, sweetheart, talk to me,” Chris knelt down and took Doc’s hands, “What happened?”
“I… Fuck,” Doc was crying so hard she could barely talk and when she looked up at Chris her brown eyes were filled with pain, “Chris.”
“I’m here honey. Take deep breaths, you’re starting to hyperventilate.”
“I can’t.”
Chris moved her hand to Doc’s hair, carefully smoothing it back as she brought one of Doc’s hands to her lips, kissing softly, “Focus on what you can feel hun. What can you feel?”
Doc tried to focus, mentally counting.
Chris’ hand in my hair, her hand holding mine, the pallet I’m sitting on.
“Chris…” Doc’s voice was a whisper now, still crying but her breathing calmed down enough to speak.
“I’m here baby, I’m right here.”
“It feels like I’m losing my mind.”
“It’s okay to lose your mind every once in a while hun. Do you know why you started to panic?”
“We almost lost them,” Doc’s voice broke as Chris looked down, her own blue eyes shining with tears. The fear they both held was rising to the surface, the fear of losing another child(even if both Holly and Evangelo were unaware of how much the two women loved them).
“I know my love,” Chris moved from her kneeling position to sit next to Doc, “But they’re safe and gonna be fine, all thanks to you. Holly’s gonna make a full recovery and Evangelo will be back to cracking jokes in no time.”
Doc shook her head and stared at Chris, tears silently falling down her face, “But they’re hurt. I couldn’t protect them.”
“You and I both know that those two will do everything in this world and there ain’t a damn thing we can do to stop them,” Chris swallowed the lump in her throat, “Come on, let’s get you to the tent. You need some rest.”
Doc let Chris pull her up and away from the sparing ring, too exhausted to do anything other than lean on her girlfriend and hold onto her as they walked to their tent.
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4
It was reckless and stupid, they both knew that. But right now, as Chris pushed Doc against the wall in the old storeroom, Chris couldn’t bring herself to care. Sure, making out in the old Evansburg theatre was probably a stupid idea, but it was the first real privacy they’d had in months.
There was no way in hell either of them would pass up the opportunity.
Doc blushed when Chris pulled away, laughing a bit, “Warn me next time.”
“But it’s so much fun to surprise you,” Chris laughed, “For example…”
Chris picked Doc up, ignoring the protest the younger woman gave, setting her down on a nearby table. Doc glared playfully at Chris, “Christine!”
“Oh don’t lie to me, you love it when I do shit like this.”
“Well I do, but warn me.”
“No,” Chris leaned up, pulling Doc into a heated kiss. Doc couldn’t help but smile, it seemed as if Chris always found a way to make her smile even when she felt like shit.
Chris moved her hands up and down Doc’s side while Doc tangled her hands in Chris’ hair, the older woman had left her hair out of braids for today.
Doc almost felt lightheaded but refused to pull away, wanting the time alone and time to-
“AH!!”
They jumped apart to see Evangelo in the doorway, looking equal parts horrified and scared. He looked between them, stammering before he said, “Sorry!”
The door slammed shut, and all they could hear were muffled voices before the sound of Holly cackling reached their ears.
Doc looked to Chris before smirking, “Well, guess we have some things to explain to him. And it sounds like Holly knows now as well.”
Chris laughed, pulling Doc into one more kiss before helping her off the table, “Honey, I think Holly already knew. She’s been giving us smirks whenever we walk into the cafeteria together for weeks now.”
Doc couldn’t help but giggle, taking Chris’ hand as they walked out of the storeroom, bracing themselves to hear endless teasing.
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5
Doc climbed into the tent, doing her best to be quiet as she sleepily took off her boots and changed into pajamas. Chris was already laying down in her sleeping bag, presumably asleep.
It was hard to be quiet, especially when everything seemed so damn loud this time of night. When she was finally able to lie down and get comfortable, Doc sighed.
An arm came around her, pulling her closer to Chris. A soft kiss was pressed to the back of her head and Doc laughed, “I thought you were asleep.”
“Mm, not really. I wanted to wait for you.”
“Why?”
“So I could tell you goodnight and that I love you.”
“I love you too Chris.”
Chris pulled Doc as close as she could, and Doc leaned into the touch, closing her eyes and drifting off into sleep.