part 1 - part 2 - part 3 - part 4 - part 5
There was a man in front of you. You didn't recognize him.
Then again, when was the last time you recognized someone you'd only met in another life? You had a hard time recognizing your own teammates on a bad day. Recognized yourself even less on worse days.
But something struck you in the knees, the gut, the echoing toll of funeral knells as you stared at this man, who stared right back at you.
"It's you," he said, whispered, eyes wide and darting across your figure.
"You're a bug," you answered.
He staggered in place. "What?"
"Bug," you repeated, more insistent, your heart starting to pound behind the cage of bones protecting it. "Bug. Bug. You. Are. Bug. Pest. No, no. No. Not bad. Bug. Name. What is. Name?"
He struggled to follow your influx of words, the rapid-fire speech that stuttered from you, hindered but undeterred by your disabilities. You could tell in how his brows furrowed that it was difficult to keep up, to parse what you were saying. "S-Sanderson?" It came out more like a question. "Gary. I'm Gary."
"No," you hissed, pacing in a circle. Your cane tapped the ground repeatedly, sharp and frantic. "No. Name. Name. Name."
Nik frowned, a thought crossing him. He stepped close and reached out to touch your shoulder, but you waved him off. "Милая? You recognize him?"
"No, name, need name," you panted, trembling. Your grip on your cane faltered, your fingers tightening and loosening involuntarily. Like a song stuck on the tip of your tongue, evading you just barely, but worse, so much worse. If you didn't get a name, a name, his name, his goddamn name—
Gary's eyes lit up as understanding struck him. "Roach!" He said hurriedly. "It's Roach."
All at once, the tension left your body, and you sagged to the ground. Nik was quick to catch your puddle-like body and lowered you gently, sitting you between his knees. Had you not known any better, you would've believed it was another seizure. But you were still conscious, still present, just weak with relief.
"Roach," you murmured back, barely a whisper.
Roach, Roach, hesitated. "Do you… do you remember me?"
Despite finally having what you were looking for, the silken ribbons of memory slipped through your fingers, caught up by a wind you could never outpace.
You slowly shook your head, and he visibly deflated. "Do not. Know. You. But I know. Know. You. You."
"You do?" Both he and Nik asked at the same time.
You nodded, dizzy, almost. "You are. Friend."
There was silence, then Roach was dropping to his knees in front of you, ignoring the painful impact in favor of sitting close to you. "Yes," Roach affirmed, desperate. He reached for your hands, and you let him take them, something Nik no doubt noted. "Yes. I'm your friend. Was, am— I— I don't know, but— but yes."
You exhaled and dropped your head back, eyes fluttering shut. Nik supported your neck, that big paw of his engulfing most of your jaw as he angled you back into his shoulder.
"Wh— what's happening?" Roach questioned, beginning to panic. "Is she okay? Did I do something?"
Nik huffed through his nose. "Give her moment. She is overwhelmed."
"Fuck. Fuck, I'm sorry, I didn't mean—"
"Shut," you grumbled out, earning a chuckle from Nik. "I'm. Fine."
"Yap. Per," you teased, peeking an eye open. "Yap."
His teeth audibly clicked shut as his jaw closed.
For the first time since you could function post-coma, post- everything, you felt happy meeting someone new. Old. Whatever.
You didn't know what it was about him, but your mind didn't scream danger like it did with others. If anything, your head was blissfully quiet for once, empty beyond a boost of dopamine, a reward after piecing something together. You didn't question who he was, or wondered if he'd be overcome with a rage whose reasons were unknown to you. You didn't fear him attacking you, or simply wholeheartedly disappointed in you.
Well, no, that wasn't entirely true. You did wonder who he was, what he meant to you before you had been forcefully and traumatically reborn, but for now, all you knew was that he was safe.
Nik helped reposition you to sit under the shade of his plane's wing, murmuring about needing to talk with the captain, whoever that was. He said it more to Roach than you, anyway. Nik stepped away as Roach took a seat beside you; he didn't go far, still within relative earshot in case he had to interfere if something happened, but far enough that he couldn't hear your mild conversation, nor could you hear what he was saying into his phone.
It was quiet for a while. Roach was deep in thought, his fingers twitching and drumming against his hiked knees. Comparatively, you were relaxed, enjoying the faint breeze that nipped at your cheeks as you watched your boys chat in the distance with Soap and Ghost.
"What… happened to you?" Roach eventually asked. Then he backtracked, saying, "Sorry, that's rude. Just ignore me."
You waved a hand dismissively. "It's. Fine," you replied, peeking at him from the corner of your eye. "Bad. Mission. Fever. Tr. Tra. Traumatic brain injury," you gave the condensed version of events. "It's all. I've. Ever known."
Roach frowned minutely, the corners of his lips tugging down. "But…"
You shot him a placating smile, one that was genuine and calm, not forced. "Can't. Remem. Ber. How it was be. Fore. For all I. Know. I was born. Born. Like this. Broken."
"You're not broken," he disagreed, placing a hand on your leg, a comfort.
"It's okay. I know what I. Am. Have come to. Terms. Terms. Terms with it."
He sighed, rubbing his face with his free hand. "I should have been there."
"Yeah," he confirmed. "Maybe if I was, then you wouldn't be…"
He didn't say it, neither of you did, but his meaning was clear. No matter how consolidating anyone was, the fact of the matter was that you were disabled. Maybe not broken, like you sometimes believed yourself to be, but not what you once were. No longer the person that existed before.
You had thought about it a lot, in the past. What would have happened if you weren't alone, if the mission hadn't gone to shit, if you were found sooner. You wondered if you would have ended up like this anyway, if this was your destiny. Not everybody got out of that kind of job alive. Most didn't. You were the small minority that lived, and if this was the price to pay to be alive, if there had been no other way, you supposed it was alright.
You wouldn't take it back. Even on your worst days, when your head was killing you and you needed to be carried to and from the bathroom, needed help eating and moving and doing anything, you didn't wish for things to be differently. Wished for the pain to be gone, yes, maybe for a less thick tongue that didn't stick as much as this one. But you never asked to change fate.
It led you to your boys, who took good care of you, and made sure you never felt alone or useless. For that, you were grateful.
In the end, you found acceptance with them, your team, who saw you not for your disabilities, but for you. Your humor, your smile, your drive to do more, to live. Yes, they acknowledged your state. They didn't sugarcoat or brush over it or invalidate you for it.
But they showed you every day that you were more than your limp, more than your speech impediment, more than your poor memory and spaciness and reliance on them.
You were you. For them, that was enough.
Roach scoffed sardonically. "Yeah, but it's too late. Not enough."
You thought on his words, careful to pick your own. "Yes. Too late to. Fix. The past."
The muscles in his jaw fluttered.
"But not too. Too late to. Start over," you finished.
He paused, glacing at you. Something like hope glimmered in the very depths of his pupils, cautious to emerge. "Yeah? You mean it?"
You grinned. "Yes. We can. Try. Again."
His shoulders dropped an inch, but you saw the relief bloom across his expression, the slightest tremble in his bottom lip. You wondered if he wore a mask a lot, and was unfamiliar with guarding his emotions, hiding what he felt.
"I'd like that," he smiled back, warm and hopeful.
If he sniffled a bit, neither of you said anything about it.
Boots crossed the pavement of the tarmac, and a hulking shadow followed suit.
"Häschen," König greeted, though he was eyeing Roach suspiciously. "Who is this?"
You started to move, grasping your cane in an attempt to stand. König and Roach were both there, helping you up.
"This is. Roach. He is. Friend," you told your protector.
You could see the giant frown. Well, not actually, what with his mask in the way, but you knew him. "Is he, now? Do you remember him?"
"No," you said, somewhat remorseful. "But I. Want. To know him. He is. Safe."
"How can you tell?" Your ever-faithful guardian kept you close, never tearing his eyes away from the unknown element. From your peripheral, you saw Roach shift nervously, and you turned to smile at him.
You shrugged. "Can. Tell. Doesn't hurt. Here," you placed your palm to your heart.
König sighed softly. "We are going to stay in the hangar for a bit, hase. A storm is coming. Are you okay to stay, or do you want to go home?"
You searched Roach's expression. "I want to. Keep. Talking."
"Yes. Can he. Stay?" You asked just as Roach requested, "Can I stay?"
Another sigh, this one weary and long-suffering. But König could never deny you anything. "If his captain approves of it."
You beamed up at him. "Thank. You!"
"Ja, ja. Du bringst mich noch um, frau."
"But a. Pretty death. Right?"
"Of course," he softened, brushing a thumb over your cheek. "The prettiest. Come along, now."
König tilted his head toward the hangar, and you motioned for Roach to follow, who hung to your heels like a lost puppy. König led you, a hand to your lower back, a common position he took. Always and forever your guardian.
Inside the hangar, the rest were already waiting for you. König sat you down at a small, round table near the back, and Nikto plopped a rucksack down next to you. He dug through it, pulling out a container, condensation sticking to the insides from warmth. Alongside it, he retrieved utensils, a bottle of water (pre-opening it for you, the sweetheart), and a juice box.
"Yes, I got. It," you assured. He nodded, lightly knocking his forehead against your temple in the way a cat would. To Roach, who took a seat across from you, he motioned with two fingers between his eyes to Roach, then stalked off.
Once he was gone, Roach commented, "They're very protective of you."
"Crown. Jewels," you replied with a snicker. "Don't mind. Them. They can't help. It."
He huffed a small laugh of his own. It faded as you popped open the container and sniffed its content with a pleased hum. "I… did you really mean it? About starting over?"
You paused, peering up at him through your lashes.
"Do you. Want to. Start. Over?"
"Yes," he answered without hesitation.
You looked pleased with yourself, your eyes twinkling. "Then we start over."
Roach's expression softened. "Thank you."
"No prob. Lem. It's nice to. Meet you…?"
"Uh— Gary. But my friends call me Roach."
You reached across the table to offer him a hand shake. "Roach. How did. You. Get that. Name?"
He chuckled. "Well… it's a long story."
You sweeped your hand out towards the front of the hangar, where the sky was turning a shade of dark teal. "All the time. In. In the. The world."
"Heh, alright. Well, it goes like this…"