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deadheaddaisy · 2 months ago

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Day 18!

(And Day 17, too)

Prompts: Green Shirt and Saying No

AO3 link

As Hoshi stepped forward, she heard and felt a click under her foot, and froze. That wasn’t good. Not good at all.

“Janelle? We may have a problem.”

Her team had frozen behind her.

“May?” Janelle’s voice was a little higher-pitched than usual. Considering where they were, that was no surprise.

“Okay, yeah, we definitely have a problem. I think I’ve stepped on a land-mine.”

“Shit.” The succinct word, spat out under Janelle’s breath, said it all. “Okay. I’m calling base.”

“Who’re you—”

“Base, this is Team Zebra. We have a situation and we’re going to need some help.”

“What seems to be the problem, Zebra?”

“We need the Bomb Squad.”

Hoshi dropped her chin to her chest and groaned. She’d never hear the end of this.

Fifteen minutes later, a G-Wagon roared across the field behind them and discharged three figures - two in full EOD suits and one wearing trousers and a Kevlar apron. All three carried their helmets under their arms; they put these on and moved onto the field, walking up behind Janelle, Liz, and Rossi.

“You can head back to the Jeep now,” instructed the disembodied voice of the lead figure.

“We’re staying with Hoshi.”

“No, you’re not. This job is hard enough as is without having to worry about the safety of people who don’t need to be here.” Janelle opened her mouth to argue, and was cut off. “That is an order, Corporal, and I don’t give orders twice. Now move!”

With a last glance at Hoshi, the three turned reluctantly and followed Ensign Zabel along the cleared path to the LUV. Esk kept their eyes firmly on the bomb squad leader and not on their friends, focusing on the here and now, not wanting to be influenced by the anxiety evident in their movements.

The squad leader didn’t watch the others leave; he was busy inspecting the area around Hoshi, walking around her in a careful circle and checking the ground as he went.

“Esk,” he said, “do a sweep about three metres out, radial. And be careful. The mines here don’t seem to be laid in a discernible pattern.”

“You’ve got it, boss,” came Esk’s voice, distorted by the helmet mic, and they set to work.

The squad leader rose from his crouch and finally focused his attention on Hoshi; well, his visible attention, at any rate. She knew better than to assume he hadn’t been paying attention, assessing and analysing both her and the situation, from the moment the G-Wagon had drawn to a halt.

It was hard to see through the visor of the bomb suit, but she could picture those grey-green eyes with their unfairly long lashes, and that mobile mouth in its annoyingly familiar smirk. If it wouldn’t blow her into smithereens, she’d’ve liked to have stamped her feet in frustration. Why was it always him when she was in a difficult position?

“You just hang on, Sub-Lieutenant, and keep your feet still,” he said in that damnable precise English accent. “We’ll have you out of there soon enough.”

With that, he turned to speak to Esk before she could even respond. Hoshi ground her teeth, knowing he’d done it on purpose, to get under her skin. She even knew why he’d done it - to distract her from the reminder that one incorrect movement would see her scattered across this bloody field. Fuck!

Malcolm turned to Esk, deliberately turning his back on Hoshi. He could see the tension in her body, and while he didn’t exactly want to relax her - it might change her weight on the landmine trigger, for one thing - he did want to distract her from thoughts of impending doom. And the best way to do that was to focus her annoyance on him, keeping the fear at bay and replacing it with irritation.

“The only real clear path is behind her, boss,” reported Esk. “There’s a mine six metres ahead on this direct path, and others just outside the five-metre range to left and right - always the possibility that a tremor could set it off. But the path behind her, and for three metres on either side, seems relatively safe.”

“Relatively.” His mouth twisted unhappily. “Doesn’t leave much margin for error. Not if we’re going to get her out in one piece.”

“Her and you, boss.” Esk’s raised eyebrow could be felt through the thick plexi-glass of the helmet.

“Of course, and me.” His eyebrow lifted, and he grinned. “You know what I’ll have to do, of course. That thing’s on a hair trigger, and there’s only one way to get her off it.”

“Rapid Subject Removal?”

“That’s what will go in the report, yes.”

“Playing games with your life, L.T.”

“It’s my life, after all. And to save hers … well, I wouldn’t be a very good bomb disposal expert if I let someone get blown up without trying, right?”

“You’re not actually disposing of the bomb in this case, but I get your point, boss. Especially since it is her, and I’d quite like her out of there in one piece, myself.”

The plexi-glass made expressions hard to see, but they knew there was sympathy in those mercury-bright eyes, and for once they didn’t mind. Their bond with their erstwhile fellow fosters was strong and unbreakable, and they knew he knew how desperately they wanted Hoshi to live.

“Right,” said Malcolm decisively, “Head back to the LUV and get ready to come running with a med-kit if necessary.”

“Yes, sir.” Esk began moving, and Malcolm halted them.

“Take her weapons, if you can. But maybe leave her backpack, depending on what’s in it.”

“Affirmative.” Esk drew level with Hoshi, to one side, and gestured carefully. “Can you give me your rifle bag and release your P-90 via the sling? But keep your weight on your feet as even as possible.”

“Yes,” Hoshi said, and carefully reached out with her right hand to hand over the bag containing her sniper rifle, which had been weighing heavy on her arm for the last half hour.

Once released, she reached up and behind her to unhook the P-90 and hand it over, too.

“What’s in your backpack? Any explosives, ammo, weapons?”

“Bed-roll, MRE packs, med-kit, gillie suit. Nothing too dangerous. Ammo’s in the sniper bag or in my ammo packs.”

“Okay. Then I’ll see you in a minute.”

“You’re leaving?”

“Leaving you in the L.T.’s capable hands, yes.”

Hoshi kept her face neutral with an effort, but by the smirk on Esk’s face, it wasn’t doing any good. Still, if Esk felt comfortable enough to head away from her and leave her with Lieutenant Malcolm Reed, perhaps she’d get out of this alive, yet.

The man himself came to a halt a few metres away and unclipped his helmet, removing it and carefully putting it to one side so he didn’t affect the self-contained cooling and air unit.

“What are you doing?” Hoshi asked, though she had a feeling she knew.

“Suit’s too hot, I need some air,” he replied cheerily, that annoying smirk in place as he removed his Kevlar apron.

Hoshi ground her teeth. “Are you planning what I think you’re planning?”

“Maybe. What do you think I’m planning?”

Before she could respond, Captain Archer’s voice came over the radio. Clearly someone had reported his activities to base.

“Lieutenant Reed, just what in the Sam Hill do you think you’re doing?”

“Attempting to save the life of an integral member of the battalion, sir.” The response wasn’t as nonchalant as the L.T. might have hoped, at least not to Hoshi’s practised ear; he wasn’t quite as blasé around authority as he was with his peers.

“And your expert methods involve removing your EOD suit and, what, pushing? Do you really think you should be setting this example for your squad?”

“Rapid Subject Removal is a fine art, sir,” the lieutenant said, a hint of reproach in his voice. “I wouldn’t feel right about leaving such a delicate task to anyone in my team.”

Captain Archer didn’t sigh audibly, but it was definitely in his voice. “When this is over, I expect to see you in my office, Lieutenant. We’ll be talking about your flagrant disregard for safety protocols.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Now get both my officers out of there in one piece. Archer out.”

Reed grinned at Hoshi. He’d continued to remove his EOD suit while talking to the captain, and now stepped out of the suit pants, laying them on top of the helmet, apron, and jacket. Irritatingly, the army green of the t-shirt he wore made his eyes even more striking, highlighting the almost sage undertone to the grey-green irises.

Damn him! Hoshi knew she was being irrational, blaming the man for a quirk of genetics, but right at that moment she didn’t care. He had no right to have such pretty eyes with such long eyelashes.

“So,” he said conversationally, unaware of her inner turmoil, “are you free tonight?”

Hoshi rolled her eyes. “Are you seriously asking me on a date right now?”

“No time like the present.”

“Not just no, but hell no!”

He contrived to look saddened and put-upon, gesturing to the space around him to convey that he was going to the ends of the earth to save her life, and the least she could do was reward him with a date. She glared at him, narrowing her eyes, and he grinned again. For several moments they held a staring stand-off before she finally sighed and rolled her eyes once more.

“Fine. Fine! Since you’re risking your life for me, I suppose it’s only fair. But one date. One! And there will be no good-night kisses or anything of the sort.”

He chuffed a laugh, and her hand itched to slap that smug look off his face.

“If it’ll make you feel better to try and keep your hands off this body, then whatever you want is fine by me.” He posed with his hands out at his sides. Before she could respond, he grew serious. “Now, I need you to keep your weight on that foot while I line myself up with you. Don’t change the position of your feet, whatever you do.”

She felt herself straighten but tried her best to keep her feet still and ignore the instinctual urge to shift her weight.

“Spread your arms wide when I tell you, and drop your chin to your chest. Probably best to close your eyes, but it won’t make much difference one way or another.”

“I’ll keep them open to start.”

He shrugged. “Makes no never-mind to me.” As he spoke, he moved slightly to her left, away from his EOD gear, to give him a clear shot to the open path behind her. He'd given himself six metres for the build-up. Clicking his ear-piece, he spoke to his team. “All clear and in the right position, Esk?”

“Lined up like a guide-rail, boss.”

Malcolm nodded, said "Ready to go," and stopped moving, his eyes assessing Hoshi.

“How much do you weigh?”

Her first instinct was to snap, but she knew he wasn’t playing silly buggers and asking unnecessary questions.

“Sixty kilograms, but with my gear on … probably closer to seventy.”

He nodded again, rather absently, his eyes assessing and analysing while that busy brain was probably calculating distance, speed, velocity, momentum, and trajectories. Then his face cleared and he looked up and grinned again.

“Ready?”

“As I’ll ever be, bakudan.”

He tilted his head, his mouth quirking as he raised an interrogative eyebrow.

“It means ‘bomb’ in Japanese. I thought it was appropriate, given the circumstances. And I’m not calling you ‘Bomb Squad’ when that’s your team, too. I don’t care if that’s your call sign.”

A laugh of sheer glee left him, and he crouched into a sprinter’s stance, amusement still curling his lips as he looked up at her.

“Arms up, please.”

She did as requested, dropping her chin to her chest at the same time and keeping her eyes firmly fixed on his feet, so that she didn’t capture his gaze and make him falter at an inopportune moment. Her ears caught his faint murmur, said so quietly it was probably not meant to be heard.

“Bakudan, hmm? Okay then, time for explosions.”

And with a sharp intake of breath he leaped forward, powerful thighs and calves sending him hurtling towards her like a racehorse out of the gates. She barely had time to blink before he was on her, his arms wrapping around her waist as his weight and momentum took her off her feet in a flying tackle.

They were still in the air when the landmine exploded, the shockwave knocking them to the ground in an ungainly heap. Her backpack cushioned her spine as she hit the ground, her bedroll supporting her neck as her head bounced. Then she was down, almost flat on her back, with Lieutenant Reed still wrapped around her, his head on her shoulder and face in her bed-roll while clods of earth rained down on them.

Hoshi felt him move and opened her eyes to find him partially crouched over her, using his body to shield her face from the rain of debris. One clod hit him solidly in the back of his head and he winced, shoulders drawing up as he waited for the deluge of earth to subside.

His eyes met hers and that damned grin broke out again. Then he winced again, his eyes narrowing and shoulders hunching. For a moment his nostrils flared even as his nose wrinkled, and then the patter of falling soil and stones stopped, and he raised his head again.

“What was that?” she asked, content to lie there and catch her breath after the tension of the last hour. He lowered himself to one elbow, rubbing the back of his head with the other hand and smiling ruefully.

“Got hit by a few stones,” he said casually, and put his hand back on the ground, turning it to conceal the blood on his fingers where a stone had struck at just the wrong angle. “So, how does nineteen-hundred work for you?”

Hoshi groaned, but didn’t push him away. “Assuming you’re not in the brig, sure.”

With a laugh, he rolled to one side and put a hand to his chest in mock dismay. “Me? In the brig? After saving your life?”

“Oh my god, will you shut up?” She shoved at his shoulder and he toppled onto his back, still laughing. She found that she didn’t really mind, this time; his laughter was delighted, not smug, his eyes twinkled, his expression was more open, and suddenly he seemed more approachable and less of a walking giant ego.

The sound of running feet reached her ears, and when she looked up, Esk, Janelle, Liz, Rossi, and Zabel were gathered at their heads.

“Are you two okay?” The question came from Liz, who already had her med-kit in hand.

“We’re fine,” said Lieutenant Reed, waving a dismissive hand at Ensign Cutler. Her eyes narrowed.

“I’m going to check you anyway.” As his head came up and he opened his mouth to protest, she stepped forward and said, with a combative glare, “And if you argue, you can go and stand in front of Captain Archer with blood still soaking into your collar and tell him that no one was hurt in your rescue operation.”

Hoshi’s head whipped around to the lieutenant and she grabbed his chin before curbing her natural instinct to yank, instead turning his head to one side as gently as possible so she could see his collar.

“You’re hurt! Why didn’t you say so?” she asked, fingers reaching tentatively behind his ear until they encountered damp hair, sticky with blood. She stopped, then, her thumb still resting on his jaw, loath to go any further in case she touched his wound and hurt him more.

His eyes had slid shut as her fingers moved along his skin, and he opened them slowly, blinking innocently. “It didn’t seem important,” he hedged, as though he hadn’t just tried to hide his bloodied fingers from her sight. “And I didn’t want to give you a reason to cancel the date.” At least that part was pure honesty.

Hoshi pushed herself into a seated position, regarding him with a narrow-eyed frown. “I’d only cancel if you were seriously hurt and needed to be in the infirmary. So how bad is it?” She directed the question to Liz, her hand still on the lieutenant’s neck.

“I can’t see very well, his hair’s so dark and I need to clean away the blood. And I need him to be higher and stay still.”

“Okay, bakudan, lean your head on my shoulder so Liz can take a proper look at you before we head back to base.” She gave his neck a gentle tug and he complied almost immediately, sitting up and leaning forward so his forehead rested on her shoulder. Behind him, Liz crouched and nodded at Hoshi.

“That’s better. Now I can take a good look.” She sucked air through her teeth and carefully wiped away the blood to try and find the wound. He didn’t make a sound, though his body stiffened as she wiped. “Head wounds are heavy bleeders, there’s that, but getting hit in the head by a stone in a clump of dirt is no joke. I’ll probably need to clean the wound to get the dirt out and prevent infection, before we get him to the doctor.”

“It’s really not that bad,” Lieutenant Reed said, his voice somewhat muffled as he spoke into Hoshi’s arm. “Just wash it out, clean it up, and let me get to the Captain’s office. No one was blown up - this was just debris.” He raised his head suddenly, making Liz growl in annoyance. “Besides, if my head hadn’t been there, it’d probably have hit Sub-Lieutenant Sato in the face, and that would have been a lot more serious.”

Hoshi looked at him in surprise; he actually sounded concerned. Which shouldn’t really surprise her, since he’d already risked his life for her and then put himself between her and harm from falling debris, sustaining an injury in the process.

“Come on, put your head down again,” she said, tugging lightly at his collar. He frowned and grinned at the same time.

“You’re being very nice to me. Why?”

She sighed. “Because you saved my life, at great personal risk to your own. And then you got hurt protecting me afterward.” As his smile grew, she added, “Don’t get cocky. This is a one-time occurrence. Now put your head down.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

#30-day writer's challenge #fic #fanfic #star trek enterprise #malcolm reed #hoshi sato #alternate universe #all the snark and sass #Little Shit™ energy FTW

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