Archive of Our Own

It was routine. Those were the only words Hunter had been able to come up with in the post-mission report. A routine flight out. A routine drop. A routine recon. A routine fight.

There was not a single thing that had made that mission stand out in any way from the other wild missions that had encountered until everything went wrong.

Til Wrecker dropped.

Til he didn't get back up.

(-o-)

The air felt hot with blaster fire. Tech knew that was impossible, the sheer amount of flak the droids would need to be putting down to actually raise the temperature out in an open space would be astronomical and physically impossible right now, not to mention the environmental elements that would factor into naturally cooling the air around them, and there was a low level of fumes in the air that their helmets were filtering, but theoretically could react with the energy-.

A sharp spattering of rocks clattered against his helmet from the impact site of a detonator nearby, and Tech flinched before he could even register the source.

"Tech!" Hunter barked from his cover nearby behind a slightly larger rock than Tech's own. "Get your head out of your theories and in the now!"

The helmet made the reprimand sound harsh, an outsider would surely see a commanding officer reprimanding his subordinate, but Tech knew his brothers too well. Hunter was equal parts worried that he hadn't noticed that shot, because Hunter was secretly a hover droid reprogrammed with the code of a fussy protocol droid, and exasperated that Tech hadn't noticed that shot.

Blast, maybe they knew him just as well.

"Eh, leave him alone. The less he gets with his fancy gadgets, the more droids I can blow up!" Wrecker called gleefully as he lobbed yet another explosive blindly over his own cover and into the mass of droids currently making up the outer defense of the depo they were sent to destroy.

"Right, see? I'm fine and am not even needed. Wrecker has it handled." Tech shouted back with false cheer, and he didn't even need to see the other's face to know Hunter was rolling his eyes.

"If you are all done chattering, I have eyes on the depo."

Crosshair's dry tone on the comms drew their attention, and Tech couldn't help the quick glance he threw up at where he knew their brother was watching over them.

"What dirty work do we need to do to get to it since there must be some if you haven't already taken it out?"

"Don't be like that. It isn't even that hard." He snarked back before his tone became more serious. "There is a small shield around the main munitions. The rest seem to have been stored back in the ruins. Unfortunately, even I can't shoot through shields, so our best chance is you four getting in there and taking it out from the inside."

Tech flipped his visor down and risked a peek around the rocks.

"About half a klick east of your position."

Chrosshair's voice came through his direct comm, and Tech adjusted, ducked back for a moment before trying again in the direction Crosshair had stated. Sure enough, he could just make out the small patch of the shield visible through the brush.

"Looks like a little more than a compact." He mused, then made a small noise of protest as he was jostled roughly by Wrecker, who had practically thrown himself down next to his smaller brother.

"Are you and Cross talking over your secret comm channel again? Come on, you know that's not fair. I want to know what's going on too!" He groused, clicking a new power pack into his blaster with a practiced fluidity that Tech had never quite managed.

"It's not a secret if everyone knows exactly which channel we are using and can swap to it at any time."

Wrecker grumbled a little more at that but had switched his attention to taking out the last few visible droids as Hunter sprinted the short gaps of cover till he was crouched in front of the pair.

"Alright, so take out the shield. Crosshair blows the depot, we all go home?" Hunter asks flippantly, and the other two glance at each other for a brief moment before nodding. After all, that was the gist, really. Finer planning had never been one of their favored tactics, even in training.

"And I thought Tech was supposed to be the squad genius." Crosshair commented with a scoff causing Wrecker to grin.

"He still is! Just doesn't take much of a genius to figure out that blowing that shield ends this."

He chuckled and gave Tech a good-natured shove that almost sent him to the dust. Meanwhile, Hunter had taken their fooling around as a chance to peek out of cover and now grabbed Wrecker's arm as if fearing the bigger man would take off.

"Tech said it already though, that's no compact. Generator for that thing must be pretty powerful."

"But, the shield is small. I saw it myself when I was coming over here. It's gotta be a compact!" Wrecker argued.

"Normally, that would be the case, but the Seps are coming up with new tech all the time, and I think I know what a compact looks like, and it's not that." Cross answered shortly.

Hunter raised a fist, causing them all to fall silent.

"Alright, seeing as Crosshair is the only one with actual eyes on the thing, I'm inclined to take his word for it. So it's possibly new tech. What are the chances that it's as untested as the last few toys the droids have brought out?"

"Knowing our track record? High." Tech shrugged, thinking back to the numerous other missions where they had been the first unfortunate testers for new Separatist weapons.

"Alright, so we can work with that, right?"

Tech tapped idly at his pad as he mulled over ways they could condense a shield to the size a portable compact generator would produce without losing strength.

"Most likely, they have a secondary power source wired to the generator. Since we are in the middle of nowhere and intel said this operation was pretty fresh, it has to either be a ship, a battery, or some sort of small reactor running off the local resources. All of which makes it pretty unsustainable, really."

Hunter seemed to consider that for a moment before nodding slowly.

"Okay, so we have two options, boys. We get inside the shield and try to take down the generator, or we try to find what's powering it and take that out. Either way, the shield goes down, right?" He tilted his head towards Tech at the last question, earning him another shrug.

"I don't see why not. Unless they found a completely new way of producing high-powered energy shields, in which case we have a lot more to worry about than a reserve depot."

"You just had to say it like that. It's going to be a new shield type for sure now." Cross bemoaned, causing the others to grin a little.

Cross always held himself so aloof that his small moments of humor never failed to lift his brother’s moods.

"What's your call, boss?"

Hunter looked around at them all for another moment or two before giving a sharp nod.

"Alright, here's how this is going to go. We have no idea where the power source is, but that gennie is right in front of us. We aim for the shield generator and take it out from the inside. It's gonna put us under more fire, but we have to assume the power source is just as guarded, and then we would still have to come to clean out the droids around the depo.

Cross can cover us till we get inside. Tech flank right, see if you can't scramble their comms. The last thing we need is for them to drop reinforcements on us. Wrecker, you're going right up the middle with me. We hit fast and hit hard, keep their attention, so Tech has a shot at getting close and shutting it down. Once the shield is down, you get off the X fast, and Crosshair blows the place. Any questions? Good, let's move."

Wrecker gave a cheer as the group scattered to the approaching sound of droids. The area was relatively flat, but luck was with them in the form of heavy flora. The shadows of the taller trees and ferns paired with their darker stained armor giving them an advantage over the light tan droids. With that in mind, Tech kept low, making his way towards the crumbling ruins of what was probably a fuel station back when this place had been inhabited. He traveled in small bursts, scampering from one dense clump to the next.

He was about halfway to the depot when the sound of laser fire broke the ambiance. Only years of training kept Tech from reacting to the knowledge that his brothers were engaged in a combat situation without him. He pushed down the urge to radio them and moved on, using every second that their distraction would buy him to cover the remaining ground. Hunter and Wrecker were deadly on their own, but together they were a two-man army. They could handle themselves, but the faster this shield went down, the faster he could get back to them, and for that reason, he started a riskier pace, only pausing once when he was just in range to start up his jamming frequency.

Within no time, he had the shield in view, and just like Crosshair had said, it was definitely not a compact. The sizing was right, but the field rippled, and streaks of energy skittered over its surface. As Tech watched, he saw a small arc of energy arc off as the entire field flickered for less than a second before returning to its wavering state, and there in the center of a small raised portion of walkway, he saw the generator. The thing was squat and oddly shaped and, of course, right out in the open.

"I have better eyes on the shield, but somethings off with it." Crosshair's voice crackled through his comm.

"You're right. If I had to guess? This shield is barely holding up. The output must not be stable. See the way it's fluctuating? There are surges, and right after, the integrity falls. This is either experimental or the shoddiest piece of tech we have ever come up against." Tech answered even as he continued to observe the shield, counting silently to try to time the fluctuations, but so far, they seemed to come at random.

The sound of an explosion in the distance drew the attention of the small battalion that remained to guard the generator, and Tech decided to take a risk. Grabbing the nearest object, which happened to be a small stick, he used the sound of the blast as cover and threw the stick at the portion of the shield just a few meters ahead of him. The stick struck the shield sending ripples of energy away from the impact, but instead of immediately bouncing off, the stick seemed to hang in the air for the barest moment before dropping to the ground.

"We were right." He relayed to the others quietly as the droids began their patrols once more. "The shield is barely functional. A strong enough blast might even be able to blow a hole in it."

"One strong blast coming up!"

Another boom, though much closer now, and turning Tech saw Wrecker and Hunter burst from the underbrush a few dozen meters away, firing backward as they quickly covered against a large tree. Whipping his head around, Tech saw the exact moment the droids guarding the generator noticed the other two clones. They all began to form up on the generator, a few drifting to the edge of the shield, but none attempted to leave yet.

"Wrecker, be careful. The shield is unstable. We don't know what will happen if it's forced to absorb any large amounts of impact!"

"I got it."

Tech watched Wrecker break from his cover as Hunter began firing rapidly at the droid that had begun emerging from the brush, perfectly precise shots from above taking down the last few that got past his one-man barrage.

Wrecker gave a wild yell as he brought to bear his heavier assault rifle even as he unclipped several detonators from his belt. The gun had been a custom piece. Tech had designed himself to fire hotter, larger bolts than the standard-issue garbage. He wondered now if it would actually pierce the shield.

As he watched, Wrecker came to a halt and immediately armed and threw his detonators which rolled to rest right at the shield's edge.

"Get ready!"

Wrecker open fired on the shield moments before the detonators blew.

The resulting explosion was blinding. The shield, already barely maintaining integrity, exploded outward as the generator overloaded under the additional strain. The flash was worse than any detonator they had ever trained with, and the only thing that saved Tech from losing complete visibility was the tint of his goggles.

Which is why he was able to see the generator flare. With no conduit funneling the power and the second power source still powering it, the energy did what any typical burst of high-powered electricity would do. It struck the nearest conductive source.

The electricity arced out like lightning, striking every machine, every droid, every metal surface in its vicinity. And when it had hit all of those, it went for the only other conductive object on the flat area surrounding it.

The noise of the generator exploding had entirely blown out the audio receptors in his helmet, so Tech would never know if Wrecker screamed as the energy slammed into him. And then he fell, and didn’t get back up.

He didn't even register he was moving until Tech was slamming to his knees next to his downed brother and tearing the helmet from his head.

He couldn't hear past the static of his helmet's radio, so he ripped his own helmet off, tossing it carelessly to the side as he stared down in horror.

It was gruesome. The plasteel of the helmet was meant to stand up to blunt force attacks, even blaster bolts, but it hadn't done anything against the bolt of energy that had struck Wrecker's head. If anything, it had done more damage as the plasteel had shattered under the impact, shards of the darkened armor now embedded in the bloody mess of flesh that made up the left side of Wrecker's head.

"Tech!"

His brothers were around him. Crosshair must have come down from his roost as he was dropping next to him as Hunter knelt on Wrecker's other side, staring with equal horror at the gruesome head wound as Crosshair immediately began doing something with the injury. Tech wanted to help, needed to, but he was finding it hard to focus. There was so much blood. It was gushing out now, covering his view of the damage, and he almost reached out to wipe at it with his gloved hand before he caught himself.

"Tech, Tech, listen to me. He's alive! He's alive, but we have to move!."

Hunter's voice was muffled, and the more logical part of his brain recognized he was likely going into shock or something else just as useless. But Wrecker was down, he was bleeding, little gods he was bleeding so much.

"Listen to me!"

Tech jerked forward and startled to awareness as Hunter grabbed hold of the front of his armor and shook him, leaning over Wrecker to stare him fiercely in the eyes.

"We don't have time! He needs medical attention, and there are likely more droids on the way. We need to patch him and get out of here so Cross can blow the depot!"

The depot? He was still worried about the depot! Their brother was bleeding out, possibly dying, and he was talking about the gods damned depot!

The anger burned through the fog that had been seeping through his mind, and he snarled, grabbing Hunter's arm and wrenching it painfully away from his collar.

"The depot? Who gives a kriff about the karking depot!"

Hunter looked ready to shout back, but Crosshair cut in, his voice tense and hard.

"We don't have time for this! I slowed the bleed, but we have to get back to the ship! Tech, help me lift him!"

Tech hesitated only a moment before snarling again at Hunter and turning to take up the spot that Crosshair had just occupied as the sniper moved to Wrecker's other side. Together they managed to lift their larger brother, though both still staggered as Wrecker’s bulk listed to one side. Tech was focusing very hard on not thinking about how much it felt like carrying a dead body.

"Crosshair, we need a way out!"

Tech could barely focus on what the sharpshooter was saying.

What if the blast had paralyzed him, what if his mind was fried, what if he didn't wake up? What if this was the excuse the long necks had been waiting for to decommission their volatile brother?"

"He's going to be alright."

Tech flinched as his gaze snapped to where Crosshair was looking over Wrecker's shoulders at him.

"He's strong. This won't even phase him." He said firmly, and Tech found himself clinging to the other's words, forcing his mind to stop thinking. Crosshair said it would be fine. Hunter had said the same thing. His brother's never lied to him. They weren't lying now.

Wrecker would be fine.

He had to be.

(-o-)

Once they had started moving Crosshair had broken off to complete the mission, leaving Tech to stagger his way forward while desperately trying to support Wrecker’s bulk. They had barely cleared the blast radius when Crosshair took the shot. The aftershock caused them all to stagger as they continued their dogged path back towards the ship, stumbling over uneven terrain. Meanwhile, Hunter would dart ahead to clear a path, then loop around behind to make sure they weren't being tailed.

In no time, Crosshair broke through the brush on their left and retook his place on Wrecker’s other side. Tech didn't miss the way he paused when he first saw Wrecker, though, or how anytime Tech stumbled, Crosshair would slow and stare at him, his helmeted face blank, but Tech could see the worry in the set of his shoulders, the way his stance was tenser than usual.

It took far too long to reach the ship. They had wanted to stealth their way closer to gather intel and had parked the ship further than usual because of it.

They’d trained for years, combat drills daily their entire life, physical training every dusk and dawn, but Tech's legs still felt like lead by the time they saw the ship come into view. From the staggering gait they had both seemed to take on, Crosshair was feeling the effects of their trek as well. Tech could have had three blaster holes in him for all that he paid attention to his own aches, though. Wrecker was a priority.

Hunter sprinted past them and into the ship, likely to start the launch sequence, and they were right behind him.

Upon entering the ship Crosshair broke off again and by the time Tech had managed to drag Wrecker into the central compartment, Crosshair had cleared one of the bench seats and piled every meager piece of medical equipment they had onto a crate nearby.

Wrecker was carefully lowered to the thin cushioning, and Tech immediately began stripping the other's armor. The head wound was the obvious and most intense, but who knew if he had other smaller injuries as well under the armor?

As he worked, Crosshair was already crouched by the large man's head, holding a light in one hand as he used the other to carefully pull the hastily applied packing gauze and wound sealant away. Faintly Tech felt the ship shift beneath them as Hunter took off.

Under the harsh light of the ship's interior and flashlight, the wound looked even worse. Tech's eyes followed the fractal-like patterns from the center of the wound outward till they eventually trailed into the neckline of his blacks, and then back to where they spread across his eyelid and part of his cheek. The raised lines told Tech more than he liked about the sheer strength of the blast.

Crosshair was hunched close as he carefully used a small pair of medical tweezers to remove the various fragments of plasteel that had embedded into and around the impact site. Tech didn't want to watch, but he forced himself. He’d always shied away from biology and medical work, more interested in the technical side of things, but now he was kicking himself for not having taken more time to learn it.

They all knew basic field triage as was required, and Crosshair had picked up a little more than the regs, but they were far from trained medics. What squad as isolated as them was stupid enough to not have a dedicated medic? Why had no one considered this before?

Because they had always made it out. Had always taken their luck for granted.

Tech would not be allowing them to make that mistake again.

"How's he doing?" Hunter asked softly as he came into the compartment.

"I got the shards out, but there is damage to the side of his head and ear. All I can do is put bacta on it and hope that it holds till we can make it to a republic station."

"What about.."

"The energy blast? I don't know, I don't even know how to know! He's breathing. His pulse is fast but steady enough. Being struck by massive energy surges from experimental shield tech wasn't exactly covered in basic!"

Tech hadn't seen Crosshair like this since the early days when he had still been twitchy and prone to bursts of panic and paranoia. It was obvious Hunter was concerned about their teammate as well because he carefully laid a hand on Crosshair’s shoulder.

"Easy Cross, we know. It'll be alright, though. We aren't too far from a Republic cruiser. I commed ahead, and they are expecting us. We'll keep him stable, and if he wakes up, we'll go from there."

Crosshair seemed to realize he was panicking because he gripped Hunter's arm and visibly seemed to reel himself back in.

"Right. He's alive and seems stable. He'll be fine once the medics get a look at him."

"Right."

"Who'll be okay?"

All three clones jumped at the weak, slurred voice that spoke up, and all immediately turned to look at Wrecker. He had yet to open his eyes, but his face was scrunched with pain.

"Guys? What gon on?" He struggled, sounding confused and distant.

He shuffled his arm as though trying to reach out where the voices were, and Tech immediately grabbed it to stop him as Crosshair began digging out painkillers and antibiotics, quickly moving back and injecting both into the man's thick neck on the opposite side of the wound.

The fact that the usually squeamish man didn't react to the injections did nothing to calm Tech's nerves.

"You need to stay still, you idiot." Crosshair hissed even as he carefully laid his hand on Wrecker's brow to stop the man from trying to turn his head towards the voices.

"Cross?"

"Yes, now stop trying to move. You got yourself blown up."

It seemed to take Wrecker a moment to process that before he weakly tried to shake his head, which Crosshair quickly put an end to before he could move more than a centimeter.

"Nah, I don’ ge’ blow uh. I blo stuh up." He insisted.

"Not this time." Hunter replied gently.

"How are you feeling, Wrecker? Can you open your eyes for a second?" Tech requested softly, already grabbing a small penlight.

Wrecker grunted a confirmation, but it was a long few seconds before he actually seemed to manage it, and once he did, his brothers froze.

His left eye was nearly white. The visible fractal scarring on his eyelid they had seen earlier could now be seen extending down over the lens of his eye. They all watched solemnly as Tech raised the light and flicked it on, first checking the reaction of the right eye, then after pausing for a moment, moving to the right.

"Wha you doin? Why canna not see? Stahp coverin muh eye. 'N geh that ligh away from me."

And with that, Wrecker confirmed their fears.

Wrecker drifted off again not long after, the cocktail of drugs finally doing their job, but none of them spoke. In fact, they were all silent the entire rest of the flight.

(-o-)

Everything happened in a blur once they docked on the republic cruiser. Like Hunter had said, the medical team was ready for them when they landed and immediately whisked Wrecker away to be treated. The rest of them were herded into a different bay where they were all forced to strip to their blacks and submit to a complete medical eval.

None of them protested, just silently followed the medic's orders and studiously ignored the whispers from the regs nearby. It seems they were getting to be rather well known even out this far.

They were all fine. They'd know that going in, just the usual muscle strains and post-mission fatigue. The medical staff had tried to insist on them staying in the medical bay, offering the few medical berths not already in use, but they refused.

"We want to see our squadmate." Hunter insisted to the firm-looking CMO, who in turn gave them a stern look before huffing a large sigh.

"Fine. He's stable, but we have him sedated. We are monitoring his cardiovascular and cranial activity and will for the next few cycles as is standard for victims of this type of injury. Truthfully he should be dead. Most baseline clones would be. The reinforced helmet paired with his abnormal physical and genetic make-up very well might have saved his life."

Tech felt cold. The idea that they had been so close to losing their brother and it had been his fault. He had known that overlading the generator might cause it to explode, but he'd given the command anyways, and his brother had trusted him as always. He could have died. He could have killed his brother.

The medic was still talking about possible lasting effects, and each word only added to his spiral.

Nerve damage, brain damage, lack of fine motor control, stroke-like symptoms, cardiovascular complications. Then there was his eye. The damage had nearly ruptured the ocular nerve. They didn't know yet if he would retain any vision or be blinded entirely on that side till he woke up, but based on his comments during his brief moments of consciousness Tech had little hope of it being the former.

He listened to the man talk, they all did, but he could feel the fog from earlier coming back, making everything feel delayed, unreal.

The only words that finally broke through were when the CMO concluded his reports and finally told them.

"You can stay. If he wakes up, it might be beneficial to have familiar faces. When that happens, however, you need to alert a member of the medical team immediately."

"Of course."

Hunter agreed immediately, and soon they were all perched in various places around their brother's bunk in the little curtained-off section of the bay. They had clustered the berth immediately when they entered and had stayed there for a while, all taking in the heavy bacta wrappings around his head and left eye.

Wrecker didn’t fit in standard bacta tanks. The equipment in most facilities couldn’t support him properly. They risked something important disconnecting or him not floating right and hurting the tank or himself on the mechanical parts. There were specialized tanks for larger species, but it wasn’t standard on regulation cruisers. He would have to heal the old fashioned way.

And that really was the downside of being special, wasn't it? They could do with four what typically took an entire army, but they were the outliers—the anomaly. In a system built to accommodate uniformity, they were at a constant and severe disadvantage. Everything they needed to survive had to be customized. Armor, bunks, weapons, meals, pits, even standard blacks didn't fit anyone but Hunter even close to correct.

It was one of the first self-assigned tasks Tech had taken up, making sure they had all the things that others were provided to keep them safe. He had spent months modifying and tweaking, and testing new equipment that would get the job done but do more than that. Every single piece of gear they had was meant to help utilize their strengths and cover their weaknesses.

He had thought he was doing a good job, but this was just proof that he needed to work harder. He needed his brothers to be prepared for any scenario, and he would make sure something like this didn't happen again.

(-o-)

They had been left alone after that, and the next few cycles had been quiet. The only time one of them left Wrecker's berth was to relieve themselves, grab more ration bars and water, or the one time when Hunter had finally had to make their mission report.

Though the medics had assured them that this was standard, that they were keeping him under so he could heal and be monitored, the tension was building the longer they waited.

It was inevitable that it would eventually come to a head.

Tech wasn't sure how it even started. He thinks Hunter made some stupid comment about this being his fault, and his mind had just sort of gone blank. In an instant, the tension and self-hatred that had been building in Tech the last few cycles just, boiled over and before he realized what he was doing, he was on his feet.

"How can any of you say it was your fault?" He asked a hysterical note to his tone that had all of his brother's attention instantly.

"Tech."

Hunter started, but Tech couldn't stop, not when all the thoughts that had been spiraling over and over in his mind the last few days finally began to spill out.

"I'm the one who told him to shoot it. I'm the one that knew the generator would overload. It's my fault he's, he's-."

He tried to finish the sentence, but instead found himself gasping for air as that vice on his chest finally squeezed, and that foggy feeling swamped him.

Things were happening around him. He knew that, but he couldn't force his brain to process them. All he could see was that arc of energy striking out. Wrecker falling. The blood. Wrecker's slurred voice asking them why he couldn't see. His brother still lying motionless on that medical bed.

"Tech?"

There was a hand on his shoulders, pushing his body gently forward till his head was between his raised knees. He was sitting on the floor now, not sure when he had gotten there, and Hunter was saying something softly nearby. He latched onto the familiar voice and worked to take deep breaths.

He knew what a panic attack was, had helped Hunter through more than one over their time as a squad. He knew he had likely hyperventilated and passed out. He knew all of this, but he still couldn't seem to convince his brain that he could breathe.

"Five things Tech, come on. Outloud."

Crosshair's voice cut into his thoughts, and he jerkily nodded and tilted his head over so slightly up.

"Hear Hunter." He rasped.

"Smell?" Crosshair demanded, and something about the command in the tone triggered an ingrained reaction even in Tech's rattled mind.

"Bacta."

Crosshair continued to demand an answer for the remaining senses until finally, Tech felt like he could almost get a full breath.

Without raising his head, he reached out and grabbed Crosshair's arm where it rested across the other's knee as he crouched beside Tech. Squeezing it, he finally raised his head.

Hunter was crouched nearby, but far enough that he had obviously wanted to give Tech some space. A gesture he appreciated. Next to him, Crosshair was staying perfectly still and silent now that it seemed Tech was coming down from the adrenaline.

"You alright, vode?"

Hunter asked, still keeping his voice soft, and Tech gave a slightly less jerky nod. He could feel the dampness of sweat around his lower back and collar, and he knew he was shaky and probably looked like shit.

"Fantastic."

Hunter huffed at that, and Crosshair visibly untensed, though Tech could see the remaining weariness in the other man's posture. He had always been the most reluctant when it came to touch and dealing with emotional issues, but Tech didn’t miss the fact that he hadn’t pulled away from Tech’s grip and he was extremely grateful for it, the touch grounding him without being overwhelming.

"Want to explain what brought that on?"

Crosshair's dry remark drew Tech's attention even as Hunter hissed a reprimand.

"Not every day you crack under pressure. And really, over what? You thinking you're the reason Wrecker almost died?"

Tech couldn't help the flinch at the bluntness of the other's words, and he heard his other brother’s protest, but Crosshair ignored him, staring down at Tech with a hard set to his face.

"We are soldiers. We are sent into combat zones and behind enemy lines for the sheer fact that anyone else would die trying. We are not invincible. We risk it all every time we set foot off Kamino. This," He gestured towards where Wrecker still lay." This was going to happen sooner than later. It's what we do, and it is nothing but arrogance that you think you are the reason it happened now."

He suddenly looked up at Hunter.

"That goes for you as well. It's an insult to Wrecker and this team that you think you caused this. He is his own person and makes his own choices. If he felt unsafe, he could have stopped. He didn't. It happened, and we made it. End of story."

"But I told him to-."

"He chose to listen. End of story." Crosshair stated again, firmer, and Tech felt himself wilt under the other man's stare.

He was right, Tech knew he was right, but that didn't mean he wouldn't trip over himself trying to make it up to his brother when he woke up.

They all stayed where they were for a little after that, not speaking as Tech gathered himself, and the others seemed to become lost in their thoughts.

"Hng, what?"

All of their heads whipped up at the soft noise from the bed, Hunter launching from his spot a few feet away and closer to the bed even as Crosshair helped a scrambling Tech up as well.

On the bed, Wrecker was shifting slightly, squinting his eye under the harsh lighting of the room.

"Guys?

"How you feeling, big guy?"

Hunter asked as he moved around to tap the call button for the medical staff, Crosshair, and Tech coming to stand on his other side.

"Like I got hit by a clanker tank."

Wrecker mumbled even as a medic and a medical droid pushed through the curtains, already tapping through the readouts on the nearby machines.

"We need to run some tests if you could all step out for a moment."

They argued, of course, they did, but in the end, only Hunter was allowed to stay on the stipulation that he stay out of the way and only serve as a calming presence and to help fill the gaps in the story while offering up answers to any medical history.

So they waited and waited. It was easier this time, if only because they knew their brother was cognisant, but they were all still more than a litter jittery by the time the medic and his droid left and then all shoved back into the space.

Wrecker was asleep again, no real surprise there given how many drugs were still probably being pumped into his system, but it was still a little disappointing.

Hunter glanced up from his seat back at Wrecker's side as they resumed their previous perches, their mood sobering at the look on his face.

"What did the doc say?" Tech finally asked, voicing the question they were both too scared to ask.

Hunter stared down at their sleeping batchmate for a moment before sighing and looking up at them.

"It's like we already knew with the eye. He's lost almost complete field of vision, he said he can see a little light and some blurry shapes, but the doc isn't confident that it's gonna last once the scarring starts to heal."

They all nodded a little, having figured as much, but still had hoped to be proven wrong.

"And the rest?' Crosshair bit out.

"He's going to have a nasty scar between the actual hit and the fact that most of the side of his helmet was embedded in his head. Lost parts of his ear as well. If he had been dunked in the tank, there might have been a chance for only minimal discoloration and roughness at the impact site, but well, we know that isn't going to happen in time to make a difference."

"He won't mind. He told me he thought scars made you look badass when he first saw mine. Said he would be proud to have scars."

Tech all but whispered, and Crosshair leaned ever slightly closer to the smaller man.

Hunter gave a nod before sighing.

"Other than cosmetics, he lost partial hearing on that side. They said it's not enough that he will be completely deaf, but he might benefit from a hearing aid of some sort once he's healed a little more."

"I'll make him one," Tech promised, already knowing the Kamonians wouldn't bother.

"There was also minor damage to his brain and the nerves on the left side of his body. They said that he'll have a little numbness for a while, and there could be lasting effects behaviorally, but we won't know till further down the line. He'll need to do some PT to gain back his finer motor control, but he's gonna be okay."

They slumped a little at that, the tension finally leaving them as they finally got the proof that their brother was okay.

"We can't tell the longnecks." Crosshair said firmly, and they both nodded.

Just because they were special genetically didn't mean they were any more immune to being decommissioned for injuries. As soon as they showed a dip in performance, they would be put down just like any reg.

"Tech, can you?"

"Already on it. The medical staff was shocked to find no permanent or lasting damage despite the severity of the injury. A side effect of his enhancement, they figure. Declared perfectly fit for duty upon completion of treatment." Tech replied, his voice a little firmer than earlier, already using his datapad to hack the encryption on Wrecker's medical records and change the reports.

"Good. It'll be another two cycles before they take him off the heavy stuff. Best get some rest so we can leave as soon as he's up. We'll take it in shifts."

(-o-)

The medical staff ended up decreasing the dosage a half a cycle early, and Tech had nearly teared up at seeing his brother sitting up and talking with Crosshair and Hunter when he came back from his turn on the rations run.

Like Hunter had said, Wrecker was slightly disoriented by his new lack of sight and hearing on his left side, but he took it in stride the same way he took everything in life. Just one of the ways that Wrecker proved himself the strongest amongst them.

It had been another cycle and a half before Wrecker was allowed to walk around, only having to lean on Crosshair and Hunter every so often when he turned too fast and lost his balance, or the exhaustion of healing caught up to him.

Even that couldn't dampen the squad's cheer at being whole again, however, and not long later, they were cleared to leave with instructions of how to redress Wrecker's wound and work through his PT.

Hunter had immediately offered to be the one to take over those processes, but Tech had offered instead. He knew he didn't deserve the other's forgiveness, and he still struggled to talk past the lump in his throat that the guilt brought on every time he had to watch his brother struggle with a simple task, but he could at least do this.

(-o-)

"It's good to be back." Wrecker sighed dramatically as the group helped him up the ramp into their ship.

Someone had come in and cleaned up their impromptu medical station, which Tech was ever grateful for, having not been sure how he would react to seeing his brother's blood on the seats and all the other evidence of just how close they had come to losing him.

"Looks like the ship didn't magically get repaired while we were gone. Shame." Hunter joked even as he made his way up to the cockpit to start launch procedures. Tech usually would have done it, but he found himself unable to leave Wrecker's side these last few days, and he knew his brothers had started taking notice, though they were leaving it alone for now.

"Let's get you back to your bunk." Tech said as casually as he could, having noticed the signs that Wrecker was starting to feel dizzy again.

"Fine."

Wrecker drawled in a petulant tone, but the fact that he didn't protest any further told Tech all he needed to know about how the larger man was actually feeling. He may be up and seemingly back to normal, but they all saw the stiff way he walked and how he would stop and lean sometimes when he got dizzy or tired. His brother still had a long recovery ahead of him.

The pair carefully made their way back to their tight bunk rooms, and Wrecker dropped onto his as soon as they were close enough with a low groan.

"Do you need another dose of painkillers? Is there any numbness, tingling?" Tech fretted as he watched Wrecker carefully stretch his legs out and lean back a little.

"Nah, just stiff."

He admitted, but Tech was barely listening, fidgeting with his pad if only to have something to do.

"Well, of course, you're stiff. You are recovering from a major injury. I mean, it's only logical that you'd still be feeling the effects of not only the injury but having to lay in the same position for so long. I mean, you are already probably pushing it by even walking around, let alone-."

"Tech."

Tech cut off mid-sentence at the low tone and looked down to find Wrecker watching him with an odd expression.

"Yes?" He asked hesitantly as the silence stretched out.

"Are you okay?"

Tech couldn't stop the slightly hysterical laugh that he gave at the sheer absurdity of that question.

"Me? Am I alright? You almost died, Wrecker! I almost killed you! You lost your eye and your hearing, and you're going to have a permanent scar and possible nerve and cranial damage, and you are asking if I'm okay?"

"Yeah."

He stated simply, and Tech slumped back onto his own rack just across from his brother. Of course, Wrecker would worry about him, despite the fact that he was the reason the other was in this position. That's just how Wrecker was, the big brother, the protector, always watching out for them and never worrying about himself.

"And how’d you almost kill me? I mean, I know I'm not the best at remembering things, but I'm pretty sure I got hit by a big ball of energy or something. Unless you shot me with some new toy you made. I mean, then I might be a little mad, but I'd know it was an accident." Wrecker explained in such a matter-of-fact tone that Tech couldn't help but protest.

"But I told you to shoot the shield! I told you to try to blow it up. You trusted me, and I let you down! I let you get hurt, and you almost died!"

"But that's not your fault." Wrecker reassured him firmly. "I shot the shield thing from too close. I should have known it would be a big explosion and moved further back. How would you know that any of that stuff would happen?"

"Because it's my job to know! I should have made sure it wouldn't before having you do it!"

"But you didn't know."

"But I should have!" Tech shouted, frustrated at his brother's calm tone. He should be angry, Tech had put him at risk, and he had paid the price. "Stop making excuses for me! I karked up, I-"

Tech was cut off as suddenly Wrecker was standing too close. Before he could move away, strong arms were dragging him forward into his brother's chest and pinning him there.

"It wasn't your fault. I know you would never want me to get hurt. I'm sorry I scared you."

Tech couldn't think, couldn't move. All he could do was stand there feeling his brother breathe against him, how those strong arms held him tightly. Alive. His brother was alive. He was going to be okay. He didn't blame him.

The tears began then, and no matter how hard Tech tried to stop himself, hold his breath and not make any noise, he failed.

His arms came up around Wrecker, clinging to him as Tech broke down, sobbing into the hard armor he had built to keep his brother safe.

"Aw, Tech. No, come on, it's okay. I'm fine, I promise. You know it takes more than a little thing like that to take me down. Just you wait, I'll be right as rain in no time. I've got you and the others watching out for me after all."

Wrecker reassured him as the larger man carefully lowered them both back to sit on his own larger bunk.

"It'll be alright."

(-o-)

Hunter made his way slowly back towards the small storage spaces they had converted to bunks. It had been quiet for a while now. He'd heard yelling earlier and had come to make sure everything was okay, but the sight of Tech crying had stopped him in his tracks and turned him right back around.

They all knew that Tech felt the most responsible for what had happened. This was something they needed to work out, and he wouldn't be the one to stop that from happening. His fast return to the cockpit had earned him a raised brow from Crosshair, but at the shake of his head, his brother likely guessed what was happening. They never really did need words to understand each other. Just another thing that made them special, he assumed.

Now though, he carefully paused just outside the entrance to the area where Tech and Wrecker's bunks were, and after once again hearing nothing, peeked around the frame.

Wrecker was seated on his bunk, leaned comfortably back against the bulkhead, and obviously asleep. And there next to him, curled into his side with Wrecker's arm still slung over his shoulders, was Tech. His glasses had been pushed up, and Hunter could see the redness around his brother's eyes, but their faces were both soft in sleep, the tension that clung to all of them these days slipping off, leaving them looking peaceful and content.

Hunter knew things would be different, Wrecker's injuries would be an adjustment for not only him but for their team, but he knew they would adapt just like they always did, and they would come through it stronger than ever.