There was heavy pressure on your chest...that much you know. It was the only thing you knew. But whatever that pulse was, it was keeping you from taking a nap...a nap you so badly wanted; it would calm your aching muscles, and soothe your entire being.

Your lungs inflated against your will, followed by more pressure on your ribcage.

The sweet, lovely darkness faded away, only to be replaced by a violently blue sky, and harsh sunlight on your face. You spluttered and coughed when you remembered you needed to breathe in order to keep functioning: doing so made such horrendous pains travel up your side – so bad that a keening scream heaved itself out of your lungs.

"Ssh...ssh..." Someone cooed, laying something cool and slightly rough against your cheek. You opened your eyes bigger than slits to see a familiar woman on her knees over you.

"Commander...Tight...Ass..." You choked out, blood filling the back of your throat. She gave you a look that said 'I'll bust you for that later', but helped you onto your side so you could spit the red out of your mouth.

"Goddamnit, kid. You really are a fucking handful." She sighed, and you rolled away, tensing up once again at the searing on your side.

"I-I want to go home..." You sobbed. "I want to go home. I want to go home and eat a fucking plate of burgers, and watch movies and sleep in my own bed and NOT get shot and I want Alfred..." You sniffled, and Commander Tellum placed your head in her lap.

"Wh-where is Alfie? He's okay, right? And what about my other Commander...he took a bullet to the thigh...is he okay? What about everyone else; how many people died? Did you find my gun? What about my knife? And how about-"

Tellum placed a hand over your mouth.

"For a kid who just woke up after her heart was stopped for nearly two minutes..." She made a tiny braid in your hair. "You sure talk a lot."

You smiled faintly.

"Commander's fine...the medics got there...they're coming back to get us now. The blond kid that you're infatuated with is fine too...somewhat. I could hear him hyperventilating over the radio when he found out you were dead-"

You took a quick, sharp intake of air.

"iDead/i." You squeaked. "iDead/i!"

The dark-haired woman nodded slowly. "I told you: your heart stopped for two minutes. Took that damn long to bring you back."

You laid back against her lower stomach, shaking. Alfred thought you were dead. He thought you were idead/i...you HAD died, for a little while...and you'd promised him you'd be careful.

"He's going to murder me.." You mumbled. "I said I wouldn't get hurt..."

Right then, frantic, uneven footsteps could be heard off in the distance.

You smiled. "Tellum...tell him I'm fine, 'kay? I'm...gonna take a sleep..." You closed your eyes and dozed off.

The next time you awoke, you were in a dimly-lit hospital room...well, the lights were lowered for sleeping, which probably meant it was nighttime.

You rolled around a bit, still amazingly exhausted, to take in the rest of your surroundings. Doing so, you moved away from something roasty –only realizing because of the coolness suddenly flowing over your hand.

You peeked to your right to see Alfred asleep at the edge of your bed: blood dried in the tips of his hair, still in his uniform, and unshaven. The only thing he'd seemed to manage to do before snoozing was take off his glasses and set them aside.

You smiled fondly at him and touched the side of his face...scruffy. You'd have to tell him to clean up.

"Al..." You whispered. "AAAllllll. Psst." You poked his nose repeatedly, until he started stretching slightly as he woke.

"Aaaalllllfreeeeed..." You drawled, finally getting him to open his bright blue eyes...which were unusually dull. You pinched his cheek.

"C'mon, stupid, wake up. Your face is scratchy, and I don't care if it's too early in the morning; go shave!" You demanded playfully.

"_-_...you're...awake..." He squeaked in disbelief. "You're awake! Oh god you're...awake..." He dove forward noisily and buried his face in your neck, not even bothering to hide the moist drops falling from his eyes onto your skin.

You tensed up...he was clingy at times, sure, but the only time you'd ever seen him cry was when he was a little kid and wasn't able to watch Fireworks on July 4th because he was really ill.

"A-Al..." You squeaked, hesitantly petting the back of his head. "I-It's okay! I'm fine!"

He only pulled you closer, as if letting you go would make you disappear.

"When the medics buzzed in to Tellum...she said you were dead...and when I got to her, you were just laying there all still and stuff..." He wriggled around so that he was on his side, still hiding under your chin. "I was so scared that you really were gone...but then Tellum said that she restarted your heart, and I was really happy...but then..."

He choked off, sobbing quietly. You could even feel him shaking.

"Al..." You squeaked, rather startled by the display he was showing.

"There were so many blood transfusions, and a couple operations...you've been unconscious for a week, and you weren't giving much response to anything...the doctors didn't think you'd wake up."

Your eyes widened. They didn't think you'd wake up?

"But...it was just a shot to the stomach...yeah, it hurt like fuck, and I was bleeding everywhere...but I didn't think it could be that serious..." You murmured.

Your blond boyfriend finally looked up to you.

"The blood crowded your heart, and a bunch of other crap happened...and...I don't know! I'm just glad you're awake!" He stretched up and kissed you gently, but passionately.

You didn't care if he was fuzzy around the chin, or if he had various things stuck to the tips of his hair, or that he probably hadn't brushed his teeth either...you pressed back just as lovingly.

"I love you..." You whispered, pulling away so you could stare at him.

Blue eyes met _(e/c)_ ones. "I love you too, _. With all my heart. No amount of bullets in your flesh or mine can ever break that."

Cheesy ending is cheesy.