The Longest Night [Ian]

This had all seemed so much more simple, so much more...heroic...sitting on his couch back in Long Island, talking about how he was going to go enlist and go help against the Omnic crisis that threatened them all. It seemed an out to the problems in his life at home. His brother was doing it. Maybe it would make his father finally proud of him. The reasons were all fairly terrible, and seemed even more so now that he'd slogged through nearly a year of this, shipped around to where he was most needed, the countries all blurred together after a while. They all looked the same from this perspective anyway, smoldering ruins, carnage...Egypt to Italy all looked alike.

His unit had come under heavy fire, most got out, a few were cut off. As far as he knew he was the last of the cut off soldiers to have survived. Damn Bastion units. Fuck Bastion units. That was a fucking sound he was going to hear in his nightmares until the day he dropped dead, however much longer that might be...he knew that beyond a shadow of a doubt. His unit said they'd come back as soon as they could, clear the way, pick up the survivors when the action wasn't so hot out here, but he knew he couldn't just sit out here in the open and hope he eventually got picked up...doing that was suicide.

His progress was paused by the sound of a low, pained moan however. One hand on his service revolver he went looking for the sound and found the other, half propped up against the rubble. He seemed conscious at least, but didn't seem able to walk and Ian wasn't about to just leave him here.

"Hey, I'm a medic, I can help." Their enemies were generally not other humans, but he still wanted the other to know he wasn't a threat. "If I help you...can you move? We can get inside and be out of sight." He pointed towards the building he' djust come from, the storefront ruined but inside they could get behind the counter. It didn't seem like much, but it was protected on three sides, and crouched or seated they weren't visible from the outside. If they had to bunker down out here for a while it was better than most of the other options out here.

He could feel his vision darkening, it was slow, and subtle, but the entire world around him was beginning to get a tinny sound as he drifted closer to unconsciousness. He tried his best to syat awake, he knew that if he let himself drift off, he would die here, no one would find him before morning, it was far too dangerous for anyone to be out here looking for people, he knew he was done for.

But he refused to go without a fight, so after a moment of struggling to keep himself conscious on the ground, he'd managed to pull himself into a propped up position against the shitty shelter he'd found, letting out a groan of pain as he did. The action brought more pain, enough to make the man sick to his stomach, but this was cut off when he heard footsteps approaching.

He looked up at the man who'd found him, nodding weakly and whimpering, "yeah...Think so..." He glanced where he was pointing and nodded, holding out a hand for the man to help him up, "m-my whole group...They were gunned down..." He winced and let out a low moan of pain, "shot me...Three times in the back..." He glanced at him with a genuinely scared expression, "I don't wanna die here..."

Ian swore under his breath when he heard where the other had been injured, he didn't want to risk doing more damage, but they couldn't just sit out here either. He didn't have much choice, he'd just have to be careful. He was a small man, but wiry and stronger than he looked, moving to carefully help the other to his feet, draping the injured man's arm over his shoulder as they moved with agonizing slowness towards the building in question.

"Lost some'a my unit too...rest of 'em, they're gonna come back soon as they can. You're not gonna die out here." he glanced up at the taller man.

Once inside he moved to position the other man away and out of sight of the front of the store. It seemed like the place had once been a convenience or general store of some sort, and just a few short days ago this place hadn't been a bombed out ruin, so a fair amount of items could still be picked out and made use of. A handful of medical supplies to go along with his own stock, some water, maybe even some towels or blankets to make his patient more comfortable.

"Look, there's only so much I can do here." he said, almost apologetically. "But...I can stop the bleeding, and help with the pain...and...that's a start..." He explained as he started to gently push aside or remove gear and damaged uniform to let him get a better look at and to start working on patching the other up as best he could.

Harley let out a cry of pain that he tried to muffle with his free hand when he was pulled to his feet, leaning heavily on the smaller man for a moment before he found his feet, breathing in short, hard puffs to fight the pain as they made their way at a tortuously slow pace to the building Ian had pointed out. He was trying his best not to let his tears fall, but between the pain and the frighteningly real thread of dying, he couldn't help the few that escaped and rolled down his cheek.

He looked to the side, down at him and nodded, "th-thank you..." He wasn't entirely convinced by that reassurance, but still found some small comfort in his words,

When they'd made it into the relative safety of the building, he was thankful to be set down behind the counter, breathing hard against the burning agony stabbing through his back and what felt like everything else.

He watched him as he gathered when he could from the place, giving him a weak smile as he rested his head, closing his eyes a moment, "I'm so tired..." It was a constant state of being for him recently, but now more than ever he was feeling that awful tugging of sleep, he knew he couldn't, but it was still tempting to just close his eyes and let go, "any start is a good start...Thank you...f-for helping me." He knew the medic had taken a risk, but he was thankful for it.

"I wasn't just...going to leave you out there." He sounded like the idea was completely unthinkable to him.

He spread out his supplies, expression grim as he mentally mapped out what he needed to do next. "You're in shock, and you've lost quite a bit of blood." Ian said, voice sounding a little more sure of himself as he started to talk about medical things, a topic he felt more familiar and comfortable with, over war. "This...isn't going to be a lot of fun." He apologized in advance.

First pain meds...it wouldn't completely numb him, nor would it really help with the being sleepy part, but it was better than doing this without by a long shot. He gave that a few minutes to start to work before starting to clean and bandage the wounds as best he could. He was heartened to see it didn't seem at least from what he could tell that anything major internally had been hit, but he was still going to require some surgery and plenty of recovery time. If he made it through tonight. He tried not to think about that too much though.

After what felt like ages, he sat back on his heels and ran a hand through his already grimy hair, letting out a breath as he did.

"There...that seemed to have helped with the bleeding..." He finally said, helping the other settle into the most comfortable position he could. "I wish I could do more...but...I'll stay here with you and keep an eye on you until someone comes." he promised, cracking open a bottle of water and doing the best he could to clean off his hands and tools from the blood.

Harley couldn't help the weak laugh at that nodding, "maybe not. But you still put yourself at risk to help me. So thank you." An act of kindness was still that, even if it was the only obvious choice.

He looked over him, listening carefully as he spoke, he was in shock? Yeah, he supposed he was, "I don't know how long I was unconscious bleeding out there." He glanced towards the outside with a frown, "being out saved my life." He'd been assumed dead, he didn't know how, machines usually head readings for that, "I don't know how...But I ain't about to complain." At least if he died tonight, it would be in the company of one of his own.

He winced and let out a low moan of pain as the man tended to his injuries the best he could, nodding with a soft laugh, "hey at least I wont bleed out...Thank you." He was glad when the man helped him into a position that wasn't utter agony, the pain medicine was helping a little bit, "good...At least if I die...It'll be with a friend at my side, eh?" He rested his head down and sighed, closing his eyes a moment, "they never tell you about this part when they're recruiting you...It's all glory and being a hero..." He snorted and glanced away, "there's nothing heroic about this shit..."

"You're not going to die tonight." Ian frowned, his words firm. He knew it was a distinct possibility, with the other's current weakened condition, who knew what out there around them, and who knew when anyone was going to come get them. It was entirely possible he would die here, like this. But Ian was not about to start entertaining such thoughts, nor was he going to let the other man. Mental attitude played a part too, and if he started sinking into despair that he was going to die...it wasn't going to help.

"Don't start talking like that, it's already going be a long night, without having to sit here and talk about dying." Ian shot him a stern look from behind his dirty glasses. "You're going to be fine, we just need to hang in there for a few hours is all."

He pulled some of the makeshift blankets up around the man to keep him warm, taking a moment to check the temperature of his hands and face. "Can you imagine though? If this is the shit they put on the recruitment posters? No one'd come..." He gave a dark chuckle.

He settled back against the counter, one of the blankets tucked up behind his back. "But enough of that depressing shit. Tell me...tell me something about you. Tell me where you're from, before all this started." He encouraged, if he could keep the other awake and engaged, it would help.

Harley was surprised by the conviction in the man's voice as he spoke, nodding and settling down where he'd been moved, "right...w-well yo are the doctor." He chuckled softly, then winced at the pain the action caused. He found the man's sure words comforting, or a comforting as any words could be given the situation.

"Ha! True." He felt a bit more comfort when the man wrapped him up, chasing away the cold that was biting at him, whether from the weather or the bloodloss and shock, "too many young men dying. Maybe it would be better that way." He supposed someone had to fight this battle, but he'd seen too many men his own age massacred, just barely grown men, it was a depressing thought.

He glanced up at Ian's questions, chuckling softly, "I am from India, I have lived there my whole life...Up until I left to fight here." He sighed heavily and looked to the side, "my maataaji...She did not want me to fight...I was persistant." He laughed softly and shook his head, "I should have listened to her." At the time he'd been hellbent on proving...something...But he didn't even remember what that was now.

Ian listened, looking genuinely interested as he nodded. "No kidding...I've never made it out that far, always thought I'd like to though." He gestured towards himself. "New York here, Long Island born and raised...imagine...imagine the most ridiculously stereotypical Irish Catholic family you can think up." He grinned a little at the thought. "That's my family." He didn't talk about his family's thoughts on him going off to this place. His dad thought it'd finally make a man out of him. His mother, who suspected other things about him, had hopes that the distance and experience, while not so much good for him, would help him put some things in perspective and well, come back more...normal, for lack of a better word.

"What's it like out there? I've only ever seen pictures...there's some amazing scenery from the looks of it." It was easier to keep his patient talking about himself, that was probably more interesting to them both then his own family issues anyway.

Harley chuckled and nodded, glancing over at the other man, "Ah New York, I thought that was the accent I was hearing." He'd never been there, but he'd heard plenty of tourists that came from there, it was a fairly unmistakable accent. He nodded and put a hand to his cheek, "I understand, my family is deeply religious, me not so much, at least not in the way they are." He'd always been slightly standoffish to the whole concept, though he did join them in some aspects, it was a topic he and his family butted heads on quite frequently.

"Delhi is a lovely city, one of the largest...It has many historic landmarks." He moved his hands from the covers to gesture widely, "my favorite place to visit is the Lotus Temple." He chuckled, "it is named for the flower it resembles, at night it glows...It is beautiful." He rested his hands against his stomach and sighed, "I only hope I get to see home again someday..." It was a depressing thought, but one that wouldn't leave his mind.

Ian leaned his head back, looking up at the ceiling. "I don't know that I'm really that much religious, if you really get down to it. I mean, I grew up with it. I went to church, I went to Catholic school...sometimes I think I'd prefer it if I could just believe things they way they do. I mean, it's fascinating stuff and there's a lot that's comforting in the ritual, the pomp and ceremony." He shrugged a little. "But...I guess as I got older...I kind of became more of a man of science." He almost wanted to laugh at the sudden thought, he'd barely turned twenty last month, and yet here he was sitting talking about how he'd gotten old and all that as though that gave him some sort of...edge...or knowledge.

He looked down again to the other. "Hey. Of course you're going to see it again." He could sense this was going to be a reoccurring assurance through the night. "And when you get back there, you'll light candles or incense or whatever it is you do and be like 'hey, it's just like that crazy doctor said it would be!'. You'll see."

Harley nodded and chuckled softly, glancing Ian's way, "there are subjects that my family and I contest on. I am only barely connected to their religion." He shrugged and looked to the side, "and it is mostly for conventions sake...To not join in would cause waves that I do not want to stir." He sighed heavily, then glanced at him with a cheeky smirk, "ah you sound fifty. You cannot be much older than myself." He said this in an amused way, he understood though, the world could make you feel older than you really were, and that was enough to make one feel like they had the life experience of someone five times older.

He breathed and nodded, closing his eyes as he mumbled, "you are right...I must stop thinking in such ways..." He smiled at him, "maybe you will come visit...I could show you many things." He nodded, "we welcome visitors. It is a good place, happy to share its culture." He closed his eyes again, feeling the tug of sleep at his senses.

"Yeah, yeah. I sound like a pretentious fuck." Ian laughed quietly. "I get that a lot..."

He'd always had his head in a book, using big words or fancy terms that made others look at him oddly, especially when he was younger. It had made him a bit of an odd one out among most of the people he knew, he'd learned to just own it and joke around about it a bit. It was easier then getting all stuffy feeling about it.

He frowned a bit as he watched the other's eyes start drooping. "Hey, same thing!" he raised his voice just a little to hopefully get the other's attention. "You come to New York...and we'll do every stupid touristy thing you can think of. We'll get pizza...and go look up at the Statue of Liberty...and sit in Central Park and just look at all the weird people go by...it'll be great!" He forced himself cheerful.

He knew full well this man would never go to New York with him, any more than he was going to go to India after this, even if the man lived. But there was something about talking about random future plans that somehow made this feel a little better.

"What's the first thing I should see in India? Like...if I only had a day there, say it's a layover trip...where should I go?" he asked, keeping the other talking.