Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"Weaver, Weaver ? Wake up."

"No, a few more minutes." Mason yawned and snuggled deeper into the strong arms that held her. A faint amusement that wasn't her own filled her, unconsciously her lips twitched into a smile. She opened her eyes to see the side of a tanned neck. What was going on ? Oh, right. Crashed helicopters, giant weird animals and crazy Santa Clauses were normal now. Even as she thought it, she regretted it. It wasn't Marlow's fault that the Iwi didn't have a verbal language. Marlow could've made them sleep outside, but he'd invited them in anyway. Marlow had also run out of rush mats and blankets, even holey ones, so Conrad had offered to share his.

Marlow started cajoling her. "C'mon, Weaver, wake-y wake-y, although we don't have any eggs 'n bacy. Well, actually we do have eggs, but no bacon. Real bacon tastes a lot better than imaginary bacon, I remember that much. Now, what we do have is some maize porridge with these little dried bits in them. Yeah, Gunpei and I never did figure out if they were actually fruit or ya know, bugs, but extra protein, right ?"

"Uh, y-yeah. Right, Conrad ?"

"Of course, we'll need all the strength we can get."

A shiver ran down her spine as Conrad's voice rumbled against her back. Of course, Conrad wasn't joking about it either. Well, at least the porridge couldn't taste any worse than re-reheated MREs. As she pushed the blanket off, she noticed that almost everybody was looking at her and Conrad. Brooks and San were looking at each other. She scowled as she sat up to run her fingers through her hair, so what if they'd shared bedding ? It wasn't like they'd slept together. Even if they had, it wouldn't've been any of the others' business. She followed Marlow and Conrad outside. Until it was time to let her emotions out, a bit of morbid humour would have to do.

Breakfast couldn't possibly crash and burn worse than their helicopter.

Chapter Text

Marlow's boat was safer than most of the places Conrad'd laid his head to rest while in the Special Air Service and as a mercenary. Due to his conditioning, he'd already been awake for hours by the time Slivko and the rest got up. Well, all except for one. The one who wasn't awake yet was Weaver. Softly, he whispered. "Weaver, Weaver, wake up."

"No-o, a few more minutes." Weaver yawned and wriggled closer against him, her breath warmed the side of his neck.

Unconsciously, he tightened his arms around Weaver. He didn't mind sharing a reed mat and ratty blanket with her, which was odd in itself. He'd never let his one-night stands get this close, yet Weaver was different. Maybe it was just the sleepy innocence in Weaver's voice, but he couldn't help being amused. He also couldn't quite put his finger on the reason why, but he knew that he'd rather die than let anything hurt her.

Marlow spoke up from where he sat on his own ratty bed. "C'mon, Weaver, wake-y wake-y, although we don't have any eggs 'n bacy. Well, actually we do have eggs, but no bacon. Real bacon tastes a lot better than imaginary bacon, I remember that much. Now, what we do have is some maize porridge with these little dried bits in them. Yeah, Gunpei and I never did figure out if they were actually fruit or ya know, bugs, but extra protein, right ?"

"Uh, y-yeah. Right, Conrad ?" 

Conrad cleared his throat before he replied. "Of course, we'll need all the strength we can get." 

Hell, he'd been one of few from his batch of S.A.S. recruits to survive the final test all thanks to a handful of crickets. It was just an acquired taste. Still, Weaver didn't seem the type to like eating insects so for her sake he hoped that it was dried fruit. At least the Iwi had an abundance of clean water. Although he still didn't like the idea of all the potential diseases, the bacteria that they could be exposing themselves and the Iwi to. Apart from Marlow, the Iwi'd been isolated for hundreds or possibly thousands of years. By all accounts, they had adapted to completely different diseases than modern humanity. If the Iwi had adapted to an unfamiliar strain of malaria and one of them caught it could kill them in a day or two. Meanwhile, if they ended up giving the Iwi scarlet fever it could wipe out the Iwi's whole population. They had to find a way to the ex-fil site quickly, to minimize potential exposure for everyone.

He loosened his grip as he felt Weaver start to move away. She sat up, her hair stuck up on one side of her head as she pushed the blanket off. An annoyance he didn't personally feel welled within him when he realized that Marlow and Slivko were staring at Weaver. Marlow's at least seemed wistful while Slivko's felt resigned. He allowed himself another second of his reprieve then got up and started for the door after Marlow.

If only two people ended up getting to the ex-fil site he'd do his damndest to make sure it was Weaver and Marlow. They hadn't known what they were getting themselves into. They deserved to live long, happy lives away from these horrors. 

Unlike him.