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Sev spins around, reading his blaster. His brothers are close, so he’s not worried. Besides, their training sessions are still with simunition, which means even if one of them gets hit accidentally, it won’t cause any permanent injury.
Then, droids sprang out from nowhere, and Sev instinctively shoots, as he’s been taught, both in simulations and by flash-training, for three years now. There’s something odd in the bolts he fires, and the ones that come from the droids, though. They’re red and blue, instead of yellow, and go much faster. Sev sees his Scorch, kneeling beside Boss in the opposite side of the corridor, barricade, much larger that the one he’s crouching behind, shielding them from droids.
I should join them. Together, we can break through them, weird blaster bolts, or not.
He thinks, and runs out from behind the cover. "Oh-Seven! Get down!" Boss voice reaches him, and he knows he should follow that command, but all he can do is just stop, hearing the blaster bolt flying through the air, fast. It won’t hit me, right? As soon as it flies past, I can run forward again.
The blinding red bolt flies right by his throat, brushing it, and Sev soundlessly crumples to the floor, wheezing and choking, as he feels blood filling his mouth.
"Sev!" He hears someone yelling, and his legs scrape against the floor uncontrollably, as he clutches his throat tightly, feeling warm blood streaming between his fingers.
*****
"SEV!" Scorch yells again, now he doesn’t care for droids, for the live-round blaster bolts flying through the air. All that matters is Sev, Sev who lies, thrashing on the floor, hands wrapped around his neck, Sev who’s vulnerable and seriously injured, Sev…
"Go get him. I-I’ll cover you." Boss’s voice snaps him out of the thoughts and panic, and he bolts out from behind the cover, throwing an EMP grenade, just in case. He grabs Sev’s shoulders and drags him across the floor, sobbing quietly when he sees the thick trace of blood that Sev leaves in his wake. His brother kicks the air weakly, his chest rises and falls raggedly. Sev’s leg twitches slightly, and Scorch sobs, pulling him closer to cover.
Once Sev’s secured behind the barricade, Scorch gently eases off his helmet, leaning over his brother. Sev’s eyes are wide and full of fear, blood coming from his mouth mixing with tears streaming down his cheeks. He’s making weak, gurgling sounds, and Scorch can see that Sev’s grip on the wound is getting weaker. "S-Sev…hang on, vod. Hang on." He chokes out, and Sev opens his mouth, a raspy sound coming out, combining with blood. "Shhh…hey, vod. Don’t try to talk, I’m here, I’ll help you." He says softly, his voice shaky, and he presses his own hands on Sev’s throat, trying to add as much pressure as possible without choking him. "Boss! Wh-where’s Fixer?" He cries, Sev looks far to pale, his bloodied hand grabs Scorch’s wrist, squeezing weakly.
"Ni olar, Sev. Hold on, ori’vod. Gedet’ye!" Scorch’s voice grows desperate, and he gives Boss a pleading look. Boss swaps with him, trying to slow the bleeding, and Scorch rips off his sleeves from under the training armour. His hands shake as he wraps the fabric around Sev’s neck, gesturing to Boss to stop squeezing it. As his ori’vod takes back his hands, Scorch sees the bleeding slowed rapidly, though it’s still slowly seeping through.
Loud footsteps from behind make Scorch and Boss look away from Sev, who seems to be unconscious now, and they scramble to their feet when both clones recognise the newcomer and realise that the simulation was stopped. Walon Vau strides towards them, his strill, Lord Mirdalan by his side. Scorch can see Fixer running towards them from behind, and stopping short of Vau when he sees him too.
"RC-1138, RC-1262, what happened here?" Vau’s cold voice asks, and Scorch flinches. "Oh-Seven…h-he got shot, S-Sir." Boss mumbles biting his lip and Scorch sees Vau’s face harden. "Shot, you say, Delta-38? Take him to the medbay, then, Delta-62 and Delta-40. Boss, you’re coming with me." He says, and to Scorch and Fixer he adds, "He’ll join you in the barracks later." As Scorch cradles Sev in his arms, Fixer supporting him, he watches Boss stiffly following Vau out, trembling slightly.
*****
Scorch flinches when they the barracks’ door opens, but he relaxes slightly when Three-Eight, Boss, walks in. His ori’vod is tense, though, and he swallows harshly, looking at his two vode on the bunks. Two. Not three. Scorch bites his lip, looking away from the bunk that was still occupied by Sev yesterday. Sev, who’s now… No, Sev will be fine. He has to be, he can’t-he can’t just die now. Not halfway into their training, not ever. If Scorch knew what would happen, he’d go, instead of Sev. He’d tell him to stick with Boss. Even if it meant that he’d now be the one fighting for his life in a med bay.
He’s so busy fighting back his tears, that he doesn’t even notice Boss sitting by him, pulling him close. He too is shaking with sobs he tries to push deep inside him, Scorch can hear his ragged breath as they snuggle closer to each other. Fixer remains in his bunk, a bit away, though he must be shaken too, it was a shock to all of them, and it’s unfair that it had to be Sev who payed the price. "Scorch…I’ve been in the medbay." Boss finally breaks the silence, his voice sounds rough, and quiet. "He’s alive, and stabilised, but…there’s a serious damage to his vocal cords, and throat in general, according to what Sergeant Vau told me." He grits out, swallowing, like if it’s a great effort to say those things. Well, Scorch knows that it is.
"The kaminiise didn’t want to tell me anything, only that we’ll be told once the decision is made." He blurts out, sinking into Scorch, his whole body shaking. "And…what else did Sergeant Vau want?" Fixer asks quietly, fidgeting with a datapad. One might think he doesn’t care for Sev, but Scorch knows better. He cares as deeply as any of them, just doesn’t show it as much. Boss flinches, and Scorch sees him wincing briefly, hand moving to his left shoulder, then freezing and falling back on his lap. "Nothing specific, just…that he’s disappointed and we better do better next time, at least, that’s what he meant." He says quickly, but Scorch supposes there’s something more about it, and judging by Fixer’s eyes, his brother shares his thoughts.
"What’s with you shoulder, Boss?" Fixer asks, arms crossed. Boss cringes, shifting on the bunk, cradling the limb. "Nothing. I…I bumped into the doorframe when I left Vau’s quarters." He says quickly, looking away.
"Yeah, sure, Boss. Just like Scorch burned away his eyebrows with a lighter." Fixer says with an eye roll. They all remember the training accident from few months back, when a bomb blew into Scorch’s face and left him, without eyebrows and with burn scars all over his face. Boss sighs. "It’s not the same! I did stumble…" he protests weakly, glaring at Fixer. "Yeah, sure. After Sergeant Vau tackled you, right? Or made you fight different Commando in training?" Fixer continues his interrogation, getting closer to Boss, who actually flinches.
"H-he…he did. But it’s just dislocated shoulder, it’s not a big deal! We should be able to fight even with more serious injuries!" He yelps, and flinches with a pained gasp when Scorch gently touches his shoulder. "Ori’vod, we…we’re five years old, it’s not a real problem if now we stop to treat an injury instead of ignoring it." Scorch pleads, but Boss shakes his head. "No. Today, they started using live-rounds on us. Kriffing live-rounds! We can’t allow ourselves for such things. I’ll be fine."
Fixer sighs, and bolts towards Boss, pinning him down to the mattress. "Boss, you can’t walk around with a dislocated shoulder!" He argues, and Scorch shifts to hold Boss tightly, keeping him in place as Fixer grabs his arm, and yanks it back, the limb making a sickening pop as it goes back to its joint. Boss screams, and as soon as Fixer and Scorch let him go, he curls tightly in himself, rubbing his arm.
*****
Sev snaps his eyes open, drawing in a sharp, wheezing breath, and he coughs wetly, his throat burning. He has a vivid memory of a blaster bolt, live-round, grazing the front of his neck, and the pain that followed, the blood, someone’s screams, his own weak, raspy breaths as he gulped for breath. He looks around the room he’s in, and it appears to be a medbay. An empty medbay, his ori’vode, Boss and Fixer, as well as Scorch, his younger brother, are nowhere to be seen. He swallows harshly, despite the motion hurting. Well, that seems obvious, given he got shot in the kriffing neck. Sev raises his hand sloppily, rubbing at his throat which is wrapped in a thick layer of bacta patches. He tries to take a calmer breath, and he wheezes, his heart spiking up.
"RC-1207, stop this, or we’ll sedate you." A cold voice of a Kaminoan says and Sev freezes, eyes fixed on the longneck that’s watching him. "You’re being treated for your injured vocal cords and trachea. Your recovery is expected, however, if the functionality of damaged tissue is lower than 97%, you will be terminated, RC-1207. You should be aware of that." The Kaminoan states coldly and Sev flinches. They’ll decommission me? Why do they want to… His eyes are wide and he snaps his head around the room, whimpering and whining, those are the only sounds he can make now. "RC-1207, cease struggling." The kaminii says, but Sev doesn’t listen, his heart rate speeding up and the alarm on the monitor attached to him turns on. The Kaminoan approaches him, hypo in hand and she injects him with it. Sev’s head drops limply to the mattress and his hands flop beside his torso.
*****
From the corner of his bunk, Boss carefully watches Scorch. His little brother, his youngest vod’ika is tucked under the blanket, curled tightly into a small ball. He’s shaking, and Boss can hear his muffled sobs, the way he’s mumbling something under his breath, repeating Sev’s name from time to time. The sniffling coming from him makes Boss’s heart ache, the way he knows Sev’s fate is out of their hands. It hurts Boss too, the helplessness. Boss sighs.
"Scorch’ika…" Scorch rolls from under the blanket, his cheeks are damp and reddened, his breathing hitches. "Y-yeah?" He sobs, swallowing his tears. "Sev’s tough. He’ll make it, he’s too stubborn to let Kaminoans decom…harm him." Boss says, but even he hears the lack of conviction in his own voice. Fixer looks at him, frowning. "Why are you giving him so much hope? It’ll only hurt him more, if the worst happens." He signs, and Boss bites his lip. "Sev will be okay." He replies, signing as well, and Scorch snaps his eyes from Fixer to him. He’s still shaking, and his bottom lip trembles, but his wide eyes flash with understanding…and hurt at being left out of conversation. "B-Boss…Fixer…why are y-you avoiding talking to m-me about S-Sev?" He whimpers brokenly, giving Boss his signature vod’ika puppy eyes, full of tears and hurt.
"I…I’m sorry, Scorch’ika. Come here." Boss says softly, patting his lap, and a few seconds later, he finds himself with an armful of trembling and sobbing Scorch, his too long curls tickle his neck. He’s still shaking, and Boss smiles softly, even if a little sadly, and strokes Scorch’s curls with his hand in a soothing sweep. "Shhh…it’s okay, vod’ika. I’ll go and try to ask about Sev, if you’re worried." He says soothingly and flinches. Of course Scorch’s worried. They all are. Scorch sobs and swallows, nodding.
"T-thank you, ori’vod." The younger clone chokes out, still sprawled on top of Boss, who just continues stroking his hair soothingly. Scorch’s sobs are subsiding, the hitch in his breathing is still present, but it’s evening out, slowly, but surely.
*****
Sev wheezes, and chokes, drawing in a raspy breath. "Sc…rch…" Sev chokes out, his voice raspy. It’s the first thing he manages to say since he first woke up, since yesterday. It’s still barely said, more of a rasped mumble, not even a whisper. He winces, and rubs at his throat, feeling the raw, fresh scar tissue forming, aching with every breath drawn into Sev’s trachea. Loneliness doesn’t provide comfort to him, rather makes him want to curl tightly and hide, or melt into his ori’vod’s hold, but at least the Kaminoans are not here, and hopefully won’t be back for a while.
He brushes his neck again, the pain flaring even at simple touch like that, and Sev bites his lip hard. The skin on his throat feels like it’s about to split open and start bleeding any moment, and the inside of it burns.
He closes his eyes, desperate to focus on anything but pain, the IV line stuck in his hand and the uncertainty of his fate, whether he’ll even see his vode again. "B…oss…broth…her…" he mutters, and his voice is just slightly more audible than earlier, the raspy sound coming out from his throat.
Sev swallows, and tastes blood. He coughs, covering his mouth with his hand, but red droplets still splutter on the bed sheet, staining the pristine white covers. He flips the blanket to hide the stain, he can see the kaminii closing on him. She’s holding a datapad, her cold eyes sweep over him.
*****
Sev’s shaking, his heart pounding, the rain pouring from the heavy gray sky above. He’s wearing one of training Commando armour, but it feels different, much heavier, like it’s done on purpose, to weigh him down. The Kaminoans are watching him, he’s certain of it. "Begin, RC-1207." One of the scientists says, gesturing to long, slippery, wet walkway.
Sev gulps, and draws in a deep breath, it wheezes slightly, but it sounds much better than earlier. The breath catches in his throat when he readies himself to run, as a test of his functionality. His lungs start burning and aching after two hundred and fifty meters out of a thousand he has to run, but he doesn’t stop, or cough, just runs. His life’s depending on it. By some miracle, he manages not to slip, that would end only in a long fall down to the crashing waves below.
He wheezes slightly when he finishes, and fights to calm his breathing, the Kaminoan approaching him. "RC-1207, you may return to Delta Squad." The longneck days and he nods, struggling not to show his relief. "Take this armour off and go to your squad’s assigned barracks in your undersuit. It won’t be much use for you in training, but yours is waiting. Congratulations, Delta-07. You scored 97,5 percent." The scientist says, tilting her head when she looks at him.
*****
Sev tugs at the collar of the undersuit he’s wearing, tugging it higher so it’ll hopefully cover the large mass of tight scar tissue over his throat. The wound was just on the neckline of the collar, so the collar rests exactly on the scar, making it itchy and painful. It’s large and wide, still pinkish in color, but mostly healed. It has to be, if he was evaluated and sent back to his vode. Sev licks his lips and hesitantly enters their barracks, only to nearly fall on the floor when Scorch tackles him into a tight hug. "Sev! I-I missed you, vod!" He hollers and Sev flinches, swallowing. The relief floods his chest and he smiles painfully. "Scorch. It’s…it’s good to see you again." He says, his voice sounds as gravelly as since he managed to talk again. Honestly, Sev doubts it will ever sound as before. He brushes his hand over Scorch’s head and ruffles his hair.
Now that he’s with his vode again, he lets his breathing hitch slightly, the raspy sound a bit louder than he allowed it near Kaminoans, but he still controls it, they don’t need to know how bad it actually is. "Umm…and how’s your throat, by the way?" Scorch asks shyly, flushing. Sev sighs, the only sound that didn’t change. He tugs at the collar again, raising it, and ducking his chin to keep it higher. "O-okay, better than earlier, at least." He says, shrugging, trying not to show how shaken he still is. He barely avoided death, twice, for kriff’s sake. Boss rises to greet him too, clasping hands in traditional Mandalorian way, hand-to-forearm. His eyes are fixed on Sev’s throat, though, and silently ask the question. Sev swallows harshly and looks at him, challenging look in his eyes as he lowers the collar, revealing the still swollen, fresh scar.
"Of course I got a scar. What else did you think?" He rasps out, rubbing the back of his neck. Boss sets his hands on Sev’s shoulder and the younger kid flinches, attempting to jerk away. Boss blinks a couple of times, and swallows. "Does…does it hurt badly? I mean, it…it looks bad, Sev’ika." Boss says softly and Sev bites his lip, nodding. "Yeah, it, it does. Talking…talking hurts, breathing…" he stops, flushing. Boss seems to understand, though, because he winces and ushers him to the bunk. "Breathing hurts, right? But…it can’t be too bad, if the kaminiise…" Sev shakes his head even before Boss finishes. "They don’t know. Breathing after strain hurts. Lungs are burning." He says quietly, rubbing his arm.
"I needed to lie, they’d terminate me if I didn’t." He adds quickly, eyes darting around.
"Shh…it’s fine, I understand. I’d do the same thing." Boss soothes him and cracks a smile. "And your raspy voice? As painful as it sounds, it suits you. Even if it’ll remind me that I failed to protect you, I’m glad it’s the only outcome of your injury, Sev’ika."
*****
Something wakes Scorch in the middle of the night, and at first, he can’t exactly pinpoint what. Then, he hears the quiet, rattling coughs, that sound like someone’s trying to cough up a lung. The sound itself nearly makes Scorch throw up, and it comes from his barracks, from his brother. Scorch swallows, his heart clenching when he realises it’s Sev. He’s back, he’s alive, but it’s bad, the cough, the changed voice. His brother’s wheezing slightly in between coughs, clutching his throat with a painful scowl on his face. "Sev?" He asks tentatively, walking towards his brother as quietly as he can, not to wake others.
"Y-yes, S-rch?" Sev’s voice sounds like he’s been eating gravel, all scratchy and raspy, rough. "Hey, it’s fine. Breathe, vod. Breathe. In and out, with me." Scorch says quietly, holding Sev’s hand. "Solus, t’ad, ehn, cuir. Solus, t’ad, ehn, cuir." He says soothingly, and Sev tries to match his pace. The raspy sounds begin to subside, Sev’s breathing slowly changes into more normal rhythm, and he leans on Scorch. The younger of the two closes his eyes, leaning into Sev, feeling the warmth and the heartbeat of his vod. It’s been a little over a week since the training incident, Sev returned a few hours ago, safe, and yet, Scorch can’t push back the memory. Sev, laying flat on the floor, bleeding, gasping and gulping as he clutched the wound, the fear in his eyes, his own screams…
"Scorch? What’s happening?" Sev asks him and Scorch flinches, blinking, he’s still not entirely used to Sev’s rasping voice. "Nothing important. I mean, you’re here, so…it’s fine. I’ll…move on, eventually." He finally says and Sev perks up, tilting his head, looking at him. "What do you mean?" He asks and Scorch flinches. "T-the memories of…you know." He says in a resigned voice, and Sev frowns, furrowing his brow. "I don’t really remember…much from what happened." He admits, wrapping the blanket tighter around his shoulders. Scorch breathes a sigh of relief.
"Good. That’s…that’s good." He says, leaning even closer to Sev, focusing on hearing to the undeniable proof of Sev’s presence, of his life.