Chapter Text
The silence was broken only by a steady beep, the only indication that the man he loved with all his heart and soul was still alive. Encke looked at the heart monitor, his heart breaking as he saw the spikes chasing after each other much to slowly. If only he had reacted faster or if he had sensed that something was wrong then Keeler wouldn't be lying there, half his face burnt off, the hair he was so proud of completely gone, and a hole the size of a fist in his gut.
It was three days since the battle. They had heard the claxons go off, warning of a Colteron attack. They had been eating together in the mess, enjoying the time spent in each others company as it had grown increasingly rare the farther they went into Colteran space. They threw on their suits and ran to their ship. How he wishes that he hadn't resisted the urge to give Keeler one last kiss before they took off.
As always they worked together perfectly, moving as smoothly as the parts in a well oiled machine. It wasn't their habit to fill the airwaves with idle chatter; they knew each other so well that they would normally only exchange a few sentences during battles. So when Keeler gasped Encke took immediate notice.
"Keeler? What's wrong?"
"Encke, there's something registering on the sensors. I don't kno-"
Then Keelers side of the ship exploded
Encke felt a wave of heat and all of a sudden alarms started blaring in the cockpit. But even the deafening whines couldn't drown out Keelers agonized scream.
"Titan, this is command. We saw you get hit. Do you require assistance?"
Encke sat in shock for a brief moment, trying to understand what happened. He snapped himself out of his daze quickly enough to respond to command. He had to get Keeler help.
"Command this is Titan. My navigator is hurt, life support is down, and offensive systems are comprised. Requesting assistance and permission to retreat."
"Request granted Titan. The Reliant will escort you back to hangar five. We will have a med team waiting for you there."
Encke grunted in response and began to maneuver through the battle field towards the Sleipner. In the wounded ship it was slow going but Encke knew that every second counted in getting Keeler back.
"Did you hear that baby?" Encke called back to his worryingly silent navigator. "They're gonna have a med team all ready for you when we get back. You'll be fine, I promise. We'll be able to have that date like you wanted, hell I'll even wear the suit for you. Just no cologne. That stuff is too nice for a guy like me. It'd be better on a nice cultured guy like you."
Encke kept up the meaningless chatter as he made his way through the death strewn battle field.
"Where the hell is Reliant?" Encke growled to himself but no sooner had the words left his lips that he saw a 'teron ship get torn to pieces on his port side. Through the wreckage came the very ship he was looking for.
"We're here to save your ass Titan"
Encke grit his teeth as Cains smug, self assured voice came over the com.
"Took you fucking long enough Reliant. Did you stop for a fucking blow job on your way here? We're heading for hangar five and if you so much as let a 'teron scratch the paint on Titan I'm gonna thrown the both of you in the brig and throw away the key till the end of this fucking war."
"Yes sir"
That was Cains navigator. At least he didn't sound like a stuck up son of a bitch. And Keeler seemed to like him so he couldn't be all that bad.
If Encke gave credit where it was due he would have acknowledged the fact the the Reliant pair didn't let a single ship within half a kilometer of the Titan. But Encke wasn't feeling generous. He was to focused on getting Keeler back to the ship and to the medical ward as soon as possible.
After the longest seven minutes of his life Encke finally set down in the hangar. True to their word there was a med team ready to spring into action. Encke quickly popped his hatch and jumped to the floor unsure of how he could help but damn sure he would in any way he could. A medic had opened Keelers cockpit and slid in, undoubtedly with the purpose of hauling Keeler out and onto the waiting cart. But after only a few seconds the medic started swearing a blue streak. Encke had to stop himself from running over and seeing what was wrong. He knew he would just get in the way but goddammit the man he loved was hurt and he had to do something.
Encke felt increasingly faint the more time that passed but after a few agonizing minutes he finally saw movement as Keeler was gently lifted from the cockpit. Enckes knees buckled and he would have fallen if he hadn't been able to grab onto a handy crate.
Keeler was completely covered in blood. So much blood that it left a large drip trail on the floor when he was taken out of the Titan and put onto the cart. As soon as his back hit the cart he was being wheeled towards the medical ward with Encke only a few meters behind him.
Encke followed all the way to the doors of the operating room amd would have gone inside if he hadn't been forcibly stopped by two nurses. They led him to an area where he waited to hear the news on Keeler. On whether he would have to find a new navigator or not.
Later, Encke didn't know how many hours later only that it was many, the doctor came out of the operating room to give him the details on Keelers injuries. Keeler had lost just over half of his blood, sustained major burns on his face, arms, torso, and thighs, with minor burns everywhere else. The force of the explosion had also forced a fist sized piece of the console through his torso, damaging a handful of his organs. The doctor didn't know when he would wake up or if he ever would.
Encke followed the doctor to Keelers bedside and sat down. He took Keelers hand between his own and surveyed the . He was wrapped in so many bandages that Encke could barely see any of his skin. No doubt that was because of the extensive burning, but he just wished that he could see Keelers face. Encke settled himself on his chair and prepared himself to wait until Keeler woke up.
Three weeks later
Encke was sitting by Keelers bedside as had become the norm for him. Every moment he could spare was spent in the medical ward, talking to the comatose navigator so that Keeler didn't feel lonely with only the agonizingly slow beep of the heart monitor for company.
"You'd better wake up soon baby. I talked to the brass and they want to reassign me. They said that three weeks was enough time to mourn and that I needed to pull myself together. They're idiots. The whole lot of them. You don't mourn over someone unless they're dead and your not dead. Besides why would I want another navi? You're the best there is and I'm not gonna settle for number two.
But you'd better not look in the mirror for a while though baby. I know you never say so but I know just how much pride you took in your hair. I can understand, after all it was beautiful. But I talked to the doctor and he says that since your head was so badly burnt he doesn't know how many of the hair folicals were killed. But I did overhear the other navigators, they said that If you lost your hair that they would all shave theirs is support. You've really got a great team in all of them. I think if something like that happened to me all the fighters would just laugh.
The salves and medicines that they are using on your burns are also working to mitigate the scaring but you're probably gonna have them for the rest of your life. You look kind of cool though. You look like you've got fire on your face. No one is gonna mess with you anymore.
Please wake up baby. We've still got that date planned for next shore leave. I was thinking some Italian would be nice, then we could go for a walk in that nice park by your parents hou-"
Encke was cut off by the machines coming to life. He caught his breath as he saw the heart monitor spiking faster. He looked down at Keelers face, hoping against hope that the stormy grey eyes would open.
He felt the delicate hand clasped between his own twitch slightly before gently squeezing Enckes. Tears began to drip down his face as Keeler slowly began to open his eyes.
"Encke?" asked Keeler in a voice hoarse from disuse.
"Yeah baby it's me. It's your Encke. I'm here."
"I was worried that you had been hurt. But you're ok. I'm glad you're ok." Keeler said in a tired voice.
"Yeah baby I'm ok. You need to rest now and recover you're strength. You were badly hurt so just focus on yourself and get better, ok?" Encke said, hands fluttering, unsure on quite what to do.
"Ok" Keeler said, his eyes starting to close as he drifted off to sleep. "Encke...ha...have to say..."
"Yeah baby?"
"I...love...you, Encke" Keeler raped out as his eyes closed.
"I love you too Keeler" Encke said to Keelers sleeping form even though he knew he wasn't heard. He decided right then and there that as soon as they were discharged he was going to propose. He knew that he loved Keeler from the bottom of his heart and if he was going to spend the rest of his life with anyone it would be him.
Enckes thoughts were interrupted by the sound of someone flat lining. He looked around wondering what poor sod had passed when he realised that there was no one else in the ward besides him and..Keeler.
He slowly looked back at Keelers heart monitor, terrified at what he knew he was going to find. The last thing he saw before the world went dark was a horribly straight line on the monitor. The last thought he had before his mind went blank was simply that he never knew what Keelers real name was.