Chapter Text
They had just gotten off of Kamino- or what was left of Kamino, and Crosshair was leaning on the wall, slightly awkward, which made sense seeing as he had tried to kill them.
Breathe, Echo.
Hunter was sitting on his chair, getting scanned by Tech, and Omega had been holding his hand the entire time saying she wasn’t letting go of him in case he needed her. Omega had Hunter, had all of them, wrapped around her little finger. It was almost cute, seeing the stoic sergeant melt when a little girl spoke to him. Wrecker seemed to be ignoring that, and was staring at Crosshair as if he couldn’t believe he was really there. The giant man’s shoulders were also tightened, as if he was ready for a fight, but so was Echo. Other than Tech’s soft observations, the ship was quiet.
Too quiet.
And apparently, Crosshair thought so too, because he asked, “What the hell are you two staring at me for?” It wasn’t really a question, more of a statement. As if he was trying to provoke them into attacking. It was like when Echo first came aboard, and Crosshair took every possible moment to garner a reaction from him, only stopping when Echo saved Hunter that one time. Echo turned around to meet Wrecker’s eyes, and that wasn’t good.
Wrecker looked like he did when he was about to attack the regs. He was angry, and about to fight, or at least he was until Hunter cleared his throat.
“Go get some sleep, everyone.” Hunter turned around to Tech. “Am I okay, now?” He got up without an answer, but Tech pushed him back down. Tech seemed irritated, but Hunter’s leniency with his health always annoyed them, especially Crosshair.
“Hunter, you haven’t eaten in 47 hours. You have bruises and a cracked rib from that fall, and it’s a miracle you actually managed to survive that.” Tech looked at Hunter, who was still trying to escape, which was hard to do with a ten-year-old clinging on to you and an angry Tech. Tech sighed, and went on. “The chances of survival were less than 2 percent. You have a laceration and a deep cut on your chest, which needs medical attention immediately. So, no, you are not okay.”
Hunter seemed properly chastised by this, and Omega looked up in worry. “Hunter, are you going to be okay?” Echo got up to take her to bed because she didn’t need to hear any more. Knowing Hunter, there was definitely something more. Either that, or the sergeant got off lightly. Echo kneeled next to the little girl, and saw her face. Oh kark, her eyes were watering. Time to do damage control.
“Hunter’s going to be just fine, Omega.” She looked up at Echo, and pressed her lips together. She grabbed Echo’s hand without letting go of Hunter’s.
Hunter looked down at them, and said, “It’s time for bed, everyone. Echo-”
“Got it.” Echo stood up, still holding Omega’s hand. He tilted his head toward the barracks, and her eyes lit up in understanding and excitement. She tugged on his arm, and let go of Hunter’s hand, but not without a small glance at Hunter, and one more at Crosshair.
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“This is it.” Omega was looking around in wonder, to Echo’s amusement. He had never let her inside because of all the weapons and Wrecker’s magazines that made them all shudder . Except for Wrecker, because that man had a weird type. No matter what, Wrecker kept insisting you all don’t know what you’re missing , but they had all assured him, no we’re okay , and no, force, we don’t want to hook up with them. They had all agreed that a ten-year-old child should probably not see those things, because no matter how inexperienced they were with kids, it was pretty obvious that it was way too mature for her. Especially that time when she asked Hunter what the word ‘kriffing’ meant.
That had been a kriffing nightmare.
But since Hunter was injured, and this was the only room that she wouldn’t see anything-
It was the only option.
“Which one is your bed, Echo?” Omega looked like she was trying to contain her excitement, but she wasn’t very good at hiding it. Echo smiled and shook his head. “Back before Crosshair…um… left, we would switch bunks often because one of us was flying or setting routes and stuff.”
Omega nodded in understanding. “Is that why there’s only four beds?” she asked curiously. Echo nodded. “Yeah.” Omega climbed up on the bottom left bunk. That one was Tech’s most of the time.
“Can I sleep on this one, Echo?” she yawned.
“Yeah, kid, of course.”
He had just turned around ready to leave, but Omega grabbed his wrist. He turned around and saw her eyes were downcast. “Can you…um… would you stay?” Omega asked shyly. His heart melted and he nodded, of course he would stay for this amazing little girl.
Echo pulled up one of the crates Tech had probably been tinkering with, and sat on it, holding Omega’s hand. She was looking at him, and she asked softly, “What’s going to happen now?”
Echo was confused, and she picked up on it. Smart kid.
“I mean, now that Crosshair’s here. Are we going to keep working for Cid or are we going to stay on a planet? You know, hide out.” she clarified. Echo rubbed her hand in comfort. He figured he had to make himself look confident somehow. “Kid, I don’t know what’s going to happen for sure, but you’re staying with us, and that’s final,” Echo reassured the kid. She smiled brightly, but then sobered up.
“But Echo… what about Crosshair and the Empire?”
Echo sucked in a breath. It was going to be complicated for sure, now that they had an ex-Imperial soldier on board. But he had to say something to take her mind off it.
“I think the only thing we should be thinking right now, is that we don’t have Crosshair gunning for us anymore. And he’s now on our side. You have nothing to worry about, Omega. Okay?”
She smiled, albeit tiredly, and yawned.
“Okay Echo, g’night.”
“G’night, Omega.”
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Omega had been snoring softly for maybe a few hours, and Echo was relieved no one had come to get him. He assumed that meant Hunter wasn’t that badly injured, like that time he got shot by the bounty hunter. Echo wasn’t that tired because after coming back from Skako Minor, he had soon figured out he didn’t need as much sleep as before. Maybe an hour for a refractory period. And he hadn’t heard any loud noises, which meant Wrecker was either asleep, or ignoring Crosshair.
Crosshair.
When Echo had gotten back from Skako Minor, he hadn’t felt like he would belong with the 501st anymore. And when Hunter had so readily invited him to join his squad, it was an opportunity he couldn't turn away. It made him trust Hunter completely, and while he didn’t always agree with the leader’s choices, Hunter always did the best he could. And everyone did their best to make him feel welcome, except for Crosshair. Echo didn’t understand how Hunter trusted him, with the sharpshooter always being so cruel and cold. But on one mission, Hunter was cornered, and Crosshair was trying to get to him, and…
Echo didn’t think. He just went to save his brother. And later, when Hunter was in the Kaminoan medical facility, Crosshair sat next to Echo, on Echo’s bunk, and told him he was grateful.
And he left.
And after that, Echo started noticing things. They were small things, like whenever Hunter had a sensory overload, and the bandana wasn’t working, Crosshair would put the sergeant’s head in his lap, and massage Hunter’s scalp. And whenever Hunter was being stubborn about not needing any sleep, I’ll just keep watch for a few more hours get some rest , Crosshair was always there with a stern glance and an arm around Hunter’s waist, guiding him to Crosshair’s (what was he thinking, it was both of theirs) bed. The small looks between the two and the way they both touched each other. The times when Crosshair was, almost gentle , with Hunter. Doting, almost.
It wasn’t that the two tried to hide it. If anything, they were quite open with whatever they had going on with them. Regardless, Echo never talked about it because no one else did. It wasn’t any of his business, and he wasn’t going to make it his business. Echo knew some people had some… problems with clones being with other clones, and yes, sometimes, they did refer to each other as brothers, but they were all different people, and it wasn’t like they had chosen to be clones. So if they were legal, healthy, and wanted to be together, well then, why stop them?
It wasn’t like they were going to hurt each other.
And so, Echo ignored the times when Crosshair would disappear while Hunter was in the ‘fresher, or when Hunter followed Crosshair outside for a walk together after a tiring mission. They were happy, and he had no right to ruin that for his brothers.
Which is why it was such a shock when Crosshair kept trying to provoke Hunter. They had argued before, of course, but it was never like that. Normally, Hunter would get annoyed, and Crosshair would get angry, but they always made up. But this time Crosshair acted like Hunter was his enemy, like he had acted toward the regs, to Echo, but ten times worse. And when Crosshair started trying to kill them…
He was surprised that he hadn’t caught Hunter crying yet. Because the entire time, the sergeant hadn’t cried or screamed or been anything but perfect and on top of his game.
On the outside.
And they had finally gotten Crosshair back, and he had come willingly, but the sharpshooter was still treating them like an enemy. And Echo didn't like it. Sure, he didn’t expect things to go back to normal just like that, but why couldn’t Crosshair try to be less provocative?
That wasn’t even close to the problems they had. The kid was right with her questions. Laying low was a good idea in theory, but they would run out of supplies quickly, especially with a sixth person. And joining the Empire was out of the question. Going back to Cid was the best option, but the squad wasn’t exactly subtle, and with Crosshair with them, the Empire would start coming after them again. They didn’t even know Echo and the others were still alive, though, and that could be a good way for them to make a fresh start.
He would need to talk to Hunter about the best course of action.
Clang!
Echo grimaced, hoping he hadn’t woken up Omega, but of course, he wouldn’t be as lucky. She shifted, hugging his arm like she held Wrecker’s doll, Lula. The kid squeezed her eyes shut, then yawned.
“Hunter?” she asked. “I told you to go to sleep.” She opened her eyes, and realized she wasn’t talking to the sergeant. “Oh, I’m sorry Echo, I thought you were Hunter,” she said sheepishly. She looked behind him, noticing that the bunks were empty. “Where is everyone? Is Hunter okay?” Her lower lip was beginning to tremble, so Echo was quick to respond.
“No, don't worry about it Omega, they probably just fell asleep in the cockpit.”
Omega seemed relieved, which was good. “I’m glad because Hunter never sleeps,” she smiled, as if what she said was totally normal and should not be looked into further.
“Omega.” She turned her head up to look at his face, her smile fading as she realized something was wrong.
“What do you mean Hunter never sleeps?” She squirmed around, clearly uncomfortable, and oh, Hunter must have made her promise not to tell anyone.
Sure enough his suspicions were confirmed when she said, “Hunter made me promise I wouldn’t tell anyone.” She bit her lip, and Echo was about to ask again, when she blurted out, “Sometimes, Hunter doesn’t sleep, and he stays awake. I saw him awake a lot of times.” She was a little hesitant about saying all of that, and Echo was upset. Hunter had been lying, saying he was getting enough sleep, when the truth was, he hadn’t. Why was he lying?
Then it hit him.
Crosshair was the one who always dragged Hunter to bed, and always took care of Hunter. Without Crosshair, he probably couldn’t sleep, especially with the enhanced senses making the noise unbearable. He heard a soft snore coming from the bed and smiled, realizing Omega was asleep. He stayed for a few minutes, and got out of the room as quietly as possible. Echo was hoping to catch Hunter awake, so they could talk about what was going to happen next. But when he walked into the cockpit, everyone was asleep. Tech was curled up on the floor and had fallen asleep with his holopad, most likely after fixing up Hunter’s injuries. Hunter was slouched in his chair, resting his face on his arm, leaning to one side. Wrecker was snoring loudly, and on the ground. He must have rolled off the seats he was using as his makeshift bed. And Crosshair was sitting in a chair with his arms crossed, and his eyes closed. They all looked so peaceful, just like before everything changed.
And soon, they would have to figure out what to do next, and this peace would be broken, yet again. Echo wished that Crosshair’s chip hadn’t activated, that Order 66 hadn’t been given, that they hadn’t been ripped apart by the Empire. But there was nothing he could do about that, so he headed back to where Omega was sleeping, and he laid down in the bed directly across from her. Echo faced up, looking at the small skull that had been sketched on the bottom of the bed on the top. He remembered constantly bumping his head on the metal support.
They had a lot of problems they needed to fix, but that could wait until everyone was quiet for at least five hours.
The ship would come out of hyperspace, Cid would give them a job, and they’d have another completed mission and credits under their belts.
Echo just needed to get Crosshair and the others to agree.
My artwork for this chapter:
