Chapter Title: In This Thing Together
Series Title: Unlikely Brothers
POV: Tannerlin
Ages in this chapter: Tanner (17) Dashen (23)
Chapter Summary: Tanner and Colton are off to save Dashen from a job gone wrong on Coruscant. Tanner has to deal with the feelings of returning to the planet for the first time since the Jedi Purge.
He was here. I could feel it. Dashen had a presence around him even though he was the furthest thing from the Force one could comprehend. The presence was weird and different, and it was him. I just had to pin down the location. It was getting closer, that was a good thing, because spending any more time on this subway transport train in the lowest level of Coruscant was not my idea of an enjoyable day.
I hadn't been physically on Coruscant since before the Jedi slaughter. The Empire could call it a purge all they wanted, but it was slaughter, pure and simple. I'd lost colleagues, wonderful teachers, close friends. Most of all I'd lost my beloved Master Ayden.
I wasn't about to lose my brother.
But he'd had a job here and had been determined to handle it on his own.
Then Colton got a distress call, coded and discreet. It was a specific signal that meat Dash was in a crap-load of trouble. Life and death. Colton grabbed two of his best security and tagged me in. My heart rate shot up a thousand times at the idea of returning to the planet, but again, I wasn't about to lose my brother.
Once touched down, Colton and I stayed together for a time. I didn't know these levels of the city any more than he did, I'd been nine the last time I was here and at that age, any level beyond the surface was off limits for the youngest of us. It was beyond dangerous. I pushed the fear and memories to the side when I'd gotten an inkling of Dashen's essence through the Force and made a stupid Dashen-like split second decision to jump from the platform onto the top of the train car. The platform had been empty of people, hopefully the area had been empty of eyes, because seeing a Jedi-like act being done on the planet where they'd once ruled – that would get me killed in a heartbeat. Colton cursed me for the move, I could hear his anger as the train pulled away leaving him there to wait for the train to stop and doors to open. I was on the roof and sliding through a top-hatch entry.
The car was empty and quiet aside from the whooshing past various structures. I felt my heart in my chest not only for Dashen, but for myself. Here. My home. Well, my former home. This planet. The Order. It… they… had meant everything to me.
I shook it off. "No, Tanner, don't go there. Stay focused on Dashen. You'll find him and he'll be okay. He has to be okay."
As I pepped talked myself, my eyes scanned the cars to the front and back. A few passengers. I scanned for someone thin and tall and there was no one resembling Dashen. He was close though. I could feel it. I knew it. I pushed through the emergency exit doors that connected one car to the next and traveled forward, checking each person I passed. Still nothing.
Colton's voice sounded on my comm, telling me his location and berating me again for going off on my own without protection. He was fully aware of how dangerous and emotional this place was for me, as did I, but Dashen was more important. So much more important right now.
Eight or so cars behind me, Colton said he was working to catch up and ordered me to wait.
I didn't listen and kept moving forward.
The train stopped and I held my breath that the few passengers who boarded cared about the comings and goings of any other passengers. I got a few looks, but nothing on my person identified me as a former Jedi, except for the Padawan braid that was tangled in my shoulder-length hair and was virtually unnoticeable. And to be honest, the average being on Coruscant had probably either removed Jedi from their consciousness all together at this point or had little energy to care less. That didn't mean the danger was less. Coruscant had always been
a haven for criminals, bounty hunters, smugglers, spice dealers and thousands of other underworld characters. It's the biggest reason why as younglings and the youngest of padawans were never permitted to these levels.
The worst of people could be disguised in the most innocent of ways.
The overhead lights flickered and briefly flashed off. Normal. It was all perfectly normal, I told myself. Over and over until I believed it in my racing heart.
Another stop. I moved up two more cars. Passengers on and off. No Dashen. None of this made sense. I could sense him or what felt like him, so close.
I quelled my rising fear and reached out to Colton again on the comm.
"You didn't wait for me, kid. You need to wait. We will find him."
"He's here, Colt. I feel something… but it's weaker than it was. Why can't I pinpoint it?"
"Your mind is going a thousand different directions and you've missed something. Slow down. Stop and think and damn it, wait for me to catch up to you!"
I listened this time. Sort of. I didn't wait, but I did slow down. Missed something… yes, that was it, my foot brushed away a small pile of trash on the subway car floor. There it was. A splatter of something. Dark. Fresh. Blood. My heart sank, panic rose more than it was already risen. That's why I could feel him, he was here; or part of him was. And its why his essence was weakening. Dash was hurt.
"Colt, he's hurt really bad. There's blood. It's his blood."
"Did you wait for me? No, you didn't. Tannerlin…"
Comm cut and I followed the splatter and blood trail. It took me backwards. Back two cars into the furthest corner to what I thought had been just a street bum, covered in filth and torn clothes and… blood. Examining further, something pooled under the man, hidden by more trash and a dirty attempted tourniquet. Blood on the floor below his seat, I dragged the hood off his head. My breath dropped out as Dashen's usually bright eyes looked up at me, dull and void.
"Hey, little brother", his words came out tired and raspy.
"Hey, big brother," I responded. Neutral as I could be trying hard not to freak out.
"Slashed," Dashen continued. "Vibro-axe. Left side. Deep. Lost a lot of blood."
The tourniquet I removed was useless at this point, but it revealed a horrible side wound that well... it just wasn't a good thing. A second glance at the blood pooling below him and I'd decided it really wasn't a good thing.
"I see that," my hands grabbed at my own jacket, tearing it off and pressing it hard to the gaping wound. "S'okay, Dash. Colton is here, somewhere. It'll be okay."
"Savin' my sorry butt again, huh?"
"What are little brothers for, right?" My face grimaced, but I managed to get my shaking fingers to work the comm and relayed the information to Colton who in turn alerted his security. "He's bad, Colt. Really bad. We need a healer."
"No can do here on this planet, kid. It'll mean the death of us all. I've called Quin. She'll intercept our ship on the way home, but we must get off this damn train. I'm almost to you."
He was and but not in time to beat those responsible for Dashen's current condition, they'd managed to track him down again, hunting him for who knew how long. One of the men entered the train as we stopped again. The other came through the top hatch. I pressed close to my brother, standing protectively in front of him. I had a fleeting chance unless they fired first and asked questions later.
"Tanner…" Dashen protested, but I shushed him with a waved hand behind me. No blaster for these hands, I didn't generally carry them, nor did my brother. We weren't killers and had no want to be tempted, but I cursed us both at this moment for having nothing to defend ourselves. Stupid, so very very stupid. Although… I closed my eyes, made the decision and raised a hand toward the two practiced killers in front of me.
For their part, they laughed, enjoying my wannabe-Jedi skills.
"Those bastards are long dead, kid." The blue-skinned one sneered. "Took out a few of them myself actually, got crap-load of credits for the kills too. Good times those were."
Ignoring them was difficult. Impossible even. My heart ached for my friends, my master.
"Perhaps we missed one?" Blue-Man's yellow eyes went hungry. Finger itching at the trigger.
"Tanner…" Dashen said again. Desperate for my attention, but too weak to do more than say my name. I didn't listen. A bad habit I'd developed when this subway hunt had begun. My Jedi powers were still limited. No where near what a seventeen-year-old apprentice would be capable of, but thanks to Ben Kenobi, I'd gotten quite skilled at a few things. One of those things was tossing objects with targeted precision. The only problem, I was scared out of my mind right now and the focus I needed to do this… well, here went nothing.
From the corner of my eye, I spied the tourniquet I'd removed from Dashen's wound. It lay at the foot of Mr. Blue-Skin, Yellow-Eyes. I focused everything I had that wasn't in a extreme panicked state to watch the large cloth slowly roll itself, unnoticed, into an elongated tool. The man took one small step forward, I called the cloth up and toward his neck, forcing it on him in choking motion until it pulled him backwards and off his feet. The blaster discharged off the ceiling of the car and bounced around for a second as the second man, not impressed by my Force-choking skills on his friend, rushed toward me, money in his eyes. He was going to take down a Jedi and get paid by the Empire a handsome sum.
Or not.
At that same second he rushed forward, Colton bounded through the connecting car door, slamming his exceedingly large body into the man, pinning him and pretty much beating the life out of him. A side of Colton I rarely saw and was grateful for not seeing. Meanwhile, the guy I'd strangled onto the floor was up and well, no he wasn't.
Talk about timing.
Sydenious Greyer, Colton's most trusted employee, ally, security, in some impossible fashion managed his huge frame through the top hatch, came swinging down with precise aim that he took out the would-be murderer in what amounted to about 2.5 seconds. His daughter, Kishel Greyer, as imposing as her father but in a smaller frame, followed closely behind.
Colton was up, hands bloody, but he looked satisfied at his handywork. I flinched at the sight of the man on the floor as he and his buddy were dragged off the train by Sydenious and Kishel. It would be the last anyone ever saw or heard from those two. I'd have felt badly if they weren't cold blooded killers. For now, I gave them no further thought and turned back to Dashen who now slumped heavily in the seat, head hanging over.
"Dash." I lifted his head, he was trying hard to stay with me. I felt it, but so much blood loss…
Kishel reappeared at the next stop and held the doors from closing. "Our ride is ready. Bring your brother."
I couldn't lift Dashen. He was heavy and tall even if slim and I was shaking violently at everything that had just happened. Colton was at his side and raised him easily into his arms. We were out and piled into a probably-stolen airspeeder with Sydenious at the controls. The navigation through Coruscant seemed to go on forever, but apparently the lower levels were old stomping ground for Colton's security and he maneuvered with ease and quickness until we'd reached our ride home.
On board the ship, Dashen was set down onto the lone sleep-couch, now doubling as hospital bed. I ran for first aid and felt the ship blast off the surface. Voices on the comm sounded like Colton's healer, Quin. She was in route.
"I won't ask what happened, kid", Colton said to Dashen as he set a now-clean hand on his forehead. "Details later, but Quin will be here shortly. So don't do anything idiotic like die on us, all right?"
Dashen gurgled an out-of-breath response that made no sense, but his hand reached out in my general direction. "I'm okay, Dash."
"Tannerlin, open that compartment to your left. Get two towels. We'll have to press the wound, but it's saturating so fast with blood loss… "I handed him the towels. "Good. Now do what I tell you, yes?"
Colton easily recognized that I was working from silent panic mode as he spoke, but this time I would listen. I had to. My head bobbed up and down in a quick nod motion. "I'm good."
"You're not anywhere close to good, but we'll roll with it anyway. Stop squeezing his hand so hard, his fingers are turning blue."
My eyes lowered and yup, there it was. My hand clenched so tightly to Dashen's that the blood was still in his fingers was disappearing. Didn't need that, not with all the other blood falling from his body. I relented. "Sorry. Anxious and stuff."
"I can see that. Just stay there. Talk to him. That's all I want you to do. You did a hell of a job saving him, even though you didn't listen to me, but I get it. Now I want you to get yourself calm. I don't need you spazing out on me. Just in case."
Just in case my brother died. That was the implication. And Colton was right. I had to get a handle on myself. At least a partial handle. Best I could do. Reaching back to the very beginnings of my Jedi training, I breathed deep, strong, in, out. In, out. Staying close to Dashen the entire time. At some point I felt better – as better as I could feel – and heard the alerting sound at the pilot controls of the ship.
Kishel was at the helm. "Quin's ship ahead. We'll get she and Fen onboard."
Quin Kalis. Fen Kaveri. Healers. Quin was Colton's personal healer. For the huge sum he paid her, she held all secrets and told no one anything they did not need to know. Fen, her second in command, was also in the know. I trusted them both almost as much as I trusted Colton. They were skilled and they gave a care about Dashen. It's what we needed.
It was almost impossible, but I stepped away from my brother's side to let them work. Several strides backwards and I ran right into Colton who quickly draped an arm around me as I melted towards him. I ran a couple inches shorter than the average seventeen-year-old human boy, and Colton ran several inches taller and wider that most humans ever, so he always did and always would dwarf me. And in some strange way, it made things more comforting. We waited patiently – or not - as they fixed my brother. My mind still coming down from returning to Coruscant and the emotions there, then at being discovered – my own fault really - but I wasn't about to let them shoot my brother in cold blood in front of me – and then with his condition. It was a lot and I was exhausted. Colton knew that and the arm that set around me also kept me upright.
My body did eventually betray me as I slid toward the floor. Colton caught the action and moved me to a seat. I couldn't lay down, but I could slump. At this point, I'd take slumping over standing. Before my slump was completed, I saw Kishel leave from the same hatch where the healers had come in, essentially swapping ships. Something about cleaning up behind us and making sure of no tails or trails. All part of Colton's always careful security plan. I guess I'd see her at home, was the thought as my eyes stopped cooperating with my need to see to my brother.
Dashen survived the trip home thanks to the miracle workings of Quin and Fen. The wound was hideous in its length, depth and severity. Bacta spray and patches began the healing, but it would take several days for it to scab over completely. Then, due to location and that same severity – apparently, they'd tried to gut him - the wound ran from his arm pit to just above his waistline - he'd have considerable pain for a time.
I let him be for the first day, he was out cold most of it anyway. Second day, I sat next to his bed. It was early afternoon. Quin had just left after checking on the healing progress. She'd told him not to move much or do anything that required lifting, reaching, pulling. The usual. Other than trips to the bathroom and kitchen, his life for the next few days was laying flat out on a bed. The blood loss alone would add extra time - and low energy - to recovery.
Green eyes, not dull as they'd been two days ago, but coated in extreme fatigue – they watched me situate myself on the bedside stool. I'd recovered from my anxiety induced exhaustion with lots of sleep in the last twenty-four hours, but the thoughts still haunted my mind here and there. Dashen caught it on me. He didn't enjoy seeing me worried or anxious over things from my past, and feeling he'd brought this on me, there was his need to apologize for it. I was having none of it.
"Don't even start, Dash. You were on a job. Stuff happened. You got in trouble. We helped you. Doesn't matter where it was or who was after you. My past is my past, I can work around it."
He frowned. "Shouldn't have to on my account. Sorry, little brother."
"Don't almost die anymore, okay? I can work around my past, I can't work around a dead brother."
"Stupid, you know? Knew the job was going too easy. Always a catch when that happens. Those guys were bad news. What Colt do with them?"
"The usual," I shrugged, still trying to not think about that part of Virgil Colton. And Dashen knew the usual. It was something we didn't really talk about, nor want to. "It may have ended differently if they'd not discovered I was Jedi. But that was my doing. It was the only weapon I had, myself. Cornered with no other option, I used it. I don't regret it. I'd do it again to save my brother."
"Thanks for that, by the way. I have an entire crew to thank, but I got the general idea of what you did to find me. Your Force-strangling trick was quite the site too. Ben will be proud."
"All that practice I get pretend-strangling you, it all paid off. Maybe you shouldn't complain so much when I toss random objects at your head, huh?" My smile paid off too and got me one from him.
"Don't even go thinking that you get to use me even more for practice now. I've had enough pain for a year, thanks."
"Eh, we'll see." I patted him on the arm. "Anyway, you should sleep. Quin told me not to bug you too much today."
"You're not in school." A question more than a statement.
"I'm not. You should feel honored. I took a day off just for you."
"Quite the miracle."
"Yeah, whatever. I'm gonna go."
Dashen's yawn overwhelmed his next words, but they were clear enough. "You don't have to leave, Mouse. I won't be awake long – I think Quin dosed me with something – but I don't mind some quiet company."
I was silent for a long minute, deciding what to say and finally settling on, "I could feel you, you know. You tease me for being able to see and feel a presence or essence around people and things with my 'magic' but I felt you when I got close enough on that train. It started getting weaker though, I didn't know why at the time, but it scared me to death that you were fading. Probably interfered with me tracking you down sooner."
"That you were terrified? That weak excuse?" Dashen's hand moved to sit on top of mine. The joke followed by the comfort. It was my brother all over.
"Yeah," I scoffed, accepting the gesture. I also accepted that he was reaching out for me to stay close. This had rattled us all, including the big brother that I looked up to for everything in my life since I was nine. As usual, as always… we were in this thing together.
Standing, I walked to the other side of the room and flipped on the wall monitor. A good holo-drama on would be a nice escape. Back bedside, I apologetically told Dashen to scoot. He did, though it was excruciating for him. I sat vertical on the bed, leaning on the headboard and stuck my legs under his bed covers.
"Cover hog," he called me. "Always stealing things that are mine. Typical little brother."
"Complainer," I fired back. "Always whining about family stealing your stuff. Typical big brother."
Settled now, Dashen moved his horizontal-self a smidge back to the left. Far enough for the left side of his pillowed-head to be in contact with the right side of my hip.
"You did good, Mouse. Going back there."
Fond memories of friends and family. There. On Coruscant.
"You didn't have to face those things, but you did. To save me."
Horrifying memories of the end of days for the Jedi. Friends. Family. Purged and forgotten. But not by me. I'd always remember.
"But we're here. Home. You don't have to think about those things now, unless you need to."
I didn't need to. I didn't want to. That didn't stop my mind from wandering into that dark area. If I could never return to Coruscant for the rest of my life, I'd be perfectly okay with that, but in a second, I would do it again. Without hesitation. I'd do it for the family I'd gained when the other was lost.
"And if you need to, that's all right. I can listen."
He could listen. Dashen. He was better at it than he thought really. No one who knew him in anyway would ever accuse him of it, but he was a good listener when something or someone mattered to him.
Like I did.
"We can do that later, Dash." I reassured. "I'll let you know."
"Hold you to it, little brother." Another yawn. I huffed a hidden laugh. He'd never make it through ten minutes of the holo on the screen.
Sure enough. He didn't.
Neither did I.
Eyes closed and into the unconscious world sometime mid-afternoon on the second day home from a most terrifying of days.
A little rest and recovery, talking and listening… we'd be just fine.
We were resilient, Dashen and I.
As long as we were in this thing together.
END
