#wild angsters come get your soup

[skyloftian-nutcase]

Inconvenient (LU in Healthcare War Era)

Sicktember Prompt 15 – Sick in an inconvenient place

This wasn’t ideal.

Everything about the mission was steadily unraveling. The objective had gotten more complicated. The timing was taking longer. The team had split up more than they’d intended.

And Link could feel the shivers of a fever falling over him. It had to be a fever – he felt too warm in such a cold, damp cave system.

The Champions had been sent to infiltrate an enemy base. Their job was to cripple the central command just before General Impa (Link still was thrown off by the fact that their go-to military intelligence officer, Zelda’s friend, shared a name with one of the biggest generals in the army) led her army for the assault. They originally had planned on parachuting in, but the plane that Link, Mipha, and Daruk had been on was shot down. Revali, Zelda, and Urbosa had made it to the drop zone, leaving the team already split more than it needed to be. Zelda had further divided them when they’d made contact since their intel had been a little off – Revali would provide sniper support for Urbosa, who would make her way in through the initial weak point they’d identified. Daruk would take out the secondary base outside the citadel that they hadn’t known about, eliminating a security system that was in place. Meanwhile, Link and Mipha would enter the citadel through the caverns below, which had been their original backup if they couldn’t make it to the drop zone.

They’d swam for almost an hour in frigid waters to get to the damp cave system that Mipha had memorized. Link hadn’t thought much of it until he’d remembered the sore throat he’d had yesterday. After their excursion it had blossomed, making him barely able to talk and snaking a stiffness and ache into his shoulders and head.

And he was shivering. But the water on him was now perspiration. He was frigid and blazing hot at the same time.

Of all the times to get freaking sick.

Thankfully the cave system wasn’t really guarded – there would be a pair of soldiers at the entrance to the citadel itself. They had originally intended to reach the point just below the central command center and plant detonators, but Daruk was the explosives expert and he had been redirected. Mipha could still get them there, and Link was more than happy to set off some bombs, but he didn’t have as much arsenal as their bombastic teammate.

“Zelda hadn’t exactly been specific,” Mipha said worriedly as she held her rifle more tightly. “Daruk has most of the explosives; I don’t think we can actually get into the command center without him.”

Link was thankful he was usually a pretty quiet guy. His lack of response was entirely due to his insanely sore throat, but Mipha wasn’t going to question it due to his silent nature.

She did make a good point, though. Zelda had to adapt the plan to fit the circumstances, but all she’d covered was their entry. They were on radio silence now and they still had to meet at the command center.

Link swallowed and then grimaced at the pain that brought. He bit back a moan, pausing when Mipha stopped at an intersection.

“The command center is down this corridor,” Mipha said carefully. “But the main entrance that actually accesses the citadel is to the right. Which way should we go?”

Fewer explosives meant less likelihood of breaching the command center. Taking the route that fed into the streets of the citadel meant less likelihood of surviving to get to the command center.

Well, the original objective had been to bomb the command center itself. Link could probably jury rig something to make the explosives more effective. Or they could at least attempt to make entry. At least if they stuck to the original plan, they’d be in the right spot. They could potentially secure the command center long enough for the rest of the team to get there.

Or they’d die waiting for backup.

Link bit his lip uncertainly. He didn’t like this. He wished Zelda had been specific with her orders. Then again, she hadn’t changed their orders in particular. He shouldn’t be overthinking it, then.

Link pointed towards the corridor that led to the command center. Mipha took a steadying breath and nodded. The pair marched ahead in silence, though it was beginning to be punctuated by a steadily growing wheeze developing in Link’s chest. At first, Mipha didn’t notice it, too focused on remembering the path they needed to take, but when Link had to bite back a cough and only halfway succeeded, she looked at him worriedly.

“Link… are you okay?” she asked.

Link nodded hastily. This was not the time to be focusing on this. However, Mipha was not only his dearest friend, but also the medic of the group. Her gaze lingered on him too long, and he finally gave up, saying hoarsely, “I don’t feel good. But we have a mission to complete, Mipha. Let’s go.”

He should’ve known better than to say this. Mipha immediately hesitated. “Maybe we should—”

“No.” He hissed. “Let’s—go.”

The one good thing about Mipha’s gentle nature was that she wasn’t big on arguing. She watched him worriedly a moment longer and the nodded. “Yes, you’re right. I’m sorry.”

Great. Now he felt awful in every way possible.

They continued in silence until they reached the point in question. Link bit back another cough, stumbling a hair with a dizzy spell. Mipha watched him, eyes glistening with concern, but she didn’t dare say anything. Link felt guilt coil in his gut alongside nausea. Together the pair set up the explosives, though with some help from Link they managed to climb the walls so they could put the bombs closer to the ceiling of the cave.

Surprisingly, the amount of bombs were still enough. Surprisingly, Link could blink and shake his head through his dizzy spells enough to actually still shoot well. Thankfully, Mipha had his back. And by the grace of heaven above, the rest of the team made it in time. The command center was destroyed, enemies killed, officers captured, and they met up with the army in time for the assault. The mission was a success.

Link was so relieved he could pass out. Or maybe—maybe he had? Why was he on his back all of a sudden?

“What is that idiot doing? We have to go!” He heard Revali grumble.

“Link’s sick, I’m sure of it!” Mipha said worriedly, and her face came into his vision, albeit a little blurry. “Link, can you hear me?”

Link grunted as best a response as he could, but by heaven, he suddenly had no energy.

“This isn’t good,” Zelda noted, a tremble to her tone. “We have to get him out of here.”

Something wrapped around his arm and squeezed it. A blood pressure cuff. Mipha was taking his vitals. He reached haphazardly with his other hand, hand tangling in Mipha’s silky hair, trying to reassure her.

This really wasn’t ideal.

Something plopped onto his face. It was cold and wet. Then another. And another. He shivered. He was burning up, though, so it was kind of nice.

Rain. It was rain. It was raining.

The ground shook hard, and something else plopped onto his face. It was much harder, firmer, and not moist at all. It cut his face and made him flinch. Dust and rock, debris from explosions.

The assault.

“I can update the general,” Urbosa offered. “Revali can cover me.”

“Yes… right,” Zelda agreed halfheartedly, unfocused. “I… No. No, I have to update the general. Revali, work on contacting command to get us out of here. Urbosa, Daruk, watch Mipha and Link.”

“We should move,” Daruk suggested as another explosion shook the area.

Link felt the ground disappear, instead hovering in a strong hold before being shoved up against a warm, muscular chest. Daruk must have been carrying him.

This was just embarrassing now, but he was honestly too addled to protest. Instead, he coughed so hard he felt like he could cough up his entire lung. He almost threw up from the effort.

“What’s his status, Mipha?”

“Tachycardic, has a fever, but his blood pressure is holding steady for now. He can’t stay here, though.”

Link’s mind snapped back into clarity as he heard Mipha gasp and bullets peppered the area. Daruk’s pace picked up, he heard Urbosa firing back at whoever was attacking them, and Link immediately started squirming.

“Not now, brother,” Daruk insisted, his hold tightening, nearly squeezing the air out of Link’s struggling lungs.

Link fought regardless, managing to slip a hand into the holster on his hip. He could just see over Daruk’s shoulder, he could just see the enemy soldiers approaching. He couldn’t get a good angle with the pistol while he was being held, though.

Mipha turned around, cold determination on her face, and managed to get a head shot on the closest soldier. Urbosa took out the rest.

“Evac will be available to us back at the general’s position,” Revali’s voice came over the earpieces everyone wore.

“Can we make it to the general’s location?” Mipha asked worriedly.

“We’ll make it,” Urbosa answered firmly, though not without a touch of kindness. “Don’t worry.”

Link wiggled in Daruk’s grip once more, though with far less conviction as exhaustion overtook him. “I—can—help.”

“Can you run?” Urbosa asked.

Link nodded, biting back a cough. Daruk hesitated, but a glare from Urbosa made him relinquish his grip on the younger soldier, and Link found himself unsteadily standing once more. Mipha immediately took his hand, squeezing it tightly.

“Stay with me,” she advised worriedly. “I’ll protect you.”

Link swallowed, giving her a reassuring smile as he reached for his pistol with his right hand. The group started making their way to the periphery of the battlefield, ducking low to avoid attention. This battle was no longer theirs, after all – they had accomplished their goal. The army would handle the rest.

When mortar fire rocked their world, creating cavernous holes in the earth around them, Link and Mipha both fell, slamming into the ground. His ears were ringing, dust in his lungs as he struggled to breathe, and suddenly everything went black.

It didn’t last long, though. Or at least he didn’t think it did? Though he wasn’t entirely sure what wasn’t supposed to last long. The mission—they’d completed it, right?

Mission. Yeah. Yeah, they’d finished it. And then the fight. Good grief, his head was pounding.

Link opened his eyes blearily, distinctly aware that the world around him was bouncing, his head bobbing against something firm couched in softness, a strange blend that warmed his neck while the rest of him shivered on a cold, hard bed of sorts. He heard an engine revving, and his brain hazily put the pieces together that he was riding in the bed of a truck. Based on how dark it was, it was likely a covered troop carrier.

A leg. His head was resting on a leg. That’s what it was.

Wait, he’d been on a battlefield—

Blinking in the darkness, Link immediately focused his vision and nearly shot to his feet, but a quiet, gentle voice caught his attention.

“—right, Link. You’re fine. We got out.”

“Mipha?” he asked, coughing and grimacing at how bad he sounded.

Mipha smiled down at him, amber eyes glistening with relief. “Yes, I’m here. It’s good to see you awake. You’re safe, Link. We made it to the evac point. They’re taking us to the LZ now.”

A thought nagged at him. “’m sorry I was rude before.”

Mipha blinked. “You—what?”

“During the mission.”

“Oh, Link,” Mipha sighed with a small laugh. “It’s all right. I know you wanted to complete the mission.”

“You were worried, though.”

“Yes, I was. But we weren’t in a position to do much about it. You were right.”

Link sighed, feeling the wheeze escape his chest as he did so. Mipha’s hand slid into his, calloused, thin fingers caressing his own. The pair shared a smile as their ride bounced through the desert. Link glanced around and saw his teammates all sitting in various states of exhaustion, but alive and well. Zelda had fallen asleep with her head on Urbosa’s shoulder while Daruk was needling Revali, who seemed irritated about something. They were all okay.

Link felt his body relax in relief. They had successfully completed their mission, and everyone was safe. Whatever illness he’d decided to catch had chosen the worst time to wreak havoc, but they’d made it nonetheless. He shifted a little to get more comfortable with Mipha and then drifted off, safe in her care. A last, wishful thought passed through his mind.

Someday… someday we can end this and we can all just be together and be safe. No war, no constant anxieties… someday.

Someday.