Work Text:
The first time that Tech is shot after Order 66, Omega’s the one to treat him. Being Nala Se’s medical assistant, she knows quite a bit about wound care.
The hit he took is in the back of his right shoulder blade. It’s because of this that he cannot properly remove his chestplate himself, and Omega aids him in unclasping the latches that hold it in place. He remains still the best he can. He also remains silent, though Omega takes it upon herself to start a conversation.
“Do you get hurt a lot?” She asks, setting the removed armor pieces aside.
“More often than the others.” He tells her, slowly beginning to work the top of his blacks over his shoulders. “It does not really matter, though. I heal quickly.”
“You should be more careful.” The girl remarks. “You have a lot of scars.”
“Yes, well, we did just finish a three year war.” Tech reminds her, his shoulder twitching painfully as she wipes the blaster burn with a disinfectant cloth.
“What’s this one?” He feels a soft finger poke the skin at the base of the back of his neck.
“The long one?” He asks for confirmation.
"Yeah, that one! What happened?"
He turns just in time to watch Wrecker take a hit to his chest and begin to collapse, the hangar door following him down. And, with a shout of his brother’s name, Tech darts forward and catches it in his stead.
He can feel the large metal teeth of the hangar door digging into him, his armor doing more harm than good, as one of the teeth gets caught on the edge of his chestplate and remains, digging into the skin at the start of his spine. He tries to take deep breaths, to steady his air flow, but it’s useless. He can’t breathe.
He thinks his shoulders are beginning to tear apart beneath the weight. He can’t help how his knees shake, slowly beginning to sink beneath him. He can feel how the bones in his lower legs bend dangerously as he tries to fight it.
A chokes on a breathless whimper.
“Wrecker, you need...need to get out from under the door.” He pants, falling to his knees with a cry as the metal tooth punctures skin and blood begins to flow over the back of his armor. His vision is spotted, his shoulders are trembling so bad that he has no idea how the door remains sitting across them. His goggles fog up from the sudden change in his body temperature. A rib cracks, and he nearly doubles over in his kneeling position. He can’t breathe, he can’t breathe, he can’t breathe.
“Tech!” Wrecker’s wits return, his voice filled with horror. “What are ya doing?”
“M-ove!” He chokes out.
He barely notes his brother’s form shifting from beneath the door before he loses all sense of consciousness.
“Wrecker was holding open a hangar door.” He says after a moment, keeping it simple. “He took a hit, and I caught the door to keep it from crushing him.”
“You caught it?” Omega asks, enraptured by the story. “Wouldn’t that hurt?”
“Oh, yes. I lost consciousness after about a minute of holding it up. Wrecker and Echo carried me back to safety.”
“How did a door do that?”
“Hangar doors have teeth that seal them into the ground so that they cannot simply be pulled open.” Tech explains. “One of those teeth got stuck on my armor and dug into my body.”
She falls silent for a long moment, beginning to bandage his wound, and her voice sounds almost regretful when she finally speaks again. “You’re really brave, Tech. You saved Wrecker.”
“I only did what was necessary to get us out alive.” He insists.
“But you’re always so calm when things go wrong. I wish I knew how to be like that."
“It comes with experience. There are people who just know how to handle a situation as it unfolds. It is not easy to learn that. I just happen to be lucky that it's part of my programming.”
“Well, I think you’re brave.” Omega tells him, a fierce determination edging her voice.
He smiles to himself. “Thank you, Omega.”
Perhaps, one day, she’ll be the first he reveals his hand to.