FORESIGHT and SCOPE: BOOK TWO

C H A P T E R F I F T Y-F O U R

It is not just her smile, though...If only I could tell her how she exhibits three definitive ways she scrunches her nose based on her intentions—teasingly, playfully, or annoyed—and how I've discover the distinctions of each. I wondered what her reaction would be if I told her I have grown accustomed to her frivolous monikers she calls me—they make my actual name sound regal when it passes her lips. Wherever I am to repair something, she is right there beside me to 'grace' me with her assistance—only for two ticks to pass and she somehow gains control of the whole operation. Her radiance fills every room she waltzes into. Her presence is soothing to friends and intimidating to foes. Fern is so strong, fierce, audacious, compassionate, and brilliant... She is the most fascinating specimen I've ever met.

Pantora...That was when I had audited those words for the first time. The second time, it occurred on Bracca, just before I cured her of her inhibitor chip. The third time...

Tech's mind subconsciously connected the sequence of events that were interwoven in his memories. The more intricate the narrative grew, the more clearly he understood, just he had done in the cavern...

"I've retained it all inside my head because I did not understand." His laced fingers tightened, trembling as they lowered away from his face. "As a result, what I witnessed, and felt, I left unsaid. After all, what do you do when there is this great divide...and the distance between us is too wide? In a way, there are a thousand worlds between us. I cannot fathom where I would begin if I could tell you..."

It was impossible not to fall for her when she gave me every reason to fall...

"...I love you."

He was unable to recall when he had reached over, but Tech found himself stroking his bare thumb over Fern's brow. As he uttered his final confession, she stirred, her resting eyes squeezed tighter.

"Fern." Tech gasped.

The woman groaned as she finally roused. When her dark eyes fluttered open, the intellectual clone hung his chin in relief, an alleviated sigh escaped his lips. "I am pleased to see you awake. I was concerned when you did not gain consciousness after I applied the bacta spray. Nevertheless, the medicine fulfilled its purpose to perfection."

Fern inhaled deeply and allowed her eyes to adjust before exhaling. Her blurred vision focused on Tech's face hovering above hers. "That droid really got me..." she croaked. The throbbing in her skull intensified when she spoke. Her pupils darted in every corner. "Where's Hunter? And Omega and Wrecker?"

"They will be here soon." He was not surprised her first thoughts were in concern of the rest of their squad rather than herself. She displayed the same reaction when she was almost blown up on Raxus. However, that understanding did not ease him—in fact, it actually bothered him.

"That didn't answer my question, Tick. You have to go back and help—"

"Your well-being is much more important."

"I'm fine." She rolled her eyes and locked on the empty bacta spray can. "Y-you...used it all?"

"I had to." Tech said bluntly. "The head trauma you sustained caused an apprehensive amount of external bleeding. Without the bacta spray, you would have most definitely..." His voice trailed off. His bare hand had yet to depart from her forehead, his thumb continuing to subtly, softly stroke at the brim of her grey headband.

"I can't believe this..." She turned her eyes up, oblivious to his touch. "It was only yesterday when I promised you I would avoid getting severely hurt again..." She then processed Tech's analysis and her eyes narrowed in thought. She may have just imagined it in her hazy state, but when the intellectual clone spoke, he sounded scared. In addition, glancing over to him, she noticed he was uncharacteristically skittish. He fumbled with his datapad in his free hand and muttered incoherently under his breath. That was when it dawned on Fern that his other hand rested on her head...

"Tech?" she called in her weak voice. "Tech. Hey, Tech." When he did not revert his attention to her, she forced her arm to flop over the cot. She managed to hook two fingers on his gauntlet. "Hey, Wired-Brain, I'm right here. Will you look at me?"

He said nothing, but he did remove his hand from her head as if her skin suddenly burned him. She blinked, then scoffed softly to herself. "I've been meaning to ask, since we got out of that mine..." She changed the subject away from her weakened condition, hoping to conjure up some conversation. "All that dejá vù...with the cavern, the waterfall, and the blue luminescence — I noticed you and Omega had made amends by the time Hunter, Wrecker, and I found you." She hummed with a small smile as Tech received the hint, a slight blush colored his protruding cheekbones. "Yes, Omega and I did come to an understanding, much like you and I did when we were trapped on Iego."

Fern listened diligently as he recalled his talk with the young girl, and yes, dejá vù was adament—if the squad wasn't fully complete without Crosshair, Echo's departure only carved it in stone. A revelation she had deduced when they were first caved in only yesterday. Abruptly, Tech stopped in the middle of his recollection, causing Fern to blink. "Is something wrong, Tech?" she asked curiously.

"Possibly."

"What is it?" Her body reacted on its own, springing up from the cot with urgency, and regretted it immediately. "Ow, ow, ow..." she whined. Tech helped her readjust, his left hand guiding her head onto the thin linen. He did not remove his touch, however, once she assured she was comfortable. Instead, his fingers gently glided from her blood-crusted hair to her cheek. Fern studied her friend's troubled disposition... like he was being tortured by his own thoughts. She didn't quite know how to react to his physical touch, but she had never seen him like this, and her instincts convinced her to want to help.

"What is it, Tech?" she repeated, calmly this time. "Come on, it's me, remember? You can tell me anything."

Tech met her dark eyes, his own light-brown orbs softened after a brief moment of hesitation. His heart seized utter control over his exceptional mind. His curled fingers unfolded and cupped her whole right side of her face. "As you well know, I do process certain emotions differently and do not handle change very well as others do."

"Yes, I remember." she reminesced with an airy sigh, her heartrate accelerating. Yet, she remained calm. "But as you've also said, it is inevitable, right? You helped me realize my true emotions, my feelings, and—"

"And now, I need your help, as I have realized mine."

Fern was speechless. She could not look away nor move a muscle as she watched him slowly leaned in, breathing with the genuineness of a hopeless romantic, "Fern, I have developed a strong fondness and admiration for you..."

Her lips parted to say something, but the words lodged in her throat. His confession echoed in her ears, yet she could not hear it, like it was muffled by a barrier fabricated from her incertitude. Her heart amplified recklessly. Before she could even conjure the memory of how to blink, Tech gingerly pressed his lips into hers...his fingers caged her folded hands, and she drowned in the void of feeble ambivalence...