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König was never one to get along with others. Life with constant anxiety made making friends a struggle, and no one had ever dared to reach out to him first - maybe it was because of his tall stature.
He had been observant concerning how people reacted when he walked into a room, instantly avoiding his eyes, or what could be seen of them at least.
That wasn’t the only thing his height had ruined for him, never being able to become a sniper due to his unnatural height.
“Your height isn’t suitable for that type of stealth,” they’d said.
They said it like it should have been obvious, but who could blame him for trying to do something he loved? It had been something he longed to do since he was a young boy, only for the hope of ever doing it to be ripped away with a few words.
He figured things wouldn’t change – constantly having his dreams taken away due to his height, the one thing he couldn’t change.
That was when he met Martínez, his new partner.
“Hey! You’re König, right?” He inquired with a smile.
He had a nice smile, König noticed.
König wanted to dislike him before Martínez could do it first. It would save him the feelings he would ultimately face when Martinez turned against him.
and so, he did.
He tried to appear uncaring towards the recruit, staring before giving a stiff nod, hoping the man would catch on to his behavior.
He didn’t.
“I’m Martínez, but I’m sure you already knew that, huh?”
He did, in fact, already know that, but he wasn’t planning on telling him that.
silence filled the room for a minute.
Martínez’s voice filled the room immediately after, rambling.
It seems the man didn’t pick up on König’s body language, or had simply chosen to ignored it.
He was hell-bent on being friendly for whatever reason.
König sighed; he didn’t understand why Martínez would try so hard to continue a one-sided conversation.
They’d become friends.
Months passed, and his new partner never gave up on trying to communicate with him.
König realized that maybe he wasn’t like the other people he had met before.
It was unfair for him to assume Martínez was, but he felt it was the only way to protect himself; something he hadn’t been able to do for the past thirty years of his life.
He thought it was pathetic. How could he, a grown man, not realize others’ deceiving behavior?
He had gone through it one too many times.
König, who had always worn his heart on his sleeve, had banished it to a place no one would ever find; locked it away with a key he chose to throw into the ocean, deep enough never to be seen.
By some miracle, Martínez happened to love diving; he would risk running out of breath to find the key to König’s heart.
He longed to see his beauty; heart and all.
So, he grabbed the key from the ocean’s sandy floor and returned it to its unwilling owner.
König had long accepted the fact that he couldn’t escape Martínez’s advances.
He found that he didn’t want to either.
There were many nights spent together, drinking and talking about their interests.
Martínez was the first person he had talked about wanting to be a sniper, aside from his superiors.
König was the first to know that Martínez was gay.
König had realized that he loved, no, was in love with Martínez.
It had come as a surprise for him, he never realized he could show romantic interest in anyone.
He wanted to ignore it, push it to the back of his mind never to be thought of again. Yet, he found that he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Doing so would require him to distance himself from Martínez, something he couldn’t afford to do; It would hurt his heart.
He tried to act normal and continue like they were still friends, but he was sure even Martínez could feel the shift in their dynamic.
König was glad when they got reassigned to task 141.
It was new, with several faces he had never seen before.
But he felt confident with Martínez by his side.
Soap and Gaz were the friendliest, immediately accepting the two new guys as partners.
Ghost was reluctant to trust them, and König didn’t blame him. He knew what it was like so he let Ghost come around in due time.
Price wasn’t around the team that often, dealing with enough paperwork to stress out even the president.
When he did stop by, König liked to make conversation with him. The man was older and more experienced, something that König looked up to him for.
He started to notice that Martínez didn’t talk with the others that much, seeming to retreat to his room during conversations.
It confused him.
Where had the persistant man who’d followed him around until he finally gave in gone?
The more important question is, why?
The team was nice to him. Well, as nice as they could be to someone who didn’t stick around long enough to talk.
König walked to Martínez's room, seeking out answers.
For the first time in forever, Martínez hadn’t opened the door.
The feeling of hurt bubbled in his chest.
He knew he shouldn’t feel like that. Martínez was allowed to have his space. He just wished the man had said something before shutting him out.
His attempt to get through was over, sulking back to his quarters.
They were partners, just the two of them. For some reason, that gave him hope for change.
That hope came crashing down as soon as Martínez got transferred.
König fit in well.
Martínez was sure the team all generally liked the tall man. König reciprocated that feeling quite clearly.
As the days went by, he realized something.
König had left his heart open, able to be seen by anyone within a ten-mile radius.
Martínez smiled.
He was happy for him. He was just sad he couldn’t stay to witness it forever.
There was never a long-term plan for him, and that never changed, even with König’s arrival.
He had only granted himself a small amount of time to stay until his friend could be himself again.
Martínez noticed the second he had landed, the aloof lieutenant. He saw the behavior displayed, yet he noticed that it seemed forced. He wanted to change that, and so he did.
It wasn’t his intention to ‘fix’ König. All he had wanted was to help him push past his fears and learn that not everyone was out to get him, something he had assumed after years of living through it.
He didn’t get the chance to tell his partner that he loved him, but he didn’t want to hurt him like that; nothing would come out of the confession regardless.
As the tears slipped down his face, he could finally say that he was glad to have met König.
Martínez had missed the meeting which was highly unlike him.
In all of his days working next to him, König had never witnessed Martínez miss work. Sick days weren’t a thing for him, oddly enough.
He was becoming increasingly more worried as the time ticked by with no arrival of the man.
Taking it into his own hands, he sauntered towards the room he had tried to visit for the past few days with no avail.
Knocking, no voice was heard.
He continued on for ten minutes, thinking he was just being ignored and Martínez would eventually give in and open the door.
That never happened.
König got Price involved, after all, he was the one who held the keys to all of the rooms.
It was no longer a simple matter; this had become bigger.
He thought of all of the reasons Martínez wouldn’t answer the door and couldn’t come to a reason that was something within his nature.
As the two of them reached the man’s door, Price inserted the key. Sliding it to the left with a click, the door unlocked.
He was scared to open the door, worrying about what would be inside.
König knew he had to do it, in the case that Martínez was hurt, he had to help him.
Pushing through the door, he was met with an empty room. Clean floors, empty walls. The bed was made, and all excess material was folded on top.
He noticed a note on the desk.
Walking over, he picked it up and started to read.
Price was talking to him, but he couldn’t hear.
Martínez was gone.
Why did he leave?
It was a question König had questioned himself. He blamed himself for not insisting on talking to him.
The note said not to blame himself, that this was bound to happen eventually, but how could he not blame himself?
The team had learned of Martínez whereabouts, or rather, lack of them.
The letter was all they needed to know about his status.
They had held a funeral, one without a body.
König thinks it would have been better if his body was there, it would make this real.
But it wasn’t, and it never would be found if Martínez didn’t want it to be. He was exceptionally good at hiding things.
Not having him on his side showed him how much Martínez had affected his life.
Maybe Martínez had seen how comfortable he was with the others, knowing they would be able to help him after his death. He knew König wouldn’t be alone again.
König realized that Martínez had given him the greatest gift of all, a family. He would forever be thankful to the man who had given him a chance, despite the terrible odds.