Why Did I Sign Up For This?! (Tankman x Doctor!Reader x OC)

You Sure About This?

You were pretty sure your suitcase was going to explode if you tried to pack one more of your mom's MREs into it.

You were seated on the plush cream rug in your living room, struggling to zip your stuffed suitcase shut. With one final tug and a grunt, you managed to close it. You sighed and wiped the sweat from your brow before giving your mom a teasing smile. 

"Mom, I'm going to a military base. They're going to have a ton of these there, remember? It's kind of their thing," you playfully reminded your mother, who was all aflutter talking to herself as she rummaged through your kitchen cabinets in search of some other meaningless item you could try to pack. 

Your mom stopped destroying your kitchen and tried to return your smile. "Right ... When you're right, you're right." She took a deep, slow breath to calm herself, still smiling. But it was like someone flipped a switch in her mind because suddenly, she was back to flinging open your cabinets with more fervor than before. "But what if they've run out?! I-I mean, this war has been going on forever, so they're probably low on food, especially the good ones!" She hurried over to the gigantic box of MREs she'd brought over to your apartment this morning for your going-away party. She reached in, whipped out a brown package and wiggled it at you, her black eyes waaay too excited for discourse about food.

"I bet they won't have dehydrated green chili tacos there!" she sang, like she was aiming a "choo-choo train spoon" at a toddler's mouth.

"That's what you said about the meatloaf and macaroni, and I don't think my old suticase is gonna fit anything else! Mom, you know you're doing that thing, right?"

"Thing, what thing?"

"You know, that thing when you start getting anxious about everything, even small stuff like MREs that the military is famous for having, and talking to me like I'm a kid again! I've been living on my own for years now," you remind your mom with a laugh.

After looking around at your apartment and then back at you, reality finally seemed to set back in for your mother. She sighed and sank beside you on the rug. "You're right. Sorry, sweetie," She reached out and lovingly mussed your black hair, making you both giggle, before she flung the packaged taco behind her. "I'm just--well, are you sure about this? Joining the military is a huge step. It's going to be dangerous, and I can't help but worry. What if they are low on food?"

You stand up, place one socked foot on your coffee table, puff out your chest dramatically, and place your fists on your hips. "Then I'll live off the land, like our ancestors before us!"

Your mom doesn't look convinced. "The newspapers say that the soldiers are driving tanks over their own men out there! Just for the 'fun' of it!"

"Sounds to me like those men will need a doctor!" you beamed, rolling up your sleeves and feeling even more chagrined.

Your mom shakes her head, exasperated at your undying optimism. She definitely did not get that from me, she thought, before saying, "Those people have lost their sense of human decency! And I don't want my only daughter to get hurt out there."

"Dad's out there, too," you said, a proud look on your face as you go to look out one of the windows. Outside, a city coated in orange dust stared back at you. There was hardly a sign of life outside; no kids on the streets, ladies walking their manicured pooches, shopkeepers pestering passerbyers to stop in for a free sample. Everyone was too afraid to go outside since the war started all those years ago. It was like the city was dying... and you knew there was only one cure for it.

"Dad's out there fighting for us to get our normal lives back. He's a hero," you murmured. "And I want to do what I can to help, too!" You sit next to her and grab her hands. "I'm the only person that's in med school in this city. Everyone else has either dropped out, experimented on themselves and turned into some hideous monster, died, or joined the war. Those soldiers, Dad, need my help. I've gotta go, Mom!"

Your mother stared at your determined face, remembering when you were just a little girl playing doctor on the dolls she bought you whenever she or your father could afford them. Now here you were, ready to join the military with your father, all grown up. She sniffed and smiled proudly at you.

"Will you at least take the tortellini with you?"

You grinned, happy to see that your mom was finally on your side and accepting your decision.

"Of course!" you happily obliged, taking the MRE from her and going over to your suitcase. You went to unzip your suitcase, just a tiny bit ... and the zipper busted. The case flew open, and most of what you'd crammed in there spilled out onto the floor.

While you stood over your mess, shedding silent tears, your mother was ecstatic.

"Yay! More packing!"