Archive of Our Own ^beta

Milo had called them. David. Hurt. Bad. Be ready.

They didn’t know what they would see. They imagined every possibility- they were good at that. Always imagining different things. Things other than their boring work meetings and imagining fun activities that they could be doing with David. Ones that when vocalized either made him scoff in embarrassment or chuckle and take them up on their offer.

David. Hurt.

They anxiously waited in the living room. It was dusk. They tried to distract themself by watching TV or scrolling on their phone. It didn’t work. Their mind kept circling. How were they supposed to be ready, when they didn’t even know where he was hurt? How he was hurt?

They went to grab clothes for David. He could change into his pajamas and sleep once he was healed. How much did he need to be healed? Was it super bad?

Angel fumbled with the first aid kit in the closet, unsure if anyone else was coming to help and they might need to do impromptu first aid. They knocked down a few towels and washcloths, quietly cursing and deciding that they could clean it up after David was taken care of.

The front door slammed opened. Angel never locked it. Their house being far from the city meant they never usually had threatening visitors come to their door and try to break in. David had scolded them about it, but in emergencies, an unlocked door made it easy for pack members to come in.

Rushing to see the two men clumsily carrying their mate, their vision tunneled as they saw all the blood on his shirt. His sweatshirt had been taken off and discarded next to the L-shaped couch. Angel’s breath quickened, but they stayed quiet.

David’s body laid still on the couch. They tried not to look at him laying there with his shallow breathing, occasional shuddering, and blood drying on him. Sam was crouched over David’s body healing the worst injuries.

“Milo said he’d call Marie. For later,” Asher quietly informed, standing nervously at the end of the couch. Asher’s fist balled up and covered his mouth.

Sam shifted his attention and looked at them. “Can you get warm water and a washcloth as well?”

Angel quickly turned back to the kitchen and grabbed a big bowl, the one they used for popcorn, and began to fill it up. They took a deep breath, the water filling the bowl was the only sound they focused on.

“AUGH!”

They jumped at David’s pained voice. Their breathing tightened and they carried the bowl back into the living room, shaking as they set it down. Asher had moved closer and brushed his hand over David’s forehead, trying to soothe him through the pain. Sam apologized, but kept going.

Angel’s heart broke at the sound and a few tears threatened to spill. They needed to go get a washcloth. They needed to be helpful. Crying wasn’t going to be helpful.

When they brought back a washcloth, Sam had finished healing the big, deep scratch on David’s side. That was the worst of his injuries. No wonder David had yelled while Sam was healing. His body unnaturally healing itself from something that big would be painful. His chest was littered with other deep cuts, just not as scary as that one.

“You can work on cleaning off the blood,” Sam suggested. Angel took the washcloth and dipped it into the warm water. Their breath caught in their throat the more they stared at each cut, at all the blood. They rung out the corner before gently wiping David’s side, and then his arms. They dipped the washcloth in between their cleaning, the bowl getting dirtier with blood each time. Asher had taken the bowl at one point to dump it out and refill it.

They had a system at a point. Sam healed anything super major. Asher would refresh the water. Angel would wipe any blood that they could see.

David wasn’t very coherent through most of it. His eyes were closed and the only way you could know he was still barely awake was when he did a sharp intake of breath as his skin knitted itself back together.

When the healing was finished David was changed into new clothes. Asher and Angel had worked to get the blood off of the couch as much as possible, and started the wash. All the soiled fabrics were tossed in, with Angel dropping many outside of the washing machine that they then had to pick up again. Angel stopped at one point, and noted the scratches along Asher’s arm.

“How– How did it happen?” They shakily asked. They threw in the torn pants into the wash.

“Earth elemental. It was. . . It was strange,” Asher replied. “The elemental grew plants. Lots of thorns. I haven’t seen many ever do that– but. . . They were heckling at first, at the gig, and then, y’know, we stepped in, and the elemental started getting aggressive. Had a few more buddies with him that we had to handle. The big guy stepped in front of Milo and took the brunt of it.”

Angel absentmindedly nodded. They left Asher alone in the laundry room and went back out. Sam had washed is hands off and stood staring at the supposedly sleeping werewolf. Sam was leaning against the wall.

“Thanks for. . . coming. You can go home,” Angel crossed their arms and stared at the floor. It kept their hands from shaking.

“Are you alright?”

“Yeah.”

They looked at the vampire for a second. They knew they were acting cold. It was unusual for them. They knew that he knew– them never being the best at hiding what they were feeling through their body language. But they weren’t going to share their feelings. If they shared, then they would start crying, and that wouldn’t be good for David to wake up to and add to him being sore and distressed, when Angel was supposed to be comforting him.

They soon heard Asher was walking towards the entryway. The three stood in silence.

Angel spoke up again, “Yeah. So you– Thanks for coming. You guys can go home. Your mates probably want to make sure you’re okay. Be able to sleep with you. Let them know that David is fine. . .”

They knew they shouldn’t shoo them out. They were pack, and they were basically family. If Angel needed one of them to stay, they would. But Angel didn’t want either of them to see them cry. Not tonight. This wasn’t a big deal. It was David getting hurt on the job. Not some life-threatening. . . it was just him getting hurt. He was fine now. Sam took care of him.

The two men hesitantly got their belongings before Angel opened the door to walk them out. Sam paused in the doorway; Asher paused at the bottom of the porch steps.

“You sure, you’re gonna be okay takin’ care of him tonight?” Sam asked.

“Yeah,” They breathlessly answered. Another pause. Another minute to check if they believed Angel. Another minute for Angel to open up.

Sam nodded after confirming they weren’t going to change their mind, and walked down the steps. Asher mentioned something about checking up on the two of them tomorrow morning, before heading out with Sam.

Angel watched Asher’s truck leave the driveway before closing and locking the door. They turned to face the darkened house, only the light from the kitchen lighting the entryway and living room. It was silent, and they didn’t like it. They didn’t like– the events of tonight and what it made them feel and think.

Angel shook their head.

Tasks. They needed to do tasks. David wasn’t going to be moving a whole lot tonight and he needed things in arms reach and they needed things to be close enough that they could help at a moments notice. They busied themself again, the shaking of their hands never fully fading from before.

Angel grabbed a cup from the cabinet and filled it with water. They dropped the cup once, letting out a loud clang in the sink. They winced and filled it up again. They grabbed one of the straws from their stash, assuming that David might not be able to easily drink out of a cup. And last-minutely grabbed the pain killers.

Healing magic only did so much. Sam got the worst of things, but the aches would be back eventually.

Would David want food? They could cook something– maybe one of his favorite meals? No. Something light and small would be better. Tomorrow they could cook him something more nutritious. They didn’t even know how long he’d be asleep.

They hurriedly brought everything to the coffee table and set it down. The few pill bottles spilled across the table. At least the water cup was fine. They picked up the bottles and turned to go back to the kitchen.

“Angel.”

They stopped.

“Angel, look at me.”

Angel shook their head. If they looked at him they would just start crying, and they couldn’t do that. He was the one hurt. They needed to be strong. Angel needed him to know that he could rely on them. That they could take care of him. Crying wasn’t going to help that.

“Baby. . . please.” David almost let out a whine. They took a deep breath before turning to face him laying on the couch. His brow was furrowed, his eyes half-lidded from the healing magic affecting him. They could see how he was worried. And they hated themselves for being the cause of his worry when nothing even happened to them.

They clenched their jaw and held their breath as David silently examined them. The scratchy feeling in the back of their throat became more prominent as they tried to hold back tears.

“Hi.”

Their voice cracked.

Don’t cry, don’t cry, don’t cry–

They covered their mouth to keep from sobbing, hands shaking. Angel finally let their tears go. They looked down at the floor not wanting to hold his gaze as they broke down.

“Oh, Angel. Come here,” David lifted his right arm and held out his hand. Angel moved to kneel next to the couch, and took his hand, squeezing it tightly. They curled into themself and rested their head on the couch cushion. Their crying gradually becoming more pathetic.

“Shh, shh. I’m ok. It’s alright,” David hushed. Angel pathetically shook their head, and let out a loud sob. They looked up at David and brought his hand to their lips, leaving the softest kisses they could.

“I’m sorry– I’m sorry– I shouldn’t be crying. I should be comforting you. I’m supposed to take care of you. You’re the one who got hurt– and– and crying doesn’t help me do that! If anyone should be crying, it should be you.” Angel rested the back of his hand to their forehead and sobbed again.

David’s hand eventually made it’s way to the back of Angel’s neck, his thumb rubbing up and down, soothingly. Their sobs soon quieted into whimpers and sniffles.

“I’m sorry, I scared you. . .”

“No– You don’t need to apologize. None of this is your fault,” Angel sniffed. They took their t-shirt and used it to wipe their face, not wanting to leave David’s side to go find a tissue. “I was just afraid that you– you– might not have made it back home. Milo only told me that you were hurt bad, and I–I didn’t want to lose you.”

“You didn’t lose me.” David hummed. “Can I hold you?”

“Are you sure it won’t hurt you? You need to be comfortable.”

“I wouldn’t have offered it if I couldn’t,” David gruffly said. He braced himself up, grunting as he did so. Angel rested a hand at his back to help him sit up. David moved to the corner of their L-shaped couch, stretching his legs out. Angel had grabbed a blanket and laid it over the two of them. They curled up on his lap.

They slowly leaned into David, not wanting to hurt him in case he was still hurting somewhere.

“I’m not. . going to break,” David assured.

Angel tilted their head to look at David. “Are you sure you don’t want me to hold you?”

David closed his eyes and leaned his head back. His arms wrapped around Angel’s waist. “Mm. Right now. . . I want. . . the weight of you on me.”

They rested their head against his collar bone. “This okay?”

“Mhmm.”

Angel was sure that David had fallen asleep before them. Fighting against people, all that blood loss and healing magic would’ve been a tiring experience for anyone. Angel leaned over and kissed his neck where his pulse was. Beating. Alive.

They rested their head on his collarbone, and closed their eyes to listen to David’s breathing.

- - -

They woke up at some point, with urgent knocks on the front door. Angel unsteadily got up and looked through the keyhole. It was still dark out, but their porch light was on and could see who it was easily.

Angel opened the door.

“Hi, Marie,” Angel slightly smiled. They waved her in.

“How’s our alpha doing?” Marie Greer quietly asked, setting her purse down.

“Alive. Sam got the worst ones out of the way. David hasn’t complained about anything hurting, but I’m not sure if healing magic can numb a person or if Sam got all of his cuts.”

Marie rested a hand on Angel’s back, “I’ll double check.”

They walked back into the living room, where David still slept. Angel sat next to David and rubbed his shoulder. “Davey, David. You need to wake up, Davey.”

David blinked open his eyes and squinted at the new figure in the room.

“Marie is here. She is gonna check you over again. Make sure everything is alright.”

David nodded and rubbed his face before sitting up straighter.

The check was quick. Marie found a few more gashes on his legs– Sam hadn’t looked at David’s legs –that she healed fast and he was allowed to rest again.

Angel walked Marie back to the door. “Thank you for double checking. I really appreciate it. I’m not sure how we missed his legs considering his pants had rips in them.”

“It’s no problem. . .You okay as well?” Marie turned and examined Angel’s face.

“I– yeah?”

“Your eyes are puffy and red.”

Angel opened their mouth and then closed it. They could’ve not said anything, but something about Marie made them feel like it was safe to share. They told Marie a shortened version as to what happened.

Marie invited them in for a hug.

Angel wrapped their arms around her waist as the older woman rubbed their back. “I’m sure your mate will tell you this later on, but you don’t have to hide yourself crying or being scared. It’s perfectly normal. You aren’t minimizing someone else’s pain by crying and regulating your emotions.”

They broke apart from the hug, and smiled. “Thank you, Marie.”

“You’re welcome. Now go back to him.”

With the front door closed and locked, Angel made their way back to David on the couch.

“You took too long,” David muttered.

“I’m sorry,” Angel half-heartedly cooed, brushing his hair back.

Angel sat in-between David’s legs and flipped around, chest to chest. “We can sleep now, baby. Everything is fine,” Angel murmured.

David wrapped his arms tighter around them. He sighed and Angel tucked their head into his neck. His shirt having his cologne on it, wrapping them in a safe blanket, and his paced breathing, relaxed them. They would be here to take care of him. They would keep him safe.