#contusion

This damage wasn’t planned- where do I go without getting hurt-

Day 1: Contusion, Well that wasn’t supposed to happen

The warehouse smelled of rust and mold. Walls were slick with condensation as if they were sweating and Gavin? Gavin hated places like these, the echoing chambers that amplified every step he took and somehow made his pulse sound louder than his thoughts.

Beside him, the Rk900 walked almost like a predator as if in its natural environment; noiseless, precise, his head turning just enough so it was able to scan every corner and potential blind spot. He hated to admit and would rather choke on his own blood than say it out loud but, Nines was good at this. Too good.

“Stay sharp.” Gavin muttered, his gun raised.

“I am incapable of being anything else,” Nines replied in his usual smooth and unbothered voice.

Before Gavin could even start rolling his eyes, a shot cracked from the catwalk above them. Sparks burst from the steel support next to his head. Swearing he dove behind a stack of crated, heart nearly hammering out of his chest. “Sniper!” he barked.

“Two.” Nines corrected, already firing upward. His bullets punched clean holes through the rusted metal guardrail, and one of the snipers toppled screaming into the shadows. The second one was faster, slipping away into the shadows. Another emerged from the far side of the warehouse his weapon raised. The air filled with gunfire, the blasts echoing, all that was heard was the clang of rochochets and the dry snap of bullets biting into steel.

Nines moved like flowing water, dodge, shoot, disarm, kill. Gavin was a solid shooter but slower, his breath sounded ragged in the acrid haze. Damn androids and their perfect endurance and what not. When the shooting finally stopped, he could see the bodies sprawled across the floor. He allowed himself one shaky exhale, maybe a bit too soon. Before he knew it…

Movement in the shadows. A muzzle flash bloomed.

The impact tore Gavin off his feet. The world before his eyes suddenly detonated in white pain. He hit the floor hard, ears ringing and vision swimming between black and red. His chest screamed, like someone had swung a bat full force into his ribs and then wanted to be fun and set it on fire.

But then the real horror settled in.

He couldn’t breathe. His lungs seized trying to drag air where there wasn’t any. The pain radiated sharp and deep, tearing through his chest and ribs. He could feel warmth spread across his chest, sticky, hot… blood. He coughed and crimson coated his lips nearly frotting trailing down his chin. Panic clawed in. He knew the signs. Collapsed lung. He was drowning on the inside, in his own blood. This couldn’t be it, not now…

“Reed!” Nine’s voice cut through the ringing and deafening silence. It sounded weird, like it had an edge of panic and was that worry? No, he was an android it couldn’t be. He blamed it on the blood loss, yeah that was it. His vision started to swim worse. He shakingly pressed a hand to the hole in his chest, it came back slick and dark. “F.. fuck”

Nines dropped beside him, his knees making a loud clank against the ground. If he was human his knees would definitely be bruised. His LED was flashing a rapid yellow, specks of red now and then. He immediately stripped Gavin’s vest with one brutal tug, tearing the fabric open ignoring the mutter of something along the lines ‘that was my favorite jacket prick’ plus the slurring words. He pressed his hands against the wounds, blood pouring between his fingers. “Trough and trough” Nines said, voice level but fast, there was still an edge to it. “Your right lung is collapsing. Chest cavity is compromised. Air is filling where blood should not be. If I don’t intervene, you will suffocate.”

“Well..” Gavin coughed, more blood spilling. “That… shouldn’t have happened.” He tried to grin but his lips were turning pale already, trembling.

Nines didn’t waste any time. He yanked a folding blade from his belt. “I need to perform a decompression.”

“What?” Gavin raped, panic doubling. His voice broke into a wet rattle. The android didn’t answer him with words, instead he jammed the blade between his ribs, sharp and merciless. The scream that tore from Gavin was raw and ragged. His back arched, eyed wide as he scratched weakly at Nine’s arms to try and make him stop. Blood kept bubbling up in his throat in a horrible gurgle.

Then came the hiss. A wet sucking rush of air escaping the cavity, carrying flecks of blood with it. The crushing weight on his chest eased, just slightly but the agony remained. Nines pressed his palm flat over the wound almost hard enough to bruise. “Do not move. You might drown if you do.” Gavin tried to gasp but it came in short rattling stabs of breath. Each inhale he took dragged fire across the torn tissue and made the blood bubble even more. He could feel it inside him, warm thick and flooding where air belonged.

“You’re.. Fucking… insane.” he spar, couging more crimson.

“I’m keeping you alive.”

From his jacket Nines tore the hem free, balling it up into a crude dressing. He shoved it against Gavin’s wound with brutal pressure. Blood started to soak the fabric instantly, squelching warm between synthetic fingers. Gavin choked on the copper stench of his own inside, all he wanted right now was to take a good ass nap and hope this would all be over soon. “Stay awake.” Nines ordered. His voice was sharp through the haze that had started to consume him. “You’re already hypoxic. If you lose consciousness I cannot guarantee…”

“Shut… up…” Gavin rasped, his teeth stained with blood. His head lolled, fighting the gravity. The darkness felt so heavy, warm and welcoming. Before he could even think of welcoming it with open arms, gunfire had erupted again, closer this time. Nines’s head snapped up. LED spinning red. “Additional hostels inbound.”

“Go” he whispered, voice shredded. If he wouldn’t make it, he would at least let Nines finish the mission. “Finish it-”

“No.” Nines his gaze was fixed on him, unyielding. It made something warm spread in his chest again, this time he was sure it wasn’t blood. It surprised him. He didn’t like it… or did he? Before he could think about it even more he felt himself being scooped up by Nines, his blood staining the pristine white uniform. One hand pressed against the makeshift bandage, the other pulled out his firearm. Nines carried Gavin like he was deadweight, firing one handed with brutal accuracy. If it was any other situation he would’ve found it so hot.

Each step jolted Gavin’s broken body, sending waves of agony through his ribs. He coughed and gagged, more blood dribbling down his chin. He felt like he was drowning, sputtering and choking on every gasp. The world smeared together into flashes, gunfire, a blurry mess. Nines’s arm around him felt like a vice, grounding.

By the time they broke through the warehouse doors, Gavin was barely hanging on. Flashing lights cut through the dark, police backup, finally. All he could make out was Hank’s worrying scowl and Connor’s horrified shout.

Then the blackness surged and Gavin, Gavin welcomed it with open arms.

----

He woke up in a sterile white room, monitors beeping a steady rhythm at his side. His chest was bound in layers of bandages, tubes feeding into him. Each breath he took still hurt, but at least he could breathe now. Turning his head was agony, but he managed. Nines stood in the corner like a sentinel, arms folded and eyes locked onto him. His uniform was clean now, but Gavin remembered the blood coating it, his blood.

“Welcome back” Nines said simply. But there was a glint of relief in his eyes.

Gavin groaned. “I feel like I swallowed glass.

“You nearly drowned in your own blood. That is… not inaccurate..”

Despite the ache Gavin couldn’t help but bark out a laugh. “You’re got the bedside manner of a buzzsaw.” Nines tilted his head, something flashing across his face, it was too fast for Gavin to pinpoint the emotion but the next words hit him close to the heart. “You are alive. That is all that matters.”

“It was a trap!” Price says, slamming his fist onto the table. They were aware of Jamie’s abilities and how to capture her. “Someone who knows her has to be working for the enemy,” Ghost says. “It’s not well known that she has powers. This was an enemy we’ve never faced before, so they’ve never seen her use her powers.” “I don’t like this,” Price worries.

Jamie is bound to a chair. Three men walk into the room. “Well, I was hoping for a fight,” one soldier says. “Untie me, then!” “No, you’re going to tell us about Task Force 141.” “NO!” “Wrong choice.” The other two removed Jamie’s bonds from the chair. In the room’s center, she’s cuffed to a ceiling-mounted chain. Jamie knows what she got herself into, but she refuses to say anything.

Two days pass. The search duration infuriates Price. Everyone knows Jamie would rather die than rat the 141 out. They worry that the search will end in finding a body. The enemy who took Jamie is located. Within ten minutes, everyone is on a helicopter to the location.

Six hours later, the enemy is under attack. While Gaz and Price fight off the enemy, Ghost and Soap find Jamie. Taking down any enemy they encounter. They locate the cells, and Jamie is lying in the first one.