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Crosshair blinked as he slowly and strenuously awoke. No bright, painful light stung his eyes, and made it difficult for him to open them even a few millimeters. Wherever he was, someone was dimming the light enough that the sniper didn't need to immediately put a hand over his face and stifle a hissing sound.
Curious. Where he usually slept - in barracks, in a medical facility, on a ship - no one cared about the sniper's hypersensitive eyes and how painful waking to bright light was for him.
It used to be different. In the old days, someone always made sure that the existing light source was switched off, covered, or dimmed. If this could not be implemented, one of his brothers usually stood between him and the painful brightness.
Today... today the dim light surprised him and it triggered the question where he was? After all, he recently had been staring regularly into the biting, white ceiling lamps of a research facility, eyes watering with pain.
He remembered a Kaminoan woman.... and humans. He remembered pain, emotionless faces. A memory of Mayday flashed through his mind, coupled with anger, despair, and sadness. And then... noise. Blaster shots. Screams. Explosions. Hands on his body. Not brash and searching, but warm and supportive. Holding him.
Voices full of concern and yet infused with relief, confidence and hope.
They had come. They had come for him.
With a soft groan, Crosshair finally opened his eyes. Despite the dim light, his head pulsed uncomfortably and he had trouble focusing his vision. But finally Hunter's face manifested above him, a soft, warm smile on his lips. Crosshair didn't know how many months he had gone without seeing that smile in his direction.
"Hey... take it easy, brother," Hunter murmured softly, watching intently as the sniper pushed himself up on his elbows and looked around.
A few steps behind Hunter stood the blonde girl, Lula in a tight grip and with a pinched expression on her face. Next to her stood Wrecker, his face nervous but hopeful. He gave Crosshair a crooked grin and scratched the back of his head.
The brief movement of rising up sent violent dizziness through Crosshair's head and he lowered himself back down with an unwilling hiss. Hunter's hand hovered near him, their fearless leader seemingly unsure if he was allowed to touch his brother.
"Omega, can you give us some water, please?" Hunter asked, without taking his eyes off Crosshair, and a soft, confirming sound rang out.
The thought of taking a sip of water caused Crosshair's stomach to twist uncomfortably at first. It was due to the dizziness, and as it dissipated over the next second, his uncomfortably sore throat alerted him that drinking was quite an excellent idea. Omega approached the bunk and, with an uncertain look, handed the glass to Hunter, not Crosshair. The clone passed it and Crosshair pushed himself up on one elbow again, but more slowly this time.
"I can do this very well by myself," he growled when Hunter tried to help him drink, so the leader let go of the glass when Crosshair grabbed it and raised both hands slightly in a placating gesture.
"It doesn't look like it," Omega muttered, squaring her shoulders as Hunter looked at her from the side. "Let it go, Omega."
"Why?" she asked, a hint of defiance entering her voice as she gave Crosshair a pinched look. "We saved him and risked everything. He wouldn't have gotten out of there alone..."
The sniper lowered the glass from his lips and replied in his low, acrid voice, "I never asked for your help..."
Omega gasped, while Hunter and Wrecker grimaced slightly. "That... seriously? You sent a message and warned us. Did you really think we wouldn't come for you? Especially Tech?!"
Tech...
Tech!
"Tech..." Crosshair gasped, the glass literally falling out of his hand as he tried to struggle into a more seated position. "Woah, easy..." Hunter exclaimed, catching the spilling glass and setting it on the ground as he put a hand on Crosshair's shoulder to keep him from tipping over.
"Yeah, that's right, Tech, you ungrateful..." began Omega and gave a startled sound when Wrecker suddenly lifted her up, sat her on his arm, and shook his head. "Shh. Please Omega, be quiet now, okay?" Irritated, she looked from Wrecker down to Hunter, who wordlessly pointed to the bunk on the opposite side of the ship.
Crosshair's eyes widened as he saw his brother lying there. Motionless, with an oxygen mask over mouth and nose.
"Tech..." he groaned again, reaching for Hunter's arm to be helped up. His brother did it carefully, supporting him as he made his unsteady, swaying way over to the other bed. Once there, Crosshair dropped to his knees and immediately Hunter took two steps back, toward Omega and Wrecker. The little girl blinked in utter confusion as he smiled softly at her and put a finger to his lips. Her anger at Crosshair's words boiled unabated, and she didn't want to see him near Tech. Not because she hated him, but because she and Hunter had spent the last few hours fighting for Tech's life, and it left her shaken and raw.
Sensing her unease, Hunter gently placed a hand on her arm and gestured with his fingers for her to watch. Puzzled, Omega's brow furrowed and her head jerked back to the two men by the bunk.
Crosshair's fingers brushed shakily over the pale skin of Tech's forehead. They had taken off his goggles and so Crosshair could gently stroke over his brow and down to the corners of his eyes.
"Tech...", Crosshair muttered softly, trying to control his breathing. His mouth opened to ask what happened.... then his brother's eyelids began to flutter and with a soft sound they opened. Crosshair knew it always took Tech a little longer to wake up, it had been that way since he was a kid. When he finally slept, he was completely gone and hard to bring back. With the wounds he probably had, it would take a little longer. Besides, without his goggles he could see next to nothing and only close proximity would allow him to eventually make out Crosshair's face.
Until then, the sniper was content running his fingers through Techs hair, caked with dirt, blood and sweat, and gently untangling it. His gaze did not leave his brother's face for a second, and finally the golden-brown eyes focused on him.
Then they widened.
With a sound that was a strange mixture of relief and disbelief, Tech's hands jerked up and sought a grip on Crosshair's torso. But his fingers were stiff and cold, and he couldn't manage to claw them into the black fabric. His voice was hoarse and low, so it was hard to understand what he was saying. For Crosshair, the words echoed through his head like thunderbolts.
"Stay... Cross... don't go away... stay... don't leave me..."
He wasn't sure if Tech really understood he was there, so Crosshair bent down and pressed his forehead against his brother's. He heard the heavy breathing under the mask and it sent tremors down his spine.
"Udesiir, vod'ika," he whispered softly, feeling Tech stiffen slightly in surprise... and then slumping a bit again. His fingers still tried to find a hold on Crosshair and failed. Cautiously, Crosshair grasped his brother's hand and grimaced as he felt the icy chill in the limbs. The gene alteration had ruined Tech's blood pressure, he had been struggling with the perpetual feeling of being cold since he was a small child, and especially with cold hands and feet. Of course, if he was loosing blood, it would only get worse, and he certainly wasn't lying here with an oxygen mask on for nothing.
But there had long been a remedy they all used successfully to fight the shivering in the slender body and Crosshair... Crosshair had followed enough orders. He had the desire to be selfish and take what he longed for, for so many endless months.
"Can you scoot over?" he asked quietly, and Tech, still staring at him as he normally would at a special, exquisite electronic part, blinked twice very slowly.... only to inhale all the more deeply and, through clenched teeth but unstoppable, rolled onto his side and slid back, until his back touched the bunk wall.
Cautiously, Crosshair rose, sat on the edge of the bed, and lay down on his side. But he didn't stay on the outer edge, as the all-watching Omega would have thought. He slid as close to his brother as he could, entwining their legs and slipping an arm under Tech's head.
Tech reached for the oxygen mask with trembling hands, pulled it off and dropped it carelessly to the side, as he pressed his face into the crook of his brother's neck.
Crosshair shuddered at the cold skin and wrapped his other arm over Tech's torso to pull him closer. Only when they were as close as possible, both clones' bodies slowly relaxed and Crosshair closed his eyes. "Still as cold as a hothian snow mouse..."
A soft snort sounded at his neck and Tech's hoarse voice replied barely audibly: "And still the snow mouse is not a cold-blooded animal and is well warmed due to its fur..."
A faint grin slid across Crosshair's lips. It disappeared immediately, giving way to a brief snarl of teeth as, what little light there was in their bunk, was blocked by someone approaching.
"Peace, brother," Hunter whispered, "I bring a blanket."
Crosshair turned his head almost imperceptibly and glanced up from the corner of his eye at his brother, who was carefully spreading the promised blanket over them. Then he raised both hands again in a soothing gesture and took a few steps back.
Omega... was amazed. All her anger, all of her resentment, all her worry faded away in the last moments and were replaced by incomprehensible amazement. She had lived between her brothers long enough now. She knew Tech didn't like physical contact, not even the friendly but painful pats on the back from Wrecker. She knew he didn't like to lie still, didn't like to be confined in his movements.
And now she knew... that she didn't know him at all.
Hunter once told her that this Tech, who she just never quite warmed up to because he was so... distant and unemotional, was not the Tech he and his brothers grew up with. He wouldn't elaborate at the time, but she remembered his weary smile and the soft words, "I just hope... everything works out and you get to know our brother for who he really is someday."
Wrecker moved and Omega was set back on the ground. She blinked up at him, then at Hunter, and finally again at the bunk where two grown men lay snuggled together like children.
Hunter gently placed a hand in Omega's back, guiding her away from the sight that made her heart beat faster. Out of shame, because she regretted her harsh words earlier... and because she was looking forward to getting to know her two brothers.