Hey guys! Sorry for such a massive delay with this one, I just haven't had any time to write – so as a forewarning, the next one will probably take a little time as well.

Either way, I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 15

Cooler came too a few moments before he hesitantly opened his eyes. Stealing a moment or two to listen to the peaceful silence, eyes closed, as he floated calmly in what he knew would be a healing tank. The moment was short lived however when he heard a beep echo from the control panel somewhere just outside of the tank, followed by a click in the drainage system below him before the liquid within which he was suspended slowly begin to drain away.

Finally opening his eyes his vision cleared steadily to reveal what was clearly a medical bay. It had been a long time since his father had beaten him to the point that he'd ended up in one of these, and even longer since his injuries had been significant enough to have needed the use of a healing tank. A very long time. Eyes focusing forward he took in the sight of a small medic, her boxy orange hair falling over her light blue face as she carefully surveyed the readings the tank was giving her.

As the greenish liquid disappeared into the bottom of the tank and a mechanical click sounded the front of the tank swung upwards and open, allowing Cooler to take a tentative step forward. Removing the mask from his face and pulling off the various wires he knew were used for monitoring Cooler continued to move forward and out of the tank, holding the side to keep his not quite awake legs steady. Stretching his neck from side to side his eyes suddenly fell on a small, silver haired figure to his left.

Hana was settled on the floor, her back and head leaning against the side of the tank with her elbows resting on her propped-up knees. She was fast asleep and hadn't stirred at his movements. Shifting his view from Hana to the medic in front of him, he noticed the scornful gaze she was giving the silver haired female before she quickly switched to an apologetic expression upon noticing Cooler was looking at her.

"I'm sorry sir," she started, throwing another glare at Hana "I asked her to leave several times but she-"

"She refused?" Cooler asked, already predicting the likely answer. No doubt said refusal included a colourful selection of four-letter words.

The medic scoffed "she told me to 'fuck off' and said that if I kept bothering her, she'd drown me in the tank…"

Cooler couldn't help but snort and chuckle out loud, not even the slightest bit surprised. Clearly Hana's foul language wasn't reserved just for him. The sound of his laughter made Hana stir as her red eyes fluttered slowly, only to open fully as the small female spotted him and immediately shot up from the floor, her expression almost flustered.

"Cooler!" she yelled, moving quickly towards him and hugging him, her shaking arms wrapping securely around his torso in a tight embrace, taking him completely by surprise. Whilst not necessarily unwelcome, this was extremely unusual behaviour of Hana. He didn't have a moment to so much as contemplate how to respond before she stepped away from him, quickly reverting to something more expected from her and slapped him hard across the face, the sound reverberating through the sterile room. The poor medic looked like she wanted to ground to swallow her whole as she stared wide eyed and open mouthed at Hana, who completely ignored her, her eyes fixed scornfully on Cooler.

"What the fuck was that!?" she yelled, jabbing an accusing finger at his chest as she glared up at him, eyes ablaze as she stomped her foot forward as she moved closer to him, looking very much like she was readying to strike him again. Neither noticed the medic quickly move away from both of them and pretend to busy herself pretending to do paperwork on the other side of the room, as far away as she could get without leaving the room entirely.

"What was what?" Cooler responded calmly, circling his fingers around her wrist and gently moving her pointing hand away. Surprised that she didn't resist him and instead calmly let her hand drop back to her side with no more challenge or argument than a huff of frustration.

"You know exactly fucking what Cooler! Your fucking father! What the hell was that about?" Cooler couldn't help but notice her pitch increase with each word she said. He could only guess that she'd had a very stressful few days while he was in the tank. Glancing to her mouth he noticed a split in her lip and reached forward to hold her chin between his thumb and forefinger, examining the injury.

"Why didn't you get yourself healed?" he asked as he looked over the small wound, noticing the shadow of a bruise fading from the same area.

A half smile pulled at the corner of Hana's lip "well, in case you didn't hear him, your father didn't exactly want me out of my room" she looked away almost awkwardly, at which Cooler immediately let his hand fall away from her face.

"How did you find your way around the ship and get here anyway?" Cooler asked, before pausing for a moment and continuing "How did you even manage to get out of the room?"

A more genuine smile spread across Hana's face as she looked back to him. "Well… The guard rotation outside the door was pretty sloppy. Then I just had to follow you" she made a quick gesture towards her head indicating that she must have used what little of his Ki she could pick up on to find her way to him.

Cooler gave a slow, small nod, shifting his attention towards the medic at the other side of the room who seemed to have somewhat relaxed now that Hana had calmed down a bit. "Am I discharged?" he asked softly, although she still jumped slightly when he spoke.

"Yes sir. You are fully healed" she made her way slowly over, electronic screen in hand with a series of notes sprawled across it. "You may still experience intermittent fatigue over the next day or so, but nothing you've not come across before. You are free to go" she threw an odd look towards Hana, who glowered back, before the blue skinned female returned to her usual workstation.

Nodding once, Cooler turned to leave, glancing towards Hana to make sure she was following, and left the medical bay. Stepping out into the corridor, the area was fairly quiet, with barely any beings moving through the large space.

"My brother will be arriving any day now, if he hasn't already." Cooler started carefully, "he'll try to antagonise you, it's important that you don't rise to it. The less you respond to him or interact with him the better"

"Why would he try to antagonise me?" Hana questioned, throwing a quick glance toward Cooler.

"He finds it fun. But he's got an explosive temper, which you don't want to set off. I can only protect you so far Hana,"

Hana slowed to a stop, Cooler stopping a few paces ahead of her and turning back to look at her inquisitively. She was frowning, a million thoughts flickering across her face at once. "Cooler…" she started slowly, her eyes flickering from one spot to another somewhere on the floor, thoughtful and unfocused.

"Why did you do it?" her ruby eyes lifted from the floor and up to his, they were filled with emotion, but remained calculating as she surveyed him. "With your father, why did you step in? It was me that screwed up in the first place. You were in that chamber for days…" she looked away again, this time toward the blank wall next to her, jaw clenched.

"If I hadn't intervened, he'd have probably killed you, Hana. As much as he may have put me in the chamber for a few days, he wouldn't ever kill a member of his clan. You on the other hand, he wouldn't think twice about."

Hana's eyes shifted back to his as she digested his words, her expression unreadable as she gazed up at him. "I still don't understand" she shook her head slowly as she continued to look at him, distrust flickering across her face.

Certain he had figured out her trail of thought Cooler took a step toward her, "because Hana, as much as you are a pain in the ass sometimes, I'm starting to like having you around. So, if it's all the same to you, I'd rather you don't get murdered by my father"

The corners of her mouth lifted slightly as she gazed up at him, "You aren't so bad to be around yourself Cooler," taking a small step, and then another she started to close the gap between them slowly. She was almost to him when Hana's head snapped up as she halted mid-step. Her eyes widened as they seemed to search for something beyond the walls and floors of the corridor around them. Finally finding what she was looking for her eyes snapped back to Cooler, her breath catching in her chest as she shifted her gaze again and stared at something Cooler couldn't see. "He's here," she whispered, her voice lased with surprise and raw emotion, "Zee is here."

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Hana skidded to a halt as she sprinted down the corridors, Cooler not far behind her as she paused at an intersection, scanning the many Ki signatures of the ship, and pinpointing just one. Pivoting and sprinting to the right as Cooler caught up just in time to see which direction she had turned.

"Slow down Hana," Cooler called from somewhere behind her, but she ignored him, maintaining her speed. She was almost there, almost to him. He wasn't alone, there were several Ki signatures in close proximity to him, one of which was massive, similar to Cooler's. Assuming it must be his brother Hana pressed on skidding round a corner where her eyes finally fell on him.

She paused for just a moment panting softly as her grey skinned friend finally spotted her, eyes widening in surprise. Not pausing to think, or so much as look at the figures around him Hana sprinted forward, Zee moving forward to meet her as the two collided in a solid embrace, two sets of arms circling around her. Tears rolled down Hana's cheek softly as she tightened her hold, feeling the presence of Cooler moving closer behind her from the other end of the corridor.