I've just found out that the lines I use to separate the sections has not been adding when I copy and paste. I'm sorry for all of the previous stories with this issue, it's driving me nuts now that I know! I'm trying a different way to separate, hopefully it works!

Thank you for taking the time to read my work and I hope you all enjoy!

Kaeya was having trouble concentrating. He shouldn't have been, it was actually something that was quite unusual for him, especially when he was on reconnaissance and needed to remain vigilant. He was usually able to put away his distractions to ponder at home, or the bar.

He was further up Dragonspine than normal. Recent reports and his own contacts had all stated an increase in Fatui activity and it was his job to check it out. They seemed to have taken interest in something and Kaeya was here to find out what that was, as well as what they numbered and their ranks and report back down the mountain.

He was distracted because Diluc had said he was leaving tomorrow, going out of town for a few days. Kaeya knew it was irrational, or maybe even childish, but he had a fear of not seeing his brother for another uncertain amount of years, or worse, never again. He wasn't sure if he could handle that a second time.

Voices brought him out of his thoughts. He'd climbed to a spot that was just above where the camp was located. He crawled to the edge and glanced down, quickly counting how many Fatui there were before ducking his head back down. There were six and four of them were gathered around some sort of equipment in the center of the camp.

Six wasn't that many, but more than he'd be willing to take on himself, especially with the variety of specialists they had-

A loud CRACK sounded through the air and the ledge he was perched on shifted. He quickly tried to push himself away from the side, but the ground shifted again before he could move and he went tumbling down the side along with chunks of rock, large and small. He could feel them hitting his body as he rolled freely, nothing but the loud rumble of falling gravel in his ears.

He felt a larger rock hit the right side of his head and the loud sounds of the shifting gravel became silent. Everything came to a sudden stop. It seemed like hours before he could even try to draw air into his lungs, and they wouldn't cooperate at first. When they finally did, he inhaled dust and it sent him coughing, pain blooming in his side, chest and head.

He felt rough hands on him, dragging him out of the rocks without any effort to be gentle or kind, not caring if they hurt him further. He tried to blink his eye open, it was already too bright from behind his eyelid. He knew who had him, but he needed to see. As he moved his arm to wipe the grit from his eye, he felt bones grind together and let out a yelp.

Someone started painfully jabbing him in the back and he carefully brought his other arm up to wipe at his eye. The moment he opened it he was surprised to see someone very close to his face, it seemed like they were yelling at him. They were definitely angry. He tried to speak, but he couldn't find his voice, only a painful cough. He shook his head, apparently that was the wrong answer. A large fist was the last thing he saw.

~xxxxxxxxxx~

Kaeya could feel the rush of awareness that came with suddenly waking. He didn't feel like he could open his eye just yet, so he laid there, waiting for the sounds around him to let him know what was happening. They didn't come.

He could feel his heartbeat in his ears, he could feel the stabbing pain and pressure, but he couldn't hear and he couldn't quite remember why. He'd have thought he was in a quiet room, but he could feel the freezing wind that was whipping over his body and face. He knew he should be able to hear that at the very least.

He couldn't tell where he was, but his hands were bound. He tried to think what could have happened to be tied up, but thinking wasn't something his brain seemed willing to do just now. He worked to peel his stubborn eye open. The light was blinding and sent waves of pain radiating through his head, when this caused his body to involuntarily jerk he was quickly made aware of many other injuries.

He had also let out a moan, alerting those around him that he was conscious. He was grabbed by the shoulders and pulled up to his knees and he couldn't stop the painful coughing fit that nearly sent him back into the merciful darkness. He felt his face being prodded and tried his best to open his eye again, finally managing a small slit to glare at his attackers through dusty eyelashes. He doubted it looked as threatening as he would have liked, but it'd have to do.

A Fatui musketeer stood before him. Kaeya thought he might have been talking, but he couldn't even try to read the man's lips through the wrappings that covered his face. When did he come across Fatui and how long had he been here? He hoped someone was looking for him.

When the man seemed to be waiting for a response, Kaeya took a few shallow breaths, hoping to avoid vomiting as soon as he opened his mouth. He let out a cough.

Well, that wasn't what he was trying to say. He tried again, "I can't… hear… 'nything…" He wheezed.

He expected to be hit, but a moment passed and nothing had happened. He looked back up to the man. He was looking straight at Kaeya, body moving as if talking again. All he could do was shrug.

"Write it… down?" He tried.

He had figured he was making them angry and to prove him right, a boot came from somewhere beside him and landed in his ribs. He felt something snap and cried out as he fell over, tears forcing their way out of his eyes. He felt himself being dragged up again, but he was already falling back into the blissful nothingness.

~xxxxxxxxxx~

"Why don't we just kill him, boss?"

"You idiot. You really have no idea who he is, do you?" Maksim glared at his subordinate. "He's the Cavalry Captain for Mondstadt. We can't just kill him, it would draw far too much attention!"

"But doesn't him being here draw attention too?"

This was true. He'd seen their little operation and they couldn't let him go. The rock slide had killed two men and the captain would have to pay for that as well. The man had claimed that he couldn't hear, but Maksim couldn't take the risk that it wasn't just a trick. This person might hold some valuable information they could squeeze out of him, but surely others would come looking for him before long. Questioning him didn't do much good right now, anyway. He'd passed out again.

"Just put him over there for now. Keep him under constant watch." Maksim ordered.

He wasn't willing to fail again, that's how he'd ended up on this terrible mountain to begin with. If he could bring back even a small amount of information, perhaps he'd be reassigned. They could dump the body somewhere else later and as long as they were careful, no one from Mondstadt would be able to prove it was them.

Maksim smiled to himself before turning back to the others, yelling for them to get back to work.

~xxxxxxxxxx~

Diluc trudged his way up the mountainside, the sheer cold threatened to overtake him before he could reach his goal. He saw a brazier on the path just up ahead and quickly lit it, the very small amount of warmth it offered was a relief. As a pyro user he was more sensitive to the extreme cold and had to be extra careful, lest he want to end up sick or lose a body part.

He estimated that he wasn't far from his target, a Fatui camp he'd caught wind of and he was on a time limit today. He was supposed to be headed for Liyue tomorrow for business, but he couldn't let the Fatui run free in Mondstadt while he was gone. It was just too big of a risk.

He started up the hill again and before long he could hear voices on the wind. He moved off the path while still well out of sight and walked along the edge just below the camp, positioning himself behind a tent so he could climb up and remain hidden.

Once he was certain he hadn't been seen, he snuck along the other side of the tent and looked over the camp. There were four Fatui, one of them barking out orders while two others tried to move some sort of machinery without success. The last one was standing by another tent, staring into it.

Diluc dodged behind some crates closeby to get a better angle. There were boots sticking out from the tent. Crap, he ducked back down and squeezed his eyes shut tight for a split second. He knew those boots. He took a breath and calmed himself. If they had someone watching him, then he wasn't dead. That's what he was hoping, anyway.

He glanced over the camp once more before quietly and quickly climbing onto the crates and plunging down, bringing his sword across the Fatui who had been guarding his brother. Being caught unaware, he went down quickly, but now the others had been alerted and were ready.

The musketeer, the one who had been giving orders, was right behind Diluc and had raised his gun. Diluc brought his claymore up and hit the gun out of the way, causing it to fire into the air, before advancing on the man. He grabbed the front of the Fatui's coat and kicked his feet out from under him before hitting him with the hilt of his sword, then made sure he would never be getting back up.

Diluc grabbed the gun as he stood and threw it hard at the hydrogunner waddling his way towards him and dodged to the right while the man was slightly stunned by the move. Diluc was faster than him, it wasn't difficult to dance around the gunner while bringing down his defenses before cutting him down. The difficult part was dodging the anemoboxer at the same time.

He tried to sweep out of the way, but the boxer's punch hit his left shoulder and sent him sprawling onto the ground, the air knocked out of his lungs. He didn't take the time to catch his breath, he pushed himself up and unleashed his phoenix on the man, Diluc was on him before he had any chance to recover from the burning attack. One strike from the right, a second from the left and a third straight on. It was done.

Diluc looked at the destruction around him and unpleasant memories sprang to mind. He'd done this too many times before and wasn't sure he'd live to see the day that the Fatui would stop their scheming, hurting and using innocent people. He couldn't see a day this war would end.

Trying to catch his breath he dropped to his knees next to Kaeya. He didn't look good, pale and covered with bloodied cuts and dirt. Diluc carefully cut the ropes binding his brother's hands and did a check for serious injuries. There was a large bruise on the right side of his head and blood coming out of his ear and nose. He couldn't help but notice the tear streaks in the dust that coated his face. He checked his ribs, finding at least two broken, a broken arm and heavily bruised shoulder just above it. He tried not to linger on what he couldn't see, what might be wrong on the inside.

Kaeya stirred and Diluc gently placed a hand on his good shoulder and spoke to him as he came to, but Kaeya was panicking instead. He tried to sit up and went into a coughing fit. Diluc tried to help him sit without hurting him more, took out his canteen and put it to his brother's lips. Kaeya had yet to open his eyes, but took a few sips until the coughing died down.

Diluc waited patiently for Kaeya to open his eyes, speaking to him, letting him know he'd been found and wasn't alone. For a few moments, he thought Kaeya had slipped back into unconsciousness, but he was finally rewarded with an unfocusing periwinkle eye gazing up at him and a small smile.

"Kaeya, I've got you." He said, returning the smile.

Kaeya's smile fell and he looked confused, "Can't… hear… Luc…" He grimaced and let his eye shut again.

Just like that, Kaeya was out again.

"Kaeya. Kaeya, please. I need you to wake up. You need to stay awake and help get you out of here. Kaeya!" He tried, gently shaking his brother.

All of his pleads amounted to nothing. He calmed himself and looked over the side of Kaeya's head again. It was obvious he'd taken a pretty massive hit to the head, it must have damaged his hearing as well. Diluc pushed down the panic at that. It was pretty likely he had a concussion.

Diluc had to get him off of Dragonspine, but he was worried about damaging his brother's ribs more by carrying him. He pulled himself up, and looked around the camp for anything useful. He cut the cloth off one of the small tents and found two long and thin, but sturdy lengths of wood and used any rope he could find to tie the cloth to the wood.

Laying it down alongside Kaeya, he apologized and picked up his brother as carefully as he could and laid him down on the makeshift sled. He cut apart another tent and wrapped the material around Kaeya and tucked it in around him, right up to his chin. It would have to be good enough.

Ignoring the shooting pains in his back and shoulder, he picked up the end by Kaeya's head and started dragging. Kaeya was too quiet and still. Aside from some wheezing, he hadn't moved a muscle. If he was able to keep up a good pace, he might be able to make it to Mondstadt by nightfall. He'd need to stick to the path and make sure they both stayed warm, but he was determined.

~xxxxxxxxxx~

Kaeya felt like he was… riding? He made a noise in his throat, which led to a cough. The riding feeling stopped and a moment later he was painfully helped to a slight sitting position and felt something pressed against his lips. A small amount of water touched his parched skin and he opened his mouth to take a few soothing sips. Soothing except the part where it settled like stones in the pit of his stomach.

It was some time before he got his eye open a crack before squeezing it shut again. Everything was so bright and it certainly didn't help his stomach to calm down, but he thought he had caught a glimpse of bright red hair. That had to be Diluc, he couldn't handle it right now if it wasn't.

He couldn't stop the water running down his chin as he drank again, it was gently wiped away. He risked opening his eye again, as little as possible, and couldn't help the small smile when took in the fuzzy outline of his brother.

Diluc was holding him and seemed to be talking to him, but Kaeya was confused as to why couldn't hear him. He also became suddenly aware of his brother's shivering.

"Too… cold?" He rasped. Diluc paused before nodding.

It really was cold, he realized. Had they gone to Dragonspine? He was confused, couldn't think straight, his head hurt too much for this and his exhaustion was tugging at him. His mind jumped to the worst possibilities. What kind of trouble had he gotten them into?

He didn't mean for whatever happened to happen, his brother must know that. He whimpered as his stomach lurched once. He wasn't sure if Diluc was hurt, too. Tears began to stream down his face and he ignored his brother wiping at them. His stomach lurched a second time. He didn't know if he had hurt Diluc somehow. He sobbed as his stomach lurched one last time and he felt himself being moved just before his stomach emptied itself. The pain it sent through his head and ribs was unbearable and only brought more nausea until there was nothing left to come up.

He was left coughing and crying. He felt his mouth being cleaned and someone rubbing away his tears. He had no idea who cared about him enough to do that, but he didn't think they should as the word sinner popped into his head.

"S-sinner…" He whispered as darkness washed over him once more.

~xxxxxxxxxx~

Diluc was lost on what to do to help his brother. Kaeya had suddenly seemed lost and confused and started crying, mumbling Diluc's name before blaming himself for some unknown issue. Then he started gagging and Diluc had barely been able to turn him in enough time to avoid vomit hitting the both of them.

As his brother made pained noises, all Diluc could do was hold him and rub his back, trying not to jostle him with his own trembling body. He knew Kaeya must be in terrible pain. Ever since they were children, Kaeya had never been good at admitting when he was hurting. Something they had in common, he supposed.

When it seemed like Kaeya had nothing else, he pulled him back. He was still crying as he coughed, Diluc didn't know how to help him, Kaeya couldn't even hear him so he could comfort him. He was amazed that he hadn't fallen unconscious after all that exertion. He grabbed the corner of his coat and wiped his brother's mouth before using his hand to wipe at his tears before they froze.

Kaeya shuddered and whispered something before going limp. Diluc paused, hoping he had heard wrong. He knew what people called Khaenri'ahn's, he hadn't known that Kaeya considered himself a sinner. He'd faithfully served the Nation of Freedom for most of his life and would put his life on the line for anyone in Mondstadt. No, Kaeya being a sinner wasn't right. It suddenly came to mind that he'd called his brother a traitor, just before they had fought.

Diluc's chest tightened at the realization that this was probably his fault. His body shook, pulling him out of his shock. He'd stayed here too long and needed to find heat.

He laid Kaeya down and tucked the makeshift blanket back around him. He stumbled to his feet, the sheer cold was sucking all of the energy from his body. Picking up the sled he started moving again, if he could make it down the path, he knew there was a campfire just off to the side up ahead.

He pushed himself. His steps had slowed considerably and he thought about Kaeya always making comments about being frozen in place if you weren't moving as fast as he wanted. It might become a reality soon, he feared. No, Diluc wasn't about to let Kaeya be the victim of his failures, not this time. Not ever again.

Just around the corner and there it was. He tried not to let the sled drop as he fell to his knees in front of the fire pit. He reached out a shaking hand and sent sparks across the wood. It ignited, but it wasn't enough. He took one of the logs and sent his own flames directly into it until it burst into flames and he quickly dropped it into the pile. Other logs quickly caught and warmth started to spread from them.

He made sure Kaeya was close enough before closing his eyes for a minute.

He'd hated Snezhnaya when he was there, the cold was nearly as unforgiving as Dragonspine. Il Dottore's lab might as well have been made of ice. In the months he was held there he was never warm, it didn't help that his clothes had been taken and he was treated like an animal. Not long ago he'd nearly had a panic attack when Albedo had said the word 'experiment'.

He mentally shook himself. He hated it when those memories crept up on him.

He removed a glove and laid his hand across Kaeya's forehead, wincing as it pulled his shoulder. It felt like the bluenette was warming up with the fire, but there didn't seem to be a fever. Diluc was grateful that cryo users were a little more hearty to the cold.

He hadn't realized his eyes had slid closed until he had to catch himself from tipping over. He was feeling drained and needed to get moving before he couldn't anymore. He hadn't planned on being in Dragonspine for very long and the cold had long since seeped through all of his precautions.

He was feeling every cramp of his cold muscles at this point, but he figured if he kept moving they should be at the river within an hour. He wasn't sure how he'd get them across, yet. Last time, he'd been able to have Kaeya freeze the water, but his brother was in no condition to do that this time. Diluc also didn't feel like another round of frostbite.

As he trudged along Diluc couldn't help but wonder why Kaeya seemed to have so many issues on Dragonspine. It was very harsh, yes, but as the Cavalry Captain he would have had extra training just for that area. This was the third time since Diluc had been back that Kaeya had been injured while here. The third that he knew of in that time, anyway.. How many times had this happened before and why did he keep getting sent here when this was obviously a bad habit?

He continued walking, lost in his thoughts, making sure Kaeya didn't get too cold and checking on him when he would start crying in his sleep, walking again, keeping his eyes on his feet, taking one step, then another. His mind was fuzzy and numb and all of these things had become methodical.

He distantly heard his name, but it wasn't Kaeya's voice calling him, so he ignored it. When he felt a hand on his shoulder he'd nearly dropped the sled, ready to fight. It wasn't an enemy, it was Jean, speaking to him. He smiled, what a lovely sight.

He closed his eyes in relief and never felt his freezing body fall to the ground.

~xxxxxxxxxx~

Diluc woke up surrounded by warmth. It felt wonderful. He didn't have the energy to open his eyes, so he laid there and dozed off again.

He slowly came back to reality to the sound of gentle humming right next to him. He wasn't sure how long it had been and he didn't feel well, but he felt a little more alert. He just listened to the pleasant sound while he tried to convince his eyes to open.

Eventually they relented and opened. He was in the cathedral infirmary and it was Jean humming to him. He smiled at that, but he couldn't remember why he was here. He tried to remember what he was doing last. It was cold, right, he had been in Dragonspine, hadn't he? He was dragging-

"Kaeya!" He yelled hoarsely, sitting straight up.

Jean's hand was on his shoulder, "It's ok, Master Diluc, he's alright. He's resting." She said, nodding to the next bed.

He turned to look, his whole body protested painfully. He let out a sigh of relief and started to get out of bed, but a hand stopped his own as he went to pull back the covers.

"No, no. You collapsed from exposure to the extreme cold just a few hours ago, you aren't getting out of bed just yet."

It was an order. He let go of the blankets and she handed him a cup of water before adding some pillows behind his back. He was shaking by the time she helped him lay back on them, he was exhausted.

"Besides," She said, pointing at the sling holding his left arm, "You need to rest your back and shoulder, too. They're very bruised and swollen. What did you do?"

"Has… has he woken up yet?" He asked breathlessly.

Jean frowned that he ignored her question and shook her head, "He hasn't, but he has a concussion along with other severe injuries. Sometimes it takes a while for people with physical trauma to wake up. It's just his body healing, so try not to worry too much."

Diluc huffed at that. How exactly would someone not worry in a situation like this?

"He said he couldn't hear me, the first time he woke up. The only other time he was conscious he was… very confused." He let his head fall onto the pillows, tired of holding it up, "How am I supposed to not worry about that, Jean?"

She remained silent for a moment, taking in the new information before scooting forward in her seat and taking Diluc's hand. "Because, he's going to need you and he'll need you to be healthy. Worrying yourself sick -well, more sick- won't help him at all. It won't help either of you. So please, rest. Let us take care of him and I promise, as soon as you have gained back some of your strength, you'll be allowed out of this bed." She gave him a sad smile and shook her head, "You pushed yourself too hard on that mountain, especially as a pyro user -and I know you had to- but… it was scary when you didn't even know that I was calling to you, let alone falling unconscious. I'm just glad that we were waiting at the river for Kaeya to report back."

She sat back, but her hand remained in his, "I know either of you would not show it publicly, but I know you two have made large strides towards repairing your relationship. It's obvious, when either of you would die trying to help the other, but the rest of us would rather neither of you left us."

Diluc didn't know what to say and looked over at Kaeya. "I assume he was spying on the Fatui camp I found him in? Every time he goes to that stupid mountain alone, he hurts himself…" He said wearily.

Jean let out a short laugh, "And you were just… taking a walk? Yes, he was there about the Fatui. There had been reports of their activities and he was sent because he can be very, very stealthy when he wants to. I'm not sure how he ended up captured, but we were about to make our way up the mountain because he'd missed his check in. That's when you showed up, dragging him along."

"There were freshly fallen rocks and he was covered in dust. If he were caught in a rock slide, that would explain his injuries and how they got their hands on him." Diluc said, avoiding her first question. Knowing Jean, she'd probably already figured it out.

"That would seem likely, then. I'm just glad you are both home." She said, watching Diluc's eyes slowly close. "Get some rest, Diluc."

She started humming again and Diluc let himself drift.

~xxxxxxxxxx~

Diluc mostly slept the first two days, asking about his brother when he was awake. Kaeya hadn't even stirred yet. On the third day he'd convinced Barbara that he was well enough to get out of bed and was allowed to sit next to Kaeya, holding his hand to make sure his brother knew he was there. That evening Kaeya had opened his eye for a very short time, but he wasn't really quite present and had started crying and mumbling nonsense in his sleep.

On the fifth day he had opened his eye again. Diluc had tried to get his attention for a few minutes and was about to give up when Kaeya finally looked directly at him. Diluc smiled as Kaeya stared into his brother's tired face.

When Kaeya choked and started coughing, Diluc quickly helped him with some water.

"You look terrible, " Kaeya was finally able to croak.

~xxxxxxxxxx~

Kaeya couldn't understand the look on his brother's blurry, but obviously tired face. Then, Diluc began talking animatedly, which Kaeya would have normally thought was funny for the usually stoic man, but he couldn't hear a word of it. He knitted his eyebrows together and Diluc stopped talking, shoulders slumping.

"Why… why can't I hear?!" He said, panic seeping into his voice.

Diluc held up a finger and grabbed something from the bedside table - a book and a pencil and began to write, holding it up for Kaeya to see.

HEAD INJURY

He'd written dark enough for Kaeya to make out with blurry vision. Diluc was already writing again.

TEMPORARY!

Kaeya felt tears start to sting his eyes. "H-how? How did this happen?"

Diluc held up the paper after a moment: Mission

As Diluc began to write more, Kaeya tried to recall a mission he'd been on recently, not a thing came to mind. He'd already noticed the splitting headache, fuzzy vision, nausea, casted arm and tightly wrapped ribs, but not being able to hear, that scared him.

Diluc brought Kaeya's attention to the paper once more.

Concussion

Broken arm

Broken ribs

Kaeya stared into space. It sounded like a rough mission. Maybe it was best he didn't remember. He closed his eyes tiredly until Diluc tapped his arm. He laughed at the paper his brother held up, in spite of himself.

You are never, ever, EVER going

to Dragonspine alone again.

Knowing it happened in Dragonspine made sense, he supposed. He hadn't had good luck the last few times he'd gone and it was Diluc who had helped him with the outcome of those times, so it seemed fair for him to make this demand.

Rest. I'll be here.

Kaeya nodded, letting his eyes slide closed.

~xxxxxxxxxx~

Diluc watched as Kaeya's breathing evened out. He couldn't describe how relieved he was just to have him awake, even if only for a short time. He knew Kaeya would have some leave to recover and he had no intention of leaving him to face his hearing loss and other conditions alone. He planned on asking Kaeya to stay at the winery during that time.

He also planned to keep reminding Kaeya that he was never going to Dragonspine alone again.

If he had to, he'd make him promise.