POV: Leo
The panicked flapping of birds' wings from the forest rang out between the shots fired by the strangers. Their target was probably not the two soldiers, but the monster they were now fighting. With his eyes closed, Leo realized through his ability that the fight was already in progress, both sides were doing well, but Leo and Christopher could not escape from their position, behind them was a large, stone wall of the mountain and in front of him a fight was raging, with shots coming dangerously close to them. It was pure chance, if they waited for the situation to develop, whether they would be hit or caught up in it.
Leo's whole body felt electrified, he was completely ready to fight and his instincts also told him that they couldn't leave it to chance. He loaded his gun and indicated to Christopher that he should prepare to intervene. Leo didn't know if Christopher had any experience at all, but it was always the first time at some point, especially with monsters the challenge was quite different.
Ammunition was loaded, ready to go. Leo waved his hand once and at that moment he could do no more than hope that Christopher wouldn't run into the middle of the situation, but would have strategically thought through his move beforehand with such an opponent. Wrong thinking, Christopher probably saw himself more as a close combat fighter, which was no wonder with his ability to hyper-regenerate.
From what they could see, this was probably not a problem against the human enemies, as they seemed to be really bad at aiming, but the bear-like monsters would cause him problems at a distance.
Leo bit his lower lip, knelt on the ground and took aim at the humans first from a certain distance. Full Support allowed him to avoid the obstacles between him and his opponents and he managed to surprise them, after all they were completely distracted by the monster and Christopher rushing towards them, running from tree to tree to avoid the hail of bullets. They took aim as soon as they noticed him, but Leo reacted first.
"I won't let you do that." He pulled the trigger twice in succession and the bullets flew around the trees towards the head of the foreign soldiers with a bang. "Head shot," Leo just said confidently and stood back up, looking for confirmation from Christopher. "Never underestimate this capable sniper," he muttered.
His action, however, seemed to impress Christopher, but also distract him. The soldiers were dead, yet the biggest bad was still alive, which had apparently targeted Christopher, who was looking straight at Leo. "Watch out!" Leo shouted at him, which meant that Christopher was only just able to dodge as the paw came down on him, but was now lying defenceless on the ground. Blood ran down Christopher's arm and he was grazed. "Tsk." Leo hissed and found himself back in a kneeling position.
"Lie flat on the floor, I'll do the rest." But Christopher didn't listen to him. He reached for his holster and aimed at the monster's head, pulling the trigger, but the bullet left nothing more than a scratch. "Idiot!" Apparently Christopher had never actually fought a monster before, otherwise he would know that normal ammunition wouldn't work against these creatures.
Leo was an exception, as he could simply boost his ammo to match, but Christopher, of course, could not. "Rob over on the ground and take the dead soldiers' ammo!" He shouted at Christopher. - They'll have suitable ammunition when they go monster hunting, he thought to himself.
Another click of the trigger and the bullet flew out of the muzzle. Leo had never seen a creature like this before: raven-black, rather long fur, glowing red eyes, a size that even exceeded that of a bear, but clearly resembling the animal in appearance. A mutated bear?
Leo didn't have time to think about it and could only hope that the maximum amplification of ammunition from his imagination was the limit of his ability, equated with the limit of his cognition. What he could not imagine, he could not realize.
Pure gambling. The first bullet found its way, a second and third shot followed, sure enough. The magazine fell out of his rifle onto the ground. The muzzle was smoking.
Meanwhile, Christopher rolled across the floor and tried to reach the strangers' weapons, his hand already touching the stock, but suddenly the bear monster grabbed him by the legs and pulled him back across the floor.
Leo's heart raced, probably just like Christopher's, as the bullets reached the bear's head, making three smooth penetrating shots and the creature fell to the ground dead. They both breathed a sigh of relief and Leo took a quick look before running to Christopher to check on him. The wounds the monster had inflicted on him had already healed, leaving only large holes in his clothes - must be really good to have a hyper-regeneration ability like that at times like this.
Leo sighed and held out his hand to Christopher, who was still lying on his stomach on the floor, organizing his breath with excitement.
"Idiot. Haven't you ever fought a monster before?" The two men stared into each other's eyes and Christopher visibly considered whether he wanted to accept Leo's hand - and he did.
"Thanks," Christopher just grumbled and brushed the dirt off his clothes. - Pretty ungrateful for just saving his life, - Leo thought to himself, annoyed. "You're lucky I'm with you. Not everyone from our point of view is even equipped to deal with beasts like that," Leo hissed back in response, and Christopher grimaced after such a situation. "And no, I never have. I've never even seen one in my life," he continued to mutter to himself in a bad mood.
Leo breathed a sigh of relief. He could have guessed that already. "Then it's a good thing you're still alive. More than half of the people who encounter such beasts for the first time die because they have no prior knowledge or preparation," Leo explained as he tried to suppress his pent-up resentment. "Besides, I'm actually surprised a monster showed up here at all. It would have to have guts to show up in an old war zone. Normally they behave like animals and stay away from such areas," Leo continued.
"I'm so lucky," Christopher replied sarcastically. "Let's quickly gather our things from the camp and loot the dead soldiers before the rearguard shows up." No sooner said than done, and without saying another word, which to be honest really annoyed Leo, as he had just saved Christopher's life.
A train of thought briefly flickered in Leo's mind: Was Christopher perhaps suicidal and this was a suicide mission? No - Leo shook his head. - That made no sense.
And in fact, Christopher just wasn't used to being rescued by others, he was usually the stronger one and it was a real source of pride.
There was a tense silence between them for the next few days, Christopher didn't want to say thank you or apologize - it was eating at him too much - and Leo didn't want to approach him about it because he didn't see the point of making the first move.
By the time they had been travelling together for almost two and a half weeks, they finally broke the silence, as Leo was now so tense that he cuffed Christopher over the back of the head with his bare fist.
He wasn't particularly surprised and had apparently expected such a reaction, because he wasn't stupid and had noticed Leo's passive aggressive mood the whole time. "Fuck you," Leo nagged at him. Christopher only responded with an equally passive-aggressive: "Go fuck yourself." and jumped up from the rock he had been sitting on. "You want some stress now, huh?"
Christopher just clenched his fists and Leo was ready to hit him again, but after staring at each other for a moment, Leo let go of his fist and sat down on a stone. He bit his lower lip and said grumpily, "Why didn't you say thank you?" Silence. No answer, Leo had expected that. "I don't know. I just couldn't do it. Maybe I was too proud," Christopher finally replied meekly after a really long time.
Leo sighed loudly and put his hand on Christopher's shoulder, looking him seriously in the eye. "Sometimes you really still act like a child despite having that kind of body," he said, partly seriously and partly sarcastically. "Tsk," Christopher clicked his tongue, but kept Leo's hand on his shoulder and sighed: "But yes. Thank you for saving me." Christopher's voice was much calmer now, he meant his apology.
Leo took his hand off Christopher's shoulder, but Christopher grabbed his hand. "What do you mean 'with my kind of body' anyway?" Leo was surprised at the sudden intentional physical contact. "Well...," Leon briefly considered how he should express himself, he couldn't really tell him how attractive he found him. "You're just tall and broad, isn't that what every man wants?" In his head, he finished the sentence with: If you can't look cute. After all, he was too tall and too broad for a cute omega, but too short and too narrow for a sensible, attractive alpha.
"To be honest, on the one hand, it's rather stressful to look like that; superficial people, especially omegas, really get on my nerves. On the other hand," Christopher turned his gaze away from Leo. "...I think you look good the way you are." Had Christopher just paid him a compliment? Leo was confused. "Really now?" he blurted out. "Don't make me repeat it. I think you look good, okay? I especially like your face, your blue eyes and your long blonde hair,' he grumbled, unable to look at Leo.
Leo chuckled, his heart skipped a little, but he tried to suppress it: "Thank you. At least that cheers me up a bit." He laughed now, he couldn't hold back and a grin spread across his face. "Don't make fun of me, okay? I'm just not like the other Alphas. Those fragile little omegas never appealed to me." "It's okay, it's okay," Leo continued to laugh heartily and happily. "And I meant it too, that was good to hear," he added.
Not only was the mood lightened, but the relationship between the two of them also became closer. They talked long into the night about trivial things. About their comrades in the barracks, about their superiors and about their past on the job before this assignment, which helped them to better assess Christopher's experience. There were also a few subconscious touches that evening, which made Leo a little nervous.
Furthermore, the two of them analyzed their next steps and determined that they would probably need another 2-3 weeks before they arrived at the old barracks, where their destination was located. In the meantime, Leo would definitely have to hunt, as their food supply would run out before then, so Christopher would do the washing up and Leo would do the tidying up and cooking, as Christopher had never wielded a wooden spoon in his life. It was an ideal division, which they carried out in exactly the same way over the weeks; their interaction continued to be characterized by friendly conversations, little bits of information about themselves and the occasional light touch.
However, 3 days before they were due to reach their destination, one thing changed drastically:
On the morning of the 3rd day while getting up, Leo noticed a dizziness catching him. He jumped up from his bed and ran to a bush near their camp. In one movement, he vomited in the bushes. The noise seemed to have woken Christopher up too, because he came running up, slightly out of breath, yawning even as he held Leo's hair up. "Something wrong with you? The venison from yesterday maybe?" Leo continued to vomit until everything was out of his stomach. Exhausted, he lowered himself from his crouch to the floor. "I don't know. The worst thing is, I can't concentrate, which means I can't use my ability." - Another limit to his ability: concentration - And he vomited again. "Well, I'm assuming that I'll be fine by tomorrow."
- It was so easy to say, but the nausea didn't subside over the days, which delayed their movement and instead of 3 days they needed 5. In the evening Leo lay exhausted on the floor in his sleeping bag, he could hardly get any food down, the smell made him vomit every time, which put a lot of strain on his body. Because he could hardly use his ability, Christopher had to keep night watches. Leo crept closer and closer to Christopher during the nights, his smell strangely soothed Leo's stomach a great deal, which is why he jumped over his shadow on the last evening before the missions, which they were not allowed to mess up under any circumstances, and asked Christopher to do something he would never have done otherwise.
"Ey..." 'What's wrong?' grumbled Christopher, slightly worried but also completely exhausted. He had never once blamed Leo for the fact that all the work had fallen on him. "Sounds funny now...but..." Leo hesitated with his words. Christopher sat on the edge of the tent and turned his gaze to Leo, whom he barely recognized in the darkness.
"I don't know, but somehow your smell makes me feel good, so I don't feel so sick." Christopher raised one of his eyebrows upwards. "Just today, really. I need to get some shut eye, we're at our destination tomorrow, I need focus and sleep." Christopher thought for just a moment and then pointed to his lap. "Go on." Fortunately, their relationship had improved over the weeks, so Christopher had also thawed out a little and had grown to trust Leo.
Hesitantly, Leo laid his head on Christopher's lap. The smell of him actually calmed Leo down so that he could close his eyes. Christopher couldn't help himself and began to play with Leo's long blond hair. Leo didn't mind, on the contrary, it didn't take him a minute to fall asleep and sleep through the night for the first time in days. "If I didn't know you were an alpha, I'd think you were pregnant," Christopher mumbled, but Leo didn't even hear that anymore. However, he had already had that thought himself, but it was hardly possible; after all, he wasn't fertile to his lack of heat.
Leo woke up the next morning still feeling slightly nauseous, but with considerably more strength, his head still resting on Christopher's lap, who had stayed awake all night and kept watch. "Well, are you awake for once?" The bright daylight was almost burning in his eyes, but his gaze was more focused on Christopher's violet eyes. He blinked briefly and then stood up in a flash. "What?" Leo was momentarily confused until the conversation from the previous evening popped into his head and his cheeks flushed. "I'm sorry," Leo stammered, feeling a little uncomfortable about the situation afterwards. "It's all right, at least you seem to have slept better," Christopher said curtly.
"Yes. I feel much fitter." Leo stood up. "I'm still feeling a bit sick, but as far as I'm concerned, we can start today." "Good, then let's pack up and off we go. Then we can finally go home... I'm really tired of sleeping on the hard floor." Both men stretched. "Haha, you'll get used to it in the long run, believe me," Leo laughed lightly and prepared everything for the last day of the mission, which was also the most nerve-wracking. - After all, this was where things could go most wrong.
Armed with their rucksacks and being extra careful with their movements and noises, the two of them set off; it wouldn't be half a day before they reached the hill in front of the old barracks. At first Leo was glad that he was feeling better, but the joy didn't last long.
They had just climbed the last few meters of the hill, and with his ability they had been able to make out where the enemies had barricaded themselves, when the nausea seized him again and he vomited between the trees. "Fuck. I can't stop now." "Are you sure we shouldn't stop this?" "No!" he hissed aggressively at Christopher. "I've never failed a mission before, and I won't now." Christopher didn't answer and followed Leo, who threw up almost every 10 minutes, to the top, where they crawled the last few meters on their stomachs.
"I'll scan the area now and see where our enemies are," Leo said, his voice sounding tortured. He tried to concentrate, but he threw up once more. "Fuck," he hissed again. Christopher knew by now that Leo was too stubborn and too proud to give up at that moment, so he reached for his binoculars. "The normal way, then." Leo's expression darkened, he was clearly pissed off by the situation. Christopher didn't respond to this, however, and surveyed the surrounding area, listing where he saw the enemies and, more importantly, their main target.
Apparently they hadn't been expected, because their general was outside the buildings talking to three of his comrades in the compound. Good for Leo and Christopher. Leo laid his rifle on the ground and loaded the ammunition. "Where did you say the general was?" Once again he tried to concentrate and spot the general on his own, he could do that better, but he realized that there were more enemies right behind them. "Chris! Look out!" The first shot whizzed through the air and Christopher startled. "Fuck, I'll take them out before they call for reinforcements, you take care of taking out the general." Leo just nodded and tried to focus. However, his physical status snapped him out of your concentration two more times.
Meanwhile, Christopher charged at the two soldiers coming towards them and tried to get ahead of them. More shots rang out, but Leo couldn't allow himself to be distracted. He tried to pull himself together, to focus on what was in front of him, he had the general in his sights, blocked out everything around him and fired. The bullet flew its direct path and hit the general in the head, he dropped dead instantly and the surrounding soldiers began to look around in panic, getting into one of the vehicles and fleeing, that was fine. Leo didn't see the need to pursue them, their job was done and he turned to Christopher.
Startled, he realized that Christopher had taken a bullet to the shoulder area, but was still standing on his feet and continuing to fight. Only subconsciously, but Leo had noticed how Christopher had taken the bullet for him so that he could complete his mission in peace, that was how far their trust had come. He jumped up, inwardly feeling massive panic and hoping that the hyper-regeneration ability was keeping Christopher alive. One of the opponents was already down, a critical shot had hit him, more shots were fired, one shot from Christopher hit the last opponent in the chest, the other shot from the opponent hit Christopher in his other shoulder. He was still on his feet at first, but that didn't last long and he fell to the ground.
Panicked, Leo ran towards Christopher and crouched down on the ground next to him. "Chris!" He shouted and looked frantically at his wounds. They were bleeding profusely and with the bullets still lodged in his body, his hyper regeneration couldn't keep up, it was trying to heal but the blood was pouring out. "You may be healing, but you're not immortal, you idiot."
Christopher was unconscious and unresponsive, Leo put him over his shoulder, for the first time in his life he was glad he wasn't the cute little Omega. Though it was his fault Christopher was hurt in the first place - he thought to himself - if he'd been able to use his ability properly, they wouldn't have been so surprised. Leo tried to concentrate.
Theoretically, with Christopher's ability, he was dragging him down to the old barracks on his shoulder, all the enemies had left by now, after the death of their general, he could use his own ability to boost the ability of Christopher. But Leo would be using his skill as a support skill, possibly exposing himself as an Omega.
He bit his lower lip, but there wasn't a second to hesitate, and while he was down at the old barracks, he boosted Christopher's ability, keeping him stable until he could put him in the passenger seat of a vehicle that was left behind, and got in the driver's seat himself and started the engine. "Fuck, hold off until we get to our barracks, idiot," Leo cursed, suppressing his nausea. His foot stayed on the gas pedal as long as the armored vehicle could take it. "With the car and outside the mission, it won't take us long...so please, please hold on."