Who: Achilles and Briseis What: WWII and a bloody and epic reunion. Where: Greece, army hospital When: 1941
It was the most widespread war in history, composed of two great and opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. Greece stood on the Allies side, and so stood the once grand Greek warrior. Since being resurrected during the times of Alexander, Achilles had fought alongside warriors of the times that passed. He had traveled all over building their valor, creating men out of the boys that now lead these armies. He was still nothing more than a general, but what he carried in pride earned him respect from those that followed in his footsteps.
Hitler had attacked Greece through Yugoslavia and Bulgaria despite the country's neutrality in the war. At this point the Germans had taken over most of the country.
In this attack, Achilles had lost many of his men, and the one draped across his shoulder barely kept a heartbeat as his breath staggered out. The blood coated his uniform, hands dripping red as he forced the soldier into one of the nearby hospitals demanding assistance right away. He himself had not been injured past a twisted ankle, covered in the blood of his comrades.
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[info]spoil_of_war 2010-11-25 01:09 am (local) (link) Track This Briseis had always been at the sidelines of war and now, in this life, nothing was different. Still there was war and still Briseis' place was to serve those who needed her, just as these men served her country.
She was a nurse at this Grecian hospital, as important as every medical professional here, all of them trying to get these men back on their feet and into what felt like an impossible battle. But Briseis had been at Troy. She had seen battles her whole life and this was no different other than for the sheer numbers and new weapons.
Briseis heard a shout from behind her and moved away from the bed she was at. "Can you hear me?" she asked the man, checking for his pulse and opening his eyes to check them as well. She'd not even looked yet at the man who'd brought him. "I need a doctor! Sir, can you speak?"
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[info]chink_in_armor 2010-11-25 01:27 am (local) (link) Track This "He can't speak, he's in shock," Achilles spoke directly, taking off the jacket of his own uniform which was now turning a darker shade of red. He'd yet to remove his cap which would show his now short and chopped up blonde hair.
There was something about the young nurse that was vaguely familiar.
Despite her presence, and his now stiff ankle Achilles stood ready to be of some help to the boy who had gone down in his place.
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[info]spoil_of_war 2010-11-25 01:31 am (local) (link) Track This "We're understaffed," Briseis told the soldier, reaching for a bandage quickly so she could wrap this wound. "I don't know if a doctor will see him in time. He's losing a lot of blood."
She pressed down upon the slice across the poor man's stomach, but she could tell he wasn't going to make it. Her hands were dark with blood already.
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[info]chink_in_armor 2010-11-25 01:44 am (local) (link) Track This He could hear that curdle in the boy's throat, the tears shining against his eyes, and the life that was slowly slipping from them. Achilles knelt on his good leg, looking down into the kids face, whose hand shook as he reached towards the nurses face.
"Just be a comfort for him now," he demanded. "Your the last face he's going to see." While she spoke to him, Achilles searched around the boy's coat to find any letter or trace of his person. He released a heavy sigh, getting up and taking a seat on the free bed beside them.
It was then that he took off his hat.
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[info]spoil_of_war 2010-11-25 02:02 am (local) (link) Track This Briseis knew that the boy was dying. It was clear, and this man's words weren't necessary. "It's alright," she told the boy, looking at him kindly.
It wasn't long at all before the the boy passed and Briseis sighed, wiping at her forehead with the back of her wrist and leaving a small line of blood there. She over at the man sitting to give her her apology for the loss of his man, but she paused, recognizing his face but unable to speak.
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[info]chink_in_armor 2010-11-25 02:22 am (local) (link) Track This Achilles heard her speak, but did not look up as he rummaged around the boys coat. He felt that surge of energy against the pit of his stomach and thought nothing of it. He find a few pieces of paper that were salvageable before the coat was disguarded and he looked up meeting her eyes.
He squinted his eyes scarcly believing that that face was so similar. He hadn't seen Briseis since he'd been brought back, and he'd hardly believed he'd ever run into anyone from his past.
Yet---her eyes. He couldn't stop looking, his voice as silent as hers.
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[info]spoil_of_war 2010-11-25 02:35 am (local) (link) Track This He looked so different, but then she supposed she did as well. With her hair tied tightly back and her nurse's uniform, she was a world away from the teenage girl in the messy dress that he had known.
"Achilles," she whispered, staring at him in complete shock. "Is it...?"
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[info]chink_in_armor 2010-11-25 02:53 am (local) (link) Track This She was more a woman now than he'd ever known. Not shy and withdrawn from him. She spoke his name so softly, in a whisper that had only been for his ears. Immediately his face softened, his hand now reaching out to hers to draw her near. To feel that she was real and not some phantom look-alike.
"Yes," he spoke softly, giving her a heartfelt but grieved smile.
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[info]spoil_of_war 2010-11-25 02:57 am (local) (link) Track This Everyone else in the hospital suddenly didn't matter at all to her. The sound she made was somewhere between a laugh and a sob, a sound of complete disbelief and amazement and joy. "Achilles," she whispered again, reaching to touch his face now that she was close to him. "It's really you?"
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[info]chink_in_armor 2010-11-25 03:03 am (local) (link) Track This As soon as her hand moved across his face he felt his heart start to race, his eyes closing at such a soft touch. He was a man of war, the softest voice they heard most nights was that of their own mind and the whisper of the wind.
"Briseis," he spoke as if no time had passed between them at all. As a man to his lover. As if he hadn't left her alone at his death.
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[info]spoil_of_war 2010-11-25 03:07 am (local) (link) Track This She almost cried then, but instead she kissed him fiercely, an action filled with all of the regret and the love that she had within her. Her eyes were squeezed shut and the tears made their way down her cheeks.
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[info]chink_in_armor 2010-11-25 03:22 am (local) (link) Track This Amidst fallen, sick and bloodied soldiers the only thing he could think about was having left her behind, the horrors she faced and how he'd selfishly forsaken all that for his own arrogant head.
Her lips hit his and his heart swelled, hands wrapping around her waist, returning that kiss with as much passion as she gave. One that would leave them both breathless and at the attention of wandering eyes.
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[info]spoil_of_war 2010-11-25 03:33 am (local) (link) Track This "My love," she finally whispered when they broke apart enough, her arms still wrapped around him. "I thought I'd never see you again. You died and... oh, my love, my love."
To anyone watching it couldn't have seem too out of place. How many lovers had been displaced by this war, how many had thought they lost their soulmate on a battlefield?
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[info]chink_in_armor 2010-11-25 03:46 am (local) (link) Track This His hand grazed her cheek wiping away the tears that stained them. He'd spent centuries with a sword or weapon in hand, not once coming across another of his past. It was almost an impossible idea that he wasn't alone.
His fingers shook lightly and he quickly moved them away, pulling her from her embrace so he could see her eyes. Tell her it was okay and that he wasn't leaving again. He gave her another bittersweet kiss, hand cupping her face.
"I am here, my wife," he whispered. "Stop your tears."
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[info]spoil_of_war 2010-11-25 03:50 am (local) (link) Track This Wife. Yes, she was his wife and he was her husband and they were together again, finally, even if it was in the middle of another war.
"I can't believe you're really here," she wept, her tears of joy. "I've hoped so long."
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[info]chink_in_armor 2010-11-25 04:01 am (local) (link) Track This Achilles had died before taking her as his wife properly, but what respect and affection he'd given her was as much as any marriage by title.
She looked like she was going to melt down from the shock, so he strongly held her chin up. "Is there somewhere we could go?" he asked her softly, not sure what he wanted more, to just talk or feel her next to him. Both had been such a far away memory for him.
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[info]spoil_of_war 2010-11-25 04:05 am (local) (link) Track This Briseis tried to think clearly but all her thoughts had been clouded over by him. They were in a hospital and- "I shouldn't leave my post," she said, but found she was quickly taking him by the hand and drawing him out anyway. What was this world to her when Achilles was there? She had made a promise to help these people, made and oath, but she could keep no oath when Achilles stood before her.
Once outside she almost ran to the nurses' quarters, letting him into the bedroom she shared with two other women who were both at the hospital. Men weren't allowed in here but she didn't care what sort of reprimand she received for it now. She kissed him again, pulling him close to her.
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[info]chink_in_armor 2010-11-25 04:23 am (local) (link) Track This He would laugh later at her abruptness, amused by it, but now there was no other importance at this moment. He allowed her to lead him away from the suffocating air of the hospital, limp or no toward a vacant space.
Their bodies pressed together and it made his head dizzy. Stumbling back against the wall, he let his back hit, mouth not yet able to get enough of that sweet taste she was offering. There was a fervor between the both of them.
He hadn't even yet apologized to her, and all he wanted was to feel her closer than this. Her name escaped his lips in a whisper, perhaps slight impatience.
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[info]spoil_of_war 2010-11-25 04:26 am (local) (link) Track This "I love you," she whispered against his lips. She said it over and over just because she'd wished that in life she'd said it more. There was so much they'd lost, so many chance that had gone.
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[info]chink_in_armor 2010-11-25 04:42 am (local) (link) Track This "I know, I never doubted that," his hands became firmer against the mold of her body, letting her hair down so he could feel it between his fingers. Smell it. "My heart is yours, always has been," and it had. Even then, she was the only woman to ever earn such affection and titles from him.
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[info]spoil_of_war 2010-11-26 06:23 pm (local) (link) Track This They found their way out of those strange uniforms of a time that neither of them belonged to and Briseis studied the lines of his body with her hands and then her mouth, remembering with startling detail every single shape.
They first time together in this life was surprisingly unrushed despite their need to get alone. It was as though neither of them wanted to forget even a moment of it.
And when they lay together afterwards, sweating and breathing heavily, Briseis curled herself against him finding it hard to believe she really was this fortunate. "I love you so much," she whispered, kissing his chest where her head rested.
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[info]chink_in_armor 2010-11-26 08:05 pm (local) (link) Track This Achilles had never treated her as some sort of object, and there was a pattern they fell back into so easily with tangled arms and legs, hot kisses and fevered touches. Each slide of his hands against her skin was a memory, giving her the same soft touch that he had always. New, yet so much the same. He'd missed the feeling of her against him.
The last time had been so long ago, heartbreaking as he'd told her one day he'd never return. While she may have blocked it out of her memory he'd known, each moment having turned shorter and rushed for the fact that it may be the last. He'd never said goodbye, never kissed her lips before death took him away. Life was gone in an instant and now, there was a revitalized feeling as if it had never ended.
His fingers curled into her hair, kissing her softly on the forehead, his other hand sliding slowly down her arm, brushing the back of his fingers against ivory skin. He moved from her arm, down the the curve of her side and back up, gray-green eyes lost with hers before pulling her protectively against him.
"I won't leave you again," he whispered into her ear, his heart beating so fast. There were a million other things he wanted to ask, wanted to say, the simplest answer feeling right, an apology all in one for having left her before. If he hadn't then this reunion may not have been so sweet.
He brushed a gentle kiss to those ruddy lips, swollen from their fevered kisses.