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It didn't happen often that they were sick.
Fionn had been sick enough as a kid and had gotten any vaccine available possible to help their immune system. Aleks had faced every sickness possible in his time as a medic, if he hadn't had a vaccine, he at least got infected once and had his body work through it on its own. Helena had a strong enough immune system and the basic vacs to keep her away from sickness.
Despite being everywhere all the time and never home, they had enough luck to not catch anything and everything at all times.
Till the flu.
The basic fucking flu.
Knocked the fucking living soul out of Helena.
It was fine at first, with a stuffy nose and a cough maybe every hour or so. But maybe an hour after the initial cough it only went downhill. They were training, Fionn and her trying to practice running while carrying heavy load, while Aleks was off to a solo mission as support for the taskforce. It was fine at first, the 20 kg not a heavy load anymore, but it started feeling heavier than usual real fast.
She knows that the body is not able to perform at its prime under certain conditions so of course she wouldn't be able to carry 60 kg when she has a cough and stuffy nose, but 20 kg shouldn't feel like 100. Suddenly she felt so exhausted and had to cut training short, doing some lazy stretches while Fionn decided to train with Eli instead. With her stomach growling and her throat hurting even more, she decided to just take a break today and try to rest.
When she walked into the kitchen after a sickening shower, she could barely stand. The shower after the training almost took her out, the steam made her dizzy and she kept sweating despite washing herself again and again. The cough kept getting worse and she couldn't drink it away with water or the cough drop she found in her jacket.
The tea brewing on the table was some hot lemon tea Aleks got the last time he was sick. In the cup next to it was some cup soup they had left over from their trip to the store. They always stocked it in case one of them had hunger in the middle of the night. Usually it was her or Aleks, Fionn wasn't the biggest fan of cup soups for some reasons.
It made her sick watching the water swirl in the cup, it made her dizzy. Everything made her dizzy. The space around her nose and mouth felt sickeningly warm. Usually she was warmer than the rest of them but this was unnecessarily so. The steam hitting her face didn't really help much either, now that she thought about it.
She pushed the cup far enough away to not be straight in the onslaught of tea and soup, instead leaning forward to rest her head against the cabinet. Sitting down would probably be better for her state of body, but she wouldn't be able to move afterwards so she has to keep standing.
Someone spoke to her, the voice too deep for her to recognise which of the 20 men on base right now it could be. Not that she necessarily cared, the cabinet was cold and it helped her fever holding her forehead against it. She whined when they finally pulled her away from the cold cabinet, only stopping when a cold cloth was put against her forehead instead.
Arms pulled her into a hold and she felt herself be moved away from the kitchen by someone. she couldn't tell who it was, there were multiple voices around her and her vision was too blurry to tell apart. Her head hurt and she felt so warm… so weak.
Her knees buckled below her and she only heard panicked shouts around her before she hit the floor, only being caught in time before her head would have hit the floor hard. Her ears felt filled with cotton and she barely even realized that someone was taking her vitals on the floor in front of the rec room. Even less did she notice them talking to her, only reacting when one of them lifted her up and their touch felt bad.
Slowly, she was carried to her room by someone. She was too tired to even recognise. They put her into her bed, shoving a spoon full of medicine into her mouth a second later. When they pushed at her to lie down, she just let them. It was too exhausting to stay awake and her bed is nice and warm in contrast to the harsh, outside world.
It was no surprise she was knocked out moments later.
When she woke up hours later, she wasn't sure what happened. She felt a million times better than before. Less dizziness and less tingling. She still felt sick and warm and sticky and hated it. The cloth on her arm, probably meant for her forehead, was warm and she took it and threw it across the room towards her mirror.
Her room was darkened so she couldn't tell what time it was, but she didn't even want to know. She wanted to keep sleeping and stay in bed instead of being faced with her consequences or her tasks. Thank god she didn't have recruit training the next weeks-
There was a knock on her door before it opened and she'd rather die than try and socialize in such a state. Aleks’s head popped in, the shrinking white tuft peeking behind the corner revealing him right away.
Maybe dying his hair white wasn't his smartest decision. But it's not like she wasn't recognizable either with the scars on her face. At least they are not wearing skull printed balaclavas, or have the KSK or Jagdkommando symbol tattoo, so they can't be that bad.
After no protest from her he proceeded further inside, putting the tray onto her bedside table and sitting on the edge of her bed. The tray on the table was balancing many different things she didn't bother trying to recognise.
“How do you feel, huh?”
“I feel like shit.” Aleks just smiles at her, sitting down closer to her changing the rag on her forehead and wiping her face with the new one. Slowly he helped her sit up, making her lean against him as she took her medicine, him watching what reaction she was having to the meds in case it fucks her over. “I basically eat dirt every day on the field and everywhere where humans shouldn't be and then fall apart because of the flu? what is this bullshit.”
“Well, dirt and a virus aren't exactly the same thing are they now?”
“Shut the fuck up.” Aleks snorts before helping her lie down again, checking her temperature one more time. His eyebrow creased a bit, his mind filling in all the information he had over her state in the neat little table he has in his head to figure out what injuries someone has. or sickness, in her case.
“Fionn made soup, do you want any?”
“You let Fionn cook?”
“It's not half as bad. I ate some of it and I'm not dead. Yet.”
“Yet.” He laughs before looking at her again, waiting for an answer “ Yeah, i'll take some soup.” He nods, taking out his phone to probably send one of the others a message. Only now did she notice that he was still in his gear and uniform, clad out and ready to fight if necessary.
Which frankly, her room was not a warzone, why is he wearing all that?
She pulled at one of his straps a bit to get his attention, Aleks turning off his phone and looking back at her with a warm smile and worry in his eyes. “ Why are you still in uniform? You're making my bed dirty, I need to change the sheets.” He just huffed at her before starting to tug at the straps and knots pulling his gear into shape.
“ You'll need to change everything anyway when you get better. Your bed is full of germs, my peckle of dirt wouldn't hold much value here.” It is true, she can already feel how sweat soaked her clothes were and even worse her bed. It made her groan thinking about how she will have to think about it. “ Sit up, you need food, sergeant.”
“Wow, you're pulling rank. Unbelievable, I will report this to your superior.” Aleks just laughs at her bullshit, helping her sit up and put a few pillows behind her for comfort. He puts the tray with soup onto her lap, giving her the choice for help or to do it herself. She just took the spoon for him before slurping the soup Fionn cooked, pleasantly surprised at the taste.
“ I forgot that Fionn isn't half as bad at cooking.”
“ He's better than I am. He got a family to feed after all.” She lets out a huff at that, shaking her head at Aleks.
“ Yeah and you feed us whenever the kitchen is closed, are you saying our taste buds don't matter?” He just nods with all seriousness before a smile spills over his face and he just laughs at her accusation of making their food taste bad on purpose.
Aleks stayed with her until she finished her bowl of soup, making sure it stayed down and that if it came up, it was an easy clean up. She got some medication he prepared for her, hoping he wasn't trying to poison her and was just being a professional medical staff. After she drank enough for him to deem acceptable he made sure she had everything she wanted or figured out what else she might want. Besides another boy of tissues, she would love to have nothing more than to be healthy again.
Again, she tugged at the straps of his heavy gear, the weight he seemingly forgot at times. Almost as if it grounded him to carry something on his body. She tried to not linger on that thought too long, especially with Aleks finally working on taking it off.
“ I just got off my mission. It was a success, no one hurt besides Meier, he pulled his shoulder.”
“Serves him right for being so tall.”
“What? Are you saying tall people deserve pulled shoulders.” She just nodded, Aleks laughing at her in disbelief.
“I went to your room right away when i heard you were sick. I was sure you'd be asleep and that I could just leave the tray there. But you werent, so I couldn't get my gear off yet. Or shower. Or do anything to feel better.” She hit softly against the back of his head, a light hearted way to tell him he was a dumbass.
“ I'd invite you to cuddle but I am sick and you are filthy.” Aleks pouted, looking at her like a sad kitten at being insulted. Despite her words he flopped down next to her, looking up at her with sad eyes. Of course, he would still insist on cuddling.
They had a bit of a stare down for a moment until Helena finally gave in but told him to take off all of his gear before getting in. It was neatly placed on her table, ready to be carried back when he returned to his own room. He leaves his boots at her door, Helena smiling at him going against dress code and wearing cat socks instead of the military issued ones.
“Come here.” Aleks said before pushing himself into her bed, lying down next to her and pulling her towards himself. At first, she wanted to complain again, he would get sick and as a medic that would be horrible, but the hand running through her hair and working out the knots in her muscles was heavenly.
They hadn't had any down time in a while, and maybe ultimately that was what made her sick. no flu or other weird virus, just utter exhaustion with no reset in a while. Her and the boys had not done any extra selfcare in a while. No too long curl or beard care, no touch ups or any time to let the wounds properly heal.
She knew Fionn was having troubles with his leg, the wound agitated again, probably phantom pain as well. And Alekss white streak has seen better days, if he doesn't bleach it soon it will disappear into the sea of brown. Her curls did too, they started getting matted last mission.
Despite knowing she should be kicking Aleks out of the room, there was the comfort that was necessary right now. His heart beat was strong under her ear as she rested her head on his chest. Slowly she reached her hand out towards the arm not rubbing against her shoulder, returning the gesture by working out the tension she could feel there.
It was cold outside, so no surprise that his muscle and scar tissue were more than tense. He just hummed as she tried to work it out just like he worked her back muscles into relaxation. They didn't even talk, they just stayed quiet and snuggled closer, enjoying the sick cuddle.
Slowly the movement from next to her stopped and the hand running through her hair did as well. Aleks breathing got heavy and even with her head on his chest turned away from him, she knew he was falling asleep. The mission probably took him out a bit. She only saw glimpses of what it was about and prayed for luck because she would have hated it if she were chosen for it.
She let him sleep and tried drifting off herself. With the comfort of a full stomach, the medication kicking in and being boxed in by the older man, it was hard to try and stay fully awake. It made her lull into a comfortable rest until there was a noise and presence in her room.
Her door opened and with quiet steps, Fionn entered, checking if she was asleep or not only to grin when he spotted the two on the bed.
“Cuddling without me? What a shame.” Fionn stands at the end of her bed, looking at the two cuddled together on the tiny bed. Aleks kept sleeping while Helena looked at him with wide eyes, pulling up one hand to make grabby hands at Fionn as well.
She wants cuddles. Now, she doesn't even care if Fionn gets sick.
She wants comfort and rest.
Fionn couldn't deny those grabby hands, swiftly taking off his leg to jump over towards the bed, letting himself fall onto the other side of Helena. He hugged her close to himself, making the other two grumble a bit at the movement in the bed. They asked her if she was fine or she needed everything, if maybe she wanted them to leave.
She just shook her head, melting more into the two men she called her brothers, Fionn pulling both of them closer and settling down fully now too.
Once they squeezed together on the small bed though, they all went out cold almost right away.
And when Elijah entered her room later that day to check on her and took a picture of the three sleeping together, it was no one's business.