Work Text:
Fox groaned as sound returned to his ears. Loud, obnoxious cantina music. Of all places on Coruscant, why did he have to return near a club? Sight was the following sense to return. Fox winced as the bright neon signs flashed in his pupils. He looked around, taking in his surroundings. An alleyway on an unknown level. Great. Just great.
He was also wearing civies, typical for a blackout mission. Fox stared at the black fabric, noting the small tears. What did he fight? A tooka? Actually, Fox wouldn't be too surprised if a tooka used him as a scratching post while he was unconscious. Those creatures were… cute… but also little menaces. Only Kara knew why his men wanted to adopt some.
Thinking of his troopers quickly reminded Fox that he needed to contact Thorn. Fox huffed as he urged feeling to return to his body and regretted the second it did. Pain shot up his back, weaving into his muscles. His nerves felt like they were on fire . Fox leaned forward, feeling his lower back for the source of pain. He bit his lip as his finger brushed against a hole in his flesh.
He's been stabbed .
Fox leaned back against the wall and rolled his eyes. Of course, he'd get stabbed during a blackout mission. Taking deep breaths, Fox worked to slow his heart down. He didn’t want his heart pumping all his blood out of his body. Fox allowed him to shift; he needed a comm or a way to contact the Guard Command. He couldn't just sit and wait for a squad to come by.
Trying to stand immediately failed. He had little to no feeling in his muscles. "Screw blood loss," Fox grumbled, not wanting to let something so small beat him.
Fox pushed himself to his knees, his vision swirling as his heart worked double time. His entire body was screaming at him, telling him to stop. He didn't listen, of course. Once to his unstable feet, Fox used the wall as support and slowly inched his way out of the alley.
He was halfway there when his ears caught the familiar sound of plastoid on durasteel. It seemed like he wouldn't have to wait after all. He waited for a minute and cracked a smile seeing the all too familiar red and white armor. He was almost tempted to wait and see how they performed. Almost.
"Troopers!" Fox barked out, allowing his command voice to take hold.
As expected, the squad froze and looked around. One tapped his bucket to check his HUD. Finally, one of his troopers spotted Fox in the alleyway. The commander wished he could see their faces. The squad quickly entered the alleyway, their worry perfectly hidden.
"Commander 'ox?" One of them spoke. "You're 'live, sir."
Ah, this was Tooks squad, Fox mused, recognizing the Sargeant's unique way of speaking. Fox coughed a little and swayed, barely staying on his feet.
"Yeah, I'm alive." He huffed, "Stop standing there like di'kuts and contact Thorn" He paused. "And Tonic, I might be needing some bacta."
Tooka nodded and spoke into his internal comms, liking shouting orders at his squad, seeing how they dispersed to watch the entrance. One of them remained as they contacted Thorn.
"Might? Sir, yuv been stabbed." Tooka didn't appear very amused. "Yuv been gone three weeks. We need ya, sir."
"I'll be fine," Fox muttered, trying to ignore the new fact. "Just get me to medical, and I'll be back in action tomorrow."
Fox's knees buckled, sending him to the ground. Tooks reached out, catching him and lowering him to the ground. Groaning in pain, Fox rested his head against the wall. "Make that two days." He mumbled.
Tooka chuckled and patted his shoulder as more troopers rushed into the alleyway. Fox grinned, seeing Tonic drop to his knees in front of Fox.
"You disappear for three weeks just to get stabbed and bleed out. Great job, di'kut ." Tonic growled, forcing Fox to shift so he could look at the wound. "Haran. Only you would manage this."
"At least he's alive and not dead in the underground." Thorn huffed, standing near Tonic.
The Commander had dismissed Tooks, ordering him to clear any onlookers away so that they could get Fox out without any questions. Fox hissed as Tonic wiped at the wound, the medic unapologetic for being rough.
"You make a big deal out of everything, Tonic." Fox snipped, feeling his eyelids grow heavy.
"Ah! Do not fall asleep, Fox." Tonic snapped.
Fox huffed and forced his eyes open. The world was turning a concerning shade of grey. Fox found himself preferring the vibrant colors of Coruscant. Tonic quickly got to temporarily wrapping the wound, hoping to slow down the bleeding enough to transport Fox back to the barracks.
"Fox, we're moving you to a stretcher! Open your damn eyes!" Tonic ordered as hands grabbed his legs.
When had he closed his eyes? He didn't remember doing that. Fox hummed as the music grew softer. Was the club winding down? Fox's body jerked off the hard ground before landing on another hard surface. He groaned as someone repeatedly tapped his shoulder.
"-ox! Fox!" Oh, it was Thorn.
"What?" Fox hissed as he was rolled onto his stomach.
Thorn pried one of his eyes open, Tonic's visor staring right at him. "Kriff." The medic growled. "Fox, stay awake."
Fox closed his eyes again, trying to block out Thorn's obnoxious yet worried voice. Why won't they let him sleep? The world continued to grow quiet; a threading beating pounded in his ears in place. Was that his heart? It sounded weak, but Fox wasn't weak. He was strong; he had to be for his men.
"-ox? Fox wake… damn it…" whoever that was sounded frustrated, Fox thought. "Move…. Med- bacta… now!"
Fox took a slow breath in as the world stopped moving. A nap sounded really nice. He'd get back to work once he woke up. He could count on his Commanders holding Coruscant together for a couple of hours.