Work Text:
There was no denying that there were downsides to every line of work, but after hearing that Slade was assigned to work on Christmas, even Alex had to admit that he was unhappy. It wasn't like he found the holidays to be important either; rather, it was just the fact that he was going to be alone on a day everyone else found to be important. He was actually looking forward to spending such a special day with Slade, but it was starting to look like he wasn't going to see him until late that night when he would inevitably be stumbling through his bedroom window, or at least that's what he assumed. It was probably around dinner time when he heard a comforting sound of Slade's voice calling for him, but the words he was hearing were far from anything close to comforting.
“Alex.. Alex, I really need you right now.” Slade called out, slamming the window shut behind him as water dripped off him onto their bedroom floor. “I don't think I can feel my fingers anymore.”
“What the hell happened?” Alex questioned with concern lacing his voice, stripping Slade of his suit as he spoke. “You're practically frozen at this point.”
“I was assigned to go after this guy, and after the job was completed, I headed out onto the balcony to get access to the rooftops, but I wasn't anticipating the balcony railings to be iced over.” Slade explained, shivering as he was examined for injuries. “I slipped and crashed through the ice sheet covering the motel pool.. It took me a while to get back into dry land again.”
“You were being reckless..” Alex acknowledged, shaking his head slightly as he focused his attention on making sure he was physically okay. “You shouldn't have been more careful, especially with how you tend to slow down during the wintertime.”
“You know that I can handle myself.. I was having an off night.” Slade reasoned, recognizing the hypocrisy in his statement. “What's with that look on your face?”
The beginning stages of frostbite made themselves present as his gloves were removed. It was clear that if they were left untreated, the frostbitten areas would only worsen, and because of that, Alex rushed the rest of the examination. It wasn't hard to hear the concern in Slade's question as he practically leaned on him for warmth. It was always difficult getting things past Slade, especially since he had been trained to pick on these sorts of things.
“Your fingers are frostbitten, and by the looks of things, I bet once we get your boots off, your toes will be too.” Alex explained simply, assisting Slade out of his remaining wet clothes and towards the bathroom. “The sooner we get you warmed up, the better.. I don't want you out there again.”
“Just a nip..” Slade responded, trying to ease the obvious concern that had his precious scientist so overwhelmingly tense. “I certainly know something else that could warm me up after we're done here.”
Although the main concern surrounded the frostbite, Alex still held concern for the possibility of Slade becoming hypothermic as well. He had been out in the cold for a long time, and that wasn't taking into account the damage that was sustained from him being soaking wet as well. It was something he thought about as he ran Slade a bath and as he helped him into it.
“I have survived worse than this.. I think we both know that.” Slade acknowledged, taking note of the gentleness in which the scientist used as he treated the frostbitten parts of his body. “I appreciate how much you worry about me, but there's no reason to have that look on your face as you look at me without clothes on.”
“I know this might be hard to believe, but I care about more than just your body, even as great as it is to look at.” Alex explained, the look of concern he carried remaining. “This could have ended up being a lot worse.. you should be grateful it stayed in the first stages; otherwise, I would have ended up having to amputate the limbs.”
“You know you can just say you love me, right?” Slade laughed slightly, unable to hide just how much he was enjoying this subtle admission of love. “You really can't hide it anymore, especially after—”
However, before he could finish what he wanted to say, Slade was cut off by a series of coughs that forced their way out of him. It was clear to see the cold weather combined with the amount of time he spent out there wet had a severe impact on him. It wasn't any surprise that he was getting sick, but that certainly wouldn't stop Alex from trying to contain it as much as he could.
“Dinner should be almost ready.” Alex acknowledged when the coughing died back, taking notice of the shaky smile he received as a response. “I know how much you love that stew I made last week, so I thought it'd be a nice thing for you to come home to.”
“Sounds amazing.” Slade noted, allowing himself to sink down into the water. “I don't think I want to get out.. this bath feels great.”
In order to assure that the frostbite was effectively cared for, Alex made Slade continue to stay in the bath for a while after that. It was something he received very little complaints for, or at least until he began to recheck the affected areas, in which Slade began to rant about how he was being obsessive, which was unappreciated.
“Careful.. Careful..” Alex advised as he assisted the assassin out of the tub, settling him down as he helped him dry off and get dressed. “I grabbed the warmest pajamas I could find.”
“I think I'll be alright once I crawl into bed.” Slade assured, already getting up before being pushed back down. “You can't be serious..”
“You're already getting sick.” Alex reasoned as he hooked the hairdryer, treating the task just as he did any other. “I don't need you making it worse by going to bed with wet hair.”
There wasn't much of an argument after that, which was probably due to the fact that Slade knew he couldn't win and ultimately decided to just accept his fate because it was easier. It was only when Alex was satisfied and deemed that Slade's hair was adequately dried that he assisted him to bed, where Slade wasted no time settling under the covers. It didn't take long for Alex to bring him dinner after that.
“I have to admit this is better than last time.” Slade stated between bites, wasting no time absolutely devouring the food he was given. “You know.. It is Christmas. You should check my suit's interior pocket.”
With that being said, Alex made his way from beside Slade to where his suit lay on the floor. It was still soaking wet, but tucked away safely was a small present, which somehow had remained dry throughout all this.
“I can't believe you actually got me something.” Alex acknowledged, unable to hide his smile as he opened the present, revealing a flashdrive. “What's this?”
“You remember that guy that owns that technology company you're always bitching about?” Slade recalled, unable to hide his own amusement regarding the situation. “He was the target I was sent after, and I decided to toy with him for a while by making him transfer all the company files into that flashdrive before I killed him.”
“I truly am in love with you.” Alex sighed, joining the assassin in bed once again. “Thank you for this.”
“Merry Christmas.” Slade responded, returning to his meal afterwards. “I really need you to make this stuff more often.”