The Wolf Pack

Chapter 73

The clang of metal against the floor resounded ominously throughout the hallway of the Venator. The footsteps had purpose, they had intent. Clones all around turned to see the newcomer, or more precisely, the ghost walking down their halls. His head didn't turn, his pace didn't falter, and the man behind him didn't fall behind as they made their way towards the med bay.

Inside the private room, his ex-boss, his only father figure was waiting, hands behind his back as he spoke slowly to his daughter. His sister. His stupid, selfish cunt of a sister.

Art strode up to the side of the bed and even before Kriari had the chance to speak, he punched her, hard, square in the face.

"Oi, Oi, Oi, Art, careful mate!" Said the man behind him, grabbing him and pulling him away from the bed. "I know you're angry mate but this isn't the way"

Art ignored his friend, his now partner in crime, and continued to glare, to seethe at his sister who was now holding her cheek with teary eyes from the pain he inflicted.

"You selfish, stupid, bloody COWARD!" Art was not beyond making a scene, they were in private, and he was supposed to be dead. "How DARE YOU you selfish little shit! You don't get to choose to die because you feel guilty! You privileged little asshole, you get to be the top of the societal food chain and you try to fucking kill yourself instead of using your power to help?!"

Soap was having trouble keeping his friend in check, but he did anyway because he was afraid Art may kill Kriari himself.

"Art, my boy, I think that's enough." Said the calm voice of his father from the other side of the room. "Kriari is not selfish, if anything she cares too much for her own good. I understand your grief, my child, but it's not her you are angry with, is it?"

"Oh it bloody fucking is her I am angry with. If I have to live a short crippled miserable life because she refused to kill me, then she has to live it with me!" he spat.

Art retreated finally, as Soap let him go, and ran his hands through his hair, pacing the room like a madman.

"Well, you will be glad to know that she will be, indeed, living with you for the foreseeable future." said Plo Koon, calm as a frozen lake. "You two will be taking Kriari with you and monitoring her."

Art started laughing sarcastically, in disbelief of what he was hearing. He hadn't had time to process the news of Kriari's attempt, he had only been told that morning.

"With all due respect, General, Sir," said Soap, looking from Art's hysterical state, to Kriari's silent form on the bed, "The work we are doing' is probably not suited for someone in her ... mental state. And Art and I are no shrinks"

Plo Koon looked puzzled as he repeated that last word.

"Shrink is a mental health provider in whatever version of Galactic Basic this earth rat speaks" explained Art still irritated "and he is right. I am not only incredibly disinclined to be around Commander Foreas right now, I also do not have the time to babysit her. I have a job to do."

At this point Plo Koon was getting quite frustrated with his children.

"Need I remind you what you mean to each other, Art?" He said pointedly.

Art bristled visibly.

"Why do you think I am this agitated, huh, General? I would fucking follow that swamprat into the deepest depths of the Dune Sea gladly, but she decided to leave me behind, to leave you behind, to leave Wolffe behind! If she has gone this far with no regard for any of us then-"

"It was you I did it for." Said Kriari, speaking for the first time since Art and Soap had arrived there. "If I thought I could live, and fight and grow and still look you in the eyes with no shame for who I was becoming I would have. You weren't there, Art. I nearly turned."

Art's agitation only grew.

"You fucking coward, you tried to kill yourself because you were afraid of what we would think of you?"

"I was afraid of what I could have done to you, you imbecile!"

"THE WORST THING YOU COULD EVER DO TO ME IS DIE BEFORE I DID!" Art completely lost his temper "I know I am doomed to a short existence, I have accepted that fact, the only thing that would completely devastate me is you living an even shorter life than I did!"

And there it was.

Everything that had ever hung between them, unspoken, suddenly given life, given voice, being acknowledged. The grief, the weight that Art had carried and Kriari had seen but never spoken of.

Art had always been outspoken, always been one to talk of sharing thoughts and feelings and helping each other through life by communicating well, clearly and often. But they had always known that was a badly concealed lie. Kriari had every intent on doing just that, of making their support mutual, but there had been things that Art had never voiced, and at times they both thought he never would. The clone's unnaturally short lifespan and the effect it would have on the people they loved as well as themselves, was one of them.

"I think we should give these two some space, don't you agree, Sergeant Mctavish?" Said Master Plo calmly as he studied the crumbling expression on both his children's faces.

"Yes, I believe so, Sir." Answered Soap as he looked from Art to Kriari to determine whether or not he would have to break up a fight.

Both of them left shortly, and even after a full minute of silence after the door closed, neither Art nor Kriari spoke.

Art started pacing, his footsteps heavy and echoing as metal met metal. Kriari wondered if that was what Grievous sounded like while walking his ships.

"I shouldn't have left you"

Kriari was a bit startled when Art spoke first, so she did not immediately answer, but when her brother's words registered, tears started swelling in her eyes.

"You aren't to blame for my weakness, Art"

"You are not weak Kriari and we both know that, you would not have tried to kill yourself if you didn't think you would be a threat to people as a Dark Side user. But you have always been one to feel emotions stronger than most, and that's not a weakness but it does make life a hell of a lot harder for you. I should have been there, if I hadn't failed back in Ord Anlata-"

"Do not even dare finish that thought. This is not your fault. Ord Anlata was not your failure..."

"It was. If I had been a better soldier, a better clone, if I had been smarter I would not have ended up a cripple, I should have died that day."

"Don't say that" Kriari whispered looking down, aware of how much of a hypocrite she was, sitting in a Medbay cot after an attempt at taking her own life.

And of course Art caught it.

"Guess you know how it feels to be on this end now. At least a little"

Kriari didn't have the words or the energy to respond. She was tired, so very tired. At some points she even doubted hurting others was the only reason she wanted to end it. At times, she just wanted to rest in the blissful oblivion of non existence.

"You look old," added Art.

Kriari didn't answer and just gave him a sad smile and a one shoulder shrug.

"Coming with Soap and I won't be easy, but at least you won't have to pretend to be sane, or a saint. You'll get to just be. But I guess that's what the general was intending on..." he sighed deeply and rubbed his face with both hands before running his fingers through his now shoulder length curls in an attempt to ease the tension in his scalp.

"What is it you guys are doing exactly?"

"We're looking for a Ghost".