The kid was irritating.

Crosshair lay facing the wall, utterly motionless. He listened as she left the bunk room and mentally sighed when she came back carrying something. No doubt, her bow. Her footsteps were less light than before and she stepped with more purpose.

At least she wasn't swinging her weapon about while skipping. So she wasn't completely stupid.

She had shown as much by actually responding to him rather than staring blankly.

The conversation had diverted his thoughts to less exhausting grounds, but not by much.

He didn't understand why she had come, and something not understood, especially when it was (or was of) a person, was something to treat with scrutiny and derision. It was the best way to reveal its true purpose.

Most people wouldn't stand to be insulted if they held a rank or some other position of authority. If they didn't, in name or ability, that was when they broke the fastest. With nothing to back up their claims of authority or behavior, their defences crumbled satisfyingly fast.

And when someone had real authority and used it, like Commander Cody, they could be safely respected without the deference endangering Crosshair or his squad...

Crosshair had early on decided to be proud of how different he was. It was the only way to keep from being afraid. And acting on that pride had made him the instigator of practically every fight he was involved in rather than being the subject of premeditated assault.

But Omega was strange. More than strange. Because she was different even than Clone Force 99 was.

That didn't mean Crosshair liked her. He didn't. She was annoying, and so was everything that had happened because of her. Not only that, things had been downright dangerous.

Hunter returning to Kamino for her, the ion blast from the engine no doubt the kid's idea, and all of them nearly dying because she activated the droids when Crosshair was just about to fix everything. He and everyone else had been delayed because of the kid's interference, and that had nearly cost them their lives. Add to that the fact that she had been willing to disregard everything that had happened to Crosshair because of her by risking her life for a kriffing droid.

Crosshair did not like her at all.

He almost turned over, intending to tell her to go away, but decided in favor of ignoring her. His side and leg were buring again, and he knew if he spoke now, he risked dropping a word or two that Hunter would kill him for if the sergeant ever heard the kid repeat them. Hunter had gone soft.

The sounds of the kid fiddling with her bow became less annoying and almost soothing. Crosshair suddenly found himself thinking about Tech and the nights Crosshair would wake to find the mechanic still up and tinkering with various projects.

Crosshair relaxed and let the pain work through his injuries. He didn't have the energy to be annoyed right now. He needed to heal so he could leave and find Admiral Rampart.

The others would try to stop him. Maybe. Hunter would not force him to stay against his will - and if he did, Crosshair could easily make himself so unbearable that Hunter would forget whatever foolish morals held him to take care of Crosshair and side with Echo. Crosshair knew the cyborg was not at all happy about his being onboard.

Wrecker was strong, but too simple to make much of a difference with his opinion. And Tech -

A sudden pain stabbed behind his eyes, and Crosshair flinched. He thought there was something he should be remembering. But when he tried to latch onto the idea, it flickered from his mind and hovered tauntingly on the edge of his memory.

Click-click-tap-tap...

Tech was up working again...That kid had better get some sleep at some point, or soon his eyes would actually appear normal sized behind his goggles, he'd be so tired...

Crosshair blinked. Everything was silent except for the low humming of the Marauder flying through hyperspace. Turning over, he caught sight of Omega, her back to the far wall. She was slumped down over her weapon, asleep.

Crosshair shook his head and blinked again. He was sure there was something he'd been thinking about, but it had escaped him. And he didn't know why that bothered him so much.

Omega shifted, her hand tightening around her bow.

Crosshair almost made a move to get up and take the bow from the kid. He had no desire to be shot in his sleep.

Pressing a hand to his throbbing leg, he pushed himself up, and looking towards the open doorway, hesitated.

Someone was taking her weapon. Her mind felt more awake than her body, so Omega didn't mind. She knew she'd fallen asleep on her work.

"Thanks for leaving her on the floor," said Echo's voice.

A snort. The faintest imitation of a scornful laugh.

Echo was in front of her, and Omega stumbled into his arms. He lifted her. She felt pleasantly warm, despite the cold metal of his scomp link. Her face was too tired to move, so she smiled inside. But the smile turned into a frown as a sneering whisper pushed through her dozing thoughts.

"How...touching..."

Then Echo was carrying her back to her room in the gunner's mount. And the last conscious thought she had was a sleepy wish that Crosshair wouldn't want to fight all the time.