Work Text
"Where it began, I can't begin to know.
But then I know it's growing strong,
Was in the spring,
And spring became the summer.
Who'd have believed you'd come along."
You grunt, your foot slipping thanks to loose rocks and chest slamming into the side of the mountains as you try to regain your footing. The sun beats down on your back, your gloved hands digging into the uncomfortably warm stone as you drag yourself back up and dig your foot into a new hold."You alright down there deputy?" Eli calls down and you look up to see him watching you over his shoulder, confident enough to lean away from the mountain face and check on the rope securing you two together. You weren't a fan of heights and you definitely were not a fan of grappling up the side of a mountain; yet here you were. All because you couldn't say no to Eli and his stupid pretty blue eyes."I'm fine, keep movin'!" You shoot back, ready to be in that cave you were both heading too already. Apparently a member of the Whitetails had left something in a prepper stash, something Eli needed for one of their rescue missions. You had been surprised when he said he was going to join you when you went to retrieve it, he normally stayed in the Wolf's Den to keep an eye on everything after all and it's not like you hadn't done something like this for him before.You'd been spending more time with the militia leader and you'd grown pretty fond of him; he'd grown pretty fond of you too. You had a hard time shaking the thought it was just because you were an important asset though, you accomplished what a lot of his people couldn't; you were a one person army like so many people liked to say. That's not how you'd describe yourself but you didn't care enough to fight it, whatever people wanted to believe was their own business. Even if the pedestal you were being held on felt more like a prison most days; Eli made it easier to deal with.You climb up to a ledge, Eli holding his hand out to you and pulling you up. Your boot meets the flat ground and your chest knocks into Eli's, grabbing onto his shoulder as you steady yourself. You both lock eyes for a moment before turning away and clearing your throats, you adjust the hat on your head as you lean back; patting his shoulder in a silent thanks as he steps back. "It's not much further up," He says, walking to the right and throwing the grapple up into the air. You watch it catch and go taught as Eli tugs on it experimentally. You keep your eyes glued to the wall and walk up, letting Eli climb up first.You'd set up a sort of base camp at the Wolf's Den since meeting Eli, beforehand you'd scurry back to Dutch's bunker when you needed to let the fires you'd set die out or somewhere to rest while a particularly bad injury healed. But now you'd go to Eli, drag yourself battered and bruised to the opening of the Wolf's Den and without fail he'd be there. Arms open and ready to catch you and pull you inside; he was definitely more attentive than Dutch that was for damn sure.You'd even just spend time there for the sole reason of talking to Eli, learning more about him, telling him about yourself; the sort of getting to know each other chats that were found few and far between in a cult takeover. It was nice to have a sliver of normalcy in this crazy situation you had all been thrown in. It was nice having Eli.Eli pulls you up into the mouth of the cave and you avoid crashing into him this time, hand on his chest as you right yourself. You look over his shoulder and peer into the cave, you could see him watching you in your peripheral vision but once you look at him his eyes flutter away and he turns to also examine the dark cave."Should be up ahead, Wheaty drew up a map," He mutters, pulling a folded piece of paper out of his pocket and opening it to reveal a crudely drawn map of the cave. You snort gently and Eli smiles, shaking his head as he runs his finger along the highlighted path on the map. He motions for you to follow him with a nod of his head and you do, staying hot on his heels and withdrawing your .44 magnum from its holster; readying yourself for any unwanted company.There weren't many people in the County you considered friends let alone a close friend, especially not since the reaping. You couldn't remember a time you'd been this paranoid. But with Eli you weren't worried, you never questioned if he'd have a dagger at your back once you turned around. Despite your paths crossing under less than happy circumstances you were glad you'd met him and you were proud to call him a friend. Even if, really, he was much more than that to you.Eli holds up a hand and you pause, he ducks down low and you follow suit, aiming your gun up ahead and catching sight of what he was looking at. A cougar was happily ripping into a corpse of what looked like an angel, you wince at the sound of skin tearing and the sight of fresh blood coating the cougar's fur. Eli makes a gesture for you to take it out and you line up your shot, holding your breath as you pull the trigger.The shot rings through the air and is quickly followed by the pained howl from the animal, your heart twists but you shake off the remorse as it violently throws itself back scratches at its head. You follow it with your magnum, walking past Eli as you take two more shots at it. There was bliss in the cave, you could smell it; see it floating through the air in a fine mist. You were sure chowing down on angel's also had some side effects as the cougar bares its bloodied teeth at you and screeches at you viciously.It jumps forward much faster than a wounded animal should be able to and if it weren't for a hand on your shoulder pulling you to the side you were sure it would have taken your face with it. You grunt as you land on your side, eli half on top of you as his head whips around to watch the cougar collide with the rocky wall. He's quick to grab your gun and land the killshot, the cougar falling limp only a foot away from you.Eli lets out the breath he was holding and hangs his head, chest heaving as he shakes his head. You can't help but laugh lightly, letting your head fall back as your heartbeat rings in your eardrums. Eli joins your gentle laughter but his quickly dies as you reach your hand up grab your hat; he grabs hold of your forearm and you shoot him a confused look. You twist your arm and lift your head, cursing as you catch sight of blood trickling down from a fairly large gash."Fuck," you huff in annoyance, the adrenaline coursing through you kept you from feeling it but from the look of it you knew you were really going to be feeling it soon."Good news is it doesn't look like it'll need stitches, bad news is you're probably gonna have a tough time climbing back down the mountain," Eli says, eyebrows knit together in concern as he examines the wound. You scoff and he shoots you a sympathetic smile, grabbing into your other arm and helping you back onto your feet."There should be a medkit in the stash, i'll wrap that up before we get going," Eli keeps his hand on your arm as you walk forward and you refrain from commenting on it. Your legs were fine but having Eli's hand on you was never something you'd complain about. You could see in the way he kept glancing down at your arm and his more hurried steps that he was worried, not that this was the worst injury you'd ever had. You appreciated the concern.It was funny, you muse, remembering the last time you showed up the Wolf's Den battered and bruised after a particularly bad run in with Jacob's chosen. Wheaty had made a point to tell you how freaked out Eli had been, despite how he kept it cool in front of you as soon as you were out of earshot it was as if Eli became a headless chicken running around. Apparently; that was how Wheaty described it. You wondered if he was freaking out now, guiding you through the dark with a gentle hand holding onto you.It was always endearing to you how caring he managed to be, one would think after everything he'd been through he'd be bitter and distrustful. He had every right to be. But no, not your Eli. He was kind and welcomed everyone with open arms; even if that meant he was exposed to danger, he took that risk. You admired that about him and wondered if your jaded soul could be more like his one day, when all of this was over and you didn't have to worry about being gunned down at every turn."Here we go, atta boy Wheaty," Eli mutters under his breath as the stash comes into view and you can't help but smile at the pride in his voice. You seconded that praise and made a mental note to scout out another record for Wheaty soon, he deserved it after all the hard work he'd been doing.The stash isn't big and looks like a makeshift camp; you run your eyes over the sleeping bag, small fire and crates arranged haphazardly alongside a duffel bag tucked away in the far back of the cave unimpressed. Your arm stings a small bit and you drag a deep breath in through your nose, lifting your arm to inspect it again. It was still bleeding and Eli hovers over you to look at it again, his worry more clear in his face as an unsettled hum rumbles in his chest.Eli jogs over the stash and leans over the crates, leaning down before coming back up and holding up a medkit with a smile on his face and you bow your head with a small smile of your own."My hero," You murmur, walking over and sitting on one of the crates as Eli flips open the medkit. He's gentle as he takes your arm in his hands, apologising as he pours the disinfectant over your arm. Pain shoots through your nerves and you hiss through your clenched teeth, ducking your head down and digging your nails into the wooden crate. He wipes the blood away with a rag and starts wrapping the bandages around your arm. He's efficient yet tender, being careful not to pull the bandages too tight. He ties it off and you glance down at it, blood was already seeping through the white material but that was to be expected."I'll take another look at it when we get back to the Wolf's Den, clean it up properly,""You don't have too,""I want to—can't have it getting infected," He says firmly and by the way his blue eyes stare into yours you know there's no making him budge. You smile warmly up at him and shrug your shoulders in surrender."You're the boss," You tease, watching as Eli's stern expression melts away into something more bashful. He ducks his head, a sigh escaping him as he heaves himself up."And you're gonna be the death of me," He chuckles, walking over to the duffel bag and kneeling down to unzip it. You watch his back with a mirthful grin, running your hand over the bandage on your arm and pushing yourself up. You walk over to him and look over his shoulder into the bag, watching as he pulls out a small black book. Eli opens it and flicks through the pages, lists of names, routes and times were jotted down and you furrow your brows as you try to make sense of it."That what we came here for?" You ask, stepping back as Eli stands and turns to you."Yep, we've been staking this place out for months now but haven't got a clue what's going on inside; this tells us exactly how many peggies are gonna be in there waiting for us," Eli says, waving the book between you both triumphantly. You nod, eyeing it curiously."How'd your guy get it though? You sure it's legit and not a set up?" You question and Eli shakes his head, waving his other hand in the air as if to swat away the idea."I'm sure—He nearly lost his head getting this from one of Jacob's chosen; barely made it out, had teams coming after him for miles before we swept in and got him back to the Wolf's Den," Eli explains, tone confident as he stuffs the book away in his pocket. If Eli was sure then you had no reason not to believe him so you let it go. "Let's head back, Tammy will be happy we found this,""Bet she will,"
Eli was right about getting down the mountain, being one arm down made it incredibly difficult. Somehow having Eli pressed against you as he helped you down the whole way made it twice as difficult. It was embarrassing how flustered you felt, having his arms on either side of you and his chest pressed into your back as he guided you down the rock face. Even just thinking about it had your heart in your throat and you cursed the organ for acting against your will.Even now as you trekked through the woods, hot on Eli's trail, your skin is a few degrees warmer than normal and the ringling of your skin where he brushed against you is almost enough to distract from the throbbing pain in your forearm. The tips of Eli's ears are bright red and you were sure if you caught a glimpse of his face it would be similar, you wanted to laugh about it. You were two grown adults unable to handle a bit of contact.If it had been anyone else you would have been fine, you knew that it was just because it was the dear militia leader that you were feeling hot under the collar about it. And you had a nagging suspicion it would have been the same for Eli but you tried not to dwell on that thought for too long; lest you start feeling bold the next time he's that close to you.You'd made a point to remind yourself Eli was your friend and pseudo-coworker first and foremost and anything else couldn't really be possible while this doomsday cult was running amok. But of course you'd played with the idea of where it could go after they were dealt with, perhaps a bit too often…Eli paused and turned to look at you and you realised you'd made it to the Wolf's Den, he holds an arm out, motioning for you to go in ahead of him. You can't help but smile as you pass him. He was red as a cherry.You duck your head and brace yourself on the wall, carefully making your way down the stairs and into the place you'd made your temporary home. Your boots slap against the concrete floor and you walk past the stocked shelves with Eli right behind you, your eyes trained on the flag hung up on the wall ahead of you. You turn left, nodding to Tammy as you enter what you had dubbed the surveillance room. She offers you a tight smile, it's polite but there's no warmth to it.She was still hesitant about you being there, especially after your second unwilling visit to the veteran's centre. You turn on your heel and make your way over to Wheaty, whose eyes lit up the moment he saw you."Hey dep—woah, what happened to your arm?" He cuts his own greeting off as he spots your bandaged arm, leaning over the table to get a better look at it. "Cougar," You lift of your arm, twisting it around and grimacing. The pain had definitely set in now and you were sure sleeping was gonna be less than fun."Damn deputy, you must be like catnip with the amount of those things that go after you," Wheaty grins playfully at you and you roll your eyes."What can I say Wheaty, i'm irrisistable to cats and men who don't bathe," Wheaty snorts, giggling as you walk past and head right. You can hear Tammy and Eli talking about the book as you leave the room, the zealous tone in Tammy's voice proving Eli was right about her being happy to finally have it in their hands. You walk to the end of the hall and head into the makeshift living area, you swivel and fall back onto the couch with a small sigh and close your eyes, cradling your injured arm over your stomach.You can hear Tammy raising her voice and Eli's more muffled words following after, you assumed Tammy was pushing to go in as soon as possible and knowing Eli he probably wanted to wait a bit longer. You weren't one to meddle so you stayed put, pulling your hat over your eyes and getting comfy. After a few moments you feel yourself dozing off a small bit, the hum of the music Wheaty was playing and the sound of muffled voices almost fully lulling you to sleep.You hear footsteps come up the hall and pause at the doorway, you can't be bothered to look up and see who it is. You hear a gentle sigh and those footsteps walk past the couch, you hear some shuffling by the bunk bed in the corner before those footsteps coke back around to your side. Eli calls out your name in a hushed tone and you feel a warmth bloom in your chest, it was very few and far between you got to hear anyone say your name; especially with the amount of care he said it with. You push your hat up with your thumb and squint up at him. His form is blocking the light hanging from the ceiling and he offers a gentle smile as you meet his eyes."Can I take a look?" He asks, pointing to your arm and you take note that in his other hand is a much heftier medkit. You can't help but smile and push yourself up, giving Eli room to sit as you obediently hold your arm out to him. He takes a seat and starts unwrapping the bandage, it hurts like hell and you bite down on your tongue as it clings to the wound. He winces himself, mutters an apology under his breath and tosses the bloodied bandage to the side."The bleeding stopped, that's good," He notes, more to himself as he gently turns your arm in his hands. You spared a glance at the gash and turned your eyes away at the sight of congealed blood, it was a good sign but damn was it gross to look at. Eli unlatches the medkit and gets out a heftier disinfectant, this time pouring it onto a clean rag instead of straight onto the wound.He dabs away at the gash gently, it stings but it's nothing you can't handle. You watch his face, eyes trained on your wound as he gently cleans it up. You can't count the amount of times you'd been on this couch with him now, how many times he'd taken care of you like this."Thanks for coming with me, sorry you got hurt because of it," Eli cuts into your train of thought, glancing up at you and ducking his head back down as he realised you were watching him intently. You smile gently, resting your head against the back of the couch."Oh so I went with you? Thought it was the other way around," You joke lightly, Eli chuckling as you knock your knee against his gently. "This is nothing and could have been worse if you weren't there so don't worry about it," You say dismissively, waving your free hand as Eli grabs a new bandage and starts wrapping it around your forearm."Can't help it, I always worry about you," Eli's voice is dripping with honesty and you watch as his eyes flick up at you and back down to your arm. You feel your own breath catch in your throat at the words, so innocent yet drenched in a double meaning you were hoping you weren't making up in your head. Eli was good at a lot of things, being direct with feelings seemed to be an entirely different ballpark and you weren't guilt free either; if you had the balls you would have told Eli how you felt the second you caught wind of your feelings for him.But you two had been dancing around it and each other for months now, at least it felt like it. Even back at the stash, when you were finally on solid ground again his hands had lingered on your waist and he'd looked like he wanted to say something. But he didn't and neither did you."... Is that so?" You ask hesitantly, watching him wrap the bandage much slower than he needed too."Fuck—You know dep… I keep telling myself it's not the right time but I don't think there's gonna be a right time, we could still be fighting the Seeds this time next year for all we know," Eli rants a small bit, unable to meet your eyes as he carefully tapes the badage down. Tossing the remaining bandage in the medkit as you stare at him, white noise in your ears as you try to process what he was really saying."What are you goin' on about Eli?" You breathe out, expression lost as he meets your eyes."I knew, from the second Wheaty and I found you, that you were gonna be important. That you were gonna change this whole game we've been stuck in—I didn't know you were gonna be important to me too, I don't know what I'd do if we lost you… If I lost you," He continues passionately, getting quieter as he gets lost in his own thoughts. You're a bit shocked but a spark of hope flutters around in your chest as you duck your head down, trying to get his eyes back on you."You're important to me too Eli and I don't plan on going anywhere anytime soon, made you a promise remember?" You attempt to reassure him, a gentle smile on your face as you place a hand over his."I remember… But that was before…" he trails off and shakes his head, "Taking Eden's Gate down is top priority that hasn't changed but I don't want to lose you in the process, if it ever gets too bad I want you to turn heel and come back to me," his words are firm and he takes hold of your hand in both of his. His eyes are desperate as he leans closer and a fleeting thought of meeting him in the middle and doing what you'd thought about far too often races across your jumbled mind. "I always come back to you don't I?" You mutter, tearing your gaze away from those chapped lips and getting lost in those sky blue eyes."And i'll always be here waitin' for you," Your heart can barely take it as he reaches a hand up to hold the back of your neck, leaning forward to press a kiss to your temple as your eyes flutter closed. It was as close to an I love you as either of you could manage right now and honestly; it was more than enough for you.