Chapter Text
Niels Bohr walked out of the conference room with a grin on his face. He always loved seeing his brilliant young pupils give their lectures, it filled him with the same excitement as seeing a musician perform or an artist display their piece. In a way it was art, he supposes. As he scans the room, he sees Paul Dirac and Werner Heisenberg exiting, hand in hand.
He feels his chest swell with pride as he sees the two young men so content together. He picked up on their feelings long before they did, immediately clocking the scenario as soon as sweet Werner came to him, gushing about the lovely, kind Englishman he was reading the works of. Bohr and Margarethe tried for seemingly ages to get them to even admit their feelings, before working tirelessly to get them to confess to one another.
And confess they did, or more accurately, they stood staring at each other during a conference event, around 6 months ago, in Leipzig. Bohr remembers vividly, pushing Heisenberg up to the anxious, blushing Dirac, and putting his hands on their shoulders smiling, encouraging them to stay together. Eventually they hug each other, and Dirac awkwardly kissed Heisenberg, who romantically and deeply kissed back.
Bohr smiles at the memories in the same way a father would when he sees his children finding love. They basically were his children, he supposes. He raised them more than their own fathers ever did.
He snaps back to the present when he feels Margarethe's firm hand on his shoulder, greeting him after the event.
''Niels, we're supposed to go to that hotel tonight, remember? For the next conference? We should be leaving now, I think. It's a long drive, and we have to take Werner and Paul, too, remember?'' Her commanding voice grounds him, reminding him he has responsibilities. He really does feel like Werner and Paul's father sometimes. He sighs, but it turns into a laugh.
"Ah, yes, of course, dear. I hadn't forgotten!" He had, in fact, forgotten.
She laughs, before grabbing his hand. "Come on, love. Let us go get the kids."
"They are grown men, Mar."
"That's irrelevant." She says, as she laughs once more.
They walk around, trying to find Heisenberg and Dirac, eventually discovering them sitting next to each other away from everyone else. They were in dead silence, seemingly keeping each other company with nothing but their mere presence. Bohr smiles, as he gestures to them to get up. Margarethe walks back, telling Niels she is going to go and prepare their car.
Heisenberg looks up in confusion, not wanting to move from his zone of comfort.
"Werner, we have to get going. We have another conference tomorrow and the drive is long."
He gets up, tugging Paul's arm. They follow Bohr reluctantly into the car, climbing into the back seat. Margarethe leans back from the driver's seat, eyeing the younger men to make sure they're properly seated. Niels sits down next to Margarethe in the front, and shuts the door. As they pull out of the parking lot, the humming of the engine has immediately lulled Paul and Werner to sleep. Paul leans down, head on Werner's chest, and Werner's arms are as tight as a snake around Paul's back.
"Cute."
As the Bohrs drive in silence for around an hour, Heisenberg and Dirac are now in a deep sleep. Even another nearby car's obnoxious horn doesn't stir them.
Dirac has seemingly flipped around in his seatbelt, and is now stretched out across the backseat, Heisenberg lying down on top of him, facing the other direction. Bohr thinks to himself that it can't possibly be comfortable, but what does he know? They have each other, he supposes. And maybe that makes it the most comfortable thing in the world to them.
''Niels, dear? I'm getting tired. Do you think we can switch?"
"Driving, you mean? Of course, my love."
They pull the car over to the side, careful not to do anything sudden that may disturb the entangled particles in the back seat, but they're in such a deep trance that it's almost as if nothing can interrupt their slumber.
It is there that they see a figure walking. As Niels exits to transfer to the other side, the figure approaches him.
"Niels???" a male voice says, exasperated.
"Step into the headlights, I can't see you!"
The figure obeys, and he's illuminated by the car's glare. It is revealed to be their good friend Louis de Broglie, who was also at the conference with them.
"Louis?? What are you doing here!? What happened to your car? Are you trying to walk all the way to the next country???"
He laughs, before burying his face in his hands. "My car got busted, and it had to get pulled away. I've been waiting for someone from the conference to show up for hours now!"
Niels pulls Louis in for a hug, before offering him a ride in their car in the back.
Louis smiles, before gazing and seeing Heisenberg and Dirac cuddling, still in a sleepy state. "I can't possibly wake them, I'm so sorry. I'd feel terribly! Also, since when did..." he trails off to gesture at the pair, "...this happen...?"
Bohr grins. "Around half a year ago. Aren't they just the cutest?"
Louis nods. "They're perfect for each other. I'll just wait for someone else to come along, I'll be fine." He looks down to think for a moment, before glancing back to Niels. "I could drive for you! I doubt the lovebirds would mind you being back there. They always did seem to take such comfort in you being there, whereas they don't know me as well."
Niels walks back to quickly check with Margarethe, who nods exuberantly. "I don't care who's driving, so long as it isn't me, for God's sake."
He tells Louis that Margarethe approves, and Louis sits in the car. Bohr gingerly slides in next to Heisenberg, trying to touch him as little as possible. Unfortunately, it causes him to wake up startled, creating a chain reaction that leads to Dirac waking up as well, and Heisenberg trembling as he forgot he was in the car, and was trying to figure out where he was.
"Dear Werner, dear Paul, it's alright. It's just me. Go back to sleep now. De Broglie is driving now, so I moved to the back."
Paul looks around in confusion. "Where... did he come from?" His sleepy mumbles cause Heisenberg to cling to him. Werner must be feeling homesick now, Niels infers. He always did feel anxious when they weren't in Goettingen or Copenhagen. And Dirac is his safe space. At least they have each other.
Niels asks Margarethe to get a blanket out of the compartment in the front, which she hands to him. He drapes it over Heisenberg, who pulls it to cover Dirac. "Now, Werner. Do not do anything despicable to Paul under there. Paul, you too. Not that YOU would, but..."
He chuckles heartily as their faces both turn a mortified red. They cling closer together and Niels leans up front to chat with de Broglie, as he hadn't caught up with him in a long while. They talk about theory, waves, and it eventually turns to their personal lives. Niels delightfully informs him that his life has been excellent lately. His marriage is going quite well, and at that statement, Margarethe whips around and says "you'd better say it's going well, or else." Niels laughs, face reddening.
Niels starts talking about how he spent an extended amount of time playing matchmaker for Heisenberg and Dirac, and that they're both so oblivious to their feelings and each other that he was concerned for a while it would never happen.
Margarethe chimes in saying that every day for a long time he would come to her and lament about his frustrations, before they eventually kissed that one day. It felt war was over when it happened.
"What about you, Louis? How's your life been as of late?"
Louis grins. "Excellent! I've been in perfect health, my work has been going so well, and I have everything I could've wanted! I'm so glad to hear you're in such a good place too. You deserve nothing but the best, my dear Niels. And it still blows my mind how someone like you was able to score someone as phenomenal as Margarethe."
Niels groans. "Hey, she chose me! If she didn't think I was worthy, she'd have left me years ago. And I do mean years ago. She is of free will. Too free, even."
Margarethe snorts. "Nothing Niels is saying is wrong. And thank you for your flattery, kindest de Broglie."
The night slowly fades into deepest twilight, and eventually Bohr falls asleep, head leaned over. Margarethe gazes out the window, and they eventually reach their destination.
De Broglie parks the car, and helps to get Heisenberg and Dirac out. He carries Dirac, and Bohr manages to lift Heisenberg, and they carry them like children to the hotel suite. They gently lay them on a bed, and then Bohr follows Margarethe to the other side of the suite.
"Louis? Where are you going to stay?"
"Oh, I have a hotel room! I just had no way to get there had it not been for you. I thank you again! I suppose I will see you tomorrow, farewell and good night!"
The Bohrs wave, and Louis waves back. He says goodnight to Werner and Paul, but they are too deeply asleep to even begin to register what he said.
He walks away happy.