Chapter Title: Breakthrough

Series Title: Unlikely Brothers

Ages in this chapter: Tanner (30), Dashen (36), River (6)

POV: Tanner

Chapter Summary: Three months in, when the slaver that owned him comes to take back his property, the boys hide River in Colton's bunker.


We'd grabbed River and ripped him away from the home-school project he'd been focused on. Not in actual school classes yet, but I was teaching him at home on some days. Currently, the lesson was to run for our lives, jump into the ground car, get to Colton's place and down into the bunker.

Incoming trouble in the form of River's former owner, his slaver. We'd found a tracking device River's arm him a few days ago. One we'd previously missed, it was so securely implanted under his skin. All of the slaves apparently had been marked with both a tracker and an identifying wrist tattoo. We'd not yet had River's tattoo removed, but it was on our radar. There were valid reasons for the delay on the tattoo thing but no excuse for us not finding the tracker. So, we ran.

Dash and I had a bunker-type room at our own house, but Colton had ordered us to his estate. It was guarded full-time with people he trusted and it would be easier to defend if it came to that. Not that it would, but the galaxy was a unpredictable place. Regardless, and no matter our age, we rarely ignored one of Colton's orders. He'd been our protector since I was a boy of nine. Because I was a grown man of thirty... well, that meant nothing when it came to safety.

Colton had scouts stationed between Terra and the planet were we'd found River; that dreadful place called Horsh. He'd identified the various slavers on Horsh and pinned down River's to one in particular. That man... no, that creature... was making his way to Terra to claim back his lost property.

Right. Over our dead bodies.

Colton's bunker, panic room or whatever you wanted to call it, was as we'd last seen it. Yes, we'd used it on occasion when I was younger. Random invasions by the Empire and such. We'd not yet had reason to tell River about it. No time like the present, I guess.

Dashen was manning the comlink and getting instruction from Colton while I told River the truth about what was happening. All this boy had been through in his short life, he deserved nothing but honesty from those he now trusted.

"Dashen, he's minutes out. I have eyes and ears on him and that'll continue the second he steps off that ship upon landing. The bunker is stocked. The boy will be okay. We won't let anything happen."

That was Colton. Calm and collected. He'd been doing this job forever, and even semi-retired, he was still the best there was. That was especially true when it came to protecting those he considered family. River had recently been added to that list.

The same River that sat shivering in cold and fear in the center of the bunker's fold-out bed. His warm blanket (the one I'd made) wrapped snug around him, knees curled to his chest. Fetal. His safe position. Dashen had grabbed the blanket with one arm and the boy with the other on his way out the door.

Three months. That's how long River had been with us on Terra. Odd that it took the slaver so long to come after him, but certainly he had hundreds of other kids under his order to abuse. Maybe hunting for the escaped ones was difficult to fit into his otherwise busy schedule of buying children and treating them like garbage.

I told River what was happening. I also assured him that he was safe. Did he believe me? Probably not.

I could feel his fear radiating into the Force. He had little control over or knowledge of whatever magic (as he called it) flowed through him. I still wasn't clear on his abilities, but he was definitely emotional.

"He'll take me back and make me a Number again, won't he?" His voice, already small, being only six years old, lessened even more. "I don't want to go back, Tanner, please. I'm not a Number. And the Wolfis is there. The bad man will make the Wolfis hurt me, kill me. I don't want to to back. I don't want to go back. Please. Please. Please I can't go back."

River went on. Dashen and I exchanged a look of not really knowing what to do. At a loss. Completely.

"Tanner, he's freaking out. You and I know we're safe here, but this is his nightmare come to life. Can you ah..." Dashen motioned for me to sit with River and try and calm him. But River had yet to reach a true level of comfort with touch. He still wasn't a hugger and had only reached out to Dashen or Fen or I for physical support a handful of times.

In my book and my own past experience with little brothers, best thing to do was to sit and hold onto him until this was over.

But... Not this kid. Not yet.

"That might just freak him out more." I told my brother.

My efforts to send tendrils through the Force fell flat. River and I didn't really have a Force bond, it was more of calming waves, but he was not in any state to notice. He just kept repeating that he didn't want to go back and that he didn't want to be a Number anymore. Images of the slaver and his dead friends... Numbers... probably flashing though his head at warp speed.

It was an hour later though, and I didn't have it in me to watch him suffer another minute.

"River." I gently eased myself onto the bed, backing up to sit next to him - he was dead center as usual. "Hey, can I sit with you for a while?"

A fast nod as he remained wrapped within himself. I didn't know how much he was agreeing to with the nod, but it was basically now or never. I pushed a pillow behind my back for support and reached a hand out. River seemed okay with hands. He'd taken mine or Dash's a few times now. Never really anything more than that though.

"How about you turn this way and lean to me, huh? I can help get you warm."

He was cold. All the violent shaking, it wasn't all fear. The bunker ran a little cold. It was underground after all. But River ran cold as well. There wasn't much too him, he was small and thin - a lot like me when I was his age, but worse, because he'd been so starved and abused when we'd found him. Fen said he'd not yet reached normal weight for his age. His years of malnourishment and working in impossible elements had done that to him. The weight would come back, slow and steady. But it all added to his tendency to be cold most of the time.

The offer of extra warmth... maybe it was something he couldn't turn down.

There were a few minutes of thought. I didn't move or say anything more. I'd offered. Fen said always, after the offer, let him make the next move. It was the best way to make sure the trust we had created remained intact while also permitting him a semblance of control.

Finally, instead of turning, he let go of his blanket and scooted sideways toward me, pushing so that his shoulder lay under the space created by my arm. Hesitant at first - I didn't move - until he focused on some rhythmic breathing I'd taught him. Steadily, he began to relax. I glanced over at my older brother, we shared raised eyebrows.

River settled into my side and I carefully let my arm lower down around his shoulder. I felt myself release a breath as River's worried words stopped and his violent shakes lessened by half. Dashen's comlink blipped and he turned away from the bed to take the call. Just an update. River didn't raise his head away from where it was now lying against my rib cage. With the pull of the Force, I lifted his blanket, then tucked it around his frame. I felt him relax more. Still I kept quiet. Waiting for him to tell me things were okay.

Instead of River telling me things were okay, he started asking me questions. By this time, he was essentially wrapped in my arms.

"Tanner, I don't have to go back, do I?"

I'd hoped by now he knew the answer to that but maybe he just needed more confirmation. So, without frustration or aggravation, I gave it.

"No, River. You're not ever going back there. Not ever."

And then the boy began talking, and painful, heartbreaking facts we didn't know about came spilling out like a waterfall.

"He hurt us. Everyday. All of us. Even when we did good. Sometimes with vibro-knives or whips. Sometimes with his hands. Everyday was scary, but we didn't have a way to get out. We didn't know how to get out. Some of the Numbers tried to leave. They died. Some of them died from no food and no water. The bad man would let the Wolfis hunt the ones who ran away. Those Numbers never came back."

All of this did help to explain River's uncertainty with physical touch and Dashen's stomach churned, I saw it in his face. He was putting every ounce of himself into not vomiting; his disgust for how this animal treated such young children.

I certainly couldn't blame Dashen for the nausea (I was managing to keep mine in check), but still, something troubled me.

"River, how did you and the other Numbers escape?"

"We didn't. He let us run away. The bad man had a new Wolfis. He was teaching the Wolfis to hunt."

That did it. Dashen rushed off into the bunker's bathroom (the galaxy's tiniest) and I heard the sounds of him puking into the toilet. I kept my cool, relying on the Force and the exercises learned long ago from Ayden and Ben. Never had I needed them more.

The slaver set these kids loose so his beast could hunt them down for practice! That he could voluntarily give them up for hunting purposes, clearly, he had a long line of children to use, abuse and lose. The bile rose again, I kept it down. That River survived when none of the others did, I don't know what that meant. Could be he unconsciously used the Force to keep the beast away or to hide his presence. There was no way to really know. One day perhaps he'd share... assuming he even understood what had happened.

Dashen came out of the bathroom, patting his mouth with a cloth before clearing his throat and tapping at his comlink. The tap was code for he'd just passed that sickening information about the slaver along to Colton, assuring that if Colton or his crew had the opportunity, the man would never make it off Terra alive.

Good.

River moved slightly against me. "Tanner, can I stay with you and Dashen forever and ever?"

"You can. You can stay as long as you want. We will take care of you. Me and Dashen and Fen and our friends, Colton and Nyssa and all of them. You'll have the biggest family ever."

"Some of them are very big." He sniffed.

I stifled a laugh. River changed gears so quickly there. And he was right. Colton's crew, they were all very big. Tall, broad. It was a type Colton had with his people.

"They are very big, aren't they? Tall and strong and they will protect you. You are not going back to that place. You are not going back to that bad man and no one like that will ever hurt you again."

He turned then, in my hold, so that his face was snuggled into my side. Dashen smiled at me. Finally that breakthrough we'd been searching for. Destroying that final wall that would allow this boy to become one of us.

"Tanner?" That was Dashen's voice. "He's tired. You two should rest. I'll keep ears with Colton. Here," my brother reached over and pressed a music button. A soft white noise sound began. Soothing. I'd always responded to it. Actually, it was Master Ayden that first discovered my affinity for white noise. For whatever reason, the sound always helping me to sleep.

Once again, it worked. I nodded to Dashen and let my eyes began to close.

"We can sleep now?" River asked me in a yawn.

"We can. Me and you. Dashen will stay awake."

"Just in case, right?"

"Right."

"He'll protect us while we sleep, right?"

"With my life, kid," Dashen said firmly. And he meant it. "With my life."

I slid into oblivion with my brother guarding my back and this new part of my family tucked into my arms. Still unsure what to call him. He was too young to be a brother. Too close to be a cousin. We were kind of adopting him, but son didn't seem right either. Huh. Would have to think on that one.

It was a good sleep made that much better with the incoming news received when my eyes reopened. Dashen wasn't sure if River was listening (his eyes were closed) so he was careful with his wording.

"The threat has been dissolved."

The slaver was dead.

I wasn't much on killing, Jedi or not, it just wasn't my way, but there were certain people who deserved certain punishments in this galaxy. River's slaver was one of them. I found out later that overnight, Colton with some assistance from Rosina (his longtime partially-friendly rival) had sent a large crew to the planet Horsh in order to wipe out the farm where River had come from. The remaining bad men were eliminated, the few children left (there had been more Wolfis killings from the looks of it, blood and pieces and...)

The few children left were piloted to the nearest off-planet security base to give them a chance at life. River didn't express any interest in seeing them. My best guess was that he didn't know them anyway. It sounded like the Numbers he was closest to (not that they had friends) had all been slaughtered when the slaver set his group lose for the hunt.

—-

River cried a lot the next few days. Various reasons. Fen had to give him a sedative each evening. He'd turned a corner though. While still not the full fledged hugger like I had always been, he did start sitting with Dashen or I when we were lounging on the couch watching holo-films. Parked closed to one of us (he seemed to alternate evenings), he'd snuggle beside us. Blanket in hand. Still balled up in his fetal position - Fen said that would take time for that habit to fall - but within our hold, he was calm and relaxed and almost... happy?

Later that week, Colton came to visit. He and Nyssa (his lady partner in life and business), sat with us for dinner. River hadn't spent much time with either. He knew all about them though, and was well aware that Colton was the one who had brought his nightmare to an end. With utmost certainty, the boy understood that he would never ever have to go back to that bad man.

River wandered over to Colton after dinner. The extra large blonde man looked far too oversized for the undersized chairs in our home, but he made himself fit. Even sitting, Colton looked a giant compared to the tiny River. I remembered that feeling. I'd always been on the small side. Shorter and lighter than average, I was nine when I'd met Colton, and to me, he was the biggest human I'd ever seen. Still, he towered over me today. Seeing he and River together, those memories returned. Good memories now. Back then, a bit scary and definitely intimidating.

River didn't touch Colton, but he stood before him.

"Mr. Colton?"

Colton smiled at the title. He'd correct the boy later.

"Yes, young one?"

"Thank you for taking away the bad man forever. Now I can stay here with Tanner and Dashen and Fen and my... family. You are part of my family too, right?"

Dash and I gave Colton a look. We knew exactly what was going through his mind. That look said, Oh great, not another one! I could see it in his expressive eyes. I also saw the gentleness there. For all that Colton was and all that Colton had done in his life running his own criminal empire, he was a sucker for a kid in trouble. It had started with Dashen; Colton being the only one to reach out to him as a suicidal, lost-soul teenager. It had continued with me and my brutal orphaning from the Jedi. Now it continued with River.

Yeah Virgil Colton had a soft spot for us. He'd rather wrestle a Wampa than admit it, but we'd seen it every day for two decades now.

River was already attaching himself to the man's heart and there wasn't a thing he could do about it.

Colton smiled warmly. "I am part of your family, young one. We don't know each other too well just yet, but we will. Until then, you have two brothers who will look after you and do anything for you."

Two brothers. Dashen and me. I guess River would be a brother after all. Baby brother? Maybe.

"I like that," River replied. His habitual phrase. I like that being one. And adding the word right onto the end of words to make them confirming sentences. Those things, they were unique to River. They might fade eventually, they might not. Either way, we wouldn't love him any less.

And yes, we had grown to love this kid already. It had been almost too easy to bring him into our lives. For Dashen and me, maybe our pasts helped it along. Could be too that there were other influences beyond our comprehension.

Through is long dark brown hair, River's blue eyes watched carefully the blues of Colton; the color almost a perfect shade-to-shade match. The boy was searching for something. Honesty. Sincerity. Belonging. All of those things and more. From what we gathered from the slaver (pre-death) and the farm where River had been kept, he'd been sold to the man by his parents (yes, Dashen threw up his lunch upon that truth discovery). They'd given him up voluntarily and eagerly on the day of his fourth birthday. The boy had fetched substantial money, but nothing that would last more than a year. So, the reality of it all was that they had sold their child into abuse and slavery for a no more than a year's salary.

River had been a slave and Number for two full years. We didn't know his exact date of birth, but if River knew, Dashen was going to ensure that we change that day. There would be no celebration of a day where his own parents sold him as a slave. Just... no.

One idea was that we'd use the date we'd found him on Horsh. I mean, technically, that was the beginning of his new life. It was a good idea. We'd present it to River at some point.

The eye contact between River and Colton lasted a pregnant minute. River ended it by stepping closer and holding his hand out, palm up. His thing when he was ready to initiate contact with someone he trusted. I pursed my lips while offering a slight raise of my eyebrows at Colton's glance toward me, letting him know it was okay to reach back.

Seeing Colton's huge hand laying on top the River's petite one was

a bit comical. I saw Dashen forcibly holding back a laugh, biting hard on his lip. That transformed into a smile watching River's tiny fingers wrap onto Colton's. And just like I'd done when River had first allowed me that physical touch, Colton too let out a breath of relief.

Our lives, they were changing yet again. Silently, I hoped that my Jedi family was looking down on us these days. I figured maybe they were. Surely, upon his death, Ben was no longer desolate and had finally joined Qui-Gon and gotten the peace and contentment he'd craved so badly for so long. With them, Ayden was there, certainly. I'd not grown into the Jedi Knight that I'd hoped upon beginning my path with him, but part of me wondered if I'd become more than that. If so, Master Ayden Yen was a big reason. I'd never stop missing him.

Thinking now that maybe, in a way, that family had helped direct us to River when he'd been stranded and alone on the hateful planet of Horsh. How they could have done it, no way to know. All I knew is that it wasn't out of the realm of possibility.

My stroll down memory lane was interrupted by a tapping on my hand.

River.

"Tanner?"

"He's lost in his past right now, kid," Dash chimed in. "His mind gets all gooey too when that happens."

River giggled. I'd offer to smack my brother on the back of the head for that crack, he saw me thinking in that direction and stepped back, pointing toward me. He wasn't wrong though. That was sort of what it felt like - gooey - when I fell into my past. Dashen knew. He was much the same.

"Yup, I'm here." I said softly.

"I'm tired."

He looked it. River was still building up his stamina. Even then, he was so young. Kids his age didn't have the ability to go all day long and it had been a crazy eventful and emotional week.

The fact that he was telling me this while also holding his hand out to me (palm up of course), said something about the recent breakthrough. I looked around, my small group was smiling. Dashen. Colton. Nyssa. Dare I say their expressions seemed to say they were proud of me? Or maybe I was just imagining that.

I stood and took River's hand. He said goodnight to everyone with a wave - also a new accomplishment - I think he'd seen Dashen and me do the goodnights enough times. With his fingers wrapped around my hand, he followed me to the bathroom where I helped him clean up and ready for bed. Some nights he was all about independence and doing these things himself. Other nights, he subtly sought the company. How his mind worked, we weren't quite sure. Not yet. This night, he wanted the closeness. As I said, it had been an emotional week.

Tucked in to his fetal position and with his homemade blanket covering him warmly, River fell hard asleep within seconds. Record time.

"Hey Mouse, you okay?" Dashen had stepped into the room, using my old nickname that I probably should hate, but that always made me feel like home.

"I'm good. Big strides this week. Was just thinking how much our lives had changed again. For the better. Again. Keeps happening."

"It does. It's confusing too, because we're not that lucky, right?"

"Right?"

Dashen grinned at the use of the word on the end of the sentence. River's word. "I think he's teaching us bad habits."

"He's teaching us a lot of things."

"Yeah, he is." Dashen set a hand on my shoulder. "Come on, little brother. Let's go enjoy the rest of the evening with our family. I think I've conned Nyssa into blabbing some of her old stories about when she and Colt were kids. Could be fun… or life threatening. Just depends if we're fast enough to escape Colt's arm-reaching wrath."

That was true. But old stories, I was up for.

I quietly wished a sleeping River goodnight and left the room.


END