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arrowflier · 3 years ago

Note

I'm pretty sure you've already done this, but I've been watching the 'holy shit I'm hard' scene and now I'd like more Ian using a gun and mickey unable to keep it in his pants stories. Anything will do.

Relevant to your interests: Betting On Bullets

Hostile Negotiations (on AO3 or continue below)

Ian crouches behind an old, rusted vehicle, back flat against the metal. It's hot through his regulation uniform, the sturdy cotton blend no match for the high summer sun. Sweat sticks it to his skin, makes it a struggle to fish around in the cargo pocket of his pants for his radio.

It's too late for that anyway, he realizes quickly. Footsteps sound nearby, just on the other side of his refuge, and voices come with them: two, three maybe, whispering observations and orders.

"Are you sure he came this way, soldier?" The voice was light, high, young. A woman, or a boy perhaps, of high rank. "I don't have to tell you what will happen if he escapes."

Ian stays still. Stops himself from looking, breathes slow and quiet. Waits.

"He's around here somewhere, captain." A deeper voice, older, sure. "Don't worry, we'll flush him out."

The confidence in that statement might have left a different soldier afraid. The enemy was already so close, so confident; a different soldier might just give in to the inevitable, stand, and surrender.

But Ian Gallagher isn't just any soldier. And he isn't going down without a fight.

He waits a few careful breaths longer. Hears two sets of footsteps break off, each in it's own direction. To search or to trap, he can't be sure, but it hardly matters now. Only one pair if boots crunches past the nose of the broken-down vehicle he hides behing, kicking up a cloud of dirt, and only one gun's muzzle glints in the sun.

He sticks out a leg between the two advancing on him, braces himself, and waits for impact.

“The fu—?” comes the deep voice form earlier as a shin catches on Ian’s ankle, the words cut off as a heavy body bangs down into the dirt.

“Stay down!” Ian barks, scrambling to his feet. He grabs up his gun, a too-large thing he was stuck with after losing his pistol in an earlier skirmish, and takes aim right at the center of the cloud of dust created by the fall.

Then the dust clears.

And his enemy looks up at him with familiar blue eyes, eyes that dart up and down Ian’s frame with cold calculation.

"Well," he drawls, having regained his breath with surprising speed, "look who we have here.”

He grins, broad and open, completely unconcerned that he’s flat on his back with Ian’s gun trained on him.

“GI Gallagher,” he greets easily, as if they had met at the store and not on opposite sides of the battlefield. “All alone out here in the open."

Ian snorts.

"Looks to me like you're the one who's exposed," he says back, raking his own gaze over the other man’s prone form. "Major Milkovich."

That grin widens.

"So you remember me,” the other man says. “Good"

"What can I say?” Ian returns with a shrug, keeping his weapon level. “I like to know a man's name before I kill him.”

"That so?” Milkovich asks coyly, shifting slowly onto his knees. He rises on them, hands still spread to the side, bringing his face level with Ian’s aimed gun.

“You gonna shoot me, Gallagher?” he prompts, scooting forward. His knees drag through the dirt until Ian stops him, tapping the side of his head with the muzzle of his gun before bringing it back in front of his face.

Milkovich halts obediently, but his smirk is anything but.

“Do you even know how to use that thing?” he questions, nodding at the long barrel. “Shotguns ain't regulation, Army."

Ian clenches his teeth.

“As far as I know,” he grits out, adjusting his stance and readying his trigger finger, “I point and pull the trigger.”

Milkovich’s lips just spread wider, a flash of white teeth behind them.

“Mmm,” he hums, and shuffles one knee closer again. He laughs when Ian prods the center of his forehead with his gun, and doesn’t back away.

“You can pull my trigger anytime, soldier,” he adds, almost a purr. He presses his head more firmly against the weapon that threatens him, looks up at Ian through his lashes. He licks his lips, bites one obscenely, then pulls back just far enough to rise further onto his knees.

Ian is frozen. His finger is on the trigger, but he can’t make it pull. All he can do is watch as his enemy moves, as the gun traces over a temple and down a smooth cheek, never parted from pale, sweat-damp skin. And then the gun is at Milkovich’s lips, and they’re opening. He drags that the tip of that wet, pink tongue along the rim of the shotgun, dips it just inside where it's filthy, and warm, and open, and he--

Gags, quite loudly, drawing away at speed.

"Mickey," Ian says, breathless, shocked. "Did you just--"

"Yup," Mickey chokes out, retching dryly. He sticks out his abused tongue, drags it back in through his teeth, and shudders.

Ian blinks at him.

"But you knew that it was--"

"Paper mache," Mickey finishes for him, wiping a hand over his mouth. "Yup."

"And you still--"

"Jesus Christ Gallagher," Mickey cuts in, face and neck redder than the sun can account for. "You always interrogate a man when he's tryin' to be fuckin'--"

"Kapow!"

Mickey’s brow wrinkles, and Ian can feel his doing the same. They turn to the side, away from the old van, to where Franny stands proudly with her own glitter-encrusted weapon.

"Got you Uncle Mickey!" she cheers, pumping the thing in the air in victory. It’s small compared to Ian’s carefully crafted twelve-gauge, or even compared to the fake, now-crushed Glock in Mickey’s back pocket. But it’s serviceable, a mimic of the revolver Sandy always favored, with one major alteration:

A tiny, plastic lightsaber stuck on the end like a bayonet.

"Good fightin’, little Red,” Mickey congratulates, stepping forward to ruffle her hair. She beams up at him, ever the proud niece.

“Which part did ya get me with?" he asks then, poking at the flimsy addition to her weapon, and her beam turns into a pout.

"Doesn't matter!" she claims, but he shakes his head.

"I mean, it's gonna be the difference between dead or mostly dead, so yeah,” he argues, albeit with a smile. “It matters."

"You're not dead, silly,” Franny counters. “You're just out! You gotta go sit with Uncle Lip now!"

She waves her toy toward the house, where Lip sat in a lawn chair with Freddy on his lap. Mickey grimaces at the little wave his brother-in-law offers when he sees them looking, and turns to Ian with a plaintive look.

Ian just shrugs.

"Sorry, Mick,” he says, not sounding it at all. “Rules are rules."

Mickey narrows his eyes, opens his mouth to argue—

And abruptly things better of it.

“Esteemed General Gallagher,” he says, turning to Franny again, “I’m afraid I’ve been wounded most griv—” He frowns. “Gre…” Shakes his head. “Pretty fucking bad,” he finishes instead as she giggles. “If I could head inside to see a medic…”

Franny snaps to attention, her little brow furrowed.

“Report to the medic tent at once Major Milkovich!” she orders, then turns to Ian. “And as for you—“

"Bang," Mickey deadpans, aiming his decimated toy gun vaguely in Ian’s direction. "Oh no, accidental discharge,” he says to a gaping Franny. “Guess your Uncle Ian has to come with me."

“You should be more careful with guns, Uncle Mickey," Franny scolds. “Now I have to beat everybody by myself.”

She turns on her heel and stomps away in a huff, leaving them both swallowing laughter as they watch.

“You heard the kid, Gallagher,” Mickey mutters once she’s out of earshot. “Time to play doctor.”

He turns and heads toward the house, tossing a smirk back over his shoulder.

“And you better bring that gun of yours with ya,” he adds with a wink. “For safety."

Ian nearly crumples said gun in his hand in his eagerness to obey.

#daily speedwrite #gallavich #fanfic #ian gallagher #mickey milkovich #franny gallagher #toy guns

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innranrae · 3 years ago

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🐚 A Birthday Amidst the Archipelago

A/N: oneshot for my fav russian boys bday, i included the golden apple archipelago bc it was the most fun event/area I've experienced in genshin so far and I'll miss it a lot but at least it's inazuma and electro aether time, anyways hope you enjoy this and if you have suggestions/tips on writing or anything please lmk! I'm new to it all and I'm trying my best ;w; my friend proofread this tho and shes big brain so id say this one is pretty swaggy

￫ pairing(s): Zhongli/Childe, Aether/Venti (kinda platonic tbh), Venti and Dvalin vibing

￫ word count: ~ 3k

￫ cw: alcohol

￫ ao3

🏖️

Zhongli sensed a large being coming from the skies of Duyun Ruins. He did not want to believe it, but his doubts were soon confirmed.

Dvalin descended from the clouds with a heavy thud, sending the living creatures around either running or flying. Mounted on the Dragon of the East were Venti and Aether; The bard wore a pair of sunglasses and a light attire that shocked Zhongli to the core, he had thought the anemo archon could not get any more ludicrous, but it appears he was mistaken.

A slight frown grew on his face watching the scene and the geo archon couldn’t help but raise his palm to his face, sighing. On the flip side, Childe was astonished; his eyes sparkled observing Dvalin, considering what the outcome would be if they were to fight.

—

2 days earlier

“Traveler,

It has been some time since we last saw each other. I do hope your ventures are going smoothly.

I am writing to you to request assistance with an event that will take place two days from now. As you may know, Childe’s birthday is on the 20th of this month and I have been finding it hard to come up with a suitable gift. I wish to surprise him but nothing that fits my criteria comes to mind, in addition to the fact I am still adjusting to mortal life and their festivals.

If you do not mind and, of course, if you are free that day, I hope you can help me with this matter.

Zhongli”

After sending his letter to Aether, Zhongli straightened his shoulders on the stool at one of Heyu Tea House’s tables, raising a cup of steaming tea to his mouth, and waited for his guest to arrive.

“Receiving an invitation from Mr. Zhongli first sure feels nice,” a voice shouted coming from the stairs.

Zhongli glanced at the harbinger who took a seat by his side, “Childe, do you have any plans for your birthday?”

Childe widened his eyes slightly, “Birthday?” He raised his hand thoughtfully to his face. “Oh, my birthday! Hm… Is Mr. Zhongli planning on giving me some type of gift?” The harbinger smiled playfully.

“Please answer my question.”

“Nope! None at all.”

In actuality, Childe should be busy taking care of the Fatui’s business around Liyue; unfortunately for his underlings, he was going to do whatever he wanted either way. Additionally, he had a feeling Mr. Zhongli’s question was not trivial, and speculated the archon probably wanted to make plans.

“I see."

Unexpectedly, instead of proceeding on that topic, Zhongli said nothing more as he took another sip of his tea.

Despite the surprising lack of further development, he forgot about it as soon as Zhongli started to talk about a Ruin Hunter he encountered the prior day in the fields.

He knew by now what topics intrigued Childe's simple warrior mind, and that alone had Childe rambling about fighting tactics and his own experiences to Zhongli, occasionally trying to convince the archon to fight him, which he politely refused.

—

Meanwhile, at the Golden Apple Archipelago...

"I could really use a hand over here, Venti!" Aether's cry for help could barely be heard over the shrieking group of hilichurls advancing one after the other.

"But I-"

After unleashing a wind vortex from his palm, Aether glared at the bard, who was leisurely plucking the strings of his lyre on top of a rock. "Playing a battle song isn't helping!" He cut Venti off, resulting in the end of Venti's untimely concert with lots of whining.

After jumping off the rock, the bard shot an arrow that sent the group of monsters flying altogether.

The pair had a short-lived moment of relief, but soon the eerie sound of a horn was heard, indicating that more enemies were on their way. Aether groaned while Venti giggled nervously, and so, they had to return to their combat stances.

Not long after engaging, the traveler heard a short sound that made him stop his blade.

“Oh, I’ve got mail,” Aether walked a few steps from the fighting, reading the message while leaving the bard to get the monsters’ attention.

Venti's eyes widened at the sudden rush of monsters coming directly at him, though luckily, he sent them flying once again.

“Woah~ Don’t do that so suddenly, traveler, so mean!”

After reading Zhongli’s message, Aether was deep in thought, looking around as if searching for something, until his eyes met the green-colored ones of the anemo archon that reciprocated the eye contact, with a touch of wonder.

Zhongli opened the new mail he received, analyzing the few words Aether had sent.

“Meet us by Duyun Ruins at 9 in the morning, bring Childe with you.”

“Meet us? If I am not mistaken, Paimon has been staying with Xiangling, and didn’t show any signs of wanting to leave any time soon. Perhaps she can easily travel back and forth,” Zhongli thought to himself.

—

Present Day, Duyun Ruins

Jumping from the dragon’s back, Venti beamed, “Morax! Long time no see~!” Arms wide open as he threw himself towards his old friend. But before he got too close, Zhongli shielded himself, and instead of a hug, Venti’s face was compressed against the solid surface of the geo shield.

Venti staggered a step back from the impact, raising his hand to his cheek, now starting to swell, “Ow!” He pouted.

Zhongli tried to keep his cool, throwing a look at the two boys who recently arrived,waiting for an explanation.

Aether catches on the meaningful gaze and reassures, “Don’t worry, I think we avoided being noticed by anyone.”

“Yeah, Dvalin here is… Well, he tries to be discreet when flying around. After all, I was the one who taught him that~" Venti put a hand on the dragon's body while the other gave Zhongli a thumbs up.

"Saying you were the one who taught him does not reassure me one bit…" Zhongli’s veins were protruding from distress by now. "Aside from that, aren't you supposed to be more careful not to expose your identity in front of the common folk?"

The three other men stared at Zhongli in confusion, exchanging looks between themselves, "Common folk?" Venti asked. Childe was the first to realize he was probably talking about him and began laughing at the Zhongli's seemingly forgetfulness.

"Morax, you sure only remember what you want, huh. Even I know from the traveler's stories that this boy here is the eleventh harbinger of the Fatui. If that harbinger lady took my gnosis, I'm sure this kid knows my identity by now," Venti reassured while Aether slowly nodded, feeling second-hand embarrassment.

Zhongli was at a loss for words, raising his fist to his mouth, awkwardly coughing. On the other hand, the harbinger found the situation quite funny and patted Morax's back a few times while giggling.

Zhongli met Aether's eyes, "Nevertheless, what I desire to know is why that bard and his dragon are here?"

"Well, you’ll see when we get there," Aether reassured, getting back on the dragon's back along with Venti.

Childe cheerfully jumped on, extending his hand down to the geo archon who bashfully accepted, pointedly ignoring the meaningful grins the two other boys directed at him. And with little effort, Dvalin took off to the Golden Apple Archipelago.

The Snezhnayan boy's eyes gleamed with excitement from his first-ever experience that high up, sitting between behind Aether and in front of Zhongli.

Though, his laxity almost made the reddish mask on his hair fly away, luckily being rescued by the man behind him.

"Thank you!" The powerful gushes of wind made his words difficult to understand, yet enough for Zhongli to understand them.

If any normal person would travel through the clouds in the back of a dragon for the first time in their life, surely they would practice caution or be a little wary of their surroundings.

However, because Childe was Childe, an expert in adapting fast to just about anything, the journey on the skies was far from frightening.

A few minutes had passed and the boys were already close to their destination, and with his usual carefree expression, Venti looked back at the men behind him, yelling as Dvalin descended, "Hold on tight!"

With another loud thud, Dvalin settled at the northwestern part of Twinning Isle. Aether grew anxious in anticipation, waiting for Childe to see the preparations that he and Venti had come up with in such a short timeframe.

They had the inspiration from Alice's surprise for Klee, though not as crafty as she was. With the help of Tubby back in the Serenitea Pot, he managed to decorate the place nicely with newly crafted objects.

Umbrellas and chairs painted a light shade of sky blue sat next to fishing rods, Sea Ganodermas and conches decorated the sand in a path leading to a gazebo, which had seashells and starfishes hang from the wooden ceiling, surrounded by curtains.

And inside of it, one chest stored miscellaneous things, while the one next to it contained something that Venti declared extremely necessary: summer clothing he managed to acquire. In addition to the clothes he prepared, the anemo archon was also tasked with providing the food and drinks.

Visibly so as there were at least three bottles of either dandelion or osmanthus wine for every single dish on the table. Which, of course, was all paid for with the traveler's Mora.

All in all, the table was charmingly organized. A cake with a whale drawn on top of it sat in the middle of it all, while balloons were tied to the wooden table.

Upon reaching the sand, Childe was fascinated. The ocean breeze brushing against his face, the warm sunlight of the Archipelago and the salty waves gently crashing onto the tide united all the scenery together.

He’d never seen such a tropical place in his life, so unfamiliar in comparison to his frozen homeland's weather and features.

Lost in admiration for the scenery, he had already forgotten that it was his birthday, only remembering when Zhongli called out his name, directing him to look ahead where the decorated area was put, in preparation for the celebration to commence.

Venti leaned back against Dvalin's tail, already playing a melody, as the other three walked along the decorated path.

Aether fastened his steps, going ahead and getting a small box. Then, turning back to the birthday boy, he extended the gift.

"Happy birthday, Childe."

The harbinger let out a small "thank you" before opening it.

His blue eyes twinkled as he grabbed the content inside the box for closer examination. It was a bright piece of wood with a smaller version of him, Teucer and Aether drawn on it, as well as a ruin guard, or “Mr. Cyclops” as his little brother would say, stood behind them.

Without thinking, Childe embraced Aether tightly with a wide smile across his face, and at the display of the ginger’s excitement, the traveler couldn't help but feel accomplished.

After the gift was exchanged, Venti pointed out the clothes he had prepared, which made Zhongli flinch at the thought of wearing sunglasses as eccentric as his. Luckily, they were just lighter clothes, not accessories.

Childe, already excited from the exotic scenery, went on ahead to change his clothes behind a tall rock.

Zhongli and Aether walked towards the same location, at a much slower pace than the Snezhnayan boy, who was already out of sight.

“Thank you for your efforts, traveler. You managed to surprise me as well,” Zhongli finally got the chance to say.

“It was no problem at all. I’m having fun and the ‘tone-deaf bard’ was a great help, too.”

Childe emerged from behind the rock suddenly, wearing shorts and a shirt that was presumably supposed to be buttoned up. As a matter of fact, all the attires were of a similar design, the few differences being their color schemes, a few patterns, and the boy’s usual accessories.

Before any reaction, they heard monstrous noises getting closer to the shelter. A group of hilichurls nearby seemed to have been alarmed by the dragon’s arrival.

Something inside Childe’s mind clicked and he immediately turned the way of the shrieks, getting ready to fight, “Leave them to me!”

“Oh I was counting on that,” Aether affirmed as Venti nodded. Knowing very well of the harbinger’s passion for fighting, they speculated about the attack and gladly attached it to the list of events for that day.

Aether’s words were thrown at no one though, since Childe had left as soon as those four words left his lips earlier, leaving no time to receive any reaction from the others.

Bad luck for those poor hilichurls, honestly.

Childe's hydro blades moved swiftly, leaving droplets in the sand as they slashed one after the other, ending each almost instantly, leaving little space for a counterattack. He only stopped moving when there were no more of the monsters around, either because they were actually all dead or ran away from fear.

Coming back to the shelter’s path, Childe saw that they were now fishing, which made him joyfully run to join them, and noticing that he was back, Zhongli offered Childe a fishing rod and a seat next to himself.

“Oh man, this takes me back to the old days with my dad,” The ginger said while settling down on the beach chair, “Though the temperatures are the complete opposite, haha. I wonder if my family would survive the extreme change in the weather, though.”

Zhongli and Aether listened attentively while holding their rods, all the while, the anemo archon, visibly tipsy, communicated with Dvalin nearby.

“How come you managed to adapt this easily to the sudden climate change, Childe?” Zhongli asked.

“A warrior must always adapt to any situation. If I let the heat get the best of me, I'm weakened, consequently leaving myself open to enemy attacks."

"Damn, he never changes. If it isn't about his family, the answer is always related to being a fighter… Well, it is almost comforting in a way." Aether thought, mentallyrolling his eyes while taking a sip of the drink Venti had given him.

"I see," Zhongli seriously responded, "It is indeed true. Keeping one's body and mind stable is a must when facing laborious challenges."

Childe was filled with joy upon hearing the acknowledgement. It was always pleasant to hear someone who understood his point of view.

The traveler shifted his attention upon feeling a small force pulling down the

rod.

A fish had finally taken the bait, and the eyes of the two men also moved towards him when they heard the small "oh" Aether let out.

They all rejoiced at the successful catch and its size, and the traveler went straight ahead to prepare a meal for them.

—

As the day went by, they had almost checked everything on the task list; They fished for a while, Aether showed the mechanisms and puzzles that Klee's mom prepared, even landing his Harpastum so Childe could try them, he also taught them how to ride and summon the Waverider, they exchanged various anecdotes, as well as how the traveler came across the Archipelago in the first place, describing the whole Dodo King saga, and finally, filled themselves with food and drinks.

The sun rapidly fell under the horizon, merging the last colored rays of marigold into the indigo night sky. Venti had managed to convince the traveler to drink with him throughout the day and, needless to say, they were quite drunk by now, though both of them had a high tolerance and were somehow still acting civilized.

While Dvalin slept, the four men sat on the sand, listening to Venti sing around the crackling campfire.

When the bard began to sing a piece about Snezhnaya, Childe seemed to have recalled something.

He shuffled through his belongings, grabbing a bottle with a clear liquid, “This was a gift I received earlier, it’s a Snezhnayan specialty alcohol, Fire-Water!”

Aether gulped nervously at the familiar name. He had heard the stories around Mondstadt, how Master Diluc spent three days in bed after drinking a single glass of it, leading to the unsuccessful partnership with the Snezhnayan merchants.

Childe poured the liquid into separate cups and went around distributing them to the boys. Sitting back in his original spot, he continued, “As per tradition, we have to down the cup in one go!”

Venti was all in for the proposal, and despite their concern at first, Zhongli and Aether respected the birthday boy’s wish.

After raising their cups in a toast, they all drank the beverage at once.

Childe cheered, rambling about how he missed the taste of the drink. Zhongli seemed to be unaffected, calm as always, smiling and listening to the Snezhnayan boy.

However, Aether didn’t seem so well, he had expected the feeling, but because of the previous drinks he shared with the bard, it seemed to have had a stronger effect on him.

Aether wasn't the most affected by the drink, though.

That one shot was the ultimatum for Venti. His vision was blurry and he couldn’t stop laughing, which alarmed the others, but before they could take action and ask what was wrong, the archon fell into the sand, a grin on his face as he passed out.

After the realization of what just happened, Aether was the first to talk, “Um, I’ll take him to the shelter. I’m feeling a bit… dizzy too. I’ll get some sleep, haha,” He was making a great effort to sound coherent.

“Hope you enjoyed your day, Childe.”

A sincere smile was directed towards the boy sitting next to Zhongli. That expression warmed Childe’s heart. Aether had put great effort into this whole day and he could tell.

Childe was about to open his mouth to say something after the traveler turned his back to them while carrying Venti, but was stopped by the blonde, “Oh, there’s something I forgot to say. If you go west from here you will find another island with a shipwreck on top of the, um… Rock structure thing. It’s a good place to watch the stars. Anyways, hehe, good night.”

That piqued the two tall men’s interest, and after watching Aether and Venti enter the shelter, Childe looked at Zhongli, who was already standing up, as if he shared the same idea as the other.

A short cruise to the Nameless Isle later, Zhongli and Childe were already walking side by side through the tide, leaving steady footprints on the sand’s surface.

When the two stopped to both admire the place and look for a way to get to the top of the rocky mountain, Zhongli noticed a mural on the rock, which showed a shipwreck and what seemed to be a few people trying to save each other.

The archon was pondering about the meaning of it when he heard Childe’s voice from behind him.

“Mr. Zhongli, there’s a wind current over here!”

Zhongli went to the other’s location, noticing the current that led to the top of the mountain.

Without much effort, both of them got to the original destination: The shipwreck Aether mentioned.

It was indeed a tragic but beautiful place; a place where one could watch the azure starry sky, pale moon glowing brightly.

The two found a spot to sit near the ship that once sailed the seas, and watched the galaxies above them.

Childe offered another shot of the Fire-Water, which the both of them shared. Zhongli closed his eyes, deep in thought.

He had been trying to find the chance to give Childe his birthday gift, but he couldn’t find the opportunity to do so. Finally, now seemed like the perfect time.

He reopened his eyes and stared at Childe, who was watching the sky attentively, blue eyes shining unitedly with the stars.

“Childe.”

Upon hearing his name, he turned to look at the archon.

“Give me your hand,” Zhongli said, reaching his own towards the harbinger.

Childe automatically did so, and after searching for an object on the pocket of his shorts, Zhongli put the present on the other’s palm.

It was a single earring made of Noctilucous Jade and Cor Lapis, in a similar fashion as the one earring Childe normally wore.

“This reminded me of you when I saw it. If you do not wish to wear it, I understand, but I do hope you could keep it with you.”

Zhongli said that but the harbinger was already taking off his original earring, making the archon a bit embarrassed at the impulsiveness of the boy, yet very pleased.

Childe had been rambling about the, now, old earring and how he had gotten it in the first place, but after a while of no response from Zhongli, he gazed at him, being met by the image of the geo archon fast asleep.

Zhongli had a high alcohol tolerance, but with the nightfall, his drowsiness had grown to an almost unbearable level, and now, he was finally subdued by it.

Ajax couldn’t help but feel a warmth in his chest, his expression softened and he decided it was time for him to rest too.

He had never had a better birthday in his life.

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guigz1-coldwar · 3 years ago

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'Breaking point' : New chapter for "Redemption in a Spirit in a Cold War" is out !

Breaking point'

"My friends are my only family in this world but hurt them...and hell will be falling on you, I can guarantee you that !"

Chapter Summary : It's the moment for Yirina and the whole team to finally get moving on putting down Naga and save Adler from him but there's always something in an mission that don't go as planned.....

To read it on AO3, click here !

Words : +3900

------------------------------------------------------------------

Hearing of the tragic news about Mason's wife and me & Park were no longer feeling to celebrate anything at all for the remainder of the day, giving us an sad mood after Woods told us about what happened. After some minutes spent outside the hangar, trying to get our minds cleared, we decided to return inisde but instead of pretending that we were still good and go back with the others, still talking to each other, we preferred to actually go directly in the dorm, wanting mostly to have an sleep for tomorrow's big operation we are going to make and it will not be easy.

All night, I've been trying to juggle in my brain to search an little 'something' that could maybe help to know more about who was this Naga, also named Kapano Vang. I did heard that name in the first memory when I remembered of Stitch and just before I break his arm but I couldn't find anything else important about him. Was my encounter with him along Perseus was the only time I actually met him ? Or is there anything I'm missing right now ? Only other things I had is the intels the others find on him, nothing else.

Next morning, we took time to prepare ourselves as we planned to leave the base in the beginning of the afternoon to join Rivas. Like she said, she left in the middle of the night to make an recon of the sector the ground team are going to land and continue their path by walk to get to Naga's HQ while neutralizing the enemies that will be on our way as me & Garrett will try to make an better recon of the sector by using an Laotian Huey before joining the others in an specific spot to regroup and to think.

"Yirina !" An male voice came behind me as I was putting my equipment on me : holstler for my M1911 at my waist, some first-aid kits on my vest and my knife at my right boot. I turned around to discover Garrett, already prepared.

"Yes ?" I said, wondering what he wanted before he handed to me, multiples knifes.

"You might want to use some throwing knifes." He proposed to me and I nodded, taking the small knifes in my hand and putting them on my vest at an free space for them. "Oh and I have something else." He added before he got from his back, another knife that was kinda special.

"What's this ?" I asked him, seeing an red button on the knife side.

"You remember that raid we made at our first mission against Stone ?" He gestured with his free hand, pointing at me & him. "When I killed that guy with an knife that got out of its base ?" He continued, having in me the picture of that moment.

"Oh yeah, I got it : that's an ballistic knife." I exclaimed, putting my eyes on it, still in his hands. "Uhm...how does it work ?" I demanded as I wasn't so familiar with that thing

"Pretty simple, you either press the trigger, operating on the lever or switch on the handle." He explained, showing me the knife in detail before I took it in my hands. "Don't worry, I'm sure that you will use it well."

"We'll see that." I whispered, smiling at him as I strapped the ballistic knife at my belt. "Am I the only one who got that ?" I questioned him

"No, I gave one to Park and I didn't forget Song too." He replied, looking around as Park & Song were talking to each other and their looks were on us. "I can say that you got luck to be with Park, Yirina." He told me silently as I was still looking at Park with great eyes.

"Thanks." I smiled at him, blushing an little about talking about it to him. "Can say the same with you & Song."

"Thank you too." He did the same thing as me while I was quite impressed to see his gratitude towards me, he's an great friend. "Anyway, you're ready about our part ?" He asked me, mentioning the recon we will have later.

"Yes, just fearing that something will not go as planned." I expressed my doubts about it but it was very minimal to say.

"I know, there's always something that aren't going as planned in every mission." He exclaimed, taking an breath as he was looking outside towards the Huey we're going to use. "Trust me, things will go fine."

"I'm trusting you." I affirmed, putting my hand on his shoulder, thanking him to be an nice friend.

"Thanks again." He breathed before he look at my desk, seeing my guns. "I think it's time that we move on, looks like Woods is awaiting for us." He pointed outside, his eyes on Woods talking with Wolf next to the helicopter.

"Good, go there, I will be there in no-time." I grinned at him before he decide to collect his last piece of equipment on his own desk while I was taking in hands my guns, putting my M1911 in my holstler and taking my MP5 and then, I was on my way to join the others near the chopper, everyone was there...except Mason who already left the base last day.

"Looks like everyone is here." Woods spoke up, seeing me arrive near the group, holding his XM4 with his right hand.

"Any news of Rivas's team ?" Song asked to him directly.

"Last checkup with them was minutes ago, everything is all good on their side." Wolf replied, crossing his arms after he put his 'Death Machine' in the helicopter. "They're going to do one before we arrive near the LZ." He continued, his eyes on Song.

"Everyone has everything they need ?" Sims interjected, already settled at his place inside the helicopter. "Because we're not going to come back until we're done with Naga and saved Adler." He confirmed to us as our mission is going to be very long in the Laotian jungles.

"Well, we're going to make this quick then." Garrett scoffed, finally moving to get at his seat before the others start to join him.

"Woods, tell me that I ain't going to fly that thing again." I called Woods out about that before he shook his head.

"No, I'll be flying that thing first but when you & Garrett will be making that advanced recon in it, it will be the co-pilot that will take the commands." He reassured me, putting his hand on my shoulder, it was true that putting me in controls last day did almost freak me out. "Before we go, I need to know something." He added, taking me apart an few meters from the helicopter, his hand still on me. "No one is aware for Mason's true departure ?" He demanded.

"No, me & Park didn't tell anything." I replied, sure of my words as only Sims & Wolf got worried about it but of course, we hold our promises to Woods & we lied to them. "Don't worry, Woods, we'll tell nothing." I continued, nodding to him.

"Thanks." He breathed, removing his hands off me. "Let's go then, we have to save one of ours." He whispered, sounding very low as he was opening the pilot's door and me, going behind to sit next to Park.

After I was rightfully seated, Woods started the Huey engine and an few seconds later, we were taking off from the helipad, ready to fly above the jungles to join the supposed LZ that was very far from our location and also Rivas team to it. I can say that having her & her team to check things in advance will maybe help the ground team to not deal with too much Naga's soldiers along the way while me & Garrett will check their path in advance.

During the flight, I was pretty silent, checking up my guns in case with, of course, the safeties on on them, not wanting to fire an bullet in that thing like that and also, the ballistic knife that Garrett gave me. Song & Park did also have the same as he claimed to me, put to differents places of their outfits. Sims was, him, really nervous right now, holding his M60 and his eyes focused on the outside view.

"Thinkful, Sims ?" I demanded to him as I was seated just next to him at my right after I finished to take an look to my knife, putting it back at my boot.

"Uhm ?" He chuckled, surprised to hear me talk to him.

"I said that you were thinkful ?" I repeated my question.

"Oh...uhm, yeah, I am." He replied, sounding very low and I was almost not able to hear it because of the loud noises of the rotor blades. "Just thinking that it's like in the old times." He added, making an little laugh about it.

"You & me are making an hell of an team, remember ?" I joked around as it was something I heard from Adler in an fake memory...'Fracture Jaw'....why I am laughing about this ?...

"Welcome to 'Nam." He exclaimed to me, showing me his M60 in hands until we start to hear some gunshots through the headsets we were wearing, that wasn't something shooting at us, it was the main radio.

"Shit, Rivas." Wolf said, taking the radio in hands to activate fully.

"Mission is FUBAR !" We could hear Rivas's voice very loudly from the radio and by the sound of it, her & her team were in big trouble. "We need immediate reinforcements, falling back to the LZ !" She continued in her message as I was trying to look outside to check if we were soon arrived.

"Hold on, Rivas, we are inbound !" Wolf confirmed to her, meaning that we were close of the LZ before he peaked his head between Woods & the co-pilot. "Get us on the ground, now !"

"Copy that, hang on !" Woods ordered to us before brutally turning the Huey completely and hopefully that we were attached to our seats because I wouldn't like to bump into someone or worse, been ejected from the helicopter.

"Be more brutal next time and no one will be behind." Song scoffed to Woods as she was just near the outside before verifying her M16. It's true that everyone went almost out.

"It was like that before ?" Garrett asked to Sims who shook his head.

"Nope, sir." He responded in an half-serious voice as the chopper was approaching some ruins that was in the middle of the jungle with no trees around, like an small plain.

"I have your visual, LZ is hot !" Rivas voice came again through the radio as I could see in the outside, seeing an warzone going on in those ruins. "Light them up !" She shouted before the radio went off.

"Damnit, goddamn Laos." Woods breathed as he was starting to land the plane on the same ruins we saw from afar. "It's go time, Wolf, get on the gun !" He ordered as Wolf took his 'Death Machine' in hands from the chopper ground "Okay, jump off !" Woods added before he finally land the chopper on the ground.

At his order, we all jumped in an second, Wolf opening the lead with his minigun to fire at everything that was in front of us as the others were quickly moving into cover to escape the multiples bullets that were coming towards through the few soldiers that was making an resistance against us while Wolf was spreading an lot of bullets with his precious 'Death Machine' in hands.

I fired some bullets from my cover with my MP5, hitting some of the lucky guys that managed to escape Wolf's minigun and to say, I was surprised that Rivas was only with an few soldiers on her own as I remember that there were more people with her, meaning that something went very wrong in here, seeing some bodies near us that was dressed up in standard american gear...something was off here.

After an few moments, the fight finally stopped between us, only hearing the wind around us. I only used an mag from my MP5, wanting to get the necessary for the next fights and as I was checking it, Woods finally got out of the chopper with his XM4 in hands, having exchanged places with the co-pilot that was now the pilot.

"Rivas, where's the others ?" Woods asked, looking at her direction.

"We were ambushed, they knew we were coming !" She responded, holding something that was looking like an crossbow in her left hand and pointing to an dirt path leading inside an forest. "Camp is a few clicks east." She added.

"Fuck, we can't abort or Adler is good as dead." Wolf expressed, sounding very serious, walking next to Sims. "Even if they're making an hard fight to us, we can't back down." He continued as it was true since yesterday, Naga wouldn't employ that if Adler wasn't in the region.

"Adler is one tought son of a bitch." Woods exclaimed, looking at the dirt path. "But everyone has an breaking point !" He then looked at me & Garrett. "You two, return back inside and do your recon, you will give us an update once you finished." He ordered and we nodded to him as we start to walk inside the chopper as the pilot was starting the engine again.

"Yirina !" I was called out once I was inside and when I turned my back, I could see Park arriving with Song behind her. "Watch out, okay ?" She demanded.

"I will be, don't worry." I affirmed to her as she was removing her bandana that was covering her mouth, making me move slowly towards her. "I'll be fine." I continued before we pulled in for an quick kiss as Song & Garrett were doing the same.

"Oh my god !" Woods chuckled the only two couple in here, kissing. "Time is wasting, kids." He expressed in an lazy voice before he rolled his eyes.

"See you later." Park whispered to me before she winked at me, putting her black bandana on and I winked back in return.

"Let's move !" Rivas told everyone that was not in the chopper and then, the ground team start to move away from the ruins, leaving us with the pilot.

"Okay, you two." The pilot started, looking at us. "I will be flying above the place marked on that map but it will be an straight flight so make sure to spot things quickly because we're supposed to be an simple Laotian Air Force Huey, understand ?" He explained to us.

"We're good." Garrett answered as he was sitting back at his seat, not attaching himself like me.

"Then, let's go." The pilot said as he was starting to take off the ruins, ready for our recon above the outposts Naga is using in the region.

We flied straight to get ahead of the ground team and like the pilot said, our flight couldn't be suspiscious from Naga's men, meaning that we are going to act like if we were only members of the Laotian Air Force. As it was going to be quick, me & Garrett positioned ourselves at each part of the transport bay to have an better view on each side, having an map in our hands as we were given an replicate from the original one and some binoculars.

For the 15 next minutes, we only flied above two Naga's outposts on the way to his HQ, discovering that they were small and its mens were basically not fitted to be normal Perseus soldiers, mostly members of Naga's cartel but after passing these two outposts, we couldn't go too far as we were at the limits of getting next to Naga's HQ that was filled with AA guns and we weren't going to take an risk.

"Time to head back to drop you two at a strategic location." The pilot told us as we were checking the map, meaning that it was the end of our recon and that we will have to get our feets back on the ground.

"Where do you think we could go ?" I asked to Garrett as we were getting back at our seats

"I don't know, maybe somewhere between the two outposts." He replied, his hands on his map to see where we could land in safety. "There is the safe point we will join the others." He pointed at his map to me where an red marked square was drawed, something I didn't have on mine. "It's at least 5 minutes from...." He was going to finish until we start to hear some ringing like an alert. "What's happening ?" Garrett demanded to the pilot.

"Shit, we've got locked in !" He responded, panicked. "Strap yourselves, I will try to evade them." He exclaimed as he start to make some manoeuvers while us were strapping to our seats, trying to check outside. "Using the countermeasures." The pilot actioned something on the controls panels as an lot of flares were dropped behind the helicopter.

"Damnit, those fuckers are using guided launchers !" Garrett said, peaking his head to look outside. "Fuck, RPGs !" He exclaimed....but it was too late for the pilot to avoid an rocket to hit the tail of the Huey.

"We're going down !" The pilot shouted, trying to take back the controls but it was useless as the Huey was going down and then....it was all black....

I heard an loud crash in my head, trying that it was done until I start to slowly reopen my eyes, figuring out where we just crashed....just on an cliffside. I looked at Garrett who was looking wounded and the pilot....shit, he was dead, having almost gone through the windshield of the helicopter. Me, I was still strapped to my seat, having my head that was hurting me an little, despite the crash.

"Shit....the pilot's dead." I whispered in an low voice before I look at Garrett. "Garrett ?"

"Aaah....my legs..." He was sounding in pain, trying to hold his lap and when I look at his knee, they were badly hit, he wasn't strapped to his seat. "I can't feel them." He added.

"Fuck." I exclaimed, directly starting to detach myself from my seat to move to get to him but then, the helicopter start to move on its side, causing Garrett to move away from his seat and going out. "Garrett !" I managed to grab his hand but my moves caused me to also fall from the helicopter, finding me to hold Garrett with one hand at a least 100 m of the ground while the other hand was grabbing one of the helicopter skid.

"Damnit, shit !" Garrett said, trying to move his other hand to join my hand that was holding him.

"I've got you !" I told him, trying to move him to get on the same levek but...each time I was trying that, the helicopter was moving itself slowly towards the fall down the cliffside.

"This chopper is going to kill us if we move too much." Garrett expressed, looking above him, the crashed choppter. "Fuck....fuck...." He cursed, still moving his other hand to get to me while me were trying to move him to get his hands on the skid but the helicopter was still moving. "Yirina..." He closed his eyes for an second. "You...you have to let me go." He demanded, shocking me at my high level.

"No, I can...I can do this !" I protested against him but he shook his head.

"It's too late, we're going to die before you can do this." He affirmed but I didn't want to believe him, trying to move him. "I can't move my legs and....shit...I will not make it."

"No, please..."

"Yirina...tell Song...I loved her so much." He cut me straight and he was starting to make my eyes cry, still holding his hand firmly.

"No....no." I pleaded, my voice really cracking at this point until he closed his eyes for an second, before reopening them.

"Take care of Park !" He whispered before...he let his hand go away....

"NOOOOOOOOOOOO !" I screamed as I was seeing him fall to his death....unable to do an thing to save him....obliged to watch him die.

I...I wasn't able to save him and he accepted his death like that but I could have save him but there were nothing I could do for that. I was so sad and bad at the same time until I resigned myself to get my both hands back on the skid to use it to get back inside the crashed helicopter and quickly jumped off again until it finally fall from the cliff, finding myself on the ground, trying to figure out what I can do now.

"Hands up !" Someone shouted in front of me, discovering two armed mans slowly advancing towards with AK-47 in hands, it was Naga's cartel members, not even fully protected. "Come on, hands up, american !" He spoke up again, staying at that position with his friend as I slowly got up, feeling the rage inside of me growing up.

"Come on...american...put your hands up !" The other soldier demanded, sounding panicking as he was seeing my face going in full anger as I was finally up, head down and breathing loudly until I closed my eyes, thinking that my rage is taking over me. I then opened my eyes, ready....

"AAAAAAAAAH !" I screamed all my rage and so loudly that birds were scared and it could have been an scream that everyone around at 1 km could hear, my rage was posseding me and I couldn't back down and I wasn't going to do this.

In an second, I got my hand behind me to grab an throwing knife to quickly launch it on the second terrified guy, hitting right into the head. The two were really scared of me, seeing them trembling like a leaf...and I was going to unleash hell on them. At the moment he saw his friend going down by my knife that the first soldier who talked, dropped his gun to the ground, breathing anormally and trying to get back from me...the death that was coming to get him, getting my knife off my boot.

"You son of a bitch !" I shouted to that guy as he was stopped by an tree behind him, no way to escape and then, I put my left hand around his neck while having the knife in the other. "You see how it fucking feel to lose an friend ?" I exclaimed before I start to brutally stab the man in the chest. "You...see how it feels ?" I repeated at each stabbing of that guy as the blood was coming in my hands and clothes until the guy wasn't breathing anymore, stabbed to death by me before I let him go, throwing him on the ground as he was nothing to me.

"Are you here ?" I could hear the dead man radio going on, recognizing the voice on it....

"Naga !" I whispered in an low voice, starting to get the radio in hand.

"Did you check the wreckage of the helicopter ?" He demanded to his guys that were now dead with me still listening to him. "I repeat, is there any survivors to deal with ?" He repeated in an worried voice until I got the radio closer to my mouth, ready to get him aware.....

"I'm coming to get you, Naga !"

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