Crosshair didn't understand why he had to bring her back. Wrecker could just as easily have brought her back. Or Echo or Tech. Or even Hunter. But supposedly Cid hadn't finished briefing them on their next mission yet. And, according to Tech, he hadn't been much help anyway. But Tech was wrong. He had been entertaining Omega, much to his dismay. She wasn't allowed in the briefing room. And supposedly, Crosshair "set Cid off" the last time with his comments on the mission briefing, so he was banished to the bar as well.

Omega watched him with bored eyes until he sat in the back of the bar, chewing on his toothpick. Omega was exhausted, hungry, and thirsty. She didn't want to wait outside the briefing room. She wanted to be a part of the crew. She was cranky and knew she needed to get something to eat before she got angry. She glanced over at Crosshair, not wanting him to interfere with her mission, but he was looking across the bar at people playing Sabacc.

Omega slid off the bar stool and walked behind the bar, where she was never allowed, but always wanted to see. For a second, Omega hesitated, thinking what Hunter would say to her. But then she decided to go anyway, too hungry to care.

Omega found a package of crackers and grabbed that, then looked around for something to drink. When she came here, she usually had apple juice. Where did Cid keep that? Omega looked at the shelves, pulling down a bottle that was the same color as the apple juice she usually had. She started to sneak back to her seat when she saw a shadow over her.

She looked up. Crosshair was looking at her from over the bar, with an eyebrow raised.

"Why are you sneaking around?" He said in his cold voice.

"I'm hungry."

"Better get out of there before Hunter realizes. You might get a time out."

"Hunter doesn't give me time outs."

"What's that in your other hand?"

"It's apple juice...I think," Omega said, looking at the bottle.

"I don't think it is."

"It is!" Omega knew she was getting defensive, but she also knew she had an excuse for it. "I always have apple juice when I'm here. It looks like this."

Crosshair shrugged, moving back to his seat.

Omega got back up on the stool and opened the container of crackers and started eating them. She found a plastic cup behind the bar and filled it with her apple juice. She was about to take a sip when the cup was knocked out of her hands by a blast coming her way.

The people in the bar looked toward the shot, then ignored it. Omega looked around for who had broken her cup and realized there was only one person who could make a shot that precise.

She turned around and glared at Crosshair, who was striding toward her.

"Why did you do that? That was my juice!"

"That," Crosshair pointed at the bottle, "is not apple juice."

"How do you know?" Omega said, crossing her arms.

"One, who would ever sell apple juice in a bottle looking like that? Two, smell." Omega took a whiff of the bottle and choked.

"That would be whiskey. Something that people who wish to stay aware of their surroundings should drink little of and something that you should definitely not be drinking. You need to be more careful of what you put inside your body. Any drink can be dangerous, did you even look to see if it says apple juice on it?"

"It had that apple symbol on it."

The whiskey's brand was a green apple symbol. There was no label other than the symbol.

Crosshair sighed.

"Why didn't you smell it before drinking it?"

"Because I was thirsty!"

"You need to be more aware of your surroundings. The battlefield is not convenient. You may be hungry or thirsty, but you still have to be aware of your surroundings. Even when you're tired."

"I'm not tired."

"Of course you are, you're basically falling asleep while standing straight up."

Omega crossed her arms and glared at him.

"I'm still thirsty."

"Then when Hunter comes out of his meeting, he can get you something."

"Why can't you get me something?"

"What are you two up to?" A new voice asked. At the sight of Hunter in the doorway, the two stopped arguing and turned to face Hunter.

"I'm thirsty."

"Kid's thirsty."

Omega glanced at Crosshair, wondering if he was gonna tell Hunter her mistake. But Crosshair just stared defiantly at Hunter.

"Well, get her something to drink. Something non-alcoholic. And then you two can go back to the ship. This might take awhile."

"We can wait for you." Crosshair said.

"No, it's gonna take too long. I'm sure you're both tired, so you can go back to the ship and rest. We'll get there later."

Crosshair sighed, going behind the bar to get something for Omega.

"Goodnight, kid. I'll see you in the morning."

Omega hugged Hunter, then took the drink Crosshair held out to her. Omega felt Crosshair eyeing her as she remembered what he had told her. Omega sniffed the liquid inside before taking a tiny sip, discovering it was apple juice. She eyed Crosshair before taking big gulps.

Hunter looked between the two, eyebrow raised, but didn't say anything. He ruffled Omega's hair, then left.

"Finish up your juice so we can leave," Crosshair said.

"All finished and ready to leave," Omega said, chugging the last of the juice.

Crosshair glanced at the crackers Omega had left on the counter, but decided not to mention it.

"Let's go, then. And don't stray too far. It may be beyond my capabilities to rescue you if you are lost."

"I won't get lost, I can track like Hunter," Omega was obviously proud of her tracking skills.

"Oh, and I bet you can shoot like me and punch like Wrecker, huh?" Crosshair said. He watched Omega's face fall, and something in him told him to stop being sarcastic with the kid. But she brightened back up as an idea hit her.

"I want to learn. Will you teach me to shoot like you?"

"Maybe," Crosshair said. He couldn't watch the kid's face fall again. And he appreciated Omega's spirit for learning. The other batchers never wanted to listen when Crosshair told them how to improve their aim.

Omega was running ahead of him by now, guiding the way to the ship. After a few minutes, Omega started falling back, closer to Crosshair, and when they were about five minutes away, Omega started to drag her feet. She gripped onto Crosshair's hand.

"Are we almost there? I'm tired."

"Yes, we'll be there soon."

"When?"

"We'll get there when we get there," Crosshair said shortly, tired of the kid's energy, or lack thereof.

Omega leaned into Crosshair as they continued to walk, eventually completely stopping to lean into his arms.

"We are almost there, keep walking."

"Can't you carry me? My feet hurt."

Crosshair sighed. Of course she decided to crash now. When they were only a few minutes away from the ship. Crosshair looked around, hoping to see the batch members coming toward him, but he knew they wouldn't be there. Sighing, Crosshair took the child into his arms and started on his way again. Although Crosshair had never carried a child before, he was good at it, and Omega fell asleep, head against his shoulder, almost immediately.

When Crosshair opened up the ship, he walked over to the place that the kid called "her room," although Crosshair couldn't see it as anything else but an obnoxiously decorated gunning post.

He climbed up the ladder and tried to set Omega down, but the girl felt the movement and clung tighter to Crosshair. Still attempting to keep her asleep, Crosshair tried to get the kid's hands free. But it was no use. Omega clung to his armor until Crosshair worried that if he tried any harder to shake her off, she would wake up and never go back to sleep. Resigned, Crosshair sat in the chair with Omega on his lap and waited for the rest of the batch to come back. When they came back, they would help him get Omega off. Maybe one of the others could take over for him. Crosshair started to doze off, and before long, he was asleep, too.

A few hours later, the batch walked into the ship, all trying to be extra quiet if the others were asleep. None of them knew who they were more afraid to wake up - Omega or Crosshair. Once up, neither of them would go back to sleep in a hurry. And they both needed their sleep to make them not-so grumpy the next day.

Hunter walked back to Omega's room and peeked around the curtains to find Crosshair and Omega snuggled up on the gunner's seat. With a soft smile, he motioned for his brothers to come have a look. Echo, Tech, and Wrecker peered around the curtain and all exchanged smirks.

"Aw he really doesn't hate the kid," Wrecker said in his best whisper.

"Of course he doesn't, Wrecker. He only pretends to to act tough," Tech said. Before Wrecker could respond and cause a bickering match between the two, Echo suggested that Tech take a picture.

"If nothing else, for blackmail the next time Crosshair crosses us." His brothers agreed and then left Crosshair and Omega alone to rest.