#I’m just so weak for soft Crosshair | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

nunanuggets · 1 year

Text

Shooting lessons

A/N: This short fic is for my friend @moonstrider9904 who has been having a bit of a rough time here in the fandom even though she is a very light and warm presence. She allowed me to borrow her OC Clair from her fanfiction Moonlight for this. You should all go check it out (and reblog it!). I would really appreciate it if you reblogged this, as that is the only way to support creators on tumblr.

Summary: Clair needs to know how to defend herself if she’s gonna stay with The Bad Batch, and Crosshair is more than willing to teach her.

Warnings: Sexual themes, guns, cursing, grinding, unprotected PiV sex (Clair has an implant and clones get tested regularly. Only safe sex is good sex, kids.), use of ‚good girl‘ but only like twice

Word Count: 2.5k

!This fic is not intended for anyone under the age of 18. If I see any minors interacting with my NSFW content, they will be blocked. You are responsible for your own media consumption!

„Are you sure we need to be this far away?“ Clair asked her boyfriend, Crosshair, as he was leading the way through the forest. The sun was already starting to set, which made it very hard for someone with regular eyesight to see through the thick flora and made Clai squint a bit.

„Sure I’m sure, Princess. I don’t have a hunting license for this planet yet, so we need to stay far away from any civilians.“, Crosshair calmly explains, turning to her with a barely-there but soft smile. „We’re almost there“

He led her into a small clearing that was surrounded by trees of various thicknesses, perfect for shooting practice. „Here we are.“

Clair looked around and took in the beauty of the nature around her- the soft sound of leaves rustling in the wind, the smell of the clean grass, the pretty flowers strewn about the forest ground. It was a nice change of pace from either being onboard the marauder or somewhere in the city all the time.

She knelt down to inspect some mushrooms that grew on a boulder at the edge of the clearing. They were a soft brown color and quite round, smelling really delicious even uncooked. Clair immediately had a dozen recipes for them in mind. „Berry Pie, look! I have never seen such beautiful mushrooms before, I bet I could make a delicious risotto with them!“, she said excitedly, reaching out to touch them.

Crosshair chuckled and kneeled down beside her, gently catching her wrist. He found her fascination for food and plants admirable and adorable, but they came here for a very specific reason. „Later, Dumpling.“, he spoke softly, taking her hand and kissing it.

Clair chuckled sheepishly and tucked a strand of her long, black hair behind her ear. „Heh, sorry. You know how I am sometimes.“.

With a chuckle, the sharpshooter helped her get back to her feet. „I do, and it is precious. But let's do shooting now and cooking later, hm?“. He started setting up his gun rack- he didn’t need it, but Clair certainly did.

„I’m not sure that I should start with something as big as a rifle…“, Clair said, shrugging off her jacket and placing it by his gear onto the ground to have more freedom of movement.

„Firepuncher is a great place to start, trust me. If you can control her, you can handle any gun. Besides- we both know how good you are with big things, hm?“, Crosshair winked at her, causing Clair to go weak in the knees and blush profusely. „You’re lucky no one else heard that…“, She grumbled.

Crosshair just chuckled to himself and stepped away with one hand still on the gun, inviting her to step in front of him. Clair obliged happily, caging herself between his awaiting arms. Immediately, she felt cozy and safe being so close to her lover.

„Okay. Have you ever shot a gun before?“, The sniper asked as he helped her position her body, lowering her shoulders with his hands. She shook her head. „That’s okay. I’m sure you’ll catch on quickly.“

He set the rifle to stun and stepped away slightly to observe her. „Why don’t you show me how you think you need to hold her?“, Came his suggestion as he stuck a toothpick between his lips.

A little unsure of herself, Clair nodded and got into stance, trying to imitate what she had seen him do countless of times. It couldn’t be that hard, right? She grabbed the gun, lowered her head to the scope and placed a finger on the trigger.

Crosshair snickered with his arms crossed. „Very adorable, but if you shot like that, you’d lose an eye and break several bones.“, He said with a little smirk, casually gnawing on his toothpick. Clair only scoffed and pouted in return, crossing her arms in the same way he always did when flaws were pointed out to him. „Well- I’ve never done this before! I thought you were gonna teach me!“, she protested, shooting him a glare.

Slowly, Crosshair flicked his toothpick from one corner of his lip to the other, then spat it on the ground and took a stand behind her, leaning in very close and sliding his arms down her shoulders to cover her own. „I am.“, He murmured in her ear, the low and rumble sound calming Clair‘s nerves while also sending a delightful shiver right down her spine. She could feel the warmth radiating off his chest and into her back, seeing as he was wearing a comfortable shirt and some jeans today.

Clair felt a foot being nudged between both of hers, and soon, Crosshair had gently kicked them apart so she was standing firmly and securely. „She’s got a lot of recoil. If you don’t have proper balance, she’s gonna knock you over.“, he explained in a murmur. His warm breath tickled her ear and his lips softly grazed the shell of it as he explained, and Clair was pretty sure he was doing that on purpose.

She tried to focus nevertheless and let him position her arms and finger correctly, doing her best to ignore how softly yet firmly his fingers were handling hers. „There. Now just close your eyes and take a deep breath with me. You’ve got this, Dumpling.“, He encouraged, his hands now sliding down to rest comfortably on her hips. But that simple touch was enough to make Clair take a shaky breath in and out, fighting the urge to squeeze her legs together.

„Mh-hmm…“, she murmured, opening her eyes again and desperately trying to hold the gun correctly despite her hands getting clammy.

Crosshair smirked, slowly starting to notice what this was doing to her. Perhaps he could make this training lesson much, much more interesting. He certainly couldn’t blame her for feeling the way she did. Due to everything being so busy and hectic, it’s been many rotations since him and Clair were able to nurture their sex life, and he found himself craving her closeness.

„Good job,“, Crosshair practically purred, his grip on her hips becoming more firm and purposeful, kneading the soft flesh over her dress ever so slightly. „now look through the scope, focus on your target, and shoot.“, He instructed, actually placing a kiss on her ear this time. Her scent and delicate frame against him were making him lose his focus too and he felt his lower regions stir.

„Cross-“, Clair gasped softly, a pleading look in her darkened eyes as she turned her head to look at him. It took everything in Crosshair not to scoop her up and take her against the nearest tree, but he certainly did not want to be the one to lose his resolve first.

„Focus, cyar‘ika. Take the shot.“, He instructed again, nodding towards the target.

With another whimper, Clair turned back to the scope and looked at the target. After taking another deep breath, she curled the two fingers that rested on the trigger and shot, completely missing the tree she was supposed to hit.

But she did not focus on that; the recoil was just as hard as he had warned her it would be and it had flung her back into his torso, causing him to let out a grunt as her ass made contact with his clothed, but half hardened cock.

„You didn’t focus, Dumpling. You missed.“, He said lowly, one of his hands creeping up her thigh and under the hem of her dress. „Again.“

„Crosshair please, I can't focus like this…“, Clair begged in a coarse and desperate voice, pressing herself back up against him with purpose this time. She could actually feel the wetness that had soaked through her panties at that point, and if Crosshair would move his hand up just a bit further, he would feel it too.

„Only good students get a reward, doll. Hit the target, and I’ll give you what you want.“, he promised her, nibbling on her ear and still caressing her thigh with his long and dexterous fingers.

Clair knew he wouldn’t let up, not even if she dropped onto her knees in front of him right now. If her boyfriend had a goal in mind, he did anything to see it through.

With a frustrated sigh, she blinked her eyes a couple of times to at least try and regain some focus, then looked through the scope and attempted another shot.

She did not miss this time, and as a reward, she immediately felt Crosshair‘s middle finger pressing precisely up against her clothed clit. She moaned, throwing her head back onto his shoulder as he stroked her in slow but calculated circles.

„Good girl…“, He attached his lips to her neck now, moving her panties to the side to swipe his fingers through her soaked folds. She was a complete mess, holding onto the rifle for dear life has her boyfriend fingered her in the middle of the clearing.

„Please… Cross, i…“, she moaned, rolling her hips against his fingers to get more of the friction he was denying her. She felt so good, all the pent up arousal from the last few weeks hit her at once and her head was spinning from it.

„One more. You can do one more.“ Crosshair encouraged, his own voice breaking at the edges. This was one of his biggest fantasies coming true, but he wanted to see how far he could push her- and himself. His cock was painfully hard inside his pants and every roll of her hips sent jolts of pleasure through his body.

Clair was drunk off of the thought of finally getting what she wanted, what she needed, and looked through the scope again to shoot one last time to make him happy. Just as she was pulling the trigger though, Crosshair slipped two fingers into her dripping heat, curling them deliciously.

„Fuck-“, Clair moaned out, the sound echoing off the trees surrounding the clearing. She finally surrendered and let go of the firepuncher, gripping onto his arm for support instead as he moved his digits inside of her.

„Tell me what you want, doll. Tell me and I'll give it to you…“, Crosshair murmured as he was leaving his mark on her neck, moving his hips against her ass before the pent up arousal would drive him insane.

Clair whined, already finding herself at the brink of an orgasm. „Y-your cock… please…“, her voice was failing her, but Crosshair understood. In the blink of an eye, he scooped her up into his arms and found the thickest tree trunk he could find to push her up against, his lips immediately connecting with hers. Clair moaned into it shamelessly, holding onto his shoulders and neck for support, though she knew he’d never let her fall regardless.

With one hand, Crosshair expertly undid his belt and zipper to finally free his weeping length from its confinement, sighing in relief at the mild evening breeze brushing over his hot tip.

He didn’t let that feeling linger, though, as he aligned himself with his girlfriend‘s entrance, breaking the kiss to look her in the eyes, giving her a chance to back out if she didn’t want this. But nothing in Clair‘s expression said that she wanted him to stop, quite the opposite. She wrapped her legs tighter around his waist and dug her heels into his thighs to bring him in closer.

„Fuck me, Cross.“, She panted, the fire in her eyes burning brighter than the setting sun above the crowns of the trees around them. The sniper understood that order loud and clear and slid home in one swift movement, causing the couple to moan out in unison while still looking into one another‘s eyes.

A hazy smirk took over Crosshair‘s face as he saw what effect he had on her once again, before starting to move in and out of her in a pace they both loved.

Clair‘s head lolled back against the tree from the feeling. She couldn’t form a coherent sentence even if she tried, but she still wanted him to know how good he made her feel. „Cross… love this… love you…“, she panted, her hand coming up to feebly unbutton the front of her dress to reveal her breasts to him, bouncing with each one of his thrusts.

Crosshair groaned lowly at the sight, unable to tear his eyes away. „Fuck, doll… I love you too… you feel so fucking amazing… such a good girl… a good shot too… would have taken you shooting ages ago… if i knew it would be ending like this…“, He smirked cockily, picking up his thrusts.

All Clair could do as a response was to moan, and clench and flutter around his cock, her orgasm finally washing over her body and making her legs shake around him.

The sight of her eyes rolling back, her hair framing her beautiful face and her breasts bouncing combined with the feeling of her gripping him like a vice is what did it for him. He pinned himself against her even closer and, with a couple staggered thrusts, emptied himself deep inside of her with a low moan of her name.

When the initial moment of panting into each other‘s necks was over, Crosshair pulled away slightly to look into her eyes, a tired but happy grin on his face.

Clair looked similarly, only that her cheeks were rosy and a thin sheen of sweat covered her soft face, her brown eyes sparkling with love and satisfaction. „Hi.“, She whispered, followed by a little giggle.

A warm and long kiss was placed upon her plump lips. „Hi to you too.“, Crossair murmured, adjusting his grip on her so that he was hugging her more than simply just holding her up. The sun was almost gone now, and it was slowly starting to get chilly. „We should probably head back, hm?“, He tucked some loose strands behind her ear and caressed her face.

A devious smirk took over Clair‘s features. „But i haven’t had a good shot yet.“, She said, her voice filled with false innocence.

Crosshair matched her expression and tipped her chin up. „I guess we have to keep trying, then.“.

They didn’t leave that clearing until the crack of dawn.

Tagging people who might be interested: @nahoney22 @rain-on-kamino @random-bean63

#star wars #the clone wars #the bad batch #clone wars #tbb crosshair #tbb #crosshair #moonlight series #female OC #crosshair x oc #crosshair x female oc #tbb x oc #tbb season 2 #nunanuggets writes

58 notes · View notes

nightfall-1409 · 2 months

Note

sev bit?? sev bit?? I want to know about sev bit 👀

I've elaborated a little about how I think that Sev, the sniper of Delta Squad, acts as a really interesting mirror to Crosshair in TBB. Where Delta Squad, now sans Sev, goes on to become Imperial Commandos, Sev's planned route vis a vis the game developer in a never-created sequel for Republic Commando (the game) was for him to go on and help start the early stages of the Rebellion.

I think especially after we've now seen fucking Commander Scorch (my boy what have they done to you), it's even more interesting. So, where Scorch has become a commander next to fucking Hemlock... Sev is getting off Kashyyyk with the only living Jedi on planet w/ him who's unaccounted for and does a lot of work for the rebellion, in line with the plans had mentioned— Mr. Quinlan Vos.

It's a scene from an upcoming chapter of Reconvene, whenever I get around to Omega finally interacting with Walon Vau... More/less, obviously we as the Reader of Repcomm know that Walon a) is going to go after Sev and b) cares WAY more about him than Sev ever knew , and ofc, Sev's last thoughts in O66 are him being afraid of his failure. The juxtaposition with Vau having the audacity to ask if Sev knew he cared....when I get you sir.

Here's a sneak peek 👀

“You didn’t come back.” The Mandalorian points out, clearly looking for something, dark visor on a black helmet tilting expectantly. Sev scoffs. “I knew what would be waiting for me after failing.” He shook his head. “Kid died, sure. But then they looked at me, asking why I didn’t follow the Order. Katarn saved my ass. Again.” He says after a beat. “Vos came for the kid. Had a spare speeder. Because the Jedi didn’t just leave us to die. They came back.” And they didn’t. You didn't. These unspoken words are like deep knives in someone's back, the Sergeant seemingly taking a moment to collect himself. “Delta had orders from the Jedi.” The Sergeant’s voice is strained. “To leave you.” “My squad would have been with me again that night if not for the Order.” Sev rebukes. “They followed protocol, your protocol— complete the mission, don't go back for the weak link because it'll only get yourself—" He cuts himself off. "I don’t blame Delta.” His words are soft, then. “As far as they could have known, I was dead. It’s been years, now. I’ve moved on from it. The Order came, they followed it, and I didn’t. Quin blames it on the head trauma.” “If that’s the bar, then Scorch shouldn’t have listened to it either.” His voice carries no heat, and is surprisingly devoid of all emotion. Sev gives a ghost of a snort.

Neither of them say much of anything, for a long moment. “You know,” Sev restarts, eyes intense as he sizes up the other man. “I wondered, how this would go. Pictured it, pictured you ripping me to pieces, beating me within an inch of my life, killing Quinlan like you always said you wanted to. Hated myself, for the longest time, for the failure, for the fear, and I told myself you drilled it into me this hard because you wanted me to live. I told myself I was afraid because I'd earned whatever would happened to me when you got your hands on me, because I'd failed, I'd deserve it.” He shakes his head. “But I’m not afraid because I deserve it. I’m just afraid of you.”

#nightfall speaks #my fics

3 notes · View notes

the-bi-space-ace · 2 months

Note

16, 25, 47, 49, and/or 96 for the writing ask :]

Thanks for the ask ☺️

16. where is your favorite place to write?

In my bed. I love writing in my bed. It’s cozy. I always have my emotional support water bottle, headphones, and some sort of snack. Plus I like to be warm ☺️

25. what’s your revision or rewriting process like?

I usually write a first draft and then let it sit for a little bit. My partner reads it to fix any grammar or spelling errors and check for plot holes. Once I know what I have to fix I get to fixing what my partner found. Sometimes I know I need to work on one weak section and just pick away at it while flipping between projects. I try to write everything so far in advance that I’m never in a pinch to rewrite. I usually move my dialogue around first if there’s any I can use and write around it.

47. what story are you most proud of?

Oh this is a great question. As far as long fics go I’ll have to say Keep These Shadows Out. It was really my first fic with extensive planning. It makes me extremely happy to reread and I’ll always think fondly of it.

Shorter fics I’ll have to say Oh, Shut Up. My first ever fic and it was Echo & Crosshair centric (so right up my alley). It’s just so sweet. It’s exactly what I wanted to write and it’s so soft and I just get calm vibes from that fic. Very proud of it to this day.

49. do you want to be published some day?

Ya know it would be cool! I’m certainly a long way from being ready for something like that but if I ever published original work I think it would be one of the cooler things I’ve done. I’ve been writing since I was very young, always had an interest in it. If I have a story I really felt strongly about telling I would write it and it would be cool to publish it.

96. romantic/social sideplots: interesting or irritating?

it’s a mix of interesting and irritating for me. I love messy background relationships outside of the plot. It’s a big part of why I write like I do. There’s usually other issues, other relationships, happening outside of the main plot and storyline. It makes it harder for the characters to push forward in the story. Something is always kind of standing in their way whether that be a relationship they have to sort out or an actual larger plot point. BUT. I definitely think there’s a way to do them right and sometimes it’s hard to focus on a story if a romantic subplot gets tossed in the mix half way through and you’ve got NO CLUE where it came from. I do not like it coming out of nowhere. There are also plenty of stories that get completely derailed by a romance subplot that it didn’t need. The subplot has to be done right for me to like it, it can’t just exist because the writers felt like every single story required a romance.

(I’m going on a tangent now) And another thing! Sometimes! When the subplots! Are built on misunderstandings! And they happen over and over again! I get frustrated! Like just talk to each other!

My fics are primarily about the relationships, the plot just puts them in situations to hash it out. I love the messy, chaotic mix of different types of relationships at play but. Yeah. I want it to make sense in the story if it’s there.

I hope that made sense I got all off track half way through 😅😅😅

#thanks for asking!#I got wordy I’m so sorry 😅#Ask Ace #🧡

2 notes · View notes

emperor-palpaminty · 2 years

Note

Imperial Tech continues to haunt my every thought (both for how the chip would have changed him from a good man into someone with so much anger and coldness, as well as stripped him from his brothers, and for what he would get up to) and ohh.

Right now my brain is glued to the idea of Tech training you to shoot properly by standing behind you, though so close you can feel his entire body against your back as he shifts your stance and helps you hold a rifle. He is merely training you at first but, as he continues to press against you though ;)

Another Anon sent me soft ImpTech headcannons so. Can I. Can I go soft with this. Just like. Please oh my God. Evil genius having a weak moment of soft. Help

TW for guns (shooting practice) and mentions of war

The new recruit started off as a nusiance to him. She would trail after him like a loth-kitten, holding various reports, chatting up storm after storm until hurricanes of words would emit and give him a migrane.

Taking over the galaxy was, apparently, not as important as the updates on the percentage hits-and-misses of the new storm trooper recruits (which was shockingly low, meek compared to the former clone army). Clones- they were slaves to the Republic, the Jedi, and now these men had choices to go places and do things.

“Admiral!”

Her voice broke his thoughts. Tech suppressed a groan and turned, facing her. “Corporal.”

A softness dented his ribs as she held up the datapad, smiling. “Sir, I got my scores back.” A frown made her smile falter- she lowered the datapad. “I... almost failed the shooting portion.”

“A pity.”

“I was hoping...” She ran her fingers along the edge of the case for the datapad. “I wanted to know if you could teach me?”

___

Tech did not know why he said yes. He was irritated, indignant- but he still stood there, watching her sloppy form and stance, and even now that same subtle whispering in his chest rubbed him the wrong way.

She lowered her blaster and glanced back at him, grimacing. “I... I didn’t do well.”

“A bantha can shoot better than that- and they don’t have thumbs.” Tech stepped up aside her, snapping his gun out of his elegant holster. He shot, calmly, eyes level and stance sharp. The air behind him was quiet, the eyes on him admiring his stance, his stiffness. Tech felt a pang as he backed up.

I used to not be so stiff when I shot.

Now it had become a formality, a ritual. He still fought, got caught in combat- but it had been different then. The fraternity, the comraderie.

To be the Republic is to be hostage.

A gentle, soft hand rested on his back, not yet fully calloused from the need of shooting, fighting. “Hey.” Her voice was soft. Sincere. A real sincerity, not the false affection he so often heard from superiors.

We are still hostage. We are not cared for.

“I’ve seen how the Empire treats us. Clones.” He mumbled. “We were once weapons. Useful. Now they cast us aside. Abandon us, homeless, wandering the streets.” He allowed a bitter laugh from a hollow chest, and the corporal stepped in closer, the hand rubbing small circles that his body memorized through the crisp uniform. The moments that followed were silent, and he allowed himself to remember Crosshair, Wrecker. His fallen brothers. Hunter was still fighting with the Empire, but Tech had seen the look in his eyes, the fire of rebellion stirring in him. Echo had escaped with the child.

“We truly are alone.” He whispered, eyes not fixated on anything in particular, and the target was still swinging slowly, like a pendulum, from the impact of the soldier’s perfect shots. Her body pressed to his back, arms closing around him slowly.

Tech didn’t move, even as she whispered, “I’m alone too. But that doesn’t mean we have to be lonely.”

He exhaled and allowed himself to lean back into her for a moment, fighting down the familiar bitterness that was welling up in him for the upteenth time. He dropped the blaster into his holster and allowed himself her reprieve, a soft squeeze before she released him and stepped back.

“I know I’m... an underling, sir. But if you would ever like to talk...” She shrugged. “I know I’m not a clone. I’m not a soldier. I’m just a survivor of a war that I never wanted.” She crossed her arms, and Tech saw a little more of her resolve break. “But if you need to talk about it, I am here to listen. As an underling, of course. Sir.” A grin popped up on her face and she saluted him, the mood lightening a smidge.

Tech nodded. “At ease,” He whispered, hoarsely, as he walked away.

He still felt the gentle hand on his back, rubbing imaginary shapes as he stepped into the lift.

#imperial tech #tech #tech x reader #tech x you #the bad batch #the bad batch tech x reader #the bad batch tech x you #star wars au #tbb au #imperial au #minty writes

80 notes · View notes

moonstrider9904 · 2 years

Text

Guardian

Chapter 15 of Moonwalker: The Batch

{series masterlist} {next chapter} {previous chapter}

{join my taglist!} {crossposted to Wattpad} {crossposted to AO3}

Summary: Miraculously still alive, Sarah and Clone Force 99 head to Jedha for her to properly heal, where Sarah feels she must be honest to Hunter about what happened on Kamino.

Word count: 9.3k (yikes)

Tags: Explicit 18+. Minors DNI. Angst, injury recovery, talk of infidelity, hurt/comfort, magical bonds, SMUT, soft sex, unprotected vaginal sex (wrap it up irl, my loves), pussy-drunk Hunter, oral female receiving.

Songs: moonwalker, schmetterling (piano version), ghostin’, wildfire, take me to churchA/N: still a sad chapter, but being the conclusion of this three-chapter original arc, it makes up for the utter agony I put you guys through with the last one, and it gets happier in the end!

“You miss me?”

“Why are you here?” Sarah asked him, her voice creaking and weak.

“Someone has to make sure you don’t die,” he responded as bluntly as ever.

“You wouldn’t happen to be worried about me, would you, now?” She teased.

“No.”

When Crosshair rested the rifle on his lap, Sarah got a look of the chain dangling from his neck, which wasn’t there before. At the bottom of the chain was a small, shiny stone, and it made Sarah grin like an idiot when she realized it was the diamond.

Crosshair noticed her reaction and looked at her questioningly. “What?”

“You have the diamond,” she squealed.

“Yes.”

Her eyes sparkled, and she let out a soft laughter, one that sounded much more like hers. “Is it possible that the big, mean, grumpy marksman actually does have a heart after all?”

“Shut up,” Crosshair said with a smile that betrayed him.

“Crosshair!”

Sarah’s eyes darted open as she sat up on the rack. Breathing heavily, she quickly felt a hand securing her forearm, a hand belonging to Echo as he tried to make sure she was okay while Tech came running in from the cockpit of the Marauder.

“Easy,” Echo soothed. “You’re okay.”

Sarah looked around and realized that what she’d just witnessed was a woozy, unconscious replica of something that had already happened, and something that her mind desperately wished was happening now.

“Take deep breaths, Sarah,” Tech said as he checked some things in the holopad she was wired to, with nodes spanning along her left arm. “What made you wake up so suddenly?”

She hesitated. “A dream.”

Tech raised a brow at her, wary; he knew her better than that.

“Okay, it was a flashback,” Sarah admitted.

As Tech checked her vitals, Echo continued holding Sarah’s hand, ever the comforting best friend that he was. It felt nice to Sarah to have Echo there with her; heavens knew he hadn’t parted from her side for a second.

And just then, Wrecker, Hunter, and Omega made their way in from the cockpit of the ship. When Sarah’s gaze met that of Hunter, her heart shattered all over again.

How worried had he been? And for what?

But despite the thoughts coursing through Sarah’s mind, Hunter rushed to her and gently took her in his arms, ignoring everyone else in the room. He’d only held her for a few seconds, and Sarah already felt herself calming down in his warm embrace, his husky scent bringing her a sense of home she didn’t know she was longing for.

It only heightened her regret.

“How are you?” Hunter quietly asked her.

“I’m fine,” she replied. “I promise, I’m fine.”

Hunter hesitated to let go of her, but he knew the others wanted to check in on her again. Sure enough, all pairs of eyes were on Sarah as Hunter took his place among the group, all of them looking like they were on the edge of tears as they stared at the prominent bandage around Sarah’s chest.

“Sarah…” Omega began, her voice breaking and eyes watering again. “What happened?”

“Do you remember what happened?” Tech asked to verify.

Sarah gave a shaky nod. “Yeah, I—I found Crosshair. I was recruited, I got the armor, trained with him, and everything was going well until I found out the things they’re been making him do.” Her voice hushed. “The Empire’s forcing him into doing atrocities… things he’d never think of doing, all because he can’t say no.”

A monster who hadn’t chosen to become one. It was horrifying just to think of it.

“I confronted Rampart about it, I—” her voice broke too. “I fucked up. If I hadn’t gotten so angry and confronted the admiral, I might have still stood a chance, but he saw right through me and ordered Crosshair to kill me.”

“And he did,” Echo said.

“You don’t understand, Echo,” Sarah intervened. “He fought like I’d never seen him do it. Crosshair was in pain, he cried, he did everything he could.”

Skeptical looks were directed her way.

“We have to go back for him,” Sarah stated.

“Absolutely not,” Hunter said.

“There is still light in him,” Sarah answered. “He can fight the chip, I saw it. The fact that he didn’t kill me should be proof enough, right?”

None of them answered, and Hunter let out a long sigh as he looked over at Echo, who somberly nodded in response.

“Right?” Sarah asked again, less convinced.

“You don’t remember that part,” Tech said. “It makes sense, I knew it was too good to be true that your memory was completely unaffected.”

“What are you talking about?” She asked.

“Look at your chest, for heaven’s sake,” Echo said.

Afraid of what she’d find, Sarah looked down at her chest and saw the bandage that wrapped her, crossing over the very center where her heart was, and the memory of when she leaped for the Y-Wing returned, as did the memory of the pain as she fell.

“The blast pierced your heart,” Hunter said lowly.

Her eyes widened in horror as the very argument she used to defend Crosshair all along was now sadistically turned against her.

Crosshair never missed a shot. He’d fired at her shoulder first, fired wide after that. But ultimately, he aimed for her heart, and he shot to kill.

“No…” She sobbed. “No, it can’t be—”

“Calm down,” Echo stilled her before she began to hyperventilate. “You need to stay calm.”

She tried her best to cling to her sanity, observing herself as she did. Her upper body had been stripped of clothes and armor, her chest and breasts covered by the bandaging while a blanket hid away her arms and kept her warm, while her lower body still donned the dark imperial armor she’d been given. The bind with which her hair had been pulled into a bun had been cut off, leaving her hair to fall freely down her back.

The chain with the two diamonds had been untouched.

“And…” Omega continued as she approached with a mirror and delicately pulled up one side of the blanket, revealing Sarah’s arm. “This happened.”

Sarah looked down at the marks in her arm and realized they’d not only darkened, but the lines were bolder too, as if someone had painted over them with a thick brush. In the mirror, Sarah noticed that the same had happened for the marks on her face, and her eyes, usually glowing with all the colors of the universe, had been dimmed with only dark blues and purples.

Her eyes resembled dead stars.

Nothing felt good about it; other times, a change in her marks had told Sarah she was on the right path, but this time it was as if they were clinging to something that didn’t belong with her, something they wanted to let go of that had no place being with them.

“I regret to inform you, Sarah,” Tech said, his voice sounding unsettlingly sad, “but Crosshair shot to kill.”

She brushed her hand over her forehead as it all settled in. Guilt washed away all other emotion; it was her fault. Her foolishness, her fury, it had all ruined everything.

“The only reason you are still alive is quite literally a miracle,” Tech added. “If you were not Force-sensitive, I would not have been able to save you. The Force saved you.”

Sarah took her hand from her eyes to her mouth as she stared blankly into space. While what Tech was telling her made sense, she couldn’t respond. She couldn’t look at any of them out of the sheer horror and shock that had overcome her.

Desperately, she tried to make sense of things. The Empire, controlling Crosshair, could make him do anything, including killing those he loved.

Sarah was Force-sensitive, and she was lucky to survive. But if it hadn’t been her, and it had been anyone else in the squadron, they certainly would have died.

There was nothing he, or Sarah, or anyone could do.

Sarah was responsible for ruining her own plan, a plan she’d insisted on carrying on with, and in doing so, she’d cheated on Hunter.

And she had no idea what was happening to her Marks, but it was by no means good.

Tech stood up from his chair. “We’ll let you rest.”

He gestured for the others to leave as well, and they quietly made their way to the cockpit, but not without reassuring their support to Sarah first. It meant the world to her that Hunter wasn’t mad at her—of course, he didn’t know half of it.

Omega was the last one to go before Tech, staring at her with wide, worried eyes, wordlessly asking Sarah how she could help. Hell, the kid would fix the whole damn thing if she could.

“I’m fine, Omega,” Sarah whispered. “I just need to be alone for a bit.”

Omega nodded sadly and made her way to her room. Now, Tech was the one looking at Sarah as if he had something to say, but by the look on his face, he felt he shouldn’t.

“Tell me,” Sarah said.

Tech sighed. “You told him you loved him. Crosshair. That time you were poisoned.”

And she immediately regretted making Tech speak. She shouldn’t have heard that, not in her state, but still, the tears immediately returned to her eyes.

“I do,” she whispered. “I did…”

“I’m sorry,” Tech said as he left the room.

Finally, Sarah rested her head in her hands and wept as quietly as she could.

Hours later, with the Marauder still drifting through space, Tech told Sarah she could begin moving on her own so long as she took it easy. That said, the ambience in the ship was still awful. Everyone was quiet, with Wrecker trying to lift everyone’s moods by joking around, but it didn’t work for anyone.

Sarah took advantage of the emptiness of the cockpit to go in by herself. She sat on the pilot’s seat and looked out at the infinite sea of stars while she played with the diamonds in her hands, free of their chain.

She knew she shouldn’t even be looking at them, especially Crosshair’s diamond, but she couldn’t help it. Beside the rifle, which she doubted she’d still use, it was the only thing she had left of him. And dammit, she missed him. She couldn’t decide if she was sad or angry, but at least staring at the stars helped bring her some peace.

Sarah knew he’d been manipulated into doing it, and yet, it still hurt that in the end he did shoot to kill.

Light steps approached, and Sarah turned around to see Omega. The child took a seat in the copilot’s chair and looked at the stars too, her big, bright eyes reflecting the endless specs in the sea of darkness. Omega’s mere presence was a comfort, a symbol of growth, of innocence, of goodwill, like any child would represent to a little bunch of hardened soldiers.

Then, Omega looked at Sarah and caught her gaze.

“Want to talk about it?” The child asked.

“There’s not much more to say, ‘Mega…”

She looked down at the diamond in Sarah’s hands, and Sarah’s own gaze lingered on them as well.

“I’ve seen so many troopers fall, Omega,” Sarah began without lifting her gaze. “But when a trooper dies, you have that certainty, that means to eventually make peace with it. This is nothing like that. Crosshair is there, somewhere, and yet, he’s gone, and there’s nothing I can do about it. I couldn’t save Crosshair. I couldn’t save Fives, I couldn’t save anyone, and in the process, I’ve only done more harm. Just once, I wish I could save someone I love from a fate someone else decided for them.”

Omega took Sarah’s hand. “It’s not your job to save him or anyone. You can try, but it’s not your duty, and you haven’t failed anyone. Please don’t put that pressure on yourself.”

Sarah was at a loss for words, her throat too tight to speak, rendering a sobbing, sniffling mess in front of the child who squeezed her hand tighter.

“Let it out,” Omega said softly.

Sarah smiled through her tears and kept on crying, as Omega did what any great friend would do as she remained next to Sarah while she wept in dismay.

Hunter

He'd heard her sobbing from the hallway of the ship, the sound capable enough to shatter him into pieces. He silently made his way to the cockpit to find that Omega was with her; at least Sarah wasn't all alone, but it was taking every ounce of his willpower to not take Sarah in his arms simply to protect her, if only for a while.

As he watched, Tech and Echo came up silently behind him.

"Hunter," Tech tried calling his attention.

Hunter knew he should be the one comforting Sarah. He shouldn't have left her alone—surely she would recover far faster if she had company, if she didn’t feel abandoned. Still, Hunter managed to draw his attention from the young woman and focus on Tech.

"What are we going to do now?" Tech asked him. "Do we just return to Ord Mantell?"

Hunter sighed. "I don't want to do anything until we make sure Sarah is completely healed. She might need something else, I’m not convinced we’ve heard the last of whatever’s happening with her marks."

"I agree," Echo said.

"Well then, we should check that with her," Tech concluded.

"Check what?" Wrecker appeared behind him with a drumstick in his hand, still chewing through the bite he'd just taken, his voice loud and anything but discreet.

Wrecker’s three brothers glared at him to shut up.

"We know you're out there," Omega called from the cockpit.

The troopers simply resigned and made their way inside the cockpit. As he entered, Hunter could see Sarah wiping her eyes with her wrist before her eyes landed on Hunter, who tried his best not to look at her with pity, even though he also felt miserable about the whole situation with Crosshair.

His enhanced eyesight let him see the way her eyes were swollen, how they were still gleaming with tears that Sarah was trembling to hold back inside. He could see the subtle shaking of her lips; he knew all she wanted to do was break down. Regardless, Sarah was strong. Hunter was confident that she’d make it through that the way she had with everything else until then.

Omega took Sarah's hand and placed it in Hunter's. The sergeant, with great affection towards the child, smiled in gratitude at her, who always seemed to know better when it came to the heart. He then sat down next to Sarah, and when he did, he felt her lean on him. Hunter gently kissed her temple, not caring that everyone else was there, not caring about much else at all, for that matter.

In a fit, Wrecker offered Sarah his drumstick. It didn't have that much meat left on it, but Hunter guessed he thought eating might make her feel better.

Sarah managed a smile at the gesture, touched at Wrecker’s own way of showing she cared.

"No thanks," she said. "It's yours."

"Oh, well," Wrecker said and kept eating.

Tech sighed. "We need to know what we're going to do next."

"What do you have in mind?" Sarah asked. "And why do you have to check with me?"

"We don't want to go through with any other plans until we know you’ll be alright," Hunter said.

"Which means we might have to hide for a while," Tech finished. “I do not think we need to find you any more medical equipment for the time being, but laying low seems feasible.”

"But we still need credits and supplies, don't we?" She said shakily. "Unstable as it is, we have a shot at a life back on Ord Mantell. Let’s go there."

"What about your marks?" Echo asked her. "It wouldn't be right to just keep going if something's wrong with you."

Sarah's eyes drifted for a bit, thinking of an option, until her dim gaze met Hunter’s.

"We could go to Jedha," she said. "We can hide there, and it's the best place for me to heal. We'll find the elders and it'll be easier for me to find out what to do."

"Won't there be Jedi hiding out there?" Tech said. "I mean, won't it be dangerous, with the Empire?"

"We don't have much choice," Hunter countered, protectively squeezing Sarah's hand.

"I don't think there will be Jedi or Empire forces there," Sarah said. "If any Jedi managed to survive…" she trailed off for a bit. Hunter saw something flash in her eyes, and he too remembered Skywalker, Kenobi, the Jedi they had seen so little time ago. Hunter knew Sarah would wonder if they were alright, and possibly feel guilty for not thinking about them sooner.

"They'll be hiding in more remote places, not in one of the central spiritual planets for the Jedi," Sarah continued. "And the Empire knows that, so they won't waste any of their precious time going there," a snarl crept its way into her voice as she finished.

"And won't there be anyone looking for you?" Echo asked her.

Sarah sighed. "I was unconscious when I left Kamino. As far as the Empire's concerned, they got rid of me."

"But if they suspected, they'd start there," Tech said.

"They won’t. When I sent the transmission from Ord Mantell, I had R6 alter its origin to Balmorra," Sarah said. "I don't think the Empire believes in miracles, but if they do, they’ll use my transmission as a base."

"And if they do come after her, we're just going to have to take the risk this time," Hunter added. "Sarah's our priority now, not the Empire."

"I agree," Omega said.

Echo, Tech, and Wrecker exchanged looks and nodded at each other, and Hunter took it as a green light and gave the order.

"Very well," he stood up. "Let's set a course for Jedha."

Tech began punching the coordinates in the ship's dashboard to set the course. Omega scooted closer to Sarah, visibly excited.

"What's Jedha like?" Omega asked her.

"It's the opposite of Kamino," Sarah said, a warm smile appearing on her lips. "Land and desert as far as the eye can see, the sun blazing hot every hour of the day until the night gifts you an infinite view of the galaxy."

"Whoa," Omega said. “You make it sound so beautiful.”

"I'm not sure if you'll love it," Sarah chuckled. It was the first time any of them had heard her laugh in a while. “It’s still a desert.”

"I'm sure I will," Omega said. “It’s where you’re from, after all.”

Hunter could only look at Sarah in adoration at how great she was with Omega, at her will to smile at her despite everything going on. Seeing her like that only made things clearer for him. He knew before, but at that moment more than ever, Hunter was certain he had to protect Sarah even with his final breaths.

Upon arriving at Jedha, Hunter could see Sarah's face brighten just a bit as some of the weight had seemingly been taken off her; it was almost as if the color would return to her eyes.

During the whole trip, she'd been holding his hand, looking at him with guilt. Hunter wouldn’t force any words out of her—he’d never dream of it—but Hunter could guess very well what the source of such remorse was.

Even so, he knew, since Ord Mantell, that he’d never be able to torture her over it. What Sarah needed now was for him to be there for her.

The Marauder landed outside of the large, holy city of Jedha, and Sarah led the squad to a temple within the towering mountains around it. Hunter remained beside her the entire time, holding her close, observing any reaction she may have had. Finally, they stopped before the temple, the large, sand-colored structure with various statues and representations of Jedi, monks and even sorcerers looming in front of them.

"Are you alright?" Hunter checked in on her before going in.

Sarah looked at him, managing a slight curve on her lips. "Yeah. It's good to be home."

"Hey," Hunter told her just before she went inside, giving her hands a squeeze.

She looked at him with wide, expecting eyes, and everything within Hunter went soft.

"We'll be with you the whole time, got it?" He smiled at her.

Sarah smiled back, but her eyes dropped in that same remorse she’d been carrying with her since she woke. "I know you will."

She led them all inside the temple, whose halls were long and lit by torches. Sarah suddenly stopped and her head jerked to the side, as though she'd picked up on something no one else would. Hunter prepared to fight off anyone who came, but then the voice of a young male filled the hallway.

"I could feel you since you entered the planet, Starry-Eyes!"

Whereas that probably would have put anyone else on edge, or so it seemed to Hunter, Sarah's face lit up with a grin. Hunter admired the sight; it was the most she'd smiled since they'd rescued her from Kamino. Sarah looked around to find the source of the voice, and soon they spotted the young, thin man who was sitting on the ground of an adjacent hall, with a large staff in hand, and whose eyes had gone white.

"Chirrut!" Sarah jogged over at the young man, who seemed to be a few years older than her. In response, he smiled as well, and the two joined in a hug. "It's so good to see you!"

"Likewise, my friend," Chirrut responded as they let go of each other, "but I am sensing you carry great weight with you. Why have you come? And who has come with you?"

"Right, introductions," Sarah said. "I guess you could call them my chosen family."

Chirrut faced them as Sarah spoke, naming them individually. Though Chirrut couldn't see them, Hunter knew he was observing them in ways he didn’t yet understand.

"Clone troopers?" The monk questioned.

"Yes," Sarah replied. "Troopers who haven't fallen victims to the Empire, at least..."

"A rarity," Chirrut responded. "I sense that has to do with why you're here," he placed a hand on Sarah's forearm. "Your marks. They are different."

"That's exactly why I'm here," she said, with an edge returning to her voice. "I need to see my parents. Actually, I think I should see the whole council."

"You know where to find them,” Chirrut said. “Go to the main hall, but I suggest you go alone.”

Hunter's instinct to protect Sarah leapt within him, causing him to grip Sarah's hand with strength. She looked at him, almost concerned, and gently brushed his chest to calm him down.

"Hunter, this is my home," she reassured him. "No one here is going to hurt me."

Her eyes slightly trailed downward in doubt before she looked back at Chirrut. "Do you think it'll be fine if I bring him along with me?"

Chirrut shrugged. "I don't think there will be a problem. He has the deepest bond with you."

"How do you know that?" Hunter questioned, hopeful he hadn't sounded too skeptical.

Chirrut chuckled. "The Force is strong. It moves differently between you two. You and Sarah have practically imprinted; your bond with her is that of a guardian."

Hunter's heart sank even if Sarah was looking up at him with all the love she could muster.

"I guess I've done a bad job of that lately," Hunter confessed.

Sarah slowly shook her head. "It was not your fault," she whispered before perking up on her toes to softly kiss him. "You weren't there, there was nothing you could do."

"I should have been there."

And Hunter hadn't been able to shake that sensation since Sarah had boarded the Y-Wing to head to Kamino. He'd denied it, told himself she’d be fine, only to realize it when it was too late. He should have gone with her, he felt that blast to her heart was as much his responsibility as anyone’s.

Putting aside any uncertainty and bitterness regarding Sarah's relationships with him and Crosshair, the sharpshooter was his brother above all else. He should have returned for him too—Sarah had told him that, and Hunter had convinced himself it was too risky. She should have done what Sarah did and gone back for him anyway, maybe that way they’d succeeded. Had he made that decision, Crosshair may never have shot Sarah, and perhaps they’d all be safe and sound now.

But if Hunter felt before that it was too dangerous to return for Crosshair, now that notion had only intensified.

"There is much turmoil within your guardian," Chirrut told Sarah. "Perhaps he should go with you after all. It will help you both."

"Alright," Sarah said. "Do you mind if the rest stay with you in the meantime?"

"Not at all!" Chirrut chimed happily. "I'd love company! I am sure they can tell me many stories of the great war."

"Thanks," she smiled, turning to the rest of the squad. "There are some huts outside. The one with the crescent moon was mine. If it gets dark, you can stay there. It'll be a bit crowded, but it's something. I don't know how long Hunter and I will take."

"Take as much time as you need," Tech said, while the rest of them nodded at her and Hunter.

Sarah faced her childhood friend one more time. "Thank you, Chirrut."

"Anytime," he said. "And, Sarah. You have a trial ahead of you. May the Force be with you."

Sarah nodded at him as her fingers curled around Hunter's, and the group split into two as they headed in opposite directions. Hunter and Sarah walked down the hallways in silence while he observed the way she seemed to know every turn like the palm of her hand, finding a strange sense of comfort at seeing the woman he loved finally returning home.

"What was it like, growing up here?" He couldn't help but ask her.

Sarah smiled softly. "Strict. We were either in class or training almost all the time. There was a lot of meditating, and a lot of working on my own peculiar abilities. Chirrut was born blind, but the Force was always really strong with him. He and I were the special cases here in the temple, taught many of the same things, but as we grew up, he took his path and I took mine. But we had our good times, too."

They stopped before a pair of large doors which began to open, almost automatically, to reveal the large hall inside. It was a circular room with stone chairs along its circumference, each one occupied by a person. Two of those people jolted up at the sight of Sarah, one man and one woman, and they ran to her, whose features strongly resembled hers. Though her back was turned on Hunter, he knew Sarah mirrored their concern as she ran to them too and took them in her arms.

"Sarah!" said the woman as she stroked her hair.

They were both shorter in height than her, but Hunter knew these were her parents. Embracing both of them, Sarah rested her weight on them and shed a few tears. Hunter's heart squeezed at the sight; Sarah had put aside everything and simply allowed herself to be vulnerable.

In the midst of all the mess that her life had been since the war ended, Sarah had ceased to be a chosen one of the Force, and was, at that moment, merely a child desperately in need of a hug from her parents.

"My dear, your marks!" Gasped her mother.

"That's why I'm here," Sarah said as she wiped her tears away, regaining her composure.

Her mother's gaze drifted over to Hunter, and he saw all the features they shared, aside from, of course, the eyes and the hair.

"Who is he?" Asked Sarah’s mother

Sarah thought for a moment before answering. "He's my Guardian."

Hunter's lips curved slightly at what Sarah had called him, and he bowed respectfully to her parents. They bowed back, acknowledging him, with soft smiles on their lips, and returned to their places around the room. Sarah then walked to the center while Hunter remained on the edge, and she faced the elder in the middle.

"Your return is unprecedented," the elder told Sarah.

"It is, Elder Skye," Sarah replied, sitting down cross-legged on the floor. "I need help. Guidance, healing."

"So I see," replied Skye. "Your Marks hold a great weight on them, one that should not be there."

"I can feel it," Sarah said.

"Why did this happen?"

"I..." Sarah hesitated. "I took a lethal shot to the heart. It would have killed me, but I believe the Force wanted to keep me alive. I think that's why my marks look like this now."

"What was your bond with the person who fired the shot?"

Hunter could feel the way Sarah's gaze darkened as she tried to figure out the words, physically struggling to get them out as they formed a knot in her throat.

"I love him," she managed. "And I daresay he loves—loved me too."

Elder Skye raised an eyebrow at Sarah.

“I sense that love is not all there is to this bond, mutual or not,” said the elder.

“You’re right,” Sarah answered. “I imprinted on him when we met, though I didn’t realize immediately. I’m not only attracted to him; the Force binds me to him, it wills it.”

Elder Skye closer her eyes in thought. “An imprint through the Force is meant to be a good thing, it is not meant to cause pain.”

"The pain isn’t his will, but the Empire’s. He's being controlled," Sarah explained. "He doesn't have free will. He's a clone trooper who has an inhibitor chip that makes him follow orders without question. He was turned against me. Even then, I know he struggled and tried to disobey the order, but the Empire's turned him into their pawn. I was only trying to get him back… I tried to save him."

Elder Sky nodded somberly. "My child, what your Marks reflect is the conflict that arose within you. You were not trained as a Jedi, but there is a reason the Jedi emphasized the importance of fear, the danger of attachment. A fear of loss is one of the many paths to the dark side."

"I don't deal in absolutes," Sarah said quietly. "I've never been entirely one thing. Even some of the Jedi tapped on the dark side now and then."

"I am not saying you fall due to this," Skye continued. "Your mentality is certainly too strong for that. But your fear of losing this man, as well as your fear of not being able to save him, will only weigh you down so long as they only remain fears. There are many things you need to understand for you to learn the difference between your fear and the things you have control over. Does that make sense?"

Sarah nodded and looked back up at Skye. "I want to save him. I want to have control over this, to change the fate he’s being submitted to.”

“That is a desire you need to let go of,” Skye said.

“I can’t,” Sarah sobbed. “I already lost someone because I didn't do enough to help him. I don't want that to happen again… Though I daresay it already did. I blew my own cover, I failed because of myself. It was all my fault."

Skye leaned forward on her chair and looked as if she was gazing directly at Sarah's soul. "And whoever told you it was your fault?"

Sarah was caught off guard. She hesitated, and Hunter could tell she knew the answer, but she couldn't emit it. It was then that Skye leaned back on her chair.

"Only you," she said. "You concluded that, and that's hurting you. You are a very strong, wise being, Sarah, and you have incredible power, but you are not all powerful. There are things you cannot control, nor should you seek to control."

"How will I know?"

Skye smiled, emitting an air of serenity only a sage could have. "There is one fundamental principle you need to understand to move forward. Go into the Kyber Crystal caves. Take your Guardian with you. After that, you will be who you need to be to continue on your path."

Sarah bowed in gratitude before standing back up; Hunter noticed her wiping tears from her eyes as she did. As she exited the room, her parents went to her to give her one more hug before leaving.

"Promise you'll spend the night here," her mom said.

"I'm sure we will," Sarah replied. "In fact, the rest of my friends are already in my hut."

"Good," said her mom, and then she faced Hunter. "Please, protect her."

"I will," Hunter replied, crossing his fist over his heart. Sarah's father, who hadn't spoken, offered his hand to Hunter. They grasped each other's forearms in a traditional salute, and Hunter and Sarah walked back to the hallways of the temple.

She knew the way to the caves, so she led the way. They remained silent most of the time, but Hunter still had a question gnawing inside him.

"So... you guys hold the concept of Guardian in high regard here?"

"Very," Sarah answered. "It's really traditional around here. I was actually a bit shocked when Chirrut called you that, but it's fitting. Still, it's... it's more formal than simply saying you're a Guardian now."

"Meaning?"

Sarah stopped walking and looked up at Hunter. A blush was barely visible on her cheeks, but Hunter could see it with ease.

"Meaning... you actually have to manifest it and give your oath," she explained. "It's very similar to a marriage proposal, but it doesn’t necessarily end in marriage, just your oath to protect the other person," she rushed through that last sentence.

"But... Chirrut said we already have that bond."

"Yes, but…” Sarah trailed off. “You've never asked it properly."

Hunter couldn't help but chuckle. "And, hypothetically, how does one manifest and give his oath?"

Sarah smiled, and her blush darkened. She looked so adorable to Hunter in that state. "Whatever you say to give your oath is valid so long as you mean it."

The loud echo of a door closing in the distance distracted them both, trailing their attention to one of the windows nearby.

"It's getting dark," Sarah said, back to her usual demeanor. "We should head for the cave."

"I'm following you," Hunter said.

They stopped by the hut briefly to tell the others what they'd be up to, and then Sarah led Hunter into the entrance of the caves. Unlike those on Kashyyyk, these caves were already lit by torches and gleaming Kyber crystals, and there were no hostile creatures lurking around them.

But despite the safety, Sarah stumbled to a stop as Hunter went in before her, and it wasn’t long before he noticed she wasn’t following him. He turned around; his heart sank when he saw that the charm and blush from their previous talk had faded, and the look of utter regret had returned to her eyes. His gaze met hers, begging her to tell him something, anything.

“Hunter…”

His gaze was soft on her as he walked back and took her hands. “What is it?”

“I can’t go into that cave with you,” she admitted. “Not without first… I–I need to tell you…”

Against her will, her eyes welled with tears and she began to sob. Hunter’s alarm at seeing her cry prompted him to throw his arms around her, but Sarah pulled away, barely bringing herself to look at him.

“I betrayed you, Hunter,” she wailed. “When I was on Kamino, I was unfaithful to you. I slept with Crosshair.”

Hunter sighed and held her tighter. “Sarah, please… Don’t cry…”

He pulled her in closer, his arms fully wrapping around her as he allowed her head to rest on his shoulder and tried to still her trembling with his strong grip.

“I know,” Hunter said quietly. “I already knew, but I don’t care.”

“Don’t say that, Hunter,” Sarah buried her face in his shoulder. “Don’t let yourself believe that you don’t care.”

“You could have died, Sarah” Hunter’s voice broke, squeezing her more. “I could have lost you. That would have been unbearable.”

“Hunter…”

“I don’t care that you slept with Crosshair,” Hunter pulled back enough to look Sarah in the eyes.

“You do,” she denied. “You do and you should. I know you’ve always felt it, you said it yourself, and I know it hurts you. You’re just too kind and selfless to say anything, but it isn’t fair to you.”

“I knew it was going to happen,” Hunter said. “When you woke me up that night just before you left, I knew what would happen if you went for Crosshair. And I let you. I let you go, Sarah.”

Her crying finally quieted down, but she still sniffled and shook, not baring to look at Hunter even while he lovingly cupped her cheek.

“When I saw you in that Y-Wing with that wound across your chest, I…” Hunter trailed off. “I knew nothing else mattered. I just want you, Sarah. I need you to be safe, to be happy, whatever it takes. I’m only mad I wasn’t there with you, that I didn’t protect you.”

“It wasn’t your fault, I insisted on going alone. And that still doesn’t make it right,” she whispered. “It doesn’t erase my mistake, my betrayal.”

“Sarah,” his deep, gravelly voice sounded sweet when he spoke her name, bringing her colorful irises to look at him. “You don’t need my forgiveness.”

“I do, Hunter!” She cried. “I’m sorry… I’m sorry, I’m sorry—!”

“Then you have my forgiveness,” he comforted. “You’re with me now, you’re alive, and you’re safe. That’s all I care about.”

Another tear rolled down her cheek. “How can you be so forgiving with me?”

Hunter softly smiled at her. “I love you, Sarah.”

Before she could sob again, Sarah leaned in for another warm embrace in Hunter’s arms. There was no feeling quite like resting in that strong frame of his, enveloped perfectly by him like a weapon in its case.

“I love you too, Hunter.”

And as they stood there, she felt safe. Some of the weight that had been on her had lifted, even if things were by no means fixed, or even set in the right track yet.

With a shaky breath, Sarah pulled away, her hands firmly holding Hunters as her body slowly ceased to tremble.

“Then I’m ready,” she said.

Sarah knew her way around and soon the two arrived at a large bulb within the cave system. From the looks of the carvings and lighting in it, Hunter could assume it was often used for ceremonies and rituals. The markings on the floor were similar to those on Sarah's body, and they all glistened a bright purple color; they led to the center, where a spiral glowed the same way on the ground.

"I have to step in the middle..." Sarah told Hunter. She looked up at him reassuringly, gently caressing his forearms while kissing him softly on the lips. "You should probably stay here."

Hunter nodded at her as she let go of him and walked over to the center. The moment she arrived, the glowing of the floor and the other crystals scattered along the cave began glowing even brighter, and it seemed as if the rest of the place had darkened.

"The manifestation of the universe itself," spoke a sovereign female voice, filling all the space around them. "You hold turmoil. You hold regret. You hold fear. What is it that brings you here?"

Sarah somberly looked up at the cave. "I... I want to heal. I want to save Crosshair. I want to know how."

"Much doubt you have, it has blinded you."

"I'm afraid so," said Sarah. "I have no clue what I have to do to make things better."

Inside the cave, a breeze began to swirl around Sarah. It went from being wind to a form of energy that began closing itself around her body. From the edge of the bulb, Hunter watched as Sarah's marks and eyes began to glow of multiple colors. Sarah let out a sharp gasp and her body tumbled back, only to be supported by that same rush of energy. Hunter's instinct was to run to her, but the wall of wind stopped him.

"She will be safe, Guardian,” the voice spoke to him. “Trust her. Trust in the Force that binds you."

The whirlpool of wind and energy seemed to calm down, levitating Sarah’s body at the center of the spiral while she continued to glow, her hair flowing as if she were under water.

"The power of Umbara that you harnessed to heal once is a perfect example of that which you must know, Moonstrider."

"Not all that is light will always be good, not all that is dark will always be evil."

"Knowing this, you now know what you need to know."

As the voice faded, so did the wall of wind and energy, and Sarah slowly started to come back down with her eyes closed, and Hunter knew that it was the time to rush to her.

With nothing stopping him, he reached the center of the cave and took Sarah in his arms before she reached the ground, and her eyes gently fluttered open. He looked at her and gasped softly as he saw the marks on her body had changed.

They looked the way they used to when he'd met her, but the color was now a rich, sapphire blue. The lines were fine and delicate, and there were even new additions in the form of swirls and lace-like patterns beautifully framing her eyes and forehead that had also expanded on more areas of her arms, the backs of her hands, and her torso. And the redness that had lingered on her chest due to the blast wound had disappeared, returning her skin to its natural color now that the wound had healed.

"Hunter?" She spoke softly.

Hunter hugged Sarah tightly, relieved that the festival of colors had returned to her eyes. Sarah looked at him, confused.

"I..." she said. "I feel better. I feel healed, but... I'm still not certain. I still don't have an answer."

"Sarah," Hunter gently brushed her hair off her face. "Remember what the voice told you. You know what you need to know. Keep it in mind, alright? Maybe the answers won't come to you as affirmations. You'll know them when the time is right."

Sarah smiled softly at Hunter and she squeezed his hands with hers. "Thanks..."

"Sarah..." he spoke her name again, this time softer than ever. "I'm always going to be there for you. I've sworn to protect you even with my final breaths."

"Hunter,” her gaze widened in realization. “Are you—"

"I'm in love with you. Every fiber of my body belongs to you now and I want to spend the remainder of my days making sure you're safe and warm. Sarah, I'm giving you my oath as your Guardian, if you will accept it," he finished.

Her face lit up with a smile and joyful tears formed in her eyes, sitting upright in his arms.

"Yes," she sighed. "Yes, Hunter, I accept your oath."

After Hunter had poured his heart out to her, the two shared an intimate kiss as they embraced with all their strength, with only the cave, the crystals, and the Force itself bearing witness, as now they both had what they needed to continue on their path.

They emerged from the cave when the sun had already set, and the sea of stars on the Jedhan sky that Sarah talked to Omega about greeted them in all its glory. Hand in hand, Hunter followed Sarah’s lead as she took him back to her old hut; they’d expected to meet everybody else there, but they were gone.

With her intuition, Sarah got the feeling Chirrut had led them elsewhere, granting them other spaces to sleep—an intuition that, given their official bond, Hunter could pick up on.

Hunter closed the hut as Sarah walked in farther. Inside, warm-toned lights illuminated the cozy room, adding to its emotional value for her as she brushed her fingers over toys and statues that had been there since she was little.

“Sarah,” Hunter called her attention.

He felt his body go warm when she looked at him; she looked tired, but in a far better state than she had been when they’d arrived at Jedha, and he was still getting used to her marks being sapphire blue instead of black.

She looked beautiful.

Sarah grinned and turned away with a bashful blush. “Hunter, you’ll make me fluster.”

Hunter gave her one of his smoother smiles in return, one that he knew would make her weak in the knees.

“Perhaps that’s what I want,” he said as he walked up to her and took her hands again, facing her.

They stared each other in the eyes, and Hunter slid his hands onto Sarah’s waist, bare as the bandages were still the only thing that covered her upper body. He watched her eyes flutter shut as she felt his light touch on her skin, and as she sank into the moment, she brushed her hands up his chest until they rested on his broad shoulders.

Hunter chuckled. “You’re lovely.”

She giggled softly as he took a hand to cup her jaw, his brown eyes looking into hers with gentle desire as he slowly lowered himself to kiss her lips. Sarah kissed him back without question and wrapped her arms around him, arching her back to press herself more onto Hunter’s body. Absently, his hand on her lower back moved down, just enough for it to fiddle with her armor’s belt, the only thing that secured what still covered her legs.

Hunter began to tug on it, but with a gasp, Sarah pulled back, looking at him with wide eyes.

“Now?” She stammered.

Hunter wouldn’t deny that she already had him feeling lustful. They’d just sealed an important bond, they knew how much they loved each other, they were alone together in the night, in private, behind closed doors. Hunter had wanted her since he’d first laid his gaze on her on Anaxes; he couldn’t breathe without wanting to be beside her, to take in her scent, have her fill every one of his enhanced senses.

But he held back, and slowly, he began to let go of her.

“We don’t have to,” he said. “If you want to rest—”

“No,” she cut him off, pulling him back in. “I want to, Hunter. I want you.”

He took it as enough of a signal to finally drown in her. Hunter kissed her lips, finally without having to hold back any of his desire the way he’d always had to hold back before. They’d never been truly in private, always with others in a room, or the same building. This was the first time Hunter had Sarah all to himself, and he’d make the most of it without a second thought.

They were equally matched in the strength with which they kissed each other, fierce and fiery, loving with only a tint of desperation for one another. As he pushed Sarah onto the bed, Hunter swiftly removed her belt and threw aside every last bit of imperial plastoid that still clung to her. When she was splattered on the bed, with her hair fanning around her head, Hunter carefully—but not with any less desire—removed the bandages that covered her torso, until finally she was naked under him.

Hunter trailed his eyes over every marking of her body, every intricate tattoo that highlighted her bond to the Force, as well as the scar at the center of her chest.

His focus was only broken when he felt her hand on his waist, and she too began to tug at the armor that covered him. Bit by bit, Hunter removed the plastoid and his body glove until he was naked too, and now he felt Sarah’s gaze on him, taking in every scar he had as well as the skeleton tattoo that continued down the left side of his body.

She brushed her hand over his chest, her fingers delicately treading over the hair on his skin, her touch making him shiver. Hunter watched as Sarah’s gaze traveled along the trail of hair that led down to his cock, her jaw dropping at the sight of how big and hard it was.

But Hunter couldn’t focus on his own ego at the moment. His sights were set between Sarah’s legs where her folds already gleamed with her arousal, the slick which he could already smell. His gaze darkened, his pupils dilated as he lowered his knees to the ground at the foot of the bed, positioning himself between her legs as he gently parted her thighs, and as he made his way down, Sarah took a hand to his hair to rid him of the bandana, setting his curls loose.

She wanted to praise him on how beautiful he looked with his hair falling gracefully down the sides of his face, but she could only look at him that way for so long before Hunter, void of rationality, dove in and buried his face in Sarah’s cunt, his tongue broadly brushing over her folds, taking in as much of her taste as he possibly could. Every hair on his body stood on end at the sound of Sarah moaning; her ecstatic voice somehow made her taste better.

Hunter pressed himself as much as he could to her. His arms went around Sarah’s butt and held her waist from above, keeping her still even when she wanted to squirm with the liquid heat that pooled between her legs. Hunter licked slow and fast, from her entrance to the pearl of her clit, up and down, he even slipped his tongue down her entrance.

She tasted better than he ever could have imagined, sweeter and more exotic than the rarest of fruits in the galaxy. Every noise she made only aroused Hunter further, making him moan and growl into her tender flesh, only heightening the bliss she felt. Sinking further into ecstasy, Hunter began to rut his hips onto the bed, desperate to feel more, capable of making himself reach his climax just by eating her out.

When she was on the very edge, Sarah fisted Hunter’s luscious black curls with her hand and tugged with the slightest strength, but the gesture held an immense lust, it had Hunter seeing white. Not long after, Sarah moaned louder, her voice bordering on screams of utter pleasure that she tried and failed to control. Her entire body squirmed, stopped by Hunter’s grip on her, as his tongue moved faster and faster on her clit.

He couldn’t think, much less speak; Hunter could know no sobriety when it came to tasting her, to feeling her getting wetter on his lips and watching her quiver because of him.

Being on his knees in front of her seemed a fitting position, one where he could worship that woman, bring her pleasure and heat and anything she so desired, whether it was his body or the stars, he would bring it to her.

But as he grunted and panted into her skin, absently planting kisses to her clit, Sarah’s delicate hand tilted his chin up to look at her. She led him up to the bed, both of them kissing as she pushed against him and rolled him over so that now Hunter’s back rested flat on the bed.

Hunter was just beginning to make more sense of the world when he saw her climbing on him and straddling, slowly sliding herself down his cock, a deep, silky moan dripping from her lips as she reached the base of his shaft.

“Fuck…” Hunter groaned, his head thrown back onto the pillows as she began rocking her hips against him.

A series of low, breathy moans left him, their pace in tandem with Sarah’s hips; one of his hands fisted the covers of the mattress while the other one traveled up her thigh, found rest on the rich flesh of her ass before he trailed it up more to gently knead at her breast as she rode him. Eventually, his other hand left the mattress and went to massage her other breast, hanging onto her that way until he held her hips and aided in her thrusting, increasing her pace until they were both on the edge of climax again.

Mustering his strength, Hunter sat up, only wanting to feel closer to Sarah. Her legs wrapped around his waist, and the new angle somehow made her feel fuller inside, the friction even sweeter than before. Hunter used his hips to grind in and out of her; they looked each other in the eyes, both only resorting to whimpers and moans to convey how much they would desire each other for as long as they lived.

The tingling began to expand through Sarah’s body, rendering her moans into tiny mewls, announcing her next climax.

“Cum with me,” Hunter groaned. “Fuck, I wanna fill you up…”

“Hunter…” she moaned, the sound alone nearly throwing him over the edge.

“I wanna cum inside you,” he admitted as his hands traveled to her upper back, wrapping her in an embrace.

“Do it,” she whimpered. “Fill me up, Hunter…”

Hunter ran his fingers through her hair and cupped the back of her head, his forehead resting on hers while they were both as close as they could possibly be to one another. He thrust harder and faster into her until, at the same time, they reached the peaks of their pleasure, moaning each other’s names out with every wave of their orgasms. Hunter tightened his arms around Sarah when he finally felt ropes of cum shooting out of his cock, filling her up the way he’d been aching to do.

As his body relaxed, Hunter lay back on the bed bringing Sarah along with him, with her head resting on his chest. He could hear his heartbeat and hers racing, until after some time lying still on the bed, their paces slowed back down to normal.

Absently, Hunter’s fingers traced along the patterns of Sarah’s marks on her arms, her back, even gently along her face. He paid attention to her heartbeat and soon heard it slowing down more, marking her as sleeping.

Hunter chuckled to himself; how beautiful could she be even while doing the smallest things?

He brought himself back to consciousness and gently rested her body beside him, draping the bed’s covers over her body and himself. Lying behind her, Hunter wrapped himself around Sarah, holding her close to him, so that perhaps, when she woke up, she would do so engulfed in Hunter’s warmth, feeling his bare skin against hers as he embraced her after a long adventure that had ultimately ended in his loving, protective grip.

He was her Guardian now, and he’d live up to that.

Taglist: @zoeykallus @sageislostinspring @misogirl828 @dangerousstrawberrypie @salaminus @ladykatakuri @seriowan @rain-on-kamino @prozacspice @eyecandyeoz

Thank you for reading!

#moonstrider writes #the moonwalker series #tbb hunter smut #oc sarah adhara #tbb hunter x oc #sergeant hunter x oc #tbb fanfic #tbb smut #the bad batch smut #tbb hunter #sergeant hunter

46 notes · View notes

a-lil-perspective · 2 years

Text

I posted 2,283 times in 2022

1,257 posts created (55%)

1,026 posts reblogged (45%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@a-lil-perspective

@superiorsniper

@moonstrider9904

@fairycosmos

@shadowthestoryteller

I tagged 2,064 of my posts in 2022

Only 10% of my posts had no tags

#it’s a lil thing - 1,349 posts

#crosshair - 769 posts

#clone trooper crosshair - 549 posts

#sergeant hunter - 464 posts

#the bad batch - 442 posts

#bad batch - 359 posts

#clone force 99 - 356 posts

#soft sniper sunday - 352 posts

#tbb crosshair - 338 posts

#crosshair bad batch - 309 posts

Longest Tag: 140 characters

#ever since my breakdown i’ve never fully recovered mentally and like my brain shuts down a lot and i can’t articulate what i’m trying to say

My Top Posts in 2022:

Hunter: Wtf do you say after you kiss someone.

Wrecker: Don’t forget to like, subscribe, and smash that notification bell!

Tech: Compliment on their tactic. Elaborate on what a fascinating sensation they provided, and if mutual pleasure is reached, inquire about an additional act of relation—

Crosshair: You want a mint.

Crosshair: If she says no, tell her you’re not asking.

Hunter: *awkwardly putting the ring back into his pocket because he’s a fucking sap for Cyare and one kiss already got him weak* Oh… okay…

Hunter: So just to be clear, no proposing?

The boys:

632 notes - Posted May 22, 2022

Tech: *going over safety protocol*

Tech: And should I receive a blaster wound and find myself incapacitated, what do you do?

Crosshair, already cocking his rifle: Avenge you.

Tech: No.

706 notes - Posted February 11, 2022

Wrecker: I bet u guys can’t make a sentence without the letter “a”.

Tech: You thought so, did you? Well, sorry to burst your bubble, but numerous sentences could be constructed without employing the first letter of our primitive lexicon.

Wrecker:

Crosshair: Fuck you.

707 notes - Posted June 7, 2022

Wrecker, waking up after a full 12 hour nap: Where am I?

Crosshair, sarcastically: Heaven.

Wrecker: Oh.

Wrecker: Didn’t think you’d be here.

778 notes - Posted May 31, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

—Tech.

998 notes - Posted February 8, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#I CAN’T STOP FUCKING LAUGHING AT THE LONGEST TAG LIL YOU MENTALLY DISTURBED GREMLIN THAT LITERALLY SUMS ME UP😂😂#like wow😂😂#also all my top posts involve Tech.😏#well almost all of them #a surprise to be sure #yee haw #tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review #it’s a lil thing

13 notes · View notes

engagemythrusters · 1 year

Text

Okay. Bad batch time.

(Crossing fingers so so hard) please please please even a mention of crosshair. Just. Pleeeeaaaasse.

Don’t know why I’m bothering bc crosshair is never there. God. Fucking frustrating.

Anyway time to actually start.

Wheee broken ship

Commando clone!!!

Oh wait he’s gonna die isn’t he :((( I don’t want him to :((( I love him :(

Oh :(((((((((

Ooooh there’s more! Im still sad but I love commando clones anyway they’re good boys <3

Who the fuck is this guy. I don’t care. I want my boys. And my beautiful sweet girl.

Oh my god we all know plpatine wants himself cloned just get on with it

904… so close to 9904… :’(

I thought they killed Lama Su??

Oh my god fuck off Cid.

Yes break ties with Cid, do it. Do it!

“How hard could scavenging cargo be?” Omega sweetie. You know by now!

Hi gonky! Bye Gonky!

I want a family of space mice to build a home in wreckers boot. I think he would like that.

“Whatever did this wasn’t human” how do you know the crew was human? Could’ve been trandoshians for all he knows.

Yeah tech don’t go by yourself! Everyone keeps leaving omega :(

I really need to see Omega and Wrecker hugging. That would be super therapeutic for me rn.

Ew yucky sticky slimy :(

Zillo beast?!

No it can’t be bc it’s feet are wrong

But what else would it be? Cloning stuff… that’s what the chancellor ordered a long time ago right?

But its feet…?

Hunter: get off ship! Tech: research vessel!!! :D

“Take cover!” Does not do so himself

BRO YOU JUST LET IT LOOSE

Oh baby :((( oh my girl :( the good thing is I don’t think she knows those would’ve been her brothers that it ate

Tho 🥺 wreckers hand on her shoulder… I’m absolutely weak for when wrecker is the soft big brother

He’s just a baby! He’s hungry for energy! He baby.

Mean baby that fucjing killed brothers tho >:(

Ope! There’s it’s toes! It is indeed the zillo beast. Toes just needed to form.

OoOoOooOh tHe cLaW

Commando clone <3

He buckles her in 🥺

I love so much when they get to be big brothers it makes me very happy

Commando clones <3

I’m very sad they have to work for the empire I want them to have better lives. They deserve so much more. But I love them nevertheless.

Hang on… why are they being rounded up…

What’s going on…

Oh LULA <3

ECHO AND REX <3

Seriously who the fuck are these people. I don’t care about this doctor. Boring.

How is Lama Su alive I thought he was killed…?

NO DO NOT STEAL OMEGA >:(

Do not take my baby girl >:(((((

10/10 planet for a base tho. So pretty. Wish it was for anyone but the fucking empire tho.

Overall, an okay ep. I didn’t mind it. Not as exciting as I wanted, but I still enjoyed it. Mostly bc Omega <3 my girl <33 0/10 for no crosshair or echo tho.

#star wars: the bad batch

6 notes · View notes

here-comes-the-moose · 2 years

Text

I just made myself emotional. I was thinking about what if the Bad Batch was on a mission and they had to rescue a baby and/or reunite it with its family. And none of the members can get the baby to stop crying but then Crosshair enters the room, since he wasn’t there before for whatever reason, and the baby starts to calm down. So immediately whoever is holding the baby passes it to Crosshair, who is like no I don’t think that’s a good idea I don’t know anything about babies, but he takes the baby since he secretly wanted to hold it bc he’s actually a big softie, and the baby immediately stops crying and is just staring up at him and reaches up towards him. When Crosshair tries to pass the baby to someone else, the baby starts fussing again, so then for the rest of the mission, Crosshair is just holding and playing with this baby. He also almost cries when they have to give the baby back to the family.

#I’m just so weak for soft Crosshair #I feel like babies would like him for some reason #maybe this is me projecting onto him again #since I also have a major resting bitch face #but babies LOVE me #star wars tbb #tbb crosshair #star wars the bad batch

77 notes · View notes

icouldntfinditsoiwroteit · 3 years

Text

Clones love being petted

Clones love being petted, if it is a close brother or someone they trust like their Jedi who just starts petting them in the head, they will melt and if they start to play with their hair in case of long hair or massaging their scalp, if they could they would purr or can they?

Sooooo.......

Clones and their preferences in pets

GO!!

Group petting sessions only happen after a bad missions or after the first mission of a new batch of shinnies.

But they are very common between batchmates, couples or in the case of being the last member of their batch, another group of troopers who are the same kind of adopts them.

The 501

Would they let Anakin pet them? Some, mostly the veterans and in some cases the shinnies.

What about Ashoka? Similar to Anakin but Shinnies are actually more hesitant with her.

Rex: He doesn't let anyone pet him since he is the Captain of the 501 legion and needs to work and can't lose time with petting sessions, but when Anakin suddenly "petted" (it was more like ruffling his hair gently since he had been in the medbay after a bad mission) him he does "subtle" things to earn another pets but he mostly gets pats the in the shoulder or just a grateful smile, he doesn't dislike it but he doesn't want to receive a pat, he wants pets.

When Cody found out he teased him for weeks, since when he did get another pet it was in front of Cody, Cody and his batchmates are the only others who cant pet him.

Fives: When Domino squad wasn't on the best of terms, he would let almost any brother pet him, this was mostly to spite his batchmate since petting is something most clones only let other clones who they trust do and he knew that he had really fluffy hair that his batchmates also loved to pet.

While they are on the Rishi moon outpost he started to let them pet him again and vice versa.

When he and Echo enter the 501 legion only Echo could pet him since he could not bare the thought of letting anyone else but his last batchmate do it, after he loses Echo only Tup could pet him in the rare occasions that Fives would let him, after Tup died there wasn't any actual opportunity to receive any kind of pet, but, if there had been, he wouldn't have let anyone else pet him again.

Echo: When Domino squad wasn't on the best of terms, Echo unlike Fives wouldn't let anyone actually give him any kind of pets, but on the Rishi moon outpost he was one of the first ones of the squad to offer to pet any of them, Hevy was the second by letting Echo pet him and vice versa.

After joining the 501 legion he would also only let Fives pet him, but later he let Kix pet him from time to time after growing closer.

After being rescued from the Tech union, he didn't let anyone actually pet him or touch him in any way since he had become uncomfortable with any type of physical touch, when he was having a panic attack, Wrecker used Lula to pet him, this helped him trough the panic attack and later to become more familiar and comfortable to physical touch, he later was mostly comfortable with Wrecker petting him and later with Omega.

Tup: He didn't like being petted that much since it would tangle his hair, although he was open to pats by most brothers.

Dogma and Fives where the only ones who he would let pet him and Fives would sometimes times, help comb his hair, specially Dogma who liked to comb his hair after every mission, when Dogma is taken away Tup stopped letting Fives comb his hair, not because of resentment but because it was his way of mourning Dogma.

Dogma: He to the distress of other brothers had one of the fluffiest hairs in the galaxy but he hated when someone messed up his hair, only in the night cycle would he let Tup pet him, although this stopped completely during Umbara and obviously after it. But after Dogma killed Krell and they waited for the republic to reach them Tup snuck into his cell and offered comfort with pets.

Jesse: Due to being bald he didn't receive as many pets as other brothers, but he still loved receiving scalp massages by any brother, although he enjoyed them the most when it was Kix, Fives or Hardcase.

Kix: He likes being petted by Jesse but being the medic of the 501 legion he doesn't have as much time as others, but he will also let a sick brother pet him to comfort them or he will pet them.

Appo: This man is a big softie and one of the pickiest clones out there, he wants his pets in a exact way, if it's to harsh he'll tell the brother to do it gentler, same if it is to gentle, any brother who pets him always waits for his instruction, this is to prevent any trouble and to help him fall asleep, since Appo is a insomniac.

Ashoka and Anakin: At some point in the war they had become the designated petters for the clones, why? For some reason their pets where the best, not even the clones could explain why (good vibes=good pets). Some clones also really liked Anakin's mechanic arm since it was cool to the touch and some liked that. Ashoka being a carnivore species, naturally had long nails so many where fans of long nails. They both share the fifth place as the best petters in the GAR.

212:

Cody: He doesn't let ANYONE pet him, he is the marshal commander, he can't waste time with such childish things, he can't lose any time in such silly things............

The 212 alongside Obi Wan can pet him whenever they want, they will also pet him to make him sleep for at least four hours, his batchmates also do this since Cody is weak when it comes to pets, he will literally melt at any touch of that kind.

Waxer: He personally doesn't like being petted that much, but he loves giving pets to anyone who need them, he also likes to pet Boil out of the blue.

Boil: He LOVES pets, he doesn't know why, he just loves them. Unfortunately Waxer uses this against him by petting him out of nowhere, no matter how much he wants to take his hand away he just ends up leaning into the touch.

Obi Wan: This bastard will use the power of pets to make most of his men sleep or at least rest, being a total hypocrite at the same time, if they don't like being petted he will let them pet him since it seems his men are fans of his straight hair which is something different from the usual curly hair.

Wolfpack:

Wolffe: Over sized puppy.........that's it, he will act tough but he is like a puppy when someone pets him and god forbid they stop because he will either glare at them or use his puppy eyes, who knew he had them? May god have mercy on any brother who starts a petting session because they will be stuck in it for a good while, although Wolffe does prefer pets from Boost, Sinker, Comet, Fox, Plo Koon and Bly, he also likes petting Rex since it annoys him.

Boost: This man does NOT like pets, he will bite someone's arm off before that happens, the most he will allow is a small pat from Plo Koon, but surprisingly he gives some of the best pets in the entire GAR, he is ranked as the third best at giving pets, no one knows how, not even him.

Sinker: He is very shy about pets, he does like a good petting session but only given by either Boost, Wolffe or Plo Koon, this has a lot to do due to him feeling incredibly vulnerable during the whole thing, this is why he only lets himself be vulnerable in private, although he will gladly give a petting session to any brother who needs it.

Comet: He is basically the stressball of the whole Wolfpack, but in a good way, this way is that when any brother is stressed, they will pick him up and start petting him, this includes Plo Koon, although this has caused some sibling rivalry between him and the rest of the Wolfpack since Plo Koon give some of the best pets.

Plo Koon: He loves being able to give any sort of comfort to his men "sons", he has to admit that petting someone is very enjoyable and he is ranked as the sixth best at giving pets in the GAR.

Lighting squad:

Ponds: He is honestly the most cat like from all the clones, some days he will hiss at any kind of touch and other days he will sit besides any brother and put their hand on top of his head as a way of demanding pets, he does this with the shinnies the most, since it helps build trust and it can distract or comfort them after a bad mission.

Mace Windu: May the force bless this man, Lighting squad has the highest number of clones with long hair, this is due to him being really good at tending to long hair from his experience with Depa, he ranks as the fourth best petter in the GAR.

Coruscant Guard:

Fox: He is a sucker for pets but the only way anyone can manage to pet him is for him to be exhausted, in the medbay, to blackmail him with a shinnies feelings or to be Wolffe, Bly and Ponds, those three always force him to relax, first with Ponds asking Fox for pets, later with Bly petting him without Fox even noticing and finally with Wolffe demanding for pets, since Ponds is one of Fox's youngest vod he can't say no.

Thorn: This man surprisingly isn't a big fan of pets, he feels that his hair is always greasy so he doesn't like people touching it but he is good a pets or at pulling stubborn brothers into petting sessions.

Hound: This man has permanent ownership of the position as the best petter in the entire GAR, this is due to his experience with mastiffs.

The Bad Batch(unlike in canon I'm making it so that they had a normal relationship with the regs, because fuck canon and Filoni):

Wrecker: This soft boi, he holds second place of the best petter in the GAR, not only does his size give him a bed shape for any vod who is being petted but he is surprisingly gentle and patient when it comes to petting someone, he really like being petted by Tech and Echo since they both have trouble when it comes to physical touch, so for them to be comfortable with him giving them pets or them petting him, it makes him extremely happy.

Hunter: He does NOT like receiving pets, this is mostly because it sort of overwhelms him so he sticks to petting his brothers, especially Crosshair who acts tough but actually likes Hunter's pets, this makes Hunter a proud ori'vod.

Tech: Just like Echo he is not a fan of physical touch but when he feels comfortable he will pet himself with Lula as a way to ask Wrecker for pets and sometimes from Hunter.

Crosshair: He is one of the most stubborn asses out there, he says he hates pets, but if Hunter manages to wrangle him into a petting session he literally melts, and he may or may not have liked it when Echo also petted him for a little while during one of this petting sessions.

204 notes · View notes

happytroopers · 3 years

Text

Post-drinking game, pre-hangover // Hunter x Reader

Tw: Alcohol use

Hi I’m drunk and want hunter to carry ME to bed. So my birthday gift to u is this

Also hunter is only SOFT when he thinks no one will notice you can’t change my mind

“C’mon, sweetness.” Hunter sighed using the toe of his boot to nudge your knee, though you didn’t stir. You didn’t even twitch as you continued to snooze on the floor of the Havoc Marauder’s barracks. Wrecker was about five feet away propped up against a wall, clutching a Corellian ale as a come down while muttering something incoherent. Tech had dozed off with his goggles on, the HUD scrolling though an article of some sort. Crosshair was stone cold sober, sitting up in his top bunk, pretending to be asleep while he chewed on his toothpick. He didn’t care if they were comfortable, “I’m not letting you sleep in the floor.”

Ok, so maybe allowing a drinking game with contraband booze wasn’t the best idea for post-mission team bonding....

Especially after Wrecker dared the group to keep up with him. Hunter, Tech, and Crosshair at least stood a chance, what they lacked in sheer bulk they made up for in genetically enhanced metabolism and boosted tolerance. Not to mention Jango Fett had a liver of steel before the Kaminoans did origami with his DNA. You, however, had none of those things. But you did have iron clad determination and a dangerous competitive streak. Neither of these traits boded well for you by the third round of the card game, when your vision was blurring so much you couldn’t read your cards. By mid fourth round, you disqualified yourself by slumping onto Hunter’s shoulder-out cold.

Squatting down, he brushed some stray hair off your face. He didn’t need the enhanced senses to smell the Pantoran equivalent of vodka flooding your system. If he couldn’t smell the alcohol radiating off of you, it would almost be cute how peaceful you seemed. Sprawled out in front of the view port, breaths heavier than usual, occasionally mumbling something or other- ok, maybe it was still a little cute.

“Oh, You’re gonna hate us in the morning.”’ He muttered to you, keeping a scolding facade. He imagined the headache and nausea wouldn’t be fun, but he could save you from a sore back, “But you’ll hate me a little less if you don’t sleep on our dirty floor.”

You still didn’t rouse, but the sergeant didn’t expect you too. Instead, he gently tossed one of your arms over his shoulder and the other around his neck before tucking his arms under the fold of your knees and the small of your back. Carefully, he hoisted you up slowly, making sure your head would rest against his chest instead of lolling back, “Yep, here we go.”

His voice was uncharacteristically soft, enough so that he was glad Wrecker and Tech weren’t awake to hear it- lest he get teased for ‘going soft’. At least Crosshair seemed apathetic enough not to say anything as Hunter carried you out, smiling softly when you subconsciously nuzzled into his chest. With you so close, he could feel you heartbeat thudding in your chest- slow, lethargic but steady.

In the small ship, it didn’t take long to get to your quarters- a former supply closet that had been cleaned out enough to shove a twin sized mattress and your footlocker in. You still used one of Crosshair’s weapons kits as a coffee table. As gently as possible, Hunter lowered you into the bed, careful not to bump you head on the shelves that hung over you pillow, only meeting resistance when your arms linked around his neck and a quiet groan. Apparently, he wasn’t careful enough not to wake you.

“Oh, so you aren’t dead down there?” He teased, gingerly peeling your weak hold off to lay you back onto the pillow. In the dark of the room, he knew your bleary eyes couldn’t see anything but his intensified sight could easily read the tired pout on your lips, “Yeah, I’d make that face too if I was that bad at cards.”

Indignantly, you huffed- muttering something that would have sounded a lot like curses if it wasn’t so jumbled. Hunter chuckled, one hand pulling you blanket up to your shoulder while the other pushed you back on you pillow, “There we go.”

Just as he was about to pull away to go watch the scanners for the couple of hours, your hot hand caught his fingers. While the hold was rather weak, Hunter could feel the effort you were putting into it, “What? Do you feel sick?”

Feebly, you tugged him back closer to the beside so he had to squat to look you in the eye. When he was close enough, you dropped his hand to rest your palm against his inked cheek, thumb lazily tracing the ridges by his lip.

“Stay.” You requested, voice thick with sleep and liquor but sincere. Hunter was hesitant at first, would you still want him there in the morning when you were sober? But then you’re voice was quieter, somehow more fragile, “please-“

“Yeah, all right.” He breathed, clambering into the twin size bed and pulling you half on top of him so you’d both fit. It was almost impossible how quickly you folded around him, his arms instinctively curling around you as his cheek rested on your hair.

Hunter caved quicker than he’s like to admit, but managed to make it sound like a chore. In reality, with those eyes looking up at him and that voice, nothing in the galaxy could keep him away.

#bad batch hunter #hunter bad batch #bad batch hunter x reader #sergeant hunter x reader #hunter x reader

375 notes · View notes

aenaxes · 3 years

Note

Hey! I was wondering if you could write Crosshair going to the reader for random cuddles no matter where they are, late at night or out on the beach with the batch. BTW, I love the way you write and it never fails to get me inspired to draw our favorite clone boys. Good luck with Uni!

warnings: none

w/c: 1.6k

a/n: ahh tysm for this request! i got a little carried away lol but it's just because i had a lot of fun writing it! :-) hope this helps stoke the artistic imagination! (and thankfully uni is out for the summer so i have more time for our favorite clone boys)

It’s one of the better known facts that Crosshair doesn’t like to be touched, even if warranted, even if he’s asked. There are too many variables in another’s hands: accidents happen, sabotage is never unlikely, and sometimes youthful fear rears its cruel head, and he is flooded with the knee-jerk reflex of memories in the alabaster halls of Tipoca.

So the first time you cuddle with Crosshair, it’s just as much of a disaster as you expect it to be.

Crosshair lies like a corpse over the centre of your bunk, back rigid and ramrod straight, his deathly look complete with the ridiculous bandage criss-crossed over his hairline (courtesy of the simple joys of a ten metre human javelin toss and Wrecker’s miscalculated aim).

Where painkillers weren’t quite enough to keep the concussion headaches at bay, he’d somehow come to the conclusion that you would be. And who were you to turn down a sullen Crosshair mumbling awkwardly for cuddles at your door?

With careful hands and just enough of a firm touch to coax him onto his side without spooking him out of his moping, you maneuver him with his back towards the wall and gently push him further in before you climb onto the space beside him. He flashes you an uncertain look, and you offer him a wry smile in return.

“Relax a little,” you say, lifting his limp arm and slotting yourself against his side until your chests are flush. It’s less cuddling than it is you trying to mold yourself around the hard, firm lines of the tension etched into Crosshair’s muscle and poise. But if he was willing to put aside his standoffish pride to ask you for cuddles, you won’t deny him. Finally content with your arrangement, you lift your chin and fix him with a wry smile. “I can’t spoon a board.”

“Was that an insult?” he offers, a weak attempt at his usual wit that comes out as more of a whimper than bite. But to his credit, he’s listening to you, and you feel him shifting slightly in an attempt to make himself comfortable despite his somewhat unsettled expression.

“Maybe,” you counter. “Loosen your shoulders. Stop tensing. Cuddle, Crosshair.”

“I’m trying,” he mutters, and when you close your eyes to laugh, you barely miss the small upward turn of his lips.

When you wake up the next morning, you feel reborn, all loose-limbed, sated joy as you stretch your arms to your side, expecting Crosshair’s lean form curled close. Instead, you find yourself alone in your bunk, your covers pulled neatly up to your chin with no sign of your surly sniper in sight. You pull yourself together, albeit with a frown, throwing on a fresh set of clothes and readying yourself for a day of snarking (a bit spitefully) at Crosshair for leaving without so much as a thank you.

But then you see it. A small mug sitting on your desk: caf.

As you peer over the rim, you’re hard-pressed to mistake it as anything other than your preference made to perfection, and judging by the steam curling fragrant and wispy over its surface, it’s fresh.

Crosshair says nothing when you pass him in the helm, but when you flash him a grin, he huffs and offers you a lopsided smile back.

It takes the lesser part of one week for the headaches to abate. In between then and Crosshair’s begrudgingly clean bill of health, he comes knocking at your door four more times, each time gently loosening the deep roots of tension coiled through his bones more and more.

“You’re getting better at this,” you murmur into his shoulder on the fourth night, your leg thrown over his hip and your arms tucked securely under his. His first night in your quarters had ended in little beyond simply lying shoulder-to-shoulder. The next two had been (failed) attempts to spoon the entirety of Crosshair’s lanky form. And the night penultimate had been a slightly more successful endeavor in throwing all experimental caution to the wind and waking up chest-to-chest in an oddly comfortable tangle of limbs.

That night worked, and so you do it again.

“I had a good teacher,” Crosshair snorts, and he wheezes, his arms curling snug around your middle, when you gently jab him in the side.

You mutter something into his shoulder, but your own words do not reach your ears when you feel his chin settle atop your head. He shifts carefully until he’s curled entirely around you, the anchor in a still sea, a promise that you, together in shared space and breath, simply are. It’s funny how these things work, you think, breathing shallow and slow as Crosshair brushes his nose over the crown of your head and stays.

And then the concussion heals, and he’s gone.

It’s a bit startling how quickly you had grown accustomed to Crosshair’s presence in your bunk within the brief span of a week. You don’t expect to miss it, the easy nighttime habit as Crosshair quietly slinks to your room: a well-rehearsed ritual of playful snark before the gentler art of accommodation, pushing and pulling in tandem to find the sweet stability of your cheek laid over Crosshair’s collar and his palm warm over the small of your back.

You don’t expect to miss it so much that you find yourself lying in bed well past lights out, simply bracing to sling meaningless jokes thrown in the helm the next morning about how Crosshair’s gone soft, little baby brother Crosshair, like the week prior meant little but a favor to a friend.

The telltale knock sets him apart; four rapid, light raps on the durasteel that you’ve come to know so well, and you’re hauling yourself out of bed and slapping the door lock open as fast as you can.

“Cuddles,” Crosshair says as soon as he catches sight of you in the doorway.

He should be fine; he is fine, if Tech is to be believed. So there’s no reason for him to be waking you and requesting entry. But he is here. You stuff down the dizzying stutter in your chest and meet the mirth in his eyes with the best frown you can manage.

For all the stubborn fronting and the cold refusal you could offer him, there’s something you cannot bring yourself to resent when Crosshair—sour, cynical Crosshair—lets the word “cuddle” find home, curled soft over his tongue (lets himself find home in you).

“Will you make me caf in the morning?”

“Depends on how well you cuddle,” he replies, his tone a deadly calm, only betrayed by the knowing gleam in his eye.

“Says the man who didn’t know how to cuddle a few days ago,” you shoot back.

“The apprentice outdoes the master,” Crosshair shakes his head with a wistful sigh, and you laugh, reaching forward to twine your fingers with his, letting him take his rightful place as the doors close behind you.

—

He comes back home.

Wrecker tells you to give him space, Echo shakes his head when you idle in front of his closed door, and even Omega offers you a sad, apologetic look when Crosshair makes the rare, silent appearance outside of his quarters, a spectre and his bacta patch haunting the ship’s hull before he disappears again.

You listen to them for a few days, but it chews at you from inside—the gnawing thought that Crosshair had been alone for so long, that he’s still alone now. Even if his basest instinct had always been to withdraw and cope in isolation, you can’t stand the idea of leaving him by himself any longer. So when the others have long since fallen asleep, you creep to Crosshair’s room and knock four times in rapid succession.

Like you had expected, he’s awake. But when he opens the door, he keeps his unfocused eyes cast aside.

“Cuddles,” you whisper, testing, hopeful, and you open your arms to him as you stand on the threshold. “Just like we used to?”

Only then does Crosshair flick his weary eyes up, rimmed red with exhaustion, grief overdue. And after four long days, he finally meets your gaze.

You watch as his eyes linger under furrowed brows, peering at you as if he isn’t entirely sure if you’re real, if you’re really there. Watching him waver between your face and your open palms and back again, you imagine Crosshair thinking that it’s always been the other way around: him seeking you out at odd hours to wrap his lean arms around your shoulders, breathe deep, and simply bask in how close you were to his beating heart.

And now it’s you.

“Yeah,” he murmurs, stepping forward between your outstretched arms to gingerly place his chin over your shoulder and settle his lean arms at your waist.

All those times you spent curled, molded around him in the quiet darkness of your bunk—it’s honed you to know him like you know yourself, committing to indelible memory the way he breathes, shifts, fits with you.

And he’s different. A year’s worth of separation would do that, change. But where you feel some new muscle and sinew against your skin, there is undeniable familiarity in how he seeks you out despite the tremble in his hands and unsteadiness of his breath.

There is familiarity in finding home.

You reach up, looping your arms around his neck. And when you pull snug, you feel him squeeze your waist in return, holding tight and holding close.

“Just like we used to.”

#aH thank u for ur patience dear #i did veer a bit off course by focusing on one environment #but massive brain for the beach suggestion!!#beach trip shoujo episode vibes for a separate work perhaps #sageislostinspring #crosshair x reader #the bad batch x reader #yaej.writes

254 notes · View notes

echos-newlegs · 3 years

Note

Can i request number 4 from the angst prompts list with Crosshair? In the mood to get my heart broken lmao thanks x

You Scare Me

Sure thing, but also, I felt that.

Sorry if this is messy and his character is- off. Just took a benadryl and felt like writing before I dozed off 🕴 hope this isn't that bad.

Crosshair x Reader: "I don't care about you, no one does."

Warnings: Angsty, not too bad though. His character may be a bit off? Still getting down his character, tbh.

Word count: 1.6k

You stood in the doorway. Looking at the sniper who had his back to you. Sitting in a chair leant forward as he stared down at his feet.

"What do you want?"

His voice was harsh and bitter. You weren't sure what happened between you two, or what you did. But as of late he had been.. Distant.

The two of you used to be so close. It wasn't a talkative close, but more of an affectionate one. A close that had the both of you comforted and feeling love from both sides.

"I want to know if you're okay?" You spoke. Still standing in the doorway. Too afraid to step further inside. No, you weren't afraid he'd hurt you. You were just afraid he would shut you out.

"I'm fine," he spat.

You flinched just a bit at his words. Frowning as you shuffled your feet. "Cross.. I know that's not true, but-"

"But what?" He snapped. Standing from his chair to turn and face you.

He got closer to you. Backing you up into the wall as he stared down into your eyes. Your brows furrowed in concern.

"But what, huh? But you're here for me? But you care? What is it?" He sneered.

Your eyes were full of hurt and concern. Searching his for the issue.

"But I do. I am here for you and I do care." You spoke. Keeping your voice soft.

"Why have you been so distant lately? Just answer that and I'll leave."

Your words made him ponder for a bit. He seemed to be genuinely at a loss for words. As if he didn't even know.

"Cross, I love you, you know that right?" He furrowed once more at those words. You bit your tongue, you stepped a bit too far over his line.

"Love?" He chuckled. Looking back to your face. "You don't love me, just like I don't care about you, no one does."

His voice was low. It wasn't true, you both knew it, but it was still enough for the tears to flow down your face in wavy patterns. Your breathing going jagged.

"You don't mean that," he knew you were insecure when it came to how others felt about you. You always felt you weren't enough. Your chest ached with worry if someone even stared your way too long.

His expression faltered a bit. A look of apology making an appearance for a second, before fading back to his glare.

"See, you're weak and flawed. Who would want to love that?" He barked.

You looked down, letting out a small chuckle that seemed to catch him off guard.

"Says the one who chases away everyone. All because they're trying to help." Your voice cracked a bit. Before you pushed past him to head out of the ship.

He didn't even chase after you. He only stood back and watched you leave.

"Where's y/n?" Tech was the first to notice your absence. Especially when Crosshair left his room without you.

It wasn’t like you were both attached at the waist, but you did happen to hang around each other a lot. Your presence was all he needed to feel at home. But apparently that wasn't enough anymore.

Crosshair looked up to his brother when he stood in front of him. Arms crossed. "Crosshair, Where's y/n?" Tech asked. Hunter, Echo, and Wrecker looking to the slimmer male with concerned expressions.

"She left," was all he said before he pushed past the slightly broader male.

"What do you mean, 'she left,'?" Hunter asked. Now following his brother. You were one of them. With or without crosshair, they treated you like their own. You were a friend and you'd saved all of them at least once or twice out on the field or just from wounds that could have killed them.

"Is she okay?" Echo asked, and Crosshair groaned. Turning to face them all.

"We got in an argument okay? I told her I didn't care about her. Is that what you wanted to hear?" He snapped.

Everyone stared at him in shock.

"You did what?" Hunter asked. Wrecker following echo. "We'll find her, Sarg." And with that those two were off to look for you.

"Tech, go check the transmissions. Make sure she hasn't tried to contact us." Hunter ordered, and his younger vod nodded as he headed off into the other room. Leaving Hunter and Crosshair alone.

"Why would you do that?" He snapped. Noticing Crosshairs' look of guilt. "She's nothing but sweet, 'nd kind, 'nd all around loving towards you. Hell, she does love you and you know it."

Crosshair let out a long sigh. Rubbing his forearm. "I know," "then why say you don't care about her?"

There was a long pause. Until he turned to head towards the exit for the Marauder. "Because I may as well hurt her now before it's too far along."

Hunter grunted, grabbing him by the shoulder to stop him. "No, you better find her and at least apologize. She thinks the world of you and I know you think the same of her. I can sense it for kriffs sake. I know it's scary, but we're clones. We don't get many admirers, you need to cherish this for now." He speeched. Crosshair tugging himself from Hunter's grip. "Fine."

You were in the old tree hut the six of you found on the planet you were sent to scout. Just as Echo assumed you would be. He knew you better than the rest. You knew each other from the 501st, after all.

"Y/n.." he called, and you inhaled. Watching as Wreckers head peaked through the entryway. "You were right, She's here!" He shouted as you moved to stand.

'Hey, hey, are you alright?" The pale trooper asked, and you merely nodded. Rubbing your eyes. "We heard what he said to you." Wrecker piped.

You frowned, looking down.

"It ain't true, you know."

You shrugged, scuffing your feet. "It sure felt like it was." You spoke quietly. Looking up to Echo and Wrecker.

"If I know my brother, and I do." Wrecker started. Approaching you slowly. "He does care about you. He's just scared."

You chuckled. Wiping a few more tears away that fell. "Scared? So saying no one cares about me is how he shows fear? Good to know."

"Y/n, it's not just fear. He does care, he just doesn't want you too attached in case something happens. I've watched him long enough to know this." Echo spoke. Reaching out to pull you in for a hug. Which you gladly accepted. Chuckling as Wrecker pulled the two of you closer for a group hug, as he proclaimed.

"He talks about you when we go to 79s and you stay back on the ship, or at the barracks. He says how," "no other girl can down a shot like you can." Crosshair interrupted from behind. Causing you all to look towards the entrance.

"How sweet," you spoke, though your voice was laced with sarcasm. They all picked up on it.

"I talk about how it's no fun without you. Too. You make everything fun." He admitted, and you shuffled your feet some more as Echo and Wrecker stepped aside. Watching as Crosshair neared.

"And I don't talk about feelings much, you know this best." You nodded at his words. Watching as he side eyed his brothers and they left the hut.

"Y/n," you refused to meet his eyes. Until his hand reached out to cup your face. To which you glared at him and flinched away.

"Why are you here? Thought you didn’t care about me. No one does." He sighed. Licking his lips as he watched you.

"You're stubborn, you know that?" "Go fuck yourself," you spat. Crossing your arms before turning away from him.

He sighed. Rubbing the side of his head. "It ain't the same without you, though," you rolled your eyes at that. "What do you want? If Hunter sent you here don't bother. I know your words are probably forced."

He sighed again. Pulling you back into his chest. Which you squirmed to get out of. But his grip only tightened.

"Please just listen," he requested.

You decided to still in his grasp. Which told him you were cooperating, a little.

"What I said earlier, I didn't mean it."

"It still hurt," you snapped.

"I know it did, but I'm just scared to get too attached. I'm a clone. I was built for war, not life."

You felt a wave of guilt rush over you.

"Forgive me?" He questioned. "I need you," he finished.

You pondered, then leant back against his chest. "I will, but you can’t do that anymore. You scared me and.. You hurt me. You know I already feel like no one cares about me, and that the world's out to get me. Stars, that's where we're similar." You told him, and he only nodded. Hiding his face in the crook of your neck. "Won't happen again." He spoke. Kissing the skin that bridged from your neck to your shoulder.

You exhaled. Craning your head to the side. "If it does, I won't be this willing to come back." He hummed at that. It was an agreeing, 'I know,' sort of hum. As he rested himself against your back.

"Can we head back?" He asked, and you nodded. "Sure, but I'm still mad." He shrugged. "I know, I'll make up for it." "You better, I thought I lost you over something I did."

Crosshair shook his head in disagreement. Turning you so he could pull you in for a proper hug. Resting his chin on top if your head. Standing like this for a moment before pulling you back to tug you back to the marauder. To which he drug you to his room to hold you in his bed. Not letting you go until Hunter insisted the both of you eat.

#crosshair x reader #bad batch x reader #star wars #star wars writing #crosshair #crosshair bad batch #the bad batch crosshair #crosshair x you

236 notes · View notes

emperor-palpaminty · 2 years

Note

May I request this prompt for Tech, please, though solely in a more tender, gentle and caring way? Not a smutty take on it, please, that's not really for me, sorry :(

"undressing your love interest, having to tend to their wounds, trying not to gawk their chest but failing to do so" (though more gawking at the wounds and previous scars Tech has?)

I am just a softie for the Batch being taken care of!

And on terms of Tech, Imperial or normal Tech, whichever you prefer! Thank you so much! And congratulations on finishing your semester!

Ah thank you love!! <3 I love your request. I suppose I did a lot of romance/smut, didn't I? I should have been more considerate anon! Apologies! However know that my inbox is open to prompts that do not need to be romantic/sexual in any way! i hope you like angst!

Warnings: There contains nudity, but it is in no way sexual! there are mentions of wars, wounds, and scars, and a lot of crying. If this fic is not your vibe then I will see you next time, and I do not take offense!

Tech, at this point in his life, lost count of how many times he had gotten into the bacta tank. He would allow it to swallow him, drown him in it but survive. The substance was sweet, sticky, with a stench of medicinal qualities.

Overall, Tech thought as his eyes remained closed and he floated in nothingness, there was not much he could do.

Hunter was probably two tanks over- it always went in the order of their batch-age. Then Wrecker, himself, and Crosshair. Tech felt his eyes flutter open briefly, just so he could swivel his head and check.

As always Hunter was stiff- corpse like in a vat of blue, face upwards as he soaked. Probably put under again. Wrecker was curled up, as much as he could be at least, in somewhat of a crude fetal position, shuddering on occasion as the bacta ate away at his wounds. He didn’t have to even look at Crosshair to know that his brother was resigned to the tank. He had stopped fighting it a long time ago.

Tech blinked again. The bacta didn’t hurt his eyes, but they stung briefly.

A white coat stood in front of him, arms crossed over their convexed frame as they stared up at him. The details were blurry but Tech didn’t need to see to recognize the medic. Slowly, he pressed out a hand against the glass, smooth under his palms as the shape of their hand passed over the other side. He could not move far, given the breathing mask, but that barriered touch still made him exhale, softly, the bacta burning in his chest as he sat in the cold blue and waited.

Again.

---

He awoke on a cool bed this time. Well, more like a cot.

He tried to sit up but a hiss escaped him as his ribs groaned. “My glasses-”

“The Kaminoians are making you new ones. The last ones cracked really bad.” The medic stated, the voice soothing. Tech laid back and tried to stare at the ceiling, attempting to make out the shapes. The steps were harrowing and soft as the medic came back over, sitting down, and he smelled the backa gel. Tech flinched, but the medic shushed him quietly. “It’s okay. I’m going to do it.”

Tech licked his lips. They tasted sticky and artificially sweet. “The medical droid-”

“Tech.” The voice was weak. Broken. Splintered. “I want to. Please.”

Please.

Tech nodded, quietly, allowing the doctorly hands to allow him to sit up. Their gaze pressed on his chest as he sat up, and he leaned forward. The weight shifted to behind him and the medic began softly rubbing the bacta-gel into his back.

The silence was stretched between them.

“So,” Tech cleared his throat. “Like what you see?” He shifted on the sheets as a hoarse chuckle emerged.

The medic didn’t speak, but the laugh was enough for him. He relaxed as much as the numbing and biting woulds would let him, feeling the medic’s eyes rove over his body as the balm soothed his wounds’ worries, even over the old scars.

There was a soft bump on Tech’s back, and the Medic’s arms wrapped around him. “Why?” The whisper was even more shattered, and ten times louder than a war cry.

Tech sat, hunched forward as the medic leaned into him, waiting for the bacta-gel to heal him. The process, the scars, the wounds would repeat themselves the next day, and the next mission, until the war was over.

At his point, he exhaled and his chest sagged hollowly, with the squeeze of the only loving arms present, he doubted the war ever would actually end for him.

#tech x reader #tech x you #minty writes #tbb reader insert #the bad batch reader insert #clone wars #the clone wars reader insert #clones #clone trooper x reader #bad batch tech x reader #bad batch tech x you

201 notes · View notes

moonstrider9904 · 2 years

Text

Teachings

Chapter 7 of Moonlight

{series masterlist} | {next chapter} {previous chapter}

{crossposted to AO3}

Chapter summary: After disaster on Bespin turned into a treasured memory for Clair thanks to her beloved sniper, she and Crosshair become increasingly closer as their journey leads them and the rest of the Bad Batch back to Coruscant.

Warnings/tags: Mature. Soft!Crosshair and some Jealous!Crosshair (a deadly yet fine combo). Self-defense training. Aside from that, just fluff.

Word count: 8.1k

Playlist: spells to fall asleep, opus 2 (piano version)

As they got farther from Bespin, the euphoria from her first kiss with Crosshair went down little by little, leaving Clair to think about what had happened. She’d been in danger, she’d been helpless upon a situation that could have ended very badly had Crosshair not showed up in time. She was so grateful he did, but there was still a thorn stinging at her.

She had been helpless.

She felt embarrassed, ashamed, foolish, even naïve. To think she wanted to go to Bespin with the boys as though it were a simple outing with friends. Maybe if she’d stayed in the village, she wouldn’t have become such an obstacle in their mission. And once she was, she didn’t know the first thing about how to defend herself. She’d been driven by fear and unable to do anything useful.

“Clair?” The mention of her name was muffled by the door of Hunter’s room, followed by three light knocks.

Well, at least his voice could calm her down. Her dress was off being washed, so she wore another borrowed set of pants and a t-shirt, both belonging to Crosshair even though his pants were too long for her. She took light steps up to the door before opening it to look up at his perfect figure as he looked down at her, concerned yet still soft.

“Morning,” Clair couldn’t help but grin at him despite her previous turmoil. Crosshair was perfect. He was tall, handsome, strong, and he looked at her with more love and sweetness than his eyes would ever muster at anything else. She still couldn’t fully believe he returned her feelings, let alone that she’d kissed him less than one rotation ago, and yet there he was.

Crosshair mustered a hint of a smile, but his hand went to hold hers and he gently interlaced his fingers with Clair’s. “Morning, Dumpling.”

Clair’s grin softened into a gentle smile as her body began to sway closer to Crosshair’s. She still wasn’t very clear on the whole displaying-affection thing, or on what they actually were, all she knew was they had strong mutual feelings and that she wanted to be near to him, breathe in his scent that would calm her down from any storm and make her feel safe. She noticed Crosshair also moved closer to her with a hand cupping her cheek so she could lean into his palm.

“What’s the matter?” He asked her.

“Nothing,” she said sweetly, her eyes still closed as she felt the warmth of his hand.

“I’m serious.”

Clair’s eyes opened. “You can see right through me, can’t you?”

“That and Hunter told on you,” he smirked. “He can feel whenever you’re tense, remember?”

“Right,” she cringed at the thought of never hiding anything from Hunter. How much did he know about her already?

“So tell me, what is it?” Crosshair prompted again.

She was still enjoying the feeling of his skin against hers, taking in every ounce of comfort she could. “I’ll tell you later…” She looked up into his eyes and smiled a bit wider. “Just hold me for now, will you?”

Crosshair returned that soft smile, and as much as he needed to know what was wrong with her, there was no way he could ever resist Clair. That girl was his weakness; any wish of hers was a command to him. He trailed his hands up to cup her cheeks, a gesture he previously never saw himself doing. Her eyes seemed to sparkle as she looked up at him, seeming so soft, innocent, warm. And, just to add to all he already felt, she was wearing his clothes. He felt somehow, he was marking her as his and protecting her just with fabric that would usually be on him. All the love he felt for her hit him like a blast, spreading over his chest, and involuntarily his smile widened.

“You look cute in my clothes, Dumpling.”

Somehow, her smile became more beautiful, threatening to make Crosshair fall to his knees.

“They smell like you,” she said softly. “I love them, Berry Pie.”

Crosshair chuckled. What did he ever do that made him end up with such a lovely girl? He gently released Clair’s face to wrap his arms around her as he bent down, and though it was slow, he didn’t hesitate to press his lips onto hers. He could feel the way Clair smiled into the kiss before her lips moved in sync with his, her fingers gently tracing his neck and jawline before she wrapped her arms fully around his neck. Just as their kiss began to deepen, the hallway door opened followed by the sound of loud and indiscreet crunching invading the silence of the hall.

Though still in each other’s arms, Clair and Crosshair broke the kiss to look at the hallway’s entrance to see Wrecker leaning on the doorframe, gawking at them with overly curious eyes as he kept munching on salty snacks. Clair flustered and bashfully looked away, but Crosshair kept his gaze menacingly on Wrecker.

“Oh, don’t stop for me,” Wrecker said with his mouth full (such a classy gentleman). “You guys keep goin’.”

“W-Wrecker, we’d prefer to be alone,” Clair managed before Crosshair went full-on prick on his older brother.

“Oooh, ho ho!” Wrecker laughed and shot Clair a suggestive wink. “Alright then, get in there. I’ll warn you if anyone comes. I won’t make a sound and you won’t even notice I’m there, hearing everything.”

“Wrecker, I will stun you,” Crosshair snarled. “Leave.”

Wrecker shoved another handful of chips into his mouth before innocently throwing his hands up, dropping a few chips on the floor in the process as he turned around and left the hallway, closing the hall door on purpose. Clair let out a long sigh of relief as she wondered how she’d ever get any privacy with Crosshair while in the Marauder, meanwhile, Crosshair rolled his eyes heavily before his gaze landed on Clair again. At least the sight of her made him calm down a bit.

His eyes were still stern, a gesture she’d learned to decipher as concern rather than annoyance. “You’re not off the hook. What’s wrong?”

Clair sighed. “I’m just overthinking about what happened… how, maybe if you hadn’t arrived on time—”

“But I did.”

“I know, and I’m glad—”

“Stop,” he pressed a finger to his lips. “It didn’t get worse than that and I’m not letting you out of sight again. You’re never running a risk like that again.”

Clair softened and wondered if she was hearing what she thought he’d meant. Was he swearing he’d protect her at all costs? It sounded that way to her, and she was so grateful and humbled that she pressed herself onto him and hugged him close, albeit without thinking beforehand. Despite the gesture being sudden, Crosshair hugged her back and he allowed his breath to hover over the top of her head, letting her scent fill him entirely.

“Thank you…” She said in a whisper, worrying she might break into sobs.

“I’m not letting anything bad happen to you,” he repeated. “Don’t think about what could have happened, you’re here.”

She enjoyed the feeling of hugging Crosshair a few more seconds, and she truly felt safer than she ever had in her life. Still, it felt as though the hug had ended too soon when Crosshair walked to the hallway door, opening it once more and gesturing outside.

“After you, princess.”

And just like that, he’d made her forget any nasty thoughts and exchanged them for the worry of her knees wobbling too much. With a blush, she walked past the door with Crosshair following after her as they made their way to the cockpit where the other three Clones were spending their free time, except for Tech who seemed to be filing a report. Wrecker let out an indiscreet whistle as he saw them approaching followed by his signature loud laughter.

“Look who’s finally back!” Wrecker teased. “That was quick.”

“Stow it, buffoon.”

“You were totally making out in Hunter’s room!”

“We were not!” Clair corrected quickly.

“Oh, so you stayed in the hallway,” Wrecker winked at her. “Nice.”

“We weren’t doing anything,” Clair shoved Wrecker playfully and barely making him move in his chair only for Crosshair to approach afterwards to punch his arm.

“That’s a relief, I was worried Crosshair here didn’t last long,” Wrecker grinned.

“You son of a bitch,” Crosshair pushed Wrecker out of his chair only for the two of them to engage in a small wrestling match.

It was clear they were being really playful in their wrestling, so Clair didn’t do anything to stop it. Instead, she enjoyed watching the brothers try to one-up each other, and thinking of Crosshair’s playful nature with them stirred soft and fuzzy feelings within her. The Marauder’s cockpit was silent except for the wrestling as Tech continued typing away on his datapad and Hunter approached Clair, also looking at the fight before he scanned Clair up and down.

Hunter chuckled. “We need to find you some clothes that fit.”

“These are fine,” Clair admitted as a dreamy grin appeared on her face. “They’re Crosshair’s, so I can’t complain in the slightest.”

“Yeah but the pants are too long for you,” Hunter replied with friendly concern just as Crosshair and Wrecker finished their wrestling.

Wrecker laughed. “If those pants are too long for her—”

“I’ll gut you if you finish that sentence,” Crosshair threatened.

“Woah!” Wrecker threw his hands up innocently again. “I wasn’t going to tell her to take them off!” He looked deviously at Hunter. “I was going to suggest Hunter to lend her his pants. You know, since he’s the shortest of us four.”

Hunter looked unamused as the sound of Crosshair’s and even Tech’s snickering filled the cockpit.

“Ain’t that right, small king?” Wrecker kept teasing as he crouched down to be at Hunter’s height.

Crosshair loosened up and went to stand next to Wrecker, crouching down as well with that smug grin Clair loved so much.

“You know, he prefers to be called Hunny.”

“You two must feel great about yourselves,” Hunter dismissed as the two returned to their normal height.

“Nah,” Wrecker answered. “But we feel big.”

“Stop being so mean to your brother,” Clair said with a playful smile.

“Yeah, it’s not like Crosshair would tolerate seeing lovely Clair wearing my clothes,” Hunter slyly teased back. “Though they would be a better fit.”

“Lucky for all of you, Crosshair’s clothes are the only ones I want to wear,” Clair intervened. “Besides mine, of course.”

Wrecker went “Awww!” while Hunter smirked over at Crosshair, who in turn smirked at Clair for a couple of seconds before turning a way and taking a toothpick up to his mouth in an attempt to hide the shade of scarlet taking over his skin. Hearing those words coming from Clair meant more to him than he was willing to admit in front of his three brothers, so he simply went to see what Tech was doing on the holopad to not draw attention to himself.

“You alright?” Hunter approached Clair with a caring gaze, catching her off guard until she remembered Crosshair mentioned Hunter could sense when she was tense.

“I’m doing better now,” she answered. “I was just overthinking.”

“You have nothing to worry about,” Hunter reassured. “Not as long as you’re with us. You already know he won’t let anything happen to you, and well, neither will we.”

She smiled sadly at him. “That really means a lot to me, Hunter. Thank you.”

“We do it gladly,” Wrecker said. “Think of us as your four personal bodyguards. Anyone tries coming near you, they’ll answer to my iron will,” he held up both of his fists.

Clair truly was moved by how they wanted to take care of her and reassure her, but her bitter feelings returned, and even with Hunter’s enhanced senses, Crosshair was the first to notice as he looked up from the holopad and stared at Clair. She avoided meeting his gaze, but now she felt the four clones looking at her closely.

“I…” She began. “I wanted to say I’m sorry.”

“What?” Hunter said as he gently held her shoulder. “Why?”

“Because I feel like an obstacle!” Clair blurted. “I was foolish to let my guard down—”

“Clair, we were the ones who told you there was no danger around,” Tech said, putting the holopad down. “You are not to blame.”

“Even so, I—” she cut off and sighed. “I was so wrong to go with you. You’re soldiers and you have duties to do, I’m just a civilian. It would have been best if I’d stayed in the village.”

The four clones exchanged looks, and then Crosshair nodded at Hunter, who then looked at Clair.

“You’re not getting rid of us,” Hunter said. “And nobody blames you for what happened. We’re all fond of you, Clair. To tell you the truth, none of us want to see you leave.”

“Yeah, we’ve grown too used to your company,” Wrecker said and nudged Crosshair. “This one even got the hots for you.”

Clair blushed.

“And we will never see you as an obstacle or a burden,” Hunter told her with a kind smile. “Whether you like it or not, you’re stuck with us.”

Clair smiled, moved by their kindness. “Okay, but that doesn’t change the fact that you interrupted your mission to go save me.”

“Which we did happily,” Hunter said.

“We were getting bored anyway,” Wrecker said, though it wasn’t of that much help.

Clair then met eyes with Crosshair. He didn’t speak, and she knew he wouldn’t anytime soon, not with his three brothers listening. His eyes were enough to get her thinking, though. He’d run off without asking any sort of permission, he’d simply gone to where she was to make sure she was safe. Afterwards, he’d remained with her making sure she’d be okay; he took her to a cute little bakery and kissed her under the skyline. The night couldn’t have ended more perfectly, and she couldn’t be more grateful.

Crosshair made his way to her and he looked at her softly, so much that even Hunter was surprised at the way he gazed at her. He’d never seen Crosshair so soft or genuine before. The sharpshooter gently took her hand as she continued to remember the scenery of their first kiss. Knowing he wouldn’t want to display much affection in front of his brothers, Clair settled for squeezing Crosshair’s hand.

“Well, then…” she said. “I’d at least like to learn some self-defense.”

“I told you, you won’t need that,” Crosshair said lowly.

Clair smiled up at him. “My safety isn’t a task you should take up on your own. I want to be prepared for a worst-case scenario, even if to just push someone down so you can do the rest of the kicking.”

“That’s our girl,” Hunter said.

“Clair, I’m going to protect you,” Crosshair insisted.

She smiled and squeezed his hands a bit tighter. “I know you will, Berry Pie.”

It softened Crosshair up to the point he accepted her wish to learn to defend herself, seeing it as something she should know and would never have to use. They looked at each other lovingly and for a moment it was as if neither of his brothers were there as they were all in full silence, only hearing the ship’s whirring in the background.

Wrecker brought his chips up again. “Now kiss!”

Clair playfully slapped the air in front of Wrecker as Crosshair looked at him with threatening eyes, and before they could start bickering again, Clair looked up at Hunter once more.

“I’d also like to learn more about what you guys do and help out wherever I can.”

“I appreciate that, but it isn’t necessary either,” Hunter said gently.

“I want to!” She said with more hope than before. “If I’m, as you say, stuck with you guys, and I couldn’t be happier for that, I’d like to pull my weight.”

It was Hunter’s turn to feel moved along with all of his brothers, and he wanted to insist to Clair that she had nothing to be concerned about. She’d lost her home, her life’s work, and she’d recently been through quite the scare. He didn’t want her putting too much pressure on herself, but before he could explain any of that to her, she spoke up again.

“At my age, I already had my own restaurant for three years,” she said. “I can’t not do anything, Hunter. I don’t have to be a soldier, just teach me how to keep the ship running, how to file reports, those sorts of things.”

Upon hearing her words, every light bulb in Tech’s mind began to turn on and he became more excited than he had been in a while.

“If I may suggest,” he began, struggling to hide that excitement, “this could not have come at a better time. Clair, you are skilled in culinary arts and you are good with your hands. You could put both of those skills to the practice.”

“How?”

“Well, if you want to learn, I could show you some of the ship’s controls. You could be my copilot, that way it won’t just be Hunter and Crosshair whenever Wrecker has to stay behind to fly with me. I could also teach you to tinker with some of the systems for whenever we need them. But what I’m primarily interested in is your knowledge of ingredients and how to blend them. You could develop blends for any purpose, for example, healing.”

Clair’s jaw dropped. “Are you asking me to be your medic?”

“More of a support or a healer,” Tech said. “To be a medic you’d need thorough medical training, which you could get if you made the decision. However, I have no doubt that with some intensive courses and practice, you could exploit that ability without straying too far from the path you’ve chosen.”

“So why couldn’t this come at a better time?” Hunter asked Tech.

Tech held up the holopad which displayed some sort of report on its screen. “Because we have just been called to Coruscant. Clair can take an intensive healing herbology course there. It’ll only last two and a half days. She won’t need any longer.”

“That’s great,” Clair said, “but why are you being called back to Coruscant?”

“The incident on Bespin as well as your background have linked us closer to the conflict with these brigands,” Tech explained. “Since the Republic is evaluating whether or not to take action against them, they want us there in Coruscant if and when they decide to move out.”

Silence lingered over the cockpit as they all realized what that meant. If the Republic entered the conflict, those ghastly pirates would have justice. None of it would have been in vain, and that thought gave Clair a determination and hope that a better future might be nearer than she realized.

“I’m plotting the course to Coruscant now,” Tech said. “There we will meet with Jedi General Plo Koon and his division. Of all the Jedi, he seems to be among the most understanding. He’ll have no problem with Clair tagging along and taking that course on short notice.”

“Well then, I suppose things have lined up,” Hunter said as the Marauder entered hyperspace and looked over at Clair. “It’s going to be a while before we get to Coruscant, how about I get to teaching you the basics in the meantime?”

“I’d love that,” Clair answered.

“Come on,” he gestured her to follow him to the center of the ship where they’d have more space.

Crosshair followed and watched warily if only to make sure Hunter wouldn’t accidentally hurt her. As much as he wanted to be the only one to protect Clair and to give her anything she would ever need, Crosshair was proud of her. He was proud that she wasn’t the type of person to wait for someone to give her an opportunity, she’d make all her opportunities for herself. She looked up at Hunter as he began explaining some of the basics of self-defense to her and she paid close attention to him, even though she snuck a few glances at Crosshair now and then.

Wrecker walked up next to Crosshair and they both watched as Hunter began to teach her.

“She’s really something, isn’t she?” Wrecker said quietly and with no intention to tease.

Crosshair didn’t remove his eyes from Clair, he found he was well near unable to do so. “Yeah.”

Wrecker chuckled softly and lightly patted Crosshair’s shoulder before walking back into the cockpit, leaving the sniper to observe the lesson in self-defense.

“You’ll need to know how to differentiate between when to fight and when to run away,” Hunter said. “Often, you’ll want to escape. For this, you’ll need to make sure the attacker is at a disadvantage to give you enough space to run for it,” he began gesturing at several spots along his neck, arms, torso, and legs. “These are pressure points. There are nerves in them which if you strike hard enough will cause your attacker to cripple.

“You also need to know how to escape common holds and restraints. You’re small and seemingly vulnerable, this will make the average attacker either want to carry you or put you in a choke hold. I’ll teach you to escape those in a moment, but right now I want you to try hitting one of my pressure points. Any one of them.”

Clair hesitated. “I… I don’t want to hurt you.”

“Clair, I am a genetically-engineered trained sergeant for the Grand Army of the Republic, and more importantly,” he gestured at Crosshair and the cockpit, “I deal with those three every day. Come on, hit me. You’re not going to hurt me, and it’s for the sake of teaching you.”

Clair chuckled lightly before positioning herself and taking a light strike below Hunter’s arm. It made him tingle, but it didn’t cripple him enough, in fact, he wound up laughing.

“Harder than that, Clair. Come on.”

She was still hesitant, but she rounded up her resolve and struck that same point again with more force, this time making Hunter flinch and drop to his knees. Clair felt a wave of pride wash over her as she saw Hunter himself, the 6-foot soldier with half of his face tattooed dropping right in front of her, and the sight even made Crosshair chuckle. Still, her pride faded soon and she realized one of her best friends had just gone crashing to the ground because of her.

“Sorry!” She cried out and helped him stand.

“There we go,” Hunter strained as he got up. “Good. That was good, you have it in you. That was lesson one, now let me show you how to escape some common holds.”

He carefully brought his hands up to her shoulders, simulating the intention to choke her. He showed her to throw her hands upward to spread the attacker’s arms, after which she either had the opening to run away or to shove him further and maybe even knee him to the stomach, which Hunter also taught her to do. Overall, Clair was a very quick learner and Hunter didn’t have to explain anything more than once before she could carry out the movements decently.

He eventually got Wrecker to help teach her how to escape if an attacker tried to carry her as well as how to fight back if more than one person tried to gang up on her. After a while, when the ship was steadily in hyperspace, Tech and Crosshair joined as well and the four of them trained and motivated Clair, each teaching her something different. Hours were well-spent in that lesson and they all lost track of time as Clair improved constantly and the brothers took turns “attacking” her one-on-one.

“But remember this,” Wrecker said eloquently, “in these cases, a kick to the nuts will always be your best friend.”

Clair chuckled; she agreed, surely anyone who had the guts to approach her with the intent to hurt her deserved not one, but many kicks to the nits.

Tech was the first one to face off with Clair, and he was pleasantly surprised by Clair’s agility and good reflexes. Next was Wrecker, who as she expected tried to carry her. She struggled to get out of Wrecker’s rock-hard grip, but eventually she did, and she figured that if she could escape him, she could escape anyone. After that, Hunter tested her with several holds and moves, which she deflected nicely. She even surprised Hunter by targeting pressure points she hadn’t targeted before, knowing he’d be the type to memorize her moves, which surprised him and made him proud of her.

After that, the only one left was Crosshair. He didn’t seem excited to fight Clair even in pretend, and by this point his brothers had already made bets with each other on whether or not Crosshair would attack her. He walked up in front of her, not doing anything, and Clair’s mind was racing trying to figure out what he was going to do. The training had left her sweaty and flustered and her hair was messy, making Crosshair chuckle softly.

In a swift movement, the sniper turned Clair around and wrapped his arms around her, picking her up in bridal style, a hold she hadn’t been taught to deflect.

“You need a shower,” he told her.

She didn’t want to break from his grip, anyway. She knew by that point Crosshair wasn’t pretending to attack her. As Hunter received credits from both Tech and Wrecker having won the bet, Crosshair carried Clair into the hallway that led to the bedrooms.

She hopelessly looked up at him with dreamy, loving eyes as Crosshair walked her over to the refresher, and she allowed herself to relax in his arms with the gentle sway of his steps. When they arrived at the door of the refresher, Clair didn’t want to be put down. She wrapped her arms tighter around Crosshair and leaned her head on his shoulder, enjoying his warmth and taking in his scent. Still, Crosshair began undoing his grip on her and he set her feet on the ground, opening the door for her.

“Get in, I’ll leave your clothes out here.”

Clair hesitated to get into the refresher, she wanted to spend more time with Crosshair even if they were both just standing in silence. She found it adorable that he refused to attack her even if it was for training, and it only made her realize how much of a softie he was for her. She was about to perk up on her toes to kiss him, if only just to peck his cheek, but he was tapping her chin and walking off to find a spare change of clothes for her before she could do anything and she had no choice but to step into the refresher.

She didn’t take long, but feeling the water brush down her relaxed her to the point where she began to feel sleepy. How many hours had she been training with the boys? It made her feel great that they’d accepted to teach her, she truly felt better now that she knew she wouldn’t interfere with anything they did. They never thought of her as an obstacle, and that was touching for Clair as well.

She turned off the water of the refresher and patted herself dry with one of the towels nearby to then wrap it around herself and crack the door open. Just outside was the spare change of clothes Crosshair had left for her, which she took with a dreamy smile and put on back inside the refresher. She noticed Crosshair’s scent in the fabric, but it was stronger than the shirt she’d had on before.

It was the shirt he’d been wearing all day.

Clair took all the time she needed to swoon and sigh inside the refresher, hugging herself and tugging the fabric with her fists. She liked wearing his clothes, it made her feel protected and loved, even though he hadn’t said that word to her yet. When she was ready, she exited the refresher and went back to the cockpit. Wrecker was playing a card game against Hunter while Tech and Crosshair watched and made bets with each other. Clair met Crosshair’s gaze with the brightest smile as she walked up next to him to keep watching the game, sneaking a few peeks of Crosshair while they were at it. He was now wearing a different, pitch-black long-sleeved shirt that looked amazing on him, bringing out his silver hair.

The game eventually ended with Wrecker beating Hunter and they all had to listen to Wrecker’s boasting for the remaining hours of their day. In those hours, Tech taught Clair how to verify that all the ship’s systems were working correctly as well as how to run diagnostics, both for regular check-ups and to detect any type of error if they ever heard a weird noise with the ship. In the meantime, Tech was fascinated by the fact that Clair was such a good listener and would pay close attention to everything he’d explain to her.

Afterwards, Tech got a twinge of curiosity and he asked her to tell him about her cooking, how she learned, how she set up the restaurant. As it turned out, Clair was also one to talk a lot about what she loved doing, and Tech was fascinated by hearing how she perfected her own recipes and dedicated so much time to practicing and gaining experience.

Between his teachings and her stories, more hours wore on until Clair noticed as Hunter discreetly shooed Wrecker off the cockpit before he approached her and Tech.

“It’ll be a while before we arrive on Coruscant,” Hunter explained. “After that, we’ll all be pretty busy, so I suggest we get some rest now.”

“I can stay here on the cockpit, I have no problem. You could even sleep in my room, Clair, and Crosshair can keep his for the night—”

“Tech, you’re the one I need most alert,” Hunter said. “You have all the data and I can’t have you slip up, not when we’re trying to convince the Republic of moving in.”

“Me? Slip up? I am indignant,” Tech began to question, but Hunter’s gazed pierced into that of his brother and for a while he remained silent until his eyes widened and his jaw dropped in realization.

“Ah, I see,” Tech spoke and got up without further protest.

The little scene was a bit too confusing for Clair as she knew by now that wasn’t the way they’d usually behave. Tech could go days without sleeping, why would Hunter be worried about that now? Well, his argument did make sense… they were going to try something big with the Republic, they all had to be in their best condition, including herself.

She stood up from her chair at the edge of the cockpit and went to the center where Crosshair was still casually sitting in one of the chairs, both of them looking after Hunter as he walked off with Tech. When Clair was just about to say she’d be off to sleep too, she noticed Hunter looking back at her and saluting discreetly just before he pressed the controls of the cockpit door and it closed, leaving her alone with Crosshair.

A smile instantly curved her lips as Hunter’s actions became deliberately clear, and she blushed as she noticed Crosshair walking up to her. She looked up at him, reveling in the way the white and blue specs of hyperspace reflected off his eyes, making her smile widen into a grin. He was so beautiful it was almost painful.

“Did you put him up to this?” She asked him.

Crosshair chuckled. “I thought you did.”

It was her turn to laugh. “It’s sweet to see he’s practically your wingman.”

He gently scoffed and made his way to the front of the cockpit, gazing out at hyperspace. “He has been from the beginning, in a way.”

“What?” Clair raised an eyebrow as she approached him, resting her hand softly on his elbow.

“I had no intention of making any moves on you when we figured out you’d be staying,” he said. “Hunter’s the one who convinced me.”

Several thoughts hit Clair at that moment. It explained why he’d been such a jerk, but why did Crosshair not want to do anything? Why did Hunter try so hard to convince Crosshair otherwise? What would Hunter have gained, anyway? It was all really moving, and then Crosshair turned around to look her in the eyes again.

“Well then, I have to thank him,” she said softly.

Crosshair smiled ever so slightly at her as he gently brushed her cheek with his fingers to cup her face the way he had that morning. Both of them had grown fond of that gesture, and Clair instantly relaxed in his grip and allowed her dreamy smile to widen, enjoying the feeling of being alone with him at last.

“I loved the way you carried me today,” she whispered.

Crosshair chuckled softly as he tapped her chin. “Me too. You’re so tiny and easy to carry that way.”

“Well then, you should do it more often.”

As their conversation died down, both of their gazes fluttered down to each other’s lips. Crosshair took one of his hands down to Clair’s waist to pull her closer to him while still cupping her face, and he leaned down until his lips were finally on hers. Clair’s hands rested softly on his chest as their lips danced together slowly in a kiss full of longing. Her arms snaked up around his shoulders as she pressed herself more to him and he added just a bit more strength to his kissing, but he didn’t want to be rough on her. It wasn’t the time for that yet. Crosshair wanted to savor every second he had with her, he wanted to treat her with all the softness she deserved.

Clair swooned into the kiss and felt fireworks erupt inside her whole body the way she’d felt when she first kissed him. It amazed her how gentle he could be with her when he always had a tough exterior. He’d teased her about being tiny before, and she indeed felt small when she was with him. She loved that he could wrap his arms around her, shield her with his body, transmit all his warmth to her.

With every passing second of that kiss, Clair felt herself more drawn to daring to think of the word love. Would it be too soon? Was that what she felt? Anyone would argue that it was soon, but that moment was so intimate and peaceful that everything within her was going soft except for her heart, which seemed to pound stronger with every moment.

He broke the kiss for a short while and just looked into her eyes, smiling softly at her as she gently caressed his cheek, running a finger tenderly over his tattoo. Crosshair’s smile widened only softly before he continued to kiss her with the same sweetness, this time letting his hand travel through her hair as he supported her weight completely. Even he was surprised at himself for how gentle he was being, but he didn’t care. Clair deserved nothing but the best and he hoped he was going about it right, that he was worthy of her. He added just a bit more strength to his kissing, going from sweet and caring to loving, bordering on passionate. Soon, he could feel the way Clair’s heart was pounding and he took a moment to look at her face. She was flustered in the most adorable way, causing him to chuckle at her as he pulled away from her and steadied her with a firm grasp at her shoulders.

“Come,” he said.

“Where?” Clair was still catching her breath.

“You need to rest too.”

Her heart sank just a little; she didn’t want to part from him, not yet. She wasn’t quite ready to let go, she wanted to keep feeling him next to her. He took her hand and led her down the ship to the bunks, pleased to find that none of his brothers had been eavesdropping this time. The lights had been turned low and the ship was eerily quiet except for its usual whirring. Crosshair led Clair gently down the hall until they reached his room, where she was supposed to spend the night.

“Sleep tight, Dumpling,” he told her.

In her eyes, he could tell she wasn’t too happy with the idea.

“What?” He whispered.

“Stay,” she said softly. “Please?”

Crosshair initially scoffed at her proposition, but the more he thought of it, the more he realized he wasn’t willing to part from her either, not even for the few hours of sleep they could get. Quietly, he began stepping into his room with her pulling at his hand and he closed the door behind him. He led her to the bed where she got in first and curled up under the blanket for him to join her, resting firmly on the pillow facing up. His perfect eyesight allowed him to notice Clair’s bashful expression even in the darkness, but she slowly made her way to lean her head on his chest as he draped an arm around her, covering her well with the thin blanket.

Silence reigned over them as Clair continued to curl up and make herself comfortable next to Crosshair, feeling safer and warmer than ever. Lying next to him was like a dream come true; his chest provided the perfect pillow and the sound of his heartbeat soothed her until it eventually lulled her closer to sleep.

“Goodnight, Crosshair,” she whispered.

He felt his lips curving up softly at the mention of his name and he couldn’t help but lean down to kiss her forehead, only to trail his way further to reach her lips to kiss her with the same tenderness as he had in the cockpit while his hand traced featherlight patterns over her back.

“Goodnight, Dumpling,” he whispered softly as he continued trailing kisses over her face until he reached the top of her head to plant a final kiss. “Goodnight, princess.”

“Goodnight, Berry Pie…” Clair said sleepily and with a big smile on her face even though Crosshair couldn’t see it. He didn’t need to see it, though. Neither one had to look at the other to know there was nowhere they’d rather be.

Although Hunter, Tech, and Wrecker tried not to make it blatantly obvious that they knew Crosshair and Clair had spent the night in the same room, the couple had to put up with several looks. Fortunately, no one commented anything thanks to Hunter sentencing Tech and Wrecker not to tease them, but Wrecker would grin widely whenever he saw Clair with Crosshair.

The arrival to Coruscant proved to be smooth. Unlike the last time she’d been there, Clair didn’t have a lingering feeling of dread. There was no risk of leaving the boys this time, or of them leaving her. In fact, she dared say she was in the best position she had been in a while. The whole squad was in the cockpit during the landing, all of them watching the marvelous landscape of Coruscant’s endless skyline.

Even though it put Bespin’s skyline to shame, Clair still seemed to prefer that one, preferably at night and alone with Crosshair. She looked up at him standing next to her, now donning his full armor except for his helmet. He had his stern soldier expression on as his eyes scanned the scenery, part of his sniper nature. He was certainly far more discreet in front of his brothers, but Clair never held it against him. She knew now wasn’t the time for them to get too close again, and besides, having slept in his arms was already more than she ever could have asked for. He was more than she ever could have asked for.

Despite his steady demeanor, Clair could notice how Crosshair would look at her for brief moments. In one of those, she caught his gaze and directed a small smile at him, which he returned with just a hint of a curve no one else would be able to notice.

She’d grown fond of his tough exterior, that was certain.

Shortly after Tech landed the Marauder on one of the landing platforms of the imposing Senate building, they all exited in a formation that made the four soldiers look like Clair’s personal guardians. The four clones wore their full armor while Clair still wore the oversized shirt and pants, but when she realized they had a welcoming committee, she desperately wished she was wearing her dress instead.

She nearly died of embarrassment when she realized that welcoming committee consisted of a Jedi as well as his second in command along with a few other clone troopers. Just being in their presence made her feel even smaller and suddenly she wanted to hide behind Crosshair, or at least run back to the ship and change. Still, they all arrived before the committee and Clair had made no rash decisions, but she was pretty flustered at the Jedi along with his clones, who demanded respect.

For starters, the Jedi was a Kel Dor who at first sight would seem very unfriendly, whose face and eyes were covered by breathing masks and he was even taller than Hunter (it became clearer to Clair why his brothers would tease him about his height). It would seem as if he were frowning, and though she knew the Jedi were peacekeepers and he wouldn’t wish the slightest ounce of harm on her, he still looked intimidating.

The clones flanking him weren’t much different. Where this Jedi was striking on, well, Jedi standards, the troopers were on clone standards, even standing next to the Bad Batch. Their armor was embellished by light gray patterns and the visors on their helmets were much narrower than those of the average helmets. Then, they all removed their helmets, and Clair’s gaze lingered on that of the trooper in the center, the Jedi’s second in command. He had a hard expression that somehow made him seem older than all the other clones, and his right eye had been replaced by a mechanical one. She also noticed the scar over his right eye and wondered how painful that must have been for him.

Her boys took their helmets off as well and the Jedi looked straight at Hunter.

“I am pleased that you have safely made your arrival,” he spoke in a low voice that was far more soothing than Clair could have imagined. “We’ve been arranged to meet shortly with the 501st division to look closer into the matter.”

Hunter gave a firm nod. “Yes, sir.”

When he spoke, it seemed strange to Clair that he answered to someone else. Now that she thought of it, they didn’t work with Jedi often, and suddenly she became interested in seeing how that would pay off.

But then, she noticed several pairs of eyes on her, primarily those of the Jedi and his commanding officer. Their gazes felt so heavy on her she felt she could squirm, suddenly wanting a shell to hide under.

“Is this the civilian you mentioned in your reports?” The said kindly.

“Yes, sir,” Hunter gave her a little nudge. “This is Clair, she’s been with us since the attack on Naboo.”

Clair discreetly took a deep breath and forced herself to gain her composure; the last thing she wanted was to appear naïve and crippled in front of everyone. She looked the Jedi in the eyes and gave a small bow.

“I’m Clair,” she repeated. “I’m pleased to meet you.”

As she looked at the Jedi, she felt comforted, much to her own surprise. She noticed the way his brow muscles relaxed as he looked at her, and she inferred he’d be smiling at her if he didn’t have that breathing mask.

“The pleasure is mine, little Clair,” he spoke softly. “I am Master Plo Koon. The loss of your home was indeed terrible. I cannot make promises yet, but we are indeed trying to bring justice to you and everyone else affected.”

“I’m very grateful for that,” Clair mirrored the softness in his voice.

“Unfortunately, your friends must come with us, and though you are involved in a way, you must remain outside any official briefings.”

Clair gave a slight nod of understanding at the Jedi Master, finding it somewhat easy to trust him. He simply inspired that aura of confidence around him, letting you know he was someone you could turn to if you needed help. Then, the clone trooper at his right stepped forward to formally greet Clair, his rough expression softening slightly at the sight of her.

“I’m Commander Wolffe,” his voice was low and somewhat husky. “If you’ll allow, I’ll escort you to your quarters.”

Clair could feel the way Crosshair shifted behind her when Wolffe approached her, and he reached into one of his compartments to pull out a toothpick and bring it up to his mouth. Wolffe locked eyes with Crosshair for a moment in which the sharpshooter made sure to make the most of his gesture, deliberately catching Wolffe’s attention, as though telling the reg that Clair belonged to him.

“Quarters?” Clair asked, if only to break the obvious tension between the clones.

“You won’t be remaining in the same barracks as the soldiers,” Wolffe addressed her again. “You have a separate room. Shall I take you?”

“A-actually, I was kind of hoping to take an intensive herbology course,” she said (and Tech could not have been prouder). “I can take it here, right?”

Wolffe glared at Crosshair. “You’re taking her into battle?”

Crosshair was about to puff up, and Clair knew this perfectly well, so she deliberately had to stand between the two clones.

“I don’t want to be a soldier,” she said. “I just want to make myself useful for as long as I stay with them.”

Doubtful, Wolffe looked over at Master Plo, who continued to observe Clair intently. He stepped forward, immediately dissolving some of the tension, at least on Wolffe’s part.

“The desire to learn is admirable, as well as that to help your friends whenever they may need it,” Master Plo told Clair before looking at Wolffe. “Escort her to her quarters first, I’ll send a protocol droid to help her with the rest. Once you are done, return to the briefing.”

“I’d much rather take her myself,” Crosshair spoke up.

“I understand your concern,” said Master Plo. “However, your squad is vital if the Republic is to consider moving out against pirates. You will be needed at the briefing at all times.”

It was as if Wolffe had wanted to scowl at Crosshair but refrained from doing so at the last second. He’d dealt with him before and knew all about his little superiority complex, and though he would have loved to give the sniper a piece of his mind, he also figured neither General Plo or the young woman would appreciate it. Still, Crosshair’s sight never betrayed him and he noticed the hint of a gesture Wolffe had managed to make, and his already piercing eyes narrowed menacingly at the commander.

Clair hesitated for a moment and felt Crosshair’s prying gaze behind her. Quietly, Hunter reached out to Crosshair and placed a reassuring pat on his shoulder.

“She’ll be fine,” Hunter whispered to him.

Clair finally turned around to face Crosshair with gentle eyes and lightly placed her hand on his forearm, careless as to whether or not they should even be displaying any affection.

“Go,” she said. “They need you there. I’ll be fine, and I have the comm device.”

Crosshair sighed but eventually agreed and flanked Hunter while Wolffe moved up next to Clair, looking down at her and (almost, to Crosshair at least) seeming like a gentleman.

“This way,” he said softly to her.

Clair nodded slowly and gave her squad, particularly Crosshair, one more reassuring look before being escorted away from them.

Taglist: @zoeykallus @sageislostinspring @misogirl828 @dangerousstrawberrypie @salaminus @ladykatakuri @whore4rex @morganlefaye13 @seriowan @kimageddon @rain-on-kamino @prozacspice

#moonlight series #moonstrider writes #tbb crosshair fluff #the bad batch fanfic #tbb fanfic #tbb crosshair #the bad batch #crosshair #tbb crosshair x oc #clone trooper crosshair

17 notes · View notes