Chapter Title: Safety
Series Title: Unlikely Brothers
Ages in this chapter: Dashen (17), Tanner (11)
POV: Dashen
Chapter Summary: The boys wait on the Colton's ship.
"Bored yet?"
"Since the second we landed here. But you knew that."
"I did."
"Yet, you had to ask."
"I did."
"You're such an annoying little brother."
"I know."
"You're lucky that I like you."
"Aww, Dash, you're so mushy."
"Aww, Tanner, you're so annoying."
I whacked said little brother in the back of the head. He flicked me in the ear.
Two large hands landed on the tops of our heads and squeezed. Hard.
"Eeeeeowwww! Colt, come on! That hurts!" I complained.
Virgil Colton released his grasp and leaned his head between us from behind. His steady deep voice in our ears, "You act like idiots, I treat you like idiots. Stop making noise, damn it. I've told you three times now. And so help me, Dashen, if you tell me that Tannerlin started it, I will pick up you up by your neck, toss you down the ramp and leave you to fry on the planet's surface."
He wouldn't do that. I knew that. But there was a single tiny percentage of uncertainty in my mind… I listed to it.
"I will shut up now. But you still haven't told us why we're here and why we had to leave home so quickly."
"Trouble. For me. For the kid." He meant Tanner. "You're just along for the ride. If I'd taken your brother without you, you'd have thrown a fit."
"A fit? Really? Colt, I'm not an infant."
"Well…"
"Okay, I would've been upset and worried. And yes, I'd have harassed you over comm until you told me what was happening. So, fine. You win. Still would be nice to know what this is about. We've been hold up in this ship for almost a day. Unlike Tanner, I have no ability to humor myself with my mind."
Colton loomed over me. "Did I not just tell you to shut up?"
Tanner grabbed my shirt and pulled me over to the sleep couch. He was small and with minimal effort, I could have stopped him, but I did need to step back and stop talking. Colton would tell us in time. I was just antsy. Boredom was not my thing. And with knowing that at least part of this had something to do with Tanner's safety, that added worry to that list. Worry was my specialty.
"Dash, you can relax." Tanner told me. Eleven years old and much wiser than I was in certain situations. "It'll be okay. Colton is just looking after us. And himself."
I plopped down onto the couch; shoulders slumped. "Yeah, I know. I don't like the unknown. Happens too frequently in my life."
"I'm okay. You're okay. No need to worry."
"Sorry, Mouse. It's a national pastime of mine."
"I know."
And he didn't say anything more. Instead, he took his arm, clutched it around mine and we sat the rest of the wait in silence. I could feel him trying to whammy me with some of his calming Force stuff. Still a work in progress, but stars love him, for his bundle-of-nerves fake big brother, he tired.
Maybe his whammy worked better than I thought, because I found myself waking from a sleep I hadn't seen coming. Anxiety tended to exhaust me and as a result, I spent much of my life in a state of ready-to-fall-into-my-bed at any given moment. How I functioned as I did, no idea. Stubbornness perhaps. Colton had told me a few times that I was stronger than I gave myself credit for. Could be that was it. Really, no idea. I felt better though.
Tanner was wide awake. If he'd slept as well, I couldn't tell.
Two hours had passed, I did know that and I did feel better.
Now, all I had to do was be okay to be bored for the rest of however. Colton was nowhere to be found. There was no comm message from him. Whatever he'd come here for, I assume he was out there in it.
He was.
An hour later, he returned. Bloodied from head to toe, favoring his left side. Flanked by his second in command, Sydenious Greyer (where the hell had he come from?) and Kebrey Pacus, our pilot for the trip here, Colton was practically thrown into the ship. Kebrey hurried to the controls. Sydenious layered his already well-armed self with another five weapons and immediately began firing down the ramp of the ship.
No idea what was happening, but my momentary feeling of peace had vanished and I grabbed Tanner, running him toward the lock-closet.
In the process of this, my brain realized that Colton was somewhat helpless. Not completely, the big man would never be that, but he looked in bad shape. And if Sydenious was tossing him around with such little resistance… I certainly couldn't move the man on my own. I was tall for my age, but lanky. Virgil Colton was tall and broad and heavy. But…
Ultimately, Tanner made the decision for me. After I'd shoved him into he lock-closet, he pushed me back out. "Go help him, Dash. I'll stay here. Promise."
That promise meant something. One less worry. I couldn't leave my brother unprotected. But the lock-closet was secure against most handheld weapons. Short of the entire ship exploding, Tanner would be safe inside.
I rushed to Colton's side. He'd fallen after the violent life saving shove from Sydenious. Damn, the blood was everywhere. Some his, some not. It was mostly red, who could tell the difference?
"Colt, come on. Sy's got this. Come with me. Tanner's safe in the back. Let's get you there too."
He refused. Of course he did. Never leave his people. Never leave your friends. Colton lived by those motto's. But I trusted Sydenious and Kebrey to defend the ship and get us away. I know he did as well. Now, just had to get him to trust me to get him to safety. The ship's ramp was still open - seemed to be stuck. Random blaster fire pinged off the metal time after time. The engine's fired and the ship began rattling, ready to move.
Seconds of pleading that somehow felt like hours, and me dragging on his arm, I got Colton moving. Supporting him the best I could, we staggered and stumbled (in the most graceless way possible) to the back of the ship and I settled him inside the closet next to Tanner. Door secured, we left our lives in the hands of the two people Colton trusted most in the galaxy.
For good reason, he trusted them. They were the best. And over their dead bodies would they ever allow anything to happen to their boss.
The ship lifted, the blaster pings faded and we shot off into places unknown.
Tanner and I checked Colton over to determine how many holes he might have in him and where the blood was pouring from. Two in the leg explained the left side limp. And one in the left shoulder. Closer examination revealed that some of the blood was definitely not his, as it was a multitude of colors beyond deep red. The closet held a huge first aid kit and Tanner and me had a decent amount of first aid training, forced on us by Colton and Healer Quin. Certainly we weren't experts, but we could get things started.
"It's okay, Colt. Leg and shoulder. Unless something hit a vital artery…"
We started working. Cleaning and wrapping. I fully expected Sydenious to come barging in and take over. The fact that he didn't meant we weren't out of danger. So, me and my brother would do what we could.
"Empire t-threat." Colton shuddered out between breaths of pain. "H-had to draw them away from Terra. Bigger than we thought. Others handled the threat at home with Rosina's help. She hates the Empire for other reasons. Have a team headed here to dispose of them. W-won't take long now that we know what I found out today."
Damn it. He'd used himself as a pawn to get the details on the threat. It's why he'd ended up with three extras holes in his body that hadn't been there to start the day. It also explained why he'd rushed us off Terra. Bringing us to the planet where the enemy also camped was a little confusing, but leaving us (well, Tanner really) without the protection of himself of Sydenious on Terra wasn't the best of options either.
"Great, Colt. Get yourself killed to expose a weakness. You know that if you die, it's a problem right?" That sounded selfish. It was. On two levels. That if he was killed, that pretty much left Tanner and me on our own. And if he was killed, that also left us without the only other person who gave a crap about me. And also… Okay, maybe there were three levels. Colton was our friend. We cared about him. If he died… nope, no. Not going there. He was fine. Or he would be.
"And you think I'm the idiot, Colt?"
He grimaced in pain as I wrapped his shoulder. "You are, but thought I'd give you a little run for your money. I didn't die. Don't plan on it either. And would you stop wrapping things to the point that I can't feel my limb!"
"Stops the bleeding. If you recall, it was you and Quin that had us beef up our first aid skills. An entire week of dusk-to-dawn classes. If you're bleeding, wrap it tight. Don't blame me if you don't remember the rules."
"S-smart ass."
"That's Idiotic smart ass to you." Came my response, as I squeezed a wound temporarily shut with another impossibly tight wrap.
"Why I give a damn about you, Dashen, I've no idea."
"Yeah, but you do. And that was Tanner who pulled the bandage on the first wound by the way. So, you can't take it out on just me now, can ya?"
The ship rumbled and rolled to the right a few times, almost causing me to lose the lunch I hadn't eaten. Space travel wasn't my thing. I'd done it. I didn't mind it. Just wasn't something I actually enjoyed. This flight was lining up to be one of my least favorite. My stomach jumped around almost as much as the ship. We did manage to hold Colton in place though (for which he was grateful). Last thing we needed for him to be hurled into a wall and dislocate a blaster-torn shoulder or pop out a kneecap in a bloody-ripped leg.
Seemed like hours (it wasn't) before the world around us settled and Sydenious keyed the secure door open. We probably looked a mess. Colton partially upright against the wall, bloody from top to bottom, and wrapped haphazardly in white bandages stained red-brown. His long blonde hair so damp that it was actually stuck to his head in most places. Tanner on his left. Me on his right. We were a a ragged bunch.
Sydenious shook his head. He'd never smile. Nope. Not that his face would break, it just wasn't in his nature. Relief though, it was there. Not flat out obvious, but it was there. When he'd thrown Colton into the ship, truth be told, he didn't know how serious the wounds were. To see his oldest and dearest friend alive… it was a good day.
"The threats have been neutralized." The way-too-tall, way-too-dark man said to us. "A final sweep will be clear momentarily. It is safe to return home. Boss?"
Colton blinked his blue eyes and cleared his throat. He was tired; a state not often seen in Virgil Colton. Three blaster bolts to the limbs would do that to you though, no matter who you were.
"M' okay, Sy. Swear it. Tago's team?"
"Kaolin is clear. All accounted for. Minor injuries, nothing more. Quin is on standby. Location is secure for your arrival."
Meaning that Healer Quin had a portion of her medical facility on lockdown. Her version of lockdown - quiet, subtle and under heavy guard.
"Good. Drop me and get the boys home. Perimeter goes Gray for two days. You know the drill."
"Will do, Boss."
Code Gray. It was Colton's term for no one goes in or out. He didn't use normal colors like red, green or yellow. I suppose maybe it was too easy for the bad guys to figure out. Colton enjoyed colors like gray, tan, black and my personal favorite, Pantone. Apparently, it had been voted the ugliest color in the galaxy. That the galaxy took the effort and time to fixate on ugly colors was a piece of information I could've cared less about, but Tanner in all things boring and weird, he lived for ridiculous things like that. He knew about the Pantone thing. Of course he did. Colton did too, since he had a code color in that shade. As bland and hideous as it was, Pantone meant well, not much. It meant that all was fine. Quiet. Good. After his unexpected adventure, I looked forward to a little Pantone upcoming. But, for the moment, we'd be confined to the estate and that was fine. Tanner would need an excuse for missing school. That would be the most upsetting part about the next few days. He'd get his assignments at home. The kid wasn't about to miss a school assignment. No way, no how.
"Lesedi. Vai. The wound wrapping is admirable."
Whoa. A compliment from Sydenious Greyer. Even if he did refer to us in last name only. Baby steps.
I nodded upwards as the enormous man left the doorway. My hand ran absently through my dark hair, pushing my bangs off my face for a second as I glanced to Colton. "So, Code Gray, huh? Just gotta be different, don't you, Colt?"
"You don't do boring, kid. Helps me keep you entertained." His words were sluggish. So weird to see him like this. I always pegged Colton as invincible. Of course, he wasn't, and I understood that. As larger-than-life as he was, the man was human. There was no way around that.
I patted his forearm. "Yeah, yeah, whatever you say. Uncle Colton." My smirk and reference to what he presented to us as in the real world. To keep the cover and help protect Tanner's Jedi past. This time, it forced a smile from him. A pained one, but a smile nonetheless.
"Colt, maybe you should sleep. I honestly have no idea where the hell we are, or what planet we were just on, but I know an exhausted person when I see one."
He chided me then. "Who gave you the authority here?"
"And you call me stubborn?" I asked, mocking surprise.
"I call you an idiot." He returned flatly.
"Same difference. Just give in, Colt. Stars, man. You've got three blaster holes in you. You could be dead."
"But I'm not. And I do have a plan in place should that happen. So you know."
"What?"
"Upon my unplanned death. You'll both have protection. Can't have you worrying about that one, kid. You worry too much as it is."
"You die and we're not fending for ourselves?"
"Not until any and all legitimate threats to your little brother have faded. Just… just know that. Both of you."
Hadn't really expected that. It was nice. It was relief. A huge breath fell away. The slightest of aches released from my heart.
Tanner leaned over, pressed against Colton's uninjured side. He was a kid who didn't need words to convey his feelings and gratefulness. Acting on those feelings was more his way. I, on the other hand… words were more my thing, even if they did come out a mess on occasion.
Not this time.
"Thanks, Colt. That means… everything. It does."
"I know." He said gently. Then, "Can't have you two idiots out there fending for yourselves now, can we?"
I smirked. "The galaxy would never be the same."
"Sure wouldn't. Now if you boys don't mind, I need to rest my eyes some." His head tilted back against the wall. Not the most comfortable of places for nap time, but in his line of work, certainly Colton had experienced much worse."
I got up to stretch my legs, intending to go get the status on our flight without getting in the way of Sydenious. Last thing I wanted was to beg thrown through a wall by the big man for being an irritant. Kebrey was less intense, but he was piloting. I let him be as well. Tanner stayed put, leaned against our criminal friend, fake uncle, keeper of our safety. Whatever you wanted to call him. Our family. Colton wouldn't make mention of it, but he'd be grateful for Tanner's presence. The kid was calming in most things he did. Part of it was his Jedi-ness. Part of it was just who he was as a person.
There were times when I had this inkling that Colton needed us almost as much as we needed him. Sure, that wasn't the case. Maybe though… maybe he was missing a piece of his own personal puzzle that he hadn't known about until Tanner and me intruded permanently into his life. To find out that he was thinking about our safety beyond his own - that we'd keep a level of protection if he died unexpectedly - I hadn't lied to him when I told him it had meant everything. It was one less taxing worry off of my already anxiety-ridden shoulders.
We'd squirmed our way into his life. Looks like we were staying there.
I gave Tanner a warm grin before I disappeared toward the front of the ship.
And we all headed for home together.
END
