Eclipse

"Ok. I want two teams. Kitt and Karr, you two go in together. Michael, you're with us. Move out!" The former retired general shouted sternly at them, looking at each individual as he spoke their names. A brief flash of uncertainty came before his eyes when his gaze landed on the dragons standing calmly before him.

All his men, including the FLAG individuals moved out to their places. The bomber was just inside the concrete parking structure. Kitt and Karr were told to go in and try to flush him out while the other men secured the area for any kind of possible bomb. The humans were assigned the role of staying on the first floor. Michael helping to search for any object that could be a possible bomb.

By the time the brothers made it to their assigned positions, they were panting. This bomber just had to pick a smoldering hot day like this, didn't he? Hell, he probably did it on purpose. Hoping to confuse the law-abiding individuals after him. Well, he's gonna have to think better than that if he wants to pick an escape!

The sound of his older brother's wing flapping caught his attention. Snapping him out of his thoughtful trance.

"What are you doing?" The youngest asked, narrowing his bright blue eyes.

"My wing's stiff. I must've slept on it wrong." Karr whined as he continued on down the row of empty parking slots. The sun's bright rays reflecting off of his shiny jet black scales. Kitt's doing the same as he followed after with an eye roll.

"I told you not to sleep on your side with your wing stretched out last night. But you didn't listen."

Karr stopped dead in his tracks, giving his little brother a half-hearted glare. "When?"

"Last night. I tried to wake you, but you only grumbled at me. Typical Karr." Kitt teased coyly.

Karr just rolled his warm red eyes. "Whatever." He muttered before walking again.

"Oh, and I believe there was something else you said too. Oh...what was it...? Oh yes! You told me I had se-"

A deep blush placed itself on Karr's cheeks. "Shut up! It doesn't matter what I said, ok?"

"What? It's harmless. It's not like I haven't heard it before..."

The eldest groaned. "You're never gonna let that go, are you?"

"Nope. Besides, it only happens when you get into something you're not supposed too."

Karr sighed, coming to a gentle halt. "Do the others know?"

"What? You mean how you get into Devon's sugar stock pile, or what you tell me when you're drunk on sweets?"

Another light blush. "Both?"

Kitt only chuckled at his brother's embarrassment. "No. They don't know anything."

The bigger, jet black and red dragon couldn't help the sigh of relief that left him. "Thanks."

"Oh, don't thank me. I'm just simply waiting for you to say something real good. Or do something. You've never done that yet. You only say things." He chuckled at his brother's growing blush. "What? There's nothing to be embarrassed about. Instead of turning into a rampaging, moody bull, you turn into a cuddly lover bug dragon with just as cuddly things to say. I think it's cute."

A cold glare set on Karr's features. His blood red eyes dilating to thin slits. "Yeah. For you."

"No, I'm serious. Some of the things you say in your sugar drunken state are adorable. If I took a video-"

"Don't. You. Dare."

Kitt shrunk back a little. "Alright! Alright! I was just kidding. You honestly think I have a death wish to my own brother?"

"No, but-" Karr's attention quickly snapped to the 4th story ramp they were approaching. A serious look on his face. "Stay back."

Kitt silently did as he was told. Watching closely as his brother walked over towards the ramp. He was really hoping it was a false alarm. There were some things that didn't bother Kitt in the slightest. But dealing with a rogue bomber, who threatened to have a bomb capable of blowing half the city away, well, that was a different story. It was rare that they ever got calls like that. But whenever they did, they took it very seriously. Probably a little too seriously, to be honest.

"What is it?" He asked quietly, taking a step forward.

"STAY BACK!" He heard his brother's shout right before the loud explosion took place. Everything around him seemed to turn into a cloud of dust and debris. He felt something sharp and cold impale his leg and another object rip his wing, causing the young dragon to cry out in pain. And just when he thought it couldn't get any worse, he felt the floor shift beneath his feet. It was then he knew what true fear felt like. There was nothing worse than free falling to the hard ground below. Landing with a loud crash and another shrill cry of pain. Debris falling on and around him, causing more painful wounds.

Kitt lay there, motionless for a few moments. The pain and shock of what just took place, too much to handle. It all seemed to have happened in the blink of an eye. The strong smell of blood and steel managed to wake him up enough to weakly look up at the floor he was standing on only moments before. His heart painfully aching when he saw the entire floor was gone. Including his brother.

"Karr..." He whimpered as a single tear rolled down. Creating one dark streak down his cheek on his dust covered face. It wasn't long before the pain took him back into oblivion. Going limp once more.

/*/

Michael's team had just emptied the ground floor when the blast happened. His team stating they couldn't find anything that would or could be a bomb. They didn't care to search the other floors, for the brothers were told to keep an eye out for anything suspicious. And if they did, one of them were to report it to the group immediately so it could be extracted carefully.

They were standing near the cars when the bomb went off. It knocked all the men off their feet, slamming them to the ground with its powerful shock wave. The cars rocked on their shocks, some that were parked closer to the building even flipped. Coming back down with a loud crash as gravity took hold again. There were screams as some of the men were thrown half way across the site, smacking into cars and other concrete structures around the parking garage.

Michael looked up just in time in his stunned state to watch as the parking structure came collapsing down. Its thundering crash could be heard for miles, its dust cloud could be seen that much further. He saw some of the other surrounding building's windows shatter from the shock wave, trembling on their foundation.

It was then he noticed something warm and wet slowly gliding down his face. Almost like a tickling sensation. He put a hand up and stiffened when his finger tips came back coated with blood. He tried to stand up, thankful that his bone didn't pop out the side of his pant leg as he did so. Michael tried his best to steady himself against the car, hanging on to its side mirror, leaning up against the driver window, gasping when he felt a sharp pain in his torso. Yup. Definitely broke some ribs. Bastards.

He heard a noise out in the distance. It sounding like...wailing...? Wait. Wailing. Ambulance. Help. He cursed loudly when his head suddenly seemed to burst with pain, vision dimming slightly before returning to normal again. Ok, add a possible concussion to that list as well.

"Sir? Sir, can you hear me?" A male paramedic asked him, securely grabbing hold of his arm.

All he could muster was a small nod, allowing himself to be sat down against the car. He felt a soft cloth be pressed to the side of his head, another going to his forearm. Huh. He didn't even know he had anything there.

"What's your name?" The paramedic asked. Ugh, screw that. He just wanted to sleep. Couldn't he just sleep?

"Mi...Mic...I dun...no.." He mumbled groggily. Can't he just sleep?

"Sir? Stay with me, alright?"

"Uh...huh..." He mumbled again, his eyes rolling to the back of his head. Allowing the darkness to take him. Hearing the faint calls of the paramedic telling him to do otherwise.

/*/

The constant heat made Kitt crack open an eye. Closing it again when the slivers of bright rays pierced his eyes. He was sweaty thanks to the dreadful heat wave, making the dust cling to him like a thin sheet. The young black and bright blue dragon weakly looked around. It would appear that the building seemed to have collapsed around him, pieces of steel and concrete holding themselves together to create an almost cavern shaped room. Whether it would be tall enough for him to stand, he didn't know yet.

Carefully, he tried to stand up, debris sliding off of him in the process. He yelped a sharp cry when pain shot up his back left leg, flooding into his body. Both his left and right wing had awful tears in them, making them look completely shredded. His back brushed up against the roof of the debris cavern he was in, causing it to creak along with some dust. Well, at least he knew he could stand now.

Once he was up, he desperately looked around for any sign of a way out. His heart sank when he came up empty. Of course, he wasn't expecting much seeing as though the entire parking structure has collapsed on them.

He coughed and sneezed when the thick dust teased his nose. Causing another cloud of it to rise up. He tried not to breath it in as he made his way across the cavern. Though it was more like a hobble thanks to his leg. Throbbing painfully the more and more he moved it.

Eventually, the pain in general started to become too much for Kitt. Tears brimmed his eyes as the urge to cry out overwhelmed him. He was scared of being alone in this mess. He was scared for his brother. How had this gone so wrong? Everything was fine. At least, as fine as you could get it when hunting down a bomber. But still, everything all went to hell in a matter of seconds.

Suddenly, he heard a painful groan near by. His heart raced when the sound entered his ears. Karr.

As fast as his injured leg would allow, he quickly made he way towards the noise. Careful to not set off any after shocks. Having tons of concrete land on you, he didn't think, would feel very nice. Let alone come out alive over.

After carefully snaking his way passed a big piece of concrete with rebar sticking out of it, he came upon the horrifying scene of his brother. He didn't need to second guess himself to know that Karr was in very bad shape. His wings were completely shredded, the bone sticking out on his right wing. Deep, bloody gashes littered his body. Bright red liquid oozing out of them with each fearfully soft breath he made. His limbs were all cut up and slightly buried by the chunks of concrete. His once long, razor sharp talons were broken. Some bloody because they snapped at the quick.

Kitt didn't realize he was crying until the sound of his own heart broken sobs reached his ears. He went to Karr's side, gently nudging him as if he were afraid Karr would snap in two should he apply any more force. He waited several moments for any kind of indication at all that Karr was alive. He received none.

"Karr, please. Don't leave me, big brother. Please don't leave me. I need you, Karr. I can't go on without you. Please, please come back to me."

Still, the bigger dragon stayed silent and motionless. Making the smaller whimper helplessly as he cuddled up to his side with the softness reserved for an infant. Snuggling his head against Karr's shoulder. Reveling in the fact that his big brother would be ok as long as he kept breathing.

/*/

"NO! HE'S IN THERE! I'M NOT LEAVING WITHOUT THEM!" Michael practically screamed 30 minutes later when he came to again. Realizing they were going to take him to the hospital without a care in the world as to where Kitt and Karr were at the moment.

"Sir, we need to get you to a hospital. You need immediate medical treatment." The male, dark haired paramedic stated levelly. It was a miracle he was this patient by now with the taller man. Michael was expecting to be thrown out the side by now.

"No! No you can't! Please! My partner's in there. Both of them are. You need to get them out!"

"Sir I-"

"Michael!"

Both heads snapped towards the open doors of the ambulance. A medium height, slightly over weight balding man stood there. He had a bandage over the left side of his forehead, the faintest signs of red coming through. He also had many bruises all over his arms and such, yet his blue grey eyes remained sharp as a knife.

"General?" Michael asked incredulously. Boy was he delirious or something? Why was he so overly happy to see him?

"Yes, it's me, Michael. Listen, not all my men were seriously injured by the blast. We're calling in search teams as we speak. I promise you we'll find them."

A moment of silence passed over them. "But-"

"No, Knight. Go to the hospital. I promise we'll keep you posted on things down here. Once you're checked out, you can come back here, understand?" At Michael's reluctant nod, he continued. "Good. Now let this man help you for Heaven's sake!" The general spat jokingly before slamming the doors closed on the ambulance. It drove off a few minutes later, sirens wailing loudly and fading in the distance.

It was then he turned towards the remaining men, along with the arriving search teams. His old war habits going into affect as he glanced between them. He was told a million times over he needed to retire from the work field all together, or else it could be the death of him. Each time though, he only laughed at them. The death of him? Ha! He may be old on the outside. But on the inside, he was as chippy as a child. He lived for moments like these.

"Sir, we have the teams formed and ready to go. Shall we proceed?"

"Yes. Don't leave any piece unturned. I want them found."

"Yes, sir."

/*/

Consciousness flooded back to him in an almost...mystical manner. It was incredibly dark...or maybe it was because he had his eyes closed. Oh, but his eyes just felt so heavy to open right now. Couldn't it be another time? He wanted to just slip back into oblivion. Be alone in the darkness. It was comforting to him, so why would he want to leave?

Wait a minute. No, he wasn't alone. There was something, someone beside him. Giving him warmth to his aching side. It sounded muffled but...he was pretty sure whoever this person was, was crying. He could feel the small, hot drops of water slide down his leg each time a tear fell. Who the tears belonged to though, still needed to be found.

But wasn't Kitt with him? At the time of the explosion?

A groan growled out of the dragon then. All of the memories of what happened, every vivid image, every burst of pain, all came flooding back to him then. And it didn't help any that his head already felt as if it would fall off. Gosh...he must've hit it pretty hard on his way down...

"Karr?" A tearful, shaky voice asked. He felt the warm body next to his move a little.

He winced before responding, the dizziness in his head making his vision fade in and out for a few moments. "Kitt? That you?" He asked groggily as he tried to pick up his head.

"Oh, Karr." His little brother nuzzled him then, relief emitting from him in an aura. "I was so worried. I thought...I thought you were...gone."

Karr felt so bad for him. He glanced over Kitt then, his heart swelling at the sight of all the damage done. His deep gashes were bloody and continued their stream every time the skin pulled. His wings looked like they went through a cheese grater and back. But he could see in his little brother's eyes that his wounds were the least of Kitt's concern right now.

"C'mon now. You honestly think I'd leave ya that easy?" Karr chided, trying to lighten the mood. He was successful in getting a small grin from him, but nothing more.

"No. But it still doesn't settle the fear any." Kitt said quietly, looking away at the feeling of tears entering his eyes.

Carefully, Karr got up into a sitting position. His wounds protesting but he didn't give it any concern. Gingerly, he pressed his muzzle to Kitt's, purring softly in the same way he always did when Kitt was upset. This method of comfort was kind of found on accident really. Kitt was having a nightmare one night, but he wouldn't snap out of it when Karr tried to verbally rouse him. So he had tried purring to him instead, soon finding the soft vibrations was enough to calm his little brother back to sleep.

Kitt closed his eyes, leaning into his big brother's touch. A few tears managed to cascade down his face. Karr could tell he was terrified. He didn't need to ask about it. His whole body screamed terror. And Karr was mentally kicking himself for it. He could've prevented this. He could've saved Kitt the agony he could only imagine his little brother had gone through. He could've done it. None of this would've happened of he had just been paying a bit more attention.

But...at the same time, how was he supposed to know the bomber was right there? He didn't have X-ray vision. How was he supposed to know the guy already had the bomb ready to go? He wasn't there to watch as the bastard set it. How was he supposed to know the guy had lightning speed, only giving him a split second to bark a command for Kitt to stay back before he set the damn thing off? He couldn't exactly blame himself a hundred percent because he wasn't a mind reader. Karr doesn't know all. Though, having to watch his little brother tremble fearfully like he was now, cut and bloody with emotional wounds twice as bad, he sure as hell wished he did.

There was noting worse, in Karr's opinion, than having to watch the one precious life he cared most about, have to go through pain. It didn't matter what kind. His number one goal all the time, on any occasion, was to keep Kitt unscathed. Not partially. Not half way. Not 'as much as possible'. Completely unharmed. Not a scratch or dent on him. That was Karr's goal. And he strives to live up to that goal as best he could. Even if it meant dodging a literal bullet that could end in his life in just a few milliseconds.

He felt Kitt shift some so he was now against his chest, eyes still closed. Karr felt the slowly dissipating tremors as Kitt began to relax more. Feeling safe and protected again knowing he found Karr. The eldest continued his purring, gently holding Kitt to his chest protectively.

/*/

The search teams have been going for over 3 hours now. Doing their best in leaving no chunk of concrete unturned and nothing untouched. People were scattered about all over the demolished parking structure. Sifting through debris and trying to dig their way in deeper under all the crumbled concrete and metal. Heavy machinery had been brought in to help dig up the bigger pieces that couldn't be moved by man power alone.

Luckily, since the blast was inside the concrete structure, it contained most of the shock wave. Leaving only a few neighboring buildings with evidence of the blast with shattered windows, but thankfully nothing severe. The bomber's body had been found 30 minutes ago, taken away by medical professional to be dealt with. The general couldn't say he wasn't happy to see the man dead. He could've killed let alone hurt thousands of innocent people.

Let's just hope everyone makes it out alright with this, he thought. Indicating the brothers that have yet to be found. Michael had still not arrived back from the hospital, though the old war general didn't have a doubt in his mind that the man was raising hell over there. He kept his promise about filling Michael in with the details over here. But he doubted it helped the man's wired nerves any. Since he met the trio this morning, he found their bond quite obvious. They were very tight knitted, just he was with his own family. No one came in between them without their say. And he respected them gratefully for that.

The other FLAG individuals arrived a short time after the bomber's body was removed. He told them that as of right now, they didn't have anything. So he told them to go visit Michael in the hospital, try to calm the man's nerves a bit. They reluctantly obliged after much hesitation and some arguing. He hasn't seen them back since then.

Suddenly, he noticed the digging come to a halt. Quickly, the old retired war general made his way over. Everyone seemed to turn skittish and uncertain as his drill sergeant demeanor made itself known to them.

"What's the meaning of this? Why did we stop?" He demanded.

"Sir, there's air pockets in the cavern. If we dig any more, we could set off an after shock."

Worsening the other two, if not kill them, he finished the thought. He shook his head. "Is there any other way to get inside?"

The man nodded. "Yes. But we'd have to go under neath. Through the ground level."

The general nodded. "Let's get to it then. We don't have much time."

/*/

Meanwhile, the brothers had tried to make the best of the situation they were caught up in. Kitt had quieted down again. Keeping close to his brother the whole time. Karr could still see the fear in his eyes, the constant flow of 'what if's' that tortured his mind and had made themselves known verbally. But Karr made it very clear he wouldn't allow any more harm to come to Kitt. Not as long as he was still breathing.

"But I'm not just talking about me here, Karr. I'm talking about both of us." He said, a growing frustration in his voice.

Karr decided to aid on the side of caution. It was clear as day how stressed Kitt was right now. Last thing he wanted to do was add to it. "I know, Kitt." he said calmly. "Just try to relax ok?"

"Relax?" Kitt repeated heatedly, turning on Karr. "You want me to relax?! We're stuck in a cavern made of metal and tons of concrete with no way out, has the possibility of collapsing in on us and you want me to relax?!"

"Kitt, stop panicking." Karr stated carefully, noticing the tense body language. "It's not going to get us anywhere, alright?"

Kitt didn't say anything then. He only began shaking vigorously out of fear for the outcome of all this. Karr calmly made his way over to Kitt, trying to reassure him the best he could. The youngest simply went limp against his brother's chest. All the hope of escaping this hell hole gone. They've been down here for hours now, the constant heat making it seem like days. It was pretty clear to Kitt that they were going to die down here. This was it.

Wait. Kitt snapped his head up again. Listening intently. He could've sworn he heard...something...

"What's wrong?" He heard Karr ask him quietly.

"I...I thought I...heard something..." The youngest trailed off distractedly, slowly separating himself from Karr. The eldest kept close behind, also listening.

"Like what?"

"It was...like a...rustling sound I think."

They slipped into a tense, listening silence then. The seconds seemed to pass like hours. It was quiet enough to be able to hear their own heart beats echoing off the cavern walls. Still, the brothers weren't able to hear the supposed rustling again. They quietly backed away to where they were.

But then they heard it again. And this time, it continued until a part of the small room was basking in the bright sun light again.

"Oh thank God we found you two." A man they recognized from earlier this morning when they were introduced to each other. If they recalled correctly, his name was Danny.

"Danny? Is that really you?" Kitt asked, coming forward into the light some.

"Yeah, bud it's me. C'mon. Let's get you two outta here."

With a smile from Danny, the brothers began to follow their way back out to fresh air again. Even though the temp was easily somewhere around 95-100 degrees, Kitt still could've cried when he got to fully bask in the sun again. His jet black scales soaking up the sun like a sponge. Karr's doing the same as he came over to stand by Kitt, giving the youngest a nuzzle which Kitt returned.

It wasn't long before they were surrounded by the other people, including their family, who all rushed towards them with tears of joy in their eyes. Michael immediately wrapped his arms around Kitt's muzzle, allowing a tear of two to roll down on to the dusty scales before they all did a tight group hug.

"I'm so happy you both are alright." Bonnie keened with tears in her eyes a few minutes later when they had both been led back to the human's make-shift medical bay. The brothers were both getting their gashes treated after a much needed bath. All broken bones and impaled objects had either been reset or removed already, as well as any needed stitches. "I thought the worst when we heard what happened."

Karr gave her a reassuring grin. "Hey, we're alright. A little banged up. But ok."

Kitt gave her a nod before laying his head down. Leaning against his big brother in exhaustion, earning him a slight chuckle from the eldest. Karr did the same a few moments later, sidled up to Kitt protectively. He felt his little brother snuggle up to him before going limp with a quiet sigh. Karr soon following, making the others all smile.