Snowbird/Fairgame Oneshots (But mostly Fairgame)

Fair Game: The Black Bird of Vale pt.3

A/N: Vigilante AU.

Clover is in a deep sleep...but not a peaceful one. He was squirming and writhing on the bed, whimpering fearfully.  The poor man was having the same nightmare he's been having for the past two years. The dream was about the tragic incident that happened to his unit in Vacuo. His unit was small, there was four of them and him which made five. He was their commander, their leader, and he was also their friend. Clover, Elm, Vine, Hariet, and Marrow were all very close friends, they were practically family. Just the week before the incident they all celebrated Marrow's 21st birthday, he was the youngest and most lively of the group.

In the desert of Vacuo, Clover and his unit were driving to their next destination. Everything was quiet except the sound the trucks's engines. Elm, Vine, and Hariet was in one; and Clover and Marrow were in the one following behind. Marrow was going on and on about a letter he had gotten from his nephew who had just started kindergarten. He kept saying how cute it was that the letter was written in blue crayon and that there was also an adorable drawing of his "favorite uncle". The young soldier was about to show his commander the drawing when the first bomb went off...launching the truck in front of them into the air. 

"CLOVER, LOOK OUT!" Marrow shouted as the flaming truck was about to fall on top of their truck.

Clover swerves to avoid it, but as soon as the truck hits the ground next to Marrow's side, its engine explodes. The secondary explosion causes Marrow and Clover's truck to be thrown sideways and roll several times. When Clover regained consciousness, he realized that he was thrown from the vehicle while it was rolling. He didn't know what was broken and what wasn't, because his whole body was in so much pain. Blinking the sand and ash out of his eyes, Clover looks towards the carnage that had happened all within a few short minutes. The first truck, which had Elm, Vine, and Hariet in it was in flames and in pieces; and their bodies were burnt beyond recognition. Tears sting his eyes as Clover bites his lip to hold back a sob. Marrow was still in the other truck, so Clover drags himself over there and pulls him from the wreckage. 

"Oh my god..." Clover gasped when he saw how severely injured Marrow was.

The entire right side of Marrow's face was charred black, and so was his right arm. There was also several tiny shards of glass embedded into his side. His left eye, the only good one now, opens and he coughs weakly. 

"C-Clover...I-I'm scared." Marrow cried.

"Everything's gonna be okay, you'll be okay, Marrow. You're gonna get the best medical treatment the military can provide." Clover tried to assure him, holding the young man in his arms.

Marrow chuckles lightly, which turns into coughing.

"We both know I'll most likely be dead in the next few minutes." Marrow replied.

"No! No, don't say that! You're only 21, you're young and still have so much life left to live. You can't die now, it's not fair!" Clover sobbed.

"Well...*cough*...life isn't all that much fair, now is it?" Marrow said growing weaker.

Then the light fades from his eye and he goes limp in Clover's arms, taking his final breath.

"MARROW, NOOOO!!" Clover screamed, crying.

A few minutes ago, he was surrounded by his closest friends in the world...but now he's only surrounded by death.

Clover wakes up, shooting up into a sitting position in his bed. Next, he buries his face into his hands and cries; being careful to not be loud enough to wake up Robyn. He couldn't get himself to calm down so he picks up his phone and calls Punzie.

"Clover, it's two in the morning, is something wrong?" Punzie asked groggily.

"I...I had the dream again." Clover answered, his voice breaking.

"Oh no...are you okay?" Punzie asked concerned.

"No....I'm not." Clover cried.

"Alright, I'm here for ya, just take some deep breaths for me, please." Punzie instructed.

After taking a couple deep breaths, Clover's breathing is at a normal pace. Then he brings his knees to his chest and grips his sweat pants with the hand that's not holding his phone.

"I'm sorry I woke you up, I didn't know what else to do." Clover mumbled.

"That's okay, Clover. I've told you plenty of times that you can always come to me when you need me. Do you wanna talk about the dream?" Punzie replied.

"No, I don't want to talk about it. I'm tired of talking about it. I just want to get my mind off of it." Clover said.

"Okay, I'll just tell you about this cute little squirrel I saw in the park today. So, this squirrel was trying to crack open a jaw breaker thinking it was a nut, and he was getting so frustrated and confused because the jaw breaker wouldn't crack open. So then, he tries to take the jaw breaker up a tree but he drops it and it falls into this guy's smoothie, splashing it all over his face. It was literally the funniest thing I ever saw." Punzie told him.

"Hehe, that is pretty funny." Clover chuckled lightly.

"Are you feeling better?" Punzie asked.

"Yeah, mostly." Clover said sighing tiredly.

"Thanks, Punz. I love you, sis." he told her.

"You're welcome. I love you too, bro." Punzie said.

When they both hung up, Clover puts his phone back on the nightstand and just lays in bed, not wanting to fall back asleep. What happened two years ago was the single most horrible experience he had ever gone through. The only thing that was worse than that was the funeral where he saw how distraught Marrow's four-year-old nephew was that his favorite uncle was gone forever. He also hated that people kept saying he was the "lucky survivor". What was so lucky about surviving when everyone else you loved died? 

"I should've seen that land mine...if I had, they'd all be alive and with their families." Clover said to himself.

Even though the nightmares, the panic attacks, and the trauma may fade away over time...Clover will never fully forgive himself for what happened to his friends.