Chapter Title: Cling

Series Title: Unlikely Brothers

POV: Dashen

Ages in this chapter: Tanner (13) Dashen (19)

Chapter Summary: Another Jedi killing leaves Tanner injured.


I ran. I grabbed. I clung. Clinged? Clunged? Who the hell cared, I latched onto my brother so fast, I punched the breath right out of him. Thinking the worst for the last four hours. That he was dead. Rumor was that there had been Jedi killed. Several. Gunned down and bombed - with others persons caught in the crossfire - by someone or something and I couldn't reach my brother. He wouldn't answer his comm. Despite best efforts, Colton couldn't get his people anywhere near the area. I sat helpless knowing the worst had happened. Certain that I'd lost another brother.

Toxic I was with family.

Then from practically nowhere, this small brown haired torpedo, covered in filth and blood and all the non-colors of the rainbow spectrum ran out of the smoldering smoke and smog, screaming for me and we'd landed together with an actual thud. I don't know if I'd ever clung so tightly to anyone in my life, save for one other little brother. Tanner was alive. Tanner was vertical. Tanner was...damn it.

"Damn it, Tanner, where the hell have you been? Where?" I tried to yell at him while holding him in a death hug. Wasn't very convincing. He was crying. I was crying. This was just stupid.

"Dash." Was all he managed to muffle out, and not because he couldn't breathe against me.

Around us similar reunions were happening. Family. Friends. Those sick with worry. Those hysterical in grief. None of that mattered. Only one thing did and it was tucked into my arms secure and sound and not going anywhere except home with me.

Well, home would come shortly. As I half carried my brother away from the hellish sight, we ran into a wall. A tall, broad, blond wall that wrapped us both into a cocoon of arms.

"You ever do that to me again, either of you..." Colton began. He didn't finish. I started thinking...not sure I'd ever heard that from him actually - an unfinished thought. Leave it to me and Tanner to create that first. My brain tried to think of something idiotic to say, but for one of the rare times in my life, it failed me. Probably for the best as Colton was about choking the life out of us at the moment. He barely let us go as he escorted us to his ride. Sitting us inside, we still clung to the other. Clung. Yes, that was definitely the word. Important thing to remember in a moment like this. I worked to return my breathing to normal, Tanner worked to clean the blood and dirt from his eyes. Wait...Blood. He was bleeding. Right. I remembered that now.

"Tanner, you're bleeding." Mr. Obvious, that was me, but I gave myself some slack, I was still reeling a bit...or a lot.

"Yeah. All over I think. I didn't want to stop and worry over it. It hurts too, Dash."

Holding him away I saw what a true mess he was. The corner of my sleeve made as good a towel as anything and I reached up to wipe that mess from his eyes. There were cuts everywhere. Miniature bits of glass and metal piercing his skin on his face and arms and who knew where else I couldn't see. "These are painful." I said without asking.

"It's all over. Something exploded. I shielded my eyes, but everything hurts."

He trailed off, adrenaline failing and reality setting in. My hugging him into an almost comatose state probably hadn't helped the situation either. As I went to open my mouth, Colton, moving to Tanner's other side, beat me to it.

"Quin will be ready for us at the house. Not the hospital, in case there are...issues." Meaning if this had indeed been a Jedi hunt, the unsecured hospital was not the safest place to be until the situation resolved. Colton's house was well secured, protected and actually had a fortified room that doubled as a infirmary. It's where we ended up fifteen minutes later. By that time, Tanner has seemingly slipped into partial shock from everything up to and probably including blood loss. His skin got clammy, his breathing got shallow. Wrong direction is where things were headed.

The pathway to the house was well guarded as I tucked Tanner to me and hurried inside. Luckily he was small for his age and his arms clung easily to my neck. Colton literally stuck to my side those few strides out in the open. Around him were at least four of his security team. Protected.

"Quickly, Dashen." Quin Kalis. Healer. Occasional miracle worker. Paid for and bought off by Virgil Colton. We trusted her on more than a few occasions in the past, tending to get hurt more than our fair share. She was supposedly one of the best the planet of Terra had to offer. "I've set up a bed for him. Fen is here as well." Her second in command so to speak. Good. The more healing hands the merrier with those hundreds of tiny bits penetrating every few inches of Tanner's bloody skin.

Tanner wasn't ready to let go and held tight to my neck when I attempted to lay him flat. "Come on, Mouse. Quin needs to get your wounds treated. We're home now." I glanced over at the healer. "He's gone downhill since we found him. Pretty damned quick too. Shock?"

"Most likely," she said, prying his arms from me and settling him gently onto the bed. Fen moved fast to start on the bits of shrapnel. Her green hands swift but careful. Tweezing a piece from the skin, wiping it, treating it and moving on. One after another after another. Not even waiting for the pain meds to take hold.

Eyes floating in no particular direction, Tanner was losing any sense of self at this point, so I clutched a hand to his fingers telling him to squeeze tight. He did and it hurt. Hurt like hell. The kid had a powerful grip when he wanted to use it. Probably anchored with his Force magic, even if he wasn't necessarily in control right now. Something though...something felt off as I held his wrist with my other hand.

"Quin, his pulse, it's gone insane. Why's it going so fast?"

"Shock can cause that as well. It's not uncommon for either extreme. Rapid or almost absent. It'll correct itself once we get him stable. He's had significant blood loss. Give us time, he'll be all right."

In other words, shut up and let them work. I did. They did. It took hours though and just when they thought they'd found every last bit of glass or metal plunged into his skin, there was more. Aside from his undershorts, he was stark naked from head to toe. Shivering now, but visibility of the skin was necessary to make sure all pieces were located and removed.

Momentary seconds of lucidity came and went. Tanner squeezed my hand hard each time. A random word escaped him here and there. I felt horrible for him.

"Dash. Cold."

"Yeah, hopefully not much longer, okay, Mouse? The healers are working as fast as they can. Just hold my hand until it's over."

"M'kay. Stings too."

"Only because you have a million tiny holes in you. Fen is using a chemical on each wound to clean it, that's what stings, but it helps to start the healing. Does it still hurt as much?"

"Some."

Good, at least the meds seem to be working. Sorta. They flipped him over on his stomach next to work on his back. Not fun. It looked all sorts of uncomfortable. I moved my current position to where his head lay awkwardly sideways on a impossibly soft pillow. Colton. Only the best for every room in his massive abode. My hand moved to Tanner's head and stroked the tangled brown strands. Crap. There were even pieces of shrapnel in his hair and... "Hey, Quin. He's got cuts on his head. At least a few of the pieces that I can see are imbedded in the scalp."

Quin left Fen to work Tanner's back and set her aged hands work the delicate scalp area. "Not too much bleeding, let me see what I can do for him here."

Trying to keep contact with my brother while also keeping my butt out of the way of a healer's careful hands was difficult, but I wasn't about to leave him while he was still shocking. I bent my face to his, within a few inches. "Heya, Mouse," I smiled at him when the pale brown eyes opened to me. "You're like a human pin cushion, you know that?"

"Not funny." The words slurred as water escaped down the side of his eyes. He hurt like hell right now, but I'd tried.

"Just a little bit funny, maybe?"

"Nuh uh."

"Nuh uh? That's all you got for your big brother?"

"Later."

"You'll get me later, I know. I look forward to it. That's Quin messing with your head right now by the way. She's gonna numb the area, so maybe you won't feel much."

Ever so slowly and with the action of one who just ached all over, he flipped an arm over and toward his head, fingers reaching out. I took his fingers in my own. I hoped he didn't feel much, but if he did, we'd both be ready for it.

Time passed, what seemed like forever - actual time of forty minutes - heads wounds were patched and treated. Fen kept work on his backside for another hour. Tanner's fretting had lessened by then, along with his pulse, heading in the opposite direction of racing. Quin's healer hand set on mine to ease my worry. "It's all normal, Dashen. Relax. We're almost finished. Then he can rest."

Final time, three hours fifty two minutes, but who was counting. Me. That's who. Tanner would have been had he been halfway conscious in the end. Well, he was halfway, but his mind was in it's own little world. I brought him back with a touch to his face. "You hate me yet, Mouse?"

"Kinda."

"Figures. The good news, you're all patched up. The bad news, you're gonna hurt for a while. And your psyche might be screwed up for a time remembering whatever happened in that place. You can talk to me about it, you know."

"I know." On his back now, the healers wanted to move him from the treatment bed to the recovery bed nearby. "Why...staring at me, Dash?"

"Who? Quin and Fen? Because it's moving day. See that bed over there?" I motioned to the left. "Trust me when I tell you it's the galaxy's most luxurious mattress and blanket. I sat on it. I almost fell asleep on it. Colton, he spares no expense for this place. You'll be more comfy there. Less irritation and pressure on your wounds than the bed you're in now."

"S'Far."

"Not that far. Just a few seconds of discomfort then you get settled and Quin will knock you out with some meds to let you sleep."

That seemed to upset him, I could see it in his eyes. He was worried. Scared even. "You need the rest, Tanner. Tomorrow is a new day and won't be much fun. I won't leave. I swear it." My promise. It helped bring him back down. It usually did. "So, how do you want to do this? You want the healers to move you or..."

"You."

"Me? Okay then, you just want to clamp yourself around my neck again, try and squeeze my eyeballs right out of my head." Ah, there it was. The tiniest turn of the lips. It's the best he could do for a smile right now. I'd take it. "Yup, that's it. Okay, Mouse, let's do this. Give me your hands."

Arms up, they wrapped desperate onto my neck. Clinging? Clung? There was that damn word decision again. He basically leeched himself to me for the twenty seconds it took to walk the few feet with the thirteen year old little brother strapped in my arms.

Sagged into the impossibly cushy bed now, Tanner visibly relaxed as much as his condition made it possible. I eased a lightweight but soft blanket over him. He was still mostly bare skinned and he was cold.

"Quin, he's freezing."

"We can't set anything heavy on his skin. I can warm the room though. Once he sleeps, it will settle some of the chill."

Speaking of, Fen brought over a hypo and set it to Tanner's arm, slowly injecting a stronger pain med that would let him rest without discomfort.

Quin set a hand on my arm. "Just sit with him now."

The healers left me with my brother. It was quiet. Too quiet. Strangely quiet. In fact the only true noise alternated between Tanner's chattering teeth and his groans of cold. I set a hand on his. "Quin's gonna warm the room for you. It'll get better. The hypo had some good drugs in it. So don't fight when you feel sleepy."

Pale brown eyes trusting me, not fighting too hard against the quickly working meds. Within five minutes, he was out. Still shivering, but sleeping soundly.

"You need a break and a shower and a meal." The heavy voice behind me. I knew it'd be coming soon. Colton hadn't been in the room this entire time, but he knew what was going on in every corner of his house at every moment of the day. Honestly? A little creepy, but whatever. His hand set on my shoulder.

"I mean it, Dash. I talked to Quin."

Talked to Quin. Meaning he knew the pain meds would put the kid out. Perfect timing for me to feed my face and get the stink of blood and filth off of me. I didn't fight him on it, standing and exhaling a long breath.

"Hundreds of those little cuts on him. Whatever exploded, he must have been far enough away from it to only get the smaller pieces impaled in him. Lucky I guess, despite the blood loss."

"Officially, there's no word on what happened." Colton said flatly.

Officially. Meaning the locals wouldn't be dealing out the the truth anytime soon. Unofficially? The man had people everywhere. So...

"Unofficially, two Jedi had just landed on Terra, they'd been running. Tracked. Both killed. The Empire hasn't slowed on hunting down survivors. The kid needs to to stick close to home for the next few days. At least until I get word that the danger is gone."

Well, that shouldn't be a problem. "Colt, he's a little bit broken right now. How would he go anywhere?"

"Just do to me a favor, you idiot, and be careful for the next week, all right?"

That I could do. I could also shower and eat so I'd be valuable in the morning. "Promise. I'll get that shower now."

"Good. Then check the chiller in the kitchen. Sandwiches. And don't you dare tell me you aren't hungry. I will shove the bread down your throat if you do."

A little bread violence amongst friends. You had to love the big guy.

"I will eat. I will shower."

"And you will rest. It can be in here, it can even be on my couch - yes, I said you can rest on my couch - don't get weird. But you will rest."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'd take you up on the couch offer if Tanner wasn't here. I told him I'd stay. Can't renege on that now can I?"

I obeyed all the rules and threats got myself cleaned up, full of stomach and halfway thought about taking him up on his offer to lounge on the giant couch. In the end, I couldn't bring myself to stay the night away from my brother. He'd been through enough. On the off chance he'd wake in the middle of the night - that'd be a miracle considering the strength of the drugs Quin had given him - I figured owed it to him to be nearby.

Morning came. Morning went. Tanner slept on. Quin checked on him briefly, having stayed the night in one of Colton's guest rooms. Everyone was being more than careful with the Empire's goons and bounty hunters roaming around gunning down innocent Jedi. She wasn't concerned with the intensity of his rest. As long as everything else seemed all right - and it did, his pulse rate had become normal again and the chills had lessened - she'd not worry over him until he woke.

Which he did that evening. In the few days we remained quarantined in the house for security reasons, Tanner slowly healed to the point where most of the wounds were more an annoyance than anything. With the sleepy-time pain meds reduced though, it allowed for some nightmares to creep in. So I was grateful Colton gave of the all clear four days after this whole thing began. I didn't want to know the how or who or where, I only wanted my brother to be able to live his life. Go to school. Into town. Outside with friends. All without the uncertainty of Jedi killers roaming the streets near him. The only thing I knew for certain, was that it was a group of those clone troopers directly from the Empire. Not bounty hunters as suspected. Whoever it was, I didn't care. I wanted them gone. I wanted my brother safe. That was all.

I got both.

I also got another clingy hug the first day Tanner headed back out to school.

"You doing okay?" I said to him, muffled against my chest, encompassing several questions into that one, and he knew that.

"I am."

He most likely hadn't known the Jedi who'd been killed, but he'd seen the violence happen amidst the exploding grenades that were hurled in every direction causing various things to burst into thousands of tiny pieces, tossing shrapnel every which way. He'd seen them fall - not knowing they were Jedi at the time - between dodging larger pieces of debris and the intense blaster fire that followed. And he remembered being trapped in the area as the authorities hunted the hunters and fires and smoke raged. Seeing his kind tracked down again, slaughtered again...it all made for some not so happy dreams these last couple of days. Still, he was a strong kid and he was coping.

Though when he didn't let go of me after our normal ratio of hug to not-hug time, there was some worry on my part.

"You sure?" Me again. Just needing to confirm.

"Yup." Was the response, but he still clung. Clinged? Clunged? Damn it. What a stupid word.

"You're gonna be late for class, Mouse. Not that I mind the hug, but I know how you are."

Hug over. There ya go. He hated being late, and to school of all things. I still thought him weird for that, but faults and all, I'd keep him.

"Have fun at school, Tanner." I said it because he would. Have fun. At school. As I said, weird.

Hurrying away, he called back quickly, "Will you be home for dinner, Dash?"

I had jobs today, but...dinner. Together. Simple, but important to him, especially after a hellish week. "I'll be there, Mouse." I promised.

And I was. I even got one more of those clingy hugs before bed that evening.

Tanner could cling all he wanted, as long as he was safe.


END