Chapter Text
Stanley was coming home from the war today, he would normally wait in the apartment patiently for Xeno to get home from work, maybe make his partner a nice dinner but instead, he decided to meet him when comes out of work and take him to a nearby fancy restaurant that Xeno loves because of it's elegance. Unfortunately, the car broke down when he was away and needed to go to a mechanic so they couldn't go with the car and were forced to walk.
Stanley lit up a cigarette and took a long drag, it was a cold day as he leaned against a wall, waiting for his boyfriend. Stanley watched as the smoke rose higher and higher, eventually spreading out and disappearing into the crispy winter air. He was looking forward to seeing his partner after being away for months, he kept his eyes on the doors to the building as he patiently waited.
Xeno packed up his stuff, he had to work late today to finish with some paperwork, and his eternal eyebags felt like they were growing darker each day, he took the last sip of coffee from his mug, leaving it empty. His boyfriend was coming home today, he hated it when he was away. Xeno spent his days worrying about Stan and using work as an escape from all the stress. He never realized how hard it would be to have a military boyfriend, people always said how bad it was but nothing could explain just how miserable and anxiety-inducing it all was without experiencing it yourself. All Xeno could think of was the thought of getting back home to him.
As Xeno walked out into the cold air, a weak wind sent a slight chill down his spine, he was grateful to have a jacket in this weather. As Xeno looked up he saw a tall man in a suit leaning against a wall, a cigarette against his glossy lips, as the man spotted him he gave a slight smile.
Stan
Xeno felt so many emotions seeing him but just smiled as he saw him, holding back his feelings. He walked towards Stan, a bag filled with his laptop and his paperwork slung around his shoulder. Stanley took one last drag of the cigarette before throwing it in a nearby bin and walking towards Xeno to meet him.
"Well hello soldier" Xeno chuckled, trying not to tear up after being reunited with his love.
Xeno stared at his figure, he was wearing his fancy attire, the suit fitting against his body perfectly. As they got closer Stanley wordlessly embraced Xeno, they had both missed each other extremely, it was always hard when Stanley had to leave for a long time so they made sure to make the most of the time they spent together.
"I missed you Xeno" Stanley admitted as he looked into Xeno's eyes. "Me too Stan" Xeno said in response
Xeno stepped back "My, my, you look so elegant today" He had started to put together that Stanley was planning something, judging by his outfit and the fact he met up with him at his workplace. Stanley smiled as he looked into Xeno's eyes, how he missed those beautiful eyes.
"I know how much you love going out for dinner when I come back so I booked us a table at that nearby restaurant you love, I wanted to make sure I looked the part" Stanley explained with a slight chuckle, his heartwarming as he looked at Xeno. The cold day that engulfed the both of them seemed to melt away in each other's company, Stanley loved it when he was alone with Xeno, no, he was never alone when he was with Xeno.
Xeno felt another wave of happy emotions as he realized his boyfriend had been thinking about him and his feelings, he must've made that reservation months in advance since it was so hard to get a table there.
"Well we better get going then, we wouldn't want to miss our reservation now would we?" Xeno said starting to walk as Stanley followed beside him. They talked about how they have been and doing in the months Stan was gone, well the nonconfidential parts of it at least. Stanley lightly teased Xeno for his growing eyebags, which were much bigger now than when he left. Little did either of them know, they were being observed closely and were being followed.
3 men, tall and muscular followed slowly behind, they were there for Xeno. Being a reputable NASA scientist got people's attention, unwanted or not. Xeno often took work home to keep himself busy, and with classified documents that the public wasn't allowed to see in hand, it was only so long before someone would attempt to go after him. They had been watching him for a while now and weren't planning for Stanley to be there but didn't know who he was and figured he wouldn't be a problem. Normally Stan would notice if he was being followed but he was distracted, his emotions from finally coming back home and being with Xeno overshadowing his surroundings.
The two walked through a quiet alleyway, Xeno didn't enjoy this part of the walk as there wasn't much to see. Stanley listened as Xeno talked about some Japanese kid he started mentoring and the conversation topic eventually turned to rocket stuff he didn't understand but he kept listening and asked questions when he could as he knew how much he enjoyed it.
Everything was normal as they walked down the alleyway, the three men turned the corner, facing the backs of the two. One of the men took a pistol out of his pocket, clicking the safety off, he aimed it up at the command of one of the others before
BANG
Stanley's military instincts kicked in as he whipped his head around to the source of the noise, seeing the men and the gun pointed at him. before the man could shout again he whipped his pistol out of his pocket and shot the man immediately. Being a high-ranking military personnel, he always carried a powerful pistol with him. The other two men took out knives and started to run towards him before Stanley heard a sudden thud next to him, he looked over and saw Xeno on the floor in a growing pool of blood.
As the attacker's gun went off, Xeno was shot through the chest. At first, it didn't hurt then he felt an extreme burning sensation growing, he looked down at his bloodied chest as he heard another gunshot go off, this time from Stan. He was frozen in shock, he didn't have the same military instincts as his boyfriend and fell to the floor as his pain grew.
"XENO!" Screamed Stan as he saw his boyfriend unmoving and bleeding on the floor, he wanted to kneel down and help him but as the two other attackers ran towards him, he knew he had to wait. He tried to shoot again but was out of bullets, he dropped the gun and used his combat skills from the army to fight the two, their knives didn't turn him away as he was trained for these situations, he knocked the two men unconscious, they had only left Stan with a cut or two, maybe some bruises. He wanted to kill them but he wanted them to rot in prison for what they did, plus if he killed them the police wouldn't find out their intentions and might not be able to prevent further assassinations. So instead he turned to his boyfriend, getting on his knees to aid him.
He turned him over on his back, surveying the wound. He quietly cursed at himself as he saw the bullet hole in his partner's chest, he failed to protect him. Stanley undid the buttons on Xeno's shirt so he could properly treat the injury. "I'm so sorry Xeno, please stay awake" Stanley said with concern. Xeno looked at Stanley weakly as he took his coat off and applied pressure to the wound to slow the bleeding, it hurt Xeno a bit but Stan knew he had to be forceful to stop the bleeding. "Stan" Xeno murmured quietly, Stan looked up from the injury to his face where they made eye contact.
"Please know, I love you..to the moon and back and I always will" Xeno said, barely being able to talk as he coughed up blood. Stanley knew that talk, he had seen it all too well on the battlefield, he knew what someone who thought they were about to die sounded like. "Don't speak like that, you're going to be okay, you-" Stanley responded, tearing up and unable to continue his sentence. Xeno stared up at the moon as his boyfriend slowed his bleeding after the bleeding had calmed down, Stan immediately called emergency services. He was instructed to wait and try to keep Xeno talking so he wouldn't lose consciousness, if he did black out, well, he didn't want to think about that.
"The moon sure is beautiful, isn't it Xeno?" Stan said, trying not to cry he had to stay strong for him. Xeno let out a breath of air, it was meant to be a chuckle but he was too weak. "I remember when we would stare at it for hours when we were younger, just stargazing together" Xeno said, tearing up. "I wish we could stargaze more but the light pollution here is terrible" Stanley joked, he knew the hospital wasn't far away, they should get here soon. Xeno stayed silent for a bit before suddenly.
"It hurts stan." His voice was getting quieter with each reply.
Stanley's heart broke at these words and he started crying, Stan didn't cry often, he had seen so many friends die on the battlefield and stayed strong but this... This was different. "I know, I know Xeno, but please, just stay awake and it'll be alright" He mumbled. Xeno tried to say something but it was illegible and slurred, Stan moved one of his hands on top of Xeno's and rubbed his thumb on his hand to try and comfort him. Xeno appreciated this and tried to make eye contact with him but as Stan looked into his black eyes but realised he wasn't fully there.
Sirens could be heard getting louder, thank god, Stan was relieved hearing the noise growing louder. As the paramedics ran into the alleyway with a stretcher for Xeno. Stanley was ordered to step back, everything felt like it blurred together as they were taken away in an ambulance, Stanley sat watching him as the medics did what they could in the ambulance. He blamed himself for this, how would Xeno ever forgive him? Nothing felt real, he felt numb inside as they took his boyfriend away, he wasn't allowed in the surgery room as they extracted the bullet and stitched Xeno up. He sat outside, the lights humming quietly, an air of misery encompassing the waiting room. As time got later the occasional name was called, Stanley sat there frozen, everything else seemed to fade away as he was left to his thoughts, time seemed to move in slow motion as he waited.
"Stanley Snyder?" A nurse called out, snapping Stanley out of his daze.
He stood up quickly and walked over to the nurse "How is he!? Is he alright!?" He asked panicked, his thoughts killing him, all he could think of were the worst-case scenarios.
The nurse calmed him down and explained that Xeno would be alright however he would have to stay in the hospital for a few days to recover and once he goes home he will still have to take it easy for a few weeks until he's fully better. Stanley agreed to be his caretaker until he was fully healed and was eventually led to his bed.
Xeno was still unconscious due to the anesthesia but Stan was just glad he was alive. He sits in the chair next to his boyfriend, who is currently attached to a bunch of monitors reading his vitals, an oxygen mask helping him breathe. His guilt worsened at the sight. "I promise Xeno, you're gonna be alright." He whispered solemnly.
After a while Stanley decided to go home and come back in the morning, he walked home in the dark and stopped at a small shop to buy a pack of cigarettes. The cashier attempted to make small talk with Stan but ignored his attempts, he wasn't in the mood for that right now. He felt numb as he unlocked the doors to their apartment, he glared at the cake on the kitchen counter, he bought it to celebrate his return, it was Xeno's favourite flavour. He sat on the couch and whipped out his packet of cigarettes. Reaching into his pocket and grabbing his lighter next, he stared at it for a moment, it had an intricate design of a dragon on it, Xeno had bought it for him as a birthday gift while they were on a trip to Japan. He took a long drag of the cigarette, the silence surrounding him, leaving just his thoughts and the burning sensation in his throat from the cigarette. He sat there thinking as he smoked, once he was done with his cigarette he stood up and reluctantly headed to bed, knowing deep down he wouldn't be able to sleep that night.
All he could think about as he lay in the large double bed alone was him. He stared at an old picture of the two, they had taken it at some fancy Japanese restaurant after Xeno got accepted into NASA, they had both ordered ramen, Stan just copied Xeno's order because he didn't know half the things on the menu. Stanley didn't know how to use chopsticks and Xeno found it funny as he struggled to pick up the noodles, Xeno sat behind Stan and wrapped his arms around his body and then put his hands on Stan's, and moved his fingers to the right position, showing him how to use them. After their dinner they went to the shop to get a celebratory cake, Xeno picked out a red velvet cake with white icing. He claimed red velvet was elegant, he always picked that flavour, it was the flavour of cake that currently sat on the counter, Stanley was never a huge fan but pretended to be, for Xeno.
Remembering these happy memories made the guilt feel worse as images of his bloody and injured boyfriend flashed in his mind, he never expected something like this to happen, Stanley had been shot multiple times in battle before and it was a terrible feeling but he had a high pain tolerance and was trained to deal with gunshot wounds but Xeno? He was an academic who could never even stand a grazed knee as a kid.
Eventually, the sun rose once more, Stanley was exhausted but was unable to sleep. He sighed as he got up slowly, he changed into something more casual than yesterday, just jeans and a band tee with a warm jacket, it was colder today. He opened up a window and lit up another cigarette as he leaned on the windowsill, it was early in the morning and the city was quieter than usual. It was time to see him again.
He left the apartment as he mentally prepared himself to see Xeno once again.
TBC
(next chapter out soon)