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Hunter ran through the halls of Tantiss, his senses open to pick up any sign of Omega. He could hear fighting from the other side of the facility as his vode led a distraction to let him search. He paused when he came to a door, his ears picking up sounds of struggle inside. Readying his vibroblade, Hunter shoved the door open and raised his blaster.
“Hunter!” Omega looked at him with wide eyes, her arm trapped in a trooper’s grip. Without stopping, Hunter shot the trooper, running to Omega’s side before he hit the ground.
“Are you okay?” he asked, looking over her for injuries.
Omega began to pull away towards the door. “We need to find Crosshair come on!”
She was out the door before Hunter could stop her, quickly following behind her. What was happening to Crosshair? After spending months on opposite sides, he didn’t even know if his brother would want his help. He covered Omega as they ran, trusting his sister and taking down any troopers who strayed too close. He raised his comm.
“Found her. We’re going to try to find Crosshair.”
He blocked out the questions and sounds of worry as Omega slowed down before stopping at a door. “He should be in here, it’s where they do all their experiments.”
Hunter held in a shudder at the mention of experiments and the thought of his youngest brother stuck as part of them even after the destruction of Kamino. He listened at the door hearing shuffling feet near the door and rattling breathing.
Raising his blaster, he took a breath and shoved open the door, swiftly taking out the trooper to the right of it. His breath caught as he looked over to where Omega ran. Crosshair lay strapped to a table in the middle of the room, medical equipment scattered around him after whoever was using them made a swift exit, an IV line attached to his arm.
He came over to Crosshair’s side as Omega began pulling at the restraints to remove them. His brother’s usually sharp eyes were foggy and distant, half open and drifting aimlessly. He flinched slightly but otherwise didn’t react to Omega’s efforts. While he had always been lean, his frame was now unhealthily thin, almost reminding Hunter of Echo when they first found him. Blood stained parts of his clothes and he could see bruises poking out from under them.
“Crosshair?” he breathed. His eyes drifted vaguely in Hunter’s direction, but he otherwise didn’t react.
Hunter caught Omega out of the corner of his eye as she moved to the other side of the bed to get the rest of the restraints off. This spurred him into action, and he worked to carefully remove the IV line. He then left Omega with Crosshair for a moment as he stepped away to comm the team again.
“We found him,” his voice sounded strained, even to himself, “Start heading back to the ship and get medical ready. We need to go.”
“Need any help with him, Sarge?” Wrecker asked as Echo and Tech voiced their affirmatives.
Hunter glanced over at Omega who was trying to coax Crosshair to look at her and sit up. “No, head to the ship. I’ve got him.”
Wrecker gave his affirmative as Hunter moved back to his youngest siblings. He heard Crosshair give an unintelligible murmur as Omega tried to help him. He put a hand on her shoulder, and she pulled back and let Hunter gently scoop Crosshair into his arms. Then he nodded at Omega to lead the way as he followed, carrying his lost brother back home.
Tech stood waiting at the top of the Marauder’s stairs, watching for his vode. The ship rumbled as Echo idled it, ready to take off as soon as they were all aboard. Wrecker fiddled anxiously at his side, blaster ready to provide cover if necessary.
Finally, he allowed himself a small sigh of relief as he saw Omega running towards the ship, closely followed by Hunter, Crosshair held close to his chest. Wrecker moved around him to provide cover fire from the few troopers who still pursued them.
Omega scrambled past him, headed towards the bunks. Tech rushed alongside Hunter as he followed their sister and placed Crosshair onto a bunk. He heard Wrecker shout to Echo and felt the ship begin to move as he pulled out his med scanner.
Crosshair’s usually sharp eyes were now filled with a drug-addled haze as they drifted aimlessly, his body littered with evidence of weeks of torture and experimentation. Tech waited restlessly for the med scanner to finish scanning, telling Omega to bring the med kit he had prepared over, Hunter having vanished to the front of the ship as soon as he put Crosshair down.
Tech frowned as the med scanner finished. It could be worse, but it certainly wasn’t good. Crosshair had multiple lacerations and bruising, two broken ribs, dehydration and he was near malnourished. The drugs in his system would prevent him from giving him anything to help for days. He would likely face withdrawal symptoms if they had been given to him regularly enough. The rattling breaths concerned him greatly, though among everything, the exact cause remained unclear.
He let Omega sit on the bunk near Crosshair’s feet as he moved to his head.
“Crosshair, can you hear me? You are on the Marauder. I am going to help you now.”
Crosshair’s gaze drifted in Tech’s general direction, but he otherwise didn’t react. He tried carefully placing a hand on Crosshair’s shoulder, earning a slight flinch, but nothing more. He glanced up to Wrecker, who had been standing by the opposite bunk, watching anxiously.
“Wrecker, help me remove his clothes, I need to assess the full extent of the damage and see what I can help with now.”
Wrecker nodded and moved over to gently lift Crosshair into sitting up, allowing Tech to carefully slide his shirt off. Crosshair’s head lolled onto Wrecker’s shoulder as Tech worked, Wrecker muttering something quietly to him.
Once Tech was done, he laid Crosshair back down gently and returned to the other bunk, safely out of the way until he was needed again. He put a hand on Omega’s shoulder to gently pull her along with him. She reluctantly followed, eyes never leaving Crosshair as she settled onto Wrecker’s lap.
Now that he could clearly see, Tech assessed which wounds would need to be treated first. Most of the bleeding had stopped, although some larger wounds on his chest and arm still leaked slowly. The bruising around his ribs was dark, fairly recent, and he was a little surprised that only two ribs were broken. He got to work preparing an IV line to address the dehydration, before distracting himself with the busywork of treating the dozens of wounds.
When he went to insert the needle into his arm, however, Crosshair jerked back, pulling his arm away and crying out wordlessly. He heard Omega shout behind him and Wrecker trying to calm her as Tech pulled away from his brother, putting the needle down. He held his hands up placatingly as Crosshair’s breathing began to turn ragged, his eyes darting around the room as he clumsily pulled himself further against the wall, pulling his legs up and curling into himself.
“It’s okay, Cross’ika. It’s just me, Tech. You’re on the Marauder. Wrecker and Omega are just over there. We got you out. You’re safe.”
He continued this stream of comforting words as he kept himself from reaching out to touch his brother, not knowing how he would react now that he seemed more alert. He moved himself into Crosshair’s line of sight, trying to get him to focus as his eyes continued to dart around. Finally, they landed on Tech, still unfocused and hazy, but more aware than he had been with the sudden rush of panic.
“That’s it, it’s just me. You’re safe. I know it likely has negative connotations, but I need to give you an IV to help with your dehydration. Do you understand?”
As Crosshair continued to stare into Tech, he heard movement behind him before Omega appeared at his side. She reached out towards Crosshair, not touching him, but opening herself up for him to come to her. His eyes darted from Tech to her, his breathing stuttering at seeing her standing there.
“Hey, Cross. It’s true, we’re safe now. I’m here, it’s okay. Tech is just trying to help you, you’re really hurt.”
His mouth moved to say something, but no sound came out. He slowly uncurled reaching out to take Omega’s offered hand.
“Yeah, it’s okay. You need to breathe, like this.” Omega’s words of comfort continued. And although Crosshair didn’t seem to fully understand her words, once she placed his hand to her chest and began to exaggerate her breaths, his breathing began to slow alongside it.
His eyes fluttered as exhaustion began to make itself known, but Tech took comfort in his stubbornness to stay awake, and they helped him uncurl and lay back down. He carefully picked up the needle again, showing it to Crosshair this time and explaining his every move until the line was successfully placed. From then, Crosshair seemed to settle. His eyes returned to drifting aimlessly, though now drooping as he fought sleep. Omega moved back to Wrecker’s lap to stay out of Tech’s way as he worked, treating the multitudes of injuries he found.
Once he had finally finished tending to Crosshair, he turned to see Wrecker leaning back on the bunk properly as Omega slept next to him. Wrecker looked up at Tech, worry clear in his face.
“Physically, he should recover in time, although we should get to a proper medical facility soon to treat him properly and in case of further complications. He will be dealing with the mental strain of all of this for the rest of his life, most likely. All we can do is be there for him.” He answered before Wrecker could ask.
Wrecker nodded, the worry never leaving his face, only now paired with sadness for his little brother, “You should rest, Tech, I can watch them.”
“I would rather stay to monitor Crosshair for at least a few more hours.”
“But he’s stable now, yeah?”
“Yes, he appears to be stable for now until we can get him proper treatment.”
Wrecker put a hand on Tech’s shoulder, shaking him lightly. “Then rest, Techy, I can watch him for ya. And I can get you if anything happens. You can’t help him as best you can if you’re exhausted.”
Tech sighed at Wrecker’s sound logic, “Alright, just for an hour or two. Wake me immediately if something happens.”
“Yeah, I’ve got him.”
After checking Crosshair over one final time, finding him finally asleep, Tech climbed up onto the bunk above Wrecker and Omega and let his exhausted eyes close.
The blue stream of hyperspace lit the cockpit as Echo finished setting up autopilot. Hunter flipped his vibroblade in his hands as he sat in the copilot’s seat beside him.
“Alright, should be just under a day out from the nearest safe medical centre.”
“You sure it’s safe?”
Echo looked over at Hunter and nodded, “I commed Rex as soon as you gave the call to prepare medical, he gave me the coordinates. It’s a little out of the way but that should just mean it’s safer.”
Echo watched Hunter as he said nothing, looking down at his knife as he continued fidgeting.
“How was he?” Echo asked quietly.
Hunter sighed, “Not good. I have no idea how bad it is, he looks and sounds like he went three rounds with a hungry rancor. They had him drugged up too, don’t think he even knew we were really there.” He gripped his knife tightly, remembering all the equipment left abandoned around Crosshair. The doctors had been lucky they weren’t in the room when he arrived.
“Then why are you up here? The entire time I’ve known you, you never leave a downed vod’s side.”
Hunter glanced up at Echo’s searching face, “I wanted to stay out of Tech’s way, he has a lot of work to do.”
“Hunter, since when have you ever done that?”
Hunter sighed, “You didn’t see him, Echo. Omega made it sound like they were experimenting on him constantly, she knew exactly where to go to find him.” He put the knife away and ran a hand though his hair, “He was stuck there, strapped to a table, because I left him behind. He should never have been there. I should have gotten him out months ago.”
“You can’t blame yourself, Hunter, he made his choices, even after his chip was removed. It isn’t your fault that he stayed.”
“But I shouldn’t have left him in the first place, we should have helped him get his chip out, not the Empire.”
“We didn’t know, Hunter. And besides, he wasn’t exactly making it easy for us.”
They sat in silence for a few moments. Hunter heard Crosshair cry out, followed by muffled words from the others. He wanted to run back there, to comfort his youngest vod’ika, but he kept himself in his seat, looking back into the ship until the sounds stopped.
“I was angry at Rex when I got back. At all of them, actually.” Hunter looked over to see Echo staring down at his scomp arm as he spoke, “Even though they couldn’t have stopped it. Most of them weren’t even there. But we never leave a brother behind, and they left me. It hurt, even though they had every reason to believe I was dead. But Rex worked his ass off to help me, he talked with me and stayed with me, even when I lashed out. He made sure I knew he was there, and after that, I was just relieved to be with my brothers again.” He looked back up at Hunter, more open that he had ever seen him, “These things take time, Hunter. It’s not easy, but it’ll never work unless you put in the work. Show him that you’re still there for him. It won’t be the same as it was, but you need each other now more than ever.”
Echo continued to stare at Hunter as he looked away. After everything, after months of fighting on opposite sides, he had begun to accept that he would never have his brother back. It was hard, but he knew losing his brothers was inevitable. They were soldiers in a war, that’s what happened. But this was different, Crosshair hadn’t died, he’d left, they’d left him behind.
Echo sighed and turned back to the front window, “You don’t have to see him right away, but you’ll need to see him eventually. Figure your shit out, Hunter, then be there for him. He’ll need it.”
“Tech!”
Tech’s eyes shot open and he scrambled down from the bunk at the sound of Wrecker shouting. He was quick to spot the cause for alarm.
Crosshair’s eyes rolled back in his head as his body seized, Wrecker and Omega hovering over him, unsure what to do. Tech moved Omega away as he pulled out his med scanner and started a timer on his datapad.
“Wrecker, roll him on his side but don’t hold him down. Make sure he doesn’t hit his head.”
“What’s happening?” He looked down to see Omega looking up at him, eyes filled with fearful tears.
“He is having a seizure, likely from the drugs in his system.” He handed her his datapad, “Keep an eye on this. Tell me if it reaches three minutes and stop it when he stops.” She nodded and watched the datapad closely, her fingers white as she grasped it tightly. Her eyes darted up to Crosshair every few seconds.
Wrecker had a hand on Crosshair’s shoulder, keeping him on his side as he seized.
Tech held the medscanner to Crosshair as Echo rushed into the room, Hunter following, though staying near the door. Omega told them what Tech had told her. Echo sat on the opposite bunk, staying out of the way and watching with worry. Omega stood near him, leaning into the hand he put on her shoulder for comfort. Tech looked at his medscanner as it confirmed his suspicions.
“Tech, he’s bleeding!”
Tech’s eyes darted to Crosshair’s face as blood began to trickle from his mouth. “He has likely just bitten his tongue, although I would like to check his ribs and lungs again once this is over.”
They all watched as their youngest brother shook uncontrollably on the bunk, choked sounds occasionally escaping his throat as it seized. His eyes rolled in his skull and his mouth began to foam, stained pink from the blood.
Just a few seconds after Omega called the three-minute mark, Crosshair’s shaking began to slow until he sagged against Wrecker’s hand, limbs twitching occasionally. Hunter disappeared from the doorway and Omega sat on the bunk next to Echo, leaning against his side, his arm wrapped around her shoulders and her cheeks wet with tears.
Tech helped Wrecker roll Crosshair back over once he had stopped and was no longer at risk of choking. He sent Wrecker to get cloths to clean Crosshair’s face as Tech checked his ribs. Luckily, nothing seemed damaged further, and inspection confirmed the blood had indeed come from biting his tongue and not a broken rib piercing his lung.
Tech swapped sides with Wrecker when he heard Crosshair groan, his eyes fluttering open, dazed and still hazy. They slowly scanned the room before landing on Tech. Tech felt relief wash over him as Crosshair’s eyes filled with recognition.
“Te’” He slurred through aphasia on top of his general state.
Tech gave a small smile, “Yes, Cross’ika, it’s me. We’re all here.”
He felt a nudge at his side as Omega poked her head up into Crosshair’s eyeline. His eyes locked onto her, his hand twitching at his side. She smiled softly though her tears and took his hand in hers. “They got us out, Cross, we’re okay.”
Crosshair tried to say something, but all that came out was a jumbled mumble. He didn’t seem to notice or care as his eyes drifted shut. Tech let his exhausted vod’ika sleep, continuing his examination. Omega sat on the edge of the bunk, shifting out of Tech’s way when necessary, but he had grown up with Hunter, he was used to the obstacle when looking after his brothers. If anything, the familiarity of the routine brought him comfort.
He finished his examination and sat down on a seat Wrecker had pulled over for him. He had moved to sit next to Echo, talking softly.
Tech let Omega curl up next to Crosshair, trusting her to be careful with his injuries. It seemed to bring Crosshair some comfort as he curled an arm loosely around her and relaxed. They would need to keep an eye on him for further seizures, but for now, he pulled out his datapad and began logging his observations.
Wrecker was back on Crosshair duty, fidgeting anxiously. Cross hadn’t woken up since the seizure, which was a good thing, but seeing him just lying there hurt had Wrecker on edge. It had been so long since they’d seen him, without trying to kill each other, but this was not how he wanted their reunion to go.
Crosshair looked like Omega could snap him in two. His stoic, tough little brother wasn’t supposed to look fragile. They were some tough bastards, they always bounced back. Guilt coiled in Wrecker’s stomach. They should have taken him with them, found some way to make it work. But they hadn’t, and like Tech liked to say, you can’t change the past. So, Wrecker resolved to make the time they had back together even better. He wouldn’t let something like that happen again. If Crosshair was going to have one constant in the future, it was going to be Wrecker.
He was brought out of his thoughts by Crosshair shifting on the bed with a low groan. Wrecker watched as he curled onto his side, then back again, struggling to get comfortable. He stood to help him, maybe get another pillow, when he saw him swallow thickly. Crosshair groaned again, swallowing compulsively.
Wrecker leapt into action, finding a nearby container he hoped no one cared too much about and bringing it to Crosshair’s bedside. He quickly and carefully helped him roll over onto his side, one hand holding his shoulder and the other holding the container just in time for him to start heaving. He frowned when he realised his brother felt a little warm.
He felt Crosshair tense under his hand as he emptied his surely already mostly empty stomach. Sure enough, most of what came up was bile, but the heaving continued long after there was nothing else left to come up.
Wrecker kept him steady, muttering words of encouragement and comfort. “That’s it, get it all out. You’re alright, Cross.”
Crosshair whined as the heaving refused to stop, his body shaking with the effort. Eventually, it slowed and he let out a long sigh, closing his eyes and slumping into Wrecker.
Wrecker carefully put the container down and gently moved his brother to lay back again. He was still shaking and panting, covered in sweat. He groaned as he was moved, but made no move to push him away.
He gave his shoulder a final squeeze and retreated back to clean up and return to his spot. He paused when Crosshair whined as his hand left his shoulder, brow furrowing as he frowned. Wrecker carefully put his hand back on his shoulder, feeling him instantly relax again. He chuckled and ran his thumb over his shoulder before pulling back again, much to Crosshair’s protestation.
“Gotta clean up first, Crossy. I’ll be right back.”
He quickly scooped up the container, bringing it into the fresher to clean it out. While in there, he wet a small towel with cool water and tucked another under his arm. He ducked his head into the cockpit where Tech sat watching the autopilot and let him know what happened, assuring him he could keep watch, no problem. Tech nodded in tired thanks.
Wrecker returned to Crosshair, pulling his seat over to be right next to the bed. He gently wiped his face, cleaning it off, before placing the cool towel on his head. Crosshair sighed in relief. He relaxed even further when Wrecker’s hand returned to his arm, thumb gently rubbing up and down.
He couldn’t help the smile as his brother slowly fell asleep, breaths evening out and head tilted towards Wrecker.
Echo sat organising their medical supplies as he took his watch. He knew Tech had probably already done it himself multiple times, but he needed something to do, and he’d rather check for himself, just to feel sure.
He was packing the bandages back away when he saw Crosshair stir. He put the box down beside the chair and leaned closer, waiting for Crosshair to wake up. He woke slowly, the drugs and exhaustion still weighing him down. He blinked at the ceiling for a few seconds before shifting to look around the room.
When his eyes landed on Echo, he blinked and stopped. His eyes were still hazy, but they seemed to be focusing more every time he woke up.
Echo gave him a gentle smile, “Hey, Cross.”
Crosshair blinked at him, no snarky comment calling him out for watching him sleep. His mouth opened but only a raspy breath came out. His brow furrowed slightly.
“It’s alright, vod’ika, take your time. We’re on the Marauder for just a few more hours until we reach the medcentre to get you proper help.”
“Ngh.” Crosshair frowned.
“It’s okay, these are good people, here to help, like Tech. I’m sure he would do it all himself if he could, but we don’t have the supplies and he needs help.”
Crosshair winced as he shifted, groaning and bringing a hand to his ribs.
“It starting to hurt now?” Echo gave him an apologetic look, “Sorry, we can’t give you anything until the drugs are out of your system.”
Crosshair settled back down, staying still to keep from jarring his ribs again. He looked down when the line in his arm tugged as he moved it. His breath hitched as he reached for it.
Echo quickly intercepted his hand with his own, tangling their fingers together and holding him gently. “Hey, no, you need that. It’s just an IV to help with your dehydration. Like I said, we can’t give you any drugs anyway. It’s okay.”
Crosshair whined a little and gripped Echo’s hand, his breathing picking up a little. Echo winced as it made his chest rattle. There’s no way he wasn’t getting sick from all of this. Or maybe he’d been sick and this was him getting better. Tech hadn’t said anything about it, but hearing his breathing had Echo worried.
“Everyone’s okay,” he continued, trying to ground Crosshair, “Hunter got you back here with Omega.” He chuckled as Crosshair perked up at her name, “She hasn’t left your side. Wrecker managed to get her to sleep again. They’re just over there.” He gestured toward the opposite bunk. Crosshair’s eyes followed his gesture, and he moved so he could properly see Wrecker and Omega curled up on the opposite bunk with Lula cradled between them.
“Tech is trying to open comms with the centre, but he’s been checking in constantly. Hunter is with him.”
Crosshair slowly relaxed as Echo gave him this report. Before Order 66, Crosshair always knew where his vode were, it was his way of making sure they were okay. He was their sniper, their lookout, he would always catch when something was wrong, sometimes even before Hunter did. It’d been tough without that constant support, but they’d made it work. It was never the same though.
He never let go of Echo’s hand as he told him how their vode had been since Tantiss. Where they were, what they’d been doing. Soon, Crosshair was drifting again, relaxing into sleep once more.
Crosshair began seizing again when they reached the medical centre. Tech was able to patch their comms through and got permission to land. He was still shaking as the medics reached them, waiting for it to finish before moving him.
Two and a half minutes later and he was being whisked away on a stretcher, his vode following close behind.
The room was dark as Hunter sat by Crosshair’s bedside. Wrecker and Echo had gone in search of food while Tech, Omega and Hunter waited in his room. Tech was asleep on the small couch, his datapad on his chest and Omega curled into his side.
Hunter sat by his brother’s side for the first time since they gotten him out of that lab. Seeing him lying in this bed had him thinking back to finding him on that table. He found himself constantly reaching up to his wrist to make sure there were no restraints there, asking the medic what was in the IV each time they walked in to check it.
His eyes darted up to Crosshair’s face as he heard his breathing change. His breath still rattled slightly in his chest. The medics had confirmed Echo’s suspicion that he was recovering from recent sickness on top of everything.
Crosshair’s eyes opened and quickly scanned the room. His eyes were still hazy, but more focused than anyone had seen them the past few days. He found Hunter quickly, his sharp eyes looking him over.
“Where?” He rasped with a cough. Hunter held up a cup of water for him, Crosshair accepting the straw and drinking half the glass before he let Hunter put it back down.
“A medcentre Rex suggested. The Empire won’t find us here.”
Crosshair relaxed a little, though he scanned the room again, uncertainty and fear keeping him tense, no matter how much he tried to hide it from Hunter. He could always read his brothers easily, all of the Bad Batch could. There was little they could hide from each other that at least one of them wouldn’t catch.
Crosshair took a steadying breath before he looked back at Hunter, “You got me out?”
Hunter gave a tight smile, “Yeah, we came back for you.”
Crosshair gave a small scoff at that, “Took you long enough.”
Silence fell over them for a few moments before Hunter had to break it.
“I’m so sorry, Crosshair. We should never have let you stay with them. We should have never left you behind.”
“I made my choices, Hunter. This is as much my fault as it is yours.” He huffed, “Doesn’t mean I’m not angry with you. You left me behind. We don’t do that. I don’t think I’ll ever forgive you for that.” Hunter looked away, unable to meet his brother’s eye.
“I know, I’m sorry.”
“Let me finish, di’kut.” Crosshair hissed, “I don’t think I’ll ever forgive you and I don’t expect you to forgive me. That trust is broken, on both sides, and it’ll never be the same again. If you want, I can leave, I don’t have to stick around. I can find my own way.”
It was Hunter’s turn to huff at his brother, looking at Tech and Omega before looking back at Crosshair, “No matter what happened, you’re still their bother, Cross, they need you.”
“And you? Am I still your brother, Hunter?”
Hunter gave him a small smile, “Of course you are, vod’ika. But it’ll take time before we get back to something normal. Sure, it won’t be the same, but it’s better than avoiding it.”
Crosshair smirked, “When did you get so wise?”
Hunter rolled his eyes and took Crosshair’s hand in his own, only a little surprised when his brother squeezed back.
“I’m glad you’re back, Cross’ika.”
“Nothing could keep me away, ori’vod.”