Chapter Text
One was exhausted. Utterly, gravely exhausted. It felt like the kind of exhaustion where it felt as if he was on the verge of entering cardiac arrest. Though, the thought of actually having one didn’t bother him. He welcomed it. The only way he could truly get rest was in death. He felt so tired that to even grasp onto the doorknob of his room felt like an overwhelming task. Each step felt as if he was trudging through thick mud. Everything was difficult.
With a groan, One rested his bruised and battered body on his bed. An inhale through gritted teeth, a slow exhale through the nose… Even breathing seemed to hurt. Oh yes, he definitely bruised his ribs. With a hand, he raised his shirt and took a glance at his abdomen.
Definitely bruised with various shades of red and yellow, and darkening in other places, but it wasn’t purple or black yet. It wasn’t that much of a concern. He had dealt with worse before. There had even been two breaks in his skin from where the body armor had given away from under the pressure of the bullets impacting it. One was relieved that the armor had caught it, or else it would’ve been incredibly worse had they broken through. A few cuts from the armor seemed better than a bullet to his lungs.
One slowly stood from his bed and made his way to a dresser when there was a knock at his door. He didn’t turn to it but still made his way to the dresser. Opening it up, he grabbed a first aid kit that he kept for himself. While he wasn’t the most skilled in applying first aid, he knew the basics.
There was another knock, sharper. Maybe if he was quiet, maybe they’d think that he was asleep-
“Open the door, One.” Five demanded from the other side of the door. One found himself smirking. Of course, it was Five.
“What do you want, Five?” He asked as he cracked open the first aid kit.
“I want to be let in. I know that you’re hurt, let me help you.”
One raised an eyebrow, his smirk fading away slightly. He wasn’t that obvious about it. He had done a better job at hiding his injuries this time around rather than the fire with Two. This was far easier to handle than burns over his back and torso.
“I’m perfectly fine, Five-”
“Don’t make me get Two. You know that she’ll break this door right down.”
He knew that wasn’t a hollow threat. As fast as he could without agitating his abdomen further, he made his way to the door and opened it up. The door revealed a pissed-off Five with her large and intimidating first aid kit that she had brought with her.
“You know, you don’t need Two to knock down the door,” One motioned to the kit. “You could just use that.”
Five let out a rather mocking laugh, smiling with a fake smile before she frowned at him. She stepped into the room and looked over him.
“Maybe I’ll use this to knock some sense into you- If you’re hurt, you come to me about it. You don’t take care of any of your injuries on your own, got it?” She spoke firmly, grabbing onto One’s arm to drag him over to the chair he kept beside an empty desk. One didn’t bother fighting against her and he let himself be shoved into the seat. He held back a wince.
“This isn’t a big deal, Two. I’m not going to come to you over a papercut.”
“This isn’t a papercut, One. You were shot.”
“No, I wasn’t-”
“Billy might've not been there when it happened, but he was nearby to heat it. He told me that he heard two gunshots, heard you react to the impact, and then he heard you hit the ground. He said you were gasping for air like a fish out of water. How are you going to lie to me that you didn’t get shot when you very obviously got shot?”
One grimaced at the use of Four’s real name. He decided not to comment on that.
“I got shot, sure, but the armor caught it. I didn’t get injured by it.”
Five looked him dead in the eye before she reached out and poked One in his chest. There was hardly any pressure behind the touch, but it was still enough to cause One to flinch back at the unexpected pain.
“Didn’t get hurt, huh?”
“It’s just a bruise.”
“Bruises count as getting hurt.”
“It’s fine, Five.” One insisted. He went to stand from the chair only for her to place a hand on his shoulder and make him take his place once more. There wasn’t any pressure in her touch: She simply steered him back into his seat.
“I’ll be the judge if it’s fine or not. Come on, up. Let me see.” Five opened up the first aid kit and opened a sealed bag of sterilized gloves. She slipped them on carefully and gathered her disinfectant and bandages.
One let out a sigh. There was utterly no point in trying to argue anymore. He was just tired and in dire need of sleep. He grabbed onto the bottom of his shirt and lifted it up to show her his torso.
“As I said, the body armor caught it, but it cracked in the process. It gave me a few little cuts, and I have some bruising. Other than that, I’m all good. I can deal with this myself.”
“I’d be a horrible doctor if I let one of my patients tend to their injuries themselves,” Five huffed. She got to work.
One watched as she began to clean out the injury. With a small, sterilized tweezer and a steady hand, Five worked meticulously to remove any of the ceramic compositions that broke through the Kevlar of his body armor. He was rather… Amazed at how quickly she got the bits out, and just how many tinier pieces there had been when she had them all set out in a small petri dish. He reminded himself once more that she was a professional: She made a living out of taking care of others. This was her specialty. One was sure that if he had been the one to tend to his own injury, he would’ve left some of the pieces in his skin. It would’ve been a problem for another time.
Once they were removed, she began to carefully disinfect the small injuries, most of which had begun to bleed with her poking and prodding. He hissed as the antiseptic was applied with a soft cotton ball. Five seemed to smile.
“Aw, don’t be a baby, One.”
“I’m not being a baby,” he huffed. “Just not a fan of the alcohol burning.”
“It’ll last for only a few seconds.” She laughed before quieting down once more as she focused entirely on the cuts. Within a few moments, they were cleaned up and ointment was applied to them to prevent any inflammation and infection.
“Well, I have good news for you,” Five stuck bandages to his injuries before she looked him in the eye. “You’re going to live.”
“Oh, thank you, doctor, how ever can I repay you?” He let out a dramatic sigh of relief, which brought another flare of pain to his ribs.
“By getting bed rest,” She deadpanned and slipped her gloves off, placing them back into the bag she got them from. All of the supplies she had used, she stuffed into the bag, intending on properly disposing them at another time. “I’m going to go get you some ice for your ribs, okay? You really do need bed rest, One.”
“Bed rest, huh? Sounds cursed,” One shook his head. “There’s plenty of things I could be doing right now-”
“Like getting bed rest.”
“Like continuing to gather information on our next target. Come on, Five-”
Five lifted the large first aid kit in a threatening manner, causing One to raise his hands up in self-defense. He instantly regretted giving her the idea of using it as a potential weapon.
“What was that, One?” She asked.
“I meant, the thing I could be doing right now is- Bed rest, yes, that, that’s what I meant, yeah, that,” One rambled, hoping to satisfy her. He stood from the chair and hobbled to his bed, taking a seat.
He watched as Five headed to the open closet of his, where she picked a blue t-shirt and tossed it over to him.
“You should probably at least change your shirt, get into something comfier. The one you’re wearing isn’t in the best of shape, you can see the little holes where the armor cut through.”
One looked down at his shirt and let out a hum. Somehow he had missed that. The bandages could be seen through the slits. Right, it would be better to change the shirt. Before he could thank Five for handing him a new one, she had already left the room to get the ice.
It was… Quite a struggle to get the damaged shirt over his head. It was difficult to raise his arms when the motion agitated his torso, so he ended up wrestling with the shirt before he managed to slip it off. To put the new one on was an easier task. He was thankful to finally be able to lay down, where he let out a relieved sigh. It felt nice to get some pressure off of his ribs.
Five entered the room in just a few moments with a bag of ice in her grasp and a towel over her shoulder. She sat beside One and wrapped the bag up in the towel, motioning for him to take it. He graciously took the bag and lifted his shirt to place it underneath. He jumped slightly at the cold contact with it, but found relief in the coldness almost instantly.
“Five, you’re my favorite,” He told her with a nod of his head. “This is- Nice. I wasn’t going to bother getting ice, I was just going to take care of it and sleep it off.”
“This is why you need me, to take care of your dumb ass and everyone else’s,” She offered him a smile before she became stern once more. “One, I mean it. If there’s any kind of injury, and I mean, any kind, you come to me about it, okay? That’s what I’m here to do: To take care of everyone and make sure everyone’s in perfect health. That’s my job. Let me do my job, okay? Be honest with me.”
“I’ll be honest.” He said, like a liar.
Five was used to being around liars.
She raised the first aid kit once more.
“I’ll be honest!” He exclaimed.
“I know you’re used to taking care of things on your own, but the point of having a team is so you don’t have to shoulder everything. We all do our own part and we take care of each other. Let me take care of you. If you’re worried about sharing weakness, about being vulnerable, then I’ll keep it from the team. Think of it as the same kind of privacy you have with your doctor, where nothing is shared unless you give permission on who to share it with. Everything will be confidential, I won’t expose anything to anyone. I just need you to be transparent with me. Can you do that, One?”
Hearing her speak… Shit, Five must’ve become an angel when she ‘died.’ She was far too good for the team. He warily eyed the first aid kit. An angel with a warhammer. He swore that the kit could be used to kill someone, and if he wasn’t careful, he would be the first person killed with it.
His gaze returned to her, where he nodded.
“Okay, I’ll be honest with you,” he said earnestly, growing slightly sheepish at his tone. He quickly cleared his throat, ignoring Five’s growing smile. “You are the team’s doctor, after all. I’ll be honest with you, just don’t let the team know when I’m hurt. I don’t need them to bother me about it, especially if it’s over some dumb shit.”
“Your information is confidential, One.” Five held out her hand and One reached out. They shook on it. He found that he was surprised at how soft and gentle her grasp was. Of all of them, her hands were perhaps the kindest and gentlest, just as she was. While she was capable of kicking ass like everyone else, her kindness hit on a more personal level. Empathetic, just like Three. He shook his head slightly, ridding himself of those thoughts. Those thoughts didn’t matter.
“I’ll make my leave, I’ll let you get some rest. Keep the ice on. When it melts, text me, and I’ll get you more,” Five stood and headed to the door. She opened it, and before she could step out, Eight slipped through the door, purring as she brushed herself against Five’s leg.
Five let out a small laugh as she reached down to pet the cat. She nuzzled against the palm of her hand before she made her way towards One’s bed. With one swift leap, she landed on the bed and curled up against the man’s side, purring loudly.
One’s face displayed disgust and he reached out to move her off of the bed.
“What did I say about the cat being in my room, Five? I don’t want the cat in my room-”
“I know that Eight sleeps with you either in here or in the lounge. You don’t have to act like you don’t like her, I think you might actually be her favorite,” Five smiled and let out a laugh, growing amused at the shock written all over his face. “Don’t worry, One. This can be confidential too.”
The man was silent as his hand rested on Eight’s fur, where he gently stroked the kitten’s head.
“Thank you, Five,” One’s voice softened as he motioned to his abdomen. “I appreciate this- For- Patching me up, keeping Eight a secret, and for- Everything else that you do.”
Five watched One for a moment, taking his words in for a moment before she offered him another soft smile.
“I’m always happy to help,” She said as she took a hold of the doorknob. “Get some rest, One. You deserve it. Thank you for opening up with me and being honest. I appreciate that, and everything that you do as well.”
And with that, she left the room, shutting the door quietly on her way out. One looked at the door for a moment before he turned his gaze to the ceiling, staring and acknowledging every little detail of it. With one hand on Eight’s head and his other on the ice bag to keep it pressed against his abdomen, he felt just how exhausted he was. Five was right, he really did need rest.
He found himself drifting off to sleep to the sound of Eight’s purring.
It was a restful night of sleep, the first he's had in a very, very long time.