Welcome back! Slight warning for brief, non-graphic mention of needles for blood drawing and medication if anyone wants to avoid that sort of thing.


"What happened?"

Fox clenched his jaw. He should probably make something up. Some angry senator or a crazed lunatic with a knife. Anything would be better than the truth that he quite simply couldn't remember.

Having moved him from the stretcher to a cot in the medbay, the medics continued divesting him of the top half of his armor and cut away his blacks. Fox heard a single muffled curse before Maddox asked for various supplies and one of the junior medics, Span, left to retrieve them.

Maddox snapped his fingers in front of Fox's face. "Just you and me now, Fox. What the hell happened?" He pulled a clear oxygen mask over Fox's face and despite the discomfort of the apparatus, it did ease some of the pressure on his lungs.

Fox willed himself to focus on Maddox in front of him, donned in scrubs, wearing a serious look on his face. Strands of hair were beginning to escape the tight black and Corrie red braid—probably Span's doing—that ended in a small ponytail at the back of his head. The shaved sides were slightly shiny with sweat.

If Fox squinted, he'd be able to make out the tattoo on the side of Maddox's head. The top line read 'clanker breaker' while the bottom line, added later but in the same script, spelled out 'brother fixer-upper'. It lifted morale, he'd said. Talked the idea over with another medic on Kamino before they were deployed. Fox wondered if the other medic had survived long enough to get a tattoo, what it said, and if he and Maddox had kept in contact. All things to ask later. If Fox remembered.

But most of all, Fox noticed how tired Maddox looked, even without squinting. He needed more sleep. They all needed more sleep. Fox had just barely opened his mouth before Maddox held out a hand.

"And before you spin me some yarn to get me off your back, I want you to really consider this, alright? The more you tell me about what happened, the faster I can treat you. Which means: less medbay time, less time away from your men, and fewer gray hairs for me," he said, ticking off each reason on his fingers as he went. "Which is good, because no offense, but I'd rather not be second place behind you in the salt-and-pepper hair contest, though you wear it well."

Fox sighed as much as he was able and immediately winced. "Don't remember." It slipped out before he even had a chance to stop it. The oxygen mask muffled his words slightly. He felt a sudden pinch in his arm and looked down to see Maddox taking a blood sample and shaking his head.

"I really don't need to remind you of the number of times we've had this conversation. Should I remind you about the cuffs instead? The boys in the 101st didn't call me 'Mad Doc' for nothin'." Although Maddox was clearly stressed and frustrated, he was gentle as ever as he removed the needle, capped the vial, and passed it off to another medic to analyze down the hall. Maddox made sure to catch Fox's eyes when he looked up.

"I don't," Fox said. He'd lied about it before. But this time, this time he was actually telling the truth, and he was pleading with Maddox to see it.

Somehow, he did. His features softened from frustration to genuine worry and he pursed his lips. He pulled out a handheld med scanner and ran the blue beam over Fox's head. They waited in tense silence until the device beeped. "Alright. Scan shows no anomalies, so we can worry about that later. What's the last thing you do remember?"

"The Chancellor's office."

Maddox clenched his jaw. "Who was there with you?" He put down the scanner and unwrapped the bandages around the lacerations on Fox's arms. His clenched jaw turned into a frown as he quickly applied fresh gauze to the still bleeding wounds. Fox could see the other questions on the tip of his tongue; why had Fox done these up himself instead of coming to them for help, had they looked this bad earlier, what the hell was he thinking. They'd had this conversation before, indeed, which made Fox grateful that Maddox didn't ask.

Maybe he should've been more concerned about his current state at the fact that the medic didn't.

"The Chancellor," Fox said through a wince. Kriff, the added pressure hurt. The fire pulsed under Maddox's hands as Fox pushed his head back against the pillow and looked up at the ceiling.

"None of the Guard?"

Fox shook his head minutely. Breaking his own rule of always having a partner. But he made the rule. He could decide when it got broken, especially if it meant he wouldn't subject another brother to Palpatine's meetings.

"Why not?" Maddox pressed as he checked the gauze.

"Was just a debrief," Fox said. He knew what Maddox was doing, keeping him talking and awake, but that didn't stop him from feeling like he just rather wouldn't. His head pounded in time with his heartbeat and yet he still felt tired. At Maddox's raised eyebrows, demanding more information, Fox relented. "My mess to clean up, anyways."

Maddox's hands stilled against the bandages. "All by yourself? That's nonsense, Fox. Nobody here believes that." He fixed Fox with a serious look.

"So they keep saying," Fox said wearily.

"Maybe you should start listening." Maddox took another moment before he switched gauze pads. "Anyone else?"

"Two Red Guards." Thankfully, Maddox didn't ask what happened after, so Fox didn't again have to wrack his addled brain to come up with the same non-answer.

"They have their nasty little prodding sticks with them?"

Fox nodded. Of course they did. They always did. They looked naked without them. Just like Fox felt, clad in only the bottom half of his armor, bare from the waist up. One of the junior medics walked by, creating a slight breeze, and he involuntarily shivered.

"You've got a fever," Maddox informed him quite helpfully, because Fox definitely hadn't been expecting that. "But I can't give you anything for it yet, I'm sorry."

"Don't be. Save what we have," Fox said quietly. He'd sweat it out if it meant another one of his men could get the proper help they needed.

"Hey, hey, not what I meant," Maddox quickly corrected, drawing Fox's attention. "It's because of these." He lightly tapped Fox's chest, causing him to look down.

When he was finally able to get his eyes to focus, he noticed tendrils of red, inflamed skin that snaked up from his arms and ended in a tangle on his chest.

Oh. That would explain quite a bit.

"Look worse than before," Fox said before he could stop himself, physically feeling the blood drain from his head at the sight of it. Not good. He still needed to delegate if anything happened to him. He had a list of things for Thorn and Stone to do in the event of his untimely…removal from the Guard, but it didn't cover the most recent events, which his other Commanders would surely need help with. He needed a datapad. Or he needed Thorn. Or both.

Maddox gently tapped his cheek. "Thorn's on his way over. Just hang tight alright? We're running a tox screen on your blood right now. Should figure out what's up in just a few minutes. In the meantime, I'll get you patched up as much as I can. Don't you worry."

He started shuffling bandages back and forth and pulled out a tube of bacta gel, which they used sparingly. Fox eyed it and wanted to move his arms away. "The others?" he asked. There had to be someone that needed it more. His arms would clot in time.

"You're the most critical in here right now," Maddox said as he uncapped the gel and looked Fox in the eye. "I promise. Everyone else is as squared away as they can be. The triage teams did a good job."

Fox watched him for a moment. Maddox wasn't the type to lie and sugarcoat. Sure, he had a good demeanor and even better bedside manner—when he wasn't threatening to tie a brother to said bed for repeatedly disregarding the medics' orders—but he never lied about a situation. Even in his slightly confused state, Fox knew that much to be true.

Fox nodded ever so slightly, leaned back, and tried not to groan as Maddox got to work.

Maddox was just finishing securing a new bandage to Fox's right arm when Span came in, looking flustered. "Poison," was all he said, and Maddox immediately hopped up to snag the datapad.

Fox waited with bated breath, which definitely didn't help his still stuttering lungs or the wheezing breaths he took in and out.

"Nonlethal," Maddox said before anything else, still reading.

Fox closed his eyes in relief. So all he had to do was ride this out. He could do that. Right?

Maddox said a few things to Span, who nodded and disappeared into the supply room. He came back with various vials and hypos and set about getting things in order.

"Good news, you should be fine in 24-36 hours. The toxin's got a relatively short life. Gets metabolized fast. It's designed to be an absolute pain in the shebs though," Maddox said as he looked unhappily at the datapad. "It's common enough, but there's no antidote. That and there's a chance it'll interact with any fever meds we give you. Pain we can control, but your body has to burn through it essentially." Fox could hear the anger in his words simmering just below the surface.

"Wonderful," Fox muttered. He only slightly flinched at the hypo Span gave him for the pain and when Maddox slid in a line for IV fluids.

"Remember those burns from Level 2685?" Maddox asked as he wet a towel. "You got through that. This'll be fine." He walked back over to the bed but was stopped short by the sound of thundering boots coming into the medbay.

"Where is he?" There was a pause in the footsteps, a quiet conversation, and then Thorn was standing at the foot of Fox's bed, chest heaving. His helmet was still on—likely he had simply forgotten to take it off on his run down here—otherwise Fox would've expected his mouth to be gaping open slightly. "I—" he looked between Maddox and Fox. Even through the helmet, Fox could see him taking stock of the injuries.

Maddox clapped a hand on Thorn's shoulder with just enough force to jolt him out of his stupor. He then used it to steer Thorn a few cots down. Fox squinted, unable to hear their conversation. But he certainly made out the word 'poison' on Maddox's lips, quickly followed by the paling of Thorn's face. He moved to surge forward again, but Maddox's grip on his shoulder was firm.

They exchanged a few more words before Thorn's shoulders slumped ever so slightly. After a moment, Maddox patted his shoulder and they came back to the foot of Fox's bed.

"I'm saving the lecture for later, you're welcome," Maddox said, directed at Fox. Then he pressed the cool towel into Thorn's hand. "Hound?"

It took Thorn a moment to answer. "Still waiting."

Maddox nodded and looked between the two men. "I'll go update him. Yell if you need me. And I mean it, got it?"

Fox nodded, if only to get Maddox's piercing stare to look anywhere but him.

Satisfied, Maddox turned and walked back through the medbay, leaving Fox in the bed and Thorn still standing at the foot, towel in his hand. Thorn stared at it for a moment before he used his free hand to remove his helmet and stow it on the bedside table. Without it to protect his face, Thorn's emotions were laid bare, even though he could look calm and composed to those who didn't know him.

"Thorn—" Fox started.

"I should hit you with this," Thorn interrupted and gestured with the towel. "For being an absolute karking di'kut. Again." His jaw was clenched and there was a slight shake in his hand holding the towel. There were lines on his face and bags under his eyes.

Thorn stared for another second before he let out a long-suffering sigh and gingerly placed the towel across Fox's forehead. It was blissfully cool. With the sheets underneath him and his armor still on his legs, he hadn't realized how much he felt encapsulated by the heat steadily radiating off his body. He closed his eyes and tried to breathe just a bit deeper.

"Men alright?" he asked when he opened his eyes.

Thorn was still standing over him. "Worried about you, but yeah. I've got an hour before a debrief with the public, but they have it handled until then. Thire's doing a good job." He reached down and wet a second towel before spreading it over Fox's chest.

He hissed at the contact, the sudden temperature difference almost too much for his shocked system to handle. But then it settled. And it helped.

A light tugging at his leg brought his attention back to Thorn, who was starting on removing Fox's armor plates. Fox frowned and rolled his leg out of Thorn's grasp. "What if I need to go?" Putting on half a set of armor would take long enough in his state, but he really didn't want to have to contend with a whole kit of plates and straps and latches.

Thorn looked up and pinned him with a glare. Fox could see some of Thorn's anger simmering just below the surface. He knew not all of it was directed at him, but the bit that was still stung even though he tried not to let it.

"Someone will wheel you out."

"Wheel me—"

"Until you're clear of whatever this is, you're on bedrest, Fox. Non-negotiable." Thorn was deadly serious. The same kind of serious Fox often saw when he was reiterating to the shinies just how important it was to be careful in their day-to-day duties. Coruscant—and Fox—had instilled that seriousness in him. "You look awful."

"We have the same face," Fox said almost reflexively, his tongue slightly loose in the throes of fever and pain meds that were slowly starting to creep down his nerves.

Thorn's anger broke for a split second as half a smile quirked on his face. Then it was gone. He got back to removing Fox's armor in a calm, methodical manner. It was all to have something to do with his hands while he thought.

Fox, for the moment, was content to let him have his space if it meant he could avoid the conversation that was brewing. He closed his eyes and listened to the sounds of the medbay. The slight footfalls, muffled sounds of brothers in distress, various beeps and other droid sounds. Thankfully, Maddox had stuck him in the corner of the bay with no man opposing or on the side of him. That was good. A medbay that had beds to spare was a good sign. The situation wasn't completely unmanageable.

"Maddox said you saw the Chancellor and had a blackout?" Thorn's voice dragged him back again. Fox felt him unclip the knee plate.

"He said the lecture could wait," Fox muttered.

"He did." The armor clinked where Thorn was piling it on a chair. "I didn't."

If Fox could've sighed, he would've. Like with Maddox, they'd had this conversation before. This was just a rehash. Fox would do whatever it took to protect his men, even to his own detriment. It was part of his duty as a Commander. Why the others still failed to see that, he didn't know (he did, but it was easier for all of them in the long run if he didn't).

"How many times is this now? Four? Five?" Fox didn't answer the rhetorical question. "So add that to every time you get wounded and don't get the proper care, and it all adds up to a frustrating number of times we have to have this conversation, right?" The greaves joined the knee plates, but Thorn left the boots on, for which Fox was grateful.

"I just—I don't know how—" Thorn blew out a frustrated breath. Fox cracked his eyes open and saw him shaking his head to himself. His fingers were curled around one of Fox's thigh plates. "One day you'll see that taking care of yourself takes care of us, too."

At that, he turned his attention away from Fox's legs and back to his face. He reached over, re-wet the towels with cool water, and put them back. "I guess we'll all just have to keep reminding you until that day comes."

Fox swallowed. The tightness in his chest was no longer entirely from the poison. The pressure only increased when Thorn moved the armor to the table and sat down in the uncomfortable chair next to Fox's bed.

Fox considered telling him to move, honestly, he did, but Thorn would just dig his heels in. Too, he could use an hour off his feet before a debrief. And it wasn't so bad having someone close by. It took the edges off the ever-present panic.

The chair creaked as Thorn leaned over to adjust the towel on Fox's head. "Get some rest, ori'vod," he said, sounding every bit as tired as Fox felt.

The mask over his face continued its near-silent hissing and, steadied by Thorn's presence and completely worn out, Fox's body surrendered itself to do just that.


Shebs: ass
Di'kut: idiot
Ori'vod: older brother

This was where I originally planned to end the story, but then I thought, "nah, I can do more with these whump prompts", and so you get one more chapter of Fox whump! *sorry, Fox*

Since I've written medic characters in other stories, I had a fun time coming up with Maddox in this universe :) I've got a whole mini-backstory for him in my brain that I don't know if I'll ever do anything with, but at least he's here! Thanks for reading!