Trev is in trouble. And yes, I literally had a building collapse on me and survived thanks purely to plot armor. I enjoy making fun of tropes.
But also yes, in the last self insert fiasco there were some sailors I didn't get along with too well.

Content Warning: Mentions of attempted sexual assault

In no time flat I had Trevor shoved up against the side of a building and was repeatedly slamming him into the bricks. "You left me!" I shouted, his back hitting the wall with every word. "By thunder, I ought yeet your damn ass to kingdom come!"

Coughing, Trevor gave me a weak grin. "I see you still remember Allan's swears!"

A dark, almost murderous smirk split my face. "Aye, and I remember his advanced interrogation techniques too!"

Trevor's hands went down to his groin. "Don't remind me of that!"

"You deserved to have your dick shot!"

"Why didn't the sailors ever go after you? You mouthed off more than me!"

"Are you forgetting that they hit me with a damn truck ?!"

"How is that worse than me getting shot in the dick?!"

"The building collapsed on me, jackass!"

"Karking hells, how are either of you alive?!" Hunter exclaimed, walking up to stand beside us.

"Plot armor," Trevor and I replied in unison.

That was not helpful in the slightest to shaggy haired sergeant. "What is plot armor ?"

Tech trotted over, definition at the ready. "A literary term used when a character in a story survives something they should never live through. They are too important to the story itself so they are, quite literally, protected by the plot!" His brows furrowed. "But wait... I thought your experience with the sailors actually happened? If you say you were protected by plot armor, then your experience with them did not truly happen."

I shrugged and dropped Trevor. He hit the sidewalk with a yelp and rubbed his backside. "Ow! My poor tailbone."

"Fuck your tailbone," I snorted before turning to Hunter and Tech. "If it was a story, then I have no idea where in the hell I got these." I lifted the bottom of my shirt, exposing my middle and the two nasty scars stretching across the toned skin.

I heard a sharp inhale from Tech as his eyes went wide. "What happened?"

"Some sailors wanted to see more of me than I wanted to show." I chuckled, but there was no humor in it. "But I don't think they'll be using their dicks anytime soon. If ever again."

"Rotation Seventeen is quite effective," Trevor agreed from the ground.

"Rotation Seventeen?" Hunter echoed.

Dropping my shirt back down, I nodded with a wicked grin. "Fists of Fury." I started towards Hunter. "Want me to show you?"

He took a quick step back. "Absolutely not." His helmet turned towards Trevor, who had pulled himself up on the wall. "I would, however, like a word with you ," he growled.

Trevor grinned nervously. "Ah! Yes, well, you see, I left my fish in their tanks, I gotta go check on-!"

Hunter grabbed his collar and slammed him against the wall.

"Them!" Trevor squeaked. Green eyes shot towards me. "I think you'll get along great with these men!"

"Cut the shit, Trev. Hunter's feelin' stabby so I wouldn't recommend pissin' him off."

"You call him 'Stabby' yet you own a large machete," Tech pointed out.

"This isn't about me."

"Actually, it is," Hunter said. "Why didn't you tell us that kid was Force sensitive?"

"Hey hey hey!" Trevor yelped, raising his hands. "She isn't Force sensitive! Shads, tell him!"

Hunter's looked back to me. "Then how did you shove Tech against the wall?"

"I have telekinesis," I admitted.

"Same thing."

As I expected, Tech stepped forward with a raised hand. "Technically it's not. The Force encompasses all living things and is a life force that binds the galaxy together. Telekinesis simply allows the user to move objects with their mind."

Ignoring his brother, Hunter glared back at Trevor. "When I ask if there is anything I should know about someone, supernatural abilities count."

"Eh, he was probably doing it to protect me. There is a caring man in there." I frowned, looking Trevor up and down. "Somewhere. It's the only reason I ain't straight killed his annoyin' ass yet."

"Yet he left you to deal with four commandos on your own. You're just a kid!"

"Hey!" I protested, spreading my arms wide indignantly. "I'm almost twenty!"

"She's stronger than she looks," Trevor replied.

Tech rubbed the finger I yanked backwards. "We noticed."

I glanced at him. "Yeah... sorry about your finger."

"Sorry about the needle."

"Eh, you gave it your best shot." His eyes squinted at me, causing me to give him a cheeky grin. "Caught that, did ya?"

"It wasn't very subtle."

"Any more surprises I should be aware of?" Hunter continued to press, again ignoring me and Tech.

"If she's agreed to help you, no." Trevor gave me a genuine smile. "She's nothing if not loyal. As long as she's on your side and you don't betray her, she'll never betray you. Granted, she does like to play chase first. But it looks like you got her on your side! And you did it without hittin' her with a truck, too!"

Tech looked at me. "I meant to ask, what is a truck ?" he asked, head doing that little endearing tilt.

No. No emotional shenanigans.

It's Tech . The Sassy Cinnamon Roll himself. Make an exception.

No .

"Type of speeder. The sailors didn't really do sedatives."

Tech threw up his hands. "How can you have been hit by a speeder and survive a building falling on you, yet you fear a small needle?"

"I don't know why I am the way that I am!"

"Wait," Hunter said. "You still joined the men who did it?"

"It is a long story. And complicated."

Hell, even I don't understand the entirety of it. The first time I had been thrown into a fandom had been the Tintin fandom, or at least the 2011 movie version, but with a twist. It was the fandom alright, but also the universe I concocted with my very first fanfiction ever. When I was fourteen. Talk about a hot mess. OP as freak. Then in a cruel twist of fate, four years after I wrote my character leaving them behind because of a dumbass misunderstanding, I get thrown into that very universe where the sailors still were hurting from the loss of my character.

I rubbed the back of my neck. "Let's just say I have a bad habit of gettin' tangled with rather... interestin' individuals."

"Rude," Trevor snorted, crossing his arms.

"You're not interestin', you're just bothersome."

"Need us to come back, Sarge?"

Hunter glanced at his commlink as Wrecker's voice crackled to life. "No. Had a small complication, but it's fixed."

"Got Small Fry?"

I crossed my arms. "He better not call me that for the rest of the time I'm with you..."

"Yes, Wrecker, she's with us."

"Hey Small Fry!" Wrecker yelled happily over the comm.

I rolled my eyes, but a small smile tugged at the corners of my mouth. Always so enthusiastic, it was hard not to like him. "Howdy, Wrecker."

"You decided to join us?"

"I was politely asked to rethink my position." I shot a glare at the Bad Batch sergeant. "Hunter also sat on me and he's heavy."

Wrecker started laughing. "See you soon, Small Fry!"

Hunter released Trevor. "Next time I ask you a question, about anything, you answer it with the whole truth. Or we will have problems." He pulled out his arm knife, which I immediately wanted to hold. It looked nice. "Do I make myself clear, Trevor?" he asked, voice dangerously quiet.

Trevor's teeth flashed in a nervous smile. "Y-Yes, I get it."

"Good. I will not repeat myself." Hunter sheathed his knife and turned away. "Tech, bring her."

Tech grabbed my wrist and pulled me along. "Come on."

Heart, stop that racket. This self-insert is slowly turning into a damn 'Don't Fall for Adorable Nerd TM Simulator 2020'. "Yeah yeah I'm comin'!"

"Shadow, I'll catch up with you after I go talk to Scooter!" Trevor called after me.

"Arrange your funeral while you're at it!" I called back.

"I don't know how you deal with that man," Hunter grumbled, glancing at me from the side.

"It's a mystery to both of us," I said, pulling my wrist from Tech's grip. "I do wish you had smacked the di'kut though."

"You know Mando'a ?" Tech asked, surprised.

"Very little. Enough to insult someone," I snickered. I knew a grand total of eight phrases in Mando'a ; idiot, brother, little one, sweetheart, bloody shadow, bloody hell, how to ask someone if they wanted a smack in the face, and how to say someone's brain cells were lonely.

"You have the necessities then," Hunter remarked dryly, a faint smile on his face as he pulled off his helmet.

I laughed. "Damn straight! If there was one thing I learned on that ship, it was the most important words you could learn in a language. Altogether there were about ten different languages spoken on that ship and I could insult people in all of them."

Hunter snorted as we drew within sight of the Havoc Marauder , which sat in a large dirt clearing on the edge of town by a large grove of trees. He suddenly stopped and turned to me, narrowing his eyes in what I was quickly recognizing as his analytical look. Felt like he was looking right into your damn soul as you did that, and knew what you were thinking too. "I shouldn't expect any more surprises, should I?"

Lying to him would definitely be a waste of time. He'd smell it in a heartbeat. Luckily for me, I was a writer. I knew how to twist and contort words in a manner that while it did not answer the true question, it still was not a lie. But would he catch it?

"As Trevor said, once you've gotten me on your side, I'm pretty loyal. I've dealt with enough backstabbers and traitors that even the thought of them leaves a bad taste in my mouth and an urge to bury a blade in something."

"I did not ask if you were loyal."

He stepped closer and it took all I had to not back away. I may have gotten used to sailors stepping in my space to intimidate me, and thus gotten used to standing my ground, but that didn't make it any easier. If anything, Hunter was harder than any of the sailors short of Allan. With the other men, at least I knew they'd start swinging. Hunter... he might or he might not. He was unpredictable.

And I was not a fan.

"I asked if I should expect any surprises."

"Don't like surprises either?" I laughed nervously.

His eyes narrowed. "Answer the question. Stop stalling."

"Stallin'? I'm not stallin' anything," I said, shrugging innocently.

"Yes, you are."

"No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are. You're doing it right now," Hunter accused, pointing a finger at me.

"I'm... stallin'?"

"Yes!" he yelled.

I frowned, trying not to laugh as Hunter had, unknowingly, began to recreate that Spongebob scene. I tapped my chin, pretending to think, before looking up at him innocently once more. "Stallin'?"

"Stalling!"

"You are hiding something from us," Tech interjected before I could continue the cycle and push Hunter to the breaking point. "Your body is giving you away."

I stared at him, admittedly uncomfortable with the thought of Tech analyzing the way my body moved. "The hell you mean by that, nerd?"

"You may be saying one thing with your mouth, but your body tells another story."

"He's right," Hunter said.

"Did you know ninety three percent of communication is nonverbal? As humans we do not think we rely heavily on it, but we do."

I nodded, not sure where he was going with this. "Yeah, I love analyzin' body language. Makes it fun to mess with people."

"You occasionally give off body language similar to a cat."

I froze, but the distracted nerd continued on.

"Your ears move, you twitch your nose, and while in the tunnels on various occasions I noticed your body moved more like a cat than a human. Very interesting, I rarely see humans move in such a way. Your teeth bare often too while you speak," Tech rambled, but there was a strange glint in his eyes as he spoke. A sort of challenge.

He knew I wasn't human...

"Your ears did it again!" he exclaimed, stepping closer. "They shifted backwards like an uneasy feline."

Uneasy feline indeed .

Yanking off his helmet, he started weaving back and forth, as if trying to catch something in my gaze from a certain angle. "Your eyes possess tapetum lucidum as well!" he said, smiling.

That I can't pass off as some weird learned behavior .

"Her eyes possess what ?" Hunter echoed.

"They have a reflective surface directly behind the retina, which refracts light back through photoreceptors within the eye!" Tech chirped, growing more animated by the minute. "That's what you have as well, Hunter."

I glanced at the sergeant. Hunter was looking at me with that analytical gaze again, and it made me feel downright transparent. My teeth began to bare slightly, a low growl rumbling in my throat. I couldn't help but shoot a small glare at Tech. "Thanks for revealin' me, mate."

He looked hurt which instantly made me regret my words. "Hunter already knew!" he protested.

I glanced at Hunter, who nodded. "That's the surprise I was talking about."

"Hold the phone." I held up a hand. "If you already knew, then it ain't a surprise!"

"I do not know your species, but you are going to tell me."

"Could we possibly take a rain check on that until after I learn why y'all are here?" I asked, laughing nervously.

Hunter looked me over. "Alright. But I want answers after that. Am I clear?"

I gave a sarcastic salute. "Crystal clear, Sarge."

He stepped past, cuffing me over the back of the head. "You're lucky I find your boldness amusing."

Y'all really are a physical bunch huh? Pushin', shovin', hittin', sittin' on people, jeeze.

"Of course it's amusing, my entire life's a joke," I retorted dryly, rubbing the back of my head. I turned to Tech who stood frowning at me. It's your fault I'm in this mess, bud. You're lucky you're too cute to stay mad at. "Tech, my guy, there is a time and place for questions. This was not the time nor place."

"You're a species with feline in their blood. A predator species," he pressed. He looked somewhat impressed too, which made me feel way warmer than it should have.

But I wasn't about to spill my species' secrets out here in the open. "If you'll hold out on the questions, I'll answer any you ask when we're where less people can listen in. Deal?"

He tilted his head. "Any question?"

I gave him a lopsided frown. "Within reason."

That seemed to please him, and he nodded in agreement as we turned to follow Hunter. "Deal." He paused. "You know, not many people stand up to Hunter."

I snorted. "Don't give me too much credit, I wanted to faint."

"But you did hold his gaze."

"No, I stared right between his eyes. Psych trick."

He perked up. "You study psychology too?"

"I was a psychology major. Now I'm Environmental Studies."

If he wasn't interested before, he was now. "You like science?"

"Hell yeah! I just suck at tests because memory is as reliable as a candle in a hurricane. All that's in this head is stupid facts, how to murder with a toothpick, and sea shanties."

His eyes went a little wide. "How to kill someone with a toothpick?"

I shrugged. "Or tea cup. Violence is only fun if you get creative with it."

"You sound like Crosshair."

I made a face. "Not flatterin'." Growing close, I recognized the sniper's thin figure lounging in the fork of two large branches. I squinted. Was he part pigeon?

"So, there she is," Crosshair hissed, slipping out of the tree. Landing in a manner that I begrudgingly admitted was graceful, he stalked over. "You, brat, are in a world of trouble."

"What are you gonna do, Twiggs?" I snorted, rolling my eyes as I crossed my arms. "Insult me? Ain't nothing you can tell me that I don't already tell myself."

He grabbed the pistol from his belt and pointed it at my chest, making Tech yelp. "I could stun you right here and now, sweetheart."

In no time I had twisted the gun out of his hands and had it aimed at his face. The partial surprise on his face filled me with satisfaction. I gave him a mocking grin. "For a man with exceptional eyesight, you didn't see that comin'?"

"She's a high-ranking martial artist," Hunter said, eyeing my stance. "Five years of training. She's also had a decent amount of training with firearms."

I smirked at Crosshair but didn't take my eyes from the sniper, knowing the moment I did he'd go for a headlock.

A dark grin appeared on Crosshair's face, and my stomach sank. What did this twig have planned? Holding my gaze, he called, "Wrecker. Small Fry is here."

"You little shit," I managed to get out before a roar shook the earth.

"Where is she?!"

I flinched as Wrecker came barreling out of the ship, heading straight for me. "Not again."