The ship was too quiet - again.

Omega held Trooper limply between her hands which felt heavy and numb, and Lula slouched against the wall, her floppy limbs askew.

Omega sighed. She was...tired. Tired of everyone milling about each other and not knowing what to do, tired of her own exhaustion, and...tired of...Crosshair...?

But, no.

She straightened, almost smacking Trooper to the floor with the determined jolt. She couldn't be tired of this! She had urged Tech to go back for Crosshair, it was really because of her persistence that the sniper was with them now!

And yet...she couldn't help but feel as if he didn't want to be with them. It seemed he had something else on his mind that separated him from them all somehow.

Omega sank back against the wall and began to pick at Trooper's elbow joint.

"Oh, Trooper," she sighed. "I just don't understand!"

She wouldn't throw the doll again; she wouldn't let herself become that discouraged. But the cold plastic face and silent flopping of the toy made Omega feel less than comfortable. It was almost an angry feeling, and she didn't like that at all.

She did set Trooper down near Lula and the comlink, then shuffled to the ladder and clambered down.

Only Wrecker was in the cockpit. She had tried to talk to Wrecker before, but they hadn't had much time to talk. She wandered in and, squeezing between the dashboard and Wrecker's knees, she faced him and folded her arms.

"'S'up, kid?" said Wrecker.

Omega shrugged.

"Tech says we'll be on Verdacca in an hour or two," said Wrecker.

Omega did her best to raise an eyebrow. "Tech said that? Phew, he must be distracted...!"

Wrecker scratched his head. "Uh, I don't remember the exact thing he said," he mumbled. Then, brightening, "But I know it'll be in about an hour or two! And then we can have some fun, huh, 'Mega?"

Omega tried to smile, but her mouth got stiff and floppy all at once. "Wrecker, does Crosshair want to be with us?"

Wrecker scrunched up his face in thought, then leaned out and patted her clumsily on the shoulder. "Nah, don't start worryin' 'bout that again!" he stated jovially. "We got Crosshair all taken care of!"

"Really?" said Omega. "I don't know why, but... Wrecker, I have to tell you something."

Wrecker tipped his head back and stuffed his arms behind his neck. "'Kay, what is it?"

"Well..." Omega shifted from one foot to the other. It felt so odd to say, but she needed to. The question couldn't wait. She just hoped Wrecker had an answer.

"Wrecker, I've been wondering something - is it possible to...miss someone even when you're with them all the time?"

Wrecker's face relaxed into something unusually pensive. He blinked slowly at the ceiling, then pulled one hand free to scratch the tip of his nose.

Omega held her breath.

"Yup," said Wrecker.

Omega waited. Wrecker sat up straight and nodded vigorously. "Yup, I know whatcha mean. Yeah."

Omega grinned in sudden relief. Wrecker was looking at her as if waiting for her to continue, so she did.

"I mean, everyone is so much like that right now, and I don't understand!" she blurted. Wrecker nodded along. "I miss them all, and they're just so different, but I don't know why! I thought Crosshair coming back would fix everything, but it didn't..." Omega faltered and blinked hard.

"I don't understand, Wrecker," she whispered. "I wanted to fix Crosshair so he would be happy, but he's always so cross!"

Wrecker chuckled a little, and she shoved at him half-heartedly. "I'm not joking!" she cried. "Really, Wrecker. Why is Crosshair that way? Tech said he couldn't help being that way, but I don't think that's true! We could change Crosshair, and then everything would be all right!"

"Wait, Omega..." Wrecker looked confused. "I don't think anyone can change Crosshair... I mean, that's why we're gettin' his chip out, right? But listen."

Wrecker pulled Omega close and boosted her onto his knee. Omega sat very still, not wanting to miss a word of what he said. It felt very important to her right now.

"Omega," said Wrecker. "We're doin' what we can for Crosshair. He's almost better, but if he doesn't want to stay here, we're not going to force him. That would be doing just like the Empire is doing to other people. Right?"

Omega nodded. "But there is a chance taking the chip out will help him see better," she prompted.

Wrecker smiled a little. "Yeah. We'll see what happens."

"Is everyone downstairs getting ready for the surgery?" asked Omega.

Wrecker nodded and shifted her off his knee. "Yeah. Hunter's kinda like you right now. He's really hoping taking the chip out will make Crosshair better..."

There was a sharp hiss. Omega peeked over the back of Wrecker's chair -

- and jerked back with an involuntary start.

Crosshair peered at her from across the cockpit, and Wrecker spun his chair and waved cheerfully at him.

"Heya, Cross!"

Crosshair sent him a brusque nod, and Omega squinted in confusion as she noticed Crosshair slip a gray disc into his pocket. What was he doing with a holotransmitter...?

"Crosshair -" she faltered.

Crosshair was stepping up to Wrecker. And there was something wrong with his eyes.

"Are they almost ready?" he asked.

"For?" said Wrecker.

"Aren't you going to remove my chip?" Crosshair said.

Wrecker stood and nodded. "Yeah, they're just finishing up with the droid."

"AZ, right?" said Crosshair. "He was my...personal droid, you could say, for all the tests and things."

Wrecker shifted, looking uncomfortable. "Sorry we couldn't get a different one," he mumbled.

"I don't mind," said Crosshair. "I'm used to it."

"We wouldn't do it if we didn't think it'd help ya," said Wrecker. He gestured vaguely towards Crosshair's side. "Uh, how's the other...stuff?"

Crosshair clapped a hand to his side and shifted his leg. "Getting better all the time," he said.

Omega had never seen Crosshair act so...unlike himself before. He was rather frightening, of course, but he was still a person, she sternly reminded herself, and he couldn't be completely okay with the prospect of yet another surgery.

Summoning her courage, she stepped forward and said, "I promise, it'll be better when they're all done taking the chip out."

Crosshair's eyes flickered and a sneer started to curl one side of his mouth. "You can't know that," he muttered.

Then the sneer was gone, and there was only a very tired-looking Crosshair left behind.

"I do understand, Crosshair," said Omega. She tugged his sleeve and smiled as encouragingly as she could when he looked down at her. "I know it's scary, but it's okay to be scared. I've been scared before, too -"

Crosshair pulled his arm free, and the look this time was a glare.

He stalked up to the co-pilot's seat and lowered himself into it without a sound.

Omega shared a look with Wrecker, they both shrugged simultaneously (which made her feel better for some reason), and Crosshair sighed and leaned his elbows on his knees, then buried his face in his hands.

"You don't know what fear is," he whispered.

Images of a cruel white face and brilliant explosions flashed through Omega's mind, and she shoved the thoughts away, looking to Wrecker for some indication as to what she should say next.

But Crosshair continued. "You can't know what it feels like to have your mind torn away and only memories of things you never wanted to do for your own when you wake up. You can't know what it feels like to be unsure of when the pain will end, or what will happen if you can't pull off your aim before squeezing the trigger - you can't know what it feels like to be in the constant terror of maybe killing one of your friends."

Omega was shocked. All this time she had thought Crosshair really didn't care- and he was really suffering things she never suspected. Why he was saying all this now, while it was confusing, didn't actually matter. Crosshair really did want help!

Wrecker looked confused, but betrayed none of the sympathy Omega heartily felt, but maybe that was just because he was surprised by the suddenness of these admissions.

He slowly sat down in the co-pilot's seat and swiveled to face Crosshair.

"I know," he said. His voice was so deep it almost disappeared in his throat. Omega went to him next and gripped his arm. Poor Wrecker.

Crosshair snorted. "How can you?"

Wrecker's brow darkened. "Because my chip malfunctioned, and I almost killed everyone," he growled.

Crosshair's face shifted, and genuine surprise showed through in his eyes. It looked different than before, but Omega wasn't going to make any more swift judgements after the speech she'd just witnessed him give.

"I know," Wrecker repeated.

And Crosshair stared at him in silence for a long moment.