Chapter Text
Orion set her machine gun down with a heavy sigh. The last of too many raptidons lay at her feet, covered in its own toxins. She had…kind of blown it up. She could feel the corrosive liquid burning her skin and she groaned in pain.
“Jesus Christ,” She hissed at the massacred bodies. “There is no easy, here, is there?”
Nyoka whistled. “You threw easy out the window as soon as you stepped onto this moon, Cap.”
“Boss,” Felix said, out of breath. “Who the hell is this ‘Jesus Christ’ you keep cursing at?”
Orion looked at him, an enormous smile breaking out on her face. She began to laugh…really laugh, leaving him looking entirely bewildered. She doubled over, wheezing, and he began to chuckle at her reaction. Nyoka looked between them and shrugged, tucking her pistol back into its holster.
“He’s just a real piece of shit, Felix. A martyr from the old world.”
“Aren’t martyr’s typically, ya know, good?” Nyoka asked.
Orion smiled. “He was supposed to be the ‘savior’. But he isn’t saving anyone now, is he?” She laughed again, knowing neither of them would understand her meaning. “Anyway, let’s get the supplies from the medic and get back to the Van Noys. One of them was in pretty rough shape.”
Her two counterparts nodded in agreement and they hiked back up to the abandoned domicile, finding the medic curled up in a pool of his own blood.
“This day keeps getting better and better, doesn’t it?” She snorted sarcastically. “Poor guy. Raptidons really had a hay-day.”
“Poor bastard. Can’t believe they sent him up here by himself.”
“Ah well, ‘no mourners no funerals.’ Let’s just get the med kit and get the hell out of here. This damn printing press wasn’t worth all of that—I don’t care what Graham thinks.”
Felix sighed. “I liked him. I don’t anymore. He proclaims he cares about his people but sends them straight to their deaths.”
“He’s fuckin crazy sending his people out here, just for the written word. Ain’t nobody in Halcyon gonna read those pamphlets anyway. He’s wasting his money and his breath.” Nyoka scowled, kicking at a raptidon corpse.
Felix looked slightly downtrodden at her words, but at least he knew she was right. Orion leaned down and snagged the med kit from the medic’s body. They left the domicile and went back down the hill. Orion gave a sigh of relief noticing that the Van Noys were still unharmed.
“I’ve never seen anything like that. You sure you don’t want to join the Iconoclasts? We could use your skills on our side.” May smiled at her.
Orion chuckled. “I can't say I like the inherent danger your leader seems to be so fond of putting you in, but thanks. How’s your man?” She gestured to May’s brother who was gripping his side in pain.
“He’ll be better now, thanks to you.”
“Let me take a look at him.”
She walked over to the man and gave him a gentle smile. He grimaced back at her.
“What’s your name?”
“August.”
“Nice to meet you, August. I’m Captain Hawthorne. You mind if I take a look? I’ve seen enough injuries in the field to give you a good once over.”
He looked at her slightly nervously and nodded. He lifted his hand from his torso, gasping slightly as he removed the pressure. She kneeled down and looked at the gash in his side. It wasn’t too deep, but the raptidons had left enough corrosive residue on their claws that it was eating away at his skin, slowly, but surely.
“May, look for some gauze and alcohol in the kit. I’ve gotta get this residue off of his wound.”
May dutifully handed her the supplies, biting her nails nervously. Orion pulled out the alcohol and dabbed it onto one of the gauze pads, reaching to dab at August’s wound. He grabbed her hand quickly, startling her.
“Um…will you tell me what you’re doing?” He said softly.
His green eyes were startlingly bright and she felt butterflies in her stomach when they met her silver ones.
She blushed and smiled. “Yes, of course. So this is alcohol—it’ll disinfect the wound and hopefully remove the raptidon poison from the cut itself. It’ll sting when I do this, but it’ll hurt much worse if I don’t.”
He nodded, letting go of her wrist and leaning back. “Alright, I trust you.”
She wiped at his cut, causing him to hiss in pain. She poured more alcohol onto the gauze and continued to wipe, digging in just enough to wipe the residue out. He winced and leaned back, biting his lip. She finished cleaning it and stood.
“Take your shirt off.”
He stared at her incredulously. “W-what??”
“I have to wrap your wound. Take your shirt off.”
He looked at the people around them and frowned. “Fine.” He muttered.
He began to undo all of the pieces of his armor, staring at her with an annoyed expression on his face the entire time. He was finally shirtless and Orion had to keep herself from staring at him. He was…remarkably attractive. She supposed it had been over seventy years since she had seen a naked man, but nonetheless, he’d do in a pinch. He was muscular to be sure, but not so much that it was…too much. He was tanned and lean, his dark chest hair really completing the ‘manliness’ factor for her. But she broke her gaze. She didn’t even know this man and here she was gawking at him, in front of all and sundry no less.
She awkwardly cleared her throat and began to gently dress his wound. He hissed in pain a few times but was mostly silent. It only took a few moments before she was done; the wound was covered in gauze and a bandage was wrapped around his torso, keeping it in place. She had administered some adreno as well as some topical salve to allow for faster healing.
“You should be all set.” She gave him a small smile.
As she began to step away from him, he grabbed her wrist gently and forced her to meet his eyes.
“Thank you, Captain.” He said softly.
His eyes were intense and she felt the butterflies get worse. She looked away quickly before her thoughts ran away with her.
“Yes, thank you, Captain. We could’ve done it, but it appears your med work is much neater and more thorough than ours would’ve been,” May smiled at her, putting her helmet on. “Alright, let’s end this. We need to get back to the Heights. Zora’s probably chewed her own arm off by now.”
“We’ll escort you.” Orion butted in.
May raised her brow in surprise. “I’d be a fool to say no, Captain, but are you sure? You must have something better to do.”
Orion chuckled. “There are always things to do, May, but I need to report to Graham and Zora anyway. My crew and I need to install these rollers, but we’ll meet you down the road.”
“Alright, August, go with them to install the rollers. I don’t want Graham thinking we didn’t do our jobs. We’ll clear the road.” May gestured for her brother to join Orion.
“We don’t need anyone else.” Felix suddenly said.
Orion frowned at him. “Felix?”
He looked at her and scowled. “We just rescued them from a bunch of rapts. Plus, he’s injured. You literally just treated him, Boss. It’s crazy to take him in there.”
“Shut the fuck up, Felix. We can always use more firepower.” Nyoka smacked the back of Felix’s head.
He mumbled something to himself and rubbed the back of his head.
August was silent.
“You do anything the Captain says, hear me?” May commanded him.
He nodded and winked at Orion. “Anything to see the job all the way through.”
“Man after my own heart.” Orion grinned.
Felix scowled.
“Let’s go.”