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joggerfive · 3 days

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Sickness, Sci-Fi and Saving Room for Jesus

Fic set in early season 1, not related to any specific mission so no spoilers. AO3 link here if you prefer reading on there!

Five's favourite radio operator is struck down with an illness, and they try to cheer him up. Also Maxine is a lil shit (affectionate).

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Going on a run felt wrong without Sam in their ear.

Even after the short time Five had been a runner at Abel, they’d grown accustomed to him as their operator. His voice, his mannerisms, his sayings. Hearing anyone else in the field just felt… off. They hadn’t been able to relax into the run as they usually did, their whole body seemingly on edge as it was aware of the difference, even as they scoured for supplies.

“Did I do an alright job?” Maxine asked as Five opened the squeaking door to the comms shack, turning in the office chair so quickly that a few strands of coiled hair that had escaped her updo whipped her on the cheek.

Five nodded as they placed their headset down on the desk next to the others, careful not to jostle the left ear too much, since there was already duct tape keeping it in place.

Maxine seemed to relax at the reassurance, smiling brightly, “Good. And thanks again for going, it’s more valuable than you know. We’re lucky to have you.”

The praise made them squirm, shifting from foot to foot as they stared at the scuffed floor and their equally scuffed trainers.

Changing the subject, they moved their hands in four quick motions, “Can I go to Sam's room?”

Maxine chuckled as if it were an absurd question, “Of course, it’s not a high school field trip.”

Five wanted to explain that they were asking to make sure that he wasn’t still infectious with whatever illness he was plagued with, rather than breaking any township rules, but didn’t bother since they’d already been given the approval they needed. They practically bounced on their heels as they moved towards the door.

“Five?”

They halted immediately and turned back around, eyebrows raised in question.

Maxine grinned impishly, “Keep the door open though, no hanky panky-”

Five rolled their eyes, taking their exit before she could see how their cheeks flushed.

As they swung the door shut, they pointedly pretended that they didn’t hear Maxine saying something about saving room for Jesus and giggling at her own joke.

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Five hadn’t actually been to the dorm previously, but judging by the… artwork on the door, it was the right one. It looked akin to something that wouldn’t be out of place on a display at a children’s school, multiple drawings in multiple colours decorating the plain wood.

They knocked gingerly before they could look at the art any longer- Was that meant to be Eugene riding a hippo? Or another one-legged person trying to mount an… overweight horse with no neck? Or-

“Come in.” A weak voice roused, followed by a hacking cough.

They did as they were told, slinking into the small room and closing the door behind them. (If Maxine asked, it was because the germs Sam had would be more likely to spread to the rest of Abel otherwise.)

Five instantly felt a chill as a breeze crept its way up their shirt, barely repressing a shiver even if the coolness was welcome after a sweaty run. The small window on the left was propped all the way open even in the cool spring temperature.

Sam seemed to also be feeling the cold, only his head poking out from a bundle of blankets on his bunk on the left hand side of the room, black hair mussed and pointing in multiple directions. His eyes looked tired, but they still lit up at the sight of his friend.

“Five!” The voice was weak, but still showed enthusiasm, “How was the supply run?”

They walked towards his cot, eyes scanning to see if the other residents of this dorm were also in attendance. They wouldn’t mind if Jack and Eugene were there, especially since they didn’t understand sign language other than the few words they’d learned recently, but Five did feel more relaxed when it was just the two of them.

Five gave a thumbs up with one hand as they swung their backpack down to the floor, making a loud thud when it connected to the wood. They perched at the end of Sam’s bed, both out of politeness and health orientated safety.

They signed, “Found some presents for you.”

Sam bolted upright, his blanket cocoon opening up, revealing a pac-man themed pyjama shirt underneath, then restrained his excitement.

“You’re not really… meant to keep things to give just to one person,” he winced, scratching the nape of his neck, “Not that I’m not grateful! I am! You’ve risked your life for these and I’m just-” A cough rose up from his chest, interrupting his rambling.

Five waited until he’d gained his bearings again, then explained, “I know. But only a few things. And you can share when you’re better.”

This seemed to intrigue Sam, his head tilting to the side in a manner that reminded Five of a small puppy. He couldn’t help a smile blossoming on his face. “Okay, fine, what’ve you got?”

Five grinned in reply, lunging off the bed to unzip the bag, grasping the first item. They held the hot water bottle in their hands, the white plastic now showing a slight yellow tinge from use over time.

Once they’d placed it down on the blue and green checked bedspread, they explained, “Couldn’t find the cover, but has a lid.”

Sam looked as happy as a kid on Christmas that had been given the newest games console, grasping the item and hugging it to his chest, as if he could already feel the warmth even though it was empty. “So I can use it lying down!”

The other hot water bottle was still discarded on the floor after he’d discovered the other day that it leaked through the lid when horizontal, which almost resulted in Sam needing medical attention for burns as well as the flu.

Five reached into the bag again, feeling for the next item, wrapping their hand around the soft object.

“What’s that?” Sam leaned forward to inspect the light blue material, which was straight with a small divot in the middle, connected by velcro in the back.

Five tapped the side of their own head, “For headaches. You put it in the fridge and-”

Their hands stopped moving, trailing off their words as Sam instantly wrapped the mask around his face. “Oh, cool! I feel like Geordi La Forge!”

Five couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight, waiting until he removed the mask before signing again. He winced as he did so, the velcro getting caught in the hairs on the back of his head.

“Not cold now, but I can take it to the hospital fridge,” Five said, holding out their hands once they’d finished.

Sam dutifully gave the item back, “Thanks, those are both gonna help me and others who get sick-”

Five waved their hands to silence him, which worked instantly. “Best for last.”

Sam’s eyebrows shot up, “There’s more? You didn’t have to-”

They tipped out the rest of the bag. Multiple DVD cases hit the mattress, cascading like a waterfall.

“Firefly?!” Sam called out, grabbing the DVD showing Mal Reynolds and the rest of the team, “I haven’t seen this in ages!”

They smiled at his excitement, watching as he inspected all of the goods.

“Star Trek TNG, New Who, X-Files…”

“No season eight though-”, They signed, remembering how they’d rummaged through the store in case the disc had fallen out of the case nearby, then been interrupted by Maxine panicking about how the zoms were trying to batter down the door.

Sam shrugged, “Who needs later seasons of X-Files anyway? Everyone knows the first few seasons are the best-”

Five simply looked at him.

“You’ve not seen X-Files?!”

They kept staring.

“Oh, we have to watch it together- We can make it a movie night!”

Five’s eyes widened at the implication. Usually others joined them, but a night in the rec room just by themselves-

“And Maxine! She told me once that Scully was her gay awakening-”

They brought their lips into a thin line, nodding as he continued.

“And I know Gene’s a secret sci-fi nerd, which means he’ll bring Jack, but they’re not allowed to just…” Sam wrinkled his nose, “not pay attention to the actual show like last time. They kept sucking each other face’s off at all the good bits-”

Five laughed, remembering how Sam had argued that the couple were ‘ruining the sanctity of media’ and Jack had flipped him off without even removing his lips from his boyfriend’s.

“Anyway,” Sam shook his head as if he was trying to remove the memory from his brain, “thank you for all this. It means-”

“Sorry I couldn’t get more,” Five began, looking down at their hands as they spoke instead of making eye contact, “Mostly a run for medication so couldn’t detour to the usual spots that have the electronics - that’s why there’s the hot water bottle and mask - and I could only look at the science fiction section since that one wasn’t blocked by debris, but I could go back with more runners later to see if there’s more. You’ve looked after me since I arrived, so I wanted to look after you. And-”

They risked a glance upward to see Sam’s reaction, and were met by him simply staring at them with a dazed smile.

Their hands stopped, slowly lowering to their lap as if the sentence trailed off.

Sam remained motionless, a dopey grin still plastered across his face, with a slight pink tinge under the even more slight stubble.

Five’s brows furrowed, trying to remember what they’d said and what words they’d used. Whilst Sam happened to be the Abel citizen with the most knowledge of sign language, he definitely wasn’t fluent.

"Did I sign too quickly? Should I sign again?”

Sam’s reply was silent too, apart from the rustling of blankets as he moved and the huff of air that escaped Five’s lungs as he tackled them in a hug, wrapping his arms atop their shoulders and squeezing tightly.

Five’s first thought was that he didn’t smell… fresh, exactly. (No one did in the apocalypse, but fever sweats definitely hadn’t helped.)

Their second thought was hugging back, arms curling around his middle, careful not to press too hard in case his body still ached.

“Thank you,” he whispered, his voice raspier than usual.

Five simply patted the small of his back in reply, unable to use their hands but not wanting to move just yet.

The two stayed connected for a few more seconds before Sam gasped and quickly pulled away. Five teetered at the sudden movement, sure that they would’ve toppled off the mattress if they didn’t have their feet on the floor.

Sam looked incredibly concerned, leaning back quickly, “Sorry, I’ve probably just given you my lurgy!”

They shrugged in reply, brushing off his worry.

“Oh God, I hope I’m not contagious anymore. Otherwise this whole room will be turned into a quarantine zone and you’ll be stuck with me for days on end!”

Five shrugged again, this time with a smile, secretly thinking that there were definitely worse quarantining procedures than staying with an operator that yapped non-stop and a pile of sci-fi DVDs to watch.

Probably.

#zombies run #sam yao #runner five #maxine myers #zombies run!#zrs1 #5am #my fic #is there any other tags i need to do #i'm so out of practice at this

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