Chapter 19: Flash-Training Didn't Prepare Me For This!

The rest of the evening proved to be more distressing for Talla than the mission on Silva, and that was saying something because she actually lost half a limb and almost died because of it! But in this instance, Talla had lost the company of her three friends and crotchety roommate.

...

That last one wasn't as devastating of a loss, but still it was hard to bear his silence that proved to be so much more vexing than his reign of verbal terror. And the usual spark of mischief in his eyes, the bane of her existence, it was gone, leaving behind a haunted man.

It was admittedly sad to watch him try to suppress the crushing grief. But it was also proof he had a heart, right? Maybe?

Anyways, the inexperienced Clone Agent had researched grief for the death of a loved one for Ahsoka when General Kenobi 'died', so she expected the guys to experience a flurry of negative emotions, but that didn't make watching any of them go through it easy. Not by a long shot.

Once the shock wore off, each of them ended up locked in their dark rooms and didn't even eat dinner. Talla could sense their anger, and underneath that their anguish at losing someone who was a large part of their life and felt completely helpless for not knowing exactly how to offer comfort. These battle-hardened men were not big on having heart to heart talks about their feelings, which she had personally experienced was a big way to aid in the healing process. And she also didn't know who would accept a hug, another form of comfort. Hunter and Tech were almost always eager listeners while Wrecker was ready with his hugs when she was having a rough time, but when it came to themselves... that was uncharted territory. They never opened up on how they emotionally dealt with their traumas inflicted by Nala Se, just the skills Tech researched to help deal with the symptoms.

But Talla was resolved to find a way to help out somehow, because they deserved compassion and emotional support too. And even if they didn't accept the latter, any other support could be offered too.

They'd be taking off sometime tomorrow afternoon after getting their clothes laundered, and stayed the night in the docked ship instead of their personal barracks. Talla didn't sleep a wink, racking her brain for ways to show support without making the boys feel in any way uncomfortable. Of course, she couldn't change things or take away the pain sadly, but she could aid in their healing! The mental health journals she had found through the Net gave tons of suggestions on how to support a grieving person, but she also didn't want to overwhelm them - that'd make them more tense, which also wouldn't help things.

So start with simple things. Her brain told her. Like, help ease their loads!

Hmmm...

Crosshair always gets up early to make the caf - I could get up earlier and do it for him... yeah!

Aaannnnddddd...

Oh, Wrecker loves food, so maybe I can figure out how to make Iktotch Toast, he'd like that!

Now Tech...

Okay, he's been meaning to work on the hyperdrive, but he has thirty different other projects to do around the ship, maybe I should do it instead - I can practically build a hyperdrive in my sleep! And I can do some of the other methodical projects too...

Oh, and usually Hunter drops off their washing, but I could drop it off this time!

In theory, it didn't seem like much. But hopefully it'd be just the start, and they'd allow other forms of support as time progressed.


(Day 16 w/ the Bad Batch)

Crosshair usually got up every morning at 6:30 when their sleep schedules weren't thrown off by a mission, so Talla got up at 6:20 and silently made her way into the kitchenette and as quietly as possible brewed the pot of caf. Talla was trained to observe even the smallest of details, so she knew that Crosshair liked a little bit of cream with his caf, and just as she was finished fixing his cup the sniper shuffled into the kitchen.

For a lack of better words, he looked like hell. Dark circles under his bloodshot eyes, short silver hair sticking up in random places, blacks now heavily wrinkled. This was a sight to see, because Crosshair always looked spic and span in the morning, his hair tamed and armor or civvies on before he emerged from his room, so she knew he had a rough night with probably little to no sleep and instead tossed and turned relentlessly.

He paused in the doorway when he saw Talla turn when the door opened and held out the steaming mug of caf prepared for him with a smile. "Morning!"

Crosshair looked blankly at the mug, then back up at Talla.

When he made no move to accept the liquid sustenance, she stepped up closer to him and practically held the cup of caf under his nose so that the heavenly scent would entice him to take it. "Just a splash of cream, right?" She confirmed, mostly so he'd know she made it the way he liked it.

He blinked, then squinted at her suspiciously, because the two of them were in the midst of a bloody war with each other, and this could very well be a trap to eliminate her opponent. "How do I know it's not poisoned?" He couldn't help but ask.

The female clone's smile was wiped from her face, and she lowered the mug in disbelief as her confidence began wavering. "Poison - W-why would you think it's poisoned?"

"Because I hate you." He deadpanned.

Talla's jaw clenched, and her fingers tapped the mug as she tried to maintain the reigns on her temper, wondering if she should have even bothered. Man, it was hard to not go off on him now and defend herself from this absurd insinuation that'd she'd stoop so low as to killing him because he ticked her off. "Yes well, I know you just suffered a huge loss, and so I thought since you're going through a hard time -"

His suspicion swiftly turned into a defensive glare. "I don't want your pity."

Talla fervently shook her head and maintained the calmness. "No, I don't pity you, Crosshair, I just thought I'd help you out."

The suspicion returned. "Why? What's your angle - which by the way, won't work."

Okay, she was not going to let that comment slide. "Despite what you say, or rather don't say, I believe I'm a good person, Crosshair." Her finger shot up when he opened his mouth to protest, "And before you go and bring up the slapping incident, I am going to make myself very clear - I don't lash out like that unless someone drives me over the edge, which is what you deliberately did despite knowing that I'm going through a hard time too." She had to take a breath to calm down the temper flare. If he's grieving he has a heart, and if he has a heart he deserves compassion, and if I give him compassion maybe he'll finally want to work things out. "But I'm working on it. And because of that, I've decided to put aside my frustrations with you for now, and I want to help out my teammate who just suffered the loss of a loved one." While he gestured to the caf machine, "I know you always prepare the caf in the mornings and I thought it'd be beneficial for your healing if I took that load off your shoulders so you could just relax a little bit before the day truly begins." She held up the mug again hopefully. "So here, take this and drink it before it gets cold." He again didn't make a move to accept it, so a little annoyance seeped through the cracks of her calm facade again. "I don't have all day." She remarked shortly, "I have to get started on breakfast."

Crosshair would usually prey on her tendency to become real angry real quick to drive her insane, hopefully to the point of leaving, but too emotionally exhausted he instead took the mug of caf in his hands, and asked with a raised brow of caution, "Since when do you cook?"

Thanking the Force for a potential verbal assault dodged, Talla put her hands on her hips and shrugged. "This'll be my first try at it." She admitted, having no clue what she was getting into.

Even grieving, Crosshair gave a short, snide chuckle before turning and exiting the kitchen, taking a tentative sip of his caf and secretly making an impressed face when his back was turned - the hot beverage tasted just how he liked it. He wasn't sure how to feel with the sweet gesture. It conflicted him.

Under the grim circumstances, Talla swallowed her scathing comeback and just glanced back at the stove, which now looked incredibly intimidating. Sighing, she began reciting the steps found on the HoloNet. "Okay, so first things first I have to beat an egg with vanilla extract and cinnamon for the bread to soak up -"


She learned a lot of things that morning.

First, there was apparently an art to cracking eggs - she went through five before successfully cracking one against the bowl without causing it to explode into an ooey, gooey, yokey mess.

Second, there was an art to beating an egg in a bowl with a fork - two bowls were harmed in the making of this breakfast... and by harmed, I mean shattered.

Third, the smoke sensors in the kitchenette were out of order - which she found out when the first piece of soaked bread burnt into a smoky black crisp.

Talla was thankful for that last one plus the sealed door. It spared her the embarrassment of alerting her teammates of her initial failure with blaring alarms, though the grey haze trapped inside the small area burned her nostrils and lungs, causing her to have a coughing fit.

But she didn't give up, and while hacking up a lung reassured herself, "It's *cough* okay!" *several coughs* It's alright! *COUGH COUGH* *wheeeeze*" She blindly tossed away the smoldering remains into the garbage chute, eyes stinging up a storm, and didn't risk talking to herself again. If you can take on an entire Seppie Base by yourself, you can figure out how to make some damn toast!

The second piece of soaked bread still ended up burning, but not as bad as the first. So with the third, she checked on it every few seconds as it seared on the hot pan, which made the cooking process go by slower but hey, it didn't burn!

*mini victory dance*

Talla got the swing of things after that, so a short while later she was able to cook enough toast for each one to have two except Wrecker - he got four.

Talla prepared a serving tray with the plate holding the pyramid of piping hot toast and other containers holding its toppings plus the extra plates and utensils, and another tray held the caf pot, three extra mugs, sugar canister and cream jug, and finished just as the rest of the guys woke up. Due to having to carry both trays, she had to press the access button with her booted foot to exit the kitchen.

Crosshair tried to nonchalantly look at the trays as she carefully set it down on the table, secretly curious to see if she managed to cook something decent and was pleasantly surprised when everything looked delicious. And apparently indescribable pain didn't stop him from making at least one derogatory comment. "I see you managed not to blow up the ship." He taunted while she fixed a plate for him.

She didn't take the bait. "Yup." Talla set his kindly fixed up plate and fork in front of him, which he wasn't expecting. Tech walked in at that moment, and he also sported a very disheveled look and had enormous bags under his eyes, so she prepared his plate too. "On a completely and totally unrelated note, the smoke sensors don't work in the kitchen, so I'll fix those today after I work on the hyperdrive."

The sniper found this unintentional admission of failure humorous of course and gave a small smirk before taking a bite of his breakfast while Tech gave her a weird look at this plan, and also the fine-looking meal she had prepared.

Talla poured him a cup and added the exact ratio of cream and sugar she had taken note of, setting that and his plate next to Crosshair and beckoned for him to sit down and eat, which he slowly did, slightly weirded out and simultaneously surprised, but pleasant so. "I have been meaning to get to the hyperdrive." Tech admitted unsurely, looking down at his lap with dull eyes and not yet touching the food given to him, though it smelled heavenly.

"Don't worry, I know how to recalibrate it." Talla assured him, now fixing Wrecker's plate and caf as he shuffled into the common area with his Lula tucked in the crook of his elbow, faint pink tracks on his cheeks from tears apparently shed throughout the night. "I'll take care of that and some of the other maintenance that needs to be done before we leave." Much to Talla's relief, Tech looked so relieved to have that weight off of his shoulders, and at that dug into the delicious breakfast she'd prepared.

This relief also felt nice for her because before she came along, he didn't allow anyone to mess with the ship's inner workings except his own brilliant self, so that meant he trusted Talla's skills!

Wrecker scooched down next to Tech, and Talla felt warmth spark in her chest when some light come to his eyes when he beheld the heavenly breakfast treat before him, and eagerly began eating once his fixed-up plate was given to him. "Thanks, Talla." He said warmly around a bite of toast.

Her smile and nod in return were endearing, and she gave herself a mental high-five as three out of the four Bad Batch boys were getting nutrition and hydrating themselves - This is actually helping! I'm helping out! And making them feel even a little bit better!

Granted, this breakfast is practically pure sugary goodness, and the caf isn't technically the proper hydration they need...

Baby steps, she told herself so no hope would be lost. At least the boys are putting something in their systems.

The Sergeant of the Bad Batch walked in a few minutes later, and she had to do a double take. Shockingly his appearance was immaculate, though this didn't fool Talla like it did with his brothers once her eyes picked up the other symptoms of a sleepless night like the other three possessed. She saw the dark rings under his dazed and reddened eyes, his sagging shoulders, and also sensed what was going on inside - his low mood and anger. He was slightly taken aback when he saw the waiting breakfast and cup of caf. Like everyone else did, he looked at her oddly. "You... made breakfast?"

"And the caf." Wrecker informed him, taking a sip of his.

Hunter slowly lowered himself down onto a seat, unsure about this whole setup. "What's the occasion?" The baffled Sergeant wondered, wrapping his shaky hands around the warm mug. He hadn't eaten since before lunch yesterday and was starting to feel the effects of it. But the sight and smell of the food made him want to vomit.

Talla merely shrugged. "Just thought you'd guys would like it." Was her simple reply before returning to her room, leaving them to eat in peace while she got ready for the day.

Hunter conflictedly stared down at his mug with furrowed eyebrows, and his confusion increased tenfold when Talla emerged from her room ten minutes later dressed in her armor, hair all braided into a crown like usual, and pushing her personal crate of dirty laundry. But the rising confusion didn't stop there - no, she went and grabbed the one in the boys' refresher, filled to the brim from all of Crosshair's linens, which prompted the Sergeant to finally ask with furrowed eyebrows, "What are you doing?"

Again, her answer was short and sweet. "Taking this to the laundry droids." Pushing the stack of levitating crates in front of her, Talla made her way off the ship, calling over her shoulder, "Just put the dishes by the sink and I'll wash them after I come back, then I'll get to the maintenance around the ship!"

Hunter looked at his brothers for answers, hoping they had one. He usually did their laundry, and she had never been within two feet of the stove... or made used the caf machine... or voluntarily washed everyone's dirty dishes and clothes.

"She's helping out." Crosshair stiffly informed him while setting down his fork, having finished his breakfast.

He made a confused gesture with his hands, "Why?"

"Because of what happened with 99, she says." The sniper had decided he was so not going to buy into the whole 'compassionate' act. It was all an act to earn his trust while he was weak and vulnerable, then she'd strike! Uh-uh, he wasn't going to go out that way. He had to live on, for 99, and honor his memory.

Hunter became indignant, just like the sniper did earlier, but not for the same mistrustful reasons. "We're not helpless." He contended, "We've dealt with death before, and managed just fine without handouts."

"Would you rather we sit in a circle, braid each other's hair and talk about our feelings?" Crosshair rhetorically snarked, "Because that's probably the alternative." Crosshair would never voice his appreciation at the fact that she knew enough by now that they preferred not doing that. "Just let her do it, Hunter." Better she stays busy instead of badgering us.

Tech and Wrecker nodded, going along with Crosshair's verbal statement, so Hunter could only return his gaze down to his mug again. But he still felt the frustration.

With her helping out, what am I going to do now?


Having studied the schematics for Tipoca City at Tech's insistence, the Special Agent found the laundromat with no problems, dropped off the crates of clothes, and was making her way back to the ship when she ran into - not literally this time - a reg who had proven to not be a total jerk: Captain Rex.

He was heading in the opposite direction as her and spotted her enchanting presence across the hallway. His legs had a mind of their own and before he knew it, he intercepted her.

"Captain!" Talla exclaimed when he suddenly appeared in her path, then of course gave a proper greeting of respect - a salute. Man, she was getting tired of having to do it so much. "Nice to see you again, sir!"

He nodded, seeming calm and cool on the outside but inside, his heart was threatening to beat out of his chest and butterflies fluttered in his stomach, but he maintained control of his voice this time. "Likewise. What are you doing in the city?"

Talla thought about calling a medic, his elevated heart rate completely noticed by someone with enhanced senses like her, but he didn't seem to be experiencing other symptoms of a heart attack so a nudge of the shoulder in the direction of the washeteria behind her was followed by a verbal explanation. "Just running some last-minute errands before we get our next assignment."

The corners of his mouth lifted at the irony. "Well, I happen to have just that." He pulled a small, thick, metal electronic disk from a pouch on his belt and held it out for her to take. "Commander Cody had to leave Kamino last night and asked me to drop this off to your squad first thing in the morning since I'm not due to leave yet." Talla obviously had no idea what this was, if the flipping this way and that in her hands was any indication, so he kindly elaborated. "It's a bounty puck. Cody needs your squad to hunt down a piece of rankweed who's causing a rebellion on a planet aligned with the Republic."

"So cut the leader down, the rebellion should collapse." Talla finished with an excited grin, tucking away the puck away in her belt. "My first insurrection - this should be fun."

Despite the fact it should be concerning for someone to be so eager for violence, Rex returned the grin because her smile was contagious.

But then there was an awkward silence.

Rex decided he still wanted the conversation to continue and found another subject to keep it going after wracking his brain for those agonizing four seconds. "Uh, how'd your squad take the news about 99?" He wondered soberly.

Tallas resulting grimace wasn't promising. "Not too well." Rex nod was understanding, as was the slight drooping of his eyelids in sadness. "They didn't eat, didn't sleep and they're hardly talking. I got them to have a little breakfast this morning, and I'm taking over a lot of chores around the ship so they can focus on processing this loss." She sighed in frustration. "I wish we didn't have to take any missions right away, but I guess war doesn't stop for anyone."

"No, it doesn't." Rex hmphed with equal irritation, remembering how many of his brothers had died and not being able to fully mourn them, and now 99. It wasn't fair.

"Yeah..." Another bout of silence took place as Talla gave Rex a curious once over, who had averted his gaze so she wouldn't see the anguish in his eyes. From what she could tell, the reg Captain seemed like a nice guy who wasn't as mean as the other clone troopers. He didn't even give off an aura of hostility the other regs had, so this prompted a hopeful Talla to ask while bashfully tucking a face framing lock of hair behind her ear, "Got any good advice on how to help battle worn soldiers who are grieving, that doesn't involve actually talking about it?" The Captain was taken aback by this vulnerable question, but his features softened as he felt honored to be asked, that she found him approachable. "Usually I'd ask my team, but they're kinda the ones going through the issue I have no idea how to handle, so all I've got for reference is the HoloNet, and I want to know if there's anything more I can do for them than just chores and providing nice, home-cooked meals..."

Rex slight chuckle wasn't mocking, but a little humorous because he remembered how unprepared he was for the cruel mistress that was the real world and was more than happy to help Talla despite it being under these horrible circumstances, because every little bit counted in the end. "It seems to have given you the right information." He stated truthfully, "I wish I had the help you're giving when I lost a brother I was close to."

Her silver orbs were wide with the new hope that he wasn't simply being nice to spare her feelings. "Really, sir? You're not just saying that?"

His, 'No,' was genuine, but he become thoughtful for a second. "Just, remember to be patient with them." The advice he gave, she eagerly listened to, "They may snap at you sometimes, even if you don't do anything to deserve it, but they're not angry with you, they're angry at what happened." He became sheepish, admitting a weakness of his, "And you're right, us battle worn soldiers don't like talking about our feelings, but that doesn't mean we won't." He gave a half-shrug, "Sometimes, we do need a listening ear."

Filing away this helpful knowledge, Talla gave him an appreciative smile. "I'll be sure to remember that." Again, there was another awkward silence, which made Talla feel extremely self-conscious, and she made the movement of tucking away a lock of hair behind her ear again (her nervous habit) but there weren't stray hairs to fiddle with, so she opted to clear her throat and clasp her fidgety hands behind her back. "Well, I should get going! I've got heaps to do and not a lot of time to do it now!"

"Right!" Rex quickly agreed, but added, "Well, you should know this mission isn't as time sensitive as others, so I'm sure you could wait a day or two before heading out."

Talla gave a short laugh at the misplaced optimism. "That helps some, but I mean it when I say I got heaps to do - Tech's been meaning to do thirty or so different projects around the ship, big and small, and I want to ease his load so I intend to do at least seventy-five percent of them, including recalibrating the hyperdrive." She gave a bashful shrug, "He just looked so relieved when I offered to do it for him."

Rex couldn't stop his admiration from surfacing this time. "Your squad is very lucky to have you on the team, Talla." And how he wished she'd been assigned to the 501st instead of this Clone Force 99, because he would have loved to see more of her. He knew that after today, the chances of seeing this Clone Agent for the Republic sooner than a couple of months or even the better part of half a year were next to nothing, because Cody made sure to tell him her squadron didn't work with other troopers that often, or even take leave of absences. So, they'd have no business to reconnect them.

And Talla didn't give Rex a chance to ask for her private comm channel to maybe even attempt to find some time together, to get to know each other better. After a fierce blush crept onto Talla's cheeks at the compliment the nice reg gave her, a flattered 'Thank you, sir,' was followed by a bashful giggle that made her freeze in shock - Did that come out of MY MOUTH?!

Next thing he knew, she side-stepped around him with a skittish, "See ya around, Cap!" And scurried in the direction of her assigned Ship Hanger.

Rex followed her flighty movements with regret, and once again watched her retreating figure with longing. The more he learned about this Special Agent, the more intriguing she became. And he wanted to get to know this woman better, move past the awkward silences that came with the territory of being mere acquaintances.

Unfortunately for Rex, he was right in thinking he wouldn't be seeing Talla again for a very long time. And by then, she'd be heavily involved with a certain deviant Clone Sergeant.


Unfortunately for Talla, learning to navigate through the difficult waters that was maintaining a healthy relationship would be a long road filled with emotional pain caused by dire mistakes (some self-inflicted) and also learning the difference between infatuation and something real. And some other things she'd have to learn the hard way are how to openly communicate, how to be completely honest, and how to replace the fast-acting anger issues with patience.

When Talla walked into the ship's kitchen, somewhat recovered from the confusing encounter with the Reg Captain, she immediately noticed the boys' dishes piled on the counter by the sink and frowned when she saw that one plate had the breakfast she prepared still on it, untouched. She'd seen Crosshair, Tech, and Wrecker eating their portions on her way out, so it must've been Hunter who didn't eat.

He hasn't had anything to eat since probably lunchtime yesterday. She mentally noted to herself in concern. Hm. I gotta keep a closer eye on him.

After washing the dishes, Talla retrieved Tech's toolbox kept at the workbench and got to work on the hyperdrive. Tech had explained in detail what components he wanted to tweak and replace (with parts he had taken from the original Havoc Marauder's hyperdrive [which he had also tweaked]) to turn the .6 engine on their Kappa-class Shuttle into a .5 engine, which in simpler terms meant the ship would calculate the jump into hyperspace and travel through lightspeed faster.

Piece of cake... at least for someone with a brilliant mind like her and Tech. The Kaminoans had made sure she knew everything there was to know about starships during her pilot training.

The hyperdrive generator was located in the hallway that led to the cockpit, and soon the wall was opened to expose the engine, and tools/parts were strewn about the area, and Talla was inside fiddling with the complex system, tongue sticking out as she concentrated.

(A/N: just a say, I have NO IDEA how hyperdrive engines work or where they are located. I tried researching hyperdrives, and there's limited info on it. So I'm really not sure if anything in this scene is accurate, which is why it's brief and vague. Yeaaahhhhh... I apologize for the starship experts if they ever read my story. I know none of this is probably realistic or right, so if anyone knows the correct terms or workings of a hyperdrive, I'd love to hear what you have to say, and will be glad to correct it!)

Talla was so focused on recalibrating the paralight system, colorfully cussing out the Kaminoans modifications to the ship that must have been done by a complete amateur, that she didn't notice Hunter walk up. "What are you doing?" He asked, which startled

Talla dropped the tool she was using and whipped around with a gasp. "Geez, you scared me!" She exclaimed while clutching the area over her palpitating heart. Unfazed, Hunter just inspected the exposed hyperdrive and the mess in the hallway with a disapproving eye, and she threw her palms up while promising, "Don't worry, I'm upgrading the hyperdrive system, then I'll fix the huge, gaping hole in the wall and clean up my mess."

Hunter's nose scrunched at the tasks she had taken upon herself since 99 died... tasks meant for him to take over as the strong leader of the squadron. "Tech usually handles the upgrades."

"I decided to take that load off of him." She informed him with a smile.

Hunter's reply was swiping a hand down his tired face with a sigh, clearly not a sign he was happy about this, and Talla sensed the exasperation he was starting to exhibit grow at an alarming rate. "Look, I appreciate you trying to help, but we're fully capable of handling our chores, Talla." He claimed rigidly.

'Remember to be patient with them... They're not angry with you, they're angry at what happened.'

Still, seeing him start to slip back into that same man who so intensely berated her after the mission failure on Silva, the impatient one who wouldn't let her get in a word for her defense, it made her want to clam up, but she still tried to contradict as calmly as possible instead. "Tech looked relieved when I told him I'd be doing the ship maintenance." Talla bent down to pick up the tool she had dropped, having to take a short break to collect herself from looking at his eyes that were a clear window to his broken spirit. "And the other two didn't protest when I handled breakfast."

"Well -" Hunter made a noise of frustration and side stepped away for a second, his entire posture rigid.

Talla felt his frustration growing by the second and became very concerned very quickly. He had stated once that his temper flares were a rare occurrence for him, during another apology for how he had treated her on Silva. But this was one of several that had happened since she joined the squad only a short while ago, so Talla was starting to wonder: What is it about me that makes him so frustrated so quickly?

And he was determined to never let her find out, neither the already present issue nor the new one on top of that - that it was his job to be strong for everyone, that he couldn't allow himself to be emotional when his family needed him. "Alright, they're taking 99's death a little more badly than I thought they would, so helping them out is fine, but I can do my own chores, got it?"

Not exactly agreeing with that declaration, Talla fiddled with the tool in her hand nervously, having an inkling that her next words would tip him over the edge. "Hunter, I know that 99's death has affected you more than you're letting on." Her instincts were right - his manner became incredibly defensive and downright insulted, but she was desperate for him to spend some time focusing on processing the whole tragedy.

He didn't share that same want. "What would you know about how I'm feeling?" He rhetorically demanded with a sharp edge in his tone, "You have no idea what I'm going through."

Talla mirrored that sharpness, not wanting to clam up because that wouldn't help anyone. "Maybe so, but I have enhanced senses, so the negative impact your reeling emotions are having on you, I can sense just as easily as you and I can sense electromagnetic frequencies anywhere on a planet." She paused, almost backing out on saying her point-blank statement, "What I can't figure out is that your clearly suffering, but rejecting the help offered to you."

Hunter couldn't believe that he forgot about her enhanced senses again, and quickly changed the subject from that and the point-blank question on his reserved ways. "When will the clothes be ready?"

Talla internally sighed, really hoping she'd get somewhere with the spiraling Sergeant, but decided not to push her luck any further... there was a lot of sharp objects in the vicinity. "I was told an hour so they should be ready now, but I'll pick them up after I'm done with this." She said, indicating the disassembled generator behind her.

But Hunter was eager to escape her presence so that she couldn't cross-examine him anymore. "I'll do it." He volunteered, turning sharply on his heel and fleeing the alleged 'busybody' Agent.

Talla could only shake her head sadly before turning back to the hyperdrive.