bakerstreet | Everybody Hurts Sometimes

Everybody Hurts Sometimes

Hurt/comfort is a fan fiction genre that involves the physical pain or emotional distress of one character, who is cared for by another character. The injury, sickness or other kind of hurt allows an exploration of the characters and their relationship.

- Post with Character Name | Series in the subject.
- Others respond.
- Roll 1-10 at RNG for a scene, play it out and have fun!

1. INJURY. You've been injured. Broken bones or bleeding out or maybe just a tiny little papercut. The choice is yours.
2. SICKNESS. You're sick and laid up in bed, at home or in a hospital. The severity is up to you.
3. FEAR/ANXIETY. Something is happening and you're scared beyond belief.
4. LOSS OF SENSES. Sight, touch, taste, hearing, smell, etc. You've lost some important sense or ability and now you're left to deal with it.
5. DESPAIR. Nothing is good or right anymore and you can't shake the depression. Maybe that friend of yours can help though...
6. BREAKUP. You've been dumped. You need someone to comfort you, possibly by the one who dumped you.
7. MAKE UP. Fight or break up, it's time to makeup.
8. RESCUED. You've just been held captive and/or tortured for however long and finally, someone has come to the rescue.
9. BAD ROMANCE. Fight, cheated on, abused, whatever the case is, someone else can clearly see you need comfort from someone who isn't your terrible lover tonight.
10. LOSS. You've experience a loss of some kind and need help getting through it.
11. INSANITY. You're seeing things that aren't really there, hearing voices, or you're just convinced you're at your wit's end finally and you're going to crack. Maybe someone can give you a helping hand.
12. TIRED. You've had a heard life recently and you're just worn too thin to really care anymore. There's no fight left in you anymore. Can someone help change your mind?
13. ADDICTION. Drugs, alcohol, sex, gambling, or any other type of addiction has got you in its grasp. First time or relapse. Will someone be able to save you?
14. INSOMNIA. You can't sleep anymore, no matter how hard you try. Maybe someone can give you company.
15. NIGHTMARES. Or, on the other end of the spectrum, you can't sleep without gruesome, horrible nightmares. Either someone is stuck in your dream with you, witnessing it or they're just waking you up, soothing you out of it.
16. BLACKMAIL. You've been caught doing something you shouldn't and you were blackmailed because of it
17. SEPARATION. You're going to be separated for awhile or were separated for a long time. Either make up for lost time or try to spend every last moment together.
18. VIOLATED. You've been violated in some way. Can include sexual overtones or not. Can someone help you through it?
19. STRANDED. You've been stranded somewhere remote, with no help of anyone finding you for awhile. Can you survive this together?
20. SINS. You're feeling the weight of your sins and guilt clearer than ever. Can someone give you absolution or lessen the ache any?
21. SECRET. It's difficult having to keep that secret of yours, be it a relationship or something you just don't want to share with anybody else. Maybe it's okay to talk about it now though...
22. ADDITION. Babies should be joyous things unless you're in a situation where you know you won't be able to care for them. Either you've adopted or found out you're pregnant.

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[hey you. You want hurt or comfort role?]

[That icon made my day. Adorable. I'll take comfort. <3]

[ooc. shh, we do not tell Maria she is adorable!]

[Maria might be command staff but that didn't mean for a second that she wasn't a fully capable field agent in her own right. Maybe in some other branches, that would have been less important but there was very rarely a time when SHIELD wasn't in the thick of things.

Which included racing down a steel hallway, security right on her heels, at one of their minor research facilities because the energy readings had suddenly jumped off the scales and there were far more heat signatures registering in the lab bay than should have been.

She'd snapped orders into her comm - and then it had just been a firefight, with all the rules and chaos of a firefight that Maria was used to. There had been some kind of tear in the room that the - she didn't even recognize the uniform the enemy troops were wearing and that was saying something - had come pouring through in droves and it had quickly become apparent 1. there were too many of them and not enough of Maria's forces to hold that section of the lab and 2. that they were after the hyper-quantum test unit.

She'd evacuated who she could and then done the sensible thing that would both seal the security breach and keep the unit out of enemy hands.

She'd blown it.

The resulting explosion had been impressive.

And that had been about all she'd been aware of before the ceiling caved in and things went black.]

[Steve had been in the middle of debriefing when the alarm had sounded. It hadn't taken long to find out the reason, though when he'd heard the sound of Maria's voice over another agent's comm the question of where to get involved stopped being a question.

There wasn't time for him to get one himself, so he moved towards the lab under attack as quickly as he could with complete radio silence. SHIELD agents and lab personnel were running past him as he went. The doors had just come into view when an explosion shook the hall and knocked him off his feet. His ears were ringing as he scrambled back to his feet and pushed himself forward into the destruction.]

Agent Hill!

[There was no answer. It was difficult to see in the smoke and dust. The ceiling was a gaping hole, the ground covered in broken pieces of what had once been above. Steve scanned the ground as best he could, finding two enemy casualties before he spotted a feminine hand sticking out of the rubble. His chest tightened painfully as he moved forward, lifting a large piece of rubble and revealing an unmoving Maria Hill underneath.]

Maria?

[Somewhere far away, there was a rushing sound, like a train going past and it flickered through Maria's mind that someone should lay down fire retardant foam because there were chemicals somewhere. Someone should really...

She should tell someone to...

Paperwork was going to be a bear -

if her brain leaked out her ears... would she finally be able to stop thinking...?

Someone called her name but - who used her given name? She was - she wasn't - that deserved an answer. That voice... that voice deserved an answer.

It took an embarrassingly large amount of concentration, but she tapped her fingers. And then again. Tap tap tap. Long tap. Tap long tap. Her mind wandered off. Came back by sheer force of will power. Long tap. Tap tap long tap. tap tap tap.

Status?]

[He knelt beside her, trying to assess the damage as best he could by eye. When her fingers began moving, he let out a sigh of relief, his first instinct to reach for her hand. The urge was cancelled out by the realization that she was tapping in morse code.

He took a deep breath, leaning in close to speak to her. His tone was professional and business-like, but there was no denying the relief in it either.]

The rest of the division is secure. The explosion took out the advancing enemy and they're in retreat.

[He paused.]

I'll get medical here as soon as i can, but I need to see where you're hurt. [He reached out and slid his fingers through hers.] Squeeze if I'm hurting you.

[Tension slid out of her and she almost blacked out again. Fingers threaded with hers though and that was when it registered. Why that voice felt so reassuring to hear. Why she could relax and trust that things would be covered.

That she'd be covered.

In answer her fingers fit themselves closer between his, holding on to him, strength starting to leak back in, showing she was there. Now that the first shock was over, the first burst of focus, she was starting to feel the way her body hurt. She knew from experience that was only going to get worse before it got better but she focused on his hand holding hers - holding hands... who would have thought - and her thumb gave a light brush over his. She'd rather get this over with him than a med team.]

[The response of Maria's grip went miles in reassuring him that she was really there with him. It didn't remove much of the worry that was building in his stomach or the need for her to blink open her eyes and look him straight in the eyes, but it told him she was trying. She was holding on and that was all he could ask of her at the moment.

He swallowed, leaning further over her and reaching out to lightly touch the side of her face, turning it as carefully as he could to assess if there'd been a head or neck injury. The last thing he wanted to do was move her and exacerbate any injuries that she'd sustained. Especially if she'd damaged her neck or spinal cord in any way. Just the thought of that kind of injury made him feel sick to his stomach.

Unable to see anything with the naked eye, but still haunted by the possibility, his fingers ghosted further downwards, over he right shoulder and collarbone.]

[She can feel when he leans closer over her. It's like having a solid wall between her and the rest of the world and she's too tired to pretend it doesn't feel - really, really good. Just... really good. It helps her focus on getting herself back in order, reeling in drifting thoughts and pushing aside the foggy haze. When he turns her face though, there's a twitch at the edges of her lips. The slightest little curve upward at their edges.

The next is a nose wrinkle as his fingers slide down. It - tickles more than anything, little electric jumps over her skin under the thick fabric of her uniform and it distracts from the sharp, jutting pain she's starting to get in her ribs and through a hip and an elbow that warn they're just getting started. Careful, while he's checking upper body, she moves her toes, then the fingers of her other hand. His touch and her own internal inventory give her something to focus on when all she really wants to do is go back to sleep. Not yet. Not now.

Moving it gets a wince out of her, but she pulls her free arm closer to her body and pats the fingers against the fabric she feels, his leg probably. She'll be okay. Just - she working on that part. Working on it.]

Edited 2013-11-07 17:35 (UTC)

[He's completely unaware of what it looks like, as the other SHIELD agents come on the scene. He's not aware of how tender it looks, or how dramatic it seems against the rubble of what had been a key part of the base. He's entirely focused on Maria and determining how serious her injuries are. His eyes move from her face, where he's learned over the last few months how to read that tiny line between her eyebrows, or the tiniest curve of the lips. They're have a whole conversation, regardless of whether or not they're actually speaking. In fact, though he's relieved that trained professionals are there to help, he can't help but dislike the fact that the others are trying to distract him from the important task at hand.

He doesn't move away as much as back when the medics arrive, though he does attempt to make himself smaller, his fingers settling on Maria's on his crouched knee. He doesn't take his eyes away from her face as they check for initial damage and carefully stabilize her for movement. He speaks steadily, updating her on the status of the base as reports filter in from the agents around him. Those that had actually possessed comms. All the while, his fingers beat out a steady message in morse code. You're going to be fine..

The team works quickly and efficiently and soon they're on the move towards medical.]

[She focuses on him with all the steely determination she's known for and refuses to let her thoughts finish fraying, refuses to let them be distracted off. When the place starts to fill, when she starts hearing other sounds and feeling other touches, it's harder... but he has her hand, fingers beating out a steady message and his voice is something precious and easy for her to follow the thread of through the other sounds. There's the slightest twitch of her lips, barely there, as she realizes he's updating her.

Exactly. It's exactly what she wants to hear and she hones her mind to the information he's relaying, finding it easier to focus the longer she does. Following after the sound of his voice like a blip on radar, feeling the tap of his fingers like the waves of it.

How does he know her so well?

She's hoisted up, onto something flat, and the pain is enough to have her eyes flickering, squinting for a second in the dust and erratic light. Broken ribs. She's aware enough to recognize and remember that feeling. Concussion possibly? Something wrong with her knee... She doesn't squeeze his hand the way he asked if she was in pain but, as she feels movement, knows she's on her way, she rotates her hand, pressing it palm up into his. The tap against his wrist is fast, not sure if he's going to hold her hand all the way or not, but the message is steady. Stronger than she'd been at the beginning. It's something he needs to know.

I'm not going anywhere.]

[The message is received loud and clear. An unintentional reminder of a promise his mother had made but hadn't been able to keep. It has the opposite of the desired effect, causing his fingers to close around her wrist momentarily. He catches himself, however and he lets go, finally stepping back and allowing the others to move her.

He spends the next hour watching from a glass window as they work to assess and repair the damage. He's joined by Fury at one point, but the Director doesn't stay for long. There are prisoners that need to be questioned, fires that need to be put out and higher ups that need to be reassured. Steve prepares himself to be called away, to protest without being able to explain why, but the orders never come. Fury leaves him watching as they work on Maria's knee.

Two hours after the attack he's sitting in a modern day version of a recovery room, keeping watch despite the fact that there is no imminent threat to speak of. He thinks that Maria would be disappointed in him. That there are things that he could be doing, action he could be taking rather than sitting here but even that can't make him leave.

He doesn't want her to wake up alone.]

[She comes to without much to herald it, just a swallow, a slight twist downward of her lips and her eyes blink open. All without a single twitch from the rest of her. It doesn't even take someone as practiced at reading her as Steve to see her mind kick in almost immediately and quickly run through everything in her short term memory.

The slight frown at the corners of her lips increases and her brows come down

but she also turns her head as if expecting him, to where Steve is sitting his patient vigil. The lips twitch again but it's upward this time and something deep in the sharp blue of her eyes softens. Her voice is scratchy.]

How long?

[He completely misses that kick, his thoughts wandering as he studies the fabric of the blanket she's under. Still, his attention is fully on her when she speaks, a look of undiluted relief flashing over his face as his mouth curves up into a smile.]

Two hours, give or take ten minutes.

[He shifts closer to her.]

How bad is it?

[She doesn't think she's ever had anyone looked so relieved for her sake. The closest she's used to coming is the panicked 'things are falling apart, thank God you're awake, tell us what to do' look. Steve's... Steve's is much nicer... but it makes her heart squeeze tight in her chest too.

She knows he's had a lot of people that didn't wake up for him...

Her lips shift again, that upward tilt on just one side, a look only he gets, wry and humor and acknowledging.]

I've had worse.

[It's true, but it's also the closest to an honest answer she's going to give. She can think, she can focus, she knows she'll recover or she'd still be in ICU. Everything else, like the pain, is something she'll work around. On the blanket her hand shifts, turns palm up, fingers stretching.]

They said you were lucky.

[It's a sentiment he's heard a lot. He doesn't necessarily agree with everyone's sentiment of lucky.]

If you need something for the pain, I can get a medic.

[He watches her stretch out her hand and then smiles softly.]

You know, until today I thought morse code was a dead language.

[Anything they don't carry you out in a body bag from is considered lucky and Maria doesn't have a different version. She's alive and she'll recover. Lucky. She shakes her head, just a short move, vaguely annoyed to find her hair is loose instead of back in its usual tuck before she stops paying attention to that. The fingers of her hand move again.]

Your hand, Rogers. Without the glove.

[He gives her a mild look, one of curiosity and slight amusement as he does as he's told, sliding off the glove and holding his hand out to her.

The fact that she doesn't need more pain meds is a good sign, but then again he wonders if she'd ask for them even if she did.]

[She won't say anything about needing pain medication. They dull her mind and she'd rather be in pain. At the moment, the pain isn't sever however and she's got other things to concentrate on. Like the man next to her. She lifts her own hand and wraps her fingers around his, brows down in a low line over her eyes as both settle back on the bed next to her. Once that's done, she doesn't relax however. Instead her middle finger taps a firm pattern against his wrist.

see. I'm still here.

[He watches her fingers as they press lightly into his wrist and then looks up at her. A small huff escapes his lips as he meets her eyes.]

I see that.

[The smile fades the tiniest bit.]

You had me worried for a second.

[Her finger shifts and her hand closes with his, fingers winding through his. She won't apologize because that would mean she won't do it again and they both know she will. The same way he will.

And he's still holding himself apart.]

I know. [A pause and she brushes her thumb over his hand. The pause goes longer and for that long pause she looks at his hand in hers, brows down over her eyes, that line between them that he knows better than she does herself. Finally, the soft tap of a finger again:]

it won't get easier.

[she exhales and looks up at him. After a moment, she asks:]

You still want in?

[Steve lets out a slow breath, tightening his fingers in hers. He watches her, knowing that there's more he should be saying. More that he wants to say, but can't because it breaks some unspoken rule. This thing they have - it's so fragile. He's barely convinced he didn't dream the whole thing up and the last thing he needs is to put the weight of his feelings on it, but he's lost so many people.

Her finger taps in his and Steve meets her eyes. After a moment he, turning her hand over in his and tapping back softly.]

I know.

[He looks back up, his expression soft but serious.]

I'm not going anywhere.

[She hadn't realized she'd been tense, holding her breath, until it silently, invisibly, slips out of her at his answer. She can't, won't, put a name on what they're doing. Her, who has to mentally organize everything until she's satisfied. Naming whatever it is would give it a form though and - forms can be broken. All she knows is that it's precious, like a whispered secret, and that she wants to cradle it against her heart and just feel it. A nod from her, small, almost not there and she shuts her eyes. Her hand doesn't loosen it's grip on his though and there's a tap back.

good

Her eyes open again and she shifts, carefully, to one side of the bed. There's not a lot of room on it but - ]

Come up. [Her other hand taps the spot on it next to her for clarity. She's not going anywhere. This time. And she thinks he might need to feel her, hold her, to let the part of him that's waiting to find her gone know.

She thinks she might need to feel him herself too.]

[Steve raises his eyebrows in surprise. He's not sure if he should. The last thing he wants to do is jostle any of her injuries and in his mind he is still that awkward man that's all bony elbows and knees, but with more muscle.

Still, Maria doesn't exactly ask for much. It's not in her nature. More than that, there's a very real part of him that does need to be close to her. To assure himself that she's okay.

He nods and gets to his feet, moving to the bed and settling in beside her as gently as he can. It's a narrow fit, but it works and immediately he feels that uneasy feeling he couldn't shake from watching her in surgery before begin to fade.]

What are the chances I can talk you into taking a vacation?

[His voice is low and soft, but there's an amused bit at the end. He's not sure if vacation is even in Maria's vocabulary.]

[She waits until he's settled and then she starts to move herself. It's a bit gingerly, figuring out which parts of her can move without pain and which ones don't, but she's steady and very aware of what she wants to do. Finally satisfied, she settles with a sigh, tension falling out of her, back curled against Steve, head on his arm. That's much better and the warmth and familiar scent of him chase away a great deal of the sick, groggy, hated feeling left over from the medication. Moving has given her a better idea of what's wrong with her and what's been done to fix it but she files all that away to strategize later. At the moment, where she is is much more important and she finally closes her eyes, letting herself relax for the first time since waking or even possibly before. There's a little curl at the edges of her lips though and she shifts her head to get more comfortable, obviously settling in and not about to go anywhere anytime soon. Her voice is softer, a great deal less command staff and much more the Maria that exists, somehow, outside of her job and only Steve really gets to see. The wry tone matches both however.]

Are you sure you're not the one that got hit on the head, Rogers?

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oldfashionedhero - 2013-12-28 00:55 (UTC) - Expand

endish?

notplayinggames - 2013-12-30 15:50 (UTC) - Expand

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Everybody Hurts Sometimes

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I am forever sorry about my awkward in that tag above.

pssh. apologize when it's actually awkward. I mean, other than IC awkward ;)

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endish?