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Something felt… different … or sort of weird when Wrecker woke up. Everything hurt , but not the normal aches the Kaminoans always dismissed as “growing pains”. He couldn’t open his left eye and he could hear machines beeping around him. He could hear his heart beating in his head and one of the machines started beeping faster, setting off some kind of alert.
A medic rushed in as Hunter appeared on his right side, blinking sleep from his eyes. “Hey, easy– easy, Wreck! It’s okay.”
“Hun’er?” he murmured, trying to watch what the medic was doing.
“I’m right here,” Hunter said. “Try not to move around too much. Medic’s just givin’ you something for the pain.”
The medic pushed a med through his IV and left. Wrecker winced as he tried to turn his head. “C-can’t open m’ left eye.”
Hunter grimaced. “It’s bandaged up… but–”
Before he could continue, the door slid open, revealing the other two.
“See, told you he’d wake up early,” Crosshair snickered.
Tech moved to his side quickly. “How are you feeling?”
Wrecker tried to smile, but the bandages pulled. “K-kinda funny,” he mumbled. “Like ‘ev’rythin’ hurts… but sorta somewhere else… wha’ happened?”
“What’s wrong with him?” Crosshair said, his nose scrunched up. “It’s almost like he got dumber.”
“ Cross !” Hunter hissed, grabbing his collar and leading him out of the room. It reminded Wrecker of a mama Tooka moving a Tooka kit. He was sure Hunter would be giving Crosshair a hushed lecture on kindness and the side effects of pain meds.
Tech stood awkwardly at Wrecker’s side. “Do– ah, do you not recall the… incident ?”
Wrecker blinked at him.
“The incident that led to your injury?”
“Oh, I– um… no,” he stammered.
Tech cleared his throat. “That… should not be surprising; between the head injury and the side effects of being submerged in a bacta tank for two weeks, you are likely feeling somewhat confused.”
Wrecker tried for a smile again.
“I-I will… fill in the missing details,” Tech said, looking away. “Do you remember our most recent mission?”
Wrecker thought for a moment. “Was a- a Seppie outpost, righ’? On… Corlax?”
“That is correct,” Tech nodded. “The mission briefing indicated that the outpost appeared to be abandoned. However, the intel was incorrect and we were ambushed. Hunter sent you and me to rig up a chain reaction of explosives while he and Crosshair drew the droids in. We started on opposite ends of the compound and continued until we met in the center.”
Wrecker nodded, vague memories lapping back into his mind like waves on the shore of a lake. “One of ‘em went off too soon.”
Tech nodded ruefully, still refusing to look at his brother. “One of the charges on my side was set incorrectly. I s-set one of the charges incorrectly. We ran, but I-I tr-ripped.” Tech cringed as his old stutter resurfaced, buoyed by his anxiety and guilt. “Y-you… ca-came back for-r me–”
“‘Course I did,” Wrecker said, his hand reaching out to touch Tech’s arm.
Tech sniffled. “Th-th– damn it .”
“Hey,” Wrecker whispered, trying to help calm his brother. “Take your time, Techie; I got all day.”
Tech let out a small huff. Wrecker knew it was meant to be a chuckle.
Tech took a deep breath, in and out. “You came b-back and threw y-yourself over me,” he continued. “Your helmet c-came off in the blast. When we– when we got up a-after the dust settled–”
“The rollies,” Wrecker remembered in a horrified whisper. His hand came up to touch his bandaged head. “They got me, didn’t they?”
Tech’s eyes finally met his. They were wide with fear and so much guilt , tears threatening to spill over. Wrecker almost gasped; he hadn’t seen Tech cry since they were learning how to walk . And now, his brother was trembling before him.
Tech’s voice came out in a broken whimper. “You p-pushed me down and I-I thought you were–” his voice broke. “It–it was all my f-fa –”
“ No ,” Wrecker said emphatically. “No-no-no, Tech, it wasn’t your fault.”
Tech’s eyes screwed shut tightly. “You lost y-your eye,” he said quickly. “And you’re li-likely to have p-p- permanent hearing loss. I wa-was wi-with you when they pulled you out of the b-bacta… you’ll have those sc-scars for the rest of your life.”
Tech’s head hung miserably, but he squeaked in surprise as Wrecker fought the pain of movement to wrap his arms tightly around his brother’s torso. “Wr-Wrecker, what–”
“You really think I give a shebs be’vheh-viin ‘bout some scars? If ‘m here , ‘nd alive , it’s ‘cus you pulled me outta there,” he said, his grip tightening. “Protocol was to leave me there, ‘cus I’m too big for one man, but you didn’t . I owe you , Techie.”
Wrecker felt relief wash over him as Tech’s arms slid gently around his shoulders.
Tech let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding. “A… life for a life, I s-suppose.”