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You and Locus had been partners for quite a while. You had been through some serious shit together too. But you had never seen the man cry - no matter what was going on, no matter how much physical pain he had ever been in, you had never seen him cry. Or show any emotion for that matter. And you never expected to either.
~
It was only going to be a few weeks. You were going to be sent a considerable distance from headquarters with a group for a " Level 3 mission " (whatever the hell that meant). Command had said that you would be taking a break from each other's company (Locus's company that it) so that they could reevaluate your skills. You didn't really have any objections to it, seeing as though it wasn't really up to you anyway, but you noticed that Locus had seemed a little on edge after you were dismissed.
You were packing your things and were almost ready to board the Pelican when Locus walked through your door.
" Hey " you said, without turning to face him.
You got no response except for a muffled grunt which you became accustomed to meaning his acknowledgement. When you finished packing, you turned to leave, but you were blocked when Locus stepped in front of you.
" I kind of have to leave " you said with a small smile.
" I know. " was his reply.
" So that kind of means that I need to go like... " you looked down at your watch " now "
" Just... be careful. " Locus said. And with that he left.
You watched him leave. You wondered why he would say that.
Were you not always carful? Did he doubt that you would be carful?
You pushed the thought away and moved onwards to your ship's hanger, hoping that they hadn't left without you.
~
Five weeks later
Locus was miserable to say the least.
After you had left he was put in charge of a squad of rookies.
Fucking rookies.
He hated any and every unnecessary interaction between himself and another person, especially rookies.
So here he was, up at five in the morning because he had to complete a training demonstration for his squad of fucking rookies.
Locus wanted to punch, better yet kill something. He was in a terrible mood. And to make things worse, he had to complete the training with someone he didn't even know, because of you.
You had gone MIA along with the rest of your team about three weeks ago and Locus wasn't entirely sure how do deal with it. He felt as if he shouldn't care, but one part of him wanted to burst into tears while the other part wanted to gut the fucker who had told him that you were missing and presumed dead.
'Why the fuck am I so worked up about this' he though. 'Why the fuck should I care anyway'. He knew that people went missing every day. It was nothing new to him. He had always been prepared for someone to tell him that you've gone missing, but he just didn't know what to do. 'When I find the guy who got her I am going to-'.
Locus stopped dead in his tracks. Even in his early morning blurry vision, he could still see you standing against the wall. You were in your armor that had blood on it and you were messing with your equipment.
~
When you saw him you slid your pistol back into its holster on your leg.
" Um...hi? " you started. You weren't quite sure where to start. You knew he was going to be pissed at you for a lot of things. For not coming to see him as soon as you got back, for not calling into command for help, for well, just about everything. But, he didn't. He didn't even open his mouth. He simply walked over, picked up his rifle and walked over to get his ammo. Almost as if he didn't care at all.
When the simulation started you immediately ran to the nearest heat signature on your radar. You dropped him and ran to the next, simultaneously seeing others drop around Locus.
Once you saw the last target go down, the intercom came on and said the simulation was over. You pulled your helmet off, not remembering the gash along the left side of your face - You had literally just gotten off of the pelican when they told you that you were do for a training session with Locus. They told you that you would receive medical attention as soon as it was over, though you didn't feel that you needed it.
Locus walked up to you and, with quite a bit of force, took your face in his hands. He looked at the gash on your face with both concern and disgust.
" I told you to be careful " He says with a tone that startles you a bit.
But before you can answer he shoves you back and begins to walk away.
" What the fuck is your problem?" You yell at him. " Wha-"
He turns back around and slams you so hard against the wall your vision goes fuzzy for a moment.
" You! You are my fucking problem!" He says in a low, angry voice and practically runs out the door.
You stood there for a second to catch your breathe. In all of the time you had known him, you had never seen Locus like this. In fact, you were a little scared for him. So you waited a few more moments and finally decided to go after him, though you knew you would probably regret it.
First you stopped by your room to drop off your armor, then you made your way over to Locus's room.
You could smell whiskey before you even got to his door. 'Oh shit. He's been drinking.'
You took a deep breathe and knocked twice. When you heard no movement coming from the other side, you knocked again. Still nothing. You knocked a third time before hearing a quiet 'fuck off', you took that as your cue to leave but went inside anyway.
You were greeted with a mixture of sweat and cheap alcohol. You looked around and saw Locus sitting on the edge of his bed with his hands in his lap. From the door you could see at least a dozen empty beer and whiskey bottles scattered about the room. You went further into the bedroom so you could lean against the wall on the opposite side of the room.
" So are you going to tell me what the hell your problem with me is? Or are we going to play like four fucking rounds of 20 Questions? " you said. You got no response, not even a grunt. You stood there for a good minute or two until you began to get impatient.
" Fuck this " you said as you go to leave. Halfway out the door you hear him make a noise that you had never in your life heard him make.
It was a sob.
You turned back around to see Locus sobbing uncontrollably with his hands still in his lap. You moved closer so that you were standing directly in front of him. Your hands were shaking at this point because you honestly had no fucking clue what to do. So you put your hand on the back of his head and began to run your fingers through is hair. He moved closer to you so his forehead fell into your stomach and continued to cry.
" please don't leave me again " he whispered between sobs. At that moment, your heart shattered into an infinite number of pieces.
You could feel him holding onto you as if you were going to disappear forever if he were to let go. You pulled him onto the bed and he rearranged himself so that his arms were around your waist and his face was buried into your neck.
As his heavy breathing subsided, you continued to run your fingers through his hair.
" I'm not going anywhere " you whispered as you both fell asleep, wrapped in each other's arms.