Dunkirk AU Prompts/Blurbs/Concepts (Alex)
Feel free to use for your own writing (and reblog or comment with a link to your story so I can read it!) ;)
(Sorry in advance for any grammar mistake, English isn’t my first language)
Alex has realized way too soon that survival isn’t always fair. He’s decided that, if he wants to make it back home alive, he’ll have to care for himself only and leave everyone else behind if necessary. But then there’s that girl, the one whose eyes connected with his when offering some bread and jam. The only one who seemed to notice the fear behind his frown, and offered a soft smile that, for a second, warmed up his heart. When the ship is attacked and starts sinking, and she’s trapped under water next to him, can he really leave without her? Maybe his survival instinct isn’t more powerful than his heartstrings after all.
Tired of Alex’s selfish attitude, Tommy confronts him. Everyone wants to go back home, not just him, but that doesn’t mean being willing to do anything to survive. Alex isn’t proud, but he’ll do absolutely whatever it takes, and so he tells Tommy. Cause Tommy just doesn’t understand. He hasn’t left a pregnant wife behind when he was sent to war like Alex has. And he certainly hasn’t gotten a letter from the love of his life a few days ago telling him his baby boy has been born healthy, and is excited for his dad to come home so he can meet him. Tommy can call him selfish if he wants, but Alex is determined to survive at all costs. He’s just not leaving this world before getting a chance to hold his little son in his arms.
Alex has made it home, but not without quite a few injuries. It may not be life threatening, but he’ll still have to spend a couple of weeks in a hospital bed while he recovers. Now, the restless Alex could be annoyed by that idea. And he would, if it wasn’t for the lovely young nurse who’s patiently taking care of him. She doesn’t just clean his wounds and help him feed. She fixes his pillow and reads the news to him when he’s wondering what’s going on out of that hospital room. She giggles and successfully makes him feel better when he starts shifting around and complaining about being bored and the sheets being too itchy. And she sleeps in a chair near him, ready to hand him a glass of water or even hold his hand for a little while if he wakes up from a bad dream. Without even noticing, she has made her way into his heart, to the point the young soldier is now hoping his recovery will take as long as possible.
Alex is back home to his wife, but he can’t leave behind the horrors of the war completely. During the day, he’s old, brave, protective Alex. But in the night, memories of the past events haunt him. When nightmares of drowning plague his dreams and he wakes up screaming, the shadow of fear behind his green eyes and desperation pouring through his forehead in cold sweat, only the arms of his lover can calm him down. It’s going to take time for him to fix his heart and his mind after what he’s been through, they both know it. But they also know that, with tender kisses and reassuring smiles, he’ll soon feel better.
Mr Dawson didn’t expect George to join him and Peter in such a dangerous mission. But things get even worse when his daughter decides to join them too. He wants to say no, but she refuses to stay behind, and Mr Dawson can understand why. Her boyfriend Alex is one of the young soldiers trapped in Dunkirk, and she can’t bear the thought of staying home waiting for a miracle. She knows the chances of finding him and bringing him home with her are minimal, but whatever help she can offer him and the others with him, she’ll do it. It turns out, miracles do happen. She can’t even tell it’s him when she sees him swimming in the distance among other men, exhausted and covered in oil. But then he sees her, and his voice sounds like home when he pronounces her name. She wonders if she’s just hearing things in her mind, but when she takes the hand that he extends to her and looks into his eyes, all the emptiness she’s felt in his absence vanishes, and she knows she’s found her Alex.
Alex returns home to his wife and the lovely news that she’s pregnant with their first child. His happiness is indescribable, but so is his shame. He feels he’s failed as a soldier. He hasn’t become the hero he expected to become. His wife notices his discomfort, and assures him she couldn’t be more proud of him. “How can you be proud of me?” he asks sadly. “All I did was survive.” She smiles at him, and takes his hands to her prominent belly. “Will you be proud of our little one when he’s born?” she asks. He frowns, confused at the question but more than sure about the answer. “Of course I will. I’ll be the proudest father when our baby is finally here.” “Well,” her smile grows “all he’ll have done by that moment is surviving, my love. Sometimes that’s all that takes to make someone proud, and I’m the proudest wife for how much you fought to come back to me and not abandon me.” And with those words, his frown is gone, and so is much of his shame.