#i’m awful at tagging

[artsslumber]

[casual-violinist-fangirl]

Coming Home: 6,516 Words

. When a mission to rescue Crosshair goes wrong and Omega is left in the clutches of the Empire, Crosshair and Hunter are forced to put their differences aside… for the sake of their sister.

. This fic ticks the Crosshair and Hunter and Omegs boxes! Fans of of any of these characters be prepared for all the fluff/hurt/comfort.

. Warnings: this fic contains references to implied torture, trauma, panic attacks and also contains some swearing, smoking and alcohol drinking

. As usual, the AO3 link is in the comments!

Coming Home

Rounding the corner, eyes on the lookout for any TK troopers, Hunter began tapping in the code to release the ray-shield door of the cell. Upon entering, he and Omega stopped short at the sight in front of them. Crosshair, looking bruised and broken, was slumped in the corner of the tiny cell; his hands were bound and he appeared to be resting in a light sleep. Ever the worrier, Omega crouched in front of her brother, giving him a gentle nudge only for him to hiss in pain and try to disappear further into the wall.

‘No…’ he croaked out. ‘I don’t know anything.’ Hunter went to surge forward, but Omega raised a hand to stop him, her medical training from Nala Se kicking in as she gave him another nudge.

‘Crosshair, it’s Omega and Hunter,’ she started in a gentle tone. ‘We’ve come to get you out of here.’ At the mention of their names, the clone’s eyes snapped open and he sucked in a breath like had been holding it underwater for a long time. His eyes darted about, a bitter and defensive look across his face before they adjusted on the two figures in front of him.

‘Y-you shouldn’t be here,’ he seethed. A scowl had settled on his features, but his eyes were full of nothing but worry as they darted between Omega and Hunter. ‘What part of go into hiding did you not understand, Hunter?’

Hunter immediately became defensive. ‘We never heard anything about going into hiding, Crosshair,’ he snapped. ‘All we got from you was a transmission saying plan 88.’

The younger clone groaned at that statement, realising that his attempted transmission must have been cut short. ‘Well in my defence I didn’t think you’d come after me after hearing that you were being targeted,’ he bit out. ‘These scientist Empire freaks are after the kid. If my transmission hadn’t been cut short you would’ve heard me telling you to go into hiding.’

The temperature in the room seemed to drop several degrees as that statement sank in. Omega glanced at Hunter, trying her best to hide the fear on her face. The clone in question paled slightly, only now realising just what they had gotten themselves into.

‘I-I…’ Omega searched for words, only to fail. ‘Why?’ Crosshair only shrugged, not knowing the answer to her question. He slowly brought himself into a standing position despite his body protesting the movement. No point in speculating why the Empire wanted her, all he knew right now was that they needed to leave. Fast.

‘Can we get out of here?’ He asked, looking to Hunter. ‘I didn’t endure multiple rounds of torture without talking only for the Empire to actually get what they wanted.’ A nod from his brother was all that was needed before the trio were on their way back to the Marauder.

‘Havocs two, three and four,’ Hunter spoke into his comm. ‘We’re on our way back to the rendezvous point now.’ There was a pause before Tech’s grainy voice replied over the system.

‘I take it you were successful?’

‘Yeah, but it turns out the Empire are after Omega, we need to get out here and fast.’ Hunter felt like he was going to be sick just saying the sentence. How could he have lead his little girl into this?

‘Best not to think about it,’ came a voice next to him and he turned to look at Crosshair. He was managing to keep up with them, but he was clearly weary and his breathing was laboured. ‘We’re leaving. Before you know it we’ll be out of here and you can go back to doing whatever the hell you were doing before I interrupted.’

There was a bitter tone to his voice, but Hunter didn’t have time to consider it before a blaster bolt soared past his ear and hit a door panel… the final door panel leading them back to the Marauder.

As if in slow motion, the door started to slide shut. Omega yelped in surprise, and the three of them doubled their efforts to get through the door before it shut. They didn’t need to know what would happen if it shut and they were trapped inside. Hunter grabbed Crosshair and shoved him through the door and followed knowing that Omega was right behind him… until the blaster bolts started coming at them.

Omega drew her bow and started shooting to defend herself from the attack. She shot a trooper successfully and turned to go through the door only to realise that the gap in it was too small for her to fit through. ‘Hunter!’ she cried out, the fear seeping into her voice.

‘Omega!’ The door jammed with just enough room for him to put his arm through. ‘Crosshair,’ he started only to see that his brother was already working on trying to get the door open again from their side.

‘Hunter, don’t let them take me,’ came a scared voice. ‘I don’t want to become an experiment, not again.’ His heart broke for her. The fire on her side of the door had stopped and Hunter could just about see the TK troopers holding their blasters up to her. She had her hands above her head, though they were trembling and her knees were wobbling in a way that made him think that her legs might collapse from underneath her. ‘Please,’ she pleaded, and he couldn’t tell if she was begging him to get the door open, or for the troopers to stand down and let her go.

Either way, it didn’t look as though she was getting her wish. Two troopers surged forward and grabbed her by the arms. She screeched at that, kicking and pulling with everything she had in her. ‘Hunter! Crosshair!’ she screamed as she was dragged away. More troopers were on their way to their position, Hunter had heard Tech telling him over the comm. They had to leave, or they’d be captured too… in that moment Hunter didn’t care. The Empire had just taken Omega, and all he knew was that he needed to get her back.

The next few minutes passed in a complete blur. Crosshair snapping at him to come to his senses and run. Wrecker running from the Marauder to his side, dragging him back to the ship as he stood, shocked by everything that had happened. It was only when Tech started the engines and took off that he sprung back to life, wrestling his way into the cockpit.

‘We need to turn around, now!’ he demanded. Echo stood from the co-pilot’s seat, a stern and yet worried look on his face. ‘We’re better off re-grouping, Hunter,’ he tried to reason, but the sergeant was having none of it. ‘We can’t just leave her!’ he yelled, winding Echo as the clone was reminded of the time Omega had said the exact same thing.

‘It makes more sense for us to go back to Pabu and figure out our next move,’ Tech reasoned, using his most gentle voice as he threw logic in Hunter’s face.

That only seemed to make the situation worse. Wrecker had to step in and physically stop Hunter from grabbing the wheel of the ship. The stronger clone was able to move him easily into the main cabin, shutting and locking the door behind them as Hunter struggled. Crosshair, who had been sagged in a seat since their arrival back on the ship, stood and placed a surprisingly gentle hand on his brother’s shoulder.

‘Live to fight another day, Hunter,’ he said in a way that caught Hunter’s attention. ‘She’s going to need our help and we can’t do that if you’re half dead.’

All of Hunter’s strength was sapped out of him at that point and he collapsed in Wrecker’s grip. He was going into sensory overload, and the only thing he could think of was Omega’s voice pleading with him to help her. Begging him not to let the Empire take her.

‘I don’t want to become an experiment, not again.’

The ride back to Pabu wasn’t a long one, but for the batch it seemed to take forever. Once they were in hyperspace Tech moved into the cabin, insisting that he look over Crosshair and assess any injuries he may have sustained whilst imprisoned. With that over and out of the way, all that was left to do was wait until they arrived… home? Hunter hadn’t said a word since they’d left Omega behind, lying on his side in his bunk and facing away from the rest of his brothers.

‘We have arrived,’ came the informative yet concerned voice of Tech as he set the ship down. He glanced at his brothers; Hunter still hadn’t moved, Crosshair looked exhausted, and Wrecker chewed his bottom lip anxiously. Echo cleared his throat and moved to take control of the situation as he had done when Hunter had been captured.

‘I suggest we rest up for the night and regroup in the morning,’ he sated. His tone was soft, but it had a distinct commanding tone to it. His words weren’t a suggestion.

And so that’s what they did. Disembarking the ship, the group were immediately met with the worried faces of Shep, Lyana and Phee, none of whom had heard about what had happened.

‘Where’s Omega?’ Lyana’s voice wobbled with fear as she spoke, Shep placing a gentle hand on his daughter’s shoulder in support. When no one else answered, Crosshair sighed and took it upon himself to fill in these complete strangers.

He told the story as briefly as possible, finishing it off with a statement that they were going back for the little girl. He was on his last legs and it clearly showed as Shep made a point of immediately shepherding the group back to the hut they had been living in since their arrival on the planet.

Just when Crosshair’s day couldn’t get any more bizarre, the woman (he thought her name was Phee?) surged forward and wrapped Tech in a tight embrace. Tech… didn’t like physical contact, at least not from people he didn’t explicitly trust. He’d always been this way, so to see someone outside of the squad wrap him in a hug was a shock. Out of the corner of his eye he spotted her peck him on the cheek; had they not been in their current situation he might have laughed. Trust Tech to be the only one out all of them to bag the girl. He couldn’t help but feel a little proud of his brother for putting himself out there.

Upon arrival at the hut, the group parted ways. Wrecker sloped off to the room he shared with Tech, who had disappeared with Phee. Echo excused himself and went to sleep in a spare room that had been put together just in case he’d ever come to visit. That just left Hunter, who was having a hushed conversation with Shep in the doorway. He could make out fragments, though their voices were soft.

‘She’s strong little girl… make it through.’

‘I just can’t believe I walked her in there. I feel so stupid,’

‘Fathers' make mistakes… she’ll be okay.’

The penny dropped for Crosshair at their conversation. Clearly this place was Hunter’s way of trying to settle for Omega’s sake. Give the kid a childhood, he supposed. He could see the appeal; stunning views and a safe, welcoming environment. There wasn’t much more you could ask for in a home. Hunter had obviously began to finally accept that he was the little womprat’s father figure as well, not protesting when Shep referred to him as Omega’s father. Crosshair’s head snapped up as he heard his name.

‘Goodnight, Crosshair,’ Shep smiled warmly, though it was tinged with sadness. ‘I will be awake to see you all off in the morning.’ The clone could only nod, slightly shocked at the man’s kindness. Did he not know all the awful things he had done to his brothers? How he’d hurt and betrayed them time and time again? Clearly not if he was treating him like a long lost friend, not his enemy.

Hunter was still stood in the doorway despite the fact the door was shut, his eyes baring a slightly haunted look in them. He clearly wasn’t going to be getting any sleep, and Crosshair didn’t fancy waking half the island up with his nightmares, so the younger clone sighed. He stood from where he had perched on the table and headed towards Hunter, or more pointedly, the front door.

‘Move your butt, Hunter,’ he mumbled as he walked past and opened the door. ‘You’re clearly internally pulling your beloved hair out so I’m staging an intervention.’ He opened the door, holding it for his brother. ‘Better come with me before I change my mind,’ he drawled, knowing that there was no way he was changing his mind. Hunter clearly needed to talk to someone… or at the very least be with someone right now. Being on his own was only going to fuel his poisonous thoughts.

Before long, the pair were seated on the roof of the hut, their legs swinging in the gentle breeze as they gazed up at the stars ahead of them. Crosshair fished into the pocket of his prison trousers and pulled out a cigarette, lighting it and leaning back to stare up into the night sky. After a moment, he spoke.

‘I can feel your eyes on me, Hunter,’ he snarked, glancing at his brother. ‘What’re you thinking right now?’ There was a pause, and for a moment he thought that Hunter wasn’t going to reply.

‘Where the hell did you manage to get those?’

Crosshair let out a low snort. ‘They were in my crate on the Marauder,’ he replied. ‘I kept a secret stash once you tried to get me to stop… for emergencies. I feel like this is an emergency.’ Hunter huffed, rolling his eyes at the comment, but still took his own cigarette from the pack when it was offered to him moments later. The pair sat in a silence that could almost be described as content had it not been for the events of the day looming over them.

When at last Hunter spoke again, his voice was soft and sounded broken. ‘What happened?’ he asked, not looking over at Crosshair. The younger clone sighed and contemplated how to summarise the internal nagging he’d been experiencing for the longest time.

‘Someone talked some sense into me…’ he trailed off, and had Hunter been looking he would have seen the hurt expression on his brother’s features.

‘Remind me to buy him a drink when all of this is over,’ Hunter said the comment lightly and glanced over at Crosshair only to wish that he hadn’t said anything at all.

‘He’s dead… but it’s okay. I shot the man to blame,’ Crosshair could feel Hunter staring at him again and daren’t look up, not wanting to see his face full of pity. They fell back into silence, a little less easy than before. ‘Look…’ Hunter trailed off, cursing himself. He was awful at this sort of thing. Emotions had always come easily to him, but he struggled more with talking them through with people. It was why he clammed up every time Shep referred to him as Omega’s father.

‘We shouldn’t have left you, Crosshair,’ he tried again, only to see the man in question shaking his head. ‘I wouldn’t have gone with you anyway,’ he responded. ‘I had to figure things out in my own time. Having you trying to nag me into submission probably would have just made us hate each other…’ he looked up at Hunter. ‘I don’t, by the way. Hate you that is.’

The pair of them smiled small, broken smiles at one another. Plenty had been left unsaid, but for now that could wait. Now they had a joint mission, a joint purpose; save Omega and make it out of the Empire’s clutches unscathed. Cigarettes long burnt out, the pair sat perched on the roof of the hut and stared at the stars for a while, just pleased to be in one another’s company again.

‘So…’ Crosshair eventually broke the quiet as he lit up another cigarette. ‘I hear you’re Omega’s dad now.’ The sour look on his brother’s face was worth the cheap shot and he chuckled lowly to himself. ‘You never struck me as the type to have a kid, Hunter.’

‘Yeah well,’ the older clone shrugged, clearly looking a little embarrassed. ‘It’s not like she goes around calling me dad or anything.’

‘But you want her to.’

‘Stow it, Crosshair!’

The pair laughed lightly before a troubled look settled over Hunter’s face. ‘I just can’t imagine life without her now that she’s been with us for this long,’ he commented offhandedly. Crosshair raised an eyebrow but couldn’t help the small smile that crept onto his face.

‘Well she’s definitely a daddy’s girl that’s for sure,’ he drawled, and Hunter snorted with laughter. ‘What?’ the Sniper continued. ‘It’s you she cried out for when we were trying to get out of that hell hole, you she went to talk to when we were on Kamino and I sure as hell bet it’s you she goes to when she wakes up in the night scared and feeling alone.’

The look on his brother’s face told him all he needed to know and he nodded, offering Hunter another cigarette. He considered for a moment before giving in and grabbing one. ‘What the hell, I’ve already messed up royally today. Might as well start smoking again too.’

Crosshair rolled his eyes at Hunter. ‘Absolutely not. It’s bad for you to smoke around children.’

‘There aren’t any children here, Cross.’

‘Yeah well, the last thing you need is Omega asking if she can have a cigarette because her daddy has them.’

By this point, the pair of were smiling genuinely, laughing at each other’s antics. ‘She’s smarter than that,’ Hunter pointed out, making Crosshair roll his eyes.

‘Oh yeah? How many times has she asked you if she can get a tattoo so she can match you and the others?’

‘… good point, no more smoking when she’s back.’

A silence settled over them at the final statement. When she’s back. Not if she gets back. They were going to get Omega back, no matter what.

‘You should sleep,’ Crosshair mentions after a while. ‘Can’t go saving your kid if you’re half asleep.’

‘She’s not my kid,’

‘That’s a load of bantha crap and you know it, so don’t even try that. She’s your kid, Hunter. Now go and sleep.’ He gave Hunter a gentle shove, and the older clone stubbed out his cigarette before going to head back inside the hut. Just as he was about to head through the door he looked up at Crosshair.

‘You weren’t interrupting, by the way.’ The comment caught Crosshair off guard. Hunter had been in such a focused headspace earlier that he thought the comment had been left unnoticed. Clearly not.

‘Things feel better with you back, Cross,’ Hunter let out a small yawn as he headed back inside’ leaving his younger brother to contemplate all that had happened in his life recently. He… was not going to be getting any sleep any time soon, clearly. Laying back on the roof of the hut, he stared up at the stars, trying to remember the constellations he had been shown by Tech when they ere cadets. It wasn’t much of a distraction from his raging thoughts, but remembering how excited Tech had been to talk about the stars brought him some comfort. Best not to think about tomorrow. Not yet, anyway.

————

The following morning there was an air of tension in the room as the brothers gathered. Hunter surfaced from his room looking more tired than he had before going to bed, making it clear that he hadn’t slept at all last night. Tech walked through the front door having not returned the night before, and once again Crosshair caught himself thinking that he would have laughed had the current situation not been so serious. Echo looked nearly as tired as Hunter, no stranger to sleepless nights and nightmares; out of all of them Wrecker was the only one who had managed to get some sleep, though the concern in his eyes made it clear that it had not been an easy night.

The group boarded the Marauder, having been seen off by Shep; the mayor of Pabu had spoken some reassuring words to Hunter as they’d parted, and his daughter had ran up to the sergeant to give him a quick hug before they left to complete their daily duties. Once they were in the sky and heading back into hyperspace, the squad gathered to formulate their plan.

It was quite simple really, Crosshair mused as he sat in his old seat, cleaning his rifle and making sure that his armour was all still present and correct. Get in the way they had yesterday, find Omega (which should be easy enough with Tech’s skills) and then get the hell out of there, potentially blowing the place up as they left. Now all that was left to do was wait until they arrived… watching Hunter pace back and forth was the worst part. The man practically wore a hole in the floor of the ship in the short hours it took for them to reach their destination.

They arrived with the same level of stealth and subtlety as they had the previous day, taking more care now that the Empire knew that they would be after Omega. Hunter turned to the rest of the squad, trying his best to play leader despite all of the emotions flying through him.

‘Right boys.’ His voice sounded gruff, emotional. ‘You know how this goes, so I’ll keep this brief.’

Tech stood, and with a level of gentleness Crosshair had never seen from him, placed a hand on his brother’s shoulder. ‘We’ll get he back, Hunter,’ he reassured, and at that point the man in question was glad that he was already wearing his helmet. He blinked away the tears, cursing himself for not getting any sleep last night. With a simple nod, the squad departed the ship… well all except Echo, who had agreed to be their getaway pilot.

‘Crosshair, you’re with me,’ Hunter called over his shoulder as the group went to split up. The pair had acquired some TK trooper armour on their way into the base, allowing them to move around a little more undetected. Distantly, Crosshair could hear Tech calling over the comms, giving them Omega’s location. Having not seen most of the base, the location meant nothing to him, but Hunter twitched slightly.

‘What?’ the younger brother asked, shifting his rifle on his shoulder. Hunter looked tense, although it was difficult to tell through the stupidly dark visor on his helmet.

‘Omega isn’t being kept in the detention cells.’ Crosshair didn’t like where this was going. ‘She’s been taken to the labs.’

The sentence weighed heavily on the pair, and they renewed their determination in their search. They had to find the little girl before it was too late.

As predicted, the Imperial labs were well guarded following the break out yesterday, but Hunter couldn’t really care less as he fired yet another stun bolt at a trooper. The man was on a mission, determined to get Omega out of there. As he and Crosshair walked together, trying to work their way through the maze of labs, he couldn’t help but feel a little glad that his brother was back and fighting by his side. Despite the circumstances, he was happy to have him here. Their disguises had done the job it seemed; they had come across few who dared to stop them.

He was cut out of his thoughts by comm chatter of other troopers. ‘She’s gone crazy!’ came one voice, catching Hunter’s attention. He glanced at Crosshair. He was hearing this too. ‘Careful, she’s got a knife!’ Yelled another.

‘Prisoner 24601 has escaped and is loose in the base! I repeat prisoner 24601 is loose, and she is armed.’

Well it looked as though Omega was doing her best to make things a little easier for them.

‘She’s a little girl, captain, how dangerous can she be?’ came a response, and Crosshair’s blood froze at the sound of Doctor Hemlock’s voice. ‘I’ll pursue her myself.’

‘We need to get to her first, Hunter,’ Crosshair looked over at his brother. ‘That was the Doctor in charge of this whole shit show.’

Pulling off their helmets, the pair of them began running through the corridors in a desperate search for Omega… this was going to be more difficult now that she was on the run.

Rounding a corner, Hunter was winded as a small figure with a mop of blonde hair came barrelling into him. It took him a moment to register what was going on, the small figure screaming and trying to pummel him with her fists. ‘No!’ Omega yelled, clearly having not processed who she had run into. ‘No, no no no no! Get off of me!’

Hunter immediately dropped to his knees, grabbing one of the girl’s wrists and resting his other hand on her shoulder as he tried to stop her frantic movements.

‘’Mega, it’s me,’ he said, trying to keep his voice as calm as possible; Crosshair could hear the emotion in his voice, betraying just how relieved he was that the little girl was alive. ‘It’s me, hey. Omega, it’s okay.’

Slowly her fists stop fighting and she seemed to absorb who it was in front of her. Her voice came out in small rasps, trying to say something but failing each time she opened her mouth. ‘H-Hunt.. Hunter?’ she cried, tears streaming down her cheeks as she realised that he was there, and that she was safe… well, safe-ish.

‘It’s me, Omega, it’s okay,’ he kept saying, his hands now cupping her cheeks; he tried not to think about the blood splattered on her face, especially not the slow stream of it trickling out of her nose.

Hunter pulled her into a hug, and she clung to him, her sobs echoing throughout the corridor. ‘I’ve got you, ad’ika,’ he whispered soothingly as he stroked her hair. ‘It’s okay, you’re gonna be okay.’

Crosshair looked away from the pair, not wanting to intrude on their moment (it definitely had nothing to do with the tears that are gathering in the corners of his eyes at the sight of their reunion). When eventually the pair pulled away from the hug, Omega swayed on her feet, completely drained and looking slightly dazed. Hunter wasted no time scooping her up off of the floor, slinging her onto his waist so that she could cling onto his neck and bury her face into his shoulder.

A shot fired nearby, and Crosshair jumped into action, raising his weapon and stunning the trooper. ‘I think that’s our cue to leave,’ he hissed as they started to retreat back down the corridor, to the lifts. ‘Echo, we need to get out of here pretty sharpish!’ Hunter warned into the comm channel. There was a split second before the clone replied.

‘Have you got her?’

At this point, the group were in the left, making their way up to the floor they needed to escape. Omega was still clinging to Hunter, not daring to let go of him. He shifted her slightly so that he could get a better look at her nose; definitely fractured by the looks of things.

‘We’ve got her,’ Crosshair replied for him, looking over at the pair. ‘You still got nose splints on board?’

This time it was Tech who responded. ‘Of course we do,’ he replied almost sarcastically. ‘Just get back to the ship and I will look for them.’

‘We’ll meet you there,’ Hunter was back in the conversation, Omega still latched onto his neck. She looked… tired. Probably the trauma, Crosshair mused to himself. A broken nose meant that someone had hit her. His enhanced eyesight meant that he could also see some blood around her mouth… had she bitten someone? Good thinking, he thought to himself as the lift arrived on the correct floor.

There was one corridor that stood between them and the Marauder, and Crosshair couldn’t help but hold his breath in anticipation of an attack as they crept down it. They had come so far, surely the Empire wouldn’t just let them walk out of there.

… just once, he wanted to be wrong.

As they ran past a doorway, it hissed open, and a group of TK troopers launched themselves at the trio. Crosshair managed to shoot a couple before they were too close for his weapon, and had to report to hand to hand combat. ‘Hunter!’ he called out over his shoulder. ‘I could really do with some help right now!’

Seconds later, his brother was by his side, viroblade out in one hand, and a pistol in his other. The pair fought together as though it was only yesterday they’d been running training drills as a team. Seamlessly they managed to rid the corridor of enemies and stood for a moment, catching their breath.

A blood curdling scream broke the peace.

Turning, Hunter and Crosshair saw non other than Doctor Hemlock trying to drag Omega back down the corridor; she was putting up a valiant fight, squirming as much as she could as she screamed blue murder.

Then there was the sound of a blaster firing… then nothing.

Omega fell to the floor, Hemlock’s grip on her having been released as his body slumped down. She scrambled away from him, gathering her footing shakily and running back to where Hunter already had is arms stretched out for her. Crosshair’s rifle smoked slightly, and he straightened up before shouldering it and leading them the rest of the way back to the Marauder.

Once everyone was safely on board and they were leaving the atmosphere, Tech turned his attention to Omega. ‘Miss Omega,’ he said in a way that would usually make her giggle. This time… nothing. He continued, trying not to sound put out. ‘I would appreciate it if you let me look at your nose…’ He took a couple of steps forward but was shocked when Omega backed away, retreating further into the ship.

‘No,’ she replied shakily. ‘I don’t want it.’

‘We gotta make sure you’re not hurt, kid,’ Wrecker tried, a gentle smile on his face as he made an effort not to talk too loudly.

Despite this, nothing seemed to help. Omega kept shaking her head and refusing to let any of her brothers near her. ‘I don’t want it,’ she kept repeating shakily, her eyes filling with tears as she panicked. Crosshair, who had been silent up until this point, stepped forward. He crouched down to Omega’s height and made as much effort as he could to speak softly.

‘They hurt you, didn’t they?’ he asked, and after a moment’s pause she nodded, her bottom lip quaking.

‘Did they inject you with something that made you see… bad things?’ he continued. Another nod as the tears started to trickle down her cheeks.

Crosshair rolled down the collar of his blacks, revealing a couple of puncture wounds. ‘They did that to me too,’ he said, surprising himself with how gentle his voice sounded. ‘I promise you, they aren’t going to hurt you, they’re real, Omega. No one is going to hurt you here.’

A flush spread across her cheeks and she looked embarrassed. ‘I know that really…’ Omega trailed off, wiping her eyes.

‘I know you do,’ Crosshair even tried for a small, reassuring smile. ‘It’s just difficult when people have been hurting you.’

He hadn’t been expecting her to wrap her arms around his neck, mumbling her thanks to him; he awkwardly patted her back, not entirely sure what else to do. This was a very new scenario for him. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Tech holding the med kit, and pulled away from the hug. ‘Now,’ he stated, reaching out and gently wiping a couple of tears off of her cheek. ‘Are you going to let Tech look at your nose, or are we going to have to start calling you wonky-nose-Omega?’

Bizarrely, that had drawn a small laugh out of the child, and she nodded. Going to see Tech, she grabbed Hunter’s hand on the way and took him with her. Omega had cried a little when Tech re-set her nose, but Hunter had held her hand the whole time and gently helped her to wash her face clean afterwards. Not long after that, the events of the past day seemed to catch up on her; she crawled into Hunter’s lap as he sat on his bunk and curled up there. The clone didn’t look surprised, so Crosshair assumed that this was a fairly regular occurrence for the pair.

‘Goodnight, ad’ika,’ Hunter whispered softly into her hair as he pressed a kiss there. The child was dozing off, having not gotten any sleep the night before. Crosshair could just hear the mumbled, ‘goodnight, buir,’ over the rumble of the Marauder and a small smirk appeared on his face as he saw Hunter’s shocked expression.

————

It was dark when they made it back to Pabu, and the group wasted no time heading towards their hut and settling down for the night. Tech and Wrecker trudge off to their room, exhausted; Echo poured himself a drink and did the same, bidding Hunter and Crosshair goodnight. The older of the two clones went to tuck Omega into her bed before re-emerging from the room. Hunter fished into a cabinet and pulled out the bottle Echo had just poured drink from. ‘Fancy it?’ he asked, pulling two cups out when Crosshair nodded. Before long, the pair were sat outside once more, on the roof of the hut and staring up at the stars.

‘So, buir,’ Crosshair teased as the pair sat and sipped on their drinks. Hunter rolled his eyes and gave the man a shove. ‘Stow it, Cross,’ he retorted, but the smile on his face said that he didn’t mind really.

‘Oh I’m never shutting up about this ever,’ the younger brother teased. ‘I told you she was a daddy’s girl.’

‘Yeah well, I’m just glad she’s back.’

It hadn’t needed saying; Crosshair could see the difference in Hunter and it had only been a couple of hours since they’d rescued Omega. His shoulders weren’t as tense, and the smiles on his face were easier, more genuine, even if he was still worried about his little girl. Cosshair had been about to say something else to tease his brother when Hunter sat up suddenly, alert, and looked down to the doorway of the hut.

‘Buir?’ came a small voice, and Omega trudged out of the hut wrapped in her blanket.

‘We’re up here, ad’ika,’ he called, making her look up. A small smile of relief flooded her features as she nodded, starting to try and climb up onto the roof with them. Hunter lifted her the rest of the way, setting her down in between himself and Crosshair; whilst he knew Omega was sensible, at least if she was sat between the brothers and slipped, one of them would be able to catch her.

‘Why are you up?’ he asked as she shuffled, moving closer to Hunter so that he had no choice but to put his arm around her. She shrugged, almost seeming embarrassed for a moment before sighing. ‘I had a nightmare,’ she mumbled, her cheeks red. Hunter simply nodded and held her closer, rubbing his thumb in soothing circles on her shoulder. ‘You want talk about it?’ he asked, only to be met with a shake of her head as she preceded to bury herself into his side.

Crosshair played it safe by pretending he wasn’t listening to the conversation between the father and daughter; clearly this was one they’d had a few times before and he didn’t want to intrude. Instead he lit up a cigarette, looking up at the stars.

‘What happened to no smoking in front of children?’ Hunter’s voice snapped him out of his daydream, a smirk on his face. Damn that man, knowing that this was his attempt at guilting him into not smoking. Omega peeked out of the blanket, a curious look about her.

‘Smoking’s bad for you,’ she chimed, as though she was reciting something Nala Se had indoctrinated into her… maybe she had, who knows. Crosshair rolled his eyes.

‘Well that didn’t stop your buir from doing it the other night,’ he snipped, and let out a loud snort of laughter at the shocked gasp that came from Omega.

‘Can I try your drink?’ came the curious enquiry a few moments later; Hunter looked a little startled, still recovering from Crosshair ratting on him, and shook his head after a moment. ‘Not a chance kid,’ he replied, trying not to look at the puppy-dog face she was pulling. ‘This is a grown-ups drink.’

‘But…’

‘You can have some when you’re older.’

A groan of disappointment came from the little girl, only making Crosshair laugh more. If he had realised how funny it would be to have a younger sibling he might have engaged with the cadets on Kamino more.

A comfortable silence settled over the trio as they sat on the roof of the hut staring up at the stars, but it was broken after a while by Omega’s loud yawn. Hunter chuckled and ruffled her hair.

‘Don’t you think it’s time you went back to sleep, ad’ika?’ A sad frown spread acrid the girl��s features and she shook her head, burying herself further into Hunter’s side.

‘I don’t want to be alone right now,’ the small, heartbreaking reply came. Crosshair and Hunter looked at one another, knowing that feeling all too well. Sighing, the older clone gave Omega a gentle squeeze. ‘I’ll set up camp in your room tonight then,’ he suggested, and Omega’s eyes widened with gratitude. ‘Come on, ad’ika,’ he pressed a gentle kiss into her hair before gesturing for her to climb down from the roof.

As the pair of them landed on solid ground once more, Hunter looked up at Crosshair, a slight look of concern across his features.

‘Are you sure you’ll be okay on your own?’ he asked, and had the younger brother been feeling more snarky he would have told Hunter off for babying him. Instead he looked up at the stars, feeling content for the first time in a long, long time.

‘I’m sure,’ he replied, the beginnings of a smile on his face. Things might not be perfect, but that was okay because he had come home.

[tokenducks]

Charles “We’ve got literally forever to figure out what the rest means” Rowland

[sameboot]

Simon petrikov coping FAIL compilation

[ducktracy]

there are a lot of evil people in the world and a lot of darkness in the world and so it’s very important for me to stress that now more than ever is the time to spread kindness and compassion. combat the evil by not only not partaking in it, but actively refuting it. destroy the notion that being compassionate or generous or kind to someone is uncool or embarrassing or even scary. be the change you want to see. start a chain reaction. positivity only breeds more positivity. do an act of kindness for someone so that that person who is too afraid to do it themselves can see you, realize that they’re not alone, and perhaps sheepishly follow your example. and then the next person who is too afraid but sees that person can do the same. when bad news comes out about bad people or horrible atrocities in the world it’s such an easy impulse to despair, and obviously it’s important to feel what you need to feel. grieve. be angry. be sorrowful. be empathetic. but dust off your pants and get up and be a part of a chain reaction that, no matter how small the scale, and spread compassion and love and care. all the reasons why you might not—“it’s hard! it’s scary! people will make fun of me! it’s useless because there’s too much evil!” are all grade A arguments as to why you should. you have no idea how many people you could inspire to do the same. even if it doesn’t get you anyway far, you can at least say you have the nobility of trying. please choose love and please choose life. you are worth loving and you are worth inspiring others to love

[heynhay]

merry Christmas klancers 🎅

[stark-lord]

Side A

[jellyvibes710]

@evenmoreofadisaster it’s a super rough story board but I first stumbled upon these guys because of @2aceofspades doodles of them and now I’m gradually becoming obsessed haha

I haven’t gotten too far into the story yet so the dynamic might be off, I’m sorry if it is 🫠

[fuckyeahisawthat]

“I don’t think that is what God wants. And I don’t think you want it either.”

This line of Aziraphale’s in the Job minisode keeps sticking out to me. Because this is the heart of the problem, right? This is how Aziraphale can see Crowley so completely and also not at all.

Because yes they suck at open communication and yes it’s because they had to hide their relationship for thousands of years and have so so so much trauma and fear to work through. But ALSO they actually do have a profound difference in how they see the world that keeps coming between them, and it’s not just theoretical but deeply personal to both of them.

Because Aziraphale still wants to believe that God is good. He can’t let go of that because his whole identity is wrapped up in being an angel of the Lord, and if God’s not good then what has he been doing for his entire existence?

And so when bad things are happening he falls back on This cannot be what God wants. The whole of season one, he refuses to believe that God could really want the world to end—even though we now know he knew this was a possibility before the world even started. He keeps going up the chain of command, trying to find someone to intervene. “That’s why I’m going to have a word with the Almighty and then the Almighty will fix it.” As if God doesn’t have all the information or hasn’t been paying attention.

And really, the events of season one reinforce this worldview for him. Because if the Archangel Fucking Gabriel isn’t sure what God wants, then maybe God did want them to stop Armageddon. Maybe it was Aziraphale and Crowley who were doing God’s work after all.

He’s gotten as far as realizing that Heaven’s orders are not the same thing as God’s will, but he still hasn’t detached the concepts of Good and Right from God in his worldview.

Crowley is a good person who does the right thing so he must still be an angel deep down. “I know the angel you were.” The only way Aziraphale can conceptualize Crowley saving Job’s children is, “Come on, you’re a little bit on our [God’s] side.” So Crowley’s fall was a mistake; Crowley belongs in Heaven, where he was so happy before the Fall. Why wouldn’t he want to be an angel again? And yeah maybe Heaven sucks now but God is still good, so there’s hope that the system can be reformed with a change of leadership, and Heaven can be made to actually do good, the way God always intended.

But that’s not how Crowley sees the world at all. He is operating with an entirely different understanding of reality. Because he figured out a long time ago (at least by the time of the Job job, but probably long before that) that you can’t base your sense of morality on what you think God wants. Not just because you don’t know for sure, but because sometimes God’s plans are fucking awful. God in Good Omens is not kind to Her creations. She doesn’t tolerate questions or doubts or disobedience. She’s capricious, turning on the creatures She made and killing a bunch of them when She’s in a bad mood. She punishes indiscriminately and disproportionately. She wagers human lives like gambling chips. The kids were supposed to be dead no matter who won the bet.

I think it’s interesting that Crowley is the one who introduces the idea in season one of “What if the Almighty planned it like this all along? From the very beginning.” That’s probably a comforting thought to Aziraphale, soothing his anxieties about going against Heaven right when he is feeling acute distress at the idea of no longer having a side. (And, in that particular moment, no longer even having a bookshop.)

But it’s not a comforting thought to Crowley. Have you seen what happens when God has a plan for you? It fucking sucks. Woe betide you if you’re the Barbie God decides to play with today. (At bare minimum, you’re coming back with some burn marks and a weird haircut.)

I’ve brought up the line “There are no right people. There’s just God, moving in mysterious ways and not talking to any of us” before, and I tend to focus on the “there are no right people” part. But also, there’s just God.

Aziraphale tends to draw a distinction between God’s will and Heaven’s orders when it suits him, and collapse that distinction when it doesn’t. Crowley almost never differentiates between God and Heaven. There’s just God, and She’s not going to explain why this is happening or listen to pleas for mercy (although Crowley still tries). You can’t trust Heaven or Hell, and you can’t count on God to show up and make everything all right. Sometimes God is in fact the reason that things are not all right. You’re on your own.

(And. Look. Crowley is right on this one. There are certainly aspects of their relationship where they’re both equally responsible for things being a shitshow, but the text is pretty unambiguous about Crowley, a demon, having the most accurate read on the nature of God in the world of Good Omens out of any of the metaphysical characters.)

Crowley rebuilt his entire sense of self, alone, after the Fall. He created himself anew and developed his own moral compass and sense of identity independent of both Heaven and Hell. “The angel you knew is not me.” When Crowley does the right thing, that’s not his angel-ness shining through; that’s just Crowley.

And from a like, trauma recovery point of view, it’s actually very healthy for him to have the realization that sometimes God’s just kind of a dick. He didn’t do anything to deserve getting kicked out of Heaven. None of them did. Just God messing them about because She didn’t like being questioned, or She wanted to see what would happen, or She needed two sides for Reasons and didn’t much care who was on one or the other, or She’s playing some fucked up little game for Her own amusement. (And if there was some Great Plan that required Crowley to fall…well, that is also fucked up. Because it doesn’t matter if there was a reason. It still hurt.)

And while Crowley in general is extremely patient with Aziraphale and his slow, halting journey away from Heaven…it’s gotta sting, every time Aziraphale doesn’t want to believe that God could be cruel, when Crowley is standing right fucking there. It’s gotta hurt when Aziraphale refuses to see something that Crowley knows to be true through his own lived experience. Because it should be enough. What happened to him should be enough to make someone who loves him walk away from Heaven and never look back. And it isn’t.

But of course Crowley is one hundred percent not going to talk about this, if he is even fully self-aware about having these thoughts, because it’s far too painful and vulnerable. (He talks to plants, goats, God, and no one in a bar at the end of the world, but never to Aziraphale.) And so he says “Tell me you said no” and “I think I understand a lot better than you do” because he can’t say Choose me. Just this once, choose me and he can’t say Believe me.

And Aziraphale is not going to think about all this and work it out for himself, because he has a massive lump of denial centered around exactly this thing, that sometimes God hurts people who didn’t do anything to deserve it. I’m sure he’s thought about the Fall in abstract terms, enough to be afraid of it, but not in terms of this is a thing that happened to a person I love. And he has certainly not allowed himself to draw any conclusions about the nature of God from it, because that is far too scary a prospect.

And so they’re stuck. Until they can figure out how to remove this massive landmine from the center of their relationship, they are going to keep having the same fight over and over again, and they’re going to keep hurting each other without fully understanding why.

[zsofieia]

The Creator recognized the emotion that his gaze held. He was desperate. He was confused. He was suffering. He was pleading for Ink to do something. But Ink didn't feel any sympathy for him.

He had left those vials at home.

the council of the inevitable by @onlyplatonicirl

“where is the light coming from” in my a—

y’all i was STRUGGLING with this first of all i don’t know how to draw intense emotions UrgGHHRRHHH

i’ve had this drawing idea for SOOOOOOOO long but i keep putting it off cuz!!!!!!! expressions!! are!!! hard!!!!!

anyways umm 😇😇😇😇 i haven’t read the new chapters…… kinda forgot where i stopped reading………. but i’m Definitely going to pick up the book one of these days (tonight)

[buffaluff]

it’s nap time for the 118 (now in color!)

original (x)

[marisatomay]

Happy anniversary to the time Katy Perry was suspended in the 6th grade on November 14, 1996 for humping and making out with a tree while imagining it was Tom Cruise.

[thevulturesquadron]

Fear people that go out of their way to call Magneto a simple villain. Step away politely and enjoy your peace.

Claremont didn’t give us a lesson about the importance of perspective just so y’all can still sound like ignorant peanuts; and continuing to do so after the narrative in X-men ‘97 makes it less and less possible to keep up the appearance of ‘decent human being’.

‘Magneto was right’ was never an invitation or an excuse for violence - it was an acknowledgment of his warnings, of his fears born out of first-hand experiences with the bigotry humanity is capable of.

For anyone who’s still trying to twist it or strip it of its nuances, I hope one day you’ll be able to pause, catch your breath, and be willing to have a positive conversation with someone you don’t agree with, but can still understand and accept their perspective. It’s one of the best feelings in the world, I promise.

[electrozeistyking]

POURRIR DISEASE (AS DEPICTED IN THE “IN ROT AND INFECTION AU”).

STAGES OF POURRIR.

ADDITIONAL NOTES:

Pourrir disease seems to progress faster when ingested, or when infected individuals have a lot more power for stronger Craft.

Pourrir in bread and pastries appears similar to mold at first, then progresses into unusual lumps if left unintended for too long.

Currently no proper name for the gunk. Looks like blood, but is far too thick, smells far too foul, and tastes far too rancid.

Infected individuals appear not to be cognizant in final two stages. Mainly unnaturally happy at all times.

Distancing yourself from an infected loved one as they progress through pourrir disease may limit your risk of getting infected.

[only-lonely-www]

So basically ATLA brain rot has hit me like a truck

[laurrelise]

guys unfortunately i’m still seriously struggling to understand how people ship five and lila and im spiraling into insanity !!!!1!1!1!!!!!!1!1!!!!