Arknights One Shots

Promise (Blaze x M!Doctor)

A/N: I do a lot of male Doctor whenever I use Doctor as a character. Let me know if y'all want me to use female doctor some more and I will! Because inclusion is important, but for now let's get to it. Also, this has some spoilers for the end of chapter six and alludes to some events in chapter 7. So if you don't want to be spoiled then do not read! And that's my only warning.

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It probably was not the best idea on her part to be doing this.

Scratch that.

It really was not.

Amiya will be mad. So will Kal'tsit. Not to mention the others.

Elite operators were a source of high praise in Rhodes Island. Capable of many feats, they were admired and respected by their peers. This was also because of their heroic acts, the way they led others. It was not because they were reckless, or stubborn. It was not because they went to check up on others when they should be resting. After the fight against FrostNova —where everyone involved almost died— she should be in the medical bay, getting checked up.

But instead she was here, at his door.

Hesitantly, her hand raised to the door. It rested against the cool metal frame. Her heart thumped loudly in her chest as blood roared in her ears, though that might have been from all the blood loss. Am I sure this is the right choice? Coming to see him now? She remembered the despair written all over his face when he had left with FrostNova's limp body. What had happened to the white rabbit was unnecessary. If she wasn't so stubborn she might still be alive. But even so, she could understand wanting to go down fighting. She understood wanting all the suffering to end, even if she didn't act all doom and gloom.

This world had a way of ruining most people.

She just hoped it didn't ruin him.

Knock.

Her fist thumped before she could change her mind.

"Doctor Y/N, are you there?"

Blaze hoped he was, talking to him about this in private was the best. And I might not get another chance like this. She had heard what was set to happen soon. A journey to the mobile city of Chernobog, the fight that would surely take place. There was a chance no one would come back alive.

"Yeah."

"Can I come in?" She inquired, placing her ear against the door.

There was a small sigh, a response in the form of a quiet whisper. "Sure."

Blaze stepped into the room cautiously upon it swinging open, blue eyes traversing the dark space until they landed on him. Doctor Y/N was sitting on a lone spinning stool, head in his hands as his body shuddered. The lights of the machinery in this small workspace were dimmed to the point of being virtually nonexistent, so it was imperative that she watch her step for the many wire bundles tapped down on the floor as she bridged the distance between them.

"I heard you took her body to be destroyed . . . are you okay?"

Y/N sighed. "Blaze, are we ever going to save anyone?"

Her hand —that had been so close to landing on his back to rub the soothing circles her parents had done for her what felt like a lifetime ago— froze midair. It had been a mix of Rhodes Island ingenuity and her arts that had kept her from losing any limbs to frostbite, had kept her from dying on the battlefield. Moments like those reminded you of the importance of living life to the fullest.

Because you never know when you might go.

To her knowledge, Doctor had seen many deaths before. So many in fact that this should not have irked him whatsoever. Yet . . .

He doesn't have his memories. Might never get them back. So all of this is brand new.

It was hard to understand why other people didn't understand that.

But as for his question . . .

Blaze moved so she was standing in front of him. Slowly, she lowered herself to her knees, getting the attention of Y/N. A piercing gaze met her own from inside of that shadowing hood. It was clear from the rear tracks he had been crying. And who could blame him? There was something especially terrible about taking someone's corpse to be destroyed. Even worse when said someone was a friend, or in the case of FrostNova, an ally that could have been.

"I know you haven't been with us that long, but Rhodes Island has saved several people."

It would be wrong for her not to point that out, even if despair weighed down on so many of them like a heavy cloud after all this fighting with Reunion. Fighting that'll continue on while I'm stuck here. She did not want Amiya and Rosmontis to be going into Chernobog without her, but it was not up to her.

"I know. But I wish . . . I wish we could have saved them. Saved her. What's the point of finding a cure if so many people end up dead?" He asked, sounding so tired.

She sympathized at the pressure he was no doubt feeling. Since Y/N had taken command after amnesia, there losses had been minimal. No one under his direct command had died. It made her sick to know that might eventually come to pass. Not just might. It almost certainly will. It wasn't wrong to want to hoard the innocence, no matter how brief. Yet it would hurt to not be realistic.

"I wish we could have to. But I think she wanted to go out that way, even if it sounds preposterous. One last fight to meet her end. And I think . . . That while those deaths are sad, and maybe some way, somehow might've been prevented in a different world . . . we can't forget their meaning. We can use them to remind us of what are goals are, the better world we all seek to create."

At that, Doctor smiled slightly. "She made me promise. I-I want to follow her wishes."

Blaze nodded. She admittedly did not know all the details of the exchanges between Doctor Y/N and FrostNova, but that was fine. Everyone was entitled to privacy, to their own secrecy. "I understand. And hopefully you do succeed."

"Hah. I don't know if you'd be saying that if you knew what she asked for."

"Maybe not. But I trust you. And if you made this promise, then you must think it's worth it." Blaze told him, giving his shoulders a reassuring squeeze. "So I'll think the same."

They stared at each other in silence for a few moments, her heart pounding in her chest. Blaze willed the beats to slow, adrenaline kept her from picking out those noticeable details. All the dark clothing and hospital gown could not hide the kind smile and hopeful eyes, the ones belonging to a man who she had learned held the same ideals she did.

"Thanks. I . . . It really does mean a lot. I can't—" he looked away. "Not many people hear listen to me the way you do. Believe in me the way you do. I . . . I guess it's because of whatever I was like before, but—"

She cupped his face in her hands. "Don't listen to them alright. What's important is who you are now."

"Do you like who I am now?"

Her face flushed. "Yes, I do."

Hesitantly, Y/N leaned in. The movement was slow, a perfectly good pace should Blaze decide to pull back. But she did not. Their lips met in an act of reassurance, of warmth spiraling between two people who shared trust and faith for a better world. Blue eyes fluttered closed as she lost herself in the sensation. Doctor Y/N did the same.

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A/N: So did y'all like it? Let me know in the comments and don't forget to vote!