Chapter Text
“Shit!” Kaine bites back a cry of pain as he feels a sudden sharp pain in his shoulder. He ducked down, trying to steady himself as the pain ricocheted through his body. Olive bolted to his side, quickly hooking their arm under him and pulling Kaine over to the side more.
“Dumbass.” Olive muttered as they took Kaine’s gun and laid down a few shots for cover. “Come on.” They grabbed Kaine’s good arm and pulled him to his feet, moving quickly out of the rage of fire.
Kaine pulled his communicator out of his pocket and sent one long beep, telling the rest of the team to get the hell out of there and meet back up at the car.
Once they reached the car Olive turned hard, shoving Kaine into the backseat before jumping into the driver's side.
One after the other the rest of the team made it to the car Thalia in the passenger side as Ryder shoved Silvana and Amari into the very back as he jumped in next to Kaine.
“Shit dude, what happened to you?” Ryder asked, his voice buzzing, he was nervous. Kaine knew it, everyone’s hard breathing muffled any conversation in the car as Olive drove, trying to keep steady.
Silvana’s head popped up from the back as the color drained from her face, her eyes stuck on the gash in Kaine’s shoulder.
“It’s a graze.” Kaine said flatly, moving his good arm off the wound to push Silvana back into a seated position. She lands with a thump and a huff.
“We are going to have to get the car shampooed again.” Thalia groaned, her tone light almost teasing. Kaine felt himself smile before groaning again as Olive hit a bump.
Ryder turned to face him, muttering an apology and placed one of his hands on Kaine’s, applying a bit more pressure to it. Kaine glanced at his team.
Everyone looked alive. Their pupils dilated, breathing hard but steady. If his shoulder didn't feel like his arm was trying to be ripped off he would have had to hug every one of his team members.
The rest of the ride was devoid of talking, soft music of whatever they were listening to before, Thalia’s nails tapping on her phone as she worked on something, the soft clicks of Amari’s guns as they reset and reloaded.
Olive silently pulled up to their alley way, letting out a small sigh of relief before turning off the car.
“Everyone good?” Olive said, their voice higher than normal, still tense.
“Kaine needs some attention.” Ryder responded, shaking his hair softly before turning to Kaine, nodding once before removing his hand. “I think the bleeding has at least slowed down.”
“I can handle that.” Silvana said, her voice shaking softly still. “Everyone else should clean up and drink some water.” She said softly as Ryder started to get out, clicking the button to fold up his seat and helping Silvana and Amari out. Kaine watched as Ryder’s hands steady Silvana, one hand on her shoulder and the other on her hip. A wave of heat passed through Kaine’s chest as he looked away.
“Okay, good.” Olive said as they got out, opening the door for Kaine and guiding him to the door.
Kaine felt his pride ache as Olive babied him, he was fine. Kaine silently shoved Olive off and took a few steps back, their face shifted to a hurt one before returning to a neutral one.
The switch was so fast Kaine was almost sure he imagined it.
Thalia opened the door and held it open for the rest of the crew. Kaine stood outside till everyone else was inside then following.
“You good boss?” Thalia’s voice was steady, her hand resting on his good shoulder. Her icy blue eyes almost glowing in the dim light as they held his gaze. Kaine couldn’t even be upset at the dumb nickname, his shoulder was throbbing at this point, causing his more rational thoughts to go out the window.
Kaine nodded once, holding the girl’s gaze till she dropped her hand away and took a step back.
“Don’t forget to see Sil, kay?” Thalia glanced at Kaine's shoulder, before nodding and walking up the stairs.
Kaine stood on the bottom floor for a moment longer, his heart was racing still, pain shook through his arm and down to his chest as he glanced around the dim room. He let out a soft breath and started up the stairs, moving his arm from his shoulder to hold the rail, he didn’t stop on the first housing floor where all his friends gathered, he wanted to lay down.
He turned sharply up the stairs to reach the third floor, his head was starting to pound as he reached his door, his hand pausing on his door knob. He knew she was behind him, her footsteps were soft but her breathing was still shaking, louder than normal. It pulled his attention to her like a magnet.
“What do you want, Parra?” Kaine turned to face her, her eyebrows furrowed softly as she fidgeted with her first aid kit.
“Were you just going to go to bed?” She asked, her voice was sharp, sending chills down Kaine’s back. He hated it.
“Yes.” No.
“Well at least let me clean it, if it gets infected it’s going to hurt worse.” She had taken her hair out, the softly curled blonde hair rested on her shoulders, framing her face as she adjusted her glasses.
Kaine watched her move, it was like she was on fire. She never seemed to stop moving, her nails clicking against the metal of her kit, her eyes bouncing from his shoulder to his face to the floor, to what looked like her bedroom door. She let out a huff.
“Are we going to this in the hallway or are you going to sit down?” Kaine tensed before opening his door and walking in, leaving it open for her to follow him. He turned on his desk light and started to unbutton his shirt, the pain in his shoulder screaming as he reached the top buttons.
“Oh for god's sake.” Silvana huffed, she cleared a spot of his papers on Kaine’s desk and sat down her kit before moving her hands to his buttons, her hands shook as she started to unbutton the final few, a soft blush had crept onto her cheeks as she slowly started to pull off his shirt.
“I can’t do this if you don’t help me.” Silvana mumbled, her eyes locking onto his, they looked nearly black in this lighting. Kaine moved his arm to the side a bit as she unhooked it from his right arm. Her hand let go of his shirt and lifted his left arm gently to peel his now blood soaked shirt off his body.
Kaine held his breath as Silvana set his shirt down next to them and gestured for him to sit down. He sat down with a thump, his eyes now level with her chest, her breathing was almost steady, still a little too fast for his liking as he forced his eyes down to his lap.
He tensed as Silvana’s hands touched his shoulder, tracing the wound softly before she turned to her first aid kit.
“Your hands are cold.” Kaine said as he tried to keep his voice steady, he felt his heart pound in his ears as he glanced over to see what she was doing.
The tension slightly left her body as she exhaled a laugh. She pulled out some tweezers, a roll of gauze and a few more things Kaine really should learn the names of.
“I need to clean this with water and soap first.” She whispered, her eyes dancing along her first aid kit. She looked at him and Kaine nodded. He stood up and walked over to his bathroom, looking over his shoulder once to make sure she was following, she stayed a few steps back, her eyes trailing over his now exposed back.
Kaine turned back to his bathroom door, trying to fight the blush that threatened to spill out. He closed the lid of his toilet and sat down on it, close enough for Silvana to reach the sink and him.
She walked in setting down the items she pulled out of her kit, she reached for a clean washcloth and turned on the sink, waiting for it to be warm. Kaine watched her, his eyes going from her hands, to her face, to her hair even down to the way she was standing.
“You're nervous.” He said flatly, he needed to break the awkwardness of silence; it was drowning him.
“Tonight was… Different.” Silvana said softly, checking the water on her wrist before gently adjusting the skin to run a little hotter.
“That was my fault. I went off the plan.” It made Kaine feel like he just crumbled up the last of his pride to admit that. He glanced away from Silvana, his eyes dancing along the shower across from him.
“And.. I’m sorry for that.” Kaine whispered the last part, he hated her seeing him like this. He hated her, the way she made him feel, the way her eyes always found his in a crowded room, he hated the way her hands felt touching him as she pressed the warm washcloth to his shoulder. He hated the way she smiled when he sighed as the pain subsided slightly.
“No one is angry with you Kaine.” Silvana said after a moment, her voice steady as she moved the cloth, gently yet firmly swiping away any things that may have gotten caught in it.
“At least… I’m not.” She had mumbled the last part. “You did what you had to do.” Kaine felt himself missing her hand on his shoulder when she removed the washcloth.
“You don’t have to pretend to not be upset, Silvana.” Kaine said, reaching for her wrist. His hand gently held it as he looked up to her face, her right hand holding the tweezers. Her eyes locked on his hand on her’s before slowly trailing to his face.
Kaine watched as she swallowed a bit before setting down the tweezers, her hand going to his cheek, turning his head to face her a bit more. Her mouth opened, closed and opened again before she closed it once more. Her eyes darted around his face, never staying still.
“You have a cut on your forehead…” Was all Silvana managed to say. Kaine cracked a gentle smile before letting go of Silvana, softly turning his body to face her a bit more.
Her cheeks reddened as she breathed out softly. She rolled up her sleeves and turned to put on gloves, she corrected her glasses before leaning in. Kaine looked at Silvana as he felt the tweezers start to pick out things from his gash.
Kaine watched as Silvana bit her lip, her breath becoming softer as she worked. He tries his best to stay quiet, afraid to say anything and make her mess up.
He tries his best not to think about how close she is, how he can feel her breathing on his neck, how he could almost smell her. It was sweet, like vanilla. Kaine hummed softly, closing his eyes as she quietly pulled away and the sink turned back on.
He sighed again when the towel was pressed against his shoulder again. His head leaned to the side away from it when he felt another towel touch his forehead. His eyes flew open as Silvana froze, her eyes snapping to Kaine’s before she gently pulled the one on his forehead again, watching his expression.
“Sorry.” She mumbled before moving back in and wiping away any dirt and dried blood.
“It’s fine.” He whispered back to her. Her hands move away as she grabs a bandaid, unwrapping it and then pausing, looking at Kaine with a mildly amused expression.
“You need to relax your face and not look like you hate me for a moment, Kaine.” Kaine feels his neck flush as he sits up a bit straighter, relaxing his face and pushing any stray hairs out of his face with his good hand.
“Thank you.” She placed a bandaid on his forehead, smoothing it out once before turning her attention back to his arm, removing the washcloth and grabbing the gauze.
She uses one hand to guide his arm up, watching his wound and then stopping his arm from going any further. She unrolls the gauze, placing the starting point around his left forearm, wrapping a circle before guiding the gauze around his shoulder, she holds it in place before shuffling to be behind Kaine.
She wraps it across his back and under his right arm, before going back over his shoulder and around once more. Silvana’s hands pauses once she is out of gauze, smoothing it down softly before taking a step back to look over it.
“There you go.” She smiles softly, she takes off her gloves, tucking one into the other before removing the last one. “Her eyes trail over his chest and Kaine feels himself blush again as he stands up, Silvana quickly took a few more steps back.
“Thank you.” Kaine said, trying to keep the shake from his voice. “Uh do you want me to carry-” Kaine watches as Silvana washes off her stuff before shuffling it all into her arms.
“I got it. You should take some pain medicine and try to get some rest.” Silvana turns to walk back to Kaine's desk.
Kaine stood in his bathroom’s doorway, watching Silvana pack her stuff up. Everything has its place.
“I’m going to have to wrap that again tomorrow okay? Clean bandages everyday…” Silvana mumbles before snapping her first aid shut, turning to Kaine.
Kaine walks over, his heart pounding as he stops in front of her, Silvana stands up a bit straighter.
“Thank you Silvana.” He said, leaning down slightly. Enough to feel her breath but not enough for him to touch her. Vanilla and Lilac. Silvana smiles and Kaine might as well have gotten shot again, a jolt of something new spreads down his back. He steps back and rubs his neck with his good arm. His ears felt hot.
Suddenly Silvana snaps out of her gentle look, looking over to Kaine’s bed.
“Don’t sleep flat, you should prop up a few pillows.” She fidgeted with hands before quickly walking over to Kaine’s bed. He stood there watching as she moved a few pillows so Kaine would be sitting up a smile creeping its way back onto his face.
“There we go, the blood flow would be bad if you laid down all the way.” She smiled as she walked back over to him, smiling once more before grabbing her kit and heading to his door.
“Good night.” Her voice is steady again, her dark eyes trailed over Kaine and he felt strange just standing in the middle of his room. Lost almost.
“Good night.” His voice was soft as he watched her leave, shutting his door softly. He moved to sit down, rubbing his neck once more, his eyes trailed to his desk, messy. Like how he felt.
He hated Silvana.