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English
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Part 26 of Thrantovember 2022
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Published:
2022-11-27
Words:
686
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1/1
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12
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95
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Zero Hour

Summary:

Thrawn waits.

Thrantovember Day Twenty-six: Zero Hour

Notes:

I couldn't think of a title for this one. I hope you enjoy!

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Work Text:

Eli is on fire. He tries to take a breath on his own and can’t. A wide contraption covers his mouth and nose entirely. A tube blocks his throat. He struggles, trying to blink open his eyes and cool hand stops him. "You have come out of surgery. They are preparing you for bacta."

Eli forces his eyes open. Everything is blurry, but he sees him. Thrawn. He's safe. They're safe. 

He blinks again, drawing him further into focus.

His white undertunic is stained with blood and a bandage is wrapped around his right bicep. Eli reaches for him, to check to make sure he's okay, but the fire in his chest reignites. 

"I am fine," Thrawn croaks. "They are ready for you."

Eli tries to protest, but the tube in his throat restricts him. 

"I will be here. You will not be alone."

They must inject the sedative because everything goes dark. 

~

The steady metronome of a heart monitor lulls Eli awake. His mouth is sticky with the taste of bacta and his eyelids feel crusted over. He fights them open and blinks against the bright white lights of the medbay. 

Turning his head to the side, he finds Thrawn. His head is turned so that only his profile is visible, gazing far off and unfocused. His mouth is held in the heel of his hand, his elbow resting upon the knee folded over his other leg. His hair, usually so neat, hangs in his face.

"Thrawn?" Eli croaks, his throat feeling rough and dry.

Thrawn's attention snaps to him. "Eli," he breathes. "What do you need?"

"Water," he attempts to say, but Thrawn seems to understand the garbled rasp. He grabs a cup from his bedside table and gently spoons him some ice. It melts across his tongue and Eli feels the cool relief spread down his throat. 

"What happened?" he manages. His throat still burns, but less so, now. What is truly troubling is that he can't remember—they were cleared to come down to look for evidence and then—

"There was a detonation of cargo stolen from the Empire. The squadron had checked for common explosive chemicals but not those that are naturally occurring." 

Something Eli is certain Thrawn has already corrected for future operations. He can hear the guilt laced in each of Thrawn's words, knows that he blames himself fully for any lives lost.

"You're okay?" Eli asks.

Thrawn looks at him incredulously before steeling himself once more. "Yes. I was cleared by a medical team upon returning to the Chimaera."

Eli nods. Some of the accident is starting to come back, he remembers Thrawn hauling them to safety, Eli trying to twist to put himself between Thrawn and the threat. He remembers the pain, whole and encompassing before Thrawn showing up and the sense of peace settling over him. 

Like right now. He has no clue what his prognosis is, but it doesn't matter because Thrawn is here and that makes everything okay again. 

"That’s not what I asked," Eli prompts.

Thrawn’s cool facade crumples and he bows his head. "You nearly died."

"But I'm alright."

When Thrawn looks back up, everything is displayed so openly that it takes Eli’s breath away. 

It is then that he remembers what he said. 

And it is then that he realizes Thrawn feels the same way, spoken in each worried line of his face, the downturn of his lips, the warm vibrance of his eyes. 

Eli reaches out and Thrawn catches his hand in his own. For a long while, neither of them speak, they just hang on, feeling the tether of each other’s presence. 

Then Thrawn is moving to feed Eli more ice chips and Eli is beginning to feel the weight of the narcotics once again. 

"You need to sleep," Eli says as his own eyelids lose their battle. 

"I have slept in far worse environments."

And that alone feels like Thrawn screaming his feelings from the bridge of the ship. He reaches out and when Thrawn's hand is safely in his own again, he says, "I love you, too."

Notes:

Thanks for reading!

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