Work Text:
“When’d you learn to do that?” Wrecker asked as the door to the facility slid open.
“Tech isn’t the only one who can splice open a door, Wrecker.” Crosshair said, standing from where he had been crouched at the control panel. He picked up his Firepuncher and took point as they entered the dark hall.
“I still think I could have just kicked it down.”
“Yes, but no one is supposed to know we were ever here.”
Clone Force 99 had been sent to investigate an old Separatist research facility. When they arrived and realised the facility was split into two compounds, they split up.
“What do they even use this place for anyway?”
“Well, considering it’s a research facility, I’d say they probably use it for research. Now keep it down.”
Crosshair huffed when Wrecker shoved his shoulder, glaring back at him before shaking his head and continuing to walk. “Yeah, but this is the third place we’ve checked and there’s nothing here!”
“Maybe there would be if-” Crosshair whipped back around to glare at Wrecker as he began stomping loudly along. “Stop being such a child, Wrecker.”
Wrecker threw his hands up, “What? There’s nothing here!”
Crosshair sighed, “Well, if there is, hopefully it goes for you first, now.”
“I say let em come!”
Crosshair rolled his eyes and kept walking, approaching the first side room. He gestured for Wrecker to wait then peeked in to do a quick sweep before stepping in. Wrecker followed close behind.
“See? Nothin!”
The room was a mess, like most of the others they passed through. Notes and equipment lay scattered on tables and benches, a shelf lay on its side near the far wall, but other than that, it was empty and dark. Just like all the rest.
Crosshair picked up a datapad and began scrolling through it while Wrecker checked out the fallen shelf. He rolled his eyes when he heard his brother begin poking around with the equipment. “If you lose a finger, I’m not helping.”
“Yeah right, if either of us lost a finger first, it’d be you.”
“Says the man who spends his time playing with explosives.”
“And I still have all my fingers! One of my trainers says that’s a sign of a good demolitionist.”
Crosshair dropped the datapad with a sigh, it was useless. He walked over to where Wrecker was still messing with some equipment. “Hey, Cross, bet I could figure out what this does before you.”
“It’s a microscope.”
“Hey, no fair! You were reading all the stuff about it!”
He rolled his eyes. “What stuff? Like you said, there’s nothing here.”
Wrecker lit up. “Ha! So you admit I’m right!”
Crosshair hefted his rifle and headed towards the door. “No. I’m saying we have more rooms to check out.”
He heard Wrecker grumbling as he followed him out. They checked out a few more rooms, much the same as the first they found, before spotting an elevator at the end of the hall.
“Beat you there!” Crosshair groaned as Wrecker took off, following him and quickly overtaking him. He might be annoying, but he wasn’t about to just let him win.
He smirked at Wrecker from under his helmet as he skidded to a stop next to him. “Shall we see where this goes?”
“What’s the bet it’s a super secret lab where they did all their secret experiments? Do you think I’d be allowed to blow it up?”
“Considering no one is supposed to know we we’re here… No.” He ignored Wrecker’s complaining as they entered the lift and began the journey down. “And considering the fact that they apparently label things well here, I’d say not so secret lab is a good bet.” He continued, reading the labels on the control panel. They were headed towards the one labelled Biolab, skipping a few floors. Sure, he knew they needed to check them out too, but this one seemed more important.
He was sure Wrecker was about to start complaining again when the door finally slid open. The lab, unlike the rest of the building, was well lit and clean. They stepped out into a large room with multiple halls and rooms branching off from it. There were many desks kept neat and mostly empty. Despite the look of the place, it seemed deserted.
“Jackpot.”
“Alright, where now?”
Crosshair looked at the signs on the walls and began walking towards one. “Probably the way that says Labs.”
Once again they were wandering down an empty hall, checking out rooms as they passed them. The setting may have changed slightly, but the routine certainly didn’t.
About halfway down they both whipped around to look towards an adjacent room coming up. Something had crashed to the ground, followed by sounds of scrabbling and thumping.
“What was that?”
Crosshair smirked and looked back up at Wrecker. “What’s wrong, Wrecker? Afraid of a little noise?” Ok, so maybe he was getting bored too.
“No! I just like to know what I’m dealing with. You go first.”
“Alright, I’ll be the sacrifice since you’re too scared.”
“Hey! I’m not scared! Move it!” Crosshair huffed a laugh as Wrecker pushed past him. Sure, there was probably something in that room, something dangerous knowing their luck, but Wrecker could handle it.
He kept watch outside as Wrecker rushed into the room.
“It’s all clear!”
Crosshair walked in to see Wrecker standing by some sort of broken machine that had clearly been pushed off the table it was next to. Wrecker kicked it.
“Just more stupid broken equipment.”
Apart from that, the room looked no different to the rest they had passed. He did his own sweep of the room, finding nothing except one datapad he tucked into his bag after a brief skim, if only so they had something to show for their investigation. “Come on, this was the last room.”
Wrecker followed him out of the room. “Finally! Race you back!” And he took off.
Crosshair switched to his grappling line and aimed as Wrecker ran off. He quickly lined up his shot and fired, pulling on the line as it caught before disconnecting it and running down the hall. Wrecker’s outraged shouts followed him as he passed by where he was disentangling the cord from around his legs.
“About time.” Crosshair said smugly as he caught up to him in the main room. “You really need to stop making bets you can’t win.”
“Hey, you cheated!”
“There weren’t any rules saying I couldn’t do that.”
He laughed as Wrecker sputtered, turning to assess the area again. He spotted a sign that read Holding Cells.
“This looks promising.” He began heading towards it, Wrecker following quickly.
“What, there are people down here?”
“Probably not. This is a biolab, this is probably where they keep animals they’re testing on. You always did say you wanted a pet.”
“It’s no fair that the Corries get some, but we don’t.”
The conversation died out as they made their way into the holding cell block. It was as eerily quiet as the rest of the facility. The room was long and lined with cells, some with glass panels to see in, others further back with durasteel doors and small windows. To the right of the door was a small office. Crosshair nodded for Wrecker to go ahead.
“Aw, why do I have to go first?”
“Because you’re chew toy shaped. Go check out the cells, see if there’s anything still alive down here.”
Wrecker grumbled, but made his way into the room, looking into each cell as he passed. Crosshair went into the office and searched the desk and cabinets. There wasn’t much, but he did find a datapad in the desk drawer. Sitting on the desk, he flicked through it, finding a list of creatures kept there along with extensive notes on each. Satisfied that they had finally found something worth the trip, he put the datapad in his bag and left to check on Wrecker. He was at the far end of the room by then, investigating an open cell.
“Find anything?” He called out, leaning against the wall, arms crosssed.
“Uh, not much, but it looks like something wasn’t happy about being stuck in here. This cell’s a mess.”
He rolled his eyes. “This whole place is a mess.”
Wrecker shook his head. “Not like this. I didn’t even open this one, it was already like this.”
Now that Crosshair looked properly, he could see that the door didn’t, in fact, look like Wrecker’s work. It looked like something had clawed at the door, eventually warping the metal enough that it could no longer close properly. He tried to think of anything from the datapad that could have done that.
“Do you think this is what we heard earlier?” Wrecker called back, nervously.
Crosshair sighed. “If it is, we should go before it finds us again. We found what we need.”
Wrecker lingered by the cell a moment longer before turning to head back. As soon as he looked over at Crosshair, he froze. “Uh, Cross? I think it found us.”
He quickly turned as a low growl answered Wrecker, reaching for his Firepuncher. He didn’t get to it before a clawed paw slammed into him, sending him sprawling to the ground. He heard Wrecker shout as the thing pounced on him. He managed to roll out of the way of its claws, but screamed when it bit into his shoulder and upper arm, razor sharp teeth tearing through plastoid and flesh.
He kicked at it, trying to get its legs out from under it, but the angle was awkward. He did succeed in getting it to let go and turn to growl at the offending leg. As it turned, he pulled out his sidearm and fired into its body. It snarled and flinched, but didn’t relent.
It reared up with a paw to claw at him again, when Wrecker charged in, yelling as he tackled the creature off him. He watched as they rolled to the side, Wrecker getting a few solid hits in, earning him claws tearing into his side.
Crosshair grit his teeth as his brother cried out in pain, seeing blood beginning to pour from the wounds. He got up into a crouch and pulled out his Firepuncher, ignoring the pain in his shoulder. Luckily, it wasn’t his shooting arm and he was able to aim properly, getting the creature’s head in his sights before it was rolled away and Wrecker was suddenly there.
“Wrecker, I need a clear shot!”
“I’m trying not to get eaten!”
Even as he argued back, Wrecker rolled to the other side of the creature, pouncing on it once again. He dodged another claw and managed to pin it to the ground, the creature snarling and thrashing the whole time.
“This is the best you’ll get, Cross!”
And it’d have to do. Crosshair lined up the shot and fired once at the creature’s head. Its entire body flinched before it finally sagged to the ground, motionless. Wrecker gave it a few moments before letting go and standing, groaning and holding his side. Crosshair felt warm blood running down his arm and put his Firepuncher away to do the same.
“What was that?” Wrecker asked, breathlessly.
“Doesn’t matter. Its dead now and we need to go.”
They made their way back into the main room. Crosshair commed the others on the way, letting them know they were on their way out.
“Copy that. We’ve found everything there is to find here, too. Meet you guys at the ship.” Hunter signed off.
When they reached the main room, Crosshair was starting to feel lightheaded and saw Wrecker beginning to sway on his feet. He pulled him over to sit on a desk, earning hardly a grumble. Wrecker groaned as he sat, watching him pull out his medkit next to him.
“Get your armour off. We need to stop the bleeding before we pass out.”
Wrecker groaned and grimaced as he took off his chestplate, Crosshair doing the same with his arm. He handed Wrecker some gauze and bacta. They didn’t have enough in their small medkits for such large injuries, but they would have to make do.
While Wrecker covered the biggest and deepest of his wounds, Crosshair did the same. He couldn’t see how the back of his shoulder looked, so he did what he could for what he could see. He finished up and pulled out hypos for each of them. He handed Wrecker a painkiller and gave himself one, pocketing the two stims in case they needed them later. He was packing away the kit when Wrecker stopped him.
“Let me look at the back, Cross.”
Crosshair huffed, but obliged, turning to let Wrecker see the back of his shoulder. His head spun a little as he turned, making him hold the desk to stay steady. He hissed when Wrecker applied pressure to the wounds, but soon enough, the worst were wrapped and they were ready to move.
In the lift, they both leaned heavily on opposite walls. Once the door opened, they pushed off and made their way slowly down the dingy halls of the ground floor. Crosshair blinked away spots as they walked. He could already feel and see blood seeping through the meagre bandages on both himself and Wrecker, who kept one hand on a wall while the other held his side.
The journey was slow, both of them beginning to flag as the blood refused to stop. They reached the door out when Wrecker stumbled, just barely catching himself with a grunt. He waited for him to steady himself and followed him out.
Wrecker leaned against the wall while Crosshair relocked the door. He frowned and shook his head as his vision swam and black dots invaded again. The work was slow and sloppier than he liked, but it was easier to lock than to unlock, and he got it done.
He swayed as he stood back up and saw Wrecker leaning heavily against the wall. He had been quiet most of the trip back, a sign that he was really struggling. Thinking of the journey back to the Marauder, Crosshair sighed and took out the stims, handing one to Wrecker. They would deal with the consequences once they got back to the others alive.
“If I have to drag your shebs back to the ship, I’m getting your extra rations for a week.”
They took a second to adjust to the sharpness and clarity the stims brought, then kept going. The stims kept them on their feet as they walked, kept them alert and aware of their surroundings, but they were still bleeding out. They occasionally tripped or got hit with a dizzy spell. Crosshair almost ate dirt when he turned too quickly, only saved by Wrecker catching him. Since then, they leaned against each other as they walked.
They had to be getting close when Crosshair’s comm pinged. He frowned and answered.
“Where the kriff are you two?” Hunter’s voice greeted him.
“We’re on our way, I told you that.”
“Yeah, almost half an hour ago.” Hunter sighed. “What happened?”
“Nothing we couldn’t handle. We’ll be there soon.” He bit back a cry when his shoulder was jostled.
“If you’re not here in the next five minutes, we’re coming for you.”
“Yes, sir.” He replied dryly before cutting off the call.
Turned out, Hunter didn’t need to worry, because four minutes later, they were approaching the Marauder. Crosshair blinked sweat out of his eye and Wrecker groaned an apology as he readjusted himself, earning a hiss of pain.
Hunter was there to meet them, with Tech following close behind when he called for him. They rushed over and took a brother each, Crosshair and Wrecker sighing as they were able to lean most of their weight on their uninjured brothers. They let them guide them onto the ship where they were sat onto bunks.
“What did you guys get into? Me and Tech didn’t find anything dangerous. Why do we ever leave you two alone?” Hunter grumbled as he unwrapped Crosshair’s shoulder and began cleaning it before stitching it up. His were never the neatest, but with Tech busy with Wrecker, it would have to do.
Crosshair just groaned and let his brother have his moment, watching Wrecker get the same from Tech. Although, as soon as Wrecker mentioned the weird animal in the lab, he quickly switched from concerned to intrigued, wanting to know everything he could about the creature. Apparently the other two just got to explore a chemistry lab with zero dangerous creatures. Lucky them.
When they were finally cleaned up and Crosshair had pointed Tech in the direction of the datapad, they settled down on their bunks. Hooked up to a brother each for some quick blood transfusions, they let themselves rest. Crosshair sighed as he let his eyes close. Shame about those rations.