Vanderwood x Reader

Comfort

Sometimes Vanderwood wondered what he'd done in life to deserve the amount of times he got tangled in Seven's messes.
Alright, he had killed quite a few people, kidnapped... Fine, scratch that. Maybe he did deserve what was thrown right into his face after all.

Though the thing that actually confused him was how on earth did a charity group manage to get roped into such a big, confusing mess, that only seemed to be getting more and more out of hand with each passing hour.
And to top it all off, how did a person like you, so totally unrelated to everyone, end up in the middle of the entire situation?

More often than he'd like to admit, Vanderwood had caught himself just observing you. Watching how you took care of the severely drugged man with such gentleness, how you tried your best to provide them all with somewhat decent meals with the few things available in the small kitchen, and even still asking him and Seven, if there was anything you could help them with.

But the most baffling thing of it all was how calm and collected you appeared, nearly like you were on autopilot.
How the hell did you manage to stay so rational when even he, as an agent, deemed far from normal? And he knew that the reason for it was definitely not because you were apathetic. From what he had seen, you cared far too much about a group of people that were basically strangers. So how did you not lose your shit, by now?

He watched as you placed a wet rag on V's forehead, after ever so gently brushing his bangs to the side, Vanderwood'a eyes narrowed slightly when you went on and put a drink down next to Seven, who only managed to nod to thank you.
And when it looked like you were still unwilling to give yourself a break, he let out a long sigh.

Why did he even care? You were a stranger, not the slightest related to him. Not to mention that getting close to people was a dangerous thing for an agent to begin with.
Yet there was this strange urge in him to make sure you wouldn't collapse, at some point.
It's only to make sure that I won't have to deal with 707 freaking out, if that really were to happen, he told himself. A blunt lie. But one he had to cling to. Getting attached to someone was no option for him...

"I'm going for a smoke", the man announced, though before you even had the chance to answer him, Vanderwood had grabbed your hand and lead you outside with him.
"Huh?", was the only thing your confused brain came up with.

"Y/N, was it? Look. You really gotta take a break."
Only when the house was a good distance away from you did he realize that he was still holding your hand. So he quickly let go of it and grabbed the pack of cigarettes from his coat pocket, to light one.
Your eyes furrowed in uncertainty as you glanced back.
"But what if V-"
"He's passed out and honestly, there's not really anything left to do now, besides waiting and hoping for the best", he interrupted you, leaning against a tree as he exhaled the smoke of his cigarette.
You nodded hesitantly, while opting to just sit town on the grass, not really caring about your skirt potentially getting dirty.
And in that moment you had to admit that you were indeed quite exhausted, but you didn't want to feel or be useless, while Seven and also Vanderwood did so much work, not to mention how much they risked for that rescue mission.

A silence settled between you two, although it was anything but uncomfortable. Weirdly enough, you actually felt pretty comfortable around the handsome man, you've only known for a couple hours.
Slowly the tension began to leave your body and you allowed yourself to take a couple deep breaths, lost in your thoughts.
"Can I ask you something?"
You stopped in your tracks of picking at the grass in order to look up at the man in front of you. "Sure."
"How are you so calm? Every normal person would've had at least one mental breakdown with everything that happened."
You couldn't help but laugh, for what felt like the first time in forever. "I guess no normal person would follow a stranger blindly to a mansion in the mountains, after being told that they selected you specifically to test their new game."
"... Fair enough."

Your heart leaped a little when you noticed how the corners of his lips quirked up slightly.
He looks even more handsome when he smiles... , you thought, but quickly shook your head to snap out of it.
After staying quiet for a moment to actually think about the question, you let out another sigh and tilted your head back to look at the sky, watching how the slowly setting sun cast it in shades of orange, red and pink.
"I don't know", you began honestly. "Maybe it's because the entire situation is so surreal and... bizarre, so my brain didn't yet catch up to the fact that it's all very much real and really happening. I mean... A cult, weird drugs, brainwashing, kidnapping, secret agents... Those are all things from books and movies. Nothing I would've ever expected to happen in real life, let alone my life."
A humorless laugh escaped you, as you dug the heels of your palms into your eyes I'm an attempt to stop the stinging in your eyes and the glue of tears that threatened to start at any second now. It seemed like voicing it out loud made you catch up with everything that had happened the past days, exhaustion weighing you down.

"This is all so fucked...", you murmured, your voice breaking at the end.
You didn't notice that Vanderwood pushed himself off the tree and moved over to your side, until you felt a coat being wrapped around your shoulders, followed by a strong arm that pulled your side into his chest.
"There you go, let it all out. If you keep it all bottled up, you'll probably collapse, sooner or later", Vanderwood said, brown eyes intently trained on you.
He wasn't exactly the best at comforting, but for some odd reason he had the desire to at least offer a shoulder for you to cry on. He might have been an agent, but he wasn't entirely heartless.
Besides, it was more than obvious that you were a good person and deserved none of the things you were forced to go through.

You tried to calm down, pull yourself together, but it was no use. As quiet sobs trembled through your body, you shifted to burry your face on his shoulder, your hands clinging nearly desperately to the front of his shirt.
There was no telling how long you two sat there, you crying in his arms, holding on for dear life, while Vanderwood rubbed your back in soothing circles, occasionally ran a hand through your hair, with his cheek resting on the top of your head. His warmth soothing slowly soothing you.

As your tears finally stopped, you were still sniffling quietly and only reluctantly pulled back to be able to look up. "Vanderwood? Thank you..."
To your surprise, he raised his hand up to your cheek and gently wiped the remaining tears away with his thumb. That small gesture was enough to make your cheeks grow hot.
"Don't sweat it. At least one person here should stay sane", he added in an attempt to lighten the mood and a small smile broke out on his lips when he noticed your adorable blush. But he decided against mentioning it. For now.

"Ready to head back?" Vanderwood had to admit that he'd much rather spend some more time alone with you, inwardly cursing himself for those thoughts. Still he got up and held a hand out for you, which you grabbed to pull yourself up.
"Not really", you admitted, as you brushed some dirt off of your skirt. "But if we won't, Seven might hunt us down."
"And that little shit is faster than he looks..."
Vanderwood's grumbling caused you to chuckle and he'd forever deny how his heart skipped at the sound.
Without really thinking about it, he grabbed your hand when you two began your walk back to the hut. Damn, he was doomed. But since the changes of you two seeing each again, once everything was over, were close to nothing it should be fine. ... Right?

Your heart actually felt lighter, after spending time with Vanderwood. During everything, you were usually the one to comfort everyone and cheer them up. No matter what you've went through yourself. So it had felt nice to have someone be there for you, for a change.
"You know, maybe you should think about joining the RFA again. As much as you might like to deny it, I know that deep down you're a good person."

Whatever remark was on the top of his tongue, was completely forgotten the second you got on your tiptoes to press a kiss to his cheek, before you left to check on V again.
All he could do for a moment was stare after you, his own cheeks dusted pink, this time.
Vanderwood got snapped out of his stupor when Seven cleared his throat and he turned his head to be met with the redhead's big grin.
"Better get back to work, I can only cover for you for so longc, he scowled and reluctantly went back to his own task of looking through the endless amount of satellite images.

Maybe, just maybe, he'd have to pry your number from Seven.
Only for security reasons, of course...