pairing: BaekChenLay
length: 2070 words
A/N: Written at the request of Mhtbleach! Hope you like it!
Part One: Escape

And after Chen opened his eyes, he screamed.

He screamed as if he was being attacked by thousands of burning arrows at once. He screamed as if his skin was being ripped off of his petite body, piece by piece. He screamed at such ear-splitting decibels that Lay and Baekhyun had to quickly cover their ears to avoid going deaf. 

Chen screamed, and screamed, and screamed, until Baekhyun dived onto the bed to grab hold of the younger male while Lay ran out of the room, yelling frantically into the hallway, “WHERE IS THE DOCTOR?!”

“Shhh, everything’s okay, Chen. You’re okay. Nothing’s wrong,” Baekhyun murmured tenderly to Chen while slowly rocking the terrified boy in his arms. Waking up suddenly in an unknown environment had most certainly triggered one of Chen’s rare panic attacks, but this one was probably the worst one he had dealt with yet.

Chen was visibly shaking as he cried and screamed while clutching onto Baekhyun for dear life. His head swam uncomfortably with the bright lights hitting his pale, emaciated face in all directions. The smells in this room were too clean and the bed was too comfortable to be his. Even if the older male’s touch was familiar and soothing, how could he even be sure this was the real Baekhyun who was embracing him? How could he trust his senses when everything around him shouted Danger! and he had no idea of his bearings?

And where was Lay?

Where was Lay, who always held him close in his strong arms when he was frightened like he was now and made him feel like he was the safest person in the world? He wanted both Lay and Baekhyun to be holding him. If he didn’t have the two of them together, he might as well not have any. He would only know for sure that he was truly safe if he had both of the two older boys at his side right now.

“Baekhyun, I need you to stand back now.”

“NO!” Chen shrieked when he felt someone pulling the older male away from him. He was sorry for not wholeheartedly believing earlier that this really was Baekhyun holding him. He didn’t mean for his doubts to cause Baekhyun to leave him. Even if this wasn’t the real Baekhyun, the boy was familiar and that’s all that mattered to Chen right now. Tears poured out of his eyes and splashed down his thin, pale face as he repeatedly sobbed, “Don’t leave me, Baek. I’m sorry, Baek. Please don’t leave me alone. I don’t want to be alone again.”

“Get your hands off of him!” Lay roughly jerked away the nurse’s reaching arms before protectively wrapping Baekhyun and Chen in his embrace. He glared at the nurse, who quickly stepped away in fright and hid behind the doctor.

“Lay, I need you and Baekhyun to get off this bed,” Dr. Lu said calmly as he walked up to the three entangled boys. “Otherwise, I can’t see what’s wrong with Chen.”

“You can do that with us here,” Lay argued hotly, tightening his hold on the two younger boys. “There’s no way we’re letting go of him, not while he’s like this. You heard him just now. He doesn’t want to be alone.”

“And he won’t be. You two will just be stepping away from him, so I can properly examine him.”

“That’s not how his panic attacks work,” Lay answered, resolutely refusing to leave the panic-stricken child in his arms.

Dr. Lu’s eyes narrowed as he responded coldly, “Then shall I call over Captain Choi to remove the two of you for me?”

“You wouldn’t dare,” Baekhyun hissed, wanting to claw out that horrid doctor’s stupidly large doe eyes.

“Try me.” Dr. Lu stood his ground and ignored the fiery glowers he was receiving as he turned to the terrified nurse. “Go get Captain Choi right this instant,” he ordered with a hard edge in his tone. The nurse quickly nodded and scurried off, relieved that she didn’t have to stay in such a tense environment any longer.

“You rat,” Lay spat out, keeping his arms securely encircled around Baekhyun and Chen.

“Call me what you will. I am only trying to do my job and keep people alive,” Dr. Lu replied in an icy tone as he stared down at the three boys huddled up against each other.

“And as a doctor, you should be listening to your patients and not aggravating them any further,” Baekhyun angrily retorted as he comfortingly rubbed circles on Chen’s thinly clothed, bony back.

The youngest boy’s tears were finally subsiding, now that he was in the warm embrace of his family members. Even though he didn’t know where he was, how he came to be in this place, or why they weren’t at home, Chen knew that it didn’t really matter as long as Lay and Baekhyun were with him. The healing effect that the two of them together had on him was almost instantaneous. His pulse was gradually decelerating, the pain in his head was slowly fading, and his panic-induced state was dissolving as he contently nestled his face in the small crevice between Baekhyun and Lay’s chests. The sound of their matching heartbeats was constant and calming, and Chen softly smiled as he knew for sure that he was safe now.

Lu Han noticed how quickly Chen had changed upon having the two other males clasped against his small body. The doctor would be lying if he said he didn’t feel a pang in his heart as he thought of his family that no longer existed. The two boys that he held dearest to his heart were gone forever now, but Lu Han couldn’t help seeing himself and his old friends in the three boys clumped together on the small hospital bed. He probably would’ve acted exactly as Lay and Baekhyun had earlier, if either one of his friends was in Chen’s position.

So he quietly left the room, unnoticed by the young males who were all speaking quietly to one another. Those three only had eyes for each other, which Lu Han was grateful for at the moment as he slipped out into the hallway and firmly closed the door behind him.

“What did you need me here for?” Siwon arrived several moments after Lu Han exited the room. “Dasom, that bumbling nurse of yours, could barely get two sentences strung together. All she did was babble something about you arguing with my new boys, who have apparently become devils,” Siwon relayed, a barely noticeable smile of amusement on his face.

“Thought I needed help earlier, but it looks like things are okay now.”

Siwon raised an eyebrow at Lu Han’s vague statement, knowing that there was more to the story than the doctor was letting on.

But Lu Han just smiled as he patted Siwon’s broad shoulder before sticking his hands into his pockets and walking away. “Make sure you keep those kids safe,” Lu Han called over his shoulder before disappearing down the hallway to his office.

Still curious to know what had happened, Siwon peered through the small window of the room door to try and get a clue. There, he saw his three charges huddled together, grinning at each other with the widest smiles he had ever seen since this tragedy began.

--

“I’m bored.”

“I know.” Lay calmly turned the page of the book he was reading. Baekhyun had gone to shower in their unit, so it was just him watching over Chen at the moment.

“Let me explore the base then.”

“Not until you’re discharged.” Lay didn’t even look up, knowing that Chen was pouting with his thin lips.

“I hate this room though.”

“Same.”

Chen was so frustrated with his apathetic brother right now. If Baekhyun were here, he would at least attempt to entertain the youngest male with something. But no, instead, Lay was paying more attention to some lackluster book that he had just picked than he was to the most precious person he had ever had the pleasure of knowing. “You’re so boring,” Chen complained in his high-pitched voice, kicking his legs under the blankets covering his lower body. “You’re no fun.”

“Sorry.”

“Then be more interesting!” Chen demanded as he continued throwing his childish tantrum.

“Too lazy.”

“Why?” Chen knew Lay hated it when he whined like that. But he wanted to get under the older male’s skin right now, so that Lay would stop reading that dull book and focus instead on what was really important.

“Because I don’t want to continue enabling you,” Lay explained simply. “You’ve been spoiled way too much lately.”

It was true. Baekhyun and Lay had adhered to all of Chen’s desires since he had woken up from his coma, ridiculous as they were. It would be two in the morning when the two older males were suddenly woken up by requests for ice-cream sundaes topped with hot fudge, rainbow sprinkles, and brownie bits. When it would get unbearably warm in the hospital room, the two had to use whatever they could to fan the patient until he deemed himself cool enough. Lay and Baekhyun were forced to build a fort for King Chen when the youngest nagged that his bed was too boring and that he wanted something more appealing to sit in. And fitting all three of them on the tiny bed for cuddles at any time of the day was an absolute must.

The cuddles were enjoyed by all of them, but aside from those, Baekhyun and Lay felt like crying from trying to keep up with all of Chen’s wants. Which is why Lay decided to put his foot down from now on and focus on himself for a bit, instead of continuously listening to Chen moan and groan like the little baby he was.

“But it’s all part of the healing process!” Chen proclaimed, miffed that Lay was still refusing to pay him any attention. When the older male didn’t answer, Chen lifted away the corner of his blanket and patted the empty space beside him. “Will you at least cuddle with me while you read?”

Lay looked up and saw the puppy-dog eyes that Chen was giving him. He sighed as he stood up and crawled into bed with the youngest male, who immediately snuggled up to Lay. “No more complaining, okay? At least not until Baekhyun gets here. You can complain all you want to him when I go shower.”

--

“It looks like your vitals are all normalized now,” Dr. Lu reported as he read through the scans he had printed out after conducting Chen’s latest examination. “I’ll officially discharge you tonight.”

“Does that mean I get to go exploring now?” Chen asked excitedly, his eyes sparkling brightly in anticipation. He was finally going to get out of this horrible room he had been living in for two weeks. That was two weeks too long for him. He desperately needed a change of scenery right now. Anything would do, as long as he didn’t have to see this pure white hospital room ever again in his life.

Siwon shook his head before Dr. Lu could answer. “Training begins tomorrow,” he said, addressing all three of the boys.

Baekhyun scowled, still averse to the idea of becoming a soldier and having to go back outside after trying so hard to stay alive. Chen, on the other hand, was bouncing up and down on his cot, barely able to contain his enthusiasm for what the captain had planned for them.

“You will report for duty at approximately 8AM sharp, after breakfast. Training is held in the South Gymnasium, which is to the east of the library.” Siwon paused as he glanced carefully over the three younger males before saying, “I will not take kindly to tardiness. If any of you are not in the gym once the clock strikes eight, I will make sure you are properly punished. So do not even think about sleeping in and be ready to become the best soldiers that have ever walked on this godforsaken planet.”

“Yes sir!” Chen exclaimed, pumping both fists in the air.

“Yes sir,” Lay and Baekhyun answered monotonously, visibly less excited than the youngest was about their new lives.

--

“Boys, let us welcome our new recruits, Lay, Baekhyun, and Chen.”

♈♈♈