The Alliance (TomTord Fanfic) (#Wattys2017)

Chapter 12

     "Come on, this way." Tom led Tord down another dark, empty hallway; the injured leader following closely behind him. He watched from behind, making sure no guards attacked them, or looking for the opportunity to basically be a meat shield for Tom. After a few seconds of walking, while Tom looked for a way out, Tord heard footsteps approaching the hallway they were following down. The red leader frantically looked around for an escape route, seeing a door's outline in the darkness. He grabbed Tom's arm and yanked him towards the door, throwing it open and pushing Tom inside. He then lept in after him, shutting the door behind him.

     Tom rubbed his head and looked at Tord, shocked. The norweigian had landed face-first into Thomas's chest. The Brit pushed Tord off and growled.
   "THE FUCK WAS-"
    "Shhh! Do you want us to get killed?!" Tord whisper yelled at Tom, making him shut his mouth.
    "What the fuck was that all about?!" Tom whisper yelled back and Tord rolled his eyes, or, one good eye.
    "You're still the classic, stupid Tom I have always known, huh? If you listened, you would have heard the footsteps coming towards us. I just saved both of our lives, so be thankful."
   "Like I'm thanking you, Commie. Where even are we?" Tom asked in a whisper, looking around the dark room. Tord looked around as well.
   "Dunno. It couldn't hurt to explore." Tord shrugged in the darkness and started feeling around for a wall. Eventually, his robotic hand scraped against the cold, metal walls of the room as he found a starting point. He started to feel around in the darkness until his hand brushed against something.
"Uh... Thomas? I think I found something." Tord called slightly to the other male, who walked over.
"What is it?"
"I don't know." Tord felt around, finding it was cube shaped. He instantly thought it was a box and ripped open the top, which seemed to be taped closed. Tom jumped slightly at the sudden ripping noises before Tord calmed him down, explaining what he had just done. After Tom had calmed down from the sudden jumpscare, Tord starting digging through the boxes, grabbing a random file-like object and holding it up slightly.
"Uh.... I can't see crap."
"Same. Hold up." With that, Tom snuck towards the door and listened for any signs of footsteps. He didn't hear any, so he slightly opened the door, seeing no one. Tord noticed this and followed Tom, looking at the files in the light.

"What in the..." Tord gently scratched at the file's name, thinking it was a sticker or something. He flew the folder open, looking at the papers inside.
    "What? What is it?" Tom peeked over Tord's shoulder, trying to read the files and Tord skimmed over them.
    "These are.... Crimson Navy files. Information on them. But.... didn't I blow them up?" Tord asked himself and flipped to the back, finding a newer file, seemingly written only a few hours ago. He skimmed over it and sighed, place the files on a box near him.

     "Tord? Where are we?" Tom asked his enemy, slightly worried.
    "We're in and underground bunker, if the files are to be believed. And, like you said, we're deep into enemy territory." Tord replied, his mind racing. He tried to think of a way out of there, maybe the thought of finding blueprints and planning an escape, but it was almost impossible. His mind kept going back to the stab wounds in his back and how much pain they were inflicted on him. Even if he seemed that he was fine, it actually hurt like hell; almost like his back was literally on fire. Tord sat down on one of the boxes, trying to relax and forget about the pain. Tom instantly noticed this and looked at him.
"Uh.... are you alright?"
"Yeah.... I'm fine." Tord faked a small smile, which clearly didn't fool Tom. The Brit seemed to roll his eyes before walking back over to the boxes and ripping one open.
"What are you doing, Thomas?"
"Looking for medical supplies. If I'm correct, this is a storage room. That means there should be some supplies around here like bandages and pain killers." Tom explained and started to look through the boxes as Tord watched the door, making sure no one was coming to the room.

"Found them!" Tom suddenly exclaimed, almost scaring Tord. The Brit held up a roll of gauze in victory and walked over to Tord. "Now, lift up your damn coat."
Tord smirked and thought of a dirty pick up line to say, but decided against it since Tom glared at him. He quickly lifted up his army uniform and undershirt, showing the knife wounds in his back. Tord looked over his shoulder to see Tom ripping up the gauze and putting them onto the wounds, soaking up the blood. Tom walked back to the box, grabbed a few more items, and walked back, placing medical tape on the edges of the gauze to make it stick. Tord smiled slightly, even if the pain was still killing him. It was nice to see Tom caring about him and not wanting him to get hurt.
'Maybe.... just maybe.... Tom likes me too?' Tord thought to himself, being careful at not to saying it out loud.

"Alright, Commie, we're good to go." Tom led his injured enemy through the hallway, stopping halfway to look around for an exit. They had been trying to get around for quiet some time now, but they couldn't tell exactly how long, thanks to Tom's watch being broken when he woke up.
"Hey, over there." Tord pointed to the other end of the hallway to another door. It didn't look like the others, though. Instead of being a dark iron grey, it was dark red, almost like dried blood. The two exchanged glances before cautiously walking up to the door. Tom slowly reached out, gripped the handle of the door, and opened it, flinching slightly. He expected to see blood, but was greeted by an elevator that went straight up. The two leaders looked at each other before walking into the open elevator. Tord quickly pressed the button leading to the top floor and stood besides Tom as they ascended.

    Once the elevator stopped, the two leaders looked at eachother quickly, wondering what the door opened up to. The doors slowly opened and the two gasped. It lead to the outside world. They had found the exit.
    Tom ran out of the door and dusted himself off.
    "Thank fuck! Finally!" Tord chuckled at how stupid Tom was acting.
    "Aw, come on, it was only a few hours." Tord said, still chuckling, as he walked up to Tom. The Brit crossed his arms.
    "Don't be a buzz-kill, Commie."
    "Eh, whatever." Tord looked up in the sky to see two planes flying towards them. He smiled, recognizing the symbols. One was red with a hairstyle similar to himself, while the other was a blue, sketched circle with a cross through it.
   "Looks like our armies found us a bit too late, eh?"
    "Took the words right out of my mouth, Thomas."

    The two laughed slightly at the remark and turned towards eachother. Tord looked at the ground slightly.
    "Hey, uh.... thanks."
    "For what?"
    "For guiding me through that place and patching me up. I might as well have bled out if it wasn't for you." Tord smiled slightly at Tom. No, it wasn't a grin or smirk, but a genuine smile. Tom was slightly taken aback by the rare gesture, and smiled back softly. The two looked at eachother and shuffled closer without even noticing. They were too busy staring at each other, eye to eye. It wasn't full of hostility and hate like before, but something soft and relaxing. Before they knew it, the two were right up against eachother with Tom looking up and Tord looking down.
    For a reason that they didn't even know at the time, they started to slowly lean in and close their eyes. The two could hear their army's planes land near them, but the didn't even think about it for a few seconds.

    When the two were millimeters away from each other, they heard someone running towards them. Out of the corner of his eye, Tom saw Matt and Edd run through the bushes towards the two. Tom instinctively shoved Tord away, catching the leader off guard, and falling straight into the dirt. The blue leader looked at his rival for a second, and could almost see hurt in his one good eye, even if it being swollen. He ignored it and ran up to his friends, hugging them tightly.

    "We thought you were going to die!" Edd exclaimed.
    "Well, they're gonna have to try harder than that to kill this ol' general." Tom chuckled and pulled back from the group hug. Matt and Edd laughed as well while Tom took another glance at Tord. The red leader was getting up with the help of his two soldiers. Tom instantly felt horrible about the way he treated him. Not just because of the reaction, but also because his back was now covered in blood, suggesting Tom ripped open the bandages with the shove. He gave Tord a look that read 'I'm sorry', but the communist leader just glared back at him before limping away with the help of Paul and Patryck. The blue leader sighed slightly and turned his attention back to his friends, who were starting to make their way back to their plane.

     "Are you gonna stand there or what?" Edd called.
     "Yeah.... right behind you..." Tom replied softly and followed.