This is just a little story I decided to do about my clone boys for writing practice. If you want to give me some feedback that would be nice; it'd be helpful to kn <:======================================:> ''This is a horrible plan. We're going to get caught.'' Crossbones closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves. Some days Solar made an effort to be decent. Today was not one of those days. ''It's not like there's many other options to choose from.'' Footsteps from down the path silenced the sarcastic remark Solar was sure to deliver. They both held their breath, smashed together in an alleyway that was hardly big enough for one of them. Solar, with his heavier frame must be hurting worse than Crossbones. The footsteps grew closer, and Crossbones prayed the alley was dark enough to hide them. If they were caught- he didn't want to think about that. Closer, closer- how could they not hear his heartbeat? - closer, stop. ''Did you see which direction they went?'' A very familiar voice. Crossbones held his breath, sending a silent thanks to anything that both their armor was gray and blended into the alley. The man spoke into a comm so close Crossbones could have reached out and touched his arm. A short pause. ''Copy. Keep searching, those traitors can't have gone far.'' The footsteps started again; the armored figure disappeared around a corner, and once he was sure they were clear, Crossbones stepped back out into the light, Solar following a few steps behind, stretching his arms out. ''That was torture.'' Crossbones didn't respond, the word traitor echoing around his head. He wasn't a traitor. He /wasn't./ But he was. Nothing he could tell himself would be able to prove otherwise. Almost as if he could read Crossbones' mind, Solar put a hand on his shoulder. ''Stop that. None of us had a choice to leave the GAR, we both know that. Stop blaming yourself.'' Crossbones opened his mouth to protest, but Solar narrowed his eyes at him. ''That's what you were doing. That's all you've been doing since we've been on the road.'' Someone came into view from around the corner, and Solar spun around, blaster raised. Crossbones already had his hand on his blaster case, but he pulled it away when he realized who it was. Solar exhaled sharply. ''You could give us some warning next time, you know.'' He said, annoyed. Blue raised an eyebrow. ''I turned the corner in full view. If I had really been attempting to kill you, you wouldn't have known I was here until you were dead. '' Solar snorted, tucking his blaster back in his case. ''You would /try/.'' Blue's gaze turned to Crossbones, who merely shook his head. ''We had to take a slight detour, as you can see. Where are the other two?'' ''Already made it to the house.'' Blue's eyes, the same as Crossbones', the same as Solar's, were hard, giving nothing away. If Crossbones didn't know him so well, he would have thought Blue was secretly a droid. Solar had told him that once. It hadn't ended well. ''Well, what are we standing around here, then? There's so many shiny's crawling around this place they're running into each other.'' Solar scowled, starting down the road, pushing Blue out of his way with his shoulder. ''I hope you realize I won't wait for you two.'' Crossbones sighed again and started after him. Blue stayed behind him for a few steps before disappearing into empty space, like he always did. Dawn was just starting to break when the two clones made it to a nondescript hut at the edge of the village. Solar was already pounding at the door when Crossbones caught up. ''Whiteout, open the kriffing door!'' He pounded on the door once again, before it opened, a wide-eyed Triple peered at them nervously behind a curtain of curly black-brown hair. ''Finally.'' Solar muttered, pushing past him as well and crashing into a chair, setting his boots on the table. Crossbones walked in more gently, smiling at Triple. Triple smiled quickly in return, a small upturn at the corners of his mouth that disappeared just as quickly as it started. His fingers nervously traced the grooves in the DC-17 strapped to his belt. He closed the doors and together, he and Crossbones checked the windows. ''Has anyone come through here?'' He asked Triple quietly, though there was no one within yards to hear them. Triple shook his head, sending curls flying. ''Not since you left. I've kept watch the whole time, like you asked.'' Crossbones nodded, smiling again. ''Good job. Once our contact calls and says the ship's ready, we'll be gone.'' Triple nodded again, once, before taking a seat beside Solar who had pulled out his carving kit and was slicing wood off of a half-made statuette. Crossbones allowed himself a few seconds to breathe before the worry and exhaustion shoved its way back in. ''How's Whiteout?'' He asked Triple, tensing. Triple pointed a thumb to one of the back rooms, and his expression told Crossbones all he needed to know.
Quickly, quietly, he opened the door to the room, the light reaching across the floor and illuminating a small figure covered with a blanket. He didn't make a sound as Crossbones crept across the room, kneeling beside him. Whiteout's skin had paled even further, even his freckles seemed to have lost some of their color. He looked even smaller under the blanket, shirt hanging off his too-thin frame. His white hair was damp with sweat, but he was shivering, even under the blanket. Crossbones laid a hand on his forehead, not surprised to find it was burning. He sighed. ''I'm sorry, brother. I don't know how to fix this.'' He whispered. Whiteout reacted to his voice, though only to twist his face further into a pained scowl. It felt like someone was sticking a knife into Crossbones' heart. Even though Blue had told him there wasn't anything they could to about Whiteout's defects, even though Whiteout himself told them that he was used to his sudden bouts of sickness, Crossbones felt useless, like he wasn't fulfilling his duty as squad leader. /I'm sorry, Equinox, / Crossbones thought as he stared out the window at the three moons orbiting around the planet. /I'm failing you. I promised I would take care of my brothers, but we're barely scraping by. It was never supposed to be this way. / Quietly, he closed the door, shoulders slumping. He leaned against the wall; eyes closed. He could feel his left forearm starting to shake again, and he stilled it with his other hand. When he walked back into the main room, his shoulders were squared, arms still, and face absent of all the weariness he had pushed deep down. ''He has another fever. If it doesn't break by morning, we'll have to put off our departure.'' Solar grunted again, not pausing in his carving. ''Typical.'' But his words didn't seem so brash now, and he wouldn't meet Crossbones' eyes. Triple said nothing, dark eyes staring straight into Crossbones', and he was sure his brother could see everything that was tearing Crossbones apart. Triple didn't miss much. Blue appeared in the doorway of the hall, despite the multiple alarms placed by the windows and the fact that there was only one door. ''Whiteout's spells always leave as soon as they come on.'' He said, if he was concerned about his brother, his voice showed no sign. ''We'll be able to stay on our original plan.'' Crossbones nodded, not trusting himself to say anything. He had to hope so, because if they got caught and taken back to Kamino, they would never be seen again.
