The landing platform was coated with shards of metal, sparks and smoke. Omega gave the crashed Imperial ship as much distance as she could and hurried to where Hunter and the others were clustered. They stood around the opening on the platform where the ladder came up from the ocean. All of them were looking down, their shoulders stiff with worry.

Omega slipped past Hunter to look down as well.

The walls of the landing platform's support that jutted out on either side of the ladder were held a wide strip of buckled metal between them. It was more like a vertical tunnel now, and Omega could see a silvery tint a short distance down the shaft.

"Crosshair!" She turned back to the others, panic rising inside her once again. "What happened?"

"He must have climbed down there when the fight started," Echo mumbled.

"The metal angled outwards as it fell between the walls," said Tech. "That makes the opening too small for any of us - but you..."

"Can't Wrecker bend it back?" Omega gasped.

"'Course I can!" Wrecker shouted. Hunter interrupted.

"We can't risk it just coming free," he said. "Crosshair could fall. Omega, we need you to get down there and hang onto him so that Wrecker can move this -"

He cut off abruptly, and Omega stepped into the shaft.

It was a tight squeeze, but thankfully the space widened the further down she climbed. Six steps down, her feet were on level with Crosshair's head.

Shifting as close as she could to the left wall, Omega shimmied down even further until she stood alongside the sniper.

Crosshair was pressed hard to the right, only held upright by a twisted piece of metal that had split free from the main plate. It curved against his left side and had stabbed hard into the wall, securing Crosshair from slipping off the ladder.

Crosshair's breathing was shallow, and he wasn't moving. He was leaning partly against the wall and slightly forward, his hands resting limply on the ladder rung in front of him.

Thankfully, he was secure, but Hunter was right. It wouldn't be enough to stop Crosshair from falling once the temporary back of the tunnel was shifted.

Omega put an arm around Crosshair's waist, careful not to touch his side, and grabbed the ladder rung in front of the sniper's stomach, gripping one slightly higher up with her left hand to secure herself and Crosshair. She craned her neck up and saw Hunter's face at the opening, watching her.

"I've got Crosshair!" Omega called. "But part of the metal came loose and he's trapped!"

Omega eyed the broken metal around Crosshair and gulped.

"I think it's smashed his armor!"

Hunter's head tilted. "Hang on, okay?" he said.

The shadow overhead disappeared, and Omega could see a small piece of sky in the opening above her. There was no blue in it anymore, only darkening clouds, and within seconds, large drops of rain were falling.

Several made it down the shaft and splashed onto Omega's face before breaking into smaller droplets. The fine mist sprayed the stairs and Crosshair's armor, and at the base of the ladder, the ocean began to rise.

Omega swallowed hard. She didn't want to be trapped with water rising all around her again. The waves had nearly reached the top of the landing platform, and there was no doubt they'd come at least that high again. It might not come this high... And Omega had only been in the shaft for a couple minutes anyway, but still...

Omega wished the others would hurry.

She could hear them talking hurriedly above her, but couldn't hear any words. Soon even the voices were drowned out by the pouring rain. The wind was rising as well.

Crosshair's quiet breathing grew more rapid and he shifted, lifting his head with a gasp. The rain fell harder, covering every other sound with a roar of wind and water. Omega gasped into the cold air and clung to the ladder as tightly as she could.

"Hang on, Crosshair," she whispered. "We'll get you out of this. You don't have to worry."

"What - are you - talking - about!"

Omega startled and bent forward to get a look at Crosshair's face. She hadn't realized he was conscious.

His eyes were squeezed shut and his face was very pale - but maybe that was just the shadows. Hopefully.

Omega bit her lip and looked towards the sky again. The walls of the shaft seemed to be closing in, and Crosshair's breathing was becoming heavy. Where were the others?

Please hurry! she thought and wondered if maybe this feeling, this uncertainty of what would happen and the waiting for it in such a small space, was something like what Crosshair might have felt under the influence of the inhibitor chip.

Either way, she didn't like it. Omega had had to wait for help in a small shaft not too long ago when Sullo Pria, Tech's former handler, had been hurting Tech. Omega couldn't prevent Tech's being hurt then, and she couldn't stop Crosshair being hurt now, but at least...

At least Crosshair wasn't waiting alone.

The small area darkened, and the hard raindrops stopped falling. Wrecker was crouched over the shaft.

"Omega! I'm gonna push this backwards, okay?"

Tech's head suddenly popped into the opening as well.

"Once the opening is large enough for me to get in, you will climb out and I will get Crosshair."

"Got it!" Omega called. "Please be careful! He's hurt!"

"I don't - need you - whining for...m-me..." hissed Crosshair.

Omega clung harder to the ladder rung and attributed his comments to pain. She would not get annoyed. She needed to be quiet and not give Crosshair any more reasons to be annoyed with her. Some things she couldn't help. But what she could help, she would control.

"Omega!"

Overhead, Tech and Wrecker disappeared rather violently, and then Hunter was peering down at her. Water sripped from his hair, further soaking Omega's as it fell, and the wild wind began to carry heavy drops over Hunter's shoulders and into the shaft again.

"Omega, try and guide that metal away from him, okay?"

"Right!"

Omega scooted down another step. Her boot slipped on the wet metal, and she gasped, grabbing at the piece that pressed against Crosshair's side.

Crosshair shuddered.

"Sorry!" Omega squeaked, and the backing of the ladder shaft began to creak.

Crosshair suddenly turned and glared down at Omega. She could feel his angry gaze boring into her and kept her own eyes on her work. If she had looked up, she would have seen confusion underneath the anger, but she kept her head down and held on tighter. She only heard the irritation in his voice.

"Why did you come back?"

There was a horrible sccreeeeech!!!!, and suddenly the small space behind them expanded. Crosshair jerked and pressed his face against the ladder rung in front of him.

Omega squeezed his arm, pulling it forward against the ladder so he wouldn't fall backwards if he ended up letting go. Her arms were shaking and she knew she couldn't hold him up for long.

Then Crosshair groaned and Omega couldn't keep quiet any longer.

"Crosshair! Are you okay?"

Crosshair raised his head and glared balefully at her.

His face was moist with sweat - or maybe it was the rain? Hopefully... - and there were hardened lines around his eyes. But despite his obvious exhaustion, he managed to fling out his words with the most irritated scorn and disgust that Omega had ever heard.

"Oh, go away..."