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Connor wasn’t even supposed to be working that day. He’d had plans of cleaning up the apartment and going over his rut cycle checklist for his upcoming rut leave. Finally, he was going to set up a proper den for Will to nest in. The last few cycles he’d helped Will through had been surprises, since Will’s heat cycle ran like an old jalopy, sputtering and coughing the entire time but still moving somehow. Will had shown up on his doorstep soaked in sweat and pheromones and they’d both narrowly avoided indecency charges. This time, though, Connor was going to do it right. They were properly courting now, and he wanted to get this right, to show Will that he was a good, helpful Alpha, someone he could trust to take care of him and any children they’d someday create together. He wanted to show Will that he could live up to his title and their growing bond. Instead, he got called in while Will was out. He’d texted Will as much as he caught the next train.
Connor : I’ll be at the hospital until five unfortunately but I’ll see you tonight
Will: Don’t work too hard
Connor: Be safe
Will: you too
He got to work, ignoring the slight burn in his belly as his rut drew nearer. He just had to get through this shift and he’d be back with Will. Each case, he took in a deep breath, and he kept moving.
That is, until Connor had turned his back to get a drink of water when there was a commotion at the ambulance bay. He sighed without taking a sip, and turned around to greet whatever chaos was coming in. And froze.
Jay Halstead and Adam Ruzek were shouting, their voices a cacophony, but it didn’t matter what they were saying. In between them, held up by their arms around his waist, was Will, fading fast and bloodied to the point that Connor almost didn’t recognize him. Except that Connor would know him anywhere. The red hair, the pale skin, the freckles, the broad shoulders and slender waist, he’d know Will Halstead in a sea of tall, lanky gingers. He knew his tall, lanky ginger.
“Oh, fuck,” he breathed and darted between nurses and paramedics straight for them. He caught Will just as he slipped out of Adam’s grasp. “What’s going on? What happened?”
“There was a fight,” Adam said, and Connor dipped down to hoist Will’s deadweight entirely into his arms out of Jay’s. “He got in between two warring alphas who were menacing the market, and -”
“Maggie, I need a bay,” he yelled, cutting Adam off.
“Three’s open,” she called back, and he carried Will into the empty bay to lay him gently on the bed. “What happened?”
“Alpha attack,” he said while he worked to get Will hooked up to monitors. “Get me Choi.”
“I’m here,” Ethan said. “I need you to step away now, Connor. You don’t have to leave the bay but you need to step back so we can work. We’ll take care of him.”
Ethan touched Connor on the shoulder and gently steered him back away from the bed even though Connor didn’t want to step one single inch further away from him. He went with a grunt and leaned against the wall with Jay nearby.
“Why’d he get in the way?”
“He’s Will,” Jay replied, and Connor looked sideways at him. “You know what I mean, he’s got that hero complex. He wants to help people, even at the sake of himself.”
“How did this happen? Why didn’t you stop him?”
Jay sighed and said, “I didn’t notice. I was talking to Adam, and -”
“So, you let your brother, your impulsive, well-meaning omega brother, get in between an alpha dispute because you were distracted by a pretty beta with big brown eyes,” Connor said.
“It’s - I didn’t know that someone was going to start throwing punches, alright? I wasn’t on guard for that. I got him out of there as soon as I could, and I’m sorry that that wasn’t as soon as it could have been, but -”
“Your brother is unconscious in the hospital, bloody and beaten, and it’s because of you,” Connor growled.
“Rhodes, Halstead,” Maggie snapped, and her tone was sharp, decisive, and he paused where he’d started crowding into Jay’s space. “Take it outside or shut the fuck up.”
He backed off and dropped his eyes, recognizing Maggie’s authority over the situation and letting that soothe his territorial rage.
“Fuck, I’m sorry,” he muttered to Jay and when he glanced up, Jay nodded. “I’m sorry, man. It’s not your fault. I know that.”
“I know, you’re scared. It’s terrifying, this whole thing, especially seeing him like this. I get it. Take a breath. We both want him to make it. We’re on the same side, I promise.”
“Yeah.”
Connor looked over at Will, unmoving on the gurney, and he watched the heart monitor beep steadily. He had a heartbeat, and his oxygen was good. His face looked a lot like hamburger meat, unfortunately, so they couldn’t rule out a brain injury due to blunt force trauma. Alphas had a history of some of the most violent attacks, dealing the most damage in the least amount of time. He watched, and he waited for any sign that Will was coming to.
Their team was good, and efficient, and he knew that. He knew he had to trust them to do their jobs. They’d take care of him. They’d always take care of their own.
“Pupils are equal and reactive,” Ethan said to Connor without looking away from Will, and Connor nodded. “I’m still going to get Abrams involved, but so far so good, you know.”
“Yeah. Yeah, thanks, man.”
Connor sagged against the wall and looked at Jay.
“There’s no immediate sign of brain trauma, but Ethan is getting the best neuro guy in the hospital and -”
“In the hospital, Doctor Rhodes? That’s a little narrow, isn’t it?” Doctor Abrams said just as cocky as he usually was, striding into the bay. “I heard I was needed for – oh, Doctor Halstead, right.”
He got to work, too, and Connor waited for the all-clear from him. He waited, and he watched, and he held his breath until -
“Will,” Ethan said, and Connor stood up straighter. “Will, hey, you’re in the hospital. Don’t try to move. You’re severely injured, and -”
He was cut off by Will’s voice groaning a single word.
“Connor.”
Connor was up off the wall and into the bay at Will’s side before anyone could think to stop him. He slipped between Ethan and April as they continued to work, and touched Will’s arm.
“I’m here, sunshine.”
“Con,” he said, breathing out sharply and turned his wrist to grab Connor’s arm. “Connor.”
“I’m right here. You’re okay. Ethan and Sam are here looking after you.”
“Hurts.”
“I know, I know it does. You got hit pretty hard, but we’ll get that taken care of as soon as you’re cleared.”
He groaned and his eyes started to close, but his hand kept grip on Connor’s wrist. They were in the way of Ethan and April certainly, but Connor didn’t know if he cared. His partner, the man he’d chosen to love and care for for the rest of his life, was laying in a hospital bed injured, and he couldn’t take his eyes off him just in case. He’d already gone to work and this had happened. He couldn’t let anything else happen. Ethan worked around him, though, ducking around him and moving him towards the head of the bed so he was closer to Will if he needed to see Connor, while Ethan continued as if there hadn’t been an interruption at all.
“There’s definitely some internal bleeding that we’ll need to correct,” Ethan said, “so we’ll get him admitted and prepped for surgery. I can’t let you come into the OR, you know that, but I’ll have someone keep you up to date with any developments. However, as you aren’t family or next of kin, I’ll need Jay’s consent for this.”
“Mine?” Jay asked, looking up from where he was still leaning against the door, watching and waiting. “Why?”
“Will is an omega under your care, technically, as his familial alpha,” Maggie said. “Connor, while courting Will, isn’t considered next of kin until it’s made official with you and your alpha line.”
Jay groaned and rolled his eyes mostly to himself.
“Yeah, yeah, do whatever you have to do to save him,” Jay said, waving his hand. “I trust you all, and I trust Connor, so Connor has my permission to make decisions as my proxy.”
Connor hated that it wasn’t recognized yet, but he knew at the same time that it was way too soon for them to become anything more serious than that. They’d only been truly together for a few months, everything before that had been convenience and desire more than love and affection, so they needed to have that talk. They did, he knew that, but he couldn’t have the only reason he brought up the future with Will to be because of a scare. He wanted to talk to Will about what their future held when they were happy, laying in bed with one another, holding hands, pressed into one another, a united front against the world. He didn’t want it to be at Will’s bedside as he was recovering from an alpha attack and subsequent live-saving surgery.
Better late than never, he supposed, watching the nurses prep Will for surgery while Maggie brought Jay a tablet to fill out Will’s paperwork. Jay brought it over to Connor with a grimace and stepped away, his face drained of any color and his eyes unfocused, heading for Adam who had made himself scarce while this played out. Connor could appreciate that. He wouldn’t want to get in between him and Jay either, especially since two alphas with egos was what had landed them all here in the first place.
Connor filled out Will’s information quickly, loathe to let his hand go in case he needed him but glad that they’d at least gone over that bit when they’d started courting. He had to hand it back to Jay for him to confirm and sign the documents for his surgery.
“Okay, he's heading up,” Ethan said, stepping aside to stand beside Connor as orderlies came into the room and began to wheel Will out of the trauma bay, “Doctor Marcel is performing his surgery, and I asked to assist, so I’ll be in there the entire time. If you promise to behave, I can let you in the observation area, but that’s it.”
“Okay, yeah, that’s - please,” he said. “I don’t know if I could handle being that far from him right now.”
“Yeah, I get it. Just remember you’re there as family, not as a doctor,” Ethan reminded him gently before gesturing him out after the orderlies. He stopped at Jay who looked incredibly uncomfortable standing by the nurse’s station, and set his hand on Jay’s shoulder the way he knew was a Halstead tradition, a symbol of comfort.
“Go home, Jay,” he said softly. “Let Adam take care of you. I’ll call you when he’s awake.”
“I shouldn’t,” Jay said. “He’s my responsibility.”
“He’s mine, too, and I’ll take the hospital watch. I know you hate it here, and every second I have to watch you look like you’re about to pass out, I’d rather be looking after Will, so, go home. Relax. Keep your ringer on and I’ll call you .”
“Thank you.”
“Don’t worry about it. I know you’re uncomfortable here, and so does Will. It’s okay.”
Jay reached out and pat Connor on the shoulder in return, twice and then gone, comfort and ensuring that they’re there together. Then, he stepped away to head out of the hospital, pausing to grab Adam by the hand and kissed his cheek softly, taking his comfort that being near his own partner offered him.
“He’s in OR-1,” Maggie said as Connor turned towards the elevators to head upstairs to be with Will. “Just remember to breathe.”
The surgery was long, and Connor could see that the recovery ahead of them, long and slow, but as they were closing Will’s abdomen, Ethan turned and gave him a thumbs up. He would be okay, and now, Will was laying still in recovery, coming out from under anesthia slowly. Connor kept his hand on Will’s arm, brushing his thumb gently over Will’s skin. He smelled of antiseptic and blood, instead of himself, of Connor’s bedsheets and his cologne, the scent of them fading from him. It ached in his chest that his boyfriend, his mate smelled almost of nothing at all.
“Hey, I know you’re resting,” Connor said, scooting to the edge of his chair so he was as close to Will as he could get without climbing into the bed with him. “You need to rest, of course, you’re hurt, but if you can hear me, I want you to know that I love you, and I’m going to do better at keeping you safe. Which, I know you’d say I couldn’t have stopped this, this wasn’t my fault, but I’m still going to do better. I will. I promise it.”
He brought Will’s hand up to his lips and kissed his knuckles, almost as if he were brushing his scent into Will’s skin anew, fresh and untainted. He kissed his fingers and then his palm, and just rested his cheek against Will’s palm, content to sit there. He wanted to fall asleep against Will’s side right where he belonged, pressed all along him so they were practically one. He wanted to wrap Will up in the protection of his arms, and remember that this wasn’t the end of them. Will was safe, and sound, and healing.
He could still remember the first time he’d pulled Will into his arms and held him close, wrapping him in safety, reminding him that they were in this together. It had been after Will’s third heat that they’d spent together, and some beta with a complex at the bar had tried giving Will shit for being without a mate at his age. Will could more than standup for himself, and Connor had let him, but afterwards once the beta was gone, bodily removed by Kelly Severide, Will had collapsed into Connor’s arms with a groan, burying his face into his chest and rubbing Connor’s scent into his cheeks.
“What an asshole,” Connor had grumbled, keeping Will close even while eyes were on them. “You did so good, though, sunshine. So good. I’m so proud of you for standing your ground against him.”
“I hate that everyone gets an opinion because I’m an omega. No one gives you shit for being unmated, and you’re older than me,” Will had replied, and Connor brushed his hands up and down Will’s back. “And I don’t want anyone to give you shit either, but it’s so unfair that I’m the only one in this relationship who gets shit on for what we’re both doing.”
“This relationship, huh?” Connor had teased as he stroked his hand through Will’s hair, making sure more and more of their scents mingled, marking him, making him obviously Connor’s. “We’re in a relationship, are we?”
Will groaned and rubbed his face into Connor’s chest harder as if that might fix his words.
“I mean, I guess we are, aren’t we? We got out and get dinner, see movies, hold hands, kiss, all the couple stuff, and I haven’t slept with anyone else since the first time we helped each other out. It’s just been you. It’s only been you that I want. That’s pretty relationship-y , I think.”
Will tilted his head back and squinted his eyes at Connor as if suspicious.
“Do you want this to be relationship-y?” Will had asked.
“I do.”
“Oh,” Will had said, and then there was a flicker across his expression of something, warm and pleased, “yeah, me too. I didn’t want to say anything to scare you away, just in case this was just convenient for you, but I’d like it to be relationship-y.”
Connor had smiled, then, and kissed him proper in front of everyone, the kind of kiss that told everyone that they belonged to each other.
Now, they were here, just a few months later, and Will was his, he was Will’s in return. Will was hurt, but he was safe and under the best care he could possibly have, and no one was going to come in and try to change that. It meant that Connor could relax. He closed his eyes and felt the warmth of Will’s hand against his cheek, listening to the steady beep of the monitors keep track of Will’s vitals. They were strong and steady, and Connor let that ease whatever anxiety had tangled itself up in his chest. Will was safe, that’s what mattered, and if Connor drifted off to the sound of Will’s breathing, he couldn’t be blamed.
Connor woke to soft touches of fingertips against his cheek and down his nose, flirting with the curve of his lips, and when he peeked his eyes open, he could see Will’s little cross on his middle finger pull away slightly.
“Good morning, sleepy,” Will said softly, and his voice was a little rough.
“Mm, one to talk,” Connor murmured mostly to himself as he sat up in his chair, back aching a little and the burning in his belly more prominent. “How’re you feeling?”
“Oh, I feel fantastic,” Will said, gesturing to his left where the morphine drip kept him comfortable. “You look like hell, though.”
“I was worried.”
“Yeah,” Will said and he frowned. “Sorry.”
“You don’t have to be sorry, Will. I just – what happened? Why would you get in the way of two alphas? That’s suicide.”
“I know, I know, it was so stupid, but there was this girl. She was barely twenty, and she looked so fucking scared over this territorial rutheads, and I couldn’t let her get hurt. I just distracted them enough that she could slip out of their view and get out of the market, but they got upset, you know, and started throwing punches, and I’m not helpless. I got a few good shots in, but they’re stronger and bigger and had that rut-rage going, so,” he trailed off with a vague gesture at himself to indicate the result. “I should’ve told Jay who couldn’t gotten her out of there safer, but he was with Adam and I didn’t want to disturb them. I really didn’t think they’d continue to hit me after they realized I was an omega and not another alpha stepping into their territory.”
“It’s okay,” Connor said softly, and he reached up to touch Will’s cheek, brushing his thumb over one of the bruises there. “I’ll just have to keep a closer eye on you, huh.”
“Mm, much closer,” Will agreed. He smiled, and closed his eyes for a moment before letting out a sigh. “Your rut, Con.”
“It’ll be fine,” Connor said.
“How? I can’t help you out this time, not as fucked up as I am, and not to sound like the typical omega, but I really don’t want you going somewhere else for it.”
“I’m not going somewhere else,” he promised, and he kissed Will’s hand where it lingered on Connor’s shoulder, bringing it up to his mouth for a slow kiss. “I’m never going somewhere else, I promise. No one else would satisfy me the way you do anyway. You are everything I want, and if I have to settle for a toy and my imagination to get me through until you feel up to it again, I can do that.”
“That sucks, though. You shouldn’t have to. You were making me a nest and everything,” Will muttered, and Connor opened his mouth to argue as if it weren’t true. He just hadn’t mentioned his intention to Will. “I know you were. It’s the good and proper thing to do, so I know you were amassing blankets and snacks in the bedroom.”
“Am I that transparent?” Connor asked.
“No, I just know you, and you like to do things the right way , and the first cycle after courting usually starts with one of us building the den. If you hadn’t, I would’ve.”
Connor hummed and kissed Will’s palm again, just to do something, and Will shifted a little in bed.
“I want to get my hands all over you, though,” Will said, and Connor looked up at him. “You don’t smell like me anymore, and I’m just drugged enough to tell you that I hate that, so before you go, I’m going to need you to let me scent you.”
“All over me?” Connor asked, and he knew what kind of pheromones he was giving off, even without seeing the way Will’s irises were nearly swallowed with the black of his pupil in reaction. He knew that he should go, kiss Will goodbye so he could get home and rut against his bed in peace, dreaming that the silicone sleeve he was pumping his knot into was Will, but he couldn’t. He couldn’t leave Will like this.
He groaned, low and needy, and Will pinched his cheek lightly.
“Shh, you’re okay,” Will muttered. “Relax, it’s alright, Con. I know, I know things are rough right now with me hurt like this, and you needing more than I can give you. I just need you to take a deep breath and remember that we aren’t going to fall apart over this, you and I are perfect.”
“I know,” he sighed, and rubbed his face with his free hand. “Fuck, I’m sorry, I’m being pathetic.”
“No, you’re not. This is normal, remember? I take care of you, you take care of me, that’s how this works. Go home, wrap yourself in my clothes from this morning, use your toys to get yourself through this rut, and I’ll be home before you know it,” Will said.
“I don’t want to leave you alone.”
“I won’t be alone. I have the whole hospital staff to keep me company.”
Connor frowned at him and Will kept his eyes leveled back at Connor without flinching.
“Okay, okay, fine, I can go.”
“Hey, I don’t want you to go, remember that,” Will said, gripping his hand and squeezing. “I want to be there with you the entire time, I don’t want to be apart from you while you need me, but this is for the best.”
“I know. I don’t want to hurt you because I’m too lost in it that I forget you’re hurt.”
“That’s because you’re a good man, and a good partner,” Will said, and he smiled. “Now come here and let me touch you so no one thinks about even looking at you on the way home.”
Connor let himself be towed into the edge of the bed, letting down the rail so he could sit down and sat as still as he could as Will pushed his hands over Connor’s skin. He started with Connor’s arms, smoothing long lines from his wrists up to his elbows, then up his biceps underneath his scrub top. He pressed his fingers into Connor’s skin as if drawing his scent into his skin, all the way up to the ball of his shoulder and couldn’t go any further. Then, he slipped his hands up inside Connor’s scrub top from the bottom hem, massaging into his abdomen and then up to his chest, nearly stroking over Connor’s chest hair.
“You already smell so much better,” Will muttered. “It’d be a little inappropriate for me to ask to put my hands in your pants, wouldn’t it?”
“If you don’t want me to pounce on you, yeah,” Connor said, and his voice was low, almost growling. “I’m already struggling here, baby.”
“I know, I just don’t want you riding the train smelling as available as you do without my scent on you somewhere, you know,” Will replied, and shifted to sit up. Connor reached out to stop him just as Will winced and dropped back with a deep, unsettling groan. “Oh, fuck. Fuck, that hurt.”
“Yeah, you just got out of major surgery, dumbass,” Connor said, and he smoothed a hand over the front of Will’s hospital gown. “You need to rest, okay? You need to lay back and let your body heal. Take care of yourself while I can’t, okay?”
“And you’ll take care of yourself, too,” Will replied.
“I will.”
“Sucks that I can’t be there, and you can’t be here.”
“It does.”
They were quiet for a moment, just looking at each other, before a nurse tapped on the door frame.
“Oh, Doctor Halstead, it’s nice to see that you’re awake. How are you feeling?”
“Like you’ve got me on the good shit, Leyla,” he replied, just as charming as ever. She hummed and moved to check his vitals. “See, Con, Leyla’s got me. You go home, and I’ll see you on the other side, alright?”
Connor ducked down for a moment, knowing he was getting in Leyla’s way for a second, and kissed Will gently.
“On the other side,” he agreed before he stepped back, catching Leyla’s eye. She was pretty, young and bright-eyed, and maybe once that would have been enough to spark his interest but he had something better than youth and excitement. He had steadiness. He had home. He had a man who stepped between a stranger and a threat because he couldn’t stand to watch that stranger get hurt, taking the blows himself instead. He had a partner who made sure he was taken care of even while laying in a hospital bed himself. He was in love, and he couldn’t wait for them to get back home to one another, wrap up in their comfort and fall into their little nest. “Take care of him, alright? He’s going to try and get up way too soon, so bribe him, or tie him down, something, just make sure he stays in bed.”
Will scoffed and Leyla laughed, giving him a playful salute.
“He’s in good hands, Doctor Rhodes.”
“The absolute best,” he agreed, before he stepped back and away from Will. It wasn’t ideal to be going home alone, but he had a plan, and even if it was unpleasant, he would survive, and on the other side of this brief few days apart was a long life he intended to spend at Will’s side.