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Corporal punishment was something that always made Nick Bradshaw sick to his stomach. In flight school, the whipping practice was not always mandatory as the brass wanted them to just be aware that in real life they won’t be spared. Well, real life was now, real training, tasks to complete, and punishment for failure. He didn’t partake in voting on the so-called *“whipping boy”,* but no matter what he did and how much he tried to avoid it the subject caught up with him. Someone was late to roll call this morning meaning at least 2 whips for the chosen poor soul. All of them were supposed to gather in the main hall in the evening.
The moment he saw him his heart sank. So small, led to the post by 2 strong security men. Their CO stood up and began reading the accusations. Apparently, besides the ones who overslept, there was a fistfight in the mess the previous day. Physical violence was unfortunately punished very aggressively being 4 whips for everyone involved. As Goose followed the short brunette with his eyes he couldn’t even phantom what must be going through the kid’s head. The senior officer read the final count for 10 whips. It was then that the neutral expression of the whipping boy cracked in disbelief. Strapped to the post the kid just hang his head down and relaxed his back with concerning ease. Nick had to look away as the whipping began, he hated that shit so damn much. Surprisingly the kid took all the hits with no more than a whimper or grunt, which either meant high-pain tolerance or he had been punished before, Goose didn’t want to know. Overall he took it like a man holding his head up high as he stepped down the post and left with a slightly unsteady walk.
To Nick’s shock and disgust, nobody reacted, they just left afterward and resumed their tasks. Hell even in flight school when somebody was eventually punished he’d seen at least some compassion and guilt yet here it was like nothing had happened.
Still, a bit shaken he decided to search for the man, he just had to make sure that the guy was alright. Despite his schooled expression, there was no denying that he was in pain and most likely needed help and after witnessing the crowd’s reaction he doubted that he had anyone to turn to. Which was scary in itself. walking into the locker room he suddenly heard a pained gasp. walking onto the other side he finally saw him. face turned to his locker trying to reach what looked like a sort of emergency kit, sadly due to his injuries he could barely lift his arms above his head paired with his height made this simple task extremely painful and difficult. Nick's heart sank and despite being unsure what to say he knew one thing for sure he will not leave this poor guy alone.
“Are you okay?” the moment he said it he mentally facepalmed himself, obviously the man was not okay. The kid jumped slightly and his posture tensed, slowly he turned his head to Nick giving him a pained and annoyed look.
“I’ll live, you can go” he hissed turning again to his locker and bracing against its frame. Nick unsure how to proceed stood in place.
“I said GET OUT!!” his voice trembled at the sudden outburst and he leaned more heavily on the locker frame taking sharp breaths. Hurt and fear were visible now as the schooled persona withered. The short male turned his head to still unmoving Nick but this time pleading, begging to leave him alone. Goose gathered himself, if he wanted to help he had to be in the present, yet he could not avert his eyes from the kid’s back, all red with whip marks from today and to his shock older scars as well.
“It’s okay, I want to help you” Nick tried as he slowly moved forward. Kid as though sensing him moved away a few steps backward.
“Yeah, sure” the brunette scoffed and leaned on the wall for support. It was obvious to Nick that he did not trust him, behind the sarcastic response younger’s expression made it clear that he was in fact purely terrified. Realizing how scared and cornered the man was right now Nick slowly took a step backward and raised his hands in surrender.
“I promise I won’t hurt you” the look he got proved that he will need to try harder than that. Still unmoving from his spot, in his warmest voice he tried to make the injured man trust him.
“Okay, I know we don’t know each other and that you have every right not to trust me but we both know you need help and I swear on my wings, my wife, or whatever else that I will not hurt you. So please let me help” the shorter male eyed him wearily, his eyes flying from the door and back to Nick a few times clearly weighing his options.
Weak and sad “Okay” was the kid’s only answer. Nick took slow careful steps so as to not startle the injured man, making sure he was not in his blind spot. After helping the younger to settle down on the bench he reached to his own locker to grab a first aid kit (they called him Mother Goose for a reason). Sitting slowly behind the brunette’s injured back he carefully began to clean the cuts with alcohol swabs. The cuts themselves weren’t dangerously deep but they covered the man’s whole back and drew some blood regardless. He worked in silence, despite the occasional hiss from the kid. After several minutes of careful tending, he realized that he didn’t introduce himself, also he couldn’t stand the tense silence and had to break it somehow.
“I’m Goose,” he said casually hoping for the kid to engage.
“That’s an odd name” answered a low voice with a tint of sarcasm
“Heh, well true. The name is Nick Bradshaw” after a couple of seconds he added “You?”
“Mitchell” after a short breath the kid continued “Pete Mitchell callsign Maverick”
“Well at least yours sound cool” this comment drew a small smile from Pete.
Goose continued to work in more comfortable silence and as he began to finally dress the cuts with bandages a horrifying realization struck him.
“Why didn’t you split them?” it was allowed if an individual was sentenced to more than 7 whips. To that, Pete exhaled slowly before speaking
“It’s better this way. The more you take in one go the shallower they will be in the end. The pain is mostly caused by number rather than depth” the way he said it made Nick shiver. How much had he endured before to come up with a such conclusion? Taking another look at the kid’s back Nick decided he did not want to know, at least not right now.
“Also it’s less likely to receive more than if you were to split them” Pete sadly added. They lapsed into silence once more after that. It was clear that Maverick was not in the headspace for small talk. After several more minutes, Goose finally finished his work on the cuts. Suddenly the quiet atmosphere was broken by a small sob, followed by sharp intake as to silence it. Pete’s whole frame became consumed by trembles and his head fell into his hands. Nick shot up from the bench and moved to sit in front of him. Not sure if he was overstepping or not he drew the kid into a soft hug.
“It’s okay, you’re safe. It’s alright” it was then that the dam broke and a stream of heart-wrenching sobs came up. Nick slowly put his chin on top of Pete’s and began to carefully rub small comforting circles on his arms. Soon enough those arms came around his waist and Pete desperately pressed himself further into the embrace.
It lasted for good 10 minutes and Nick began to wonder how much the kid must be hurting deeply inside. Eventually, sobs became quiet sniffles.
“Sorry for this” Pete pushed himself away from Goose, wiping his eyes in the process suddenly embarrassed of his outburst.
“Hey it’s okay, really ” Goose for that matter couldn’t care less about the wet patch on his shirt. Slowly reaching his hand, he drew the smaller male into a light side hug. Feeling Pete finally relaxing under his touch he stated.
“You won’t have to deal with this again alone anymore” he promised locking his brown eyes with Pete’s green ones
“I won’t leave you” he felt Mitchell’s body curling closer.