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Blood.
His blood, if he thinks about it.
Sometimes he forgets how much blood he has. And how he can lose so much of it easily.
Aleks once had explained to him all about blood and how much is too much to lose and what makes you lose blood the most but they couldn't be bothered to remember now that they were bleeding out. The only thing he knows is Aleks compared their hips to a bowl and that was really funny.
He can't even remember why his blood was leaving him so fast. Probably an injury, if it wasn't one he would be concerned.
Maybe he had a concussion as well. His eyes were open and he could move his hands and feet, but they still felt heavy and his head was blaring. They hated it whenever they got concussed. Not only did they speak bullshit at the slightest injury, he just also hated the pain of it.
Week long muscle and headaches that make him want to drink every medicine possible to relieve it instead of controlled doses and stretches that his medic friends told him about.
While he loved Aleks and Winley and how they help the pmc out with their medical knowledge, and he loves the rat army Aleks had built himself amongst the younger recruited medics, it does bother him how they don't allow him to overdose to get the pain away.
He'd like to be without pain, thank you very much.
His stomach cramped and he guessed that based on the pain coming from there, it was the injury causing the dirt around him to turn red. He's sure he can put a bandaid on it and will be as right as rain soon enough, but he lost his first aid kit a while ago. When he moved his head to look at his surroundings he saw an enemy soldier lying there, dead, but even he didn't have a first aid kit he could steal from.
With a heavy thud he let his head fall back onto the cement floor, not helping at all as the concussion he most likely had felt agitated. No matter how much he scratched around in his head, he couldn't remember what happened the past five minutes that could cause the injury.
He is definitely getting a lecture about how to take care of himself when he meets up with the other two again.
The silence he hadn't even noticed was interrupted suddenly. There was a voice near him and he almost felt comfort at recognising the German snapping. A head came into his view a moment later, almost surprising him at how close the two were to him already. A scar at the lip and across the nose told him who it was even with the black hair covered by a thick helmet. Helena's green eyes stared into his soul as well.
“Can you hear me?” Her accent was heavier than usual, peeking through more because of the exhaustion they had to face this mission alone. All of them usually slip harder into their accents when it gets stressful or one of them is hurt. He nods up at her after she repeated the question, letting out some small giggles at her facial expression.
She put the gun in her hand down next to him once she made sure the location was safe enough before muttering words into the comms that didn't make sense to him. Whether it was because of the content or the words being in another language, he couldn't tell. Her eyes fell back on him when he tugged on her sleeve, green eyes too muddy for him to tell what she felt through them.
“Do you remember who I am, Fionn?” Of course he knew… He knew. His head just took a moment to remember her whole name, it had been a while he had to consciously think about it. He put his hand on her shoulder to pull her closer to himself to get a better look at her and to feel less alone. “Horse.” Helenas raises an eyebrow at him.
“Horse… yeah.” Helena stared at him for a moment, mouthing wtf before speaking something into comms that he should understand but doesn't really. She lifts his shirts, eyes widening at the wound on his stomach. It didn't look fatal in hazy eyes, but she seemed not to be okay with him bleeding out.
She ripped the first aid kit off of her backside, desperately searching through it for anything that she could shove into his wound. Before she could try and rip out some medical cloth out of its packaging a yell interrupted her, hand immediately back on the gun and raised, only lowering when she recognised who it was.
He recognised the voice as well, especially once there was heavy movement next to him. His head turned towards the German man who looked
Aleks knelt above him, a light shining into his eyes a moment later, blinding him a bit. He lifts his shirt rougher than Helena did, not looking all too happy about the wound either. The medic roughly covered the patch of torn skin, writing down numbers on his gloves and arms that to him made sense but Fionn couldn't make any sense out of.
“Wha’ goin’ on?” Aleks shushed him, pushing at his torso and hips, only nodding when there was little resistance coming from there. Fionn never understood what Aleks felt when he did his things but he didnt care, as long as he took care of him. They pulled their leg up towards their chest, aleks looking confused at him at the action. “It hurt… m’ l’g hurt.”
The medic only deepened his frown, looking over Fionn's leg before staring back at him. “Fionn, your leg is gone.” Oh yeah, that happened. Fionn just giggles, letting his leg down again and watching as Aleks mouths words to Helena Fionn couldn't understand. With a heavy sigh Aleks scooted closer to Fionn's face, looking him straight into the eyes.
“I'll take care of you, don't worry Schnee.”
“Buh… tato… potato tired.” He nods and taps his finger against Aleks's under eye, only confusing Aleks further, who stared up at Helena laughing.
“... oh my fucking god, he's gone.” He just laughs at Aleks's beard curling with his every word, the gray hairs that started sticking out looking like whiskers as he talked. Fionn raises his hand to Aleks's beard, brushing his fingers against the white hairs. Aleks stared at him with an emotion he couldn't quite tell.
“Old kitten.” Aleks just stared harder at him while Helena started laughing behind him. Aleks sighs, running his hands over his face before taking a deep breath and searching for some material in his medics' bag. With a syringe in his hands and an IV set on Fionn's chest, resting there, Aleks stared back at him.
“We're taking a trip,” Aleks fills up the syringe with some medication “and you're sleeping.”
“Sleepover…” They watch as Aleks applies the IV set on the elbow with ease, the young man's eyes flicking up at him again.
“Yeah, sure. Sleepover.” Aleks pushes down on the syringe and before Fionn can respond anymore, the light gets knocked out of them.
When they woke up, his head was spinning. Not as much as it was before, but still a bit. They were on some couch, a blanket laid on top of him, his arm propped up on it. The IV was still inside his arm, providing him with whatever was going through it. His wounds were stitched up and taken care of, they could tell by the numbness and uncomfortable tugging at his skin.
Now that they were a bit more conscious, they could tell that they weren't even on the couch, they were just on the couch mattress on the floor. The TV was playing something in Russian but in their drowsy state, they couldn't be bothered to figure out what exactly it was saying. They followed the IV, expecting it to follow up into a bag only to see Aleks connected to the other side, seemingly unbothered by his blood pumping into Fionn's body.
He was paler than usual, which already was pale enough, and the bags below his eyes were deeper than usual. He also looked thinner, weirdly enough. A slight shiver wrecked his body, not enough to be worrisome, but telling enough to maybe be concerning. But maybe he also was cold, just a shirt instead of his usual long sleeve, Fionn respectfully avoiding to look at his arms even if Aleks had told him the story of every scar on his arm during a tearful and serious night.
His blue eyes flicked over to him, turning owlish once he noticed they were awake. “Good morning in ze morning,” Helena complained the second he said it, complaining about him quoting some Wendler guy at 3 am. Really, Fionn should find out more about German gossip.
“Wha’ da fak.” Aleks laughs at him, eyes wrinkling and beard lifting in a funny way. The man has gotten older and life has taken a lot out of him, Fionn noticed now. There were shadows beneath his eyes from years of no rest or love letting him get rid of them, just constant turmoil and fight, but there were also laugh lines on his face from the years he spent in the pmc laughing.
“What do you remember, Fionn?” Care was heavy in his voice but there was no fear. Aleks was less concerned about Fionn's injury than he was about Fionn's mind which made him calm as well. As long as Aleks isn't panicking, he isn't either.
“I got shot, I thin’. Across the stoma’. At least my stoma’ feels like someone put a bunch of tiny da’ers into it, my gods.” Aleks nods, making a ‘go on’ motion. “and blood. A lot of bloo’. Ah thin’ you and helena were there.”
“Yeah that's basically it. You called that there were enemies where there shouldn't be, we went to check on you. Helena got there first and found you with your stomach shot. It was a surprisingly non-fatal shot, considering it is your stomach, it just bled like crazy. Just had to stitch you up once we got here and when we were back on base, you're on med leave.”
Fionn nodded as if he remembered anything that happened, but beyond a blood bath, it was all he could remember. Speaking of blood, there was still blood flowing from the German into the American, and considering it is Aleks, Fionn is a bit concerned. “Wha’ i’thi’ abou’?” They pointed at the IV’s attached to both their arms. Aleks just smirks, which for some reason made the word “old kitten” pop up in Fionn's head.
“We got two bags of A pos with us, one for me, one for thee. Helena isn't a universal donor, she is B Neg. You took both our bags and still didn't have enough blood to be healthy. You lost a whole lot on the field, and cause you donated just recently, I am now your to go blood donation. Blood to go.”
Buddy transfusion, his dad had once or twice explained it to him. Usually it wasn't straight from the source and usually Aleks was less likely to do a buddy transfusion with his blood because of the medication he takes, but it seems that even the medic has his moments. “‘m I g’d now?”
“Just a bit more. When you start looking less like me and more like your dad. We will have to stop soon anyway, I am not an infinite blood source.” Fionn nods, just letting his head fall back and taking a deep breath. “Just a bit more Aschemacher curse.”
“And a’bi’ of Snow luck for you!” Fionn could feel more control over his speech and laugh finally. Aleks just shook his head at him before turning back to the TV, watching the news while Fionn regained control over his body and brain. He felt hungry and woozy still and his stomach was aching. He had worse though so it's not like he will cry from it.
Finally Helena walked in, the Water bottle in one hand while there were two plates full of fruits in the other. They could tell which one was for Aleks and which one was for Fionn simply by the food and in what way it was placed on the plate. It was sweet how much care Helena showed for them.
“Wech vom Band, Junge. Du bis’ schon bleich wie bleichmittel, du muss nich noch die Wandfarbe sein.” As funny as he thought she sounded whenever she spoke her dialect, it made him a little mad that he didn't get it. Aleks shook his head at her in annoyance, fumbling at the IV port in his arm as nervous tick.
"Ach halts Maul. Ich hab genug Blut, Fionn is der, der so fuckin’ viel Blut verlor, der Kleine Huso.” He tugs at the IV because whatever Aleks said, it was an insult and they understood that. Aleks gasped in pain, hand immediately covering his elbow to keep the IV in place where they almost ripped it out.
Helena sighs, putting both plates on the table before taking the cloth on her belt and giving it to Aleks who started bleeding from the IV port at Fionn's tugging. “Sorry-”
“It's fine, don't worry about it.” As much as Aleks told him not to worry, the pained expression as he pulled out the IV was still visible. “You, fine sir, should be worried about getting proper nutrients and food in you. I only have a minor wound, you got shot.”
Aleks stood up on the couch instead of getting his food to get a bandaid, much to the dismay of Helena and to her concern. She just stared angrily as he waved her away, trying his best to not stain the carpet in the safe house. Helena turned to him, staring at him angrily as well.
“Eat. You haven't eaten since yesterday morning. You need some nutrients.” He gives her a half-assed salute before reaching for his plate, slowly sitting up and praying his stitches Won't open. His stomach was cramping a bit in protest at his movement but he tried to ignore it in favor of the food cut on the plate.
Carefully he eats while she gets the IV out of the back of his hand, making sure it wouldn't injure him anymore before closing it and making sure no more air or dirt could get to the wound. “If you need more blood, Aleks will get you a new port, but for now you can get this one out. You've got enough blood for right now, let's get some energy back.”
They just leaned against her while nibbling on their strawberries, relaxing a bit more when Aleks joined them on Helena's other side. He was paler again, probably from giving too much blood and then standing and walking like a dumbass. His arm was bandaged properly. Helena didn't even complain when Aleks laid against her as well to eat his fruit, just happy the man was eating his raspberries.
They sit like that for a bit, Aleks translating some of the news said on TV, with Helena not knowing Russian and Fionn not being in the state to understand it. Both finish their fruit and the water Helena brought them, a bit of color returning to both of their cheeks. Fionn already felt not as close to death as when he woke up.
Helena got up after a while, asking Fionn if he wanted some soup, which he honestly couldn't say no to. They loved whenever she made soup for them, it was the best. Aleks only declined because he was dizzy and the smell would make it worse and not better in the moment. She gave Fionn the bowl and forced Aleks to drink some juice instead, asking him to shuffle the cards they had for a new game.
They quietly started their game of cards, still eating and drinking and listening to the news and comms about any updates regarding exfil. Right now, there was no way they could get out without putting all of them into danger, so they were stuck until then.
Not that they mind, the safehouse was surprisingly well prepped and taken care of and Fionn almost wonders if Aleks had just bought them a holiday home to stay at.
They just sat quietly as they played. Aleks had finished his juice, Helena forcing him to drink another bottle now. Fionn didn't deny a second bowl of soup, even if it distracted him a bit and caused a few losses from his side.
The battlefield was loud, usually. Everywhere were yells and bombs and guns. All of them had ear protection and sometimes even wore them on base if it was too bad. Fionn might even have to get a hearing aid if he is too reckless with his hearing.
It mattered a lot when they got their quiet moments. On base, they could always be called out or be bothered by recruits. Even on leave there was always the fear of being called back, or worse, getting a call that one of them would not return to the field. Fionn tried to treasure these moments.
All three of them, alive and together, doing something to come down and rest. Sometimes there is a movie playing.There is no way to count how often they have watched top gun maverick, sometimes it was just self care for their individual things. When they're on field and end up in a safehouse, it was usually cards.
They played until they all got tired but the one on watch. If neither of the three was on watch, they would play until they end up a puddle of limbs and warmth, cuddling instead of trying to beat each other in their game. Helena was on watch this time, the other two were in no condition to do so.
Despite that, she seemingly didn't care when both of them laid their head against her shoulders again. Or when Aleks pulled the blanket across all three, Helena making sure Fionn was the warmest out of the three.
She didn't mind when Fionn didn't lay out his cards and snored as an attack, even less when Aleks joined a moment later.
She didn't mind when sleep also started pulling at her, making all three of them sleep in a cuddle puddle in some safe house in the middle of russia.
Safe.
Together.
Like always and for the rest of eternity.