Chapter Text
Van Chapman was drifting through what felt like a dream. It was dark, and lonely, and silent, and Van was terrified.
“Vanellope, my dear,” a voice not dissimilar to her own said from the dark. She saw her grandmother, a tall woman with greying blonde hair, standing next to her. “Walk with me.” Van kept the pace she set, looking around with fear. Van was so rarely actually scared that the feeling itself was frightening. “I don’t know that it’s your time yet,” Vanellope Antigone Persephone Vanmalkings Chapman said. “I think you’ve got a bit of life left in you, girl.”
Van tilted her head in confusion. “What do you mean?”
The elder Vanellope shook her head. “You will see. I know it hurts. I know you want to take the bullet- figuratively and literally- for your crew. I know that feels like it’s the right thing to do.” She took Van’s hands. “I ought not to see you again for fifty more years, you hear?”
Van nodded, hot tears pricking in her eyes. “Okay.”
Her grandmother pulled her into a hug. “I love you, Van. Do not sacrifice yourself again, so help me god.”
“I love you too,” Van sobbed.
And then, she was back on the deck of the Zephyr. She could hear the sounds of battle around her, fading in and out not-quite-rhythmically. She could feel her heart beating, her breath heaving, her eyes fluttering. She was alive .
“Van? Van, are you alive?” she heard. She knew that voice all too well.
“Comfrey?” she rasped, the word coming out like vomit. It certainly tasted like it.
“Oh, thank god.” Comfrey MacLeod’s voice was still faint to her, but she heard her say louder, “She’s alive, she’s okay.”
“Get her into the cockpit,” a heavily accented voice called. Marya Junková.
“Monty, you and Comfrey switch,” a voice that was unmistakably Daisuke Bucklesby said.
“I’ve got you,” Montgomery LaMontgommery said as he scooped her up and ran for cover into the cockpit. She winced at the light coming in through the windows as she finally managed to open her eyes. “Oh, you’re awake. Good, that’s good. You’re gonna want to be asleep soon, though.” Van was confused, but she was confused about a lot right now. “Don’t try and move. You’re in shock, you can’t feel the pain. That’s what we want right now.”
Van laid still. She wanted her whistle, she wanted her friends, she wanted her bed. She wanted a hand to squeeze. She tried to ball up her fists.
“Van. Do not look down and please hold still.” Monty said. “I’ll tell you what happened when I’ve stopped the bleeding. Until then, well, you don’t really want to know.” Van set her jaw.
“I don’t need to be babied,” Van mumbled. Her voice was still hoarse, but she was so upset she had to talk.
“I know, Van. It’s quite upsetting for me to look at, though, and it’s not happening to me.” He continued to do something as the taste of static and the ringing in her ears finally started to fade. She couldn’t really feel any pain, but she knew at least her head and-
Oh god. Her arm. She desperately tried to pick up her head to look at it, trying to resist Monty’s strong, gentle press down on her collarbone.
“Vanellope. Lay still or I’m going to have to find a sedative.” Van didn’t want to go down again. She swallowed her pride and laid back down. She tried to focus on the sounds of battle outside. The shots were dying down, and she could hear Marya yelling something in a language she didn’t know. God, she wished Marya would teach her whatever that was. Another round of shots from Comfrey, another shout, another shot from Daisuke. The battle was finished in what felt like a moment, but was probably upwards of five minutes. As soon as the other ship had retreated into the night? clouds? whatever had been providing cover, the three others burst into the cockpit. Marya rushed to her side and moved to grab her right hand.
“Do not make her aware of her hands right now.” Monty was speaking through gritted teeth as he did… something. Van had vaguely seen something that looked warm and maybe a sewing needle. She didn’t really know, though. She didn’t know too much about medicine beyond knowing that you shouldn’t see bones on the outside.
She saw Comfrey and Daisuke having a conversation behind Monty, occasionally glancing down at her. Daisuke was getting more and more agitated, eventually saying “Goddamnit, Comfrey! You’re so goddamn prideful.” He knelt by Monty, getting right to work on assisting him.
Van let her eyes flutter closed as Marya gently took her hair from its braid in order to put it in two braids- it was easier for her to sleep in, and she had a feeling she would be doing a lot of sleeping. Marya had looked nauseous when she saw her wound, which didn’t bode well for her. Hopefully, they could get it to look less… gory, Van supposed, by the time she was allowed to move again. She looked up at Marya, trying to smile, and based on Marya’s poor attempt at holding back a snort, she assumed she didn’t have great muscle control yet.
“Hi, Mar,” she said. Her voice was slowly becoming clearer.
“Hello, Van,” Marya smiled at her fondly. “You’re gonna be alright.” Comfrey walked over to Marya and tapped her on the shoulder. “I’ll be back,” she said softly, thumbing over one of Van’s eyebrows as she stood up to talk to Comfrey.
Surprisingly, this one didn’t turn into a screaming match- ever since Hutch’s child was born, Comfrey had been getting along worse and worse with the Windriders- and Marya instead left to retrieve a toolbox and an armful of scrap copper.
“We’re almost done. Can you feel anything?” Daisuke asked.
“Nope,” she said, popping the ‘p’ because her lips were what she had the most control over.
“Good, okay. Hold still for just a bit longer.” Monty’s voice was fraught with worry. Marya was measuring her other arm, jotting down measurements and Van felt weird . She felt like a specimen being studied, rather than the ship’s beloved boatswain. Comfrey was pacing, and she could hear the crew shouting outside. Van noticed Marya with her whistle between her teeth, trying to find a good time to get up and shout at the crew. She tried to smile again, but Marya just laughed and stood up.
She blew the whistle as loud as she could- still far quieter than Van- and shouted. “Captain’s orders! Clean up from the battle and get to fucking work! Dinner needs to be ready in-” she checked her watch- “two hours!” She shut the door, watching Haunch Saxon hover by the door to the cockpit for just a moment too long.
“Thank you, Marya.” Comfrey’s voice was short. She was injured, too, but nothing that required immediate attention. Nothing like what had happened to Van.
Feeling was slowly starting to return to Van’s body, thankfully starting with the pain in her head. She had hit her head on the deck when she went down, and her thin hair did little to help her against the hard floor. She must have groaned and winced, because Marya startled and moved to put a small pillow from her toolkit under Van’s head. She went back to her measurements, and Van could feel the light pressure of tape measure around her arm. That’s also when she realized that her shirt had disappeared between the time she went down and now. She felt awkward in only her corset, corset cover, combinations, and trousers, but she also struggled to move her head too much to really care.
“There we go. Okay. Van?” Monty asked.
“Mhm?”
“I’m going to give you a lot of laudanum and then I’m going to fix up an IV for you once you’re in your bed. You do not want to feel anything for the next few days.”
Monty scooped her up again, Marya trailing behind him.
“The captain’s quarters has more space for medical equipment,” Marya said. “She would likely do better in there.”
“Where are you going to sleep?” Monty teased.
“I have a Bellenuit king. Plenty of room.” Marya’s cheeks were tinged pink.
Monty rolled his eyes. Van vaguely remembered that they were meant to be keeping their… whatever it was private, but she didn’t really mind right now. She wanted to be in Marya’s bedroom. It was one of her favorite places to be. Marya let Monty into her room, and Van was set down gently on the left side of the bed.
“It’s not ideal, but you’re going to have to keep your right arm still. There is… not enough of your left arm left to put an IV in it.” Van looked up at Monty, startled. “Did you not know?” Van’s jaw dropped as he moved a mirror from the desk for her to see. The wound had been stitched up, and maybe cauterized, and was wrapped in bandages, but much of her arm was gone. “I thought you knew,” Monty said quietly. “You must have been far more out of it than I realized.” He pulled a bottle of laudanum from his pack. “Wait, Van, can you feel and move everything? Wiggle a bit for me.” Van wiggled, and Marya laughed. He placed two fingers to her throat in a way that Marya did constantly. He nodded and grabbed her hand. “Do you feel the pain?”
“Yes.” Van said harshly.
“Okay, I wanted to make sure you weren’t in shock anymore. Take this laudanum, I’ll be right back.” Marya took the vial from him and shooed him.
“Hey, Van.” Marya murmured, sitting next to her. “I’m so sorry.” Van hummed as though to say ‘it’s okay’ as Marya leaned down. “May I kiss you?”
Van swallowed and nodded as best she could. Marya kissed her softly, no force or heat behind it, only gentle care. She lifted the vial of laudanum to Van’s lips and Van swallowed it compliantly. She could take the pain relief, even if it hadn’t been Marya giving it to her. Marya squeezed her hand and laid next to her as they waited for Monty to return. Her cool fingers rested against Van’s collarbone.
“I’m back,” Monty announced, lugging a large bag of medical equipment and a rolling IV rack. They didn’t move as he set it up- keeping Van comfortable was far more important right now than Monty not knowing. He was not going to tell anyone, so it didn’t matter. He had no room to talk, anyway, what with his intense crush on Pappy. He mixed the saline water with whatever else he thought she needed before injecting it into the large bag of whatever was in the IV bag. She watched as he pulled out a tourniquet and wrapped it tightly around her arm, felt for a vein, and told her to squeeze Marya’s hand. She did so, humming softly.
“Okay, Van. Gonna put the needle in. Stay still and squeeze Marya’s hand.”
She did so, bracing her whole body. The needle went in, and Van chewed on the inside of her cheek as Monty carefully removed the tourniquet from her arm before replacing it over where the tube led to. “You have to be really damn careful,” Monty said. “Both of you. It’s gonna hurt really badly if that’s ripped out.” They both nodded. “I’ll bring you down some dinner when it’s ready. You both need to eat.”
“Thank you,” Van said softly. “Thank you, darlin’.” She rested her head against Marya’s shoulder. Once the door was closed, Marya turned to Van and threw her arms around her, trying her best not to sob.
“You cannot do that to me! You have to be more careful,” she said, mouth against her corset cover. “I cannot lose you.” Her voice was quieter now. “I do not know what I would do.”
Tears prickled in Van’s eyes again. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.
Marya just squeezed her tighter. She heard the doorknob start to turn and she jumped off of Van. Monty’s loud, booming laugh was toned down so as to not alert anyone else.
“I’ve got your dinners. Van’s plate is the one with everything cut up.” He placed two plates on a tray table he had brought with him and helped Van sit up. “Marya, we’ll need to arrange a shift schedule. At least until you’re done.” Marya nodded. Van was confused, but she didn’t say anything.
“I will watch her today. If you want to take over tomorrow, that works for me. I will… clean a surface for you to sit on,” Marya laughed, gesturing at the mess around the room.
Monty nodded. “Thank you, captain. Comfrey’s got the crew in check and is going to dock us so you can get the rest of what you need tomorrow.” Monty pressed a kiss to both of their foreheads. “I will see you both in the morning.”
Van just blinked at all of that. She wasn’t sure she had all of that correct in her brain, but it didn’t matter all too much. She wasn’t making any big decisions for a long while. She ate her food, continuously having to readjust her balance sitting up- she couldn’t exactly put her elbow on the tray, anymore- and then turned to face Marya.
“What were you talking about with Monty?” she asked.
“Well, it’s not as though you can be left alone right now- you’re on a very strong dose of laudanum, and until your ‘hypovolemia’ is fixed, you are going to need that IV in. That’s why Monty and I wanted to take shifts. When you can be out and about on the ship, Comfrey and Daisuke can turns as well. They don’t get to be in here, though.” Van nodded. “I, um… Comfrey asked me to ‘make you a replacement’ arm.” Van raised an eyebrow. “I can make one far better than she can. Trust me.”
“I do.” Van’s voice was hardly above a whisper. “Trust you, that is.” Marya smiled. Van’s hand went to pull Marya in for a kiss, and Marya moved her own hands to make sure Van didn’t fall. Van went straight to the latches on Marya’s corset.
“Whoa, there. Are you sure?” Marya asked. “I’m not… you have had far too much laudanum. I can’t.” Van pouted. “You’re so cute. I will strip to my combinations, but we are not doing anything more than cuddling until you are no longer hooked up to the IV or on laudanum.” Van was not happy about that, but she couldn’t exactly argue back. Marya helped Van with her corset and silk shirt, taking off her own belt and holster as well as her trousers. Van started to struggle with her belts, but Marya stopped her. “Let me finish and then I’ll help you. I don’t think you can take these belts off with one hand, dear.” Marya tossed her own trousers to the floor before carefully unbuttoning Van’s corset cover, undoing her four ( four?! ) belts, tugging off her trousers, and undoing the snaps on her corset. Van hummed contentedly as her corset ended up on the floor. She curled up against Marya again. “Van, my love?”
“Hmm?”
“Can I get up and grab a book to read?” Van grumbled. “I will read it to you,” Marya offered.
“Fine,” Van relented and let go of her. She shook with cold- she’d never had great temperature regulation- but soon enough, Marya was back and holding her and everything was fine again. Marya opened the book and began to read aloud.
“Chapter one. In Styria, we, though by no means magnificent people, inhabit a castle, or schloss.” Marya continued to read, Van’s consciousness slowly fading. By the time Marya started chapter 2, Van was out like a light. Marya pressed a soft kiss to her forehead and shut the book. She could continue that in the morning.