#caretaker!thane

I was originally going to make you guys wait till tomorrow for this, but I figured I may as well post it now! Team whump, because I'm starting to get the hang of writing it, and caretaker!Thane because the world needs more of that tbh. Poor Av having yet another panic attack.

Avanda hurried to apply pressure to the slash on Thane's forearm. It was a deep gash, and her hand only covered the middle third of it. She scowled as she used her other hand to scramble around in the drawer next to her, fingers searching fruitlessly for the tool she needed. 

"Jalev!" She snapped, "Where's the Consarcino?"

"Uh, I have it." Avanda looked up at her assistant. They were holding the tool in their hands, and using it on one of the many deep slashes that covered Caelum's upper body. A quick count gave Avanda a total of five. One ran diagonally across his whole torso, the rest littering his arms and chest. Jalev was not in real great shape themself. Their eyes were unfocused and blinking hard. Avanda couldn't tell if the blinking was an attempt to keep the blood out of their eyes, or if it was a result of the concussion they must have sustained. Avanda let out an angry growl. 

"Carina, take over from Jay."

"Ok, just a minute." 

Avanda's head swung around, glaring at Carina. Carina had a bloody nose, a black eye, and was struggling to help Jadè over to a table, the younger girl limping and crying from what Avamda could only assume was a broken ankle, based on that angle. 

"What the hell happened out there?" She snapped, "This was supposed to be a simple escort mission!"

Thane shrugged. "There was an attack."

"Nothing the ol' Doc can't handle though!" Caelum said cheerfully from his perch on the exam table. 

"Don't be so sure." Avanda mumbled, her voice betraying her exhaustion as she struggled to keep her old accent in check.

Carina rolled her eyes. "C'mon, Av. It isn't that bad. It's just been a busy week, that's all. No reason to start using that silly, fake accent."

Avanda let out a noise that was somewhere in between a growl and a sigh as she began to wrap Thane's arm tightly with gauze. 

"Damn it, Jim, she's a doctor, not a machine!" Caelum teased from across the room, his impression of Dr. McCoy sounding suspiciously more like Scotty.

Avanda's frown deepened, and her throat tightened. 

"You guys need to be more careful." She warned. 

"And you need to lighten up a bit!" Thane teased, patting his sister's hand with his free hand.

*******

Nyar looked up as Avanda stormed into his quarters. 

"Come in," he said dryly, motioning to the chair in front of his desk. "Something on your mind, Av?"

Avanda gripped the back of the chair with both hands, her jaw clenched tightly. Her eyes stormed like a raging sea, and her hair was only barely held back from her face. 

"Talk to your crew, Captain." She snarled, "Talk to your crew, and tell them to be more careful on missions."

Nyar set his pen down, folding his hands a little as he shifted, leaning his head towards Avanda a little. "If I may be so forward, Doctor ….isn't that your job?"

Avanda scoffed. "Yeah. Yeah it is. And trust me, I've been telling them that." Her voice wavered a little before she continued. "I tell them that over and over, until I'm blue in the face. But they don't...they won't listen to me, Ny." She finally moved around the chair, sinking into it and resting her elbows on her knees, then placing her face in her hands. "There are three of them spending the night in the MedBay tonight. That's 43% of the crew, Nyar. 57% if you count me."

"You voluntarily did math?"

"No, I asked the computer to do it for me so I could prove a point." Avanda took her hands away from her face and leaned back in her seat. "Nyar, I haven't slept longer than two hours in….three weeks. I'm exhausted. I can't- I can't keep doing this. I need you to talk to them. They won't listen to me. But you're their captain, maybe they'll listen to you."

Nyar nodded thoughtfully. "I'll talk to them, Av. Go get some rest."

Avanda stood up, her jaw clenching as she left.  

"Bold of you to assume I have the time for that." She muttered under her breath. 

Nyar waited until the door had clicked shut, then pressed a button on his desk. 

"Archie, set a training drill for tomorrow, 02:00 hours." He said, watching his computer screen. 

"Should I inform the crew, Captain?"

"No, thank you."

******

Thane jolted awake at 02:00, the Archangel's alarms blaring loudly, and Nyar shouting orders. 

"LET'S GO LADIES!" Nyar bellowed, "TIMER'S RUNNING! BATTLE STATIONS!" 

Thane dropped out of his bunk, wincing a little as his ankle reminded him that it had gotten twisted a few days earlier. He pulled on his uniform jacket and snatched up his sidearm, then opened the door and started down the hallway to the bridge. 

Carina winked at him as she emerged from her quarters and quickly passed him. Jadè stumbled out of the MedBay door, Jalev hot on her tail as she let out an excited woop. 

"C'mon Avi!" She shouted over her shoulder, "Let's kick some ass!" She followed the rest of the crew down the hall, and Thane frowned as Avanda emerged as well, trailing behind Caelum. 

"Av?" Caelum stopped, turning to face the door.

The alarms kept their screaming as Thane and Caelum stood watching the medic. Her eyes were bleary and unfocused, and her breathing was labored. 

"Av, are you ok?" Thane stepped a little closer, his gun dropping as he went. 

Avanda's teeth chattered and she shook her head, eyes closed. 

"Can't-" she hissed, "Can't-can't Brea-" her hand flew up to the collar of her uniform, pulling on it. Her other hand gripped the wall in an attempt to hold herself up as her legs folded and she dropped like a stone to the floor. 

Thane and Caelum were on the floor next to her in a heartbeat, Thane's gun dropping to the ground as he took his sister's shoulders. She was hyperventilating, her body shaking violently as she struggled to breathe. 

"What's happening?" Caelum asked, his voice pitched up in panic, "JAY, GET DOWN HERE!" He shot Thane a look. "Is she having a seizure?"

Thane shook his head as the rest of the crew looped back to them. "Panic attack." He answered quickly. "Back up a bit, yeah? I've got this."

Caelum sat back, shaking a little as well now, watching as Thane took Avanda's hand away from her neck. 

"Av, it's ok, you're ok." Thane said, one hand sliding up to support her head. "I'm here, ok? Ok, breathe...breathe with me, Av." He took her hand and placed it against his chest, forcing the fingers of her first to uncurl. "There you go….come on Av…."

The rest of the crew had gathered now, standing behind him and watching in shocked silence. 

Avanda still wasn't breathing normally, her head pushing back against Thane's hand.

"Nyar, do something about those damn alarms." Thane snapped, half looking over his shoulder at the young captain. "Av, it's ok. It was just a drill, we're safe."

"Archie, end drill." Nyar said quickly. 

"Av. Av, breathe hun. Breathe," 

Avanda gasped, her eyes opening and fixing on Thane. He felt her hand press into his chest a little firmer as she centered herself, struggling to slow her breathing so that it matched his. After several agonizing moments, her body relaxed, and Thane wrapped her in a tight hug as the medic started weeping. 

Nyar turned to his crew, his eyes stone cold. 

"This is why you guys need to be more careful on missions." He said, voice low and angry. "What if this had been real? If you guys have worn her so thin on little missions that she has nothing left to give on big missions, how can we expect to keep going?"

Thane helped Avanda stand, leading her back to her bunk, trying to chase away the last of the panic. 

"I'm sorry," she whimpered as he pulled the covers up over her shoulders. "I'm so sorry, I should be better than this."

Thane shook his head, placing a hand on her hair. Her accent was thick now, almost as thick as it had been when they were children, before the teachers at the Academy had beaten it out of her.

"We should be the ones apologizing to you, Avocado. You've been busting your ass, and we shouldn't have been pushing you that hard. Get some rest, ok? I'll keep an eye on them all while you sleep."

864 words of platonic fluff and caretaker!Thane. Thane finds Avanda having a rough go of things, and realizes that it’s probably in part because she’s a bit hungry. But because her feelings are valid, no matter how hungry and dehydrated she may be, he still gives her a pep-talk. (Also hey, here’s a reminder from me: Drink some water, eat some food, move around a bit, I love you all.) Canon, pre-storyline

    Thane pushed the door open, leaning his head into Avanda’s small room. “Av? I heard you crying, are you ok?”

    Avanda sniffed, and he saw move, likely to her wipe her nose. She was lying on her side, her back away from him.

    “’M fine.” She said, then hiccupped. 

    “Right.” Thane said as he stepped into the room. “Of course you are. You wanna talk about it?”

    “Not really, no.”

    Thane walked across the room, and sat on the edge of the bed, hands folded in his lap as he looked down at the young medic. “Well, I’m off duty so, I mean, if you change your mind…”

    Avanda turned her head to look at him, scowling. “Really, Thane. I’m fine.”

    “I know.” Thane grinned at her and patted her shoulder. “Mind if I hang out in here for a bit?”

    Avanda rolled back onto her side. “Whatever.”

    They were silent for a while. Thane shifted, leaning his back against the wall, one foot swinging over the edge of the bed, the other bent with his elbow propped up on it while he picked at his fingernails. Finally, Avanda spoke.