Kelly definitely gave Kurt a big ol hug after they got back to Camp Currahee’s bunker
#YES #but first a punch to the shoulder #THEN a big tight spartan hug (via @jericho-the-princeofspace)
im just letting u know josie that u are personally responsible for this
“Ha-ha, ha!”
Kurt suppressed the urge to admonish Holly for giggling over TEAMCOM. Useless noise while in combat muddied communication for the rest of the team, and Team Saber, no matter how well trained, hadn’t been through the fire of live combat before. But she’d only let her laughter slip out once they’d sealed the bunker and confirmed they were safe from enemy fire, and he had trouble himself stifling a similar reaction, so he let the outburst slide.
“Put Dr. Halsey there,” he ordered to Olivia and Dante with the point of a finger to the southeast corner of the small concrete room. They placed her down with care, folding the thermally reflective blanket back properly over her body and propping her head up with a supply pack. “We’ll check her vitals and take a breather here for now.”
“Orders for us, sir?”
Kurt looked to his left and down. Ash stared up at him, helmet in hand and wavy hair plastered to his head with sweat and blood. He swayed a little where he stood, blinking heavily.
Sleep, he wanted to say. “At ease for now, Spartan,” he said instead, then, after reconsidering, added, “Rotate shifts, thirty minutes each. Keep weapons and armour close.” That last part was unnecessary, but Ash’s sleepy stare made him look half as young as he really was, and it got the better of Kurt for a moment.
The clink of a lighter made him look towards Mendez, who was already in the process of lighting a cigar before he’d even had the chance to properly catch his breath. Kurt didn’t have the time to ask him if he should perhaps have a drink of water first, because Kelly’s fist connected with the left pauldron of his SPI armour, hard enough to dent the reflective material.
He staggered back from the blow, and the impact made every Spartan in the room train their weapon on Kelly. Kurt spammed amber signal status lights at them as he clutched at his shoulder. The barrels of their rifles wavered and lowered after a moment, but none of them stepped out of their defensive stances.
“You’re alive,” Kelly said to him through a private COM. It sounded like an accusation more than anything.
“For now,” he replied warily, nodding his faceplate to the dented pauldron of his armour. He unfastened his helmet with his free hand and stared straight into her visor, knowing it would calm her. He couldn’t see her face, but Kelly was practically vibrating, visible even through her Mjolnir. Twenty years later, and she still wasn’t any better at hiding her emotions. He grinned, feeling the skin of his mouth tighten in a reflexive smile that for once didn’t feel alien on his face.
Kelly went completely still at the gesture, and then he registered movement only a fraction of a second before his feet left the ground and two massive arms wrapped around the comparatively thinner SPI gear he was wearing.
“You’re alive,” she whispered again, this time through her mic so that he could hear her. He returned the hug–though it was more of an arm-lock than a hug–and finally let that small bubble of laughter tucked beneath his ribs escape. It left his lungs too soon, but the hollow space it left behind felt a lot smaller than usual.
“For now,” he replied in kind, letting his words sound as strangled as he felt. Kelly exhaled and took in breath in one sharp second, her own version of a laugh, and put him down after a moment. In her bulkier armour, he had to look up to meet her visor, which she’d depolarized to show her own grin. It looked like home.
“It better stay that way,” she said, and he couldn’t think of disobeying her.
Published
Time's Vengeance 