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Since being forced to turn in his wings and finally accepting the stars on his shoulders after the mission, Mav was finally settling into his new role as admiral, still getting the itch to fly like he used to. At least he still had his Mustang and could take Ice up when Ice would let him. The paperwork never seemed to end and always seemed to be growing no matter how much Mav had already done. Because of this he was initially glad when Jake came bursting into his office out of breath until he saw the look on Jake’s face.
“What’s wrong, Jake?” Mav asked somewhat frantic, immediately on his feet.
“It’s Ice. He got clipped by a car and is being taken to the hospital. Before you get too worked up, Bradley is with him and he seemed alright when they sent me to come and take you to meet them at the hospital,” Jake panted, bending over slightly.
At that statement, Mav just froze, not fully processing much beyond ‘Ice got hit by a car’, mind automatically going to the worse case scenarios which sent his spiraling. Hangman, seeing that Mav had completely frozen, rounded the desk and started gently leading him out to the car so that they could meet Ice and Bradley at the hospital.
Mav barely noticed the pitying glances thrown his way or that Hangman had closed his office. He was barely aware that he was being guided into the passenger’s seat of Hangman’s pick-up truck or the entire drive to the hospital. What pulled him out of his mind was Bradley crouching in front of the open truck door and gently talking to him.
“Hey Mav. Ice is ok. He’s a little banged up and they’re currently running test to make sure he’s fine,” Bradley said gently, trying to get some eye contact from Mav, “Let’s get you inside to see him, alright? Jake is currently inside with him.”
All Mav could do was to stutteringly nod at Bradley and stood up on shaky legs with Bradley’s help, before letting Bradley close the car door and lead him inside. The hallways passed in a blur until they got to where Ice and Jake were in the ER. When Mav saw Ice sitting there signing with Jake, Mav let out a sob and stumbled over to Ice who immediately opened his arms to hug his husband.
“I’m alright, baby. They just clipped me, nothing more serious than some bruised ribs, bruises and scrapes,” Ice murmured into Mav’s hair, gravel evident in his voice.
“I didn’t know that when Jake came and got me. I was so scared and I couldn’t help but thing of the worst case scenarios,” Mav sobbed, pressing his face into Ice’s shoulder, arms wrapped around Ice.
“I’m alright or I’m going to be. It’s going to be alright. Okay, baby girl?” Ice murmured rocking them slightly from his spot on the bed.
Mav just nodded before crawling up next to Ice and curling into his side, not caring what anyone else thought, finally settled slightly after seeing that Ice was more or less alright. That was the way they remained until a harried doctor came over to talk to the group, where Mav pulled back slightly.
“So, Mr. Kazansky, it looks like you have a couple of bruised ribs as well as minor scrapes and bruises. From what I heard of the incident from your son, you are very lucky. Since you don’t have a concussion, I can’t see any reason to keep you here as long as you take it easy for the next couple days and come back if you start to feel worse or different,” the doctor said, briefly glancing at Mav still partially curled into Ice’s side.
“Of course, between Bradley, Jake and Mav here, I’ll likely have at least three people worrying over me these next couple of days,” Ice said with a chuckle to the murmured protests of Mav, Bradley and Jake.
“Alright then, I’ll draw up the discharge paperwork and let you all head home,” the doctor said with a nod, before heading off to get the paperwork.
Hearing the news, Mav let out a shaky sigh and collapsed slightly into Ice’s side forgetting that some of Ice’s ribs were bruised until Ice hissed slightly at Mav’s added weight against him.
“ ‘M sorry. Didn’t mean to hurt your ribs,” Mav whispered immediately scrambling away from Ice and off the bed only to be stopped by Bradley, who stepped into Mav’s intended path.
“I know you didn’t mean to, Mav. They’re just a little tender,” Ice soothed, though he made no movement towards Mav just yet not wanting to startle him further.
Mav nodded, not seeming to believe it quite yet, but let Bradley guide him to a nearby chair within sight of Ice while Jake moved over to Ice to continue their earlier conversation. When Mav had gotten set down, Bradley noticed how much Mav was shaking in a mix of remaining panic and the drop from the earlier he had gone through.
“Mav, it’s okay. I don’t know where exactly your mind is at, but as you saw Ice is ok and he doesn’t blame you for accidently hitting his ribs, alright?” Bradley said quietly, drawing Mav’s attention to himself.
“But I hurt him. The fact I did it by accident shouldn’t matter,” Mav whispered, voice watery.
“That doesn’t matter in this situation. You didn’t do anything out of what you would normally do outside of the hospital. Did you in any way plan the car crash or to accidently lean wrong against his bruised ribs?”
When Mav shook his head, Bradley continued, “Then you are no way at fault for this and Ice will not blame. I know that emotions and panic are running high after you heard that Ice got hit by a car and that made you focus on the fact that Ice was hurt, but I know that you would never intentionally hurt Ice any circumstances. Now once Ice is discharged, Jake and I are taking the two of you home to your cats and y’all are going to be spending a quiet evening together before the descent of the other daggers tomorrow.”
Mav nodded, tears trickling down his face, and leaned forward slightly, sniffling before answering, “Sorry, I just hate the idea of hurting him even if it by accident. God, I’m rarely on this side of the hospital interaction and I hate it every time.”
“I know and I’m pretty sure Ice feels more or less the same way every time you land yourself in the hospital. Now go back to your husband,” Bradley said, pulling Mav into a quick hug.
Mav nodded again before stumbling back over to Ice and Jake, who joined Bradley once Mav had gotten there. Both Bradley and Jake were happy to watch the other two quietly talk while they waited for the necessary paperwork so that they could get Mav and Ice home to Jay, Dove, Lark and Crow.
By the time the doctor got back around to them Mav was back to being curled into Ice’s side, obviously drifting towards sleep, Ice heading the same direction. Bradley and Jake wandered back over so that they could get any relevant information that Ice and Mav might miss in their post adrenaline haze.
“You are good to go, just keep an eye on those ribs of yours and if anything else arises come back in,” the doctor stated, smiling slightly at the sight in front of him.
“Thank you, doc. We’ll get the pair of them home and keep them in line,” Jake said, with a slight joking tone which elicited a slight glare from Ice.
“Like you have the authority,” Ice said, voice more gravelly than earlier, causing everyone to chuckle, except the doctor who looked on with mild confusion.
“Well, we’ll try. We definitely have a couple of aces up our sleeve if we can’t,” Jake quipped, leading to another mild glare from Ice, “Now let’s get you home with your husband.”
With all the paperwork in order, Jake jogged out to pull the car around, while Bradley helped both his dads out to the curb, not wanting to let either of them out of his sight quite yet. In relatively short order, everyone piled into the car and took off towards home the moment Jake had pulled around, Ice and Mav in the back seat so they could lean on each other.
The drive to the Mitchell-Kazansky household was quiet, most of the adrenaline and emotional highs having been more or less released. None of them were up for talking so they all basked in the silence created. Music was playing quietly over the radio, gently filling the silence, soothing some of the still jagged edges.
By the time Jake pulled into the driveway, Mav had fallen asleep against Ice’s shoulder, hands curled into Ice’s shirt. Ice was gently running his hand gently up and down Mav’s spine while cupping the back of his head with the other. When Ice moved to carry Mav still sleeping inside, Bradley threw a light glare at his pops, daring him to do that very act, before moving to take Mav from Ice’s arms, careful not wake him.
Jake ran ahead to open the front door and to make sure that none of the cats tried to escape while Ice get out of the car with a groan, ribs twinging a little more now that they were home. Mav remained curled asleep in Bradley’s arms until they got inside, where he awoke slightly with a groan. His eyes flickered open slightly, not quite recognizing his surroundings as he was still half asleep.
“Hey, Mav. We just got home and we’re putting both you and Ice to bed,” Bradley said gently shooting Ice a glance.
Mav nodded, eyes closing again letting Bradley carry him to bed, like he wasn’t a grown ass man with a husband and twelve kids. Ice followed, exhaustion becoming evident in his frame and not wanted to be far from his husband. Not wanting to put anymore strain on either Bradley set Mav down on the bed and pulled off his shoes before letting Ice take over from that point. He wandered out to thank Jake for getting Mav so quickly to the hospital, leaving Ice and Mav to their own devices.
Finding him in the kitchen, Bradley wrapped his arms around Jake’s waist and murmured, “Thanks for getting Mav earlier. It meant a lot to all of us.”
“Of course, anything to get on the COMPACFLT’s good side and to help out Pops,” Jake said, turning in Bradley’s arms to press a kiss to his lips.
To that Bradley chuckled into the kiss, knowing that Jake and the rest of the dagger squad was joined the ranks of Ice and Mav protectors alongside the Flyboys and himself. Bradley and Jake took a moment to bask in each other’s embraces before checking on Ice and Mav, both of whom had fallen asleep curled into each other. God, Bradley was glad to have reconnected with his fathers, even if it did lead to some more worrying situations, but at least they were all safe.