Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Somehow, you and your partner Cardia escaped the Impostors' takeover of MIRA HQ.

Although, to be completely honest, "escape" was an overstatement - Cardia lost an arm and a leg, and you were dying from hypothermia and a a gaping wound from an Impostor's tongue. While your senior status allowed you a cozy, all-expenses-paid convalescence in Polus' best medical hospital, your datemate, still climbing through the ranks emself, has no such luck.

Heart pounding inside your ribcage, you abandon your task to rush to the Medbay of Polus’ Alpha Outpost. You plead your datemate to let you pay for eir treatment - Damn the rules against on-the-job relationships, damn the cutthroat nature of MIRA’s rank system, damn their tracking all your accounts. You want your lover, your best friend, to survive!

"I'll be fine," Cardia reassures you, remaining arm propping eir face on the handrest of eir wheelchair. Your partner smiles ruefully behind eir helmet. “You shouldn’t risk your job for me, darling.”

The unsaid: They have no use for an amputee. I’ll resign and settle down.

“I don’t care about this damn job!” you snap, voice rising with every word, “All it does is take… I lost my team, Cardia! I’m not gonna let them get you too!”

Feedback.

The noise rang in both your commlinks. Cardia flinches - you deflate. You shoot em an apologetic look. You can’t upset em, not when ey was still recovering. And it wasn’t eir fault. Not even MIRA’s fault, per se.

Outside your space suits, the below-freezing winter winds of Polus blow through the windows, making high-pitched sounds as they hit the walls of the corridor. You wonder who the supervisor of this base is - in MIRA HQ, such lack of maintenance could cost them their rank, just like what happened to your own supervisor.

Before the Impostors killed him, something in your mind whispers. Your space suit is temp-regulated, but something inside you freezes anyway.

Don’t think about the past, you scold it. Think about now. You turn your attention to the shoddy job the Alpha doctors did.

Is this how they repaid em?

Your lover saved you from the Impostors. Ey got so much information on the artifacts, did all eir tasks well… "How could they leave you like this, Cardia?” you cry, throwing your hands up between the two of you. “You should've gotten a promotion - or at least some prosthetics!”

You gesture at Cardia’s, well, whole body, scowling. “These damned doctors…"

Really, what a waste of medical degrees! They only cleaned off Cardia's blood and put em in a new space suit, tying the limbless sleeves with clasps you’re not even sure are airtight. And it’s purple. You’d reckon ey doesn’t want to wear yellow anymore, not after what had happened in MIRA HQ, but… that’s not the point. The point is-

"There’s no more doctors, love," Cardia cuts off your train of thoughts. Ey beckons you with a hand gesture; you move closer, so close your helmets touch. "This Medbay's run by the chemists now.”

“Oh,” you say numbly.

As if reading your mind, Cardia cups the “cheek” of your helmet with eir hand, eir lips puckered for a kiss that could never be done in a place like this. Familiarity - warmth of safer times - courses in your veins, followed by memories.

Discreetly holding hands on the dropship… 

Silly not-kisses in front of cameras…

Stealing glances on emergency meetings…

Hearts filled with confidence you no longer have. The reminder pains you, but - your heart clenches. Unless you had a good plan, this might be the last time you see each other in person. So you smile, pucker your lips, and stroke the top of Cardia’s helmet. Wishing you could run your fingers through eir soft curls, caress eir dark skin, and nestle against eir warmth.

As an alternative, you bend down to hug your partner, squeezing eir tall, broad form. You can’t even feel their heartbeat, but Cardia’s palm on your back makes up for it. So is the regular rise and fall of eir body.

Breathe in…

Breathe out…

In…

Out.

You’re both here. Safe. Alive. No Impostors around you.

...Right?

Right. You squeeze yourself against Cardia, calming your short breaths with eir steady rhythm.

In…

And out.

Neither of you says anything for a while.

But time ticks by whether you want it or not. The Polus wind whistles yet again, only briefly interrupted by footsteps - footsteps from what may or may not be your crewmates.

Cardia tenses in your arms.

A shuddering breath escapes your body.

Somehow, despite the screaming in your head, you extract yourself from your partner’s embrace.

Chapter Text

The crunching of boots against outside snow turns into the clanging of metal floors, growing louder with each step. They’re getting closer. Too close.

“Go do your tasks, baby,” Cardia says.

Or the Impostors wil get you, you imagine em adding, Like they got our team in HQ.

You squeeze eir hand, trying to ignore what was left of your partner’s other one. “I wish I could stay with you.”

Ey breathes out a laugh - it’s trembling, almost wet with sobs.

Your heart burns. You hate seeing em hurt like this. You wish you could direct that fire to everything and everyone who'd hurt em. But alas… the Impostors are planets away, and so is MIRA's chief.

“Hey, don’t worry,” you half-joke, hugging Cardia again, pressing your palm onto their back so deep you can almost feel eir skin under eir space suit. You rub calming circles around the surface, one hand on eir upper back and the other on the low. “Maybe my new Crewmates will see how in love we are and give me some slack.”

“Fat chance,” Cardia chuckles sadly. Ey nuzzles you, which made a clunking sound. Pain shoots up your head -  You hate the sound! Glass against glass hurts! And it hurts a little that ey forgot about this… so you put your hands on the surface of eir helmet and leans yours on the soft, padded glove, like you’re about to sleep.

“Oh, I’m sorry!”

“Thank you.” You nuzzle em harder, still softened by your hands.

“Of course, my darling.” Cardia’s response warms you all over, sending an injection of relief to extinguish the overload-pain. “Thank you for everything, though. I’ll miss you.”

You won’t be leaving, you want to say, but of course the alarm starts blaring, bathing the Medbay in red, then darkness, then red- Clang clang crunch the footsteps retreat, horns filling the air in its wake. The medical supplies and machines in the laboratory cast dancing shadows around the room, shadows of looming Impostors opening their stomach-mouths - too open for attacks, nothing like your previous post - deep red like Dena’s blood and zir scream - no. No. In a place this open, you can see everything coming. This place is better than MIRA HQ any day.

When you focus back on the present, your HUD announces Reset Seismic Stabilizers . You let go of your beloved. “Will you be okay?”

“Hey, I saved you without an arm and a leg!” Ey shouts over the alarms, the blinking lights bathing eir face in shadows, shadows, Reactor Meltdown- Yellow space suit, in front of the machine. Vonnie. Oh thank the stars, Von, you’re here too- Dearie? What are you doing - I trusted you Von- I trusted you-!  

“...I’ll be fine!”

Cardia. Crewmate. Partner. Not girlf- ex- Vonnie. Impostor. You hold on to the familiar voice; you are here. In Polus. Safe. Alive.

But the ground begins to shake, throwing you off-balance and kissing the floor. Cardia gasps - Cardia is alive. You’re alive. Vonnie isn’t here, she won’t hurt you anymore. You rise and dust yourself off quickly, making sure ey’s okay. Thank goodness Medbay wheelchairs had those special wheels. You run towards the door, eyes never leaving your favorite Crewmate.

“I’ll be back soon,” you vow, before making your way towards the seismic stabilizers. When this earthquake is over, you’ll-

The room’s red, red like the blood pooling from your side- Vonnie how could you, how could you leave me to die-  

No. Stop, dammit. You’re alive, you’re in Polus.

You lean on the wall, stabilizing yourself in shaky ground. Your body is intact, Cardia’s isn’t. Ey is more important than your wounded heart. You still have one other partner. You’ll find a way to make sure ey stays.

You can’t afford anything else.