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“You just had to touch the fucking plant, Radek.”
Radek’s eyes stung, his ears ringing. Tears tracked down his cheeks as he lay on the ground. “Do not talk, it hurts too much.” Radek opened his eyes and peered over at him. Rodney’s closed eyelids and the skin around was hot pink, his face wet with tears and snot as he wheezed.
Rodney opened his eyes and gasped.
Radek watched the way his lids flew upward, the slackness of his jaw, the look of complete and utter helplessness.
“I can’t see.” Rodney shrieked. His hands scrabbled on the ground. He moved to his knees and held an arm out. His fingers brushed Radek’s side. “Radek, I can’t see, can you see.” Rodney made a choked noise. “Oh god, I can’t see.”
Fuck. Radek shook his fear away. “I can see Rodney.”
Rodney took a few deep breaths and nodded. “Alright, alright, then, we have to go now, we gotta get to those conduits before our pipes explode and flood the whole city.” Rodney’s hands shook. “You just lead the way and hopefully you didn’t destroy my eyes with this little stunt of yours.” Radek frowned but didn’t comment, he knew Rodney was scared.
Radek tried to move his arms, the limbs twitching loosely, his legs not much better. “Do prdele.”
Rodney’s head snapped toward him, “Do prdele? No, don’t you “do prdele,” me, I don’t want to hear it.”
Radek pressed his lips together in apology, feeling stupid when he realized the man couldn’t see it. He swallowed down the panic at his useless body. “I seem to be immobile.”
“Oh, son of a- “ Rodney threw his hands up. “Of course, of course you are, because why would anything be that easy? Our problems are never that easy.” He crossed his arms and sighed heavily. “All we needed to do was come down here and fix the desalinator, which absolutely has to be done in oh,” Rodney held his arm out and glanced down at it before frowning heavily, “who the fuck knows o’clock because you blinded me with a plant.”
Radek laid his head back on the floor and stared up at the ceiling. “I’m sorry, Rodney, this was not my intent.”
Despite his heaving chest, Rodney hitched his chin up and gritted his teeth. He moved closer to Radek, fingers feeling around Radek’s back and shoulders before his hands moved down his arms.
Radek’s brow pinched together. “What are you doing Rodney?”
Rodney shook his head and gripped Radek under the shoulders before dragging him closer. “Isn’t it obvious?” Radek knew if he could, the man would be rolling his eyes at him. Rodney started pulling Radek’s arms over his shoulders. “You're the only one who can see-.”
“-and you’re the only one that can walk.” Radek finished for him. “Ah, together we make one functioning human.”
He watched a lopsided smile spread across Rodney’s face. “With our brains? I'd say we probably make fifteen functioning humans minimum.”
Radek smiled back as Rodney’s hands hooked under his thighs. “You better not make me walk into anything.”
Radek’s eyes widened as Rodney lifted him up, easier than he expected, the man leaning forward to keep him from slipping off.
“Alright, let’s get to the desalinator,” Rodney said.
Radek blinked tears out of his eyes and looked around. “Turn to the left, walk six meters and turn right.” Rodney moved in the appropriate direction and followed his instructions. Radek had expected fumbling, Rodney lashing out at him, and bickering, lots of bickering.
Instead, they were a well-oiled machine.
It surprised him how easy it was. He should have known though, hypotheticals were something that demanded back and forth, something that needed to be worked through, bickered about. But applied physics. That was different. It either worked, or it didn’t, and if it didn’t work you found a way to make it work.
That was one thing. What surprised Radek the most was the trust Rodney had placed in him.
They could have gone back to comm range and called for someone to get them. There may have been time. But Rodney didn’t say anything. Didn’t throw out another complaint. He just followed Radek’s instructions quietly, walking without hesitation when directed, and stilling instantly when Radek uttered stop.
When they reached their destination Rodney slowly slid Radek off his back to the floor in front of the panel. Rodney pulled his screwdriver from his pocket and kneeled next to him. Hand roaming the wall and feeling the edge of the panel. “Alright, Radek, where am I?”
Radek’s chest tightened at the confidence Rodney must have in them, how much Rodney had in him.
“Move your hand seven centimeters to the right and up two,” Radek said.
Rodney slotted the screwdriver into the screw and started twisting. The man worked as if he didn't have another person directing his movements. He seemed unworried. As if he knew without a shadow of a doubt that they had it under control. A half smile curved on Radek’s lips.
Of course, they did.