i could stay awake just to hear your breathing

[who_is_she]

"A routine mission, he said! Practically a milk run, he said! Nothing dangerous whatsoever! Nothing dangerous like abandoned mines or space bandits because I'm a reckless cyborg who has so much experience in this sort of thing and thinks researching potentially deadly planets is too boring to bother with!"

Tony was practically shrieking into his communicator, releasing his fear and stress in the only way he knew how; nagging. Roddie had dragged him along on what was supposed to be a simple delivery, but they'd been jumped by bandits and had their delivery stolen and been left for dead in an abandoned mine. Tony'd been separated from the rest of them and was running through the mine, trying to stay away from the bandits and find the rest of the crew.

"I cannot believe you dragged me into this."

Comments

[gayniac5]

Roddie laughs over the intercom, his body buzzing with the adrenaline of the chase.

"Relax, Tony, it's just part of the job," he says, breathless from all the running they'd been doing, "You signed up for this, remember? You could have waited back on the ship." He stops a moment, and leans on the edge of a boulder. They were nearing the mouth of the cave, and he could see the light from it just ahead of them.

"I see the exit," he pants, "We're almost there. It'll be okay, babe, I'll wait right here for you."

[who_is_she]

"Signed up for this?" Tony repeats incredulously, "I signed up for a chance to stretch my legs! I signed up for a romantic night on an alien planet, according to someone!" Tony paused, looking behind him as he heard something like a gunshot or explosion behind him. His heart was racing with fear, but he felt comforted when Roddie said he saw the exit.

"You bet your ass you'll wait for me," Tony grumbled, then gasped when the sound behind him increased to a rumbling he could feel in his molars.

"Oh god," he breathed, breaking into a run in the opposite direction of the rumbling, "I think they triggered a cave-in."

[gayniac5]

Roddie feels a twinge of fear at the sound of the rumbling, which he can hear and feel shaking beneath him, and the shift in the tone in Tony's voice, but he tries to shake it off.

"It's okay," he reassures him, "just keep running, don't worry, I think I see you. Vira went ahead and she's bringing the ship around."

[who_is_she]

Tony runs as fast and hard as he can, focusing on Roddie's voice and the pinprick of light that is the exit. Then a rock comes down hard on the back of Tony's ankle and he tumbles to the ground.

"Fuck!" Tony swears, trying to get up but a spike of pain through his leg sends him right back to the ground, "God, oh god, I can't move!" He glances behind him, sees the cave-in approaching, struck breathless by the sudden realization that he was about to die, "Roddie, I love--" he starts to say, but the communicator cuts out as the passage collapses around him.