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Tech saw where he was, eyes trained on the clear blue sky. Next to him, his datapad hummed quietly, temporarily set to the side. He checked his comm, no incoming messages.
Rex had gathered intel on a prison transport ship that was supposedly carrying a clone prisoner and that this planet was to be a point for refueling. He had requested the help of the batch as the ship was high-profile, the destination was highly confidential, along with the identity of the clone inside.
He did not understand the need for one clone to be transported with such high security, but it did imply that this clone was very important to the Empire, so Tech could understand why Rex wanted their help. It was not like they could say no anyway, with Echo and Omega already on board with it.
He looked off the cliff edge he sat on, gazing at the forests that surrounded his lookout area. Takodana, a planet in the Outer Rim. This planet was a favored point for trading, but it had only one singular spaceport. This limited the amount of trade severely and would make the refueling of this transport quick and as low-profile as possible. Any minute now, it would enter atmosphere.
In fact, just as Tech was reaching for his comm, he heard a loud roaring. His head whipped up to see a ship streaking through the sky. It was just as Rex had described, a small sleek prison transport, but what concerned Tech was the speed at which the spacecraft was traveling. It was barreling through the clouds and towards the ground and made no indication of changing its trajectory.
Tech shot to his feet, watching as the ship crashed into the ground, leaving behind a small trail of destruction. His comm buzzed.
“Tech status report.” Hunter’s voice spoke.
“I am fine.” Tech said, continuing to eye the crash site of the ship, parsing out its location as he quickly snatched up his datapad.
“But it seems that something went wrong when the ship entered atmosphere, and it has since crashed. I can see the site from here, it is not too far from where we are. I am already en route to regroup.”
“Understood. When you get here, we’ll go scope it out. Be ready in case hostiles are present.”
“Affirmative.” Tech pocketed his comm, beginning his short trek down the cliff. As he walked, he began to think about what caused the crash. It was obvious that it would not have been the Imperial pilot, which would mean either it was damaged before entering atmosphere, or whoever was imprisoned had somehow gained control of the ship.
But whether or not they intended to escape by crashing the ship remained to be seen.
--
Far off, in the smoldering wreck of the transport, a figure staggers to their feet, shoving off debris. Panting, they look around then begin to shuffle towards the trees before being grabbed by another. The attacking person, clad in burnt and damaged green armor shoves the other to the ground.
Pulling a knife from their pocket, they stab the other in the thigh, eliciting a cry of pain. The victim below lashes out, managing to switch their positions and wringing their hands around their enemy’s neck. They squeezed, holding until the person underneath them goes still.
Standing once again, the figure pants heavily. Collecting himself, he turns and resumes walking into the woods.
-
Two lovers wander down to the shore
Hand in hand the evening before
-
“Are we getting close?” Omega asked.
Tech was leading the group as they walked through the forest, eyes glued to his datapad as it displayed their current position and their destination.
“A few more miles and we will have reached the crash site.” He replied.
Hunter sniffed the air. “I can smell the fumes from here. Too strong to catch anything else though.”
“I hope whoever was in there is ok.” Omega said, frowning with worry.
“It is likely there were a few casualties in the crash, but it is uncertain if any survived.”
“Or if they’re friendly.” Echo said.
“Stay close.” Hunter said. “Get ready in case this turns ugly.”
Omega nodded, hand going to rest on her bow as the group trudged on.
-
The day that their hands will be joined
-
Pain. Everything hurt.
Crosshair shambled through the woods, stumbling over roots as he tried to move his injured body. His back felt as though it was on fire, burns from the crash searing into his skin. He limped forward, blood trickling from where the knife was still embedded somewhere in his thigh. Fucking bastard. He thought dimly.
As he stepped forward, his foot caught a root, and he was sent tumbling to the ground. A small breathless shout escaped him before giving way to pained moaning. He lay on the ground, wheezing as he tried to regain his breath. The crash had broken at least a few of his ribs, making breathing difficult. A part of him just wanted to lie there, to just let the pain overtake him, but he pushed himself up.
With another groan, he slowly wobbled to his feet. He couldn’t let himself be captured again, not by the Empire. He would never let them be found.
With renewed vigor, he continued as he wandered deeper into the woods.
She enters and swims with the foam
-
As they neared the crash site, the batch raised their weapons. Tech flicked his scanner down, looking for any signs of life. Upon finding none, he moved it back up and gave the all-clear to his brothers.
They looked around the ship, the small fires started from the impact quickly having burnt out. Hunter noted two dead bodies, one clad in armor and the other too mangled to define. Upon closer inspection, the armored corpse was revealed to have been a clone.
“Was this who they were transporting?” Echo asked, careful to keep Omega from getting a good look at the body.
“Unlikely. A prisoner would not be allowed armor, nor would they be uncuffed. The cause of death is also strange.” Tech bent down to draw attention to the marks around the clone’s neck.
“He died not in the crash, but from strangulation. It seems that this clone was brought on to guard the prisoner and was subsequently dispatched by said prisoner so they could escape.”
Tech glanced up, eyes catching a small trail of blood that continued into the trees. He pointed it out to them.
“But not unharmed, it seems.”
He bids her come out and come home
-
Crosshair blinked slowly, almost unable to register his feet moving.
Every damn part of him hurt, the agony at an almost unbearable level. The blood had dried on his thigh. He hardly noticed over the fact that it was getting harder to breathe. He continued to trudge on, barely gaining any distance. He could barely think.
How long had it been? Time had passed, but he couldn’t tell how much. It was still plenty bright out, but he couldn’t muster the strength to look up. All he could do was just keep going forward. His mind unable to form much coherent thought.
His vision blurred as his legs finally gave out, crashing to the floor of the forest. He struggled to move, but only managed to roll onto his back. He gazed at the sky, trying to take deep breaths but was relegated to shallow pants by the horrid pain in his chest.
He heard the sound of running water close by. He turned his head slightly, seeing that he had somehow made his way to a small river.
Stars he was tired, so tired.
Something else was probably hurt, he didn’t know what. He couldn’t do anything about it anyway. He was alone, lost in the woods and probably wouldn’t make it to see the next morning. He was strangely calm though, the thought of his impending doom unable to stay in his head for long due to its fatigued state.
He just wanted to sleep, to take a rest. It wouldn’t hurt anybody right? His head began to swim, eyelids fluttering.
It hurt to breathe. It hurt to think. If he fell asleep, maybe it would all stop. All the pain, the loneliness. The water trickled by, it was soothing. Almost like a lullaby. Crosshair’s eyes began to close, his breathing slowed. Everything began to fade away.
The deeper and colder
She goes.
He just wanted to go home.
In his deteriorating state, before he was lost to darkness, he could so faintly hear something. Just out of reach, but he was too far gone to care.
--
The blood trail had stopped a ways into the forest. Hunter had tried to track it by smell, but it was still too close to the wreck to catch a scent. They were forced to follow the small footprints left by the prisoner, having difficulty due to the twisting roots.
Hunter tried again to find a scent, this time deducing a faint smell of smoke winding through the trees. The group followed, only to be disappointed as the smell faded.
At a loss, Hunter sighed.
“We might have to stop and get Rex to help.” He said.
“We can’t leave them!” Omega protested. “They’re hurt and we don’t have long before it starts to get dark!”
“We’ve been out here a while kid. We can’t find anything like this. Once we get Rex to help, we’ll have a better chance at finding them.”
Omega frowned.
“I know. I just…have a bad feeling about this.”
Tech stepped forward. “There is a large chance that the clone will be alright.” He assured her.
“If they survived this long with their injuries, they will be able to survive just a little longer.”
As Echo pulled out his comm to talk to Rex, Tech pulled his scanner down one last time to do another check for life signs. He paused, his indicator flashing. It did catch something, but it was faint. Very faint. Too small to be a sign of life, but enough to be caught.
The silt of our wedding bed
He suddenly felt a sinking feeling in his stomach, beginning to walk towards whatever the sign was. He could hear Hunter call after him.
“I found something.” He said simply, unable to continue as the sign blipped off his radar. Flipping his scanner back up, he broke into a small jog. He slowed as he came closer, hearing running water and stepping through the trees to see a small river.
He froze as his eyes landed on the body in front of him.
The body of his twin, splayed out in the dirt unmoving.
The pebbles where you lay your head
He slammed to his knees, immediately looking over to check the damage. Intense burns, bruising from the crash and what seemed to be broken ribs as he ran a hand over him.
He stopped, keeping his hand where it was on Crosshair’s chest.
His chest, which wasn’t moving.
Quickly pressing a now shaking hand to the side of his neck, his breath caught in his throat.
No pulse.
His brother was dead.
NO.
…
……
………
Silence.
Nothing but silence.
Crosshair felt himself suspended, floating in what felt like water. He slowly opened his eyes to see an endless field of indigo around him. He felt strange, as though he could breathe but he also wasn’t breathing at the same time.
He looked around, unable to spot anything at first. He wondered where he was. Last he remembered; he was bleeding out on the ground of some planet. Why he was there though…his mind grew fuzzy at that. He wasn’t afraid of where he was though. It was nice here. No pain, no anything. Just endless water, wrapping him in a warm embrace.
He heard something. He tilted his head from side to side, trying to hear it.
It sounded…like someone marching?
He looked down, able to glimpse a small light. His eyes narrowed, trying to make it out. He realized that it was getting brighter.
Or was he getting closer?
His mind was still sluggish, but he continued to stare at the light. It was white and soft, unmoving from where it was. He could feel himself drifting further and further down towards it. The closer he got, the louder the sound became. Now, it sounded like multiple people were marching.
Before he could get closer, he was stopped by a rough tugging sensation in his chest. He frowned, rubbing at it. It felt like there was a string tied around his heart, yanking upwards. It kept him from drifting but wasn’t enough to pull him upwards.
He twisted around, uncomfortable at the sudden dull ache. He was doing just fine without it! Now he was beginning to feel tired and the ache was starting to spread all over. Upset, he looked back at the light, becoming transfixed at the sight of it.
Love come in, the water is fine
He wanted to get closer to it. To the people marching. He wanted to see where they were going.
In the back of his mind, something told him to stay. To hang on, but it was drowned out by the sounds of marching.
---
“HUNTER!!”
When she is pulled beneath the rush
Tech screamed, hands now rushing to begin pumping his brother’s chest. He was still warm, meaning that his heart couldn’t have been stopped for long. There was also no indication of rigor mortis, and it was likely that the rest of his organs had yet to shut down. But they most likely were already, rapidly.
Hunter arrived a second later, eyes widening in shock at his brother’s limp form. One look at Tech’s face struck a fear in him he’d hoped to never feel again. He kneeled right beside Tech, preparing to take over chest compressions as his eyes swept over Crosshair’s body.
“What the fuck happened?” he said harshly.
“Found him…like this.” Tech said in between compressions, keeping count as he neared 30. “No pulse.” Hunter’s panicked face intensified.
He waits and waves, his face aflush
“Body is still warm.” Tech supplied. “Organs haven’t completely shut off.”
As Tech finished compressions, he bent down to breath for him. He watched Crosshair’s chest slowly rise and fall twice, returning to its unmoving state as he finished. Panting, he moved to continue compressions when Hunter took over for him. He looked up to see the rest of the batch staring mortified at them, Echo trying to shield Omega from seeing their brother’s body.
“Contact Rex.” Tec said hurriedly. “See if he has anything to help revive him.” Echo nodded.
Wrecker turned around, holding Omega back as she began to push against him.
“Is that Crosshair!? Is he okay? What’s wrong?!” Her questions fell on deaf ears as Tech returned to monitoring Crosshair. He flinched as he heard a muffled crack, Hunter muttering a curse under his breath.
Till the pale imitation drifts up.
Just hold on Crosshair. Please hold on.
--
Crosshair floated where he was, tethered where he was by the unseen force tugging at his heart. He whined, struggling somewhat to try and free himself. When he tries to swim down, he finds that he can quite easily. It doesn’t take much to fight against the tugging, and so he paddles downward slowly.
As he goes deeper, the pain lessens. He’s relieved at that, but the voices also get quieter. The muffled ones he’d heard. The voices that spoke out to him. He hesitated, eyes beginning to drift back up to where the surface would be when he heard them.
More voices.
The silt of our wedding bed
The pebbles where you lay your head.
They sounded so beautiful, so familiar. He wanted to get closer, to hear what they were saying.
Love come in
He swam deeper, following the melody.
---
“C’mon Crosshair.” Hunter panted, his arms tired from the constant compressions. “Just come back to us.”
The minnows our witnesses
Tech continued to keep two fingers pressed to the side of Crosshair’s neck, watching his brother’s chest for any signs of life. It had been 4 minutes and counting since they had found him. He showed no signs of improvement.
Hunter bent down to breathe for Crosshair, growling in frustration as nothing changed. He slowed, tired from the process. Tech took over, resuming the compressions. Hunter sat there, looking at his brother’s resting face and reached up to his hair to grab at it. He looked up to the sky, a mix of hopelessness and despair rising in his chest.
His head fell with a small sob, looking up as Echo placed a hand on his shoulder. They stared at each other for a moment, slowly accepting it. Hunter looked past him to see Omega cradled in Wrecker’s arms, looking at him for an answer. For something. Anything. He could do nothing but shake his head as tears welled up in his eyes.
The cause of our sickness is
Omega began to cry, breaking from Wrecker’s grasp to rush into Hunter’s. Wrecker was holding back sobs too, tears streaking down his face. Tech paused, huffing with exertion. Echo reached out a hand to Tech, who shrugged it off.
“Tech-“
“No. No there is still time-“
“There isn’t. We’re too late.”
Love come in,
“I’m not losing him-“
“Tech!” Echo gripped his shoulder this time, forcing Tech to look up at him. His cheeks were wet with tears, goggles slightly fogged up. His heart wrenched, more than it already was.
“We already did.”
The water is fine
--
Crosshair sighed-or what could pass as a sigh- in relief. The tugging had stopped, and now he sank ever closer to the bright light. It had changed, now resembling a small square of light.
Now he could hear them singing clearly. It sounded like vod, calling out to him, calling his name, and it made him feel warm. As he got closer, he reached out a hand. He just barely missed it.
Just a bit closer.
Just a little…bit…closer…
Blood runs thicker than water
Blood runs thicker than water
The words soothed him, making the warmth spread all over his body
Out of nowhere, he felt that tugging sensation. Only this time, it was much stronger. He could feel himself yanked just a little. He turned around, tired of that feeling when he saw it.
Stretching far, far above him, a faint glowing string floated. It started from his chest and continued all the way up to what seemed to be the top of the water. The faint light illuminated the tiniest of something at the top. He couldn’t see what it was.
Curious, he lifted a hand to brush at the string. Upon doing so, a voice echoed in his ear.
Blood runs thicker than water
“Don’t…leave…”
“Stay…please…”
But both feel the same when your eyes are closed
---
Tech looked down at his brother’s face, peaceful as though he were sleeping.
But he wasn’t.
Hopelessness brewed in him, clawing its way up his throat and drowning his head in despair and grief.
Gritting his teeth, he pounded his brother’s chest. He moved to do it a second time but stopped. Instead, he gathered his twin’s body into his arms, his beath beginning to hitch.
“Don’t leave.” He whispered in between sobs.
“Stay. Please.”
He pushed his head into his brother’s shoulder, crying quietly. Silence filled the air as they mourned the loss of their brother.
Too late.
He’d been too late.
---
He…recognized that voice. He’d heard it all his life, even in his dreams.
I am the river’s daughter
His brother, his twin.
I am the river’s daughter
The string was beginning to slacken, drifting downwards.
Crosshair paused for a moment. He didn’t like how his brother sounded. He sounded sad, heartbroken. Pleading for him to come back.
To come home.
I am the river’s daughter
He found that he wanted to.
Filled with determination, he spared one last look at the light behind him. The chanting had become a chorus, the light bright enough to be almost blinding. The singing continued, drifting towards him.
And you’ll be her son when we’re both reposed
That place would be nice. Other vod were there, he wouldn’t be alone.
But it wouldn’t be home.
Not without his brothers.
Turning back, he grasped the string and pulled. He slowly began to move upwards, but the line was still too slack. He struggled, trying to kick upwards when he felt something grasping at his back. Hands reaching out and grabbing hold of him. He flailed for a moment; he was not going to leave his brothers behind!
Blood runs thicker than water
Blood runs thicker than water.
Blood runs thicker than water
But both feel the same when your eyes are closed
But instead, they pushed him, guiding him towards the surface.
I am the river’s daughter
I am the river’s daughter
I am the river’s daughter
And you’ll be her son when we’re both reposed
He could hear voices encircling him. Clones singing encouragement as they propelled him further.
Blood runs thicker than water (the silt of our wedding bed)
Blood runs thicker than water
Blood runs thicker than water (the pebbles where you lay your head)
As he was almost at the end of the string, the hands faded along with the voices. He was left alone, feeling a dull ache in his chest. He was tired again, so tired. His eyes closed as he began to drift down once more.
But both feel the same when your eyes are closed
He forced his eyes open to see a hand reach out to him, clad in white armor.
I am the river’s daughter (Love come in)
I am the river’s daughter
The sight renewed his hope, kicking up as hard as he could, getting ever so closer.
I am the river’s daughter (Love come in)
And you’ll be her son when the water is fine
He could hear the soft chants of his brothers
(The minnows our witnesses)
The cause of our sickness is
Just a little more.
Love come in, Love come in
He stretched out his arm, straining as his fingers reached towards his brother’s hand.
Love come in,
--
A loud, strangled gasp rang out, startling them all.
In Tech’s arms, Crosshair suddenly tensed up and then began to shake, coughing violently. Tech quickly pulled back to give him room to breathe.
Breathe. His brother was breathing.
Crosshair’s eyes flickered open, unfocused. He managed to find Tech’s own.
The water is fine
“I…came…back…” he said in between gasps for air, before his eyes shut again and he fell unconscious.
For a moment, everyone was frozen. All that could be heard was Crosshair’s labored wheezing.
“Marauder.” Tech said, clutching his brother’s shaking form.
“Now.”
----
They all piled into the ship, Echo already running for the pilot’s the moment they touched the ramp. Tech put Crosshair on a bunk, rushing to gather supplies. Tech’s mind was racing, focused entirely on the state of his brother.
Severe burns were located on the upper and lower back areas. Bacta patches and salve are required. He pulled out both from the kit Hunter passed to him, turning Crosshair over to apply it to the inflamed area.
As he finished, he heard Crosshair’s heaving intensify into strained gasps. He was too weak to inhale enough air.
“Oxygen mask!” he shouted. Omega rooting around then sprinting over to hand him one. Tech slipped it onto Crosshair’s face, the vice around his heart easing slightly as his breathing became slightly relaxed.
His hand brushed past something. He looked down to see a knife protruding from his right thigh. Swearing, he took hold of the knife and swiftly pulled it out, holding Crosshair down as he jolted with pain. He wrapped the injury with gauze to stop the bleeding, turning to focus on his ribs.
Hunter had already pressed ice onto the injury, carefully wrapping a few bandages to secure them in place. Tech felt alongside his ribcage, ignoring the small whimpers as he pushed gently. They were broken, but didn’t seem to have shifted. Good, as that would mean there was a low chance of the bones damaging soft tissue or puncturing a lung. To make sure, Tech grabbed his helmet to do a quick scan, not finding any damage besides some bruising.
He turned his attention to the stab wound on his thigh. The wound had been oozing and not spraying, meaning that the weapon had thankfully missed any major arteries. Once the blood flow had slowed enough, Tech proceeded to sew the wound shut, applying a bacta patch when he finished.
Finally, he drew back to his kit to bring out a syringe of anesthetics. He pushed into the side of Crosshair’s neck, injecting the drugs into his system. He pulled back as Crosshair began to take deep heaving breaths, evidence of the sedatives taking hold. His breathing evened out to shaky wheezes as sleep was induced. Everyone on the ship took a collective sigh of relief as his condition was stabilized, Wrecker collapsing into one of the seats with Omega flopping onto his lap. Echo leaned back in the pilot’s seat and Hunter leaned over to put his head in his hands.
They took the moment of peace to adjust from the sudden shift in emotions. The harrowing experience drained them all, jumping from despair to shock and panic. Echo got up to pick up Lula and bring her to Omega, whose face was still red and puffy from tears.
While everyone else was still reeling from almost losing their brother, Tech’s mind was quiet. He felt numb as he began to replay events in his head from just a few minutes prior. He analyzed them as he did one final lookover of his brother.
His breathing was steady, the mask fogging slightly with each exhale. His stab wound was properly dressed, no signs of infection were found. His eyes drifted up over his chest. 6 ribs were broken, all located in the upper region of the ribcage. The breaks were nondisplaced, which would make the healing process easier and quicker. Severe bruising was spread across him because of this, red and yellow of varying shades covered his chest. Techs eyes landed on the upper left of his breast, a particularly large dark bruise centered there.
Not from the crash, but from compressions.
He wasn’t breathing when we found him. His mind supplied faintly; his eyes glued to the spot on Crosshair’s chest as the realization began to wash over him.
His heart wasn’t beating. Organs were beginning to shut down and he was unresponsive to their attempts. In technical terms, he was dead.
Crosshair.
Had died.
And had stayed dead for an extended period, most likely past the point of resuscitation being successful. It wouldn’t have been long before his body completely shut down and a few hours later rigor mortis would set in, and he’d grow cold to the touch-
Tech could hear someone talking to him, their voice distant. Everything had grown quiet; he realized as he continued to stare at his brother’s body. His own breathing had become quick, but he felt numb all over.
His brother was dead. Gone. Somewhere they would never reach him. He was-
“-ive! He’s alive Tech, listen to me!”
Tech started, his vision suddenly becoming obscured by a large blurry shape passing in front of it. He recognized it as Hunter as his vision slowly cleared, whose face was lined with worry as he placed his hands on Tech’s shoulders. He realized that he was hyperventilating and shaking.
A panic attack.
“It’s fine, it’s ok. He’s alright. He’ll be fine Tech.” Hunter said to calm him, lifting his hands to frame his brother’s face to keep his attention, unfocused eyes staring at nothing. He exaggerated his breathing, trying to get Tech to follow. He did, his breathing slowing down to match Hunter’s as his eyes cleared.
“You had me worried a second Tech.” he said, gently moving his hands back down to his shoulders to rub at them.
“You looked over at Crosshair and just froze. Heard your heart rate pick up and-“
“He died.” Tech said curtly. Hunter stopped talking.
“He was unresponsive, no heartbeat.” Tech mumbled quietly, Hunter slowly beginning to pull him into a hug. Tech looked over his shoulder to watch Crosshair’s chest rise and fall, an indication of life.
“Four minutes.” He whispered, almost inaudible
“He was dead for four. Minutes.” His body began to shake again.
“If I had found him one second, one moment later-“
“You didn’t.” Hunter cut in, stopping his brother from spiraling. He rubbed his back, soothing him.
“You found him in time. He’ll be alright.”
Tech fell silent, Hunter continuing to embrace his brother as he felt his shoulder grow damp.
“I almost lost him.”
“But you didn’t. You saved him Tech. He’s here right now because of you.”
Tech reached his arms around Hunter’s waist and squeezed, breath hitching.
“And we’re not going to lose him.” He promised.
Omega sat next to Crosshair who lay in bed, watching her brother’s chest rise and fall.
It had been a few weeks since they found him on Takodana. After they stabilized him, they rushed off to Pabu. Echo had contacted Rex to tell him about the situation, who readily offered support if they needed it. After they got back, they got him as comfortable as they could manage.
Omega shuddered as she remembered what she’d seen. Wrecker and Echo had blocked most of her view of Crosshair, but she did glimpse his broken and bruised form, eyes closed as if he were sleeping. The painful wheezes she heard on the journey to Pabu still echoing in her ears. She shook off the memories and squeezed Crosshair’s hand to remind herself that he was alive.
Barely any of them had left Crosshair’s side, each of them taking turns sitting at his bedside. Tech was the only one who hadn’t left the room with Crosshair since they came back. She spared a glance at him; he was continuing to monitor Crosshair’s vitals and prepping sedatives. She had never seen him that panicked and shaken before when they’d found Crosshair. She’d seen him downcast before, after they left Crosshair on Kamino. Btu she had never seen him so devastated as he was when he was clutching him.
She returned her gaze to Crosshair, whose sleeping form remained unmoving. Tech had said that it would take at least a few days for his lungs to fully heal, and a month for his ribs. He should wake up sometime in between then. She folded her arms and laid her head on top of them next to Crosshair, huffing a sigh. She closed her eyes, drifting off into a light sleep.
Something shook her, waking Omega somewhat from her sleep. She felt a hand gently catharding through her hair. Eyes still closed; she shifted where she was sitting.
“Five more minutes Tech.” she mumbled.
“Not happening.” A voice rasped out.
Omega’s eyes flew open, head snapping up to see Crosshair awake, gently rubbing her head. His face wore a small, tired smile.
“Hey kid.” He whispered.
“Crosshair!” she exclaimed, lurching forward to embrace him, being reminded of his broken ribs as she felt him suppress a grunt of pain. When she began to draw back, he pulled her closer, tightening the hug.
“Hell of a way to wake up.” He groaned, pulling back after a few moments.
“Are you hurting anywhere?” she asked. Crosshair shook his head, looking up to see Tech having joined them. His eyes widening in shock before instantly checking over Crosshair’s condition.
“Are you having any difficulties breathing?” He asked.
“Happy to see you-ow-too.” Crosshair remarked as he prodded at his ribcage. “Where are the others?”
Just as he asked that, Hunter quickly burst into the room, followed immediately after by Wrecker whose face lit up as he saw Crosshair, running over to his side and barely restraining himself from giving Crosshair a hug like Omega.
“You’re awake!” He cried. “We were so worried about you!”
“Gave us a pretty nasty scare.” Echo chuckled, coming around to put a hand on his shoulder.
“How long was I out?” he asked.
“Two and a half weeks.” Hunter said, arms crossed as he looked over his brother.
“Yes, quite impressive how you managed to wake up so quickly in light of your injuries.” Tech said, finishing his check-up. “My expectation was four weeks.”
“Really? What kind of state was I in to be out for four weeks?”
The room fell silent, the bright mood quickly extinguished. Crosshair’s face fell as the realization hit him.
“You were in a direct crash Crosshair.” Hunter said softly, eyes averting his gaze. “It’s a miracle you were able to even get up, let alone walk away from such a crash. And the state we found you in- “
Hunter stopped, unable to continue. Crosshair looked over to Tech, whose expression gave a sinking feeling in his gut.
“That bad?” He whispered.
“You were in…critical condition.” Tech started. “But now,” he continued shaking himself, “you have improved considerably and are headed towards a full recovery.”
Omega curled back into Crosshair; arms now wrapped very carefully around his waist. “You’re going to be ok now Crosshair.” She said, though it sounded like she said it to reassure herself instead of Crosshair.
Crosshair hesitated slightly before gently patting her head.
“Yeah. I’m going to be fine.” He agreed. The mood in the room lifted slightly, everyone shaking off their upset. But Tech’s eyes remained averted from Crosshair’s.
Tech monitored Crosshair’s condition closely over the coming weeks. He was healing well, the only evidence of his injuries being the bandages wrapped around his middle and how he took measured breaths. Every so often, he would breathe too deep and wince but shake it off afterwards. A few days after waking up, he was able to stand and shuffle around. With every day, his stamina grew and allowed him to get around more before becoming tired. Tech prescribed him with basic painkillers to make it easier on him.
But he was…different. Yes, he still gave them sarcastic remarks and scowls, he’d even got into a few small arguments with Echo, mainly about his condition and how he wanted to move around more. But they were light, never serious. He talked to them more than he normally would have; every day he was around at least one of them. Most of the time it was Omega, letting her show him around Pabu. Tech noticed how he was smiling, more than he’d seen him in a long time. He was softer in a way, giving small head pats to Omega and returning Wrecker’s hugs. He had also grown open to them, willing to speak about things that they would once have had to drag out of him.
An example of this was when Tech had overheard him talking with Hunter once about what he would do once he was healed. Crosshair had simply said that he would stay, that he didn’t want to go anywhere else. That this was his home, where he belonged. Hunter had grown a little misty eyed at that, chuckling and remarking that he was kind of hoping Crosshair would say that.
“You’re not getting rid of me that easy.” Crosshair had smirked.
All this positive development was good, and it eased a lot of his anxiety about Crosshair’s recovery.
But it did not stop the nightmares.
Some nights, Tech would have dreams about that horrible moment, where he held Crosshair’s unresponsive body in his arms. He would always wake up in a cold sweat and would end up not going back to bed at all. He’d rather stay awake and deal with the consequences than relive that.
It was another one of those nights now, he lay in bed tossing and turning. Just a few minutes ago, he’d woken up gasping, almost yelling out Crosshair’s name. Once he calmed himself, he had gotten up out of bed to go straight to Crosshair’s room to check on him. When he was assured that Crosshair was safe, he returned to his room.
Images flashed through his head, the dream still fresh and painfully detailed in his mind. Crouching in shallow water, holding Crosshair in his arms, his body cold and stiff. Tech had shaken him as hard as he could, trying to wake him back up to no avail. At some point, the water started rising. Tech had stood with Crosshair in his arms to try and keep him away from it, but it seemed to reach for Crosshair. It had risen to Tech’s waist before it enveloped Crosshair’s limp body and pulled it down. Tech had tried to grab him, but he was out of reach. When he tried to go under to follow, he was prevented from doing so and had to watch as his brother drifted down into the dark abyss, deaf to his pleas to return.
He froze in bed, hearing faint shuffling footsteps approaching his door. It opened to reveal a blurry figure, Tech putting his goggles on to see Crosshair standing in the doorway. He leaned against the frame, a knowing look on his face.
“A bit early to be up, isn’t it?” He drawled, voice still rough from sleep.
“I could say the same for you.” Tech countered.
“I’m up because someone decided to come waltzing into my room at 1 in the morning.” He said.
Tech looked away, remaining silent.
“I’m not Hunter, but I’m pretty sure it was you.” He stood up away from the doorframe, crossing his arms.
“This is the fourth time you’ve snuck into my room for reconnaissance. Care to tell me why?” he asked, not bothering to ask him gently.
Tech was silent for a moment before whispering:” I had…a nightmare. I needed to assure your safety.” He sounded almost ashamed.
Crosshair nodded, standing where he was and looking over Tech’s slumped form. He rolled his eyes and sighed, shuffling over to sit next to him on the bed. It creaked slightly as it accustomed to his weight, the normally inaudible sound breaking the silence.
“Was it about how you found me on Takodana?” he asked softly. He glanced at his brother to see him nod slightly; eyes focused on the blankets around his lap.
“It was really that bad huh?” he continued, gaining another short nod in reply. He let out an exasperated sigh.
“Makes sense I guess.” He said, talking simply to fill the silence that kept filling the room. “Considering how nobody talks to me about it, even weeks after I’m up and walking about-“
“You died.”
Tech’s voice, barely above a whisper, interjects.
Crosshair’s mouth snaps shut.
What?
“We found you not breathing and without a heartbeat.” Tech continues, his voice shaking slightly.
“Your organs were beginning to fail, and Hunter and I attempted to resuscitate you.”
Crosshair was staring off at the wall, the realization crawling over him. He had died.
It wasn’t a dream then, was it?
“It didn’t work.”
He was brought back by his brother’s voice. He looked at him again, eyes that began to shine were still trained on his hands, which were now fisted in the blankets and shaking.
“Almost all of your organs shut down and the timeframe for successfully reviving you had passed.”
Crosshair, seeing his brother beginning to spiral, slowly reached a hand around his shoulder. He paused, and when his brother made no move to shake him off, pulled him closer.
Tech let himself lean against Crosshair’s shoulder, using it to try and ground himself. He didn’t like this, the turmoil in his head, how his breathing quickened, how powerless he felt against the rising swell of emotions. He fell silent, trying to swallow down the lump in his throat.
After a moment, he spoke.
“4 minutes.”
“You were dead. For four minutes.”
Crosshair let out a strained breath. “Shit Tech- “
“Your chances of survival were nonexistent.” Tech continued. “You were already lost by the time we found you and at that point, there was no hope.”
“You were gone, and it was my fault.”
“I had been too late, took too long to find you and as a result was unable to bring you back.”
He could feel himself slipping, losing the small control over himself that he had.
“Because of me and my inadequacy, my inability to save you, we lost you again-“
Tech’s breath hitched, Crosshair taking the moment to press him against his chest. He held him tight, trying to keep him from spiraling further. Tech instantly wrapped his arms around his shoulders, taking shuddering breaths as tears began to roll down his cheeks.
“You were taken from me, and I couldn’t reach you. No matter how hard I tried, you just went deeper and deeper.”
He wasn’t talking about Takodana anymore.
“I couldn’t save you. I couldn’t bring you back anditwasallmyfau- “
“Tech.”
Crosshair pulls his head back to look at Tech.
“Tech look at me.”
He grabs at Tech’s head to force their eyes to meet. He exaggerates his breathing, dragging one of the hands that gripped his shirt to rest on his chest, over his heart.
“I’m here. I’m okay. I’m alive because of you.”
Tech’s breaths begin to stutter, his eyes full of tears and anguish as he looked at his brother.
“I’m not going anywhere.”
With those final words of reassurance, Crosshair pulled them both into another hug. He cradled his brother as he broke, soundlessly sobbing into his shoulder. He held him, never taking Tech’s hand from where it was over his heart and continuing to take deep breaths.
There they remained, clutching onto each other as though they might be ripped away at any moment.
It took a while for Tech to calm down.
As his breathing finally began to slow, he registered that they were now lying on the bed. Crosshair was on his back, with Tech clinging to his chest and the blankets pooled around them. They said nothing, Crosshair gently stroking his back as his breathing hitched.
“I had a dream too y’know.” Crosshair said after a few minutes.
“It was nice, floating around in water and not feeling anything.” His hand trailed up and down Tech’s spine aimlessly as he continued, staring at the ceiling.
“I could see a light, far off. It was dim, but I could make it out. I felt drawn to it, started to swim towards it. Something kept tugging me back, but I kept going. I could hear voices, what sounded like vod chanting, singing. It was beautiful.”
“I got close; it looked kinda like a window. I was so close to touching it, to reaching through it.” He lifted a hand slightly, reaching forward in front of him.
“It felt…familiar. Safe even. Like I was going home…”
As he trailed off, Tech began to parse what he had said. He remained silent as he did, turning it over in his mind as he slowly figured it out. His hand tightened, fisting in Crosshair’s shirt as he came to the same realization Crosshair had.
“You…didn’t though.” He spoke.
“Why?”
Crosshair shrugged, his hand dropping back down to his chest.
“Because it wasn’t home. Sure, other vod were there, some were probably waiting for me. But none of you were.”
“I felt one big tug, and turned to see a string, going from the center of my chest and reaching all the way up. I knew it was you, tugging on it. I wanted to follow it, to find you.
Crosshair took a deep breath before he continued.
“So, I started swimming. After a moment, I felt somebody pushing me up. Helped me get far enough to where I could see what I think was the surface. Someone was reaching out to me. Everything starts to get blurry after that, and I remember aching all over. Last thing I remember though, is reaching up for your hand. After that, I woke up to you leaning over me.”
He shifted over onto his side, curling around Tech as he did the same.
“I made it back, I came back. Cause of you.”
He looked down at tech, pressing a small kiss to his temple. “Thanks for that.”
“And I’m not leaving you. Not again.”
“Good. Because I won’t let you.” Tech replied, tightening his hold on him and resting his head against his chest. It rumbled with a soft chuckle, heartbeat slow and steady.
“No.” Crosshair yawned as they both began to drift off.
“I know you won’t.”