Part 2, told completely from Crosshair's pov! This was... hard. Very hard. We have little to nothing about how he thinks, and certainly nothing on a softer side. He may come across ooc here, but he's not my character. So I'm fine with that. I'm proud of what I did do!

He's a deeply insecure character i feel like, but is also extremely protective which can be a very bad combination

Also, I worked hard for these muscles so imma be proud of them :D

Content warning: Past emotional trauma, partial nudity (its just my shirt no worries and no it isnt smut)

He watched her leave, his mind a tumultuous sea of doubt and uncertainty.

"There's only one person who can define who you are, Crosshair. You."

Forever thankful that his helmet had hid his face during the exchange, shielding his expression, Crosshair hated how deep her words struck him.

How could she just... pick him apart piece by piece like that? In a matter of minutes, secondseven, she'd laid out his insecurities before him with minimal effort and challenged them. Challenged him . Was she a damn shrink or something?

"Even if people tell usit is. I know it's hard. I know how tirin' it can be. Workin' so hard to please others, to be accepted, only to give up after defeat after defeat after defeat because what's the damn point. "

She knew. She knew what it was like. Perhaps not to the exact degree as him, but... she knew what it was like to be the outcast and reject when you tried so hard to please others before giving up.

Since when was Shadow empathetic ?

Maker, he preferred it when she was calling him some weird yet creative insult.

This was too close.

Too personal.

Too intimate .

It made matters worse she nearly hit it spot on.

For all of his poking and prodding to discover her breaking point, he'd only found a weak spot by accident. But Shadow, with no warning or indication she was analyzing him for a gap in his armor, delivered a precise strike that hit home.

Straight to the heart.

How ?

Picking up a fast pace to catch up to her before she began to think she'd rattled him, Crosshair despised how unease sent bolts of electricity down his back as he got closer.

Her ear turned back to track him, and he hoped she was listening to his footsteps and not his heart.

Why did her words shake him this badly ?

Maybe because you don't like the thought of anyone seeing past that protective shield you always have up?

She hadn't gotten past his barriers. She hadn't .

A guess. That was all. She was just a really good guesser. That was all .

What are you afraid of?

He wasn't afraid , he was...

If he let his guard down, she'd take advantage of it. She'd hurt him. Hurt his brothers. He had to protect them. He had to keep them all safe.

But what if she isn't out to get you? She's friendly with them. Shows interest in Tech's chatter. Matches Wrecker's enthusiasm. Respects Hunter's lead. She even gives you kindness when you hardly deserve it. Yet you still think she's an enemy.

Crosshair wrestled with that as they reached a row of low lying shrubs partially weighed down with small red fruit.

What if she didn't try to hurt them? What if she truly, genuinely , cared about their wellbeing?

His resolution from the start of the run across the fields came back to him. But how was he supposed to talk to her after what'd just happened? How could he face her?

He truly hadn't meant to be mean. He just...

He didn't know what to say. How to say it.

" I'm not askin' for perfection. "

But he wanted to try .

Suddenly Shadow stopped and turned to face him. The tip of her tail twitched, a movement Crosshair knew to be a sign of agitation, as she looked him up and down. She extended her hand towards him. "Let's make a deal."

What's her game? "Deal?"

She nodded. "First... take off that helmet."

He immediately stiffened. "Why?"

"Because I want to talk to you , not that mask."

He hesitated, a hurricane of uncertainty and doubt raging within him, before slowly reaching up and slipping off the helmet after steeling his face.

Shadow's eyes searched his face before she extended her hand further. "Truce."

"Truce?" he echoed, eyeing her with suspicion.

"Yeah. Sparrin' and teasin' are fine, but no more fightin'."

He should be the one making the deal. He was the one who caused most of the fights...

She knows that. She's giving you a chance to reconcile without putting the tough task on your shoulders .

Shifting his helmet under his arm, Crosshair slowly reached out, mildly surprised when Shadow grabbed his forearm as opposed to his hand. As he did the same, muscle flexed under his fingers.

Moments later he found himself almost nose to nose with Shadow as she jerked him close, her pupils narrowing to slits.

"But let's get somethin' straight right here, right now." Her voice grew soft but the sharp eyed stare sent a chill down Crosshair's spine. "I may believe there's more to you. I may forgive you for what you said. But if you ever speak to me like that again, I will break your jaw. Am I clear?"

Most people he'd laugh off or antagonize further. People were amusing when they got mad and tried to threaten him. Did they really think they scared him?

Yet the quiet intensity and warning in Shadow's eyes, coupled with the tense muscle beneath his hand, made him hold his tongue. She didn't talk just to talk. She'd carry that threat out.

He found that out the hard way.

Giving a quiet nod, Crosshair hoped she'd stop glaring at him like that. Granted, he knew he deserved it. But he felt lower than an ant under that icy gaze and just as vulnerable, as if he were pinned down in the field with no cover or backup and an enemy bearing down on him after he'd used his last shot.

"Then we're chill," Shadow replied with a twitch of her ears, voice back to normal as her fury faded and she released his arm. She huffed tiredly as she turned to walk down the row. "At least you say it to my face instead of behind my back. That'd really piss me off."

Crosshair bristled at that. He attacked people, but he prefered to do it to their face. "I'm not a coward."

"No, I'd say not. Stubborn as a mule and ornery as a mare with a burr under the saddle, but you sure as hell ain't a coward," she snorted.

Crosshair wasn't sure if she was complimenting him or downright insulting him. Not that she was wrong...

He followed a short distance behind her, stopping as she crouched to investigate the selection of fruit hidden beneath the broad leaves.

"Move a little to the left, Twiggs. You're blockin' the sun."

Feeling as if he were treading on thin ice, he shifted and allowed the setting sun to shine down on the patch of fruit she'd been looking over.

Her tail flicked his leg in thanks before she focused back on the plants. Crosshair watched as she pulled a berry off and took a bite. To his surprise, she closed her eyes and smiled at the presumably sweet fruit.

Not a smirk. Not a cocky smirk.

A smile .

His heart jumped in his chest at the pure and joyful expression.

Finishing it off, she looked up at him and tilted her head to the side.

As he began to panic, thinking his face had given something away, Shadow merely said, "Well? You gonna grab some fruit or not, Twiggs?"

Forcing a snort to mask his nervousness, he crouched beside her and rested his helmet on the ground between them. A little barrier was better than none.

Shadow suddenly sighed. "You're welcome."

Crosshair looked at her in confusion. "For what?"

"For pullin' you out of the stream." She laughed softly. "You aren't the type to waste your words unless you mean it."

She'd realized he was sincere in his thanks, then. Despite the urge to brush it off, Crosshair grunted in acknowledgement.

Sorry wasn't always in literal terms. Sometimes it was implied. That was good enough for him.

She's trying. I guess I can too.

At least she wasn't expecting him to completely be friendly with her. All she asked was for him to not outright attack her.

She didn't expect him to change.

That small fact made all the difference.

Taking care that the small smile didn't manifest and betray him to the woman next to him, he set to work finding a suitable fruit.

Setting his sights on a particularly large berry paler in color, he tugged it off the stem with a faintsnap .

Shadow's eyes narrowed at the fruit in his hand. "Wouldn't eat that if I were you."

"Why not?" the sniper grumbled despite the genuine curiosity and even unease trickling down his spine. He hadn't grabbed the wrong one had he? Damn it, he needed to stay put together around her! He had to seem like he knew what he was doing! Otherwise she'd...

She'd what?

Attack him?

Like he did to her?

"Cause you're gonna have a more sour expression than you already do. That thing ain't ripe."

Her words, while accented with a slight laugh, held no malice. Interesting...

She shuffled down the row, looking for something as her tail swished side to side. With the setting sun on it, the blend of orange, black, and red seemed even more vibrant. Despite the burrs, leaves, and bits of moss tangled in the thick fur, it still looked unbelievably soft.

A triumphant smirk revealed her teeth, an odd trait that must have been the result of her animal genes. She picked a strawberry off the bush, the fruit a red so deep it looked crimson.

Must be one of the good ones .

To his surprise, she offered it to him. "The darker, the better."

Crosshair narrowed his eyes at her. "You trying to poison me or somethin'?"

She has to be. There's a catch. There's always a catch to kindness .

She rolled her eyes. "You don't want it, I'll eat it."

He frowned and snatched it out of her hand. "No, give me that." Glaring at the fruit for a moment, he finally took a bite out of it.

His eyes widened at the warm, sweet taste. Maker...

Shadow laughed, but once again it held no hatred.

It was... nice to listen to.

"Now, what'd I tell you?" she teased, lightly smacking his arm with the back of her hand.

"It... is good," he begrudgingly admitted.

"You sound like you're choking."

His eyes narrowed in a glare as he fought to keep a smile down.

Seeing her snarky but not hostile, especially towards him...

The warmth from before sparked once more in his chest, and he realized that the spark was not one that would be easy to snuff out.

This realization birthed dread...

And happiness.

Shadow's grin turned devious. "You can say thank you, you know. I won't tell."

Mostly dread.

He lightly cuffed her over the ear. "Shut up, brat."

Test the waters.

Would she tolerate contact from him?

Would she snarl?

Hiss?

Glare?

Bite?

Scratch?

Prove he was right in that she would never want him close?

Or would she be playful? Like she had with Hunter?

Crosshair knew that feeling spreading through him when Shadow was close to Hunter, and that was already a sign things were slipping out of his control.

Not good .

Shadow's brow furrowed as her ears twitched, and Crosshair grew concerned he'd stepped too far.

Not worried.

Concerned.

He wasn't worried about her opinion of him.

Then she snorted and shoved his chest. "Make me, Twiggs."

She was fine.

He rolled his eyes and finished off the berry she'd given him as she grabbed another one for herself.

"Alrighty, guess we should gather the vittles and get back. Gotta find something to put them in..." Her eyes went to his helmet.

Crosshair grabbed it off the ground. "You aren't messin' up my helmet with those berries," he warned, jabbing a finger at her.

"First, they're not berries. Misleadin' name, I know."

She's definitely smarter than she lets on at first. Not as much as Four Eyes but she's no idiot .She's definitely got some knowledge in that thick skull of hers.

At least she proved clever as well as booksmart.

"Secondly," she continued. "Could use my shirt, but then you'd see me shirtless."

How could she say that to nonchalantly?

His next words slipped out.

"Oh, really?"

What was he doing, what was he doing, what was he doing?

"Now I'm curious, sweetheart."

What are you doing?! Stop before you dig this hole any deeper!

"I'll bet." Her ears twitched as she contemplated, a frown digging into the corners of her mouth as she stared down at her shirt. "Fuck it."

Frozen to the spot, Crosshair stared as she yanked the shirt over her head, revealing a black sports bra and toned muscle beneath, and threw it into his helmet.

"There," she stated. "For your precious helmet."

What in the Nine Corellian Hells have you done?!

"Didn't... didn't think you'd actually-"

Really?! He'd seen bare skin before. Their damn ship was full of posters!

Why was he so karking flustered?!

Shadow rolled her eyes, but it didn't mask the red creeping across her cheeks. "Don't make a big deal outta nothin'."

This is hardly nothing.

"It's just skin, abs, and scars."

Crosshair could see that. See that very well.

He'd seen her parkour across obstacles with no issue. He'd grappled with her. He'd felt first hand how strong she was, not even counting her size. He knew she had muscles, but seeing the toned and scarred skin...

Maker, you're pathetic! Get a grip!

"Now fix yo damn bucket," Shadow finished, pointing to the helmet.

Trying to avoid outright staring, he fiddled with the shirt and helmet. He wished he hadn't said anything. Not that Shadow wasn't nice to look at but...

Focus! What's the matter with you?

"Fixed it," he announced after he'd tucked the shirt in.

"Good," Shadow remarked after munching on another berry. "Go for the darker berries. You can also tell they're ripe if they come off the stem easily."

He nodded and tried to follow her instructions, hoping he didn't mess it up again. But Shadow remained quiet, and they worked in silence. At first uneasy, Crosshair gradually relaxed, even if he couldn't help but glance constantly at the two scars across her stomach and the obvious slugthrower wound that looked to have entered through the front of her chest and exited out the back.

How had she survived that? Or was Tech's theory true and this woman's species could revive after death?

Crosshair wanted to ask, curiosity demanded he did, but he knew it was too early to ask about it. Besides, the silence between them had become almost comfortable and he didn't want to mess that up.

Well, silence apart from Shadow's faint humming. It sounded upbeat and catchy, whatever the melody was. Shadow certainly seemed to think so, tail swishing to the tune as she hummed.

She picked a dark and what looked to be an overly ripe strawberry up and inspected it thoughtfully. A faint grin lifted the corner of her mouth and Crosshair got a feeling he was in danger. "Ya know," she said slowly, letting the strawberry roll into her palm. "There's one thing I gotta do for you bein' an ass."

Crosshair tensed. He could hear no anger in her voice, but the sly look in her eyes, so similar to his batchmate's, unnerved him. "What-"

Her hand snapped closed before quickly sliding across his face, leaving a red trail of crushed fruit across his cheek, mouth, and chin.

Recoiling from the woman in shock, his look of surprise quickly turned to agitation as he took in her cocky grin. "You little-"

"What, Cross? Now you're a bit sweeter than you were!" she laughed before wheezing.

So this is what it's like to be on the receiving end of her playfulness. "Makes people sweeter, does it?" Wiping it off his own face, he left a streak across her cheek and nose.

Her eyes widened, the bright blue contrasting with the dark red fruit. Crosshair began to regret his action when she laughed and raised her hands. "Alright, I deserved that one." She went back to picking the berries, or not-berries. "C'mon, let's get these gathered up so we can meet back with the others before Hunter sends Wrecker after us or somethin'."

Stiffening at the thought of his batchmate retrieving them, Crosshair nodded and worked alongside her. Confident she couldn't see him, he allowed a smile to briefly slip through as he glanced at her.

Maybe this mission wouldn't be so horrible after all.

This chapter (16) isn't an automatic jump to tightnit friendship between Shadow and Cross, but its a BIG turning point. Still treading carefully around each other, they've reached an understanding. Of course, Cross is well aware there a bigger threat for him looming. Slowburn CrossxShadow anyone?