Green Fields (Loss)

[thehonorablebat]

Summary: The second story I ever posted.

Before XCOM's victory over ADVENT, there was twenty years of struggle. Bradford isn't sure how he survived it.

A loose collection of snippets, pre-X2.

--

 

The greatest loss mankind had ever suffered was the Commander. Bradford had somehow come to this conclusion after years of brooding twisted by whatever moonshine he could get his hands on. The Commander had been the best of them. A brilliant mind, wrapped up in enough charisma to make the sun pale in comparison. The type of person who made people comfortable putting their lives in his hands. You could trust him to know what he was doing. He saw them through to victory on every battle they fought in.

And Bradford watched him get curb stomped by a Muton on a grainy security camera.

That was probably his most persistent nightmare. He hadn’t been able to watch, having turned away before the Muton’s foot could connect with the Commander’s skull. His imagination would fill in the blanks, each time it seemed a little more gruesome.

Every morning after, he would think up a thousand and one things he could have done differently. The lives he could have saved if only he had been better than he was.

On those days all he wanted to do was remain where he fell asleep, almost unable to find the strength to face the day. A single question would echo in his head. Why? Why was he still alive?

No clear answer was ever forthcoming. He would lie there, and his mind would wander, and at some point he would remember the morning before the attack on HQ. The Commander had wandered up to the situation room with more lists of things they needed to sell on the Grey Market in hopes of affording another satellite. Somehow the man was still in good spirits, and not looking like he had only a few hours of sleep that week. Compared to Bradford who only remained functional due to a steady stream of caffeine. The Commander had looked at him, taken in all the classic signs of sleep deprivation, and smiled sadly.

“I’m sorry, Central, but I need you to keep going a little while longer.”

Without really thinking, Bradford would get up, grab his things, and get moving. For a little while longer at least.