Chapter Text
Hunter was restless, eyes never leaving the sky as they waited at the landing zone in Upper Pabu. Next to him, Wrecker fidgeted.
Neither of them had slept that first night after they got the call from Echo that Crosshair was hurt bad enough to need to stop at a med centre before coming back to Pabu. Ever since they’d left for the mission, insisting that Hunter and Wrecker didn’t have to come, he’d had a bad feeling. Something was going to go wrong. At the time, he’d brushed it off as being paranoid, his siblings were extremely capable. But even the most capable could still get caught off guard.
Echo made sure to keep them updated, comming every day, sometimes with Omega joining. The updates were frustratingly vague at first, Echo clearly didn’t want him to worry too much, which only made him worry more. He finally relented and told them on the second day, whether because of their insistence, or just how bad they looked from not sleeping, even over the comm, Hunter didn’t care.
When they heard the extent of Crosshair’s condition, Hunter had to sit down, knees weak beneath him. Wrecker had to leave for a walk and didn’t come back for a couple hours. The war was over, the Empire was leaving them alone, they weren’t meant to still be getting news like that anymore. They were meant to be safe.
Shep, Hunter was forever grateful for him, noticed very quickly something was up. Within an hour of that call, he was over at their house with Lyanna, arms full of food and offers to help however they could. They must have seen Wrecker, or noticed how the pair looked the day before.
Hunter was shaken from his thoughts when Wrecker jostled him.
“They’re back!”
He blinked back up at the sky and saw the familiar shape of Echo’s ship approaching. A swirl of hope and anxiety rushed through him as the ship landed. Wrecker rushed ahead to greet it as the ramp slid open, Hunter following behind at a more managed pace.
Batcher appeared first, bounding out of the hold and slamming bodily into Wrecker, who wrapped his arms around her with a laugh. They wrestled briefly before his attention was drawn to the ship again as Omega and Echo emerged with Crosshair.
Their little brother looked worse for wear. Pushed along on a hoverchair by Omega, he huffed tiredly at them once he was done blinking against the bright Pabu sun. He wore a brace on his back, and his arm and leg were wrapped firmly. Hunter spotted a jagged red line along his temple where a wound was half healed.
As soon as they reached them, Wrecker wrapped Crosshair in a hug, earning a half-hearted squawk of protest. He held him for a long moment before letting go to do the same to Omega. Hunter clasped forearms with Echo, who looked worn.
“Good to see you, vod. Holding up well?”
Echo let out a long breath and nodded with a tired smile. “It’ll be good to sleep in an actual bed.”
Hunter turned and clasped a hand on Crosshair’s shoulder. “I let you out of my sight for a day and you don’t let me forget for a week.”
Crosshair rolled his eyes, but brought his hand up to pat Hunter’s. They sat in each other’s company for a moment before he scowled, blinking at the sun. “Yes, yes, we’re back. Can we bring this inside?”
Hunter chuckled led the way back to their home. On the walk, he frowned a little when he noticed Crosshair beginning to doze off in his chair as Omega pushed him along, talking animatedly with Wrecker. Echo appeared at his side. “He’s fine, the pain meds make him drowsy. That and the concussion. Doc says he’ll be alright in a few weeks.”
Hunter hummed, concern still clear on his face, but he gave Echo a thankful nod and small smile. His eyes flicked over to the bag Echo was carrying over his shoulder. “Omega getting you to stay?”
Echo let out a warm laugh. “She’s hard to say no to.”
Hunter chuckled along with him as they neared the house, Wrecker already getting the door open, Batcher at his heel. Despite the circumstances, he was glad to have his whole family under one roof again.
Crosshair hid a wince as he made his way along the beach, watching Omega and Batcher as they raced ahead, aiming for Wrecker further down. Hunter laughed beside him as the three of them crashed into the sand.
“Hope they realise they’re not getting inside until they get all the sand off.” Hunter chuckled.
Crosshair huffed, rolling his eyes. “You said the same thing last week and I still found sand in the couch yesterday.” He leaned heavily on his crutch when his back let out a throb of pain as he walked over the uneven beach. His head was beginning to ache in time with it.
Hunter glanced over at him. “You alright?”
“I’m fine.”
Hunter scrutinised him a moment longer before looking back over at their siblings and hound now wrestling in the sand. “AZI should have your next dose ready when we get back.”
They walked along in silence for a moment, just watching the shenanigans before them. Crosshair frowned up at the darkening sky. “Shouldn’t Echo have commed us up for late meal by now?” Echo tended to avoid spending too many days at the beach, he hated when the sand got into his joints. But he had enjoyed helping Shep cook whenever he could.
Hunter shook his head. “Echo’s back with Rex. He left yesterday.”
Crosshair frowned, then scowled as he remembered the small salute he and Echo had shared at his send off. Omega had been sad to see him go, she was the one who’d gotten him to stick around for almost two weeks. But after he pulled her aside for a quick talk, that involved a few too many glances in Crosshair’s direction for his liking, she gave him a hug and stood with the rest of them to watch him take off.
Hunter nudged his shoulder. “It’s alright, Cross. The medics said you’d probably struggle for a while.”
Crosshair scoffed, nudging Hunter back. “Doesn’t mean I have to like it.”
They reached the tangled pile in the sand, waiting for them to notice they were there. Batcher was the first to notice, jumping up on Hunter and covering him with sand, leaving the Sergeant sputtering and shoving her off, the others laughing at his suffering as he grumbled about the sand, shaking it off.
Crosshair groaned as he woke. Rolling over sent a sharp pain through his head and the room around him spinning. He squeezed his eyes shut against the migraine. As he lay there trying to will his body to settle, his bedroom door slid open, but he didn’t hear any footsteps.
He squinted his eyes open to see a droid hovering beside his bed, looking at him expectantly. “What d’you want?” He grumbled.
“It is time for your morning meds, CT-9904. I know you usually take them at morning meal, but I decided to come find you since you never showed up and the window for you to take them is closing.”
He begrudgingly sat up, holding the bedpost to steady himself as the room spun. He let the droid administer the hypo with minimal complaint. He just wanted to be left alone to sleep this migraine off. As soon as they were done, he lay back down and closed his eyes. He ignored the droid’s pestering, trying to get him to get up, until it finally gave up and he heard the door slide open and closed again.
He dozed for a while, not quite drifting off before the door slid open again. This time, soft footsteps followed it. He blinked his eyes open again to see Omega standing there, after waiting a few seconds for his vision to clear.
“Hey, Cross. I just wanted to get you for lunch. Hunter’s getting it ready now.”
He slung an arm over his eyes and let out a long sigh, before beginning the arduous process of sitting up. It shouldn’t have been as difficult as it was, he was sure, but he was too tired to care too much. His head still throbbed persistently, every other pulse coming with a slight wave of nausea. Omega handed him his crutch and helped steady him as he stood and followed her out of the room.
Hunter watched with concern as Omega led Crosshair over to the table. Their brother looked exhausted. He knew he had a headache from the subtle wincing every time he moved his head a little too quickly, and he seemed unsteady on his feet, Omega keeping a hand on his arm to steady him whenever he wobbled.
He had been doing so well the past couple of weeks. After a few days recovering in bed, he’d started rejoining them on their errands and routines. He went to the market with Hunter, went fishing with Wrecker (though Wrecker did most of the fishing while Crosshair kept him company), and he joined Omega and Batcher on shortened versions of their walks. Though, Hunter had suspected a flare up was coming after that moment of forgetfulness on the beach yesterday.
He set the last of the plates on the table as Crosshair and Omega got settled. He sat next to Wrecker who was already at the table. They went through their usual conversations as they ate, though Crosshair stayed unusually quiet. Hunter turned to ask him a question when he paused with alarm.
“Crosshair?”
He was staring into the table, eyelids fluttering. Omega looked up at Hunter’s call and put a steadying hand on Crosshair’s arm as he swayed a little in his seat. After a few seconds, Crosshair blinked back into focus, glancing down at his plate and picking up a roll, biting into it. He looked up to see the three of them staring at him and scowled. “What?”
Hunter went to ask if he was okay, but was stopped by Omega’s subtle headshake. She lifted her hand and signed “later” while Crosshair was busy glaring at the pair across from him.
Hunter shook his head, and Wrecker tried to start up a conversation. The rest of the meal was quiet and awkward. After finishing the roll, Crosshair gave Batcher the second that still sat on his plate. Grumbling some excuse, he got up to go back to his room, Batcher sticking close by his side.
When they heard his door close, Hunter and Wrecker looked to Omega for an explanation.
“What was that?” Wrecker asked.
“That was one of the seizures I told you about. He hasn’t had one since we got back, but I think if his concussion’s flaring up, they must have started again too.” Omega explained sombrely.
“It’s only temporary though, right?”
Omega shrugged. “We’ll have to get AZI to scan him, but I think so.”
Hunter nodded sombrely. “We’ll just have to keep an eye on him. After going so well for a while, he isn’t going to take any setbacks well.”
The pain in his head rose to a dull throb with each quiet knock on the door. When he didn’t answer, the door opened anyway, Omega appearing at his side. Crosshair glared tiredly up at her.
“What?”
Omega fidgeted. “We’re heading to Shep’s soon. I just wanted to make sure you’re ready to go. If you feel up to it.” She added the last part quickly.
Crosshair let out a long groan as he rolled over. “I’m not hungry, I’ll wait until late meal.”
“It is late meal. You’ve already had lunch.” Crosshair’s brow furrowed at the reminder. He sat up with a scowl, swaying for a moment as the room spun around him. When it stopped, he looked at Omega, who looked cautiously hopeful.
He rolled his eyes. “I’m coming.”
She brightened a little at that, before carefully asking, “Do you need help getting ready? I’m already done if-”
Crosshair scowled. “I’ll be fine. Get out.”
He would never admit that he struggled a little with getting ready. Every time he moved too quickly, his head spun, and his back, arm and leg were sore with smaller ranges of motion than normal while they were healing. After taking longer than usual, he grabbed his crutch and left to find the others waiting out the front of the house.
Hunter looked up from the quiet conversation that conspicuously stopped as soon as Crosshair appeared. “Ready?”
Crosshair just scowled and motioned for them to lead the way. Wrecker stuck by his side as they walked, helping him with the steps. As much as he wanted to push him away, he didn’t want them to be too late because of him, he was already inconveniencing them enough as it was.
Wrecker’s hand suddenly had a firm grip on his arm, holding him in place. He pulled his arm away with a huff, refocusing on catching up to Hunter, Omega and Batcher, who were suddenly further away than he’d realised. He couldn’t stand Wrecker’s look of open concern.
Shep greeted them warmly, and they all sat around the table out the back, where platters of food were already laid out. Crosshair stayed mostly quiet and ate slowly, Batcher curled up at his side. All the conversation around him kept blurring together into a cacophony of voices that he tuned out as he idly picked the seeds out of the fruit on his plate.
He blinked down at Batcher when she nudged him with her nose, putting her head in his lap. He huffed and gave her a pat, only then realising how sticky his hands had gotten from the fruit juice. He pulled a face at the feeling, and looked up at the table only to realise what he needed was out of reach.
He nudged Omega and asked quietly, “Could I get the, uh- The…” He gave up searching for the word with a scowl and just pointed to pile further down the table.
Omega nodded and reached over to grab a few for him. He grumbled a thanks, earning a painfully sincere smile in return.
As the meal went on, the pain throughout his whole body, but mostly his head, rose. He shifted again in his seat as his posture put pressure on his back, scowling as he put weight on his left arm to do so, sending pain all the way from his shoulder to his hand. Finally, he’d had enough. He grabbed his crutch, pushing himself to his feet, putting a hand to the table as the world spun at the movement. Batcher appeared as his side, looking up at him.
“You okay, Cross?” He didn’t know who asked, just grumbled some excuse and made his leave.
Batcher stuck close to his side as they walked back to the house, occasionally nudging him when he almost missed a turn, and keeping him steady on the stairs. Every light hanging outside the houses they passed made the pain in his head spike. He squinted against them, trying to focus on Batcher and the path ahead.
When they finally got to the house, he was exhausted and aching and dizzy. He let Batcher guide him through the dark house to his room. The clatter of the crutch against the ground when he let it drop made nausea rise in him with a long groan. He sprawled over the bed, distantly aware of Batcher hopping up onto her usual spot at the foot of the bed.
Wrecker watched with worry when Crosshair held onto the table for support as he swayed on his feet. He asked if he was okay, but was dismissed with a grumble. Batcher stood loyally at Crosshair’s side, and as soon as he was steady enough, began guiding him along, presumably back home.
He wanted to go after him, but knew Batcher would get him home safe, she’d done it plenty of times before for all of them. Crosshair seemed like he wanted space lately. Wrecker knew he only let him touch him on the way there because even he couldn’t deny he needed the help, even if he hated it. Except for when Wrecker caught him in a firmer grip, holding him steady during the seizure partway there.
The rest of the night went quietly, and soon they were bidding Shep and Lyanna goodnight and heading home. The house was quiet and dark when they arrived, to no one’s surprise. As they made their way to their rooms, Hunter ducked his head into Crosshair’s, before letting the door slide shut again and going to his own bed.
A few hours later, Wrecker was still awake in his room fiddling with some junk he’d found. It was one of those nights where he just had too much energy that refused to let him sleep. They didn’t happen too often, not nearly as often as they did for Tech, but he could blame the anxiety of the day this time. His window let the cool sea breeze fill the room.
He looked up from his work when he heard a sound from the hall, having left his door open, just in case. He got up and looked down the hall to see Crosshair leaning against the wall, looking very unsteady. Wrecker quickly went over to help.
When he reached out to steady him, Crosshair flinched back from the touch, shaking his head and muttering something. Wrecker pulled back, but stayed close, just in case. He moved a little to get into his little brother’s eyeline better.
“You alright, Cross?” He asked quietly.
Crosshair blinked blearily up at him. His brow furrowed and he looked around the hall. “I- Where?”
“You’re on Pabu. It’s just me, Wrecker. Hunter and Omega are in bed still.” Crosshair looked back at him, but didn’t say anything. He saw him swallow thickly. “You need help, Cross?”
Crosshair’s shoulders tensed for a moment, and Wrecker worried he was going to hurl right there in the hallway, then they settled again. “‘m gonna be sick.” Crosshair muttered.
“Can I touch you? I can help you get to the fresher.”
Crosshair shook his head vehemently, wincing when it sent pain shooting through it. He let out a groan, that quickly cut off as he swayed, leaning even heavier into the wall. Wrecker thought for a moment. Crosshair was going to be sick, he’d seen enough of his migraines to know the signs, even without the warning, but there was no way he was getting to the fresher fast enough, if at all, without Wrecker’s help.
“Just stay here, I’ll be right back.” Crosshair groaned again, and he rushed off, trying to stay quiet for their sleeping siblings, while wanting to be fast enough to not have to clean up the hallway. Hunter wouldn’t be able to walk through it for a week if that happened.
He ducked into the small laundry and found the mop bucket, quickly snatching it up. When he returned to the hallway, Crosshair had slid down the wall and was now sitting against it, swallowing compulsively. Wrecker almost ran the short distance and got the bucket under his face just a moment before he hurled.
He resisted the urge to rub Crosshair’s back as he threw up, instead focusing on just holding the bucket and giving quiet words of encouragement and reassurance.
“That’s it, Cross, just get it out.” Between heaves, Crosshair winced and groaned in pain. “I know it hurts. I’ll get you something for the pain. It’ll be fine.”
With a final long groan, Crosshair slumped back against the wall. Wrecker made sure he was settled, quietly calling for Batcher. She emerged from Crosshair’s room and sat by him as Wrecker got up, grimacing at the bucket in his hands as he went to clean it out and find a hypo. He found one in the medkit in the fresher and returned quickly.
Crosshair blinked when he crouched in front of him. “Got a hypo for ya. Can I give it to you? I won’t touch you too much, promise. It’s just for the headache.”
Crosshair stared for a long moment, then grumbled and shifted to give Wrecker room to use the hypo. He thanked him and did so, watching his brother relax slightly as it did its job. He let him sit there for a moment, until he noticed Crosshair beginning to doze off.
“Hey, Cross.” He waited until his eyes cracked open again. “Think you can get back to your room? It’ll be more comfortable than the floor.”
Crosshair blinked, eyes roaming the hallway again. After a long moment, he finally grumbled and moved to push himself off the floor, using the wall and Batcher, who stood with him, for balance. Wrecker stayed close, watching to make sure he didn’t fall. He didn’t need to aggravate more of his injuries by falling over.
When he was finally up, he swayed on his feet for a moment, closing his eyes as the world spun. Batcher slowly began to walk towards his room, and Wrecker felt relief wash over him when Crosshair followed, eyes still closed, putting his full trust in the hound.
Batcher guided him all the way to the bed, nudging Crosshair to get him to lie down. Wrecker walked over to the bedside, picking up the crutch lying on the ground nearby and resting it near the head of the bed where Crosshair kept it. He huffed when he looked back at Crosshair, who had sprawled half under the blanket and promptly passed out, snoring softly. He carefully pulled the blanket up properly, laying it over him without touching, even while he was asleep.
Batcher hopped up onto the foot of the bed and curled up. Wrecker gave her a pat. “Thanks for the help, girl.” He whispered, before returning to his own room.
Hunter sighed when he looked at the time. Wrecker and Omega were making lunch, somewhere between the loud laughing and clattering that filled the house. He looked at Crosshair’s door, which had remained closed all day, apart from AZI going in to give him his meds and a scan. He’d heard Wrecker helping him the night before, and knew Crosshair was either feeling worse today, or sulking about it. Probably both. He’d never taken long recoveries well.
He approached the door and knocked quietly. He didn’t get a response, but heard shuffling on the other side, probably Crosshair rolling over in bed. Hunter gave him a moment, then walked in.
Crosshair was in bed, facing the wall. Batcher was gone, in the kitchen cleaning up after Wrecker and Omega’s chaos. He sat on the edge of the bed, careful not to touch his brother, holding a canteen in his hand.
“Hey, Cross. Got you some water.”
There was a long pause while he waited to see if Crosshair would take the olive branch he was offering. He sighed when he didn’t move. He knew he was awake, but that didn’t stop him from trying his best to ignore Hunter.
He thought over his next words carefully. If he went at this wrong, Crosshair would just shut down completely. “Wrecker and Omega are making lunch.” He sighed, not letting the silence dissuade him. “Look, Crosshair, this is just a bad day, it happens. You’re getting better.”
Crosshair scoffed at that.
“Come on, at least just have something to drink, then I’ll leave you alone if that’s what you want.” Hunter bargained.
He watched as, after a long pause, Crosshair slowly rolled over to sit up. He didn’t miss the tired attempt at hiding his grimace at the movement. He looked exhausted. He finally settled against the head of the bed with a huff and held out a hand. Hunter handed over the canteen and watched him take a long, slow drink.
When he was done, he shoved the canteen back at Hunter. “There, now go away.”
Hunter frowned at the almost imperceptible waver in Crosshair’s voice, one he only caught because they grew up together. “Are you alright?”
Crosshair scoffed again, and crossed his arms with an eyeroll. “I’m fine.”
Hunter shook his head. “That’s not what I mean, and you know it.”
Crosshair scowled, glaring at him. “You try not knowing if you’ll remember your own name when you wake up.” His glare wavered slightly, surprising himself with the statement.
Hunter frowned. “Crosshair, have you forgotten your own name?”
He huffed and looked away. “No, but I know I did after. That mission is fuzzy at best, but I heard someone mention it, and now I’m forgetting again. Batcher’s the only reason I got home last night. I can never remember that karking droid’s name. I forget what day it is.” Crosshair’s voice broke and he dropped into a whisper. “I can’t. After the Empire, after the- I can’t.”
It seemed like one he started speaking, the confession spilled out of him. Crosshair refused to look him in the eye, glaring at the bed. Hunter’s heart sank at the reminder of what the Empire did to his brother, what Tantiss tried to do. The thought of finding one of his brothers in one of those CX suits, a blank slate, nothing left of himself, was something that haunted Hunter’s dreams after Crosshair’s revelation at Rex’s base.
He let out a long breath. “We won’t let you forget, Cross’ika. If you feel like you do, just ask one of us, we’ll remind you. You’re our brother, we look out for each other, and we won’t leave you behind. Never again.”
Crosshair’s eyes were wet with unshed tears, and Hunter felt his own eyes prick with them. A crash from the kitchen followed by a bark from Batcher broke their sombre silence.
They glanced at the door. “What are they making?”
Hunter ignored the slight waver Crosshair was trying to hide and shook his head. “They wouldn’t tell me. Said I’d ruin the surprise.”
Crosshair huffed with a shadow of a smirk. “You’ve always been a terrible liar.”
Hunter couldn’t even bring himself to be mock insulted by that. “You’re not wrong. Want to go make sure we still have a kitchen?”
He got off the bed and gave Crosshair space to push himself up, grabbing his crutch as he stood. He swayed on the spot, taking a moment to get his balance, Hunter right there if he needed him. Hunter followed closely as they walked out into the chaos of their siblings left unsupervised.