Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The sound of coughing is heard coming from Cracklin who seemed to have caught something in the back of his throat. All the dust in the air was making him cough.

"Would you quiet down with all that racket?" Chief says, already annoyed at the fact that Cracklin has been relentlessly coughing for the past ten minutes already.

"Sorry Chief…the back of my throat has been really scratchy. I can't help it." Cracklin replies with another cough following right after.

"Well, find a way to fix it. I can't focus with all that noise you're making."

Cracklin is able to hold his cough for a few more seconds until the scratchy feeling in his throat becomes too unbearable. Cracklin feels another cough coming along and tries to quickly hold it, emitting a choking sound instead.

Chief glances over at the sound to glare at Cracklin but is instead met with the sight of Cracklin bent over flushed, covering his mouth with a single small tear formed at the edge of his eye. Chief swiftly looks away embarrassed from the sight, giving a low grunt to hide his embarrassment. He didn't know why seeing Cracklin in such a position made him so embarrassed anyway.

However Cracklin couldn't help but stare at Chief. He had taken notice of Chiefs staring even though it was only for a quick moment. It wasn't often to see Chief embarrassed like that, actually he had never seen him embarrassed like that so it made Cracklin feel….excited if that were a way to put it.

With the sudden realization Cracklin got a mischievous gleam in his eyes at Chiefs sudden show of weakness.

"Ohhhhhhh Chief," Cracklin whines. "I can't take it anymore, it's too much!"

Chief tries his best to ignore Cracklin and his childish behavior as he continues to walk forward.

"Quit your whining." Chief says with a bit of annoyance in his voice.

"My legs hurt and this cough is killing me! Please Chief, can we take a tiny break." Cracklin says pleadingly, giving a little cough for show.

"Just be quiet and keep walking!" Chief yells.

The whining and pleads of Cracklin only become louder the farther they walk until finally Chief couldn't handle it anymore. He stops in his tracks and turns around to stare directly at Cracklin with an obviously irritated look.

"Keep that up any longer and this gun will have one less bullet!" Chief threatens pointing to his gun. "Now keep moving, we need to find somewhere to rest."

"Y-yes, of course." Cracklins says with his voice trembling.

He knew that Chief wouldn't really do it but it didn't make it any less intimidating. Cracklin stays quiet but he hasn't given up yet as he starts to think up another way to make Chief give that same embarrassed look as before.

He knew it seemed rather low of him to want to embarrass Chief for his own selfish desires but he couldn't help it. After seeing the look of Chief being all embarrassed he wanted to see it again at a better angle or even see something else.

_______________

It was hard to say how long they had been walking but they had finally found a good place to stop and take a rest for the time being. During their search for a good resting spot Cracklin had more than enough time to think of a plan, multiple even.

Meanwhile Chief became a bit uneasy at the fact that Cracklin has been staring at him for a while now with a wicked look in his eyes. He began to think that Cracklin wasn't as harmless as he had originally thought.

After getting comfortable both Cracklin and Chief sat across from each other. It stayed completely silent for a good while before one of them spoke.

"Have you ever liked anyone?" Cracklin says out of the blue.

"What?!" Chief exclaims, coughing a bit at the suddenness of it.

The question felt so random and out of place that it had surprised him.

"Have you?" Cracklin asks again, a bit happy at the reaction the question had gotten out of Chief.

"Of course not, there is no need for something as useless as that, it would only cause problems." Chief says as he gives a small cough to clear his throat.

"What if you do end up liking someone though?" Cracklin asks.

"I don't know, I guess I would ignore it the best I can. There is no need to get involved with that kind of stuff." Chief answers.

"Why would you do that? Wouldn't it be easier to confront those feelings?" Cracklin asked

"That's enough Cracklin." Chief says.

"What if you end up being lonely forever?" Cracklin asks, ignoring Chiefs command.

"Cracklin, I said that was enough." Chief says more coldly.

"But think about it, you will never have someone to share your feelings with freely, never experience true love!" Cracklin continues.

"CRACKLIN!" Chief shouts, successfully shutting up the other.

They both stared at each other, sharing a moment of awkward silence. They maintained eye contact while Cracklin began to study more closely the facial features of the Chief. His heartbeat slowly increased until suddenly his heart skipped a beat. The feeling jerked Cracklin back to his senses being the first to break eye contact.

The air between them became awkward and neither of them really knew what to say. Cracklin stared down and fidgeted with his hands at the awkward silence. Luckily Chief decided to be the one to say something first.

"We should get some rest." Chief says.

"Ah yes, you're right…have a goodnight Chief."

"You too, Cracklin."

They both move to a comfortable place to sleep for the night. Chief finds a good spot to lay on the ground as he closes his eyes holding his gun close to his chest.

Cracklin however was playing with his thumbs as he thought back to their conversation and their moment of silence together. He just wanted to get a reaction out of Chief then but everything became awkward so suddenly.

"Why did I have to ask something like that?" Cracklin says under his breath. "So stupid."

He glances over at Chiefs slowly moving body as he lay on the ground. He didn't know if Chief was sleeping yet so he stayed quiet as he followed the breathing pattern of the body that lay just a few meters away from himself.

He couldn't find it in him to go to sleep. He stayed quiet for a while with no way to tell the time, minutes or even an hour passed before he decided to get up.

Still wary of how much noise he's making he walks over to Chief's sleeping body and looks over. Looking at the sleeping face he takes notice at how calm Chief looked. All of his features were relaxed instead of in the usual scowl that left permanent wrinkles on his face.

While staring intently at Chief his heart rate slowly starts to increase finding himself thinking of how he would like to be in the same position as the gun Chief held onto. The sudden thought jolts him back to reality, taking a few steps away from the sleeping body. Cracklin realized how fast his heart was and thought back to before when he was having the same problem.

What could this mean? Was he dying? Would he collapse at any moment?

These thoughts made Cracklin start to panic. He goes to search for something that may help him with this unknown disease, focusing less on the amount of noise he was making as he ran around.

Without realizing, Chief started waking up from the commotion being made. Tiredly he gets up with a bit of effort to find out what is causing such a ruckus.

Looking at the scene in front of him he sees Cracklin running around like a chicken with it's head cut off.

"What the hell are you doing?" He asks loud enough for Cracklin to hear.

Cracklin freezes from his state of panic as if just taking notice of how much noise he was making.

"Chief! I-I'm sorry I didn't mean to wake you!" Cracklin says in a rush.

"The hell you didn't, what made you so panicked at this time of night?" Chief asked, wondering what could have been the reason for ruining his precious sleep.

"I don't know I got this weird feeling in my chest and I think maybe I'm dying!" Cracklin says, still panicking. "It happened earlier too when we were staring at each other!"

Chief choked a bit at the mention of their little stare off session and a small heat made its way to his cheeks. It quickly dies down though as Chief starts to become more aware of the situation. It was probably Cracklin overreacting as usual and that it was nothing to worry over.

"I'm sure it's nothing serious, go back to sleep or whatever you usually do just don't disturb me again." Chief says with a tired sigh.

"But Chief…" Crackling begins to say before being cut off.

"No buts, just go to sleep. I don't want to hear another word from you until morning." Chief said quickly.

The next moment Chief was already laying down and snoring like nothing happened. Cracklin still stands there frozen processing all that had just happened. Everything had gone by so quickly.

The only thing that he could think to do was do as Chief said and go to sleep. Hopefully after everything that just happened it wouldn't be so difficult a task to do.

He lay down again in the spot he originally lay before and closed his eyes. While Cracklin waits for sleep to envelop him he thinks back to seeing Chief's sleeping face at how peaceful it had looked. He wished that Chief would one day look at him with that same peaceful and soft look. After some time Cracklin slowly drifts off into sleep with one particular individual plaguing his dreams that night. Chief.

Chapter Text

Cracklin was first to wake up, he was still tired though because he could barely sleep a wink. His dreams of Chief kept waking him up as if they were nightmares but instead of being scared it left him red in the face with embarrassment.

'Why would I think something like that, especially with Chief?!' Cracklin thought to himself, flustered, that he would think such things of someone he admired.

It wasn't much longer until Chief had woken up next, looking like he had the best sleep of his life contrary to Cracklin.

They both got ready to leave so they could continue exploring the building further. Once they were all set they headed out.

Some time passed as they walked in silence having no idea where they were headed exactly. As they walked, and walked, and walked….

Quickly the silence became unbearable, or at least it did for Cracklin. Chief rather enjoyed having Cracklin finally be quiet for once. It wasn't much longer though before the tranquil silence is disturbed.

"Sorry for before." Cracklin says officially breaking the silence they shared.

"What exactly are you sorry for?" Chief asks, curious as to where this would go though he was sure he already knew the answer.

"I think I went too far last night." Cracklin says honestly. "I crossed the line."

Chief sighs as he looks at Cracklin who was looking down at his feet and playing with his hands nervously.

"I'm not mad." Chief says gruffly.

Cracklin brightens up immediately at those words as he looks up to be met with Chiefs gaze.

"You're really not mad?" Cracklin question with a bit of doubt.

"No, but never do it again or I really will be, you got that?" Chief says sternly.

"Yes Chief!" Cracklin says with renewed vigor as he puts his arm up in a salute his other arm pressed tightly against his side.

'I guess this means I'm forgiven!' Cracklin thinks excitedly to himself.

For the rest of their journey they wandered around the building aimlessly. Every once in a while they would find something but nothing of real importance, just scraps and small fragments of broken items.

It stayed this way for some time until suddenly Chief stopped in his tracks. He looked down at what looked like footprints left in the dust covering the floor which could mean many things all of which could lead to something useful.

Cracklin however was distracted by something else, he saw something shining from afar and hadn't noticed Chief stopped walking. Cracklin bumped into Chief from behind and they both fell harshly to the ground. A strong gust from the impact lifted dust from the ground as it swirled around where they both fell.

Chief groaned underneath the weight of Cracklins body after taking the brunt of the fall. He opened his eyes only to see Cracklin staring directly at him and his thoughts went straight to the fact at how close together they were.

"Get off me already!" Chief shouted, an embarrassed flush covering his face.

"S-sorry Chief, I didn't notice you stopped." Cracklin quickly explained while getting up.

"Well pay better attention from now on, we don't want any accidents just because you were distracted." Chief said as he got up right after Cracklin and brushed off the dust that stuck to him trying to clear his mind. "Now let's get a move on, I saw some footprints and it could lead us to something."

"Right, of course!"

Chief looks around for the footprints again but is met with nothing. The fall apparently swept away the majority of the dust which unfortunately had the footprints. Chief gives a tired sigh at the fact that the only lead they've found in days is gone just like that. He finds a few boxes and sits down on them to rest.

Cracklin realizes what the problem was rather quickly and instantly feels bad. It was at that same moment that Cracklin recalled what exactly he had been distracted by earlier.

Maybe he could fix his mistake?

"Um, Chief-" Cracklin starts but is cut off.

"Not now Cracklin." Chief said tiredly.

"I know this is a bad time but I did see something earlier that could possibly lead to something."

Chief looks at Cracklin as if he just gave him the greatest news he's ever heard. Cracklin gets a bit shy under Chief's hopeful gaze directed at him, or at least it seemed hopeful. His facial features didn't exactly make him look hopeful but Cracklin just felt it.

"I saw something shining in the distance before I bumped into you and it could possibly be something important like a clue." Cracklin says.

"This is good Cracklin! What did you see and where is it?"

"That's the bad part. I don't know exactly…" Cracklin says with a nervous chuckle.

Chief stares at Cracklin silently.

"But- we could follow the general area where I saw it coming from if that helps." Cracklin suggests.

"Good idea, you lead the way." Chief says.

"Ah wait, really?" Cracklin says surprised that Chief would even take his suggestion.

"Yes, now hurry we don't have all day." Chief orders.

Cracklin quickly rushes to a spot in front of Chief excitedly so he could guide the way. This was like a once in a lifetime opportunity for Cracklin and he didn't want to waste it.

Cracklin points in the direction from where he saw the light coming from and they begin their walk again. They both hope in one way or another this can give them the answers they've been looking for.