Chapter Text
On foreign grounds, Alex stood awaiting the sight of his friend, Gaz. He was sent home for recovery (against his own will), after an incident with a stray grenade getting a little too close to Alex for 'comfort.' He held an uncomfortable stance, his left arm in a sling, neck loosely dressed as well as stray bandages around his shoulder which clearly needed replacing. He was meant to be resting at his own home, however, that didn't last. The moment he returned to America, a not so literal bomb went off. Being dogpiled by the struggle of instant homelessness caused by the lack of residency and payment. This never occurred to Alex as an issue prior to becoming a freedom fighter, causing him to feel both like a fool and still somewhat proud of his decision despite the consequences.
Except, it was incredibly inconvenient. So, in this pestering revelation, he reached out to one of the few friendships he maintained, Kyle, aka Gaz. Despite him living 7,200 kilometers away from his own home, he was really one of the few people he thought of.
The airport was bustling and cluttered, loud messages calling over the intercom every few minutes. Every moment Alex was waiting, he grew more awkward. Standing outside the gates with a light duffle bag, looking up from his phone to search the crowds for Gaz.
"Alex!" A voice highlighted from the crowd. Hurrying over, Alex was still getting used to the constant English accents surrounding him. "Took you long enough," Alex said endearingly, adjusting the little weight of the bag on his shoulder. "Keeping light?" Kyle asked, referring to his bag. "Not much to carry." He joked, keeping the seriousness of the whole situation lighter than it should be. Kyle gave him a concerned glare, but dropped it when he acknowledged the uncomfortable behaviour from his friend.
Walking side by side towards the exit, Alex couldn't help but shift his sight to Kyle every few seconds, analysing him. It'd been fairly long since he'd last seen him in Urzikstan. The relief when Alex and Farah left the factory, merely escaping as they set off the detonator will always be unparalleled for Gaz, and Alex suspected as much. He couldn't help but admire his friend's relatively 'cheery' posture at his arrival. His obviously recently cut hair, his healing calloused hands, even his fading eyebags. "Thank you, by the way, I can't tell you how helpful this is." Alex smiled, seemingly attempting to change the topic and restrain himself from weirding out Kyle. Gaz looked at him, he couldn't admit the small gesture of smiling effected him much harder than it should have. "I- Uh.. No problem." He blurted out, realising he may have been staring back at Alex a tad few too many moments in silence than 'normal' people do. Unlike Alex, Gaz actually had self-awareness when he did that.
Alex plopped the bag in the space below his feet, an embarrassed expression plastered on his face. Gaz climbed in next to him, attempting (failing) to control his laughter. "It's not that funny." Alex said defensively, hiding his smile. "Yes, yes it is you American dumbass." He teased, starting the car up.
Driving off, struggling against the traffic from the airport, Gaz let out angry remarks every few stops, staring daggers into the lights of other cars as if that would do anything. "Aggressive much?" Alex joked, lightening the thick mood. "Hm? This is barely anything, trust me." Letting out a chuckle, Alex once again realised how silly the whole situation was. Foreign country, foreign customs, foreign behaviours, it was a lot. But that wasn't the only unsettling thing to him, it was also how.. domestic it all was. Shifting from the marines, to the freedom fighters, to being supposed to have been forced back into a 'normal' life, Alex struggled. He couldn't help but think about what would've happened if he didn't get hurt. Or rather, if he stayed anyway. Farah forced him away, maybe it was because she wanted him gone for all the trouble he could've caused with the military? No. No no, she's not like that. Surely not, she probably just wanted to look out for him. Probably.