Summary - Nikolai Lantsov has all the more to lose when he returns to Ravka having fallen in love with a certain Healer while on the True Sea
Part I - Nikolai Meets His Healer
You had met Dominik and Nikolai when they both took a bullet in battle in the earliest years of them both serving for the First Army. Dominik felt it was right and it was an opportunity to be with Nikolai since Vasily cut off their abilities to see each other. Nikolai felt at the time that was the best way he could serve his country. Both had been shot and it was Nikolai screaming for a healer that got your attention. What got Nikolai’s attention was that you ran a few hundred yards through a dangerous zone to use your powers as a Grisha. It was no mystery that the First Army and Second Army did not get along well. To your credit, you saved them both. “Might I get your name?” Nikolai asked, sitting up and looking right at you.
“May I ask why, Moi tsarevich ?” You asked in response, wiping your hands of the small amounts of blood on your hands.
“So I may know the name of the ever-beautiful person who saved me and my friend’s life,” Nikolai responded, seriously before the slightest smile graced his lips. You had heard many things about the second-born royal, and you weren’t sure what to make of him. Handsome–yes, loved by the people, sure had some level of authority about him, but a different kind. A kind that you might just follow if he sat on the throne.
“Y/N.”
He repeated the name, quietly to himself before standing. Only days later, much to your fellow Grisha’s surprise and your’s did you find yourself being taken wherever Nikolai Lantsov went. Not that he didn’t give you the choice, he seemed to be a gentleman in that regard. “There has always been tension between those who are Grisha and those who are not. You of course would understand that. I would like you to travel with me and my regiment. Act as a healer for us. If you wish.”
“I suppose we can’t have Ravka’s wonder-boy dying, can we?” That was your response and it only left Nikolai chuckling, something bordering along the edges of a smirk danced over his face, eyes sparkling.
Nikolai grew to trust you, and found comfort in your presence. You had healed him countless times and each time he became a little bit more bold with the flirtations, though you were not entirely sure if that was any reflection of any feelings towards him.
In Nikolai’s eyes, you became his confidante and more than a healer for him and his colleagues. He sought you out for advice on occasion, mostly because you had proven you weren’t going to simply nod along because he was a prince. Dominik enjoyed your presence as well, and grew an attachment to you as well, happy to see you were not afraid to knock his dear friend down a peg or ten.
Nikolai remembered the day of his eighteenth birthday his thigh got a deep slice to it and he came into the tent, making his stupid jokes, claiming his mother was like an oyster and he was the pearl. You were not having it, and you simply told him “Shut up and get it on the table so that I may take care of your injury.” That was the moment he realized how much you actually meant to him. You acted as a healer for him until he was nineteen. He told you in secret that he was leaving for the seas, realizing he would be much better serving his people as a Privateer than a soldier confined to land. He ensured to stress Privateer, not pirate. He then asked you to go with him. “You said it yourself, ‘I suppose we can’t have Ravka’s wonder-boy dying.’”
You gave him a I’m not interested look.
“Think of the money, the adventure!” After a few more minutes of making those stupid charming, borderline puppy-dog eyes he managed to convince you.
It was on the True Sea that you learned of his feelings for you. The feelings you very much reciprocated. At first it was gentle, quick physical touch or gentle hugs, and it slowly built. Though neither of you confessed feelings until the day you had been injured fighting a group of slavers a few months into your journey.
You had been laying there not finding the energy to tell him to just be quiet until it felt like Nikolai cursed himself around the world.
“Nikolai, I’m truly alright. It was a simple graze!” You said to him, ever so slightly lifting your head.
“Well what if it wasn’t?!” He snapped, in your direction before cursing himself out again. He was angry with himself more than anything. “What if it–” His voice broke and you didn’t know what to do. Maybe it was because you were exhausted, probably the exhaustion, but you pulled him towards you kissing him. After a few moments pause, feelings were finally confessed.
From that moment on Nikolai didn’t seem to care who was around. If he so desired to wrap you in his arms that’s what he would do. You spent two years out on the water until the famed Alina Starkov and Mal Oretsev got charter on the Volkvolny and you were headed home yet everything was different. Before you were a healer for the prince, now you were his partner and that was certainly going to change some things.
Most people couldn’t do what you did, nor would you wish the burden of it on anybody else. You had a power that required you to be selfish. It made you play god when you were anything but. You would be happy with any other power. Nia’s dream energy, Kara’s Kryptonian powers, or even J’onn’s Martian powers. No, instead you were stuck with what you had, and you hated every bit of it.
You had the ability to detect and heal any wound you wanted. It didn’t matter the severity or the kind of injury, you could heal it all. The only catch was that in order to heal it, you had to take it into yourself. You had to carry the weight of it and force the injury on yourself. In a perfect world, you would be able to heal yourself too, but the world wasn’t perfect, was it? At best, you had a high pain tolerance and that’s it. That was the best your body could do. You had no active powers, no super strength, or super speed. You couldn’t read minds or phase through walls. This was all you could do. The only saving grace about your powers was that the moment you healed someone, it granted them immunity for a short while. In that moment, they’re invincible, unstoppable. Any human who was healed by you would become like Kara, unable to be stopped by any normal means. Stabs, gunshots, and even bombs would be null, but like you said, only for a short while. It would only last an hour before they went back to normal.
It wasn’t long before the DEO found and recruited you. They took you in, gave you a family, made you a part of something bigger just when it was starting to feel like you were cursed. You hated what you could do. You helped people when you could, and then word of your powers spread by gossip and rumors. Soon, everyone wanted you to heal someone, even if the injury was too great. They called you a miracle worker in one breath, and then condemned you to be a monster in the next. That was the nature of your powers, choosing who lived and who died. The truth was that some people couldn’t be healed, and when they heard that, they call you selfish, a coward. Was it your right to decide who got to live and who died? No. That decision was something you never wanted to be responsible for, but you didn’t want to die. Not for complete strangers who only wanted you for your powers. You didn’t think it would get better. You thought that it would always be like this, to be doomed to be used by others for their own wants. That was until the DEO. At first working for a secret government agency was a huge red flag to you, especially after signing the huge stack of NDAs, but it wasn’t all bad. You met Kara, Alex, and the rest of the superfriends. They knew what it was like to be burdened by powers they never asked for.
Everyone’s story was equally powerful, but one that really stuck with you was Nia’s. She was half Naltorian, born biologically male but she knew that she was female. Her family was always accepting of her journey. They were supportive of her being herself and gave her the unconditional love some never received. They only wanted the best, and that was something that you admired about her mother and father, how they were there for her. The powers she had were passed down to one female in every generation. The birthright, Nia assumed, would go to Maeve, her eldest sister and someone who studied dream interpretation her whole life. When the powers first started to manifest in her, Nia struggled. She didn’t know how to use them, let alone think about becoming a superhero. At first, Nia never wanted the powers. She admitted that to you outright. When she went home for a festival in her home town, she sought a way to transfer the powers to her older sister. They belonged to her, and Nia knew that if Maeve found out that she had them, Nia knew it wouldn’t go well. Well, Maeve ended up finding out, and she grew angry at Nia, stating that it should have been her and that Nia made her look like a fool for thinking that something was wrong with her because she never got them. Maeve told her that she “wasn’t a real woman” which hurt Nia to her core. After that, they grew estranged, but Nia powered through it, rose above it, and now she helped people as best as she could.
After hearing her story, you wanted to be better. You wanted to be the best version of yourself because who you were before, wasn’t someone you wanted to be forever. Alex helped you, training you in hand to hand combat and teaching you how to handle a gun. They all helped you really, and before you knew it, you were a new person, flourishing and living. You were happy to be alive, grateful even. They were your family, this small ragtag group of people and you knew that you would protect them with your life.
It was why you hated the wave of anti alien sentiment sweeping across National City. You hated that so many innocent people, including Brainy at one point, were targeted for what and who they were. You went against many things: Myriad, the Daxamite invasion, the Worldkillers; how were you supposed to fight a growing number of people who wanted aliens rounded up and caged like animals? How were you supposed to fight against hate? And then it was Kara who told you. It wasn’t a matter of fighting, but a matter of proving to people that aliens weren’t a threat, that they all wanted peaceful lives. It was a noble cause, but that kind of ideology didn’t sit with you the moment the Agents of Liberty revealed themselves. Extremists is what they were. A radical group that grew in numbers by the day, and you hated them. They targeted innocents. It didn’t matter to them if they were hostile or not. Some aliens were seized and never seen again. That was their agenda. It was why you and the Superfriends started to patrol. The hate only intensified after it was revealed that President Marsdin was an alien. You wanted to keep people safe. Everyone, including humans and aliens.
It was night. The stars and moon bathed the sky with its white soothing glow, and any other time you would enjoy it. There was something about it that calmed you, something about National City that seemed peaceful, but you were outside patrolling a nearby neighborhood. You didn’t have the time to enjoy the outdoors. You had to remain vigilante. Your eyes scanned for anything suspicious, and you kept your ears open for any sounds. You were just rounding the corner into another neighborhood when you heard sounds of a scuffle. Grunts and cries of pain filled the silent night, and you were running towards the noises before you could radio for backup. Two of them, Agents of Liberty, were beating a man on the sidewalk. You could see the antennae sticking from his forehead and the way his eyes emitted night shine. They were beating him with crowbars and bats.
“Go back to where you came from, roach!” one of them snarled.
Blood was already pooling on the cement, stark black against the solid surface as it reflected the moonlight. You could hear the hate in his voice, and you could hear the way their weapons hit the man’s body. Anymore and they would kill him. Righteous anger grew inside of you, and before you could plan anything, you jumped on one of the attackers, flipping him on his back before knocking him unconscious. You pulled your gun on the other one, daring him to get pass you to continue his assault. You were never a killer. Never. But what you had seen in the past several weeks made you want to reconsider. The senseless hate towards a peaceful group of people had you convinced that maybe Reign was on to something when she wanted to exact justice. She just went about it the wrong way.
“Roach sympathizer,” the remaining man spat at you and you cocked the gun.
“If you don’t back off, I swear I’ll do it,” you warned.
He snarled before backing up slowly. You watched him leave, making sure that he disappeared from sight before turning your attention back to the man. You kneeled by his side, using your lap as a headrest for him. He cried out as you gently moved him, and you grimaced.
“Sorry,” you whispered.
Despite being almost beaten to death, he laughed, spitting out the bit of blood in his mouth.
“It’s okay,” he said breathlessly. “I’m just glad that you’re here.”
You smiled and nodded. “What’s your name?”
“David.”
“Hi David. What are you doing out here?” you asked, genuine curiosity lacing through your voice.
“I just wanted to get my daughter a snack. She was hungry and wanted that one orange cracker that’s shaped like a fish?”
You chuckled. “Goldfish?”
He smiled and laughed, wincing when the movement upset his ribs. “The snack that smiles back.”
You laughed. This man had a daughter who you could assume was young, and he left to get her crackers. The Agents did this to him, over food, and you had to choke back the fury that threatened to overtake you.
“Am I going to die?” he asked, his eyes staring at the stars, and you watched as the light reflected from them.
“Not if I can help it.”
David watched as your eyes turned an electric blue color and he gasped as you looked him over.
“Are you an alien too?”
You shook your head. “Not quite. Stay still for me.”
The parts of him that were injured flashed red at you, and you could see it all beneath the layers of skin and muscle. It was like having your own kind of x ray vision. You saw a sprained wrist on his left arm. A few fractured ribs in his chest, a slightly pulled muscle in his thigh, and some superficial cuts and abrasions. Luckily this man was nowhere near death even though it must have felt like it.
“Okay, stay still for me. I’m going to make it better.”
You raised a hand over his body, and you both watched as your hand glowed the purest white. It was as bright as the stars above you, and he gasped in shock. The energy blasted from your hand with the force of a mini rocket, and you slowly eased your hand down the length of his body, coating his injuries in your power. You could feel everything transfer to you. Every crack and tear, every popped blood vessel…all the pain. It slowly seeped into you, filling you up.
When you were done, you had to stop yourself from crying out in pain. You felt it more in your ribs. With every inhale the bones protested, and it was like breathing with a boulder on your chest. David sighed in relief before sitting up slowly.
“The pain is gone,” he said in wonder.
You smiled, easing yourself up and wincing. He looked at you in concern.
“Are you okay?”
You ignored the question. “Go home David, to your daughter. There’s not a single food out here worth not being able to see her again.”
He nodded. “I never got your name.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
He nodded again. “No matter. I was saved by an angel.”
He smiled, his antenna twitching on his forehead before he turned around and jogged home. You watched him leave, making sure he at least got a safe distance away before you grimaced. Everything else was a cake walk but the ribs…they would take a minute to get use to. You were about to call in the attack when Alex’s voice beat you to the comms.
“I have an emergency in the business district. Supergirl is down!”
Summary - Nikolai Lantsov has all the more to lose when he returns to Ravka having fallen in love with a certain Healer while on the True Sea
Part I II Part II
Things did change a lot, as you suspected. For one the openness you could have about your relationship with Nikolai dropped a lot. Someone might just commit regicide on a mass level if they learned their prince was dating a Grisha. On second thought that’s perhaps what Ravka needed. A Grisha beside their prince. An effort to represent a reunited front. It was one evening while you were laying in bed with Nikolai when you suggested an engagement to Alina Starkov.
“Hear me out Nikolai. What better way to ally our forces than through a marriage? With the Sun Summoner married to you, that may rally the forces necessary. The people respect you Nikolai. And such a marriage might be the necessary push to unify the First Army and the Second Army against Kirigan.”
You tried to ignore the look on his face when you suggested such a thing, though part of him knew you were right. “She will never be a love match for me, you understand that, don’t you, moi magpie?”
“Simply a political alliance,” you said into his neck. While you knew the suggestion came from your mouth it still hurt to see how easy it seemed for him to go through with it and suggest it to Alina. Alina was no fool and she saw what you and Nikolai shared, and it was only under your persuasion that she agreed.
And so it was, two days later at dinner. You sat next to Mal, watching Nikolai sitting between his brother and Alina, as Nikolai said something to make Alina laugh. You and Mal shared quick glances before you saw Nikolai mouthing, moi magpie in your direction. Yes he agreed to your suggestion, but that didn’t mean he had any attraction to Alina Starkov. You saw Vasily say something to his mother and then look over to Nikolai say something, then glancing at Alina. It was the look in Nikolai’s eyes that suggested Vasily had said something to really get to him.
You chugged down the alcohol in your glass as he announced his engagement to Alina, trying to look the part of any other Grisha sitting and eating amongst others. A feat that proved difficult. Nikolai wasted no time in finding you that evening, ensuring you knew how he felt about you. Everything changed even more at the engagement party for Nikolai and Alina where Vasily was killed by one of Kirigan’s Nichevo’ya. More than anything it meant Nikolai was in line for the throne, and quite frankly you weren’t upset though you felt sorry for your boyfriend on some level.
You were busy healing people when it appeared Kirigan’s Show Monster’s seemed to be reappearing. Nikolai immediately looked at you and Alina pulling out his pistol. “Gather all the wounded and get out of here. Go to the fort called Zvedya,” he then turned to look directly at you. “The one south of Kribirsk. Find–”
You watched Baghra walk into the space below ground with a woman behind her. You recognized her from your time training, Genya. Baghra glanced over at Nikolai upon his comment that she was the Grisha tea. She looked like she wanted to scoff, “Ah, the prince. The Puppy Prince. But I do not care truthfully. What I care about is if you fix it. Right the wrongs.” You watched Genya standing there, timidly as Alina embraced her. “Oh Saints, Genya. Look what he did to you.”
You took note of the scars across her face. You cringed. You knew what Kirigan was like, and you were glad Nikolai had pulled you along with him.
You watched Nikolai approach Genya, looking almost angry. “Genya Safin? You’re the Grisha who poisoned the king! When I am crowned king you will stand trial for treason against your country.”
“No she won’t. She did what she had to do, to survive ,” Alina pressed, growing more defensive of Genya every moment.
You slowly nodded from behind Nikolai. “She won’t, Nikolai.” You watched him turn to face you as you shook your head. There was a beat of silence before Nikolai nodded at your silent conversation with him. Something the two of you had grown to be good at during your time at sea.
“Did the king force you?”
“I never asked for his attention,” Genya responded not daring to look anyone in the eye.
Nikolai looked back to you silently asking if you think she can be trusted and you only nod, continuously noting her scarred face. He nods in return before turning to look at Genya. “As the future king, you have my word that you are safe here.” He felt you reach for his hand and he took it, holding onto, finding support in it. Nobody made a point of asking, nobody cared after what had just transpired. “If you can tell me where he is based I shall throw everything I have at him.” He then turned to face you, looking somewhat exhausted. He kissed your hand gently before walking away.
About an hour later Nikolai found himself among the pews of the former monastery, staring somewhere into space, contemplating anything and everything, on the verge of tears, when he heard someone’s feet. He looked up to see you slowly approaching him and tried to subtly wipe away a tear that spilled over.
He slid over to give you space, turning to face you in the pew. He let out a long sigh as you reached for his hand. He turned to face the candles once again, feeling some comfort, even if small from your touch. “I know that look, Nikolai. What’s on your mind?”
He looked at you again, a pained expression on his face. Other than the fact that Kirigan found where we are located? Other than the fact that I am to become King? Other than finally facing He knew you were only asking out of courtesy. You knew how he was doing.
“Everything,” he responded, half-heartedly, not letting go of your hand.
You nodded, letting the silence linger, something that you certainly weren’t getting much of these days. It was interrupted when Alina entered and you stood, leaving a lingering kiss on Nikolai’s cheek so they could speak in private which made your heart ping with jealousy for just a moment.
Soon after that you learned that Alina had given the Lantsov Emerald back to Nikolai formally ending the engagement to search for the Firebird. While you still thought the engagement was good for alliance you quietly were thankful. It was decided that the next best thing would be to truly try and unite the First and Second Army of Ravka. You traveled with Nikolai, David, and Genya to Zvedya. You found yourself growing closer to Genya and David on the way. At the fort you reunited with a number of the soldiers you had known when you agreed to become a healer for Nikolai’s regiment. You also reunited with Dominik who was your partner in teasing Nikolai.
Brief introductions were made. David proved himself rather useful, helping improve the weaponry and Genya used her unrivaled tailor skills to help fix a woman’s arm and hand. It was after that when Nikolai pulled you to the side to speak with you briefly.
You had assumed that he simply wanted to talk strategy with you first. You had healed so many of the First Army and Nikolai would often discuss strategy with you as he was healed at your hands. You had a clear knack for it, and that was only proven further out on the seas when in battles with any enemies you met out there. He reached for your hand and pulled you into one of the side rooms inside the large fort before shutting the door behind him. A number of maps and other papers were sprawled over a table in front of you. The only lighting came from the windows, which cast a dim light. Nikolai gently kissed the top of your hand before circling around the table.
You slowly approached the maps, looking over them, recognizing the detailed works of certain parts of Ravka. You were too busy thinking through possible ideas to notice Nikolai pulling the Lantsov Emerald from somewhere inside his uniform slowly lifting it. It was when he placed it over the maps directly in your eyesight did you pay him any attention. You looked up at him and met his gaze, already deciding to protest what you knew was coming. Of course you wanted to marry him, but that didn’t mean you thought right now would be a better time than any to be engaged to Alina Starkov. You didn’t care if she had broken it off prior, surely she understood how much more alliance that could bring between the First and Second Army.
“Save me the speech,” Nikolai said, knowing exactly what you were going to say. He leaned forward, placing a hand on either side of the ring which gave you your opportunity to share your two kruge on the matter.
“Alina Starkov is not just a Grisha, she is the Grisha. I am just a healer, Nikolai.” That’s how simple it was to you. Maybe you were Grisha, but Alina was a Sun Summoner. The person who could tear down the Fold. Reunite Ravka once more.
Nikolai looked both agitated and pained to hear you talk about yourself like that. “You are not just a Grisha. You are not just a healer, moi magpie ,” he insisted. “You are the healer who ran across yards of an active battleground to save a First Army soldier. You are the healer I would choose as my friend, my confidante, my spouse, my queen, Ravka’s queen. The people already respect you. ”
His voice held this mix of passion, bordering on authorativeness. But you knew he didn’t want to cross that threshold afraid it might turn into something like a to-be king making a demand. Logically you wouldn’t think that, but considering he was proposing plus the circumstances logic was left at the door.
“Nikolai…” was all you could muster.
“I am asking you to be my friend, my confidante, my partner, and Ravka’s queen from now until the day I die,” Nikolai said. The passion was still there, though now it bends towards what most people would call begging. “Marry me. If we survive this, marry me. Be my healer.” The last part he whispered.
You stood for a few moments, in silence, taking in his words, before nodding. “Yeah.” A slow smile spread across your face. “I’ll marry you, Nikolai Lantosv.”
