(no subject)

[imthepilot]

“Eadu Tower, this is Cargo Hauler NH-477. Please advise. Repeat, please advise.” Bodhi held the mike to his lips, searching through the view-screen from some sign of what the hell was going on.

The storm had come up suddenly as the convoy was coming in. Bodhi’s smaller, lighter ship had been blown sideways hard and it had taken all his skills to keep from being dashed against Eadu’s ragged outcrops.

But now he’d lost contact with the other ships; his sensors scrambled by the storm and visibility reduced to almost nothing. “Eadu Tower, this is Cargo Hauler NH-477. I have lost contact with fleet. Please advise landing procedures. Eadu Tower, please come in!”

The knot in his stomach tightened when all he got back was static. Had something happened to Eadu Tower? To the research facilities? Bodhi knew all too well how fragile these little bubbles of duristeel they flew really were. How close they were every moment to the cold hard death of space. But he knew just as well what a crashing ship could do to anything it connected with.

He banked hard as a gust of wind sent the ship sideways, managing to break the tip of one wing off on the jutting black promontory rather than ripping open the ship’s belly.

Not good. Not good at all.

“Cargo Hauler NH-477, this is Eadu Actual. Abort landing. Repeat, abort landing. Cargo platform and tower have been compromised.”

“Eadu Actual, requesting alternative landing. Ship damaged. Cannot re-enter orbit. Please advise. Please advise!” Warning lights flashed and klaxons cried. It wasn’t that bad. He could still land. He had to land. One way or another, he was going down.

The wait for an answer seemed like an eternity. The voice on the other end was frightened and tired. “Cargo Hauler NH-477, here’s a flatish outcropping 2.3 clicks north, north west of Cargo Platform. Set down there if you can. That’s all I can do for you.”

Bodhi swung the ship around hard, already scanning. “Roger Eadu Actual, I am on route.” He dropped the radio and held the stick with both hands, desperately trying to get the ship down in more or less one piece.

It wasn’t easy. Or clean. Bodhi felt one landing strut snap as he brought the ship down, landing on an awkward lean. He scrambled into rain-poncho and cap as he freed his rescue pack from its locker.

He didn’t know if the base was under attack or if a ship had come down badly. Either way, he had to get down there. He tried to tell himself he would have done the same anywhere. Pilots and crews looked out for each other. But he knew it was Galen he was running to. Stars, let him be smart enough to stay away from danger!

He slipped and scrambled down the slope, riding the rivulets and waterfalls the landscape had become. Sharp stones cut though his gloves and flight suit but he ignored the pain. He had to get down there.

The view that greeted him as he made the ridge was the nightmare of any pilot. Two heavy haulers, one wedged under the other. Tittering on the edge of the platform, all that held them up with the shattered tower, the spindly structure groaning under the weight.

He raced the rest of the way down in a controlled fall, landing on the hard tarmac with ankle jarring force. There wasn’t time to care.

Eadu station was not heavily manned. Other than the scientists, there was very minimal support and logistic team. Most of the rescuers come from other ship – those who had managed to land safely or got out before the two larger ships connected.

There were crew still trapped in the lower of the two ships and those who could were cutting at the mangled hatches with lances and vibro-blades. White hot durosteel splattered and screamed under the torrents of rain, sparking unpredictably.

Bodhi ran for the other ship, reaching up to help injured crew climb down from the warped hatch, running them to the waiting medical carriers. A massive T'Syriél cargo handler, the side of his face badly burned, fell into Bodhi’s arms, barely conscious as his feet giving out on the slick and twisted ramp. Bodhi tried to take his weight but the little human was too small to support the towering orange alien alone.

Suddenly someone else was there, taking the man’s other arm. “I’ve got him. Let’s go.”

At first Bodhi didn’t even register that it was Galen on the T'Syriél’s other side. But he felt the knot in his gut relax, as if he’s been holding his breath and just remembered how to breathe.

And then something else hit his senses like a blow to the chest. The smell of fuel.

He dumped the cargo handler and grabbed Galen. The scientist half fell as the giant’s full weight shifted onto him but Bodhi had the front of Galen’s tunic, dragging him forward. “Run!” He screamed, half running, half scrabbling to keep them both upright.

He glanced over his shoulder only to realise it was already too late.

He threw Galen down, trying to ignore to thud as Galen hit the wet durocrete. He fell onto Galen, covered the scientist’s body with his own as he pulling up his suit’s hood up.

The fireball reached them before the sound of the explosion, Bodhi screaming as the heat seared him through the tears in his flash-resistant flightsuit. But he protected Galen, staying sprawled over him till the oxygen burnt off and the flame dissipated. There was a horrible, choking moment of asphyxiation before air rushed in to fill the void and the super-heated water around them boiled to steam.

There was almost a moment a peace before the shockwave hit them, throwing them across the landing pad.

The silence that followed was absolute, their eardrums temporarily shocked into uselessness. Bodhi tried to open his eyes but the pain was too much, too great. But it didn’t matter. He still had hold of Galen’s hand. And Galen was still squeezing tight. They were both alive.

Comments

[galen_erso]

Fingers thread through his own. "Bodhi!" Galen's voice croaks.

There are alarms somewhere, and the footsteps of both droids and people running towards them.

[imthepilot]

Bodhi wants to answer, wants to call Galen's name but it feels like he's on fire. The sound that returns to him as his bleeding eardrums start to work again is muffled and faint, more felt than heard.

There are people now. People touching him, probing his burning skin and pulling back his hood. Why? Why are they touching him? Can't they just leave him alone. All he wanted is to hold Galen's hand just a little longer. That's all that matters.

"Galen?" He can't tell if the words made it past his lips or if he only said it in his mind.

But then he's being lifted, someone's trying to pry their hands apart and he's screaming again, his world turning white.

[galen_erso]

Galen's voice is giving them orders, croaking, short and gruff; and then, Bodhi is put down somewhere soft, then raised, and moving, feet around them.

Galen is telling those people to to faster.

[imthepilot]

Bodhi's reels, unable to catch his breath, unable breath past the pain. He can hear Galen. He knows Galen's alive but he can't find him, can't reach him. Everything is wrong and raw and smells of burning meat.

He's laid out on his stomach, his back still on fire. Someone lifts his head and forces something over his mouth and nose. The sudden rush of oxygen makes his head spin and he gulps it down like a grounded fish.

Something sweet and cloying is added to the gas and Bodhi starts going limp, conscious but distanced from pain and sensation, his eyelids fluttering.

[galen_erso]

Galen is telling them to hurry, to call ahead and get the bacta ready. One of the medics asks him a question, and Galen coughs "For him, of course!"

[imthepilot]

"Sir, we need to get you checked out." One of the medics at his side urges, trying to get Erso to stand still long enough to check the bleeding patch on his scalp. "You may have burning to your lungs, we need to get you on oxygen too."

[galen_erso]

"Don't be ridiculous," Galen says. "The pilot comes first; he must be badly burned."

[imthepilot]

"Sir, we will see to the pilot. You have a head wound. We need to asses your condition immediately." She takes hold of his sleeve, trying to slow him down a pace as they rush Bodhi ahead. "Sir, he'll be fine. Let us do our job. For you and for him."

[galen_erso]

"Let me see him safely in bacta, and I'm all yours," Galen says, as charmingly as stubborn. "I do ralise my head is very valuable to the Empire, but so is his backside. How else is he to do all the pant-seats flying he needs on these little backwater planets in the outer rim?"

[imthepilot]

"Chief Erso, you're not making sense." The tech guided him to a bench in the transport, flashing a light in his eyes as they strap Bodhi down on the other side. She reaches for the oxygen tank, bringing the mask up to his face. "Just lay back and breathe. We'll take care of everyone."

She calls to the droid drive and the transport takes off, smooth and level, not jostling anyone.

She sits down next to him, starting to clean the head wound. "I need you to stay awake, sir. Take deep breathes but keep your eyes open."

[galen_erso]

"I am making sense," Galen protest. He rises to his feet and brushes the medics off. "Pilot. Bacta. Now. And don't feed me that banthashit about pilots not taking bacta. That is tie-fighter pilots trying to be as macho as possible, and mostly a legend, anyway."

Pause.

"And don't tell me you're all out of the stuff. This is a research station, and young scientists get careless. I remember signing an order no more than ten days ago."

[imthepilot]

The medic growls in return, not one to be intimidated, not when she had right of way over an injured patient.

"Sir, the pilot will get the best care we can proved. But there are a lot of injured, including yourself. We don't have enough bacta to tank him. Not and treat everyone else. His burns are extensive yes, but they're also predominately superficial. We can start him with gel packs to accelerate the healing and when we can get more bacta in, we'll consider tanking him."

"Now sit down, breathe deep. Or I will tranq you."

[galen_erso]

No such luck.

"I have a hard head," Galen says. "So, if you want me compliant, be quick about this. For one, where is the bacta I ordered, and secondly, he can have all of what you would alot to me, as I have a hard head."

He stands in front of her, straight despite his injury, calm and unmoving.

[imthepilot]

"The bacta you ordered." She says levelly. "Was on the ship that blew. We are dealing with a major disaster here, sir." Her voice was cold as ice. "We have fourteen wounded."

"And frankly sir, your hard head is the most valuable thing on this rock. So sit down and let me assess your condition so I only have to use as little bacta as necessary."

[galen_erso]

Galen sits, by way of a concession.

"All the bacta you can spare," he says, "for that pilot who saved my ass. Without which, you know, I wouldn't have the spine needed to carry that valuable head of mine around."

Beat.

"I mean it. I dont just say that to alleviate my conscience and put my gratitude in your hands where it could go missing with no fault of mine."

[imthepilot]

"And I meant it when I said I'd tranq you." She answers, an eyebrow arched as she hands him back the oxygen mask.

Assured he wasn't going to fight her again, she went back to her work cleaning his head wound while the other medics work on Bodhi. "I saw what he did out there and you're right. If it hadn't been for him, we'd be sweeping up your ashes."

"The sad truth is that stations like this are set up to deal with careless young scientists, not major freighter disasters like this. Requisition you signed was pushed through because I was worried by how little we had out here. There were two medics on that ship who were suppose to supplementing this team. One of them is wounded, the other is dead. And I'm back down to a staff of three people and one droid. To deal with all of this."

She presses on his bleeding scalp, holding a gaze to it and strapping it down with a bandage around his head. "The sooner I can clear you, the sooner I can help everyone else."

She glances over her shoulder to Bodhi's still form. "We're not going to be able to erase those scars. Not unless the higher ups send us a medical frigate, which they won't. Best case scenario, we stop the burning, prevent infection and manage the pain."

She looks at his side, cursing in some outer rim language. "And you could have told me you were burnt too!" She cracks a cold pack and presses it to his ribs where a fist sides hole has burned through his tunic.

[galen_erso]

Galen hadn't noticed up to now, but he's not going to admit to that.

"So you would waste even more time and resources on me?" he says, instead. "Get a droid to clean up the burn and put on some sticking plaster. And make me a list of what you need, after everybody is seen to, and I will sign off on it. This mustn't happen again."

He peers over to where Bodhi is being treated, to see how badly injured he is.

[imthepilot]

Her expression turns dark, her voice sharp. "You know why, sir. Imperial protocol. The only person on this rock who outranks you right now is me. And that only lasts till I clear you. I can't clear you until I'm certain your medically fit to return to duty."

"If I rubber stamp you and you make some dumb-ass call because you're concussed and not thinking straight, it's my ass. You life in my hands is the life of everyone on this base. Including your pilot."

"And believe me," She pushes the mask back to his face, "you'll get a list."

She pushes off as they enter the facility's tunnel and leans over to check on Bodhi.

[galen_erso]

That is probably as close as he gets to a deal with her, so he lies back and keeps watching her.

"How bad is he?"

As she seems to have accepted the responsibility he has claimed for the man who saved him, and doesn't question his motives.

[imthepilot]

"It's not good." She answers honestly, checking the med-droid's readouts. The transport came in to dock and she jumped down,ready to wheel Bodhi off. "Second and third degree burns where the suit was compromised. We'll got gel onto them right away and hopefully there won't be any nerve damage. He may still lose some feeling on some of the worst of them."

Once Bodhi's off and being rushed away by her team, she holds a hand out to help Galen down. "He was lucky he had hold of you. Holding you down through the blast protected the palms of his hands. He might have lost them otherwise."

"Now, I need you under the scan so I can say definitively you're not brain damaged. I need to get gel onto your side and then you can get to work getting this madhouse back under control."

[galen_erso]

"Can we skip the gel for me if I do everything else you say without protest or fuss?" Galen says, tamely following her instructions to show his goodwill. "I'd rather divert it for him. I can't ask of anybody else to go short, but that is just a small superficial burn."

[imthepilot]

She gave him a narrow eyed scowl. "You get ice spray and an local analgesic. It may not hurt now but in an hour or so, it's going to hurt like hell. And it will scar. If you can live with that, I'll let you get away with it."

She sits him down at the scanner and runs a brain activity and fracture scan. "Yeah, you have a hard head and a concussion. Stay conscious for the next six hours and I won't have to shoot you." She makes short work of the burn, the area numbing almost as soon as the injector touches his skin.

She nods to a coms panel, alight with flashing messages. "Not that you're going to get to sleep. Director Krennic has been calling every 15 minutes demanding updates. And your science team are going batha-poodoo. My office is through there. I'll send someone if the pilot's condition changes."

She starts to move on to the next injured person but looks back. "Chief? What's his name? Your pilot."

[galen_erso]

"Bodhi Rook," Galen answers before he realises that he might not be supposed to know without at least some hesitation.

And she called Bodhi 'his' pilot twice now.

"I'll get to work right away," he promises. "Her me if he wakes up, too. I want to thank him."

That is harmless, right?

[imthepilot]

"Will do. Now get to work. And if you start feeling dizziness or nausea, you tell my team."

She waves him away.

Her office is exactly what you'd expect from the office of someone who spent a lot of time waiting for someone to hurt themselves. A mess. She clearly had research of her own to fill the time. Something about toxins from the local fish life but mostly the signs of abject boredom.

Her desk comm lit up as everything was re-routed to there.

[galen_erso]

Galen sits down and gets to work, answering all the messages in order of actual relevance rather than the perceived importance of the caller.

Which means that near the end, he has to spend much more time than he likes stroking Krennic's ego. Not that he likes stroking Krennic's anything at all whatsoever. Hard to believe that as young men, they had been friends of sorts.

After all the lights were go e, Galen gets JP to see if there is a machine that will give him car. And, incidentally, make sure that Bodhi is alive, and catch just a glimpse of him.

Because his pilot is wonderful, and looking at him makes Galen feel better.

[imthepilot]

The medic looks like hell, blood streaked on her face and her tunic stained. But oddly calm. Like someone who has finally tamed a storm.

She nods to Galen as he comes out of the office and then to Bodhi. "He'll be coming around soon. Don't expect him to make much sense but you can thank him."

Bodhi was stretched out along a table, bubbles of milky white liquid dotted over most of the back of his body. He still smelt like undercooked meat but the respirator had been removed and replaces by a smaller line into his nose.

His eyes are closed but fluttering.

[galen_erso]

Galen looks around for the droid as he wouldn't waste the medic's time by asking her where he can get car.

Not other than that, settles down where he can see Bodhi but isn't close enough to succumb to the temptation to touch his pilot's narrow cheek.

His pilot. Even though it is probably bad that the medic called him that, the idea warms Galen's heart.

[imthepilot]

A droid takes his message and orders up a car, warning him there might be small wait. The clean up on the cargo pad was ongoing and there was much traffic.

"You're stuck with each other, you know." The medic said tiredly, sipping caf that don't smell like it had been diluted from the concentrate. At all. "I'm from Onderon. For us, you save someone's life, you're bound to them. And them to you. Run to the end of the galaxy and you'll still find each other. You better get use to him."

When Galen looks back, Bodhi's eyes are open. Pained and hazy but open. And he heard the medic's words too.

[galen_erso]

"I like that idea," Galen says. "It's a good way to emphasise the way we are all connected."

Through food. Through life. Through the Force.

"No hardship at all to have this amazing and brave pilot around."

[imthepilot]

Bodhi smiles weakly and starts to say something but the in-drawn breath turns into a cough that wracks his body and threatens to dislodge the gel packs.

"Damn it! Get him back on the oxy and do a lung scan. I don't like the sound of that." The medic yells, putting down her caf. "If you're going to thank him, do it quick. I'm going to have to put him back under."

[galen_erso]

"Thank you for my life, Bodhi," Galen says, aware of the audience. "We will talk more when you are better, and you will be."

He takes Bodhi's fingers and briefly squeezes them. This much is innocuous.

[imthepilot]

Bodhi starts the speak Niebuhr medic hushes him. "Later. Whatever it is, you'll have time later."

Bodhi nods awkwardly as they fit him with the mask again and squeezes back.

A few moments later and he's unconscious again.

The medic nods to Galen. "I'll walk you out." There's clearly something she wants to say, just not there.

[galen_erso]

Galen follows, hoping he didn't give away too much.

He would hate himself deeply if Bodhi became just another hostage for his continued cooperation, rather than his new hope for life.

[imthepilot]

"I hope you have another use for that young man." The medic starts without preamble. "Because he's not flying. Not for a month at least. He got a lungful of super-heated air or steam or smoke. He won't be able to breathe ship's atmosphere till it heals. I've heard of vaporised bacta being used in cases like this and I'll need to do some research but the short version is, he's grounded for now."

"Now, normally I would set him up in a room near the medbay and supervise him there but he's far from my worst case and I don't have the space. I'm very tempted to make him your problem."

[galen_erso]

"I accept it," Galen says. "He saved my life, and I have known him to be a good man even before that."

He feels horrible -- to have his hope of being with Bodhi granted at such a high cost. People died in that explosion, and Bodhi most likely still has a world of pain ahead of him.

Galen should not be secretly glad at the idea of a whole month with Bodhi. Not at this price.

But he is.

[imthepilot]

"Oh. Good." The medic was caught out, expecting a fight and not getting one. "Once he's stable, we'll set him up in a room near yours. You'll have to keep an eye on him. He'll be sleeping on his stomach for a while. As well as needing to be in a high O2 respirator at night. It won't be comfortable but it will help."

[galen_erso]

"I will take care of him and see to that," Galen promises. "He won't get out of it, either from modesty or pilot-ly toughness."

Which latter Bodhi won't try on him, but she doesn't need to know how well Galen already knows his pilot.

[imthepilot]

The medic gives him an approving nod and a surprisingly warm smile. "And here was I thinking I was going to have to talk you around. You impress me, Chief Erso."

She nods to the incoming car. "It's been four hours. Any signs of dizziness, nausea? How is the burn feeling?"

[galen_erso]

"Burn? What burn?" Galen says, smiling at her.

He's so relieved about Bodhi, and running on sheer adrenaline and caf, he may be getting a little bit light-headed.

[imthepilot]

"You won't be saying that when it blisters and bursts." She shakes her head. "Get gone and get some sleep. I want you back here tomorrow for a check up. And I'll let you know how your pilot is."

A couple of hours later, Bodhi came to. Slowly at first, in he blissful drifting of forgetfulness. And then with the rushing panic of recollection. He started to shout Galen's name but a medic was with him, pressing the mask over his face.

Thankfully free of knock-out gas this time, it at least distracted him long enough for the memoires to sort themselves back out into order. Leaving the last and happiest to outweigh the pain he felt.

Galen. Alive. His head bandaged but standing and stable. And smiling. Touching his hand. Praising his bravery.

The praise didn't matter. Nor did the pain. All that mattered was that Galen was alive and whole.

As for himself-

The head medic can over and sat at his side, her head tilted to talk to him from his prone position. "You did a good thing, saving Chief Erso but frankly, it's going to cost you. You have second and third degree burns spotted across your back. We're treating it with bacta gel and we're optimistic there won't be much nerve damage. You may loss a bit of feeling on your right hip but that may come back in time."

She wasn't pulling her punches and Bodhi was grateful for that. He'd rather hear it straight.

"However, you're got your lungs full of heat and that's messed them up. You won't be able to breathe atmo for a while."

Bodhi's whole body tightens. No atmo next no flying. It meant he was no-longer a pilot.

"Calm down." She mutters. "It'll heal as long as you're careful. A month at least. Maybe less. I've got a colleague working on severe heat related respirator damage. I'll get him to send over his research and we'll see what can be adapted. For now, you'll have to sleep with a mask, probably need it walking around too. Which once your back is stable, I recommend you do. Eadu is a horrible rock to go rambling on but the exercise will help stimulate healing."

"Now, I can't afford to keep you here. We have a lot of wounded for a very small facility and no-one's getting shipped off until the pad's repaired." She gives him a bit of a cheeky smile. "I've assigned your care to Chief Erso. He owes you his life. The least he can do is wait on your while you're recovering."

Bodhi was suddenly very grateful the mask covered most of his face, hiding the grin that he couldn't suppress.

"It'll be another day before I can move you. You'll need another couple of days of gel to keep your burns from becoming septic but after that, as long as you're careful and keep them clean, you'll be okay. You'll have to sleep on your stomach for a while but you'll work that out for yourself. I pretty much recommend staying naked for as much time as you can for the first week a least. And there'll be a drug regiment for infection and pain management. I don't expect you to remember all of this so I will write it down for you. And for Chief Erso. I'll check up on you but as of the day after tomorrow, you're his problem."

Bodhi was in pain, his skin felt like the wrong side of a frying pan and he don't care. He and Galen had time. And an unassailable reason to be together.