Cold

It took the last of Tyro's strength to pull himself out of the ravine, even with the help of Stitch and Sparks. Relief vaguely registered in his mind as he pulled himself over the edge, finally seeing the lights of the ship. He was so tired; he could sleep now he was back. Then the full weight of what had just happened hit him. That had been it. His last chance at finding his friend. Gone. He lay there in the snow, breathing slowly, as his mind ran through all that had just happened. He should have looked in the other direction. Or faster. Or if he hadn't wasted so much time just standing and staring and being cold...

"..der. Commander!"

...he could have found Sparks. Maybe the ship wasn't really fixed, he would have more time. That wasn't how a Jedi was supposed to think...

"Commander Revel, I need..."

He would have to check the ship though, and if it happened it happened. That wouldn't be his fault right?

"Tyro." Hearing his name Tyro allowed his eyes to focus on the figure kneeling beside him.

"Stitchhows th ship?" he asked, frustrated how the cold slurred his words.

"Repaired and ready to go, Sir. Everyone except us three is already on board. We tried to buy you as much time as possible."

Tyro nodded his thanks into the snow.

"...mander?...Tyro?" The next thing he knew he was being carried.

"Can't letthem think m'weak," he mumbled as he caught the side of the ship out of the corner of his eye. "...why I couldn't find Sparks. Lemmie walk."

"Commander..." Splinter voiced uneasily.

"s'an order." He needed to look like he was confident in his decision, otherwise the others never would be, and Ace and Champ would never get the help they deserved.

Tyro stumbled the final steps into the ship, Stitch and Splinter holding onto his shoulders tentatively. Tyro looked around dazedly at the group, meeting the eyes fixed on him. "Call in another team with coordinates and th situation. Stitch'll fill in th details. For now pr'ceed with searching for Ace n' Champ. 'm taking my shiftto rest now."

He wanted to say more, Sparks deserved more, but he didn't trust he had the strength or presence of mind.

With a final nod to the others, Tyro let Stitch guide him to the back of the ship. Tyro was grateful when Splinter pulled the door to the small room closed behind them. Aside from this small back section, the ship did not offer much privacy, but if Tyro had ever needed it before, he needed it now.

The wave of relief came with a surge of lightheadedness, but before he could so much as stumble, Stitch caught him under the arms, picking him up and setting him down on a cot. He barked some orders to Splinter before beginning the arduous task of removing Tyro's absolutely frozen clothes and warping him tightly with heat packs and warm blankets.

"Thought you'er s'posed t' save 'l this for Ace n' Champ," Tyro slurred tiredly. It was becoming more and more of a fight to keep his eyes open.

"We brought enough to share," Splinter replied lightly, fitting Tyro with a breathing mask. "Heated oxygen," he explained simply. "It'll warm you right up."

"Stitch...I messed it up again," mumbled Tyro miserably from under the mask. "For Ace and Champ...but Sparks...didn't know what else...you tried to warn me..."

Stitch looked up from examining one of Tyro's hands, he didn't say anything, but he seemed to be listening. He regarded Tyro for a moment as if trying to think of something to say when suddenly the door slammed open.

"This is kriffing screwed up!"

Tyro flinched, looking hazily for the cause of sudden rage that filled the room, only to have Stitch quickly block his vision as he leaned over to cover Tyro protectively, placing a hand firmly on his chest to hold him down while his eyes glanced up to the monitor he had Tyro hooked up to. Still, the back of Tyro's clouded mind recognized the presence as Tar.

"It is kriffing wrong to leave a man behind like this. Kriffing wrong! I don't kriffing care what kriffing Jedi reason you kriffing have..."

Tyro stared distantly into the blurry space right below the ship's ceiling, not sure if he should listen to what Tar was saying, or let the angry words pass. He didn't know how to do this job. How was one life justified over another? They could still turn back now but he had made that decision. The word decision lingered in his mind as Tyro tried to grab that train of thought again, but things weren't making too much sense right now. Vaguely he felt Stitch run a hand across his forehead before drawing back, Splinter quickly taking his place.

"CT-5378 you will stand down!" Stitch snapped. "You will not disrespect your officers! You will get out of my medbay immediately!"

Tar clenched his teeth, jaw muscles bulging as he bit down whatever else he was about to spit at Tyro, but the fight left him as his eyes fell on the boy.

"That is an order CT-5378!"

"Sir, yes sir!" Tar responded with a sudden stiffness. A moment later the door slid shut once more.

Tyro barely noticed Stitch and Splinter moving about as he stared distantly off into space, his mind almost but not quite processing complete thoughts, all having something or other to do with duty or failure or Sparks or Ace...

"You're going to feel bit of a pinch," he heard Splinter saying. A moment later warmth flooded into his veins. He didn't want to leave Sparks behind, didn't they know that? What was Sparks thinking right now? Had he been waiting, hoping his friends would come save him, only to be sitting there feeling alone and abandoned? But Ace and Champ were feeling that way too. Tyro was feeling that way.

If Gavyn was here he would have known what was right. He knew the rules to this military stuff, he would have been able to find Sparks probably. He wouldn't have let it happen in the first place. A tear slipped down his cheek. Sure he had to learn this stuff eventually but why did it have to be like this? Sparks didn't deserve this.

"Aw come on now, that doesn't hurt too bad does it?" Splinter asked, concern slipping under his light words.

Tyro barely heard him. He had a responsibility to this crew and he couldn't even tell if he was failing them or not. He didn't know anything. "I want my Master." The words slipped out in a choked sob without him even thinking.

At a loss, Splinter turned to Stitch.

Stitch didn't know what to say. Comforting crying children wasn't in his training. He tried to medically reason it away, the kid was exhausted, hungry, uncomfortable, and hypothermic. It was enough to make a grown man cry for no good reason. The worst part about this was there were plenty of good reasons. With another pained sob the boy curled up on his side and started to shiver.

"Shivering is good," Splinter tried, readjusting the blankets around the boy. "It means you're warming up."

What did you do with a crying teenager, let alone a Jedi? Stitch tried to think back to when he was that old. The what, few weeks he physically resembled that age? They hadn't had anyone they were particularly close to aside from one another, and even then Stitch had been distant. The Kaminoans had been cold, unfeeling, uncaring. It hadn't done much for his bedside manner. He could assure someone about their condition medically, but this was a whole other territory.

Unsure what else to do, Stitch pulled up a seat next to the sobbing, shivering teenager and began working on his frostbitten hands. He searched for something to say but he had never had a way with words. He doubted going over the facts and figures of his condition, let alone Sparks', or Ace's or Champ's was at all what Tyro wanted to hear right now. He could tell him that this happened, people died all the time whether or not a bad or good call was made, but that was also moot.

The crying was starting to get to him though, and without really thinking, he started to hum. It was some Mandalorian hymn or something, he had overheard his brothers singing it on occasion but not being trained with any of them, he himself did not know the words. Still, he found it calming and reassuring in its own right. It, or perhaps just sheer exhaustion, seemed to have a similar effect on the boy as well, and in a matter of minutes Tyro closed his eyes, falling into a deep sleep.

Stitch watched the monitor for a minute, making sure Tyro was stable, before handing that duty over to Splinter. He still had to fill the rest of the crew in on the details about the search for Sparks and make sure they were back on track with their initial mission so that everything was ready to hand over to the Commander when he awoke.