Operation: Pointed Spear

Recovery

Alik's pov(Back at Hereford)
I got placed in a wheelchair by Lera against my will as Gunther stopped her and crouched next to me whispering so just I could hear him "danke, for protecting my family. It pains me to think what would have happened if you weren't there, Monika is lucky to have you" I looked at him oddly as he stood and stepped back, I heard Anna tell Monika "go with him" to which Monika asked "Are you sure?" Mike spoke "I'll bring them to your dorm, go. He'll be more cooperative with you there" I tried pushing myself up as Lera forced me to sit back down "Stay in the wheelchair or you'll make it worse" I huffed as she pushed me through the halls with Jace walking with us "You know you won't be able to tell her no. Just sit down and get it over with" I muttered angrily "easy for you to say you're fucking her" he chuckled as Lera asked in Russian "почему он просто не будет сотрудничать?(why won't he just cooperate?)" to which Jace replied "он мужчина, нам не нравится чувствовать себя слабым(he's a man, we don't like feeling weak)"
Lera didn't respond as Monika caught up "what happened here? Why does Lera look annoyed?" Jace answered "This fucker won't just sit still and make this go smoothly" Monika walked around the front of the wheelchair and spoke "The sooner you cooperate the sooner you get back to being on your own two feet, listen to the doctors Ja?" I nodded like a salty child as she stood and the wheelchair started moving again. Jace laughed while Lera sighed and asked "why couldn't this have happened earlier? I don't have to keep stopping the wheelchair to make sure he stays in it now" Jace responded "Simple, you're not the one he cares about" she gasped lightly as I looked over my shoulder and asked "what kind of bullshite idea do you have?" He chuckled like I told a funny joke as I sighed and looked forward. Monika asked "so what happened? How'd you get so fucked up?" Jace answered "he went into a cave alone and killed three masks with a hammer" she choked on her spit before asking "Was zum Teufel hast du gesagt?(what the fuck did you say?)" he answered slowly like talking to a child "Er ging in eine Höhle und tötete drei Masken mit einem Hammer(he went into a cave and killed three masks with a hammer)"
       I asked "Can we speak English? I don't have a clue what the fuck you're saying" Lera spoke "amen" as Jace explained "I was telling her about you killing the masks with the hammer" I nodded. Monika asked "did you actually?" I replied "that's why I'm covered in blood, it's not my blood. Atleast most of it isn't mine" she asked "why'd you do something so stupid like going in alone?" I replied "the tunnel needed to be cleared, I just went and cleared it" she sighed as Jace joked "I'm the peak of human physical condition and i wouldn't have done that. You've got some balls bro" I stared forward as I remembered every detail of the act before I felt Monika's hand on my shoulder, I knew it was hers from the weight and size as I looked back at her and saw her small smirk, I looked forward as Jace suggested "After you get checked out by Gus, why don't you two come with us and grab some food?" I was about to deny the request when my stomach grumbled and Monika answered for us "we'd love to"
I sighed and muttered to myself "not even together and she answers for me" to which Monika asked "hmm?" I looked up and at her before smiling "nothing" as Jace and Monika opened the door to the med bay as I watched Doc walked out of one of the rooms sighing when he saw me "what the hell did you do?" To which Lera answered sounding much less pleased with me than everyone else "He went into a tunnel alone and bludgeoned three Masks to death with a hammer, he took damage in return. Just hit him with your STIM and he'll be fine in a day or two" doc grabbed his pistol and placed it against my thigh causing me to squirm as Jace and Monika held me still before doc hit the trigger and sent the stim into my thigh as I watched in shock as my knife wound started to heal. I looked at him and asked "the bloody 'ell did you do to me? Why do I feel so good?" He replied with a confident smile "I sped up the healing process, do try to avoid any more damage. And keep the muscle strain to a minimum"
I nodded and smiled "thank you doc" he nodded "I'm glad I could help" as Jace joyfully yelled "time for food!" and Monika helped me to my feet before speaking as she straightened my blood stained uniform "good to see you back to normal" I nodded as she spoke "thank you for protecting my family" I replied with a small nod "A Gardner always keeps his word" she sighed and asked as we fell a bit further back from Jace and Lera "is it bad I feel like it's my fault you got injured? I was just sitting in a small underground cellar with my family while you beat people to death" I spoke sternly "it's not your fookin' fault, I willingly chose to do that. What would've happened if we all died and you three weren't there to protect them? You guys had the most important job there" she spoke distractedly "your accent came through" I sighed "awe fook" she asked "why don't you let your accent be heard?" I replied "because if I do, no one understands me." She chuckled and spoke "danke" I waved her off "no problem, glad I could help"
We walked in and got our food as Marius and Dominic sat down across from us with Jace and Lera, Marius asked "this the crazy bastard that took a hammer to the masks?" I nodded as Dominic looked at me before speaking "doesn't look like much damage to me, did you walk it off?" I nodded and spoke "until Jace and Corey wouldn't let me" Marius clicked his tongue "why not let him walk?" To which Jace spoke "Lera would've killed me if I let him, it was a case of his pride or my life" I heard Marius and Dominic "if you ever want to prank anyone let us know, we have the supplies" Monika spoke clearly annoyed at the thought "Nein" causing the two to snicker as I asked "why are you so upset over a couple pranks?" She replied "one time they put hair dye in my shampoo and I got pink hair from it in spots so I had to dye the rest of it pink so it didn't look like shit" I lifted my closed fist to the two as they laughed and gave me a fist bump, Monika glared at me as I offered "I'm sure you looked gorgeous with pink hair"
She sighed before smirking as she shook her head "you're lucky you're wounded" I looked at Jace as Marius asked "where's Kilo?" He replied "Seamus has her, she likes playing catch with him" Lera spoke "while I'm glad Monika is coming out of her shell and talking more. Less talk, more eating" I started eating as the door burst open and a large man with a hammer on his back was dragged in by Kilo running at full speed to Jace. I watched the scene with mild amusement as Kilo slid to a stop after Jace ordered "Kilo, Heel" I kept eating as Kilo trotted over to Marius as he started babying the large Wolf. I finished my food and stood "I should probably get back to the dorm, it was grand meeting you all" as Monika stood and threw away her trash before waving bye as we headed to the door, I heard Dominic "they'd make a cute couple" as Lera answered "да(yea)" and the doors closed behind us. I was still limping a bit but walking mostly under my own power, I heard Monika "you okay?"
I looked over and nodded as we fell into our signature silence before we reached our dorm and I saw Mike standing outside, he stepped aside "your family is inside, I leave the rest to you. Goodnight, Lad, Lass" as he walked away. We walked in as I saw Anna and Gunther on my bed, with Reinhard and Zara sitting on Monika's they all said hello as they noticed us. Reinhard asked "how're you feeling?" I lifted my hand and shook it side to side as Anna spoke "I understand you did some pretty traumatizing things there" I shrugged and replied "I did my job ma'am" she sighed and spoke "Can we atleast make you something to eat?" I pulled out a chair at the counter top "I just ate, I have to make some tea however" Anna stood and walked out into the kitchen joining Monika and I "I can do that" I asked "are you sure? You guys don't have to do anything to repay me" she waved me off "nonsense" as Gunther spoke "She's stubborn much like Monika, just let her do it so she doesn't feel bad" I sighed and nodded as Monika called "Papa! I'm not stubborn!"
       Reinhard spoke "you've been saying that since you were 8, you're too stubborn to accept your stubborn" she huffed as I chuckled and she focused on me "don't tell me you agree with them" I lifted my hands in surrender "I'm just a spectator, don't expect me to pick sides" to which Zara replied "Smart move" as Monika, Reinhard and Gunther continued to debate if Monika was stubborn. My mind was preoccupied with the irony of the situation, they're all stubborn but keep saying Monika is the stubborn one. I looked at Anna and asked "are they always like this?" She nodded before speaking "Ja, it's how we show love for one another, teasing" I nodded as I watched the debate. I asked Anna another question "How long did you know Gunther before you guys got together?" She replied "I think it was 4 months, we just kinda clicked. Been happily married for 46 years" I nodded as she asked "why? Are you interested in someone?" I shrugged and spoke "kinda, she's definitely attractive but I don't know if she'd want to be with me" Anna answered like a mother would "give it time, if you don't have a clear answer for what to do in a couple weeks. Go for it, rejection only stings for a bit"
       I felt the corners of my mouth twitch as I fought to contain the smile and took a drink of the tea she had just handed me "good advice and great tea" she answered tucking a piece of her blonde and gray hair behind her ear "the key to both is proper aging" I heard Monika "so this is what you're doing?" I looked over and replied simply "drinking tea, and gaining wisdom" she asked "what great wisdom did my mother pass onto you?" I replied "wisdom about relationships" she looked at me before shifting her attention to her mother "Bist du jetzt ein Matchmaker?(you a matchmaker now?)" her mother replied "Nein, wenn ich es wäre, wäre er inzwischen mein Schwiegersohn gewesen(no, if I was, he'd be my son in law by now)" I saw Monika spit out her tea as her face turned bright red and the other three started laughing while Zara replied "Er wäre ein guter Schwager, oder?(he'd be a good brother in law, right father?)" to which Gunther spoke "er würde eine großartige Ergänzung machen(he'd make a great addition)"
       I looked at all of them seeing Monika's face bright red as I asked "what the fook just happened?" To which Reinhard answered "just some family teasing, nothing to worry about" I shook my head with a chuckle as Gunther asked "are we staying here tonight?" I nodded as Reinhard asked "where's everyone sleeping "You 5 get the beds, I'll figure out something for me" to which Monika spoke "Nein, you're injured. You get a bed" I looked at her and spoke "Mon' I'll be okay, it's just a night." She spoke "then you'll get the couch" I asked "where are you sleeping then?" She spoke "the floor" I replied with certainty "then no, I'm not letting you sleep on the floor" she asked "then what do you suggest?" I shrugged as Zara said "why don't you just sleep on the couch together?" Monika's face flushed red again as I answered "I guess it works, I was planning on just having a pillow and blanket so" Gunther jokingly said "there will be no funny business" I played along "you caught me, I was planning on plowing her 3 meters from her parents" he laughed while Monika stared at me mouth agape.
      Anna whacked my shoulder with a paper towel roll "stop joking around like that, it's unbecoming. Gunther stop egging them on, Mon close your mouth you'll catch flies" I chuckled as Reinhard spoke "not even married into the family yet and Mama is acting like his mom" I looked at him oddly as my mind pieced together the conversation in German. Monika sighed and spoke grumpily "can we change topics? This is getting increasingly uncomfortable" I looked around confused as the family laughed. Monika noticed and spoke "be happy you don't know what they're saying" I shrugged and nodded as I sat back down at the counter. "Christ almighty, I could go for a smoke" Anna asked "do you smoke a lot?" I nodded and replied "I'm trying to quit, Monika suggested i do" she smiled at Monika before asking "why do you take what my daughter suggests so seriously?" I answered "she's my first true friend, I've had friends before but not one I can be so honest with. I figure it's a start to repaying her" Anna nodded as Gunther spoke "good, I'm glad Monika's starting to make friends outside of our family. I thought she was gonna die alone" as he laughed and Monika yelled "Papa!" I chuckled and put my hand on her shoulder feeling her relax as I spoke "they're just jokes, enjoy the time with your folks. We go to work again tomorrow" she sighed and nodded as Anna whispered to me "I hope this friendship turns to more" it was now my turn to have my cheeks burn red.