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staycalmandhugaclone · 1 year

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If you're new, this all starts with Touch Starved!

Part 2 of Fever.

Febuwhump Day 11

Warnings: TW: symptoms of withdrawal, accidental drug exposure via fungal spores, sense of impeding doom, high fever, vomiting, delirium-induced violence, strangulation, cursing, needles/IV

WC: 5,812 (Don't worry, it's not a cliffhanger ;) )

Wrecker caught up with us about halfway there, and I was too happy to let him take his brother from me, painful gasps just hinting at the taste of iron as I forced myself to keep running. Hunter stayed back to join up with Crosshair, but I knew they’d be mere minutes behind us once we reached the ship.

“Hold on, Wrecker.” I called, racing ahead of him to the medbay. He paused before following after me, watching in silence as I ripped the mattress from my cot and threw it to the ground. “Okay, go ahead and set him down.” I didn’t look at them, focus locked on my own task of rapidly gathering supplies.

“Listen to me: you need to get in the sonic; armor and all. Don’t take anything off until after it goes through a full cycle – alright? Let me know immediately if you start to feel light-headed or confused.” I left no room for argument as I turned my full attention to Wrecker, and I saw the hesitation steal over him.

“Y-Yeah… ‘right.” Before he’d even left, I was kneeling on the floor beside the mattress, already dragging sterilizing wipes over every inch of Tech’s armor and exposed skin, the cot, the wall behind him, and finally over my own armor as well before carefully removing that pale plastoid from his nearly limp body. Only after stashing it and my own in a pressure sealed bin and repeating the thorough cleaning did I tentatively remove my own helmet.

“Tech?” I gently pulled him onto his side as I called his name, hand lingering on his shoulder. That slow, leisurely breathing hesitated. “Tech… sweetie, can you hear me?” His eyes shifted behind closed lids for a long moment before, with visible effort, forcing himself to look at me. “Hey,” I murmured warmly, touch trailing slowly along his arm, “How are you feeling?” His brows dipped together, mind churning over my words.

“S… sleepy? -no…” He waved away his initial response, arm barely shifting with the attempted movement. “M-dis… disor’ntated; th’nk…” His throat bobbed. “Hmm… th’sty?” He looked at me for some confirmation to his theory, as though he couldn’t be sure of even that base need.

“We’re going to keep that helmet on for a few more minutes – until I know for sure that I got you all cleaned up – then we’ll get you something to drink.” His gaze flicked between my eyes and my lips, straining to follow even the gentle cadence of my carefully slowed speech.

“Mm… your… you dn’t…” His hand shifted toward my head, and I shot him a smile.

“That’s how I’ll know.” I explained calmly. The spores were too small to be reliably picked up by the scanner, but I’d sooner risk my own exposure than subjecting him to even more of the terrible substance. He tried to frown, facial muscles twitching uncertainly as though they’d forgotten exactly how to form the expression. “Don’t worry, I’m just being extra careful.” I assured him, and that seemed to be enough to ease his concerns.

“Feels… weird.” He muttered, and I couldn’t help but let out a soft chuckle. I vaguely heard Wrecker’s voice rumble through the ship, certain he was warning Hunter against entering the medbay – that there was some contamination.

“I bet.” I shifted to sit beside him on the bed, intentionally keeping that softness in my voice. The spores his body had already absorbed wouldn’t last long in the wake of the medicine I’d given him. With what was to come, I intended to grant him whatever sliver of bliss he could get before the coming crash.

“Like I’m… n’c’poreal.” He shifted to glance wearily at his hand, fingers dancing before him in unhurried movements.

“Really?” I goaded, and gently let my hand trace over his, interlacing his fingers with my own. “Hmm, feel pretty solid to me.” He turned up to me with such awe in his eyes, I wanted to sob.

“Or you’re j’s ‘s sur’r’l as me?” He breathed the question as though it was too great a secret to risk speaking any louder. The Marauder began to come to life around us, quickly taking to the air to carry us from the ruin left in out wake.

“And if I was?” I asked, voice dropping into a whisper to match his, “Would we go floating through the galaxy together? Watch supernovas burst into newborn nebula? Or maybe we could see the flutterwings forming in their cocoons?” His fingers gingerly curled around mine, gaze studying that touch with a profound fascination before looking back to me.

“We c’ld f’llow a p’d of purrg’ls.” He proposed as though he’d just reached a major breakthrough. “Disc’v’r how they… they tr’vel in lightspeed!” His hand tensed with each word, imploring me for some whisper of permission.

“If we were incorporeal,” I tucked closer to him, quiet words flitting through a beaming smile, “You and I could study purrgils and flutterwings and everything in between.” The excitement burning in those wide eyes lingered for mere seconds more before withering, touch pulling away from me.

“B’ if y’ leave…” The emotion choking through the clumsy words tore through me, ripping the air form my lungs in a silent gasp. “… ‘ll be alone.” I tried to take a slow breath, but it shattered hopelessly against my lips, eyes burning beneath the threat of tears.

“Listen to me, Tech,” I was begging him, curling over my knees to slip my hands around his helmet in hopes of drawing his gaze back to mine. “I’m right here. Okay?” The words broke, and I had to fight to steady them, “I’m right here, and I swear: I’m not going to leave you.” His eyes turned pointedly away from me. “I was just scared.” I continued as the first drop slid down my cheek. “I was so scared that I was going to be the reason one of you got hurt… I just want to keep you safe.” Those last words barely managed to escape on a fleeting whisper, but it was enough to pull his eyes back to mine.

“Tha’s illogic’l.” The confusion in his retort ripped a sob of laughter from me. “You h’lp us when we ge’ h’rt.” My eyes slid shut, chin dipping to my chest as I tried to quiet the guilt and regret raging through me.

“You’re right.” I finally managed to sigh, “I think I just got a little confused… but I’m here now, and I’m going to stay for as long as you and your brothers will have me.” He seemed to think over this a moment before nodding.

“S’good.”

In the few minutes we’d been speaking, I hadn’t noticed any beginning traces of confusion or dizziness, granting me some reassurance that there were no lingering threat of exposure.

“I think it’s safe.” I started quietly. “Is it okay if I take your helmet off?” He barely waited for me to finish speaking before nodding, and he tilted his head up expectantly. With the utmost care, I eased it gently from him, smirk twisting over my lips at the disaster of flattened curls lying underneath.

“Dn’t th’nk I like it.” He muttered, and my heart sank, quickly setting his bucket aside to bring my hand up to whisper over his cheek. He melted against the touch, eyes falling shut beneath a deep weariness.

“Don’t like what?” I asked despite being painfully aware of the coming answer.

“F’ls… can’t… c’n’t th’nk.” His breathing steadily quickened, brows just beginning to tense. He looked toward his hand once more with a growing discomfort. “…is… ‘m I… ‘m I fall’ng?”

“No,” I practically cooed the word, bringing my other hand to his face as well, fueled by some shred of hope that he might glean even a whisper of comfort from my presence. “No, Tech. We’re on the Marauder. We’re not falling.” His breath suddenly turned panicked, throat shifting in a failed attempt to swallow.

“Okay, shh, it’s going to be okay.” I murmured quickly, hand shifting to drag slow circles over his back.

“Hm… m-mmm” He shook his head, eyes clenching as the first hints of a tremble began to steal over him. “Are w-we’re crashing.” His hand darted to the mattress in jolted, unsteady movements. “E-Echo… balance r… the r’pulser l’fts…” His hand reached out for the control panel, movement growing more frantic as he passed the distance it should have been. “Wh-where.”

“Tech, I want you to try to listen to me.” I tried to pull his gaze back to mine, but his eyes kept shifting blindly around us. “You were exposed to spores from Rokna blue tree fungus. Do you know what that is?” Something between a grunt and a hum caught in his throat, body tensing beneath a vain attempt to sit up. I quickly shifted behind him, arm looping around his chest to pull him up against me.

“B… blue tr… It’s… mmm… a po-potent narcotic…” The words fell absently from his lips before managing to understand what he’d said, and a terrible stillness stole through him. “M… ‘m I dying?”

“No.” The word burst from me in a sharp whispered. “No-no, Tech, I gave you something to neutralize it. The fact that you’re already coming down means it worked. Okay? Do you understand what that means?” The way he stiffened against me was answer enough, but he still gave a small nod.

“Okay…” I breathed, arms wrapping firmly around him, if only to grant myself some whisper of reassurance. “Listen to me: I’m going to stay right here. Okay? I’m going to be with you the entire time.” His torso hitched; the only warning I had before a violent heave tore through him. I just had time to lean around him to snatch a bin from the pile of supplies I’d dropped at the bedside. His hands clawed uselessly at the sides of the container, body doubling over beneath the force of his convulsing stomach.

A violent shiver nearly ripped him from my hold as the attack finally eased, robbing him of the strength to even hold himself up. Quickly setting aside the bin, I shifted onto my knees to hold him more firmly against me before reaching for a hydropack and bringing it to his lips.

“Don’t swallow – I just want you to rinse your mouth, first, okay?” It took several seconds for him to respond before weakly drawing in some of the liquid. Balancing the pouch on the cot, I moved a fresh bin toward him to spit the fouled water into. “Good.” I murmured gently before returning it to the floor to grab the pouch once more. “Okay, now drink – just a few sips.”

“You sh… you sh’ld leave.” Already, he sounded so painfully weak.

“No, honey…” I murmured, forehead dipping down to gently brush against his hair. “I know this is hard, but you’ll get through it – and I’m going to help you as much as I can. Alright? I’m not leaving you alone.”

“S-symp-ptoms inclu-include… intermi-mittent loss-ss of luc-luc-c-idy…” The pain stealing that gorgeous clarity from his voice broke me with each stammer of those carefully emotionless words. “I c-I could-could… hurt y-you.” Despite the fresh flood of tears I couldn’t begin to fight back, I drew a gentle smile across my lips. Even in the face of the nightmare just beginning to crash down around him, he was worried about me… Leaning around him so I could gently catch his gaze, I stared into eyes resigned to the coming suffering with all the love and heartbreak and patience I could.

“We’re going to be fine, Tech. I promise.” I breathed the words, willing them into him as I shifted the hydrpack closer to him. “Now, I want you try to drink.” The sight of the exhaustion and defeat stealing over him was an agony in its own right, but I offered a relieved smile as he reluctantly forced a few sips of water down his raw throat.

“N-n… sto-stop, please, pl-stop, stop.” He was begging, body rocking listlessly atop the sweat-soaked mattress as I tried desperately to feed the IV into a new vein. He’d managed to rip out the three prior, and still continued hemorrhaging fluids from the merciless fever that had long since rent him into a barely conscious, shivering mess.

“It’s just saline, Tech – I promise; it’s just saline.” I’d already given him what muscle relaxers and fever suppressors I could, but still he shook so violently, twice I’d thought he was seizing. Pinning his wrist against my thigh, I finally managed to slip the needle through too-pale skin. The scream that tore from his lips made my stomach churn, and I had to press the entirety of my weight against the limb to keep him from ripping it away from me before I could secure it beneath a web of tape.

“Don-don’t… I can’t…” Shattered gasps broke between hopeless sobs. “No more… n-no more tests! Please, please.” His arm continued jerking against my hold, but there was no strength to the movements.

“No tests, baby, I promise. Just try to breathe, okay?” I kneeled on the very edge of the cot, nearly hovering over him. As the fever began to build in that first hour, he’d tried once more to convince me to leave, but still I’d refused. After hitting lightspeed, Hunter tried to join me, but I merely shook my head; knowing it wouldn’t be long before Tech would be unable to recognize any of us. I didn’t want him to feel surrounded; outnumbered. On a barely whispered breath, I’d told the Sergeant as much, eager to keep that knowledge from Tech for as long as possible, and none of the others had made any further attempts to enter the medbay since.

Lips hanging open around too-shallow gasps, he tried to roll over, but I quickly reached out to stop him. Before I could breathe a word of warning toward the threat of aspirating, his free arm lashed out, slamming into my chest with enough force to launch me back onto the hard floor with a thud, lungs seizing in a moment of panic as my diaphragm balked. Forcing my body to move, driven by the simple fear that he’d rip the IV out once more, I staggered back to his side on my knees, but he seemed not to notice the thin tubing attached to his hand. Still, I couldn’t leave him on his back.

“Tech,” His name sounded choked as it crawled up my throat. “Honey, I need to move you.” My hand settled gently against his shoulder for a moment. When he didn’t respond, I carefully slipped it around his back and hauled him onto his side once more. He’d been like this for well over an hour, fluttering between incoherent panic and brief lapses into unconsciousness.

Body sinking beneath my own exhaustion, I watched the weariness drag against my movements as I reached for the cloth he’d knocked off in his outburst. I couldn’t count how many times I’d rewet that scrap of fabric to drag atop his balmy skin, but I found myself repeating the motion with the same tenderness as if it were the first; carefully sweeping it over his forehead, down his face and neck, through his hair.

“… Doc?” My eyes darted to his in shock.

“Hey,” I sighed through a gentle smile, “I’m here – I’m right here.” I shifted the cloth through his hair once more.

“Am… f-feels like... I f-fear you mis… miscalculated.” Snips of words tangled against listless lips, exhausted eyes weakly searching for mine. He must have seen my confusion because he forced himself to explain. “I… feels… like I’m dying.” My shoulders sank, chest twisting beneath the agony in his voice.

“I know,” I murmured, bringing my other hand up to whisper against his cheek. “I know, but this will pass, Tech. He weakly managed to shake his head.

“W… where are…”

“Your brothers?” I offered. He hesitated, struggling to make sense of what I’d said before nodding.

“They’re just outside.” I assured him. “Would you like to see them?” He quickly shook his head.

“Not… not l-like this.” The shame in that quiet plea twisted the knife lodged in my chest, and I didn’t want to think of the hurt it must have caused Hunter.

“Tech, this isn’t your fault.” If he heard the quiet whisper, he made no attempt to answer. Moments later, he seized beneath a violent shudder, knees curling into his chest, eyes ground shut.

“P..pl… Maker, it h-hurts…” Teeth catching at the inside of my cheek, I drew in a carefully slowed breath.

“I know.” Resting the cloth atop his neck, I gently carded my fingers through his hair. “I know, Tech, I’m s”

“Please… ca-can you…” His jaw shifted silently a moment, “There-there must be s-something?” I would have given anything to ease even a sliver of his pain, but he and I both knew there was nothing.

“Tech, I”

“Then why are you here?!” He suddenly snapped, arm sweeping out to push me away from him, and I instantly schooled my face for the coming storm. “If you’d returned to the 104th, we might have been granted a competent medic!” In an instant, that rage abandoned him beneath a flood of regret. “I… I apologize-I…” Even if I hadn’t known to expect it, the horror in those eyes would have been enough to rid me of any anger.

“Shh,” I breathed, already moving forward to continue slipping my fingers through those sweat-soaked curls. “It’s okay, Tech.” His expression crumbled, breaths just threatening to hitch.

“That… n-no, that is… inc-correct; I…” His shoulders bunched against his chest, gaze dropping sharply from me. “I am… I’m sorry…” His voice broke into a sob, and my arms instantly darted out to pull him against me. He didn’t hesitate against the sudden touch, shifting eagerly into it.

“Please,” The fear and desperation bleeding through that hiccupped word ruined me, and the final sliver of my own control crumbled. Tears poured from my eyes as I held him. “Please stay.” He buried the plea against my chest arm shaking beneath the effort to move, but the instant his touch brushed atop the sleek fabric over my shoulder, his fingers locked around me. I pressed my lips to the clammy skin just below his hairline, let them drag against him as I strained to force my stiff throat to form a reply.

“I’ll stay.” I murmured, “I swear, Tech; I’ll stay as long as you want.” The near silent sobs shaking through him rent my heart into shattered pieces, and I held him even tighter for it.

“It… it hurts…” My fingers clawed through his hair, a sob of my own ripping through me at his desperate words.

“I know, honey; I know… I’ve got you…” My torso began to move, rocking ever so gently as I held him. “Shh, I’ve got you.” He seemed to fade, mind falling into the abyss of pain and a fever too cruel to allow him even a moment’s relief from true sleep as he shuttered against me, so I continued to whisper to him, one arm held firmly around his back to keep him pressed against me as my other hand trailing absently through his hair.

“Hm-hmm.” A trembled hum caught in his throat, head jerking weakly against me.

“Shh, just try to sleep.” I murmured, begged, but those few moments of stillness broke as that jolted motion began to spread through his torso, his arms, legs only just managing to shift beneath him.

“H… hot-too… too hot.” He panted, pulling away from me to reach absently for his shirt. “Bur… it burns…” His fingers clawed at his neckline, vainly wrenching the fabric away from his skin.

“Okay, okay; you want that off?” I asked, already reaching for a set of sheers.

“I-it’s… m-my skin… reac-reacting… che-chemical burns? – I-I…”

“It’s hypersensitivity, Tech – no burns.” I promised even as I dragged the scissors down the length of fabric curving along his back. His spine arched violently forward at the faintest brush of metal against his skin, breath huffing between teeth ground against the screams beginning for release, and my heart churned beneath the flood of guilt.

“Shh – I’ve almost got it.” I promised before starting on his arms. The sob of relief as the cloth finally fell away was no less heartbreaking than the agony that had preceded it. “Do you want me to stop touching you?” I asked quietly despite how he continued leaning heavily against my chest. He quickly shook his head, hands shooting back toward me, fingers clawing into the fabric stretched over my ribs.

“Okay,” I murmured, letting my touch resume a featherlight dance through his hair, along his back, down his arms, only just whispering against the blistering heat radiating from his skin lest even a breadth of pressure ignite a fresh hurt through those terribly sensitive nerves.

He’d nearly fallen from the bed entirely in his plea for that contact, slowly dragging himself closer toward me in that desperate search for comfort. I glanced toward the nearby wall, eager for some support amidst the strain of holding his weight.

“I’m going to move just a bit, okay?” Again, I let my lips drag atop his sweat-soaked forehead. He managed only a shuddered whimper, but offered no objection as I carefully shifted onto the cot, pulling him gently with me until I could lean my back against the wall, sighing from the relief of ridding the strain from my abs. My eyes wondered to the line still miraculously connected to his hand, pleased to see the much-needed fluids still flowing into that vein.

“You’re doing so well, Tech. Just breathe with me… I’m right here.”

I watched the shivers ripple down the knots of tortured muscle lining his back, stretching over his ribs, his shoulders, felt his body seize beneath the relentless hurt, felt my heart twist at the occasional snips of broken pleas that shattered against his lips. I absently found myself glancing toward the chrono, and my heart dropped. Six hours. Six hours had passed since the fever first robbed his skin of that rich bronze in favor of blotched red against a frightful paleness.

I was exhausted, struggling to merely keep my eyes open even as I frequently found myself wrestling against subconscious, violent flails as he struggled against unseen nightmares. Twice more, I’d been too slow to avoid those sudden movements and could feel the swollen balls of tissue throbbing against my cheek and jaw, felt the bruises in every shift of my arms from when his fingers had locked into such a desperate grip around me, I’d feared the bones might shatter in his grasp. And still, that fever ravaged him.

“Wh…” Awareness jolted back through me with a physical ache, attention turning back to the man still nestled firmly against me. “… why?”

“Shh,” I breathed, ducking down to touch my lips back to his forehead as I whispered to him.

“Wh-I…I was s-successful-I…” He shook his head, shoulders tensing.

“I know, Tech; you didn’t do anything wrong.” I promised him, fingers trailing through his hair.

“Th-then why… why are you d-doing this?” I wanted to sob. I wanted to yield and run and beg for even a moment’s reprieve, breaking beneath the thought of going through this again.

“You’re just sick, honey; you just need to bre”

“Stop telling me to breathe!” He roared suddenly, and I felt those pitiful reserves of strength begin to abandon me, body deflating beneath him.

“Okay,” I murmured, “Okay, Tech; I’m sorry.”

“Then sto… stop… stop it…” The anger and desperation twisting through that plea would never stop haunting me; the wretched knowledge that there was nothing I could do to help him.

“I’m n… Tech, I’m not” The guilt-ridden words cut off in a gasp, eyes flaring wide amidst of sudden jolt of panic. He wasn’t looking at me, not really; gaze fluttering blindly in the air between us as his hands tightened into a vice around my neck.

“S-st-s… stop…” The stammered order continued in halting spurts, body rocking unsteadily beneath the taut muscles driving him forward, pinning me to the wall. My jaw craned open, diaphragm seizing, but could force no breath of air or whisper of speech around his hold. My feet kicked against the cot, torso bucking, hands latching around his, but I couldn’t escape him. Already, darkness crept along the edges of my vision. It felt like falling.

Tap-tap-tap.

Abandoning my grip on his wrist, I slammed my knuckles against the wall.

Tap…tap…tap…

Please…

Tap-tap-tap.

My mouth felt weird, like my teeth were swelling.

Tap…tap…

The muscles flickered amidst nearly forgotten pleas for movement.

Tap…

Heavy… the strange awareness of my body beginning to simply… relax…

The retching gasp of air screaming back into my lungs consumed me; the feeling of my jaw stretching open, body convulsing into a tight ball as my hands clawed at my throat and my shoulders hunched around me, anything to somehow guard the abused flesh of my neck as I struggled to make some sense of why I was trembling, why I still felt like I was suffocating.

Belatedly, I noted the feeling of something shifting below my cheek; holding me; someone calling my name. Void of any real thought, my eyes absently sought out that familiar voice, noting only the blurred outline of someone kneeling over me before my mind faltered beneath the crushing weight of exhaustion, body eagerly sinking back toward the promise of sleep.

“Look at me, dammit!” Something dragged painfully over my sternum, wrenching a sharp whimper from me, muscles seizing in a useless attempt to escape it as my eyes turned back toward the figure. Crosshair… why? His mouth moved, but I couldn’t hear his words, awareness flickering in those final few seconds before I heard his screams.

With a gasp, my head snapped up, gaze darting toward that stomach churning sound. Hunter had Tech trapped in a lock, arms looped about his chest and shoulders, and my heart broke at the agony I knew that pressure sent tearing through heightened nerves and ruined muscles.

“No!” The choked rasp that shattered against the raw flesh of my throat sent a violent wave of coughs seizing through me even as I staggered to pull myself toward them.

“Stop trying to kriffing move!” Crosshair ordered, but I only vaguely noted the way those elegant hands shifted over my jaw in an attempt to judge the damage, legs already scrambling beneath me to throw myself forward. I couldn’t make out their shouts over the sharp ringing that filled my ears, the way it seemed to thrum in sync with the frantic beating of my heart, but that didn’t matter. Tech couldn’t even scream anymore, writhing against Hunter’s restraining hold.

“Let him go!” The words cracked as I reached for him, crashing to my knees as my arms carefully looped around his head to draw him back against my chest. “Now! Let him go!” I roared, enraged at even that brief moment of hesitation, at the objection barking from his lips that I still couldn’t fully understand, but, slowly, Hunter yielded.

Instantly, Tech’s hands darted to me, clawing against my hips before they jerked up to my ribs, my shoulders, fingers burring into me as though I were the only thing keeping him from tumbling back into that frightful hell.

“Okay-okay; it’s okay Tech.” I fought to whisper the words even as my body continued to tremble nearly as violently as his, robbing my voice of that gentle quiet I so wanted to offer him. “Sh-shh; listen, listen… what do you hear?” I sighed into his hair. He stilled for just a moment, and I could feel his mind churning over my words, searching for an answer.

“H… heartbeat… t’s… t-tachycardic…” There was no strength in the listless response, but I still felt a rush of relief from it.

“Good,” I murmured warmly, “That’s perfect, Tech… What-what do we do for that?” The words caught slightly, throat balking against the strain of speech.

“Beta… beta blockers.” My fingers danced against his scalp, eyes sliding shut as I rested my cheek lightly against him.

“That’s right… but wh…” Maker, I was so tired… “what if we don’t have any?” Some of that tension began to slip away from him, and I had to lock an arm around his back to keep him from falling.

“…breathing… breathing exercises have-have been shown t-to help.” He sounded mere seconds away from slipping back into that taunting near-sleep.

“Yeah? Can you show me?” I pressed quietly. He let out something that sounded almost like an exasperated sigh, and I couldn’t help but let a huff of laughter escape me.

“Very well.” He nearly muttered, and, a moment later, his shoulders rose in some semblance of a deep inhale, paused, and then slowly released it.

“That was perfect, Tech… can you show me that again?” He didn’t bother responding before straining to repeat the deep breath. Halfway through the exhale, he went limp, and I only just managed to catch him against me. Hunter’s hand quickly darted to my shoulder, and I nearly collapsed at even that whisper of support, chest still shaking beneath too-shallow pants.

“Let me take him, Doc.” He murmured, already reaching for him. I quickly shook my head, but it took a moment before I managed to gather the strength to respond.

“He’s… he won’t be out long.” I heard the hopelessness just tinting my breathy words but couldn’t begin to fight it back.

“You’ve barely got your eyes open. Go get some rest; we can take care of him for a while.”

“Clearly.” The venom in my voice shocked us both, and I had to let out a slow sigh to gather my thoughts. “He’s… he’s not… lucid… most of the time, he’s just… he’s scared and confused, and he’s in so much pain, but he can’t understand why.” His touch shifted gently against me, and I barely bit back a sob. “I know… I know what to look for; if there’s anything I can give him to help.”

“That didn’t stop him from nearly killing you.” Crosshair retorted in a scowl. I started to look for him, but abandoned the effort halfway, eyes falling shut once more.

“He… he didn’t know”

“It doesn’t matter if he knows what’s happening or not. You think he’ll be okay with strangling you half to death because he didn’t know he was doing it?” Hunter pressed. I briefly fought for some argument, some logic behind my refusal amidst the muddled thoughts storming senselessly through me.

“I promised him.” I finally breathed, begging him to understand as my already unsteady breaths grew even choppier. “I-I promised I wouldn’t leave him.” My hold tightened around the still listless man in my arms, unfazed by the sharp tang of sweat clinging to damp skin, the nauseating heat still radiating from trembling muscles. Hunter let out a slow breath.

“You can’t be serious.” Crosshair growled. “If we’d been any slower, she’d be dead.”

“Do you know what to do if he starts seizing? Or if he stops breathing?” There was a weary patience in the Sergeant’s voice as he quietly met that piercing glare with an unfettered calm that only sharpened the scowl pulling at Crosshair’s lips before turning back to me.

“We’re going to take shifts with you.” I started to object, to remind him of Tech’s reluctance for his brother’s to see him like this, but that argument felt frightfully weak in the wake of the hurt still shooting through my neck at each stolen breath. He offered a grateful nod at the resignation that stole through me.

“Do you want help getting him back to the bed?” He asked, voice dropping into something of a murmur. My jaw shifted but fell still before managing an actual response. He didn’t need one. As soon as I began drawing some hint of movement through my limbs, he crouched down to ease Tech’s still limp body from me. I couldn’t hide the grimace of worn muscles balking from the movement, but forced myself to stay with him, hands carefully supporting his head until he was resting on his side once more.

I barely noticed the way I kneeled over him, shaking hand still gently carding through his hair as my eyes slid shut until the sound of the door closing pulled me back to a reluctant awareness. Gaze lazily sweeping over the room behind me, I couldn’t help the way my breath caught slightly to find Crosshair treading silently toward me.

He didn’t say anything, jaw grinding absently as troubled eyes seemed unsure where they should be looking, but, when he lowered himself to a knee, he finally glanced up at me, and the stillness that stole through him was infectious. Melting into that stillness, he slowly turned his attention to the tube of bacta I hadn’t noticed him grab. Movements quiet in a way that left me frozen before him, he collected some of that blue gel onto the tips of those skilled fingers and gently moved to smear it over the throbbing flesh of my neck, gaze meeting mine for just one more stolen moment before turning back to his task.

I barely breathed as his touch trailed over my jaw, up my cheek, those piercing eyes revealing every inch of skin abused in one of his brother’s fits. I had to stop myself from sinking into that touch, yearning for the release of merely letting him hold me, even if only for a moment, like he had that awful night, but I didn’t move when he finally pulled away from me; tried not to let him see the flash of disappointment as I turned my attention back to confirm Tech had yet to stir.

“Here.” I glanced toward him just enough to see the hydropack held toward me. “Drink.” He pressed when I didn’t immediately move to take it. Limb belatedly remembering how to function, I watched my hand reach out, careful to maintain at least some whisper of distance between our fingers before pulling it toward me. My throat balked at that first sip, face twisting in a sharp wince. I tried not to notice the frown pull at his lips as I set the pouch down after only that first drink before hugging my knees to my chest, cheek settling heavily atop my arm, gaze shifting wearily back to the trembling figure atop my bed.

Crosshair and I needed to talk. I knew that, but it still wasn’t the time for such things.

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