Chapter Text
Mercedes with sirens blasting tore its way down an off-road, Andre's fingers clenched around the steering wheel, moments ago every nearby unit received a distress call from cobra 11, Tom and Semir. In the past during his time as Semir's partner, they hardly ever resorted to using the call and Andre knew that Semir wouldn't use it unless there really was no other way and that made him even more concerned about the two of them.
The GPS lead him into a remote area, a fair distance from the highway, as Andre followed the signal he could see the track marks from Semir's BMW and the suspect they were pursuing, the area was getting progressively muddier, Andre felt his own car practically sliding down the road like a sled and he could only imagine how difficult it must have been to chase somebody down such a terrain. Soon he could see the silver BMW standing in the distance, blue light still flashing on top of the roof, front doors wide open but nobody there.
Andre stopped close behind the BMW and got out, the road was forested on one side and with a large field on the other. As Andre approached the abandoned car, he saw a crashed Volkswagen up ahead with driver's door wide open, so it's likely this is where they continued the chase on foot, but where was everyone? Andre looked around, the concern for Semir only growing stronger, he jogged down the muddy road, following the sunken footsteps. He continued ahead until some five minutes in; he heard voices, and he froze. Andre remained standing until he heard the voices again and he bolted in the direction they were coming from. Moments later he was standing in front of a plain area with tall grass and upon seeing a figure in the distance, he unholstered his gun and proceeded towards them.
As he got closer it became more clear that the individual was lying on the ground and Andre recognized the person to be Tom, but he didn't see Semir. Ignoring the clenching feeling in his chest, Andre continued forward, the ground becoming softer and softer and soon he had to watch every step he was taking instead of watching the scene before him, otherwise he'd sink in.
"Wait! Stop!"
Andre's head snapped up from his feet to the sound of Tom's warning tone and he stopped. Now that he was close enough, he could see what the problem was, Tom wasn't just laying on the ground, he was very clearly stuck. His legs were sunk in the deep mud nearly all the way to his thighs and he seemed to be half standing and half fallen over. Andre observed the scene before him with a mixture of confusion and wariness.
Tom wiggled pathetically in his spot and cursed under his breath as he sank deeper. Not seeing any obvious danger, Andre holstered his gun and made another cautious step forward.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you, this stuff is thick as a cement," Tom warned again and nodded at his stuck legs pointedly, "even Semir sank like a rock." At the notion of his lover, Andre looked around quick, but saw no signs of him.
"Semir's stuck too?" He asked.
To his surprise, Tom looked down, "Can you move at all?" He asked.
"Are you trying to be funny?" Was an unexpected response from somewhere beneath Tom's black coat and Andre made several cautious steps closer until he could finally see that Semir, was in fact laying underneath Tom stuck almost entirely in mud, saved only by Tom's hand firmly gripping his jacket keeping him from sinking completely.
"If you are done staring, could you help us? My arm is starting to get sore," Andre wasn't even aware his mouth was open in disbelief at the sight before him.
"It wouldn't be sore if you worked out more," Semir grumbled back at his partner.
"It also wouldn't be sore if I just dropped you, at least you'd finally keep your mouth shut," Tom shot back.
"You can try, I still have a free hand, I can still drag you down with me, it's your fault anyway that we're in this situation!" Semir accused.
"If I had a reliable partner who'd help me before we got into this situation, we wouldn't be in it right now!" Tom gestured with his free hand and nearly fell over, Andre saw Semir's hand move to stabilise his partner even in his pathetic state.
"What? I'm supposed to predict the future now? How was I supposed to know that there would be so much mud!"
"It's clear from a distance!" Tom argued.
"Well, if it's clear from a distance, then why didn't YOU see it then?!"
"I was busy chasing down the guy!"
"And what do you think I was doing?!"
As the two of them argued on, Andre looked around, "And where's the guy now?" He asked and the two men stopped arguing, Semir's muddy hand popped up and pointed vaguely somewhere behind him.
"I think he's somewhere in that area." He said and Tom nodded.
"Yeah, I think I saw his leg move a while ago, so I think he's still there."
Andre carefully moved to the side and sure enough, saw a figure further ahead just as stuck as the officers. He moved back towards the two, still keeping a fair distance as the ground was definitely way too soft for walking and since he was heavier than Tom, he knew he'd sink within a second.
"What the hell am I going to do with you two," Andre said with barely contained laughter.
"Maybe get us out of here, for a start." Tom said in annoyment.
Andre knelt down.
"How did you even manage to get stuck like that?" He wondered.
Tom rolled his eyes, "Does it matter? Are you going to help us or not?"
"I'm starting to get really cold." Semir complained.
Andre turned around and headed back.
"Where are you going?!" Tom called out.
"He LEFT?!" Semir tried to lift himself to see, but failed.
But soon Andre made his way towards them again, but this time dragging something along.
"He's coming back with something." Tom told Semir.
"What is it?"
"I don't know, looks heavy though."
Andre pushed a hefty branch towards them with a grunt and then turned again and went back once more.
"The guy's strong, damn." Tom whistled and adjusted his grip on Semir who grinned in return, "Of course he is."
Soon enough there were two thick branches making a small bridge. Andre walked over it to the two of them. First he reached down to Semir, who was clearly in the worse position and with Tom's help they both pulled the shorter man free, Semir shivered violently in Andre's arms, but turned around and reached for Tom to help him out of his muddy prison as well. Once they were both freed, Andre led them to a more solid ground and threw his coat over Semir's shoulders, earning himself a chattering 'thank you' while Tom made a pathetic attempt to wipe off some mud off his own coat.
They all looked at the trapped man in the distance, who stared back at them pitifully.
"We'll have to get him out too." Semir said and Andre wrapped an arm around his shoulders, pulling him close for some warmth.
"Reinforcements will be here in no time, they'll pull him out, let's head back to the car before you catch pneumonia." Andre nodded at Tom to come along and the three of them walked back to their cars while the suspect whined pathetically in the distance. They came upon several officers on their way back and pointed them towards the trapped man, the confused expressions they got in return were left unexplained as both Semir and Tom were way too cold to stand around any longer than necessary.
Andre gave Tom his car keys and got in the driver's seat of the BMW since it was clear that Semir was in no way fit to drive, still shivering violently in the passenger seat. Andre turned the heating on and briefly squeezed the back of Semir's neck, feeling the awful coldness upon contact.
"I'll take you home, you can't go back to the station like this" He said.
Semir chuckled.
"Couple years back you had no problem with the two of us showing up at the station in nothing but a blanket and underwear. We have showers at work, you know."
"Yeah, but we have it closer home than to work and besides, I can hop in the shower with you."
"And here I thought you cared about my health," Semir sighed dramatically.
Andre turned to him with smirk, "I always do." And leaned in to kiss him.